While it could be argued that any alcohol that gets you drunk is a winner, the best ones are those that get you there comfortably. To decide the winner of this prestigious award the whole package of taste, innovation, alcohol content and social stigma (i.e, is it wanky?) and price must be considered.

In regards to price, the overall cost of beer increased by 2% in 2007 due to increased ingredient import costs and pressure from boutique beers sales. To counteract this fluctuation Fosters pulled a dodgy by decreasing the alcohol percentage of VB by .1% to save money on taxes (Thanks to Count Knuckles for this info).
As if this wasn’t enough Fosters further kicked drunk men while they were down by reducing the volume of Cacade premium from 375ml to 330ml. This therefore results in 12% less beer for the same price. Fosters marketing manager Ben Summons (now you know who to send hate mail to) tried to defend this move by declaring that “It’s about helping a boutique brewery punch above its weight and take on international brands,”. They also stated that market research suggested that drinkers found the old bottle “clunky” and hard to hold and this move is “part of the elegantising of beer.
First of all I would have to reply that Cacade is not a boutique brewery and second of all I’ve never seen anyone say “geez I’m having a hard time holding my beer”. Here’s my solution; if it gets too heavy then hurry up and drink it. I hope these scummy cost cutting measures don’t get to out of hand otherwise before you know it they will be getting rid of the old trusty VB longnecks.

Ranting aside I still took the opportunity to visit the Cascade brewery in Tasmania as part of a bucks weekend. Even though I was really hung over I still enjoyed the sight of all those bottles of beer literally rolling off the production line. I also had the chance to try their new nondescript Wizards Smith Ale and their Cascade Blonde beer which is one of the best Blonde style beers i’ve tried.

While in Hobart I was also lucky enough to attend the 2007 Beer Fest. During this event I made the most of the generous sample sizes and managed to try a lot of boutique beers as well as some old favorites. At the Coopers tent I tried their new Best Extra Stout which was surprising easy to drink and tasted great. I was also introduced to an interesting selection of beer from Barons Brewering Co. including the usual standards of Larger, Bitter & Pale and the unusual taste of their Black wattle and lemon myrtle native range which was interesting to say the least.

The selection at the James Squire booth also impressed and while they’re a bit expensive to regularly consume I highly recommend them if your looking for a full bodied flavorsome beer.

I also took advantage of the Belgium beer tent which offered my old friend Chimay Bleue. I then tried a new Triple drink which nearly tasted as great as Chimay. Unfortunately I don’t remember the name of this beer but hopefully I’ll stumble upon it again someday.

To continue the Belgium theme I also attended a beer tasting day in Melbourne at the Belgium Beer Cafe in the Eureka Tower. It was an excellent opportunity to try plenty of great beers, including Stella Artois, Hoegaarden, Leffe Blonde or Brune, Lucifer, Brugge Blond, La Guillotine and Duval (which I managed to win a prize pack of).

While beer was the most dominant alcohol this year (we are in Australia after all) there were also a few spirits/mixers worth mentioned. I discovered a particularly good alcohol supplier at Chadstone called boutique Le Vin, which offered a number of interesting spirits and liquors. The best of these included a caramel whisky and a musk flavoured liquor (40%). This latter creation combines perfectly with lemonade (tastes like musk sticks) or if your really brave you could try it with vodka for a whooping 70% alcoholic kick. However this liquor looses points due to its pink color and hence fag factor. This shop also stocked a beer called Delirium Tremens which is Latin for “trembling delirium,” indicating a violent sickness induced by withdrawal after alcohol abuse. While on the pricey side at $7 a bottle it’s the best tasting golden ale I’ve ever tasted and it was appropriately voted as the worlds number one beer in 1998.

In Hobart I was introduced to a couple of mixer drinks at a bar in Salamanca place. We managed to beat the bars record for consuming the most jager bombs at once. It was quite a sight to see one Jager shot spill into the redbull and push over the next shot to start the chain reaction for another 30 drinks. I also tried a cocktail called a Shitbloke (aka trendy), which is made of ginger ale, vanilla vodka and lime. In summer time this drink goes down a treat and is just as good as a Gin & tonic at beating the heat.

Well that’s about all the interesting drinks that I can remember drinking in 2007 (who said alcohol ruins your memory?), but I’ll briefly mention another few that the Hundredpennies boys have been drinking during last years podcasts. Matilda Bay produce a couple of awesome beers in the form of Beez Neez (honey) and Redback (wheat). At the Matilda Bay Garage Brewery in Dandenong a rather unique pale ale called Pepperjacks was also created ,which contains an interesting blend of shiraz grape juice, hops and malt grain.

The boys also tried some Boags Classic Blond (not to be confused with light beer) and Thailand’s best selling beer Chang. I should also list the beer Miller Chill but only so you can avoid this terribly salty bile tasting beverage (sounds refreshing doesn’t it?).

Well that’s about it I hope you enjoyed my rundown of nominees as much as i’ve enjoyed drinking them. Again feel free to vote on any of the nominees listed by leaving a comment. Also remember to stay tuned for the Best Of 2007 awards podcast which we will be recording this Wednesday.

Cheers and all the best in 2008.

Beer Nominees

1. Beez Neez: Matilda Bay Brewing Company
2. Redback: Matilda Bay Brewing Company
3. Pepperjack: Saltram Winery
4. Classic Blonde: J.Boag & Son
5. Cascade Blonde: Cascade Brewery
6. Best Extra Stout: Coopers Brewery
7. Chang: Beer Thai Company
8. James Squire Golden Ale: Malt Shovel Brewery
9. James Squire Amber Ale: Malt Shovel Brewery
10. Baron’s Lager: Baron Brewery
11. Baron’s Lemon Myrtle: Baron Brewery
12. Baron’s Black Wattle: Baron Brewery
13. Duval: Brouwerij Duval Moorgat Brewery
14. Delirium Tremens: Huyghe Brewery
15. Chimay Bleue Grand Reserve: Bieres de Chimay Brewery

Spirit / Liquor Nominees

1. Musky Liquor: Boutique Le Vin
2. Caramel Whisky: Boutique Le Vin
3. Shitbloke: Vanilla vodka, ginger ale & lime
4. Jager bombs: Red Bull & Jagermeister

We’ve been blessed with such a bumper crop of quality video games this year that its going to be hard to decide which is the best. Fear not though reader as I’ve carried out the hard task of playing most of them so let me guide you through some of the best.

This year was definitely the year of the shooter as there were so many great FPS’s to choice from. These included the atmospheric & claustrophobic Bioshock, the feature packed Half life 2: Orange Box, the cinematic action of Call of Duty 4 and the Hype machine otherwise know as Halo 3.

While Half life 2 was originally released on the PC way back in 2004, the inclusion of the 2 new add-on packs, the quirky multiplayer game team fortress and the stupidly addictive and funny puzzle game Portal made it the best value for money game all year (if not all time). In fact Portal deserves a special mention due to it’s creative use of physics puzzles, fantastic humor and one of the best videogame endings ever. While this game can probably be finished in one day, the experience is so good its probably worth the full $80 purchase price of the Orange box alone.

In February we were fully immersed into the world of Bioshock. From the dramatic plane crash beginning you could tell you were in for something special. It’s jaw dropping graphics, fantastic steam punk soundtrack and slow unraveling of the story via audio logs fully sucked you into the moody underwater world of Atlantis. Like most game releases this year Bioshock stuck with you long after the credits rolled. Who doesn’t remember their first encounter with a big daddy? The creative usage of magic plasmids and old fashion weapons such as flamethrower,crossbow and tommy gun made combat exciting and flexible. The ability to customise your skills almost made this game feel like an FPS RPG hybrid. It has since been announced that a sequel is in the works and here’s hoping that it’s as good as the original.

The arrival of Call of Duty 4 finally pushed FPS’s into the modern age in breathtaking style. The stunning graphics, spectacular firefights and superb music and sound really made you feel like you were in the middle of the action and lent the game a real cinematic quality (imagine black hawk down). While the single player campaign was all over in about 5 hrs there were plenty of holy shit thats cool moments, like the level were you camouflage yourself in a ghillie suit and stalk across enemy lines. Of course there was plenty more action available in the multi-player mode which offered 16 maps, 6 game types and a unique ranking system that allowed you to upgrade your character with RPG type skills. Taken as a whole COD4 was a great action blockbuster that finally broke out of the dusty days of WWII and into fresh new territory.

Speaking of blockbusters in 2007 there were none bigger than the release of Halo 3. While the hype machine had been running since last year it went into overtime when the multiplayer Beta trial was unleashed. Apparently his wasn’t enough to appease people and the game ended up being leaked only days ahead of its release date.
During the official launch in the US Halo 3 ended up becoming the biggest entertainment release in history with $170 Million in sales within the first 24 hrs. This number then jumped to $300 million worldwide in the 1st week making it the fastest selling game in history.
So ignoring this hype was the game any good? Graphics wise, there were controversial comments that the game didn’t support full HD and it only ran at 640p resolution. Bungie defended this by most declaring that games on next generation consoles are upscaled to the resolution of your monitor/TV to run at acceptable speeds.This may therefore explain why Halo 3 didn’t look much better than its 2004′s predecessor.
It could also be said that 3 years of development could have lead to a longer and more original single player campaign, but I suppose there’s the old adage that you can’t fix what isn’t broken. The presence of a solid and improved Co-operative mode and the conclusion of the epic storyline did redeem things somewhat and pleased many longtime fans.
The strongest element of the series has always been the multiplayer side and in this regard Halo 3 definitely didn’t disappoint. The inclusion of the new fly on the wall editor called Forge allowed for interesting and unlimited permutations within the game modes and maps. The solid match ranking system and the inclusion of exciting vehicles and weapons lead to plenty of hectic shootouts which should easily keep fans busy until the next release.

While GTAIV was pushed back to next year our free roaming action/adventure fix was provided by Assassins Creed. The original Jerusalem setting, responsive fighting system and amazing rooftop gymnastics built upon the success of previous titles such as Prince Of Persia and Hitman. While the mission structure wasn’t as free form as expected and certain aspects were repetitive, it still provided plenty of exhilarating moments.

While the 360 has been typically short of RPGs, the catalog was slightly expanded with the Sci-fi epic Mass Effect and the Japanese title Eternal Sonata.
Eternal Sonata had beautiful artistic graphics and an original light/dark based fighting system that bucked the trend of most turn based RPGs. The superb original soundtrack provided by Chopan and inclusion of interesting historical facts made his classical music a strong and interesting centerpiece of the game. It was therefore surprising that even with these aspects the overall story was generic and was unfortunately the weakest part of the package (stop the evil king from destroying the world). The cutesy characters and pathetic dialog were also squarely aimed at people loving traditional Japanese RPGs games and overall Eternal Sonata was an acquired taste that will either charmed or baffled players.

Just like Oblivion the year before, Mass effect was an RPG that appealed to both hardcore genre fans or those that had never picked one up before. The superb voice acting, creative alien races and memorable NPCs lead support to a fantastically scripted storyline and made you feel like you were playing part in a massive space drama.
The in-depth character personalisation not only allowed you to choose how you looked, but how you acted. Do you want to play as a ruthless Renegade that does whatever is necessary to get the job done, do you play a paragon by following the rules or maybe you choose a gray region in between? The choice was truly your’s with a complex dialog system that made every decision feel like it had true consequences. The FPS style shooting was also a lot of fun especially when you threw biotic or tech skills into the mix. There’s something immensely satisfy about throwing enemies around or picking them up and plugging them full of shotgun blasts. The ability to explore the outer reaches of space carrying out optional quests resulted in plenty of non-linear play and the multiple endings and different ways of playing will probably make you come back for more than 20 hrs of play.
Unfortunately the graphical glitches that occurred throughout were a blemish on an otherwise perfect game. For some reason there was a delay on textures on characters and walls appearing. It was somewhat jarring to constantly wait for a character blurry features to become sharp while talking to them. The Mass Effect sequel has been since been announced and hopefully it will successfully continue the gripping storyline and rectify these graphical problems.

Throughout the year rev heads and adrenaline junkies were appeased with arcade driving in the form of Project Gotham 4, rally driving with Dirt or there was Forza Motorsport for those wanting more realistic frustration simulation.

The release of Guitar Hero III had fans slinging their new improved wireless guitars in the name of rock. The presence of a strong track list with only a few dodgy cover tracks resulted in the best game of the series. While the rival music simulation game Rock Band is said to blow GHIII out of the water I can’t include it in this years list since it’s not out in Australia until 2008.

This year there were also a few big developments on the gaming front.
Usually videogame geeks wet their pants during the massive announcements at E3 but this years expo came and went with barely a whisper. This was mainly due to last years dramatic announcement that it would be closed to the public and it would be reallocation to a smaller venue. This resulted in a lot of big games developers pulling the plug and a lack of any real gaming news.
Luckily Melbourne got it’s fix in November with the 2nd year of the Egames Expo. While most games on display had already been released it was a good chance to check out the recent releases vying for our dollar. There was also a press release from Sony Australia and while nothing major was announced it was good to see the big boys get involved and hopefully the event will be even bigger and better next year.

One development that affected a lot of xbox360 owners was the outbreak of the horrible red ring of death (RROD). While there had been talk of this problem in 2006 it wasn’t until 2007 that a sudden influx of broken consoles suddenly surfaced. Microsoft pulled their usual dodgy by initially trying to cover up the issue but they partially redeemed themselves by repairing the faulty units and announcing an extension on the warranty.
In my social circle 4/5 people received the RROD throughout the year. The problem was mainly attributed to overheating and in my case it came at the worst possible time as I had just purchased Eternal Sonata, Mass Effect and COD4.
There was a positive aspect to this debacle If you were smart enough to buy the extended warranty from EB games. My friend Count Knuckles managed to score a new quieter HDMI unit with no questions asked when he returned his busted one to EB. So let that be a warning to purchase an extended warranty if you have the chance.

The biggest videogame controversy of the year however involved the release of Rockstars Manhunt 2. While it was initially planned for release in June the American Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB) slapped it with an adults only rating for ‘unremitting bleakness’ and ‘casual sadism’. Rockstar then had to edit the game as all the major consoles will not allow AO games to be sold on their consoles which ended up pushing back the US release date until December. Things were further complicated when the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) took Rockstar to court over the release of the amended game in the UK. The Video Appeals Committee ruled on the side of Rockstar, but this decision was appealed by the BBFC and the case has now been taken to the High Court with the game still not being released in the UK.
While this whole issue further highlights the frustration of Censorship in video games the case is ironically concluded with the fact that the original uncut version of Manhunt 2 can be downloaded on the internet anyway.

In other news the makers of the Halo series Bungie decided to branch out on their own and split with their previous partners Microsoft. It will be interesting to see whether this move will result in them releasing games as big as Halo in the future.

While one split another two companies joined to create one of the biggest merges in computer game history. Vivendi (Blizzard), merged with Activision in an estimated $18.9 Billion dollar deal. For those unaware Blizzard is the creator of the biggest multiplayer game in history with World of Warcraft, while Activision is the maker of COD4, Tony Hawk and the massively popular Guitar Hero series. Hopefully this outcome won’t result in a gaming monopoly that restricts the creation of original games otherwise the Activision Blizzards next step may be taking over the world.

Well as you can probably tell from the length of this post 2007 has probably been the best time for video games ever. Hopefully my wrap up of this years biggest xbox360 releases have brought back memories of some of your favorite titles. So what are you waiting for, put down your controllers and start voting.

Xbox 360 Nominees

1. Forza Motorsport: MS game studio
2. The Darkness: 2K games
3. Bioshock: 2k games
4. Halo 3: MS game studio
5. Project Gotham 4: MS game studio
6. Half life 2: The Orange Box: EA games
7. The Simpsons Game: EA games
8. Call Of Duty 4: Activision
9. Guitar Hero III: Activision
10. Mass Effect: MS game studio
11. Assassins Creed: Ubisoft
12. Eternal Sonata: Atari

Wii Nominees

1. Wariowares: Smooth Moves: Nintendo
2. Medal of honour heroes 2: EA games
3. Zack & Wiki: Capcom
4. Superpaper Mario: Nintendo
5. Resident Evil 4: Capcom
6. Metroid Prime 3: Corruption: Nintendo
7. SuperMario Galaxy: Nintendo
8. Trauma Centre: New Blood: Atlus Co.

PSP Nominees

1. Sid Meier’s Pirates: 2K games
2. Puzzle Quest: D3
3. Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters: SCEE
4. Final Fantasy Tactics: Square Enix
5. Star Wars Battlefront: Lucasarts
5. Syphon Filter: Logans Shadow: SCE

This year the usual assortment of big blockbuster sequels arrived but generally received underwhelming responses. Pirates Of The Caribbean and Spiderman 3 both disappointed with convoluted or lackluster story lines and by trying to fit in too many superfluous characters. In contrast other sequels like The Bourne Ultimatum and Die Hard 4 kept audiences enthralled with over the top action scenes and car chases.

This year we were also lucky enough to receive a number of movies with original or wacky story-lines including Sunshine, Stranger Than Fiction, Zodiac, No Land For Old Men and the mind-fucking Inland Empire. Other movies that stood out from the crowd included Hot Fuzz, Eastern Promises and Superbad which all managed to successfully pay homage to previous cult favorites such as Bad Boys, Die Hard, Godfather or American Pie.

While most people chose to download or watch movies at home, there were still a few offerings that benefited from the big screen such as the surprise hit The Transformers. Who would have thought that something based around a 23 yr old cartoon and toy range would have been so popular? The snappy dialog and enthusiastic cast moved things along at a energetic pace while the 40 minute climactic robot battle offered one of the most exciting movie endings of the year. The Zack Synder movie 300 also dilivered plenty of bloodthirsty action but the nonexistant storyline and poor script dissapointed those who were expecting a true sword and sandels epic. While the same could be said for the movie Beowulf it really shone on the IMAX screen in 3D. The breathtaking action scenes, brilliant stop motion SFX and effective 3D effects perfectly showcased what movies are capable of and what we can hopefully expect in the future.

On another note the screen writers guild of America got in a pay dispute with their movie distributors this year. Since script writers don’t receive royalties for their content displayed on the internet they ended up going on strike until the problem is resolved. While this will mainly affect TV shows it will also impact the release of new movie scripts. It will therefore be interesting to see whether this development will affect any movies being released in the next year.

1. 28 Weeks Later: Juan Carlos Fresnadillo
2. 300: Zack Synder
3. Beowulf 3D: Robert Zemeckis
4 The Bourne Ultimatum: Paul Greengrass
5. Die Hard 4.0: Len Wiseman
6. Eastern Promises: David Chronenberg
7. Harry Potter :David Yates
8. Hot Fuzz: Edgar Wright
9. The Illusionist: Neil Burger
10. Inland Empire: David Lynch
11.The King Of Kong: Seth Gordon
12. No Land For Old Men: Joel & Ethan Coen
13. Pirates Of The Caribbean: Gore Verbinski
14. The Simpsons: David Silverman
15. Spiderman 3: Sam Raimi
16. Stranger Than Fiction: Mark Forster
17. Sunshine: Danny Boyle
18. Superbad: Greb Mottola
19. Transformers: Michael Bay
20. Zodiac: David Fincher

Before I begin I have to admit that i’m rather biased in this area as I’ve recently brought myself a new Asus eeepc laptop. For those that are unaware it’s basically the smallest and cheapest laptop on the market weighing in just under a 1 Kg and only costing $500. I’m actually writing up this post on my eeepc at the moment and I’ll give a proper review of it in a later post but at the moment I would say that this is my gadget of the year.

Other contenders for this award would have to include everything in the new ipod range (bar the shitty shuffle). In case you’ve been living under a rock for the last year Apple announced their new lineup of ipod products in September. Obviously the biggest product was the iphone which is still set to come out in Australia but the rumours are that it will be released through Telstra. I have seen an imported one in action and must say they look pretty sweet and come close to toppling the Blackberry off it’s podium as being the #1 multimedia phone.

The other major addition in the Apple lineup was the multifunction iTouch, which offers a touch screen (duh) and a WiFi connection that allows you to surf the net and peruse the itunes store. Unfortunately the slow web browser and inclusion of only 16Gb of space probably limits this model from being the definitive ipod model. Apple also updated the classic range (80Gb or 160Gb) and the ipod Nano (4Gb, 8Gb) with new looks and the ability to play videos. As I stated in my review the 80Gb version is definitely a fine gadget if you don’t need WiFi.

This year other tech releases revolved around the world of HD movies. As the Blueray and HD war heated up a whole range of DVD players were release from Pioneer (blue), Toshiba (HD) and Sony (blue).Until a winner is decided its hard to tell which format to choose but thankfully Samsung and LG both offer players that allow playback of both HD and Blueray discs. While must people wont won’t fork out for these expensive players ($900 – ~$1600) the Playstation 3 is the cheapest option on the market with its built in Blueray reader.

A worldwide shortage of PS3 consoles caused an inlflux of ridiculous priced units on eBay (Avrg $1000) and pushed the Australian release date back to March. The initial steep price of $830 (20Gb) or $999 (60Gb) and the lackluster range of release titles ended up making it the lowest selling console in the 3rd quarter period with only ~27k units sold compared to ~40k for the xbox360 and ~6k for the wii . While the PS3′s price has since dropped to $700 it also discarded a couple of USB ports, its memory card reader, it’s ability to play PS2 games and they also stripped back the hard drive to 40Gb. While the PS3 obviously has a lot of ground to make up it will be interesting how it will preform in the coming year.

I also have to briefly mention another couple of gadgets that I know my friends have been getting good milage out. These include the professional snowball microphone which Count Knuckles has been using for the hundredpennies podcast and the Belkin N1 vision 4 port wireless router which gets points for its futuristic innovative display and ipod looking asthetics.

If there’s any other gadgets that have caught your attention send me a comment.

1. Asus: eeePC
2. Apple: iPhone
3. Apple: iTouch
4. Apple: iPod Nano
5. Apple: iPod Classic
6. Playstation 3
7. Samsung: BD-UP5000 HD/Blueray combo drive
8. Blue: Snowball USB microphone
9. Belkin: N1 vision 4 port wireless router

In 2007 only a few new TV shows of note were released (flight of the concords, reaper and californication) but others hit their stride and confirmed their status as cult favorites (30 rock, weeds, top gear, curb your enthusiasm). We were also subjected to the awfully craptacular viva laughlin which took the award for being the shortest running TV show with only 2 episodes aired before it got axed (Even the Mick Molloy show lasted 8 weeks). The phenomenal show Sopranos also bowed out at season 7 with an ending that pissed off a lot of people, while J.J Abrams announced that Lost would conclude with another 3 seasons.

While there wasn’t too much in the way of Australian content the usual suspects of big brother, Australian idol, border security and medical emergency had high ratings while TV sunk to a new low with the national bingo night (when will they learn?). Luckily ABC provided some relief from reality and crap game shows with spicks & specks and the chasers war on everything. They also provided some original content with the satirical hits summer heights high and the librarians. Channel 7 copped a lot of flak for pilfering ABC’s previous success story Kath and Kim but it didn’t deter people from tuning in and making the final episode the most watched comedy show in Australian TV’s history.

This year there were also a few interesting developments in local television as the networks finally caught onto the fact that people prefer to download shows rather than put up with the bullshit ads and interruptions on commercial TV. In retaliation most channels decided to broadcast their shows direct from the US, which meant that we were only about 1 week behind. While Channel 7 was one of the first channels to do this by ‘fast tracking’ shows like Prison Break, Lost and Heroes it wasn’t long before Channel 10 followed suite with the controversial BPM (boobs per minute) show Californication. Channel 9 lost all credibility when they tried to sue the electronic program guide (EPG) company ICE TV for their subscription based service. This attempt was thankfully blocked and serves channel 9 right for not getting off their arses and developing their own EPG (after all SD TV was meant to be obsolete ~3 yrs ago). Hopefully next year thanks to companies like ICE TV it shouldn’t be too long before all Australians are allowed to decide when and how we watch our television.

Below is the list of nominees for Television show of the year. Feel free to tell me which other noteworthy shows you’ve been watching this year and I’ll add them to the list.

1. Californication: Season 1
2. Flight of the concord: Season 1
3. The Librarians: Season 1
4. Summer heights high: Season 1
5. Reaper: Season 1
6. 30 Rock: Season 2
7. Heroes: Season 2
8. I.T Crowd: Season 2
9. Prison Break: Season 2
10. The chaser war on everything: Season 3
11. Lost: Season 3
12. Weeds: Season 3
13. Beauty and the geek: Season 4
14. The Wire: Season 4
15. Curb your enthusiasm: Season 6
16. Scrubs: Season 6
17. Sopranos: Season 7
18. Top Gear: Season 10
19. Amazing Race: Season 12

This year there’s been a lot of talk about the tumultuous state of the music industry and how record sales are rapidly declining due to file-sharing (sounds dirty if you call it illegal downloads) and the ability of bands being able to distribute their music through websites such as myspace. Record companies have recently tried to recuperate their losses by introduce a policy where they will only sign bands that agree to give them a share in their touring and merchandise profits. This could potentially screw over bands struggling to make a living and hopefully this desperate measure will backfire on them.

In retaliation big names like Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails have shaken the music industry by splitting with their major labels and deciding to release their music in a pay as you see fit principle. Hopefully this distribution method will be the way of the future and the big record labels will face the music (pun intended) and realise that their blood sucking days of fucking over bands are numbered.

Thankfully despite all the doom and gloom in the music business there’s still been a lot of great music releases this year. Classic bands such as Bad Religion, Foo Fighters, Jimmy Eat World, Strung Out and Reel Big Fish have shown they’re still capable of kicking it 10 years later, while relative newcomers Bloc Party, Kings Of Leon and A Wilhelm Scream showed they’re more than one hit wonders with their releases.

Against Me! who were previously applauding for their independent releases ended up coping a lot of flak from fans by joining with a studio label on their ‘New Wave’ album, while The Smashing Pumpkins (well 2 of the original members anyway) made a come back with their album ‘Zeitgeist’.

My favorite band The Mad Caddies released their reggae/dixieland style album ‘Keep It Going’ while Thrice released the first two parts (Fire & Water) of a unique 4 part concept album based on the elements.

While local releases were rather scarce (come on Gyroscope, where’s your new album?), Powderfinger, Grinspoon and my new favorite Australian band Horsell Common showed that the Oz music scene is still alive.

Hopefully this rundown of my favorite albums of the year has given you a few ideas and to jog your memory I’ve also included a list of all 2007 releases I have on my ipod below. As people’s choice in music is often more diverse than mine (I love punk), tell me what you’ve been digging this year and I’ll add it to the list.

1. AFI: I heard a voice – Live from long beach
2. Against Me: New Wave
3. Anberlin: Lost Songs
4. Bad Religion: New maps of hell
5. Billy Talent: 666
6. Bloc Party: A weekend in the city
7. Dropkick Murphy’s: The meanest of times
8. Fall Out Boy: Infinity on high
9. Flatliners: The great awakening
10. Foo Fighters: Echoes, patience, silence and grace
11. Grinspoon: Alibies and other lies
12. Horsell Common: The rescue
13. Jimmy Eat World: Chase this light
14. Kings Of Leon: Because of the times
15. The Mad Caddies: Keep it going
16. MxPx: Secret Weapon
17. Nine Inch Nails: Year zero
18. NoFx: They’ve actually gotten worse live
19. Operator Please: Yes Yes Vindictive
20. Powderfinger: Dream days at the hotel existence
21. Queens Of The Stone Age: Era Vulgaris
22. The White Stripes: Icky thump
23. Radiohead: In Rainbows
24. Reel Big Fish: Monkeys for nothing and the chimps for free
25. The Smashing Pumpkins: Zeitgeist
26. Streetlight Manifesto: Somewhere in the between
27. Stung Out: Blackhawks over Los Angeles
28. Sum 41: Underclass hero
29. Thrice: Alchemy index – Fire & Water
30. A Wilhelm Scream: Career Suicide
31. Yellowcard: Paper walls

The last 12 months have been particularly good for live music as I’ve seen more bands than ever before. In fact I was lucky enough to see a couple of bands (Reel Big Fish & Bodyjar) twice in the one year which shows how great Melbourne’s music scene is.

In regards to venues, the Palace nightclub was burned down in suspicious circumstances (it was going to get demolished anyway), the Hi-fi bar became non existent (I didn’t see one band there), while Festival Hall and Rod Laver Arena are still the places to see the big boys play.

This year I was also introduced to Billboards the venue, I fell in love with Rubies Lounge again (in Belgrave where I used to live) and I liked The Corner Hotel as I could drink in the beer garden before the shows. It’s a toss up between which of these three is my favorite venue but I would lean towards Billboards as I saw so many great bands there and since they’ve recently put in video panels and T.V screens it’s likely to be the number 1 place to see gigs in Melbourne.

In the nominees list I’ve included the 19 bands I saw over 13 gigs as well as a few extra shows that other people might have been to. I’ve probably forgotten a few so be sure to leave a comment if I’ve omitted any.

1. Tenacious D @ Festival Hall
2. Bodyjar @ Rubies Lounge
3. NoFx @ The Palace nightclub
4. Dropkick Murphy’s @ The Palace nightclub
5. Flogging Molly @ The Metro nightclub
6. Reel Big Fish @ Billboards the venue
7. Brand New @ Billboards the venue
8. Cobra Starship/ The Academy is @ The Corner Hotel
9. Anberlin @ The Corner Hotel
10. The Draft / Against Me @ The Corner Hotel
11. Something With Numbers / Grinspoon @ The Ferntree Gully Hotel
12. Strung Out / Bad Religion @ Festival Hall
13. Blueline Medic / Bodyjar @ Rubies Lounge
14. The Killers @ Rod Laver Arena
15. Muse @ Rod Laver Arena
16. Streetlight Manifesto / Reel Big Fish / Less Than Jake @ Billboard the venue