Best Of 2011: Emily Carney

Saint Winehouse
© 2010 Vicki Berndt

1. New Albums by Robyn, The Black Keys, Amy Winehouse, and Charlotte Gainsbourg

This past year boasted many new releases by some of my favorite all-time artists. Technically, Robyn’s Body Talk trilogy came out in 2010, but her career blew up stateside this year, culminating in her appearance on Saturday Night Live in December.

The death of Amy Winehouse in July was downright horrific and only solidified her status as a modern musical legend (although it’s depressing that her death made her “legendary” since she’d always been an amazing talent). It pisses me off to an incredible degree when people poked fun at her life and manner of death; it’s just not funny to speak ill of the dead or to judge people with addictions. Despite all controversies, her final release, Lioness: Hidden Treasures, which features demos and unreleased songs, served as a sad reminder of what could have been. Her voice and style will be missed immensely, as I really hoped—and believed—she would make a comeback.

I love Charlotte Gainsbourg for her quietness and lack of flamboyance . . . also, her new album Stage Whisper has a section of live recordings, which are interesting for those who followed her last two albums, 5:55 and IRM. As an anonymous YouTube commenter once said, “She’s the James Dean of chicks.”

2. Robyn’s dancing in the “Call Your Girlfriend” video

This may be the greatest video in the history of great videos. Robyn is simply dancing here in an acrobatic, joyous way in what looks like an abandoned school gymnasium, with some strobe lights flashing away, wearing an inexplicably furry sweater. It doesn’t get better than this. The song is also badass as hell.

3. Courtney Love being Lindsay Lohan’s sobriety coach

I would link the article here but I neither care much nor am I motivated enough. In short, Courtney Love, sobriety and British history expert, has taken it upon herself to claim that she is Lindsay Lohan’s sobriety coach. Yeah. Only the moon has more craters than this outlandish claim.

Then again, Courtney also claimed that she co-produced U2’s first album in 1980 (what?) and is currently complaining (AGAIN) that Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters has stolen all of her money, among other things. Also, anyone who is a self-proclaimed “gay icon” who forces a festival crowd to chant “The Foo Fighters are gay” can just go kiss my whole ass. Seriously.

4. Titusville, Florida (Editor’s note: Come at me, bro . . . just tell me Titusville sucks, people!)

I’ve spent a lot of time there this year doing spaceflight-related things, including the Juno NASA Tweetup (I should just buy property there). Despite what anyone says, I quite like this small city on Florida’s eastern coast. The area is full of NASA “old-timers” who tell amazing stories and plus, it has a rich history. It has one of the best spaceflight museums in the world (The Space Walk of Fame Museum) and is literally a stone’s throw away from Kennedy Space Center and the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (one can view Complex 39A and the Vehicle Assembly Building from across the water). I can’t say enough awesome things about this city. I hope to get back there in 2012 to write more spaceflight stories.

5. Lady Gaga’s completely incomprehensible Thanksgiving Special

Okay, I only watched this because it came on right after the Peanuts’ Thanksgiving special. The whole thing made me facepalm from the very beginning. Lady Gaga pretended to be “classy” and wore some decent clothes. She also debuted a naked sketch done of her by octogenarian crooner Tony Bennett (who actually did a wonderful song with La Winehouse this year) and sang into a microphone which looked like a dildo. Then there was a cringeworthy interview with recently ousted US anchorwoman Katie Couric, in which the Visine was running on high because Gaga was feeling emotions. I couldn’t take my eyes off of this ego bomb of a show. It’s rumored that Gaga wants to play Amy Winehouse in a biopic. PLEASE GOD, NO.