Spotted this in the Guardian here.
This has been a staggering year for freebie Flash games. If, for example, you miss out on Valve's Orange Box collection, which includes the brilliant mind-bending puzzler Portal, check out Portal: The Flash Version (tinyurl.com/2u6m2j) - a lovely 2D take on the game by two indie coders. If it's shooting action you're lacking, try The Last Stand (tinyurl.com/2mjwxy), a relentless zombie blaster with decent visuals and a generous stocking-full of deadly weapons. Even music games like Guitar Hero have their browser equivalents. Super Crazy Guitar Maniac Deluxe 2 (tinyurl.com/2crol8) is a keyboard-based rhythm action romp with 14 songs and a huge online following.
The Flash scene has also propagated its own fads and genres, often based around gameplay found in larger retail releases. This year saw dozens of "tower defence" titles, in which the player protects a citadel from encroaching invaders. This would be a mere snippet of a major real-time strategy title such as Warcraft, but in the Flash realm, coders have modified the idea into a style in its own right. My favourite is Onslaught (onslaught.playr.co.uk).
Elsewhere, one of last year's big Flash titles, Line Rider - a snowy level design challenge in which you drew ski slopes then let a physics-enhanced sledge plummet down them - has started a new craze for sandbox experiences. Free Rider is an utterly enthralling BMX version where you design a track then race along it collecting stars. An even better sequel has just been released, and can be found at tinyurl.com/2u4knu.
The visually accomplished Stackopolis, where you place blocks on an isometric grid according to an increasingly complicated blueprint, is much more fun than it sounds. I also love another physics-based challenge, Ramps (tinyurl.com/2vvnu9). If none of these do it for you, check out aggregation sites like Newgrounds.com and Kongregate.com, or play any of Ferry Halim's beautiful relaxing experiences on ferryhalim.com/orisinal.
This album blew me away when I heard it early in the year. Think Iron & Wine, but with the murmurs of early R.E.M. Great banjo playing, hushed lyrics leading to some almighty cacophonies. One I constantly return to.
Another day, another Ryan Adams release. Of course he's prolific but this isn't quite an album, but at 8 songs long, it's not missing much. To coincide with the UK tour this EP is released as a stand-alone version and as a bonus on a limited edition version of Easy Tiger. 
“Many Rivers”, the opening track on the Manchester singer-songwriter’s second full length album, has a riff so similar to Nick Drake’s “Which Will” that it comes something as a surprise not to hear his voice singing out. Briscoe has a much lower, gruffer voice than Drake, but his ghost haunts every inch of the album. Briscoe is just as skilled as Drake at the acoustic guitar and sometimes matches him for verse. “Portrait of England” is a beautiful Larkin like reverie and “Just Drifting” is a charming song of beautiful simplicity. Colours Will Fly breaks no ground, but if you want another Nick Drake album, this could be your answer. 
Dylan Donkin may have been named after Bob, but that doesn’t mean he took his mantle. Instead the Californian rebelled against his parents’ folk sensibilities and joined a band; a metal band. That band was Echobrain featuring Metallica’s then bassist Jason Newstead. Following lawsuits and MTV glare, the band dissolved and Dylan fled to Hawaii. There he found the sunshine and rediscovered a gentler kind of song writing. This mini-album is his first solo release. The reverb on the vocals and feel of the album is similar to My Morning Jacket, with some Grandaddy and Street Spirit era Radiohead thrown in. In fact “The Commonaut” is like “Pyramid Song” while “Yolk” could be Nirvana unplugged. It’s early days now, but Dylan Donkin is showing promising signs of being a creative talent. 
You’ve probably have heard Ben Lee before. His music has saturated numerous adverts, movies and the TV show “Grey’s Anatomy”, not to mention a live performance at the closing ceremony of the 2006 Commonwealth Games. 
1. Everybody Knows 
Koko, London
