[Falling Down]

Yeah I know these lists are daft but the UKB cultural barometer is so good that I'm interested to see what I should have put on my Christmas list or what to spend my book tokens on in the New Year.

Music: A year of poppy post punk rock classics....
The Sea and Cake: Everybody
Maximo Park: Our Earthly Pleasures
The Shins: Wincing the Night Away

Plus an honorary mention to Amerie, Rhianna & Girls Aloud for top totty pop tunage and the excellent Techno BnB streams and mixes found on here.

Books:
Against the Day: Thomas Pynhcon
The Damned United: David Peace
Julius Winsome: Gerard Donovan

Honorary mentions for M John Harrisons 'Nova Swing', the late discovery of the marvellous Thursbitch by Alan Garner and The Spectator for widening my horizons each week.

Films and Telly
The Last King of Scotland
The Borne Ultimatum
Zodiac
The Lives of Others

Honorary mentions for The Departed, 300 (even though it was daft as a brush) and The Boosh Series 3 (and err Where The Boys Aren't vol 17)

Other stuff
Monkey on stage in Manchester
Andy Goldsworthy @ the YSP
The Rothko Chapel in Texas - Houstons saving grace.
Flickr
Russell Brand on R2

[SA Chris]

Tunes
Sea and Cake (based on your recommendation)
Caribou - Andorra (new year gig in Aberdeen now in jeapordy due to Lemon Tree closing)
Foos - Echoes etc.....
Air Traffic - Fractured Life
Klaxons - Myths of the Near Future
UNKLE - War Stories

Live
Foos
Guillemots

Films
Nothing really comes to mind at the moment. That's quite crap isn't it.

Books
Vernon God Little was very entertaining
Search for Captain Zero
Riding the Magic Carpet was inspiring

[soapy]

The Rothko Chapel in Texas - Houstons saving grace.

amen to that, brother

Music

kings of leon - because of the times
prefab sprout - steve mcqueen re-shizzled
the mars volta back catalogue
michael forshaw

Books

difficult mixed bag of many started, few continued; due to distractions

Films and Telly

film - none
telly - lead balloon

Other stuff

nowt, nihilism par excellence this year

[Houdini]

Music

Rumenige
Horror Brawl
Casual Violence
Surgeon - This is for you shits
Shellac - Excellent Italian Greyhound

Books

John Fante - The Bandini Quartet
Markus Zusak - The Book Thief
Irvine Welsh - If You Liked School You'll Love Work

Film

Pans' Labyrinth
Babel

(Bad year for film)

TV

Never

Gigs

Hell
Sender Berlin

(Bad year for gigs)

[Yossarian]

Music

Two Lone Swordsmen - All of it.
Adam Freeland GU Mexico
Studio - West Coast
LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver
Fabric 19 - Andrew Wetherall
Ride - Going Blank Again (a recent rediscovery)

Books

One Soldiers War in Chechnya - Arkady Babchenko
Edward Burra - 20th Century Eye - Jane Stephenson
The Gun Seller - Hugh Laurie
Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists - Gideon Defoe
Beware Wet Paint - Alan Fletcher

Film

Eastern Promises
Bourne 3
9th Company

TV (on DVD)

Deadwood Series 1
The Wire Series 1 (thanks to F Down, Esq)

[SA Chris]

Oh yeah, Telly

Boosh
Heroes (surprised myself there)
Family Guy (although initially reluctant)
My name is Earl Series 2

[fatdoc]

Games

interesting year with the overpriced ps3 coming more in line with a good tranche of adult themed games; some crossed over from the xbox 360.

it seems totally shite to me that there are so few Wiis available, being an origional owner i'd hazard to say that for the discerning gamer nothing beats it's release title of zelda. The Wii is not the console of choice for driving, fps or 3rd person games IMO, and needs some new interpretation / inovation in gaming genre to have adult longterm appeal.

HD gaming has seen some real improvements in 07, my favs are:

tour of duty 4: its on ps3, xbox and is truly full on.

resistsance, fall of man: in a 1950s backdrop with UK levels, mad virus  / alien infiltration of the Uk race... 28 days later meets Doom.. simply delightful on so many levels

Assassins creed: visually astounding, not as involving as hitman.. but good vs. evil assasins against the world in the time of the 3rd crusade just seems to be a perfect astmosphere in which to plan murder.

On the ps2: has to be tombraider anniversary - great game, great controls, enthralling. The last great ps2 game??

[andy popp]

Battles 'Mirrored' - bonkers
Euro Childs 'The Miracle Inn' - wistful Welshness
Dinosaur Jr 'Beyond' - bring the noise

[andy_e]

My "V8+" of the year's cultural highlights: (in no particular order and with no correlation whatsoever, and mostly music)

V1: Pan's Labyrinth
V2: Underworld - Oblivion with Bells
V3: FabricLive 35 : Marcus Intalex
V4: Photek - Form and Function vol. 2
V5: 65daysofstatic - The Destruction of Small Ideas
V5+: Idlewild - Make Another World
V6: Blades Of Glory
V7: Klute - The Emperor's New Clothes
V8: Metrik - Tenia (COLLECTIVELTD001 vinyl)
V8+: 300

[Yossarian]

i don't think the fabric marcus intalex is all that. there is one track though that i like to turn up very loud when i arrive in waitrose car park. i think this must have something to do with a middle age crisis and resultant desire to upset old ladies with filthy bass....

[andy_e]

It's not DnB for normal people. It's DnB for grumpy people, hence why Marcus Intalex spins it. Which track do you mean? Jonny L - Come Here?

[Stubbs]

Music
Gods of War - Manowar
A Weekend in the City - Bloc Party
Finding Forever - Common

Biggest hype for two rubbish albums: 50 and Kanye

Film
Fully Flared
Bourne
King Lines
(not sure if I've actually been to the cinema this year!)

TV
Buzzcocks
not sure what else has been good

Games
Gears of War
EA Skate (so much better than Hawk games)
Assassin's Creed (currently hooked)

Best viral advert
pipping the gorilla to the post

[Paz]

T' Boosh yeah,
Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows!

I didn't like this Earl so much apart from The My Name is Randy episode and another I forget.  From last year am I allowed:
Green Wing?

There's been a lot of good comedy this year.  Being a glutton as opposed to a Coinosseur I'll spare you the exercise in enumeration. 

Iron Maiden
Judas Priest
Rammstein
(just cos it wasn't a good year this year doesn't mean others weren't...)

and Lauren Laverne on Have I Got News For You (as an old Kenickie fan/ ex avid NME reader). 

[fatdoc]

just done 3 hrs on assassins creed..

thank god, there is no www. game, I'm hooked on that silent blade kill, oh yeah!

[Paz]

That does look like it rightly pisses on anything I've seen for the Wii.

[Stubbs]

thank god, there is no www. game, I'm hooked on that silent blade kill, oh yeah!

A Templars vs assassins online game would be amazing!

Noithing more satisfying in the game so far than jumping off a roof snd stealth assassinating someone and climbing away.  Also really like the way the climbing gets subtly harder as the levels go on.

[SA Chris]

I didn't like this Earl so much apart from The My Name is Randy episode and another I forget. 

The "Cops" one?

[Paz]

I did like the Cops one yes, and: "Made a Lady Think I Was God", "South of the Border 1&2" and "Harassed a Reporter".  I missed a few as I didn't deem it essential viewing. 

[Houdini]

Clocked Eastern Promises last night; must include it in my list.  No lovey-dovey shit.  Loved the ending: no turning back, in it till the end.

[Falling Down]

I may have to make a last minute addition to the books to include Clive James' Cultural Amnesia that I got for Christmas and haven't been able to put down.

And... how I could I forget The Wire for the TV/DVD list which wasn't quite 2007 given that it was a DVD release but it had me and Mrs FD have been glued to our screens throughout - top quality writing, casting, directing and producing. Who needs Hollywood when you have mini series' of this standard?

[Somebody's Fool]

Agree wholeheartedly about The Wire.  Absolutely stunning.  Reaffirmed my faith in TV after Hollyoaks went downhill circa 1999.

Just waiting for the fourth series, sorry season four, to become available this side of the pond.

Regards books, I've just finished The Road by Cormac McCarthy.  Not sure if it was released this year or not, but it really is very good.

[Rob]

Music

Bloc Party - A Weekend In The City
Editors - An End Has A Start
Jimmy Eat World - Chase This Light

Live

The Who (well, the remaining two plus sundry others)

Film

A few that have already been mentioned plus
Sunshine

[andy popp]

Not sure this is top 5 or anything but prob deserves a mention somewhere, I'm currently enjoying 'Marry Me' by St Vincent (who are basically a woman from Sufjan Stevens' band): mellow and pretty with some quirks thrown in. Might appeal to some (FD?). Also getting to grips with Joanna Newsom's  Ys though I think that was 06.