The 2010 Krampus List

Last week I was asked by my local paper, the Missoulian, to come up with a "best of" list for 2010...so I sort of did my own little twist.   In Xmas's past I've written about Krampus (click here to read my past post), the nasty little sidekick of Santa who dishes out coal and spankings, so I decided to do a Krampus List.   

Here's what I came up with:

A Krampus list

By Michael DeMeng, Missoula artist and art educator

Those of you who know me or my art are probably aware that I tend to like things on the shadier side of the street. Because of this, I decided to put together a more shadowy "Best of 2010" list. So, in honor of Santa's sinister sidekick - the diabolical looking guy who is responsible for the coal in the stockings - I present my Krampus List:

1. Best Album: "Dark Night of the Soul" by Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse. 

This is a freaky little album, nicely dark and demented with lots of cameos from the likes of Iggy Pop, Flaming Lips and David Lynch - yes, David Lynch. When you download the album off of iTunes you get a multimedia experience from Lynch. "Lost Highway"-esque photographs and mini films for each song. Weird stuff ... as you would expect.

2. Best Toy: Play-Doh Dr. Drill and Fill. 

Well, you guessed it. A Play-Doh dental kit and best yet, it comes with an electric drill. So next time the kids want to impersonate Lawrence Olivier in the film "Marathon Man," they will be ready.

3. Best Book: "Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk: A Modest Bestiary," by David Sedaris. 

I love listening to the audio book of Sedaris' "Holidays on Ice." A must for the cynical at heart. Here is a slightly twisted version of Aesop, if you're looking for something on the Grimm side.

4. Best App: Imut8er. 

I downloaded this for Halloween. Take a photo of a subject and transform their face into vampires, ghouls, zombies, etc. You want Uncle Larry to have piranha teeth and horns? You can do it. How about a powdered wig and a snout nose? Yep!

5. Best Art Exhibit: Tim Burton at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. 

There are lots of exhibits of great artists, but when you're putting together the Krampus List, how could the creator of "Beetlejuice" and "Edward Scissorhands" be denied? This was a collection of his sketches, paintings, polaroids and more. An amazing insight to a very twisted vision.

6. Best TV show: "The Walking Dead." 

Admittedly, I am vampire biased, so how could I deny "True Blood" the honors? However, zombies are back in fashion, and the "Walking Dead" is pretty phenomenal. There is evidence that zombie and vampire trends follow economic trends. Vampires for recessions, and zombies for boom times. Personally, I'm tired of the recession, so I'm giving the prize to "The Walking Dead."

7. Best Horror movie: "Human Centipede." Yikes! Really???!!!!!

2010 sucked when it came to horror movies. I almost chose the remake of the "Wolfman" for nostalgic reasons, or because Benicio del Toro did an amazing job replicating the bad acting of Lon Chaney Jr. in the original. Instead I'm giving it to "Human Centipede." Not because it is a good movie (which it is not) but because it is the yuckiest, grossest, ickiest concept for a movie, ever. You can look up the trailer on YouTube, but get the kids out of the room. It will scare the crap out of you.

Well there is my list...if you're interested in some of the other 2010 Best of 2010 lists (which includes a list from Pearl Jam's Jeff Ament) you can go here: http://missoulian.com/entertainment/music/article_f2b99468-0f29-11e0-8db8-001cc4c03286.html

Merry Xmas and Gruss von Krampus

M