continuing on to part 3... leah and jackson of the red blondehead music blog chime in... hopefully we will get traci's list soon... and some more from various birmingham hipsters... we'll begin with the fantastic alison hulsey... if you've never met her... i feel sorry for you. i've also added (the illustrious) john p. strohm's picks, as well as fleabomb.com founder stanley holditch's top 5. there are many nods to local bands on today's post.
ALISON HULSEY'S TOP 10-
here are my top 10 and maybe plus some....in no particular order....
1. travis - the boy with no name: melodramatic, yet gentle. seems to be their "comeback record"...nice shimmery ballads...smooth synth, piano.
2. radiohead - in rainbows: well of course it's super sexy, bringing back the electronic kid-A style, melancholy, etc... you get my point. yummy.
3. maria taylor - lynn teeter flower: i mean always gorgeous, sensitive and full of emotion. her lyrics to me are soulfull and full of passion. great harmonies...
4. tycho - the daydream/the disconnect single: ambient,sexy, trance like. beautiful.
5. wiseblood EP (vol. 1.) : unreleased, long awaited......i've been fortunate enough to have many sneak peeks into production and mixing. what an incredible album, great harmonies, story-telling...incredible americana....i can't put it down. love you guys...some of the most talented in bham.
6. the spots EP: well, as many times as i've seen you guys...always a surprise, sexy, ambient, with an alt-country twist occasionally, very connected musicians with tight composition......
7. through the sparks - lazarus beach: do i really have to say why? it's incredible..the lyrics the arrangement.
8. st. vincent - marry me: i watched her live....what's not to like?
9. nine inch nails - year zero
10. aa bondy - american hearts: my long time crush/lust all through college....i mean it's scott bondy....listen to those lyrics.....
*and some i'd like to listen to more....
the rosebuds - night of the furies (lots of energy live)
iron and wine - shepherd's dog
ryan adams - easy tiger
JOHN SEAY'S TOP 10-
this year i pretty much had no time to listen to new music. i know many people base their opinions on my annual "best of" list, and this year i fear ill be letting down countless children, some of them my own. hopefully the masses will find some consolation in the following list, pasted together with elmers glue, of the top ten albums i have been listening to this year while hating everything about law school. some of the albums were released in 2007, others were not. so, without further ado, the list (in no real order):
10.Wilco, Sky Blue Sky
9. The Band, every album
8. Bill Fox, Shelter from the Smoke
7. Brian Eno, Music for Airports (what i listen to while studying the various law school subjects)
6. The Zombies, Zombie Heaven boxed set
5. Phoenix, Long Distance Call
4. Elton John, Honky Chateau
3. The Dexateens, Hardwire Healing
2. The Kinks, Arthur
1. Radiohead, In Rainbows
and my favorite album of the past year, listed separately because i forgot to include it above, is lazarus beach by through the sparks.
oh, yeah, and soulja boy has been taking over athens, georgia.
sincerely, john.
LEAH HUTCHISON'S TOP 10-
english/ literature instructor, co-founder of secret history productions and the blonde half of the red blondehead music blog.
It's that time of year again: drunk Santas, reindeer, presents, decorated trees, best-of lists... I'm happy to go first on that last item!
I've got ten favorite albums this year. There were many to choose from, but the way I look at it, the smaller the list, the more prestigious. Or at least rare. I'm going with that, anyway. I tried to choose albums from this year that I'll most definitely be listening to next year (and hopefully beyond that if they hold up as well as others have).
10. CocoRosie - The Adventures of Ghosthorse and Stillborn
9. Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova - Once soundtrack
8. Wilco - Sky Blue Sky
7. Levon Helm - Dirt Farmer
6. The Roadside Graves - No One Will Know Where You've Been
5. Akron/Family - Love is Simple
4. Through the Sparks - Lazarus Beach
3. Josh Ritter - The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter
2. The Real Tuesday Weld - The London Book of the Dead
1. The Felice Brothers - Adventures of the Felice Brothers Vol. I
JACKSON THE FANTASTIC BEAR'S TOP 10x2-
Red Blondehead presents: Jackson the Fantastic Bear's 2007 Top 10 (x 2) - straight from his honey-encrusted claws to your computer screens!
When Traci asked me if I wanted to do a write-up of my favorite albums of 2007, I didn’t even know where to start. I have listened to so much music this year that I couldn’t even remember what was released this year, let alone how much I liked it. So I did what needed to be done… I sorted my music by year, pulled out all the music from 2007, and listened to every single album again. So if the Red Blondehead ladies were wondering why the hell my list was taking so long, that’s why.
After my listening fest, I found myself split between a number of amazing pop records and an even longer list of experimental/electronic/noise/ambient music. I mean, how can you compare Jens Lekman with Boris? You just can’t. No way, no how. So, I made it easy on myself and made two lists that were, nonetheless, just as hard to narrow down.
Albums my father would wear earplugs to:
10. Jens Lekman - Night Falls Over Kortedala
9. Akron/Family - Love Is Simple
8. Prints - Prints
7. Caribou - Andorra
6. Beirut - The Flying Club Cup
5. Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam
4. Panda Bear - Panda Bear
3. Le Loup - The Throne of the Third Heaven of the Nations Millennium General Assembly
2. Low - Drums and Guns
1. LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver
Albums that would give my father diarrhea:
10. Burial - Untrue
9. Andrew Pekler - Cue
8. Black Dice - Load Blown
7. Stars of the Lid - And the Refinement of Their Decline
6. Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam
5. Wzt Hearts - Threads Rope Spell Making Your Bones
4. Battles - Mirrored
3. Boris with Michio Kurihara - Rainbow
2. The Field - From Here We Go Sublime
1. Pantha Du Prince - This Bliss
JOHN P. STROHM'S TOP 10-
entertainment/transactional attorney, solo-artist on superphonic records, and former member of blake babies, the lemonheads, antenna and others...
AA Bondy : American Hearts
Rogue Wave : Asleep at Heaven's Gate
Warm in the Wake : American Prehistoric
Bon Iver : Emma, Forever Ago
Arcade Fire : Neon Bible
Okkervil River : The Stage Names
Dirty Projectors : Rise Above
of Montreal : Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?
Through the Sparks : Lazarus Beach
Sarah Borges : Diamonds in the Dark
honorable mention:
Band of Horses : Cease to Begin
STANLEY HOLDITCH'S TOP 5-
editor/founder of fleabomb.com.
Since some people are adding reasons why, I'll do the same, since I have a short list:
1. Hardwire Healing - The Dexateens: Soul, soul, and more soul, and some of the best, scratchiest vocals around.
2. Dinosaur Jr. - Beyond: Normally I automatically discount attempts to recapture past glory, but this one was a very strong effort from one of my favorite bands.
3. The Jones Street Boys - Overcome: Never in my life did I think a bluegrass album would make my top-five, but this little-known band turned out one of the strongest and most emotionally mature albums I've heard since 13ghosts did Cicada.
4. Holler, Wild Rose - Our Little Hymnal: The production and depth of this album really astounded me.
5. The Black Angels - Passover: Even though every track basically sounds like When the Levee Breaks, it's still an incredibly solid effort from a band I had never heard of.
Honorable Mentions:
Lazarus Beach - Through the Sparks: Apparently I am the only person on the planet who doesn't think this album heralds the second coming, and I want to give the band props on their success.
Better Than I Can Tell - Thed Weller: A strong effort but not quite at the level of the others in the list. Looking forward to his next effort.
JESSICA HALLMAN'S TOP 10-
black rebel motorcycle club - baby 81
white rabbits - fort nightly
as tall as lions - as tall as lions
band of horses - cease to begin
white stripes - icky thump
vietnam - vietnam
feist - the reminder
kings of leon - because of the times
intramural - this is a landslide
cold war kids - robbers and cowards
ALISON HULSEY'S TOP 10-
here are my top 10 and maybe plus some....in no particular order....
1. travis - the boy with no name: melodramatic, yet gentle. seems to be their "comeback record"...nice shimmery ballads...smooth synth, piano.
2. radiohead - in rainbows: well of course it's super sexy, bringing back the electronic kid-A style, melancholy, etc... you get my point. yummy.
3. maria taylor - lynn teeter flower: i mean always gorgeous, sensitive and full of emotion. her lyrics to me are soulfull and full of passion. great harmonies...
4. tycho - the daydream/the disconnect single: ambient,sexy, trance like. beautiful.
5. wiseblood EP (vol. 1.) : unreleased, long awaited......i've been fortunate enough to have many sneak peeks into production and mixing. what an incredible album, great harmonies, story-telling...incredible americana....i can't put it down. love you guys...some of the most talented in bham.
6. the spots EP: well, as many times as i've seen you guys...always a surprise, sexy, ambient, with an alt-country twist occasionally, very connected musicians with tight composition......
7. through the sparks - lazarus beach: do i really have to say why? it's incredible..the lyrics the arrangement.
8. st. vincent - marry me: i watched her live....what's not to like?
9. nine inch nails - year zero
10. aa bondy - american hearts: my long time crush/lust all through college....i mean it's scott bondy....listen to those lyrics.....
*and some i'd like to listen to more....
the rosebuds - night of the furies (lots of energy live)
iron and wine - shepherd's dog
ryan adams - easy tiger
JOHN SEAY'S TOP 10-
this year i pretty much had no time to listen to new music. i know many people base their opinions on my annual "best of" list, and this year i fear ill be letting down countless children, some of them my own. hopefully the masses will find some consolation in the following list, pasted together with elmers glue, of the top ten albums i have been listening to this year while hating everything about law school. some of the albums were released in 2007, others were not. so, without further ado, the list (in no real order):
10.Wilco, Sky Blue Sky
9. The Band, every album
8. Bill Fox, Shelter from the Smoke
7. Brian Eno, Music for Airports (what i listen to while studying the various law school subjects)
6. The Zombies, Zombie Heaven boxed set
5. Phoenix, Long Distance Call
4. Elton John, Honky Chateau
3. The Dexateens, Hardwire Healing
2. The Kinks, Arthur
1. Radiohead, In Rainbows
and my favorite album of the past year, listed separately because i forgot to include it above, is lazarus beach by through the sparks.
oh, yeah, and soulja boy has been taking over athens, georgia.
sincerely, john.
LEAH HUTCHISON'S TOP 10-
english/ literature instructor, co-founder of secret history productions and the blonde half of the red blondehead music blog.
It's that time of year again: drunk Santas, reindeer, presents, decorated trees, best-of lists... I'm happy to go first on that last item!
I've got ten favorite albums this year. There were many to choose from, but the way I look at it, the smaller the list, the more prestigious. Or at least rare. I'm going with that, anyway. I tried to choose albums from this year that I'll most definitely be listening to next year (and hopefully beyond that if they hold up as well as others have).
10. CocoRosie - The Adventures of Ghosthorse and Stillborn
9. Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova - Once soundtrack
8. Wilco - Sky Blue Sky
7. Levon Helm - Dirt Farmer
6. The Roadside Graves - No One Will Know Where You've Been
5. Akron/Family - Love is Simple
4. Through the Sparks - Lazarus Beach
3. Josh Ritter - The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter
2. The Real Tuesday Weld - The London Book of the Dead
1. The Felice Brothers - Adventures of the Felice Brothers Vol. I
JACKSON THE FANTASTIC BEAR'S TOP 10x2-
Red Blondehead presents: Jackson the Fantastic Bear's 2007 Top 10 (x 2) - straight from his honey-encrusted claws to your computer screens!
When Traci asked me if I wanted to do a write-up of my favorite albums of 2007, I didn’t even know where to start. I have listened to so much music this year that I couldn’t even remember what was released this year, let alone how much I liked it. So I did what needed to be done… I sorted my music by year, pulled out all the music from 2007, and listened to every single album again. So if the Red Blondehead ladies were wondering why the hell my list was taking so long, that’s why.
After my listening fest, I found myself split between a number of amazing pop records and an even longer list of experimental/electronic/noise/ambient music. I mean, how can you compare Jens Lekman with Boris? You just can’t. No way, no how. So, I made it easy on myself and made two lists that were, nonetheless, just as hard to narrow down.
Albums my father would wear earplugs to:
10. Jens Lekman - Night Falls Over Kortedala
9. Akron/Family - Love Is Simple
8. Prints - Prints
7. Caribou - Andorra
6. Beirut - The Flying Club Cup
5. Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam
4. Panda Bear - Panda Bear
3. Le Loup - The Throne of the Third Heaven of the Nations Millennium General Assembly
2. Low - Drums and Guns
1. LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver
Albums that would give my father diarrhea:
10. Burial - Untrue
9. Andrew Pekler - Cue
8. Black Dice - Load Blown
7. Stars of the Lid - And the Refinement of Their Decline
6. Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam
5. Wzt Hearts - Threads Rope Spell Making Your Bones
4. Battles - Mirrored
3. Boris with Michio Kurihara - Rainbow
2. The Field - From Here We Go Sublime
1. Pantha Du Prince - This Bliss
JOHN P. STROHM'S TOP 10-
entertainment/transactional attorney, solo-artist on superphonic records, and former member of blake babies, the lemonheads, antenna and others...
AA Bondy : American Hearts
Rogue Wave : Asleep at Heaven's Gate
Warm in the Wake : American Prehistoric
Bon Iver : Emma, Forever Ago
Arcade Fire : Neon Bible
Okkervil River : The Stage Names
Dirty Projectors : Rise Above
of Montreal : Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?
Through the Sparks : Lazarus Beach
Sarah Borges : Diamonds in the Dark
honorable mention:
Band of Horses : Cease to Begin
STANLEY HOLDITCH'S TOP 5-
editor/founder of fleabomb.com.
Since some people are adding reasons why, I'll do the same, since I have a short list:
1. Hardwire Healing - The Dexateens: Soul, soul, and more soul, and some of the best, scratchiest vocals around.
2. Dinosaur Jr. - Beyond: Normally I automatically discount attempts to recapture past glory, but this one was a very strong effort from one of my favorite bands.
3. The Jones Street Boys - Overcome: Never in my life did I think a bluegrass album would make my top-five, but this little-known band turned out one of the strongest and most emotionally mature albums I've heard since 13ghosts did Cicada.
4. Holler, Wild Rose - Our Little Hymnal: The production and depth of this album really astounded me.
5. The Black Angels - Passover: Even though every track basically sounds like When the Levee Breaks, it's still an incredibly solid effort from a band I had never heard of.
Honorable Mentions:
Lazarus Beach - Through the Sparks: Apparently I am the only person on the planet who doesn't think this album heralds the second coming, and I want to give the band props on their success.
Better Than I Can Tell - Thed Weller: A strong effort but not quite at the level of the others in the list. Looking forward to his next effort.
JESSICA HALLMAN'S TOP 10-
black rebel motorcycle club - baby 81
white rabbits - fort nightly
as tall as lions - as tall as lions
band of horses - cease to begin
white stripes - icky thump
vietnam - vietnam
feist - the reminder
kings of leon - because of the times
intramural - this is a landslide
cold war kids - robbers and cowards