The George Lite Zone

Riddle me this. It amazes me that the British government currently jumping up and down over the execution of a Briton with alleged mental health problems in China, are the same jokers who didn't lift a finger over the extradition of hacker Gary McKinnon to the US regardless of his.... mental health problems. McKinnon is possibly facing 60 years in an American jail, which with his medical condition is a possible death sentence, a fact conveniently ignored, by Gordon Brown and his toadies in the foreign office, so they can maintain their 'special' relationship with Uncle Sam. Ironic isn't it. A dark night in the annals of British diplomacy.

The Lunar Tiki's Leo, A Santa Fit To Deliver My 12 Discs Of Christmas 2009 has been a great year for music, the year that the avant garde broke into the mainstream with bands like Animal Collective, The Dirty Projectors and Grizzly Bear riding high in the charts. Live highlights for me included the Dodo's in Antwerp (far better than their Brussels show), Melody Gardot, The Dirty Projectors and a magical performance from Grizzly Bear ably supported by St Vincent. Not to forget Belgium's own Madensuyu, who's hypnotic drum and guitar playing carried me off on a wave of musical bliss on three separate occasions. And so, without further ado, here, for what it's worth, is my pick of the musical crop from this exceptional year. 1. The Phantom Band - Checkmate Savage 2. Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion 3. The Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca 4. Grizzly Bear - Veckatimest It's Blitz! 6. St Vincent - Actor 7. Andrew Bird - Noble Beast 8. The Decemberists - The