Alright, time to finish this series off. The last record in my Top 5 for 2007 is Okkervil River’s The Stage Names.
It’s a great rock record, but it’s mostly on this list for being one of the few records to make me sit up and start laughing as I listened to it for the first time. After an album filled with songs that convey a deep sense of uncertainty, and fear, and confusion, halfway through the final song they just say “fuck it” and break into the chorus of “Sloop John B” by the Beach Boys. Awesome.
Here’s the first track from the album, “Our Life is Not A Movie Or Maybe”:
Next up in the Top 5 of 2007 is Band of Horses’ Cease To Begin
I’ve written about Band of Horse’s before in this space. Their last album, Everything All The Time, was one of my favourites of last year (though it came out in 2006), so I had high hopes for the new one.
The new album carries on their trademark sound with lots of reverb, Ben Bridwell’s high clear voice, and spacy guitars. The biggest difference, I’d say, between the two albums is the increase in confidence in both the songwriting and playing: the rock songs are rockier, the cheesy songs are cheesier.
The debut album had a lot of gorgeous, intimate songs laced with uncertainty - whether about a career, or a lover, or whatever. On the new album, there seems to be a lot more confidence, and joy. For example, on the first album, we get “I’ll love you always / Even when I say / You distract me” (from ‘Part One’) while on the new album we get “I’ll marry my lover in a place to admire I don’t / have to even ask her I can look in her eyes”.
My favourite songs on the new album are the opener ‘Is There A Ghost’, the incredibly fun ‘The General Specific’, and ‘Marry Song’. Here’s ‘The General Specific’:
Next up in the Top 5 for 2007 - Wilco’s latest, Sky Blue Sky.
I was initially a bit disappointed with this album - it seemed a bit too laid-back, not to sure of itself. Over the last few months though, those qualities have really endeared the album to me - it’s shaky, not quite sure of itself, but not afraid of just going with that rather than trying to ignore it.
At the end of the video linked below, Jeff Tweedy (Wilco’s songwriter) describes the album as him talking directly to his wife, which seems pretty apt - most of the songs are straightforwardly about relationships. But whereas on earlier albums, Tweedy’s problems would be masked with poetry and strange sounds, everything is direct here, both in the words and the instrumentation.
This is also the first Wilco album to feature the new seven-man lineup (which has been touring together since 2004’s A Ghost Is Born). The band is definitely tight, and that’s one of the real pleasures of the albums - hearing songs that feel like there’s a push-and-pull going on between seven people in a room, rather than the more methodical production of the previous albums.
Having said that, the album does get a bit monotone, and lulls seriously in the middle after the strong opening trio of ‘Either Way’ / ‘You Are My Face’ / ‘Impossible Germany’. The album does end strongly, with ‘Walken’, and maybe Wilco’s most hopeful song ever: ‘What Light’.
Here’s Wilco in the studio performing ‘Impossible Germany’. I love the way this song starts straightforwardly with a few verses, then breaks into an incredible guitar solo from Nels Cline:
This isn’t turning into the daily series I’d imagined. But anyways, the top 5 albums of 2007 continues with the obvious choice: Radiohead’s In Rainbows.
Initially released for ‘pay-what-you-want’ on the internet, to great hype, the album is certainly Radiohead’s most interesting aurally, and best produced. The songs build from simple drum loops or beats, accompanied by swirling guitar or keyboard arpeggios, all topped off by Thom Yorke’s unmistakable voice.
Thematically, the songs seem at first glance as bleak as ever - from ‘I only stick with you because there’s no one else’ in “All I Need”, to ‘Don’t get any big ideas / they’re not gonna happen’ in “Nude”. But coupled with the music, the album ends up being quite optimistic - the music rises above the initially bleak lyrics, offering escape and solace, or just walls of noise to drown everything else out.
It’s hard to pick a high point, as with most of the best Radiohead albums (OK Computer, The Bends, Kid A), because they’re such cohesive albums. But I’d say my favourite tracks are ‘Nude’, ‘Reckoner’, and ‘Faust Arp’.
Radiohead have been doing a ton of web publicity for the new album, so there’s lots of good clips to pick (More can be found at their YouTube channel). Here they are, playing the whole new album live in the studio:
First up in the top 5 is Josh Ritter’s The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter. I only recently came across Josh, and I’ve recently become a bit obsessed: the music ranges from sparse folk to stomping rockers, though the real attraction for me is his lyrics. Sometimes they’re immediate, lusty, and joyful, sometimes a bit more abstract, but there’s always something to dig into.
For example, the lead track “To The Dogs Or Whoever” probably best illustrates the title of the album, and the way he blends poetic imagery with more immediate concerns. In the song, Ritter compares a lover to “Florence, Calamity and Joan of Arc” immediately before saying “I love the way she looks in her underwear”.
Other standout tracks include the ballad “The Temptation of Adam”, which imagines a romance in a nuclear missile silo, and “Rumors” - a great, frustrated breakup song. Here’s a recent complete concert, starting off with the aforementioned “To The Dogs or Whoever”:
For more Josh, also check out The Animal Years, which is even better but came out in 2006!
LATER EDIT: I forgot to mention that Ritter's from Moscow, Idaho - right near where I grew up.
I’ve been a bit late in posting my year-end favourite music list. For awhile, I thought it was because there weren’t that many albums I was very crazy about in 2007. But, with a bit more reflection, there actually were quite a few great ones. I’m going to write separate entries for each of my top 5, but here’s the best of the rest:
If the me of a year ago could see that list, I think he’d be very surprised to see new records by Iron & Wine and Ryan Adams not in the top 5, and even more surprised to see a Bright Eyes album anywhere near the list! I’ve linked to a decent YouTube or other sample if you’d like to check any of them out. Any guesses as to what’s in the top 5? Some of them are obvious.
Watching Barack Obama’s concession speech last night after the New Hampshire primary results came in, I was surprised to hear him leave the stage to Stevie Wonder’s “Signed Sealed Delivered I’m Yours”. Y’know, the song with lyrics like:
Like a fool I went and stayed too long / Now I’m wondering if your love is still strong?
And:
Then that time I went and said goodbye / Now I’m back and not ashamed to cry
And especially:
I’ve done a lot of foolish things / That I really didn’t mean
I’ve actually heard this song used at political rallies a few times, and it always seems like a strange choice. Anyways, I’m not quite ready to change my prediction on the Democratic side (and I did predict Iowa!), but it looks like I can be happily wrong about Rudy Giuliani!
