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THE OFFICIAL BEST MUSIC OF 2007 THREAD


scottieking

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Not in any order...

Julie Doiron - Woke myself Up

Mother Mother - Touch Up

Robert Plant and Allison Krauss - Raising Sand

The Cliks - Snakehouse

United Steel Workers of Montreal -

Basia Bulat - Oh my Darling

Art Brut - Its a bit complicated

Gogol Bordello - Super Taranta!

Animal Liberation Orchestra - Roses and Clover

Wilco - Sky Blue Sky

Honourable mention

Dragonette - Galore

Favorite live of 2007

Gillian Welch - Bonnaroo

String Cheese Indident - Hornings Hideout

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Some of my favourite artists (Neil Young, Spades, Ryan Adams, Wilco, Sadies, White Stripes, Springsteen) released work in ‘ 07 and none of it disappointed.

Favourite big venue show – Springsteen @ Scotiabank Place 10/14/07. By this point in the tour, the E-Street band had its A game again and Win and Regine put it over the top.

Favourite club show – Spades @ Zaphods 08/03/07. The setlist was exquisite - so was its delivery. "We've gotta start playing with shittier bands" (Peter Elkas).

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Best New Albums (no particular order)

Radiohead - In Rainbows

The Spades - Let It Grow

Russian Futurists - Our Thickness

Koushik - Be With

Harry Manx & Kevin Breit - In Good We Trust

The Prince Brothers - Cedar Shakes

Wilco - Sky Blue Sky

The Sadies - New Seasons

Favourite Shows

Harry Manx & Kevin Breit - 11/29 Brampton

Harry Manx & Kevin Breit - 11/30 Peterborough

Neil Young - Massey Hall - night #2

The Slackers - Seoul, Korea - 2 shows in Feb or March

Nero - January reunion shows in Ottawa

Tony Scherr Band - October - The Dakota, Toronto

Biggest Live Disappointments

Stones Throw Tour (PB Wolf, Madlib, etc) @ Opera House - November

Cinematic Orchestra @ Phoenix - October?

Ween @ The Docks

Albums That I Listened To The Most in 2007 Besides The Ones Listed Above

Ryan Adams - Jacksonville City Nights

Neil Young - Old Ways

Neil Young - Live At Massey Hall 1971

The Band - Rock Of Ages

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my favourites of '07...

albums:

modest mouse - we were dead before the ship even sank

ryan adams - easy tiger

wilco - sky blue sky

shows:

nero reunion shows

rheostatics farewell shows (esp. the horeshoe)

white stripes at the JLC, London

shout out out out out at hillside

the hold steady at the opera house

ryan adams and the cardinals in montreal

the boss at scotiabank place, ottawa

songs:

missed the boat, modest mouse

antichrist television blues, arcade fire

fans, kings of leon

pearls on a string, ryan adams

face of the earth, joel plaskett

future pt. 1, voxtrot

your party, ween

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none of this is in any order

Best Albums

Band Of Horses – Cease to Begin

Handsome Furs – Plague Park

Modest Mouse – We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank

Wilco – Sky Blue Sky

Spoon – Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga

Explosions in the Sky - All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone

Pinback - Autumn of the Seraphs

Best Songs

André Ethier – Pride of Egypt

Modest Mouse – Spitting Venom (best riff)

Best Shows

Neil Young (acoustic set) – Massey Hall, 11-26

Arcade Fire – Ukrainian Federation, Montréal / Deer Lake, Vancouver / Sasquatch

Eric’s Trip – Barrymore’s

The Sadies / Gord Downie – CBC Fuse

Wolf Parade – Wolfe Island Music Festival

Rheostatics – Horseshoe

Björk – Sasquatch

Disappointments

Missed Bonnaroo

Missed Ryan Adams’ acoustic tour

No My Morning Jacket tour

Sasquatch Festival – organization, weather, scheduling, Beastie Boys

The Weakerthans – Reunion Tour (album)

Missed The Hip at Metropolis and in Upstate NY

Chrome Dreams II

Oink

Favourite Musical Discoveries

Sandro Perri – had always seen him play around, but 2007 saw me delve into his material with gusto and there is gold around a lot of what he touches.

Ghostland Observatory – originally thought (for about 5 minutes) they were annoying at Sasquatch, but after listening more realised I was totally wrong and they were totally awesome.

Interpol’s live show – never liked them until seeing them live. Still not a big fan of the recorded works, but their shows are great. Lights and smoke and drama!

Looking Forward To 2008

Bonnaroo

Constantines album (April)

My Morning Jacket album and shows

Deadly Snakes live farewell album

Wolf Parade album (April)

Maybe more Eric's Trip shows? Or Rick White / Elevator tour perhaps?

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Ok, so here's my Top Ten of 2007. Every year I struggle with this because there are so many good releases out there, and I always discover alot of stuff near the end of the year when the Top Ten lists start coming out. It's hard to not forget about stuff I listened to a year ago, because I'm usually pretty excited about the new stuff I'm listening to. Anyway, this year I tried to put down the 10 albums I listened to and enjoyed the most throughout the year. I also put down a huge list of Honorable Mentions because they're all worth checking out and a bunch of them probably fall in and out of my top ten depending on my mood. Anyway, here it is...

Top Ten Albums:

1. Radiohead - In Rainbows

Favorite band of all time. No question. I've been with them since Pablo Honey and as long as they keep making music like this, I'm happy to stay.

2. Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga

If Radiohead hadn't put out an album this year, this would be No. 1. Every song is unbelievably catchy. I think Spoon have pretty much perfected their sound with this record.

3. Modest Mouse - We Were Dead Before the Ship Even sank

Isaac Brock is an amazing songwriter. I wish I could get inside his head. How many bands still put out albums with 14 songs on them... and not one of them is filler. Brilliant!

4. Joel Plaskett - Ashtray Rock

Best summer/driving/rock record ever. Period. Catchy as hell!

5. Julie Doiron - Woke Myself Up

I'm a sucker for Julie Doiron. She just hits all the right notes with me. And the fact that she's backed by Eric's Trip on this record is just icing on the cake. Girl Pop at it's best. Be sure to catch her live if you get the chance. She's as sincere as they come.

6. New Pornographers - Challengers

AC Newman. Dan Bejar. Neko Case. What more needs to be said? If you're not already a fan, this is as good a time as any to start.

7. Dinosaur Jr - Beyond

Best reunion album ever! Dinosaur Jr picked up right where they left and didn't miss a beat. This album brings me back to the 90s like no other. J Mascis has got one of the best guitar sounds ever. This album gets weekly rotation while I'm sitting at my desk wishing I was somewhere else. Just the right amount of angst to take me away.

8. Arcade Fire - Neon Bible

These guys deserve all the praise they've gotten. See them live and you'll know what I mean. It was one of the most memorable live experiences of my life. They've got a youthful energy about their music that I find very refreshing.

9. Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam

I'm not really sure how to describe this album. I've been listening to and enjoying the Animal Collective for a few years now but haven't really understood their other albums like I do with this one. Maybe it's because the songs are more melodic here, but they seem to be taking their music in new directions, and that new path is very clear to me. Panda Bear's (a.k.a. Noah Lennox) solo album is worthy of a mention here too because he's one of the band members and has made a very, very solid record this year as well. It's called Person Pitch and is generally ranked higher on critics' Top Ten lists than the AC. There are a few tracks on there that I think are brilliant but I think "Strawberry Jam" is stronger as a whole. Avey Tare (the other primary writer in AC) also put out an album with his wife that was very intersting, however, I think that this is one case where the sum is greater than the parts.

10. Frog Eyes - Tears of the Valedictorian

This album's probably not for everyone, and it takes some effort to uncover the beauty in some of these songs, but I definitely feel it's worth the investment. Listen to "Bushels" and tell me this isn't one of the most exciting canadian bands making music today. Wow! I just realised as I was writing this that 5 of my 10 favorite releases of the year were from

canadian artists. That's pretty wicked... Whoever said canadian artists were second-tier was full of shit. This list (and many others out there) are proof that canada has got some great talent.

Top EP that I wish was a full length:

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Is Is EP

Honorable Mentions:

M.I.A. - Kala

Okkervil River - The Stage Names

Fiery Furnaces - Widow City

Bright Eyes - Cassadaga

Bill Calahan - Woke on a Whale Heart

Feist - The Reminder

Amy Winehouse - Back in Black

John Vanderslice - Emerald City

The Weakerthans - Reunion Tour

akron/family - love is simple

Iron and Wine - The Shepard's Dog

Les Savy Fav - Let's Stay Friends

Beirut - The Flying Club Cup

Andrew Bird - Armchair Apocrypha

Panda Bear - Person Pitch

Ryan Adams - Easy Tiger

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Some Loud Thunder

Good Life - Help Wanted Nights

Wilco - Sky Blue Sky

Pinback - Autumn of the Seraphs

Peter Elkas - Wall of Fire

The Besnard Lakes - Are the Dark Horse

Buck 65 - Situation

Rocky votolato - The Bragg and Cuss

Castanets - In the Vines

Ben Davis & the Jetts / Des Ark - Battle of the Beards

The Frames - The Cost

Against Me! - New Wave

Willy Mason - If the Ocean Gets Rough

Minus the Bear - Planet of Ice

Ted Leo - Living with the Living

Travis Morrison - All Y'All

Rilo Kiley - Under the Blacklights

Bloc Party - A Weekend in the City

Sunset Rubdown - Random Spirit Lover

Two Gallants - Two Gallants

Rufus Wainwright - Release the Stars

Handsome Furs - Plague Park

Tori Amos - American Doll Posse

Cake - B-Sides and Rarities

The Acorn - Glory Hope Mountain

Bands I like but haven't listened to their new albums yet (what can I say, I can't buy everything and I refuse to download so, I have to draw the line somewhere...):

Cuff the Duke - Sidelines of the City

Great Lake Swimmers - Ongiara

Chuck Ragan – Feast or Famine

and many, many others...

Artist I missed the most in 2007:

Jim Guthrie

Please come back... please!

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Randy's list made me think of this (even though Eric's Trip are only on a few songs on Woke Myself Up - but a few are better than none!)

Here's an excerpt from the Ottawa Xpress' ' Best Concerts of 2007', followed by my response.

Julie Doiron (Barrymore's, Oct. 5) Fresh off her fabulous stint at the Polaris music awards, Doiron ran through her sweet and fragile solo album before joining old friends Eric's Trip in a thrilling reunion of East Coast punk pop, showing why she really is Canada's premier rock chick.

I know Sean was there, anyone else? If so, it should be obvious that the above reviewer (John Sekerka) was definitely not there...

Nice to see you recognize Julie Doiron's new album. And interesting to see that you picked her as one of your top concerts of the year. Problem is, she didn't play any of her material at the Eric's Trip show you cite. She and Dick Morello played a few songs by their new band, Blue Heeler. Doiron plays drums in this band and the songs are written by Morello. So while it's a nice sentiment that she "ran through her sweet and fragile solo album," it's completely untrue. Were you even there? You made this review up, and then picked the set that didn't happen as a "best of the year." That's ridiculous.

The Eric's Trip set that night was definitely one of Ottawa's best shows of the year. How can you overlook that?

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