Best of 2006

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For me, 2006 was such a wicked year for art and music that I never actually got round to writing a round-up. I did however, send U.S magazine XLR8R a few of my highlights and low-lights (very difficult!), some of which appeared in the January edition. I'm most happiest about the inclusion of photographer Boris Austin who was nominated for best visual artist of 2006... reasons can be found here hopefully you'll need more so check his website www.borisaustin.com.

Below are the full answers that I submitted to XLR8R....note, the obsession with Shakira finally got some air outside of myspace comments box...

BEST MUSIC OF 2006:

Worst Artist:
Shakira. I'm glued to my screen everytime she's on tv in utter
disbelief. She can't sing, she can't dance and she's an offense to
people that can actually yodel properly. Pure torture.

Worst Album:
Lily Allen, Alright Still

Alright still (in small doses) but the album is unbearable after a
while. It's made up of the same components the whole way through (sing
songy voice, lalala's and boring lyrics).

www.lilyallenmusic.com

Best Record Label:
Hyperdub- Recognised mostly as a dubstep label but one which
consistently pushes genre boundaries. One of the first dubstep label's
to introduce vocalists (Warrior Queen, Space Ape, Ms. Haptic) to what
is predominantly instrumental sound, one of the first to utilise the
internet to full effect, whilst still respecting and promoting
dubplate culture. The first to bring us Burial and one of the few
contemporary labels that consistently goes where others are too
afraid!

www.hyperdub.com

Best Live Event/Festival:
The Secret Garden Party (festival); colourful, vibrant, crazy,
creative and well thought out. The atmosphere of sheer fun and freedom
at the festival which was set around a beautiful lake in Cambridge was
as enjoyable as the music that was provided.

www.secretgardenparty.com

Best Club or Venue:
Plastic People- Fwd>>, Bash, Co-op; Through it's various nights it's
long provided London with some of the freshest music around on a great
sound system. Rarely a week goes by when I'm not there or wishing I
could be there!

www.plasticpeople.co.uk

Best Music Trend:
Dubstep- possibly the most stay-fresh sounds that's around. This
year's really seen the sound flourish - there's a producer for every
taste and musical preference- rock, ragga, jungle, garage, soul,
house, jazz and hip-hop have all been incorporated into a genre that
can now only really be defined by it's notorious bass weight.

www.dubstepforum.com www.barefiles.com
www.blackdownsoundboy.blogspot.com, www.myspace.com/dubstep



BEST ART, STYLE AND CULTURE OF 2006

Best visual artist (graphic designer/fine artist/photographer):

Boris Austin- London based documentary photographer who's been
shooting some of the most interesting and well produced portraits and
event photography around. Working for the likes of Hospital Records
and Knowledge magazine, his energy and passion for photography is
dizzying.

www.borisaustin.com www.boxedlab.co.uk


Best art exhibit/gallery show of 2006:

Che Guevara: Revolutionary and Icon The V&A, London

A throught provoking look at Alberto Korda's iconic photo of the
revolutionary which went on to become the most reproduced image in the
history of photography. It's amazing how much the images has been used
all over the world in a variety of contexts- some good, some bad, some
very, very ugly.

http://www.vam.ac.uk/vastatic/microsites/1541_che/

Best t-shirt line:
Smut
Everything about them is smutty but very, very fun. A London based
company that started with a few hand printed t-shirts of, well... see
for yourself and is now receiving State side success.

www.myspace.com/smutclothing

Best style trend:

All the fun day-glo 80's clothes that remind me of being a kid!

Worst style trend:

Gold gem stone incrusted gun pendants. No, no, no.


What do you feel will be big in 2007? (Artist/musical trend/style
item/cultural movement)


Artist
Jamie Woon (singer): Straight outta South London, Jamie's gonna be
huge one day. Beautifully soulful and often ghostly sounding, he adds
extra dimension to his voice through the use of a loop machine.

www.myspace.com/jamiewoon

Cultural Movement-

After a few years of easily accessible software, myspace and other
forms of virtual communication that has fuelled many new scenes, I
suspect that next year there will be a greater emphasis on more
traditional and analogue methods of creating sound again and
performance through live music. Similarly, many artists and
photographers that were quick to pick up digital camera's and software
returning to the older tried and tested methods and/or combining the
two. (who knows what to call it!)

Best media item (book, movie, DVD):

Looking forward to 'This Is England' by director of Dead Man's Shoes,
Shane Meadows. A film about Skinhead culture in the 80's.