2007 in music. • Page 4

The suspense of what your #1 will be is almost too much to bear

 

1. Radiohead - In Rainbows
2. Arctic Monkeys - Favourite Worst Nightmare
3. MGMT - Oracular Spectacular
——————-
4. Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
5. Kanye West - Graduation
6. Fall Out Boy - Infinity on High
7. Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
8. Paramore - Riot
9. The National - Boxer
10. St Vincent - Marry Me

 

Oh shut up, lol

 

Popping up on a few lists and new to me is Colours by Between the Buried and Me, which I was a bit iffy on. When it's heavy, it feels really boring, just generic kind of metalcore that sounds like 1001 other bands. When it's not being heavy, or more specifically, when it's stitching the heavier stuff with the lighter stuff, it's much more interesting, blending a bunch of different genres together.

I did feel that the two styles were mostly disparate though, and it never managed to be heavy and interesting for me, the two were mutually exclusive - when it was heavy it was boring, when it wasn't, it was quite cool.

 

1. Matt Nathanson - Some Mad Hope
2. Jimmy Eat World - Chase This Light
3. Cary Brothers - Who You Are


Some Mad Hope is one of those albums from this era that just means the world to me. Got me through a really tumultuous time in my life. For Matt, it was a “near divorce album,” and the songs really wrestle with some complex, nuanced emotions in a way that he sketches out so frankly and candidly in the songs. What I wrote about it for the 10-year is one of the 10 best things I've ever written: Matt Nathanson – Some Mad Hope

Chase This Light was the album I listened to most that year. I remember just playing the absolute shit out of it that fall, and it’s tied to a lot of the same memories that Some Mad Hope is. These days, it’s probably my fourth favorite Jimmy Eat World album (I’m not in love with the mid-section, which takes it down a peg or two), but I love hearing them play with a poppier, glossier sound, and “Dizzy” might just be their greatest accomplishment as a band.

Who You Are is such a rich, beautiful pop album. Brothers really tapped into that post-Coldplay sonic template, but he did it with a level of intimacy that I don’t think you got from a lot of those mid-2000s copycat bands. There’s an emotional warmth to this album that I’ve always felt to be extremely comforting.

Excruciating cuts:

Motion City Soundtrack - Even If It Kills Me: My favorite MCS album. Similar to Chase This Light, these guys went full-on power pop, with an incredible production tag team of Ric Ocasek and Adam Schlesinger (double RIP). The title track is one of those big goosebump-inducing finales from this era of the scene.

The National – Boxer: I’ve really come to love this one over the years. It used to be, like, my fourth favorite National album, and barely top 10 for this year. Now, it’s pretty handily the album of theirs I’d call the masterpiece. “Apartment Story” and “Start a War” is one of those mythically great 1-2 punches.

Jon McLaughlin – Indiana: Should have been a breakout mainstream success on the level of Room for Squares. McLaughlin had such a knack for big, shiny hooks wrapped in smart lyricism, and he was a killer piano player as well. I’d recommend this to anyone who loves Andrew McMahon.

Will Hoge - Draw the Curtains: There was a time in my life when this was one of my favorite records. For whatever reason, I haven’t gone back to it much in the past 4-5 years as I did in the late 2000s and early 2010s. But man, Hoge could write a breakup ballad. Some absolutely epic heartbreakers on this album.

Jesse Malin - Glitter in the Gutter: My favorite Malin record, wherein the former punk frontman makes big-sounding power pop songs with assists from Jakob Dylan, Josh Homme, Chris Shiflett, and The Boss himself (who lends a rare feature to the lovely “Broken Radio”).

Also really love:

Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova - Once OST: Goddamn, I remember hearing “Falling Slowly” for the first time and being absolutely floored. Few things will ever move me like hearing Glen Hansard wail at the top of his lungs.

Bruce Springsteen – Magic: Late-period Springsteen at his brightest, his most anthemic, and his most nostalgic. I love how it’s basically split down the middle between this extremely sunny first half and this super dark, political second half.

Moses Mayfield - The Inside: This band never really got noticed, but there are half a dozen perfect songs on this record that I still put on playlists to this day. Check out “Element” and “Keep My Distance”

Matchbox Twenty - Exile on Mainstream: I remember being SO psyched to hear new music from this band back in 2007, even if it was just an EP's worth of new material. I love that, with the recent vinyl boxset, they retconned this as a full record.

Iron & Wine - The Shepherd’s Dog: Sam Beam starts to lose me as he builds up his band and jettisons some of the whisper-sweet intimacy of his early records. But this album is the perfect balancing point, expanding the sonic palette and the range of influences without losing what made Iron & Wine so special.

Emerson Hart - Cigarettes & Gasoline: A really strong solo record from the guy who fronted Tonic. Some thoughtful, melodically rich songs about his father’s passing.

Yellowcard - Paper Walls: I’ve never quite ascribed to the “this is their best album” opinion (it’s probably fifth for me, at most) but I still have a lot of love for it.

Sara Bareilles - Little Voice: I always felt like this one was almost a companion to Some Mad Hope. One big hit, and then a lot of charisma and a lot of beautiful melodies hiding some pretty heavy emotional weight. Really hoping to snag a vinyl copy of this on RSD this spring.

Honorables:

Jason Isbell - Sirens of the Ditch: Isbell would take a few more years to reach his full potential as a songwriter and album maker, but it was still so clear from this solo debut that he had the goods – especially on “Dress Blues.”

Foo Fighters - Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace: Been listening to a lot of Foos this week, for obvious reasons. I think this album is one of their most underrated, especially the really classic-singer-songwriter-leaning back half.

Kanye West – Graduation: Kanye at his poppiest and catchiest. A few big duds, but the good songs more than make up for them.

Radiohead - In Rainbows: Some days, my favorite Radiohead album. I still vividly remember punching in a pay-what-you-want price and downloading this one on release day. That whole release had so much novelty at the time.

Ingrid Michaelson - Girls and Boys: The five-album run from this record to It Doesn’t Have to Make Sense is sneakily one of the most consistent runs of the 2000s and 2010s.

Arcade Fire - Neon Bible: Some of my very favorite Arcade Fire songs on this one (“Keep the Car Running,” “My Body Is a Cage”) even if it’s a pretty distant third on my ranking of their albums.

Paramore - Riot!: My favorite Paramore record. They were really knocking it out of the park, hook-wise, on this album. “Misery Business” hasn’t aged well, but I still adore “When It Rains” and “Hallelujah.”

Black Lab - Passion Leaves a Trace: “Mine Again” and “Weightless” are two of my favorite songs of all time, and no one ever talks about them.

Grace Potter & The Nocturnals - This Is Somewhere: “Apologies” is a pantheon-tier classic from this era. Love that song so much.

Missy Higgins - On a Clear Night: Speaking of pantheon songs from this era, “Where I Stood” should have been a massive, massive hit. Just an unbelievably great song.

Anberlin – Cities: A little samey (which tends to be a problem on Anberlin records for me) but with some absolutely towering high points (“Cable Car,” “Dismantle.Repair,” “Fin”).

Sherwood - A Different Light: These guys really knew their way around a melody. "I'm Asking Her to Stay" is one of the all-time great "scene" closers.

Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga: Spoon were always effortlessly cool. This is one of my favorite records of theirs -- just catchy, swaggering goodness.

William Fitzsimmons - Goodnight: So, so gorgeous. If you haven't heard this record, just listen to "It's Not True."

The Dangerous Summer - If You Could Only Keep Me Alive: They don't really transcend for me until their full-length debut, but this EP showed off a lot of potential, especially with "The Permanent Rain" and "I Would Stay."

Jackson Waters - Come Undone: I think these guys are technically Christian rock (?), but they really had a knack for writing hooky, bombastic songs (“Center of Attention,” “Ready to Find Love,” “Different”). Not sure what happened to them.

Josh Ritter - The Historical Conquests…: I viewed this one as a pretty sizable step down from The Animal Years for a long time. I’ve come around on it a lot in the past year or so, though. “The Temptation of Adam” and “Empty Hearts” are some of Ritter’s best.

Ryan Bingham - Mescalito: One of the decade's great country LPs. "Southside of Heaven" is just about as perfect as songs come. He'd win an Oscar a few years later for Crazy Heart.

The Gaslight Anthem - Sink or Swim: A rough sketch of what this band would become, for me. My unpopular take is that it’s their worst album. Still a lot to love here, though.

Band of Horses - Cease to Begin: Probably my favorite Band of Horses album. What they manage to do with “Is There a Ghost,” which I think has 11-12 words in the entire song, is so impressive.

Dashboard Confessional - The Shade of Poison Trees: “Chris goes back to his acoustic roots” sounds great on paper (and finally proved to be great this year), but this album disappointed me at the time. I still think it’s the worst Dashboard album, but I still adore a lot of it (especially the title track and “The Widow’s Peak”).

Shouts to Sound of Silver and A Weekend in the City, albums I don't actually like that much overall, but that each contain a few of my favorite songs ever ("All My Friends," "Something Great" for LCD Soundsystem, "I Still Remember" for Bloc Party).

 

1. Motion City Soundtrack - Even If It Kills Me
2. Jimmy Eat World - Chase This Light
3. Tegan and Sara - The Con

Excruciating Cuts:
Hanson - The Walk
Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
The New Amsterdams - At the Foot of My Rival
Brandi Carlile - The Story
Anberlin - Cities
Bruce Springsteen - Magic
Jonah Matranga - And
The National - Boxer

Others I Love:
Paramore - Riot!
Thrice - The Alchemy Index Vols. I and II: Fire and Water
Kanye West - Graduation
Iron and Wine - The Shepherd's Dog
The Spill Canvas - No Really, I'm Fine
John Butler Trio - Grand National
Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova - Once Soundtrack
Dustin Kensrue - Please Come Home
Circa Survive - On Letting Go
Lovedrug - Everything Starts Where It Ends
Moving Mountains - Pneuma
Radiohead - In Rainbows
Dashboard Confessional - The Shade of Poison Trees
Ben Harper - Lifeline
Matt Nathanson - Some Mad Hope
The Honorary Title - Scream and Light Up the Sky
Alicia Keys - As I Am
Mandy Moore - Wild Hope
The Dangerous Summer - If You Could Only Keep Me Alive EP
Will Hoge - Draw the Curtains
Feist - The Reminder

Good ones:
Fall Out Boy - Infinity on High
Foo Fighters - Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace
The Academy Is... - Santi
Envy on the Coast - Lucy Gray
Rocky Votolato - The Brag and the Cuss
Robert Plant and Alison Krauss - Raising Sand
Paul McCartney - Memory Almost Full
Shad - The Old Prince
Elliott Smith - New Moon
Ryan Adams - Easy Tiger
Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
Blu and Exile - Below the Heavens
Mavis Staples - We'll Never Turn Back
As Cities Burn - Come Now Sleep
The Weakerthans - Reunion Tour
Xavier Rudd - White Moth
Brightwood - Wake
The Frames - The Cost
Mayday Parade - A Lesson in Romantics
Okkkervil River - The Stage Names
The Rocket Summer - Do You Feel
The Starting Line - Direction
Sara Bareilles - Little Voice
Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga
Minus the Bear - Planet of Ice
Rilo Kiley - Under the Black Light
The Junior Varsity - Cinematographic
Dear and the Headlights - Small Steps, Heavy Hooves
New Pornographers - Challengers
The Gaslight Anthem - Sink or Swim
The Broken West - I Can't Go On, I'll Go On
Prince - Planet Earth
Copeland - Dressed Up and in Line
Chuck Ragan - Feast or Famine
Stars - In Our Bedroom, After the War
The National Lights - The Dead Will Walk, Dear
John McLaughlin - Indiana
Hopesfall - Magnetic North
Cassino - Sounds of Salvation
Silverstein - Arrivals and Departures
Cary Brothers - Who You Are
Pierce the Veil - A Flair for the Dramatic
Fountains of Wayne - Traffic and Weather
Say Anything - In Defense of the Genre
Justice - Cross
Herbie Hancock - River: The Joni Letters
Levon Helm - Dirt Farmer
Brighten - Be Human EP
Straylight Run - The Needles the Space
Modest Mouse - We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank
My American Heart - Hiding Inside the Horrible Weather
My Favorite Highway - Anywhere But Here EP
Bloc Party - A Weekend in the City
Norah Jones - Not Too Late
All Time Low - So Wrong, It's Right
The Maine - The Way We Talk EP
Bright Eyes - Cassadega
Rush - Snakes and Arrows
The Receiving End of Sirens - The Earth Sings Mi Fa MI
Sullivan - Cover Your Eyes
Just Surrender - We're in Like Sin
Little Big Town - A Place to Land
Coheed and Cambria - Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV, Volume 2: No World for Tomorrow
Mary J. Blige - Growing Pains
Janelle Monae - Metropolis: The Chase Suite EP
The Lives of Famous Men - Rehearsal EP
Waking Ashland - The Well
Steel Train - Trampoline
Strata - Presents the End of the World
Ryan Adams - Follow the Lights EP
Maroon 5 - It Won't Be Soon Before Long.
OneRepublic - Dreaming Out Loud
The Spill Canvas - Denial Feels So Good EP
The Secret Handshake - One Full Year
Matchbox Twenty - Exile on Mainstream
Chromatics - Night Drive
Missy Higgins - On a Clear Night
Oh Sleeper - When I Am God
Grace Potter and the Nocturnals - This Is Somewhere
Signal to Noise - Kodiak
Kate Nash - Made of Bricks
Jason Anderson - The Hopeful and the Unafraid
Talib Kweli - Eardrum
Common - Finding Forever
Francis & the Lights - Striking EP
Angels and Airwaves - I-Empire
Emery - I'm Only a Man
Every Time I Die - The Big Dirty
The Killers - Sawdust
Mae - Singularity
Relient K - Five Score and Seven Years Ago
Damien Rice - Live at Fingerprints: Warts and All
Mark Ronson - Version
Faulter - The Other Side EP
Brighten - King vs. Queen
Holiday Parade - This Is My Year EP
Sage Francis - Human the Death Dance
Dashboard Confessional - The Wire Tapes, Vol. 1
Chiodos - Bone Palace Ballet
Armor for Sleep - Smile for Them
Menomena - Friend or Foe
Foreverinmotion - The Beautiful Unknown
Seal - System
Blaqk Audio - CexCells
Fair to Midland - Fables from a Mayfly: What I Tell You Three Times Is True
MGMT - Oracular Spectacular
The Higher - On Fire
Self Against City - Telling Secrets to Strangers
Kids in the Way - Love Hate Masquerade
Earlimart - Mentor Tormentor

Not a fan:
Raul Midon - A World Within a World
Meg and Dia - If You're Poor, Find Something to Sue Somebody For... EP
The Ember Days - Your Eyes Light Up
Aislin - There's No I in Dreams
Sevendust - Alpha

Targets for Listening:
Wilco - Sky Blue Sky
Lil Wayne - Da Drought 3
Bomb the Music Industry - Get Warmer
Jay Z - American Gangster
Burial - Untrue
Nine Inch Nails - Year Zero
Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam
City Sleeps - Not an Angel
Dance Gavin Dance - Downtown Battle Mountain
Deas Vail - All the Houses Look the Same
Frank Turner - Sleep is for the Week
Baroness- The Red Album
The Shins- Wincing the Night Away
Lupe Fiasco- Lupe Fiasco's The Cool
St. Vincent- Marry Me
Arctic Monkeys - Favourite Worst Nightmare
The White Stripes - Icky Thump
Beirut - The Flying Club Cup
Kings of Leon - Because of the Times
Linkin Park - Minutes to Midnight
Against Me! - New Wave
LCD Soundsystem - Sound Of Silver
Yellowcard - Paper Walls
Band Of Horses - Cease To Begin
Portugal. The Man - Church Mouth
Explosions In The Sky - All Of A Sudden I Miss Everyone
The Smashing Pumpkins - Zeitgeist
Biffy Clyro - Puzzle
Jesse Malin - Glitter in the Gutter
Moses Mayfield - The Inside
Emerson Hart - Cigarettes & Gasoline
Jason Isbell - Sirens of the Ditch
Ingrid Michaelson - Girls and Boys
Sherwood - A Different Light
William Fitzsimmons - Goodnight
Ryan Bingham - Mescalito

 

@williek311 were you the one that rec'd me The National Lights a million years ago?

 

Maybe. I like that album.

 

It's such a truly unique record. Still never heard anything else quite like it.

 

I feel like you'd love that Jesse Malin record, and will attempt to sway you by once again citing the Springsteen feature.

 

1. Radiohead - in rainbows
2. The national - boxer
3. Arcade fire - neon bible

 

I saw him open for Gaslight once and he was very solid. Your love for the album definitely puts it high on my list to check out.

Have you heard the New Amsterdams or Xavier Rudd albums on my list? For some reason they strike me as ones that you might dig.

 

1. Thrice - The Alchemy Index Vols. I & II
2. Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
3. Circa Survive - On Letting Go

4. Biffy Clyro - Puzzle
5. Menomena - Friend or Foe
6. The National - Boxer
7. Radiohead - In Rainbows
8. Dillinger Escape Plan - Ire Works
9. Against Me! - New Waves
10. Dustin Kensrue - Please Come Home
11. Minus the Bear - Planet of Ice
12. El-P - I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead

 

I feel the same about that one.

 

Ah fuck, we forgot about Daggermouth @williek311

 

@Craig Manning the limits of streaming once again apparent: looks like Spotify has every Malin album BUT Glitter

 

Interestingly, while I was compiling my list, I stumbled upon a track from that New Amsterdams record that was inexplicably in my iTunes. I liked it! Will definitely check that record out. Xavier Rudd is a name I've heard, but I'm not sure I've ever listened.

You know, I actually recall that from when I wrote up a "Favorites of 2000s" list a few years ago and there were 3-4 albums on my list that weren't on streaming. Check your DMs in a minute.

 

Yeah I knew they were around this time. Not something I’ve gone back to much recently though. Maybe with the weather warming up I will change that. Along with Four Year Strong. I loved that album when it came out.

Yeah very interesting. It’s a gothic literature album. The songmeanings.com descriptions will never get old for me.

 

Xavier Rudd was one that El Jeffe Craig from ap.net really evangelized for and I loved that dude so I listened a bunch. It weirdly feels, like, one with the open expanses of the outback and shit. Though that could be exoticized Western fetishization on my part. I dunno.

 

Spirit Bird is a beautiful Xavier Rudd record from 2012. He blends traditional aboriginal style music and instruments with more classic folky stuff. Really talented and interesting songwriter.

 

1. Radiohead - In Rainbows
2. Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
3. Tegan and Sara - The Con

4. Sara Bareilles - Little Voice
5. Arctic Monkeys - Favourite Worst Nightmare
6. The Starting Line - Direction
7. Say Anything - In Defense of the Genre
8. Bloc Party - A Weekend in the City
9. Paramore - Riot!
10. The Honorary Title - Scream and Light Up The Sky

11. Foo Fighters - Echos, Silence, Patience & Grace
12. The Academy Is - Santi
13. Yellowcard - Paper Walls
14. Coheed & Cambria - No World For Tomorrow
15. Jimmy Eat World - Chase This Light
16. Angels & Airwaves - I Empire
17. Four Year Strong - Rise or Die Trying
18. Dashboard Confessional - The Shade of Poison Trees
19. Explosions in the Sky - All of A Sudden I Miss Everyone
20. Avril Lavigne - The Best Damn Thing
21. Dustin Kensrue -Please Come Home
22. Smashing Pumpkins - Zeitgeist
23. MGMT - Oracular Spectacular

 

That album is also excellent!

 

Realized I hadn’t heard the Signal to Noise album on my list since my first listen when I yes’d it in 2010-2011 (a problem for quite a few albums on my list this year) and it actually holds up REALLY well

 

Wait it dawns on me: was the track “Fountain of Youth”? It may have been on mix I sent you a million years ago

 

Ah totally forgot about Kings of Leon's Because of the Times. Probably would've ranked somewhere between 10-15 for me.
Also saw some people mention Ingrid Michaelson's Girls and Boys. I think this was technically a re release, and for the life of me I cant remember if I included it in my 2006 list originally. If I'd include it for 2007 I'd throw that in my top 10.