2007: A year in three parts (part 1 of music)

This is part one of my year-end wrap-up. I’ve taken the last two days compiling a list of 50 songs I liked or discovered this year accompanied by commentary. Here’s the bottom half:

1. “Boyz” M.I.A. — I heard this on a bootleg in March, and kept the Flash object on play until “Kala” was released in August.
2. “In My Bed” Amy Winehouse – Technically, this was released in 2003, but only made available in 2007. Love the pairing of the sample Nas used for “Made You Look” with a full horns section. If it wasn’t for this song, “Some Unholy War” would have been here.
3. “Mistaken for Strangers” The National – I still haven’t downloaded “Boxer” yet, but like “Sound of Silver,” it’s the pep talk to be an adult.
4. “We Got the Soulja Boy (The Go-Gos vs. Soulja Boy)” A plus D – First, it was “Crank That (Soulja Boy)” paired with “The Lion King” on YouTube that got me to tolerate that song. But for some reason, pairing it with “We Got the Beat” made it golden.
5. “Birds and the Bees” The Bird and The Bee – It has a light, bumpy quality to the melody and Inara George’s perfectly gives the song a delicate touch.
6. “Hold On” Holy Ghost – This is very much a dance tunes that would have made its home between Daft Punk’s “One More Time” and Gorillaz’s “Dare.”
7. “Smoke Detector” Rilo Kiley – Jenny Lewis’ matter-of-fact delivery of this song is both memorable and humorous. It’s like anyone can right a song like this based on stupid things seen all over them.
8. “Don’t You Evah” Spoon – I liked “I Turn My Camera On” too much to pay close attention to the rest of “Gimme Fiction.” So the rest of it for me was dull. However, after listening to “Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga,” I know that “Camera” was the most misplaced song in the band’s catalog.
9. “Isis” Yeah Yeah Yeahs – The perfect bridge between the last album and to what is on the horizon. I’m glad I paid attention to that college radio station one night.
10. “Bird Flu” M.I.A – When I heard this song in January, I thought that I would not like the new M.I.A. Album because I couldn’t understand the concept behind it. It’s sort of like curry: you don’t like the ingredients separately but when it’s cooked and done, it’s delicious.
11. “No I in Threesome” Interpol – But there’s a me and a thee! The title gives away how dirty this song is, but darn how Carlos D makes everything seem OK and depressing at the same time.
12. “Can You Believe” Robin Thicke – “Lost Without U” is irritating. This song is better quiet storm material than that one. Yeah, I just used quiet storm in a sentence.
13. “The Con” Tegan and Sara – The only song I liked from the sisters was “I Know I Know I Know.” This was a step into that early-Blur/Killers rip-off song that makes it more tolerable.
14. “Supervillian” Nicole Scherzinger – By far, this song is not deep or should be taken seriously. However, there is always room for one.
15. “Nobody’s Baby” Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings – This is music that is safe to listen to with the parents and grandparents. This is real soul music.
16. “What’s a Girl to Do?” Bat for Leashes – It was really the video that did it for me, and it’s that bit of late-night video watching that helped me discover it.
17. “Sound of Silver” LCD Soundsystem – Sure, there are only three lines to this 8-minute song, but they carry so much wait and familiarity that you feel good about being a grown-up.
18. “Conquest” The White Stripes – “Icky Thump” was all over the place as far as genres and direction. This was a clever surprise.
19. “Posse Bonus” Tori Amos – As time passes, Tori’s albums get weaker. This 90-second song for me was the strongest from “American Doll Posse.”
20. “Close to Konichiwa Bitches (Robyn vs. The Cure)” A plus D – How fitting that a diss song would follow another. I didn’t know until this year that Robyn was still making music and that she was from Sweden.
21. “The Way I Am” Ingrid Michaelson – Darn you, Old Navy! At least it’s not Apple shoving this down my throat.
22. “I Don’t Like It Like This” Radio Dept. – I didn’t discover this song until I rented “Marie Antoinette” in the spring and bought the soundtrack a few weeks later. It was released even earlier than that, but I wish I would have heard it sooner.
23. “Reckoner” Radiohead – I’m probably one of three people on Earth who didn’t like “In Rainbows.” To me this was the only tolerable song on it.
24. “Give It To Me” Timbaland feat. Justin Timberlake and Nelly Furtado – Usually, I don’t care for diss songs, but this one is pretty good and not so violent. After all, they ain’t here to hurt nobody.
25. “Lazy Girls” Jill Cunniff – There is no secret that I am a huge Luscious Jackson fan. It’s a decent song by Cunniff. Unfortunately, she’s still stuck in 1994.

permalink | | | 12/30/2007

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