Last part of our self-indulgent “End of/Best of” list. We’ll eventually post something worthy.

Rucki (Staff writer, banana cake making, Mancunian wrangler)

Music

Broken Social Scene – Forgiveness Rock Record

Dreamy, lush, efflorescent – what more would you expect from the best musical collective hailing from Canada? (Controversial statement, I know.) Stand out tracks are ‘World Sick’, ‘Art House Director’ and ‘Water in Hell’. And performed live it sounds even more perfect.

Belle and Sebastian – Write About Love

The year 2010 sees B&S teaming up with cool people like Carey Mulligan (who knew she could sing?) and Norah Jones in album Write About Love. It’s good too, just make sure you flick past the awful pan-pipe offering in ‘Read the Blessed Pages’, but I think Murdoch and co. can be forgiven for this one blip.

Everything Everything – Man Alive

I first saw these guys perform in 2009 at the Manchester International Festival and was blown back. A year on and they release album Man Alive, a catchy compilation of restless synth and electro pop inspired song. The lead singers voice is also quirky and fun to listen to as well. Stand out track ‘Suffragette Suffragette’.

TV

This is England ’86 – Channel 4

Shane Meadows returns with an update set three years after the original This is England film, and focuses on the mod revival rather than skinhead culture like in the previous film. Filmed largely in Sheffield and Dronfield (whilst Thomas Turgoose took a liking to a friend of mine studying at the nearby university), it was great to see something so refreshing, interesting and engaging compared to the rest of the trash that washed up on our screens in 2010. Poo-lady Gillian Mckeith in the Australian outback? No thanks.

Peep Show – Channel 4

Everyone’s favourite fuck-ups Mark Corrigan and Jeremy Usborne returned for another series of Peep Show, much to the delight of fans like myself. And you can still watch all the repeats on 40D – hooray!

Films

Inception
I fell in love with Ellen Page after watching this. Mind bending stuff; not had a film effect me like this since The Matrix or The Truman Show.

The Runaways
Because it was great to see girl punk getting some attention. Although it was quite scary to see how much older Dakota Fanning looked.

Guilty Pleasure

Stromae– ‘Alors on Danse’

Perhaps I only enjoyed this because I heard it on repeat whilst hitchiking across Europe during Easter of 2010. But I was overjoyed to hear it all over again when it was released in the UK in July 2010. Come on everybody ‘Alors on danse’!

Quinto (Head honcho, hubcap nicker, Sam wrangler)

Music

Album: Retribution Gospel Choir – 2

A monster of frenzied, raw rock from this trio of rockers. The lyrics are guttural and filled with dark, religious undertones. They are a hell of a live band too. How could I not choose this one as THE best album of the year?

EP: People of the North – Deep Tissue

Psychedelic rock full of trippy atmospheres.

Single: Smashing Pumpkins – Tom Tom

Easily the most  complete song from the Teargarden by Kaleidyscope project so far, this one has all the classic Smashing Pumpkins signature and even better, an atmosphere of its own.

Book: Iain Banks – ‘Transition’

I always dig stories about parallel universes. They are cool.

TV: Doctor Who – BBC

Moffatt delivers and Matt Smith, Karen Gillian and Arthur Darvill are excellent. The stories went from excellent to passable, but overall, it was fantastic.

Film: The Town.

A gem that proves that Ben Affleck is a hell of a director and that ‘Gone, baby, gone’ wasn’t a fluke. Great pacing, some brutal action and a star performance by Jeremy Renner and Don Draper himself, Jon Hamm!

Orestes (Undead plushie webmaster, wacky coloured gatorade drinker, Dave Grohl wrangler)

Album: The Black Angels – Phosphene Dream

Real music. Real Psychodelia. That’s it.

EP: Wet Nuns – “Free EP”

I am a cow and therefore, I shall love anything related to cowboys, gay or not. Also, anybody with a song about taking a freight train to Mexico is ok in my books.

Single: Ok Go! – This too shall pass

Funny and with a cool video to boot!

Book: Chuck Palahniuk – Tell All

Not his best, but certainly a keeper!

Film: Despicable Me & Iron Man 2

Can’t go wrong with lil’ minions. And every movie should have Samuel L. Jackson.

Sam (Spammer, fat asshole with a ponytail, kebab wrangler)

Album: Amusement Parks on Fire – Road Eyes

Words fail on how good this album is! From the punchy beginning, to the brutal rawness of ‘Echo park // Infinite Delay’, this is another great album in Amusement Parks on Fire list of stargazing releases.

EP: Dust on the Breakers – American Reclamation

Heartbreak, longing, nostalgia and the atmospheres around it, that’s what this poetic EP is. My favourite collective-produced effort of 2010 and I for one can’t wait for them to release more stuff (specially those instrumental soundscapes they have on their Youtube page).

Single: The Twilight Sad – The Wrong Car

So many things are good about this song and I don’t want to repeat myself. Suffice to say is: I found catharsis in this song, and even it’s seven minute running time doesn’t feel enough! Brilliant song and a great video.

Book: Chuck Klosterman – Eating the Dinosaur

Navelgazing at its best with Mr. Klosterman and his deft deconstruction of the wasteland that is Pop Culture.

Film: Scott Pilgrim VS the world.

In the words of our illustrator, Miller, “this is how I see the world”. Even my parents loved it!

TV: The IT Crowd

This fourth series would be the only one I could honestly say I loved every single episode. The comedic timing is almost perfect and the return of a certain goth character was a great way to end the series.