I kind of missed the boat on this particular theme but, inspired by Northernights’ Manchester blog end-of-year round-up, I’ve decided to waste most of this Sunday afternoon by putting together my favourite albums of 2007:

1. Panda Bear - Person Pitch (Paw Tracks)
The universally acclaimed album of 2007, from what is technically just a side project of Noah Lennox from Animal Collective. It’s crammed full of reverberating fuzziness, self harmonies and more samples than should be healthy. People are comparing it to Pet Sounds - which does Person Pitch a disservice - Buy here

2. Pinback - Autumn of the Seraphs (Touch & Go)
Now almost ten years old, San Diego’s Pinback are only just beginning to get the attention they deserve. This album – like their others – is in essence heavy math rock… so it’s surprising how many glamorous indie kids were down the front when they played at the Roadhouse in November. If you like shouty pop songs but dislike emo, Pinback may be your missing link - Buy here

3. Herman Dune - Giant (Source)
Despite losing one-third of their membership, Swedish-French band Herman Dune have produced their most memorable album to date. I’ve often found myself whistling the lead track, I Wish I Could See You Soon, and Take Him Back to New York – probably much to the annoyance of whoever I’m sat next to on the bus - Buy here

4. Andrew Bird - Armchair Apocrypha (Fargo)
‘Professional whistler’ Andrew Bird is another artist who finally seems to be breaking through. Two gigs at Academy 3 this year have surely helped, as anyone attended no doubt ranted to ten friends about his bewildering live show. On record, the Texan is no less impressive – and Armchair Apocrypha is crammed full of witty, classic songwriting - Buy here

5. Jens Lekman - Night Falls over Kortedala (Secretly Canadian)
Lekman’s first fully realised album is rightly being played everywhere – from Manchester indie discos to H&M on a Saturday afternoon. I think his compilation Oh You’re So Silent Jens is the best long player he’s released, but there are still some gems on here: The Opposite of Hallelujah, A Postcard to Nina and Friday Night at the Drive-in Bingo, for example - Buy here

6. Sunset Rubdown - Shut Up I Am Dreaming (Rough Trade)
An as-yet undiscovered classic from Spencer Krug of Montreal’s Wolf Parade. They’re touring in May - Buy here

7. Beirut - The Flying Cup (4AD)
Not quite as good as Zach Condon’s debut, Gulag Orkestar, but there are some breathtaking tracks on this French-inspired follow-up - Buy here

8. Menomena - Friend and Foe (City Slang)
Portland’s Menomena (pronounced like the Muppet Show song) take the all-singing, all-dancing spirit of the Flaming Lips and run with it - Buy here

9. Malcolm Middleton - A Brighter Beat (Full Time Hobby)
A surprisingly upbeat (hence the name) third album from Falkirk’s finest misery meister, and former guitarist in Arab Strap - Buy here

10. Akron/Family - Love is Simple (Young God)
A veritable party album from the New York folk collective. Be sure to catch them live if you ever get the chance - Buy here

And here are a bunch of honourable mentions…

• Low - Drums and Guns (Sub Pop) - Buy here
• Efterklang - Parades (The Leaf Label) - Buy here
• Bill Callahan - Woke up on a Whaleheart (Drag City) - Buy here
• The Twlight Sad - Fourteen Autumns and Fifteen Winters (Fat Cat) - Buy here
• Frightened Rabbit - Sing the Greys (Fat Cat) - Buy here
• Ulrich Schnauss - Goodbye (Independiente) - Buy here
• Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam (Domino) - Buy here
• Amiina - Kurr (Ever) - Buy here

And here’s my 2006 list, for comparison. The stalkers among you can also see what I’m currently listening to on Last.fm.

Yup, it’s all happening in Manchester right now so here’s another link-dump…

On top of all the current Urban Screens activity - including the aforementioned A Wall is a Screen tonight - there’s also a short film night happening at Islington Mill tonight. Future Shorts features work from Poland, France, Denmark, Japan, USA, Australia and UK. It runs from 7.30pm and carries on until 2am thanks to a link-up with art club night Subtefuge, which promises ‘pyscho goulash’ from Hungarian trio Agoskodo Teliverek.

Next, if you thought Manchester International Festival was an over-hyped waste of money, look away. If not, you might consider voting for it in the UK Festival Awards 2007. MIF is up for both Best New Festival and the Innovation Award - and the only negative is that you have to register before voting.

Staying on the MIF tip, The Pianist - one of my highlights of the programme - is being broadcast on Radio 4 next Saturday, 20 October, from 2.30pm. More details here, or read my review-of-sorts here.

Also, something called mashup* Manchester takes place in Sale next Friday. It’s an event for those involved with ‘personal digital identity, social networking, Web 3.0 and TV 2.0′, which will probably mean diddly-squat to most of us. For the rest – or for those who just can’t get enough of networking – check out the mashup* website for more details.

I also want to mention New to Manchester, a blog by Tom. I’m embarassed to admit it’s taken me six months to discover it, but now that I have I’d say it’s one of the best new(ish) blogs I’ve read in a while - check out his guide to scamming Globe takeaway in West Didsbury, for example. Consider yourself blogrolled Tom.

And a quick mention for the ominously-titled The Leader’s Blog too. It’s written by Sir Richard Leese, Labour councillor for Crumpsall and leader of Manchester City Council. He got off to a flying start last month but has gone a little quiet lately. Hopefully the novelty didn’t wear off in little over a fortnight?

So Mancubist scooped the Best Arts and Culture Blog award at last night’s Manchester Blog Awards. Many thanks again to those who nominated it - I know who (some of) you are - and special thanks to Kate for organising this and just about every related event in Manchester.

The night itself was fun: I arrived to catch the very end of fellow winner Days of Moustaches‘ reading, which by all accounts went down very well, and The Free Man in Preston impressed me with his last-minute performance.

After receiving the award, one of the judges, Richard Fair of the BBC Manchester Blog, cornered me for a quickfire interview, which was a strange experience - normally I’m on the other side of the microphone. Luckily my quotes are just being used on the blog (I hope…).

All in all a great evening – and very well attended too. Here’s a list of this year’s other winners:

Best Personal Blog: Single Mother on the Verge

Best New Blog: Rent Girl

Best Political Blog: Politaholic

Best Writing on a Blog: Day of Moustaches

I’m going to use this rare moment online to dump information about some news and events I’ve recently discovered:

BBC 6 Music reports that Manchester City Council is considering a proposal to rename Whitworth Street West (home to Green Room, Rainbow Snooker Club and the Brickhouse nightclub) in honour of the late Tony Wilson. Two-thirds of residents will have to approve the name change to either Tony Wilson Way or Anthony H Wilson Way - I personally prefer the latter.

Tomorrow, Wednesday, is of course the date of the Manchester Blog Awards 2007 - for which Mancubist is nominated in the arts and culture category. Remember, the venue has now changed from MohoLive (which now opens in late November) to Matt & Phreds, also on Tib Street. The city’s music bloggers will be DJing (or MP3ing…) and blogger-cum-published-writer Caroline Smailes will be doing a reading. It’s free and starts at 7pm.

Also happening tomorrow is a low-key media event called MELD. It aims to generate ideas by ‘melding the skills of Northern Journalists and Interactive Designers’. The long-term goal is to pitch ideas by 20 of the region’s hacks and geeks to ‘major industry players’. The project’s Manchester launch event takes place in Selfridge’s Moet Bar from 6pm. If you think you fit the bill email info@just-b.com.

And finally, another lovely (lapsed) blogger called Kate tipped me off about a free event happening on Friday. A Wall is a Screen is ‘part guided tour, part film night’ and invites the public to view nine short films projected on buildings across seven secret city centre locations. It’s part of Manchester Urban Screens (11-14 October, check out their other events) and begins at 9pm outside Kro Piccadilly.

See you at some or all of the above…

Blimey… a Guardian mention one month and a nomination for this year’s Manchester Blog Awards the next. Maybe I should be too busy to blog more often. Or maybe not.

Anyway, thanks to whichever of you deluded people voted for Mancubist again. I’m really very honoured - and hopefully it’ll be the virtual kick up the arse that I need to start posting more irrelevant nonsense about this fair city.

And while I’m here, just a friendly reminder that (the very busy) Kate/Manchizzle and (slightly less busy) I are doing a blogging workshop (blogshop?) on Saturday 29 September.

Places are strictly limited (10) and tickets are a paltry �2 (hopefully that doesn’t reflect our worth), and you get to look at a very large picture of Kate while you book. Mine must have been lost in the post…