More retrospectives, huzzah.
Merry Christmas, journal friends! My gift to you all is as follows.
Sitting here, all cozy and be-comfortered on a couch here in an Oregon home, firmly in the process of being snowed in by oodles and oodles of powder, I thought: what better way to ring in the new year than with a song exchange? No better way, that's what.
Seeing as it's that time of year when everyone does their obligatory retrospective lists, I figure I'll work this baby thisah way: I post the opening track--not necessarily the best one, but the opening one--of my favorite 2007 albums, and you...uh, download them? Hope you enjoy, and that these inspire you to check out some new music. As the needy addict that I am, too, I'd love to hear your recs for 2007 gems. I know I'm missing a lot--according to Pitchfork, I'm missing Battles and Okkervil River and Liar and No Age and Kanye and a whole crapton of others. But, man, a person can only get so far without a full writing staff at her disposal. Besides, they don't even MENTION St. Vincent or Sunset Rubdown, so screw 'em. Excuses, excuses.
Alphabetical.
"100 Days, 100 Nights," from the album of the same name; Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings. These fine folks played at our school at the beginning of the year. Jealous? Yeah, I thought so. Unfortunately, the only tracks I have of Her Highness are DRMified, so you'll have to make do with this stream from Pitchfork of the album's "I'm Not Gonna Cry." Sadface, but not that sad.
"15 Step," from In Rainbows; Radiohead.
"Bamboo Banga," from Kala; M.I.A.
"Black Mirror," from Neon Bible; Arcade Fire.
"Comfy in Nautica," from the album Person Pitch; Panda Bear, aka Noah Lennox of Animal Collective.
"Don't Make Me a Target," from Spoon's best album yet, Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga.
"Fake Empire," from Boxer; The National.
“Fiery Crash,” from Armchair Apocrypha; Andrew Bird.
“Flume,” from For Emma, Forever Ago; Bon Iver
“Hit the Heartbreaks,” from the Wizard of Ahhs EP; Black Kids.
“Icky Thump,” from the album of the same name; The White Stripes.
"I'm Not There," from the I'm Not There OST; Various artists covering Bob Dylan. This particular sampling is from Sonic Youth and, I admit to fudging here--this is the one track on this list that is not an opening track. Still, it IS #2, and it was too close to #1 to resist. This entire album owns my soul, except for the Sufjan Stevens and Jack Johnson tracks. Sorry, but those two just kinda sucked. SS, in particular, is now banned for life from Dylan covers.
"Intro" and "Cryptograms," from Cryptograms; Deerhunter.
“Melody Day," from Andorra; Caribou.
"Nantes," from Flying Club Cup; Beirut.
"Now, Now," from Marry Me; St. Vincent, aka the solo debut of Annie Clark.
"Peacebone," from Strawberry Jam; Animal Collective. This album was kinda a grower for me, as is all of Animal Collective, kinda. Not to be cliché, but these guys are weird. Give 'em a shot anyway.
"Suffer For Fashion," from Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?; Of Montreal.
"The Mending of the Gown," from Random Spirit Lover; Sunset Rubdown.
"The Perfect Me," from Friend Opportunity; Deerhoof.
"What I See," from Rise Above; The Dirty Projectors.
Sitting here, all cozy and be-comfortered on a couch here in an Oregon home, firmly in the process of being snowed in by oodles and oodles of powder, I thought: what better way to ring in the new year than with a song exchange? No better way, that's what.
Seeing as it's that time of year when everyone does their obligatory retrospective lists, I figure I'll work this baby thisah way: I post the opening track--not necessarily the best one, but the opening one--of my favorite 2007 albums, and you...uh, download them? Hope you enjoy, and that these inspire you to check out some new music. As the needy addict that I am, too, I'd love to hear your recs for 2007 gems. I know I'm missing a lot--according to Pitchfork, I'm missing Battles and Okkervil River and Liar and No Age and Kanye and a whole crapton of others. But, man, a person can only get so far without a full writing staff at her disposal. Besides, they don't even MENTION St. Vincent or Sunset Rubdown, so screw 'em. Excuses, excuses.
Alphabetical.
"100 Days, 100 Nights," from the album of the same name; Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings. These fine folks played at our school at the beginning of the year. Jealous? Yeah, I thought so. Unfortunately, the only tracks I have of Her Highness are DRMified, so you'll have to make do with this stream from Pitchfork of the album's "I'm Not Gonna Cry." Sadface, but not that sad.
"15 Step," from In Rainbows; Radiohead.
"Bamboo Banga," from Kala; M.I.A.
"Black Mirror," from Neon Bible; Arcade Fire.
"Comfy in Nautica," from the album Person Pitch; Panda Bear, aka Noah Lennox of Animal Collective.
"Don't Make Me a Target," from Spoon's best album yet, Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga.
"Fake Empire," from Boxer; The National.
“Fiery Crash,” from Armchair Apocrypha; Andrew Bird.
“Flume,” from For Emma, Forever Ago; Bon Iver
“Hit the Heartbreaks,” from the Wizard of Ahhs EP; Black Kids.
“Icky Thump,” from the album of the same name; The White Stripes.
"I'm Not There," from the I'm Not There OST; Various artists covering Bob Dylan. This particular sampling is from Sonic Youth and, I admit to fudging here--this is the one track on this list that is not an opening track. Still, it IS #2, and it was too close to #1 to resist. This entire album owns my soul, except for the Sufjan Stevens and Jack Johnson tracks. Sorry, but those two just kinda sucked. SS, in particular, is now banned for life from Dylan covers.
"Intro" and "Cryptograms," from Cryptograms; Deerhunter.
“Melody Day," from Andorra; Caribou.
"Nantes," from Flying Club Cup; Beirut.
"Now, Now," from Marry Me; St. Vincent, aka the solo debut of Annie Clark.
"Peacebone," from Strawberry Jam; Animal Collective. This album was kinda a grower for me, as is all of Animal Collective, kinda. Not to be cliché, but these guys are weird. Give 'em a shot anyway.
"Suffer For Fashion," from Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?; Of Montreal.
"The Mending of the Gown," from Random Spirit Lover; Sunset Rubdown.
"The Perfect Me," from Friend Opportunity; Deerhoof.
"What I See," from Rise Above; The Dirty Projectors.