I ran out of days to post the best songs of the year, so here finally are the albums that contained all those great songs. I'm very sorry to say the following CD's that I bought this year were actually produced in 2006, so they don't qualify: Luca - Sick of Love; The Postmarks - The Postmarks; The Bird & The Bee - The Bird & The Bee; M. Ward - Post-War
10. Sea Wolf - Leaves in the River
This is another one of those one-man bands. Mostly acoustic-y, mellow stuff. Only takes one listen to fully enjoy it, but stands up to multiple listens, too.
9. Bright Eyes - Cassadaga
I think maybe I graded this a little too low because I'm already taking Conor Oberst's talent for granted. The guy just plain knows how to write songs. They always seem like the simplest, most obvious chord structures and melodies, but somehow no one else can seem to do what he does. This record is a tad too country-fied, but still a great set of songs. And also wins for best CD package, with its supercool invisible writing and decoder.
8. Los Campesinos! - Sticking Fingers Into Sockets
Just an EP, but more energy than any other CD I got this year. OK, they don't seem to be the most refined musicians and singers in the world, but what they don't have in chops, they gain back in trying hard. And they make raw, interesting music that you don't hear much of these days. Look forward to their full-length album coming in early 2008.
7. Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band - Magic
The Boss was back, big time, with the E Street Band on his best CD (in my opinion) since Tunnel of Love. The theme of this record seems to be "George Bush screwed us royally", but it doesn't come off as a preachy folk tirade. Bruce keeps the spirits up within rock frameworks in songs like Radio Nowhere and Girls in their Summer Clothes, so that he can sprinkle in the downers like Long Walk Home and Magic.
6. Fourth of July - Fourth of July on the Plains
This is a completely unknown album/band, which makes me think making it in the music business is 95% luck. This record is full of great songs. They're the drunk cousins to my #1 band Bishop Allen, making great 3-minute pop songs using delicate arrangements and a typical indie-rock vocalist.
5. Band of Horses - Cease to Begin
Something about listening to Band of Horses makes me feel like a hippie. Maybe it's the wispy voice of the lead singer or the jangly guitars. Despite that (and I consider that a bad thing), this is an outstanding album. Their songs carry a great tension and tend to build to a wall of sound that complements, not detracts from, the harmonies.
4. Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings - 100 Days, 100 Nights
Even if this CD had been produced in 1967, back when lots of artists were making top-notch soul music, it would have been a great record. Finding it in 2007, when it's nearly impossible to hear someone recreating that classic brassy soul sound, it's a revelation.
3. Radiohead - In Rainbows
It's Radiohead's most accessible record in years, but it's still innovative and unique. It offers multiple ways to appreciate the music over multiple listenings. Once again, Radiohead have created an album that is greater than the sum of its songs. They evoke a mood better than any band out there. Can't wait for the tour next year.
2. Iron & Wine - The Shepherd's Dog
This will probably go down as my most replayed CD of 2007. The music just grows and grows on you, and you never get sick of it. Iron & Wine always created great melodies and interesting lyrics but certainly suffered from a lack of depth to his 1-man acoustic sound, which caused the songs to grow a little familiar after too many listens. But with this record, he added electric instruments, funky percussion sounds (love the handclaps), and varied rhythms to create a much richer sound.
1. Bishop Allen - The Broken String
Simply because it contains about 5 of the best 10 songs of the year, and was the CD I most wanted to instantly listen to again when I first heard it. These are just great pop songs, expertly produced, with interesting instrumentation and lyrics. If you want to rock, there's Middle Management; if you want to think, there's Flight 180; if you want a camera commerical, there's Click Click Click Click; and if you want a beautiful ballad, there's Butterfly Nets.
The historic regular season concluded today with the Patriots' 16th win of the season against zero losses. On top of that, the Patriots broke their own record for longest regular season winning streak (now at 19) and broke the all-time NFL record for most points scored by a team in one season.
16-0 is truly amazing. Only a true football genius could have predicted such a thing back in week 1.
Note the title of my week 1 post: "Brady to Moss, TD! Get used to it." Well, Tom Brady broke the record for most touchdown passes in a season and Randy Moss broke the record for most touchdown catches in a season, so I think we are all used to it by now.
Now it's time to start breaking all the NFL playoff records (and tie the most important one: 3-0)!
And so I present the full-color, completed New England Patriots UndefeatedWatch 2007:
15-0. Never been done before in the regular season.
On top of that, the Patriots have scored more touchdowns than any team in history. They also tied the all-time record (owned by the '04 Pats) for longest regular season winning streak at 18. And Tom Brady and Randy Moss are each one away from the single-season touchdown records at their respective positions.
And that was all in the first half. (The second half was marred by some pretty lousy offense but still worry-free due to consistently excellent defense.)
Meanwhile, next week's opponent, the Giants, clinched their playoff spot today, so maybe they won't try so hard against us. (Not that I think it really matters.)
Just wrote a long post on these two DVD box sets that came out this fall. Then the browser crashed and I lost it.
So here's the short version. Dr. Katz is one of the funniest shows ever. My So-Called Life is the smartest and most honest high school show ever. Both are now out in complete sets on DVD.
Here's some signature brainy rock by Okkervil River from their album The Stage Names, which I'm seeing on a few Best Album lists this year. (If you go to their Web site now, you can download a free Christmas gift from them, an EP of covers they did.)
I love the way this song grabs you from the very opening power chords and doesn't let go. In fact, it then continues to grab you tighter and tighter for the rest of the song as the sound grows fuller and fuller.
Saw this article on the New York Times Web site.
It's about a popular MIT physics professor (Walter Lewin), whose videotaped lectures have been made freely available on the Internet and are apparently being enjoyed by students across the world.
What is amazing is that Prof. Lewin was my physics professor when I took physics (8.01, for the alumni out there) as a freshman. And when MIT introduced an incredibly rudimentary cable TV system in the dorms (we got about 5 channels), one of the only real shows on the MIT channel was videotaped Lewin lectures. I have this memory that you would turn the TV to that channel and no matter what time of day, there he'd be. Must have been entertaining, because I remember watching him (may have had something to do with the mad scientist hairdo and foreign accent).
Here's an example. After watching this video, I'm not so sure about the entertainment value. (By the way, based on my own experiences, I believe the nonplussed coed at about 4:15 was a plant from MIT admissions division, not a real MIT student.)
I believe I'm on record saying that 60's and 70's soul music is the best music of all time. So what could be better than a band in 2007 playing authentic 1960's soul music, horn section and all?
That band is Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, whose album 100 Days, 100 Nights is easily one of the best of the year. Jones is a great singer, soulful like Aretha and powerful like Mable John, and the Dap-Kings can play either classically smooth soul or a more modern type of funk. You may recognize the sound from the Amy Winehouse songs (like Rehab) of which their meaty bari-sax driven sound was the foundation.
I know hardly anyone watches the Simpsons anymore, which is too bad, because it's still maybe the funniest show on TV. And also maybe the most innovative.
Last night's episode was a weird mind-bender based partly on Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind involving Homer Simpson's lack of memory of the night before and his attempts to piece the day together from memories and parts of memories that he interacted with, etc.
Besides a great Jewish Christmas joke (a bunch of senior citizens are attached to computers that let them relive lost memories... one man dreamily says "Ah, my first Christmas", but in an obviously Jewish old man voice... then follows it up with "Such good Chinese food.") there was an incredible YouTube video spoof.
If you have wasted enough time on YouTube, you have probably come across and enjoyed several videos of people time-lapsing one picture per day of themselves over a period of time. I think they're all pretty cool, and there are also some great spoofs already on YouTube.
Example:
On last night's show, Homer fell off a bridge and saw his life flash before his eyes in this genius minute of animation:
And finally, here's one of the many other hilarious spoofs on YouTube (that also include a lego man picture a day and a Worlds of Warcraft picture a day video):
I don't really care that much about steroids in baseball and I'm sick of hearing about them.
And so, on the eve of the release of the big Mitchell Report, there was only one thing I was hoping for from the report -- that the name of one certain beloved player would not be in it. Sadly, my wish did not come true. Doesn't change how I feel about him.
So I'm dedicating this Best '07 Song, "Fallen Idol" by Imperial Teen from their album The Hair The TV The Baby and The Band, to Mo Vaughn. #42 in your programs, #1 in your hearts. I still love you, Mo.
What can I possibly say about Radiohead that hasn't already been said? Nothing.
While all anyone could talk about was the fact that they put In Rainbows up on their Web site for download and let the user name the price (for the record, I did pay for it), what got a little less pub was the incredible quality of the album. I could have pretty much chosen any one of the songs for Best of '07.
Just going with "House of Cards" in order to put a slow song on the Best list...
