With another year all but behind us and 2009 rearing its head in our collective direction, it seems like the perfect time to reflect upon all that ’08 had to offer. On the national scale, the past year has brought milestones of all kinds-a new president-elect, economic crises, innumerable technological and environmental discoveries. Closer to home, we Santa Barbarans have survived two devastating fires, turned out for an extremely important election, and watched our community ban together in ways many thought unimaginable. But retrospectives needn’t always be so serious and the value of entertainment should never be overlooked, which is why we’ve gathered our favorite (and most artistically inclined) staffers and contributors to dish on what made their 2008s so great.
The assignment was simple enough: compile a list of “Top Fives” of your choosing. Writers were allowed to create their own categories and give props to anything and everything they thought especially spectacular. The result was a laundry list of startling cinematic events, unforgettable concerts, and eye-opening works of visual art, all cherished for their own special quirks and exemplars of creative genius. And what did we learn? That we’re lucky to live in a town so small in mileage and so large in artistic might. We encourage you to read our picks, disagree wholeheartedly, and then think back and create your own. After all, what better time than now to resolve to see more movies, appreciate more paintings, and rock out at more live shows in ’09?
Aly Comingore – Associate Arts Editor (Pop & Rock, Film)
Best album: Fleet Foxes, Fleet Foxes
Best big deal concert: Radiohead at the Santa Barbara Bowl [photo gallery of the concert]
Best under-the-radar concert: Beach House at Muddy Waters Cafe
Best trailers: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Best photo exhibit: Made in Hollywood: Photographs from the John Kobal Foundation at SBMA
Brett Leigh Dicks – Contributing Writer
Best use of a vintage Gibson guitar: Devon Sproule at Stateside
Best children’s song about radiation sickness: Glen Phillips, “Solar Flare”
Best radio program to wake up to: KTYD’s Go to Hale Hour
Best documentary screening turned book-signing: Bill Carter’s Miss Sarajevo (film) and Fools Rush In (book) at Los Olivos Grange Hall and The Book Loft
Best live rendition of my favorite song (tie): Grant-Lee Phillips, “Honey Don’t Think” at SOhO; The Gin Club, “Drug Flowers” at Stateside
Charles Donelan- Arts Editor
Best orchestral concert: Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Granada
Best chamber concert: Christian Tetzlaff, Bach for Unaccompanied Violin at the Lobero Theatre
Best new classical music event: The Met Live in HD at Hahn Hall
Best jazz album: SFJAZZ Collective, Live 2008: 5th Annual Concert Tour: Original Compositions & Works by Wayne Shorter
Best world music album: Hector Zazou and Swara, In the House of Mirrors
Roger Durling – Executive Director, Santa Barbara International Film Festival
Best place to see a movie: Arlington Theatre
Best popcorn: Riviera Theatre
Best film: The Dark Knight
Best concert: Alison Krauss and Robert Plant at the Santa Barbara Bowl
Best album: Robin Thicke, Something Else
Lisa Engelbrektson – Contributing Writer
Best dance album: Midnight Juggernauts, Dystopia
Best film: WALL-E
Best novel: Armageddon in Retrospect, by Kurt Vonnegut
Best concert: Black Rebel Motorcycle Club at the Santa Barbara Bowl
Best band reunion: My Bloody Valentine
Palmer Gibbs – Copy Chief
Best album: City and Colour, Bring Me Your Love
Best concert: Death Cab for Cutie at the Santa Barbara Bowl
Best film: Milk
Best interview: AFI’s Hunter Burgan on reunion tour with The Force
Best DVD release: Tootsie, 25th Anniversary Edition
Heather Jeno – Contributing Writer
Best concert with dancers: David Byrne at the Arlington Theatre
Best place to see art in an unconventional setting: Loop & Leaf
Best live recording of a radio show: Wait, Wait : Don’t Tell Me! at the Granada
Best performance art show: My Barbarian at the Contemporary Arts Forum
Best art gallery: Gallery Ocho
Matt Kettmann – Senior Editor
Best indoor concert: David Byrne at the Arlington Theatre
Best outdoor concert: Radiohead at the Santa Barbara Bowl
Best film: Slumdog Millionaire
Best interview: George Clinton
Best paperback: Duck Duck Wally, by Gabe Rotter
D.J. Palladino – Contributing Writer
Best movie: In Bruges
Best CD: No Age, Nouns
Best concert: Radiohead at the Santa Barbara Bowl
Best S.B. boy makes good appearance at a concert: Jeff Foskett (formerly of The Pranks) playing with Brian Wilson at the Lobero Theatre
Best local boy writes good: The Open Road: The Global Journey of the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, by Pico Iyer
Elizabeth Schwyzer – Associate Arts Editor (Visual Art, Dance, Books & Lectures)
Best book: The Open Road: The Global Journey of the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, by Pico Iyer
Best dance performance: Eiko and Koma’s Mourning
Best classical music performance: Philip Glass: An Evening of Chamber Music
Best surprise indie rock visitation: Datarock at the Sandbar
Best Santa Barbara theater production: UCSB Theater and Dance Department in The Winter’s Tale, directed by Irwin Appel
Joe Woodard – Contributing Writer
Best cultural event: Radiohead at the Santa Barbara Bowl
Best classical concert: Christian Tetzlaff, Bach for Unaccompanied Violin at the Lobero Theatre
Jazz show of the year: SFJAZZ Collective at the Lobero Theatre
Best film: Happy-Go-Lucky
Best TV moment: Kristin Wiig in SNL‘s “Virgania Horsen’s Pony Express”