Good stuff I found in 2010
Life’s good. Here’s some of my favorite stuff from this year:
Music
- I’m All For You (Joe Lovano) – IMHO this is an outrageously good jazz album. Lovano is a saxophonist with an effortless touch – so smooth you almost lose sight of how clever he is. I think this is a good thing: I like my jazz complex but not fish-slappingly so. Highlight is a slow-mo, swung rendition of Countdown.
- Red Clay (Freddie Hubbard) – a superb classic jazz album
- L.S.T. (Tokumaru Shugo) – If you haven’t heard most of the sounds on Tokumaru’s recordings, it’s because he sits with 100 instruments and makes them all himself. Whimsical, box-defying, life-affirming.
- Goldberg Variations (Simone Dinnerstein) – Self-funded recording that went global. Unashamedly emotional. Bach purism is kinda boring anyway.
- Die Frau Ohne Schatten (Strauss, performed by Tokyo Opera)
- Das Rheingold (Wagner, performed by the Met in HD)
Written
- Foreign Affairs magazine. The people who make the decisions also write the articles. Nuff said.
- Co-opetition (Nalebuff and Brandenburger). About the economic games we play.
- Analysis for Marketing Planning (Lehmann and Winer). At first glance this book is boring. When you dig deeper you realise it’s most of what you need to know.
- Lord of the Flies (Golding) – no, I hadn’t read it before!
Food and Drink
- Whisky Live (Sydney). Because tasting 30 – 40 whiskies in a single session is always a good idea
- Ichiro’s Malt Mizunara Wood Reserve Whisky. Equal parts exceptional and expensive.
- Huxtable, Smith Street, Melbourne. Small, interesting dining done well.
- Menya Warito, Ikejiri Ohashi, Tokyo. You have to wait in line for nearly an hour, but it is worth it.
Web
- Booko.com.au because paying $100 for a book is not cool when you could pay $40
- Pictures for Sad Children. Because life is too good not to be a bit sinister sometimes.
- TedTalks. Great people giving great talks on the web!
- ArchDaily. Because I like this stuff.
- Information is Beautiful. Because the nerd in me likes information and the aesthete in me can’t stand mess.
Thanks to the people who introduced me to these things!
