brian t. murphy brought this up yesterday. top10 lists. i'll keep posting as people keep listing. some of these are from email threads, some lifted from blogs. i'm also including the surrounding commentary, which is pretty clever all around. hipster overload. brian's opening message and list:
BRIAN T. MURPHY'S TOP 10-
pianist, songwriter, producer - currently working with red mountain music, the spots, and others.
okay boys. I'm compiling my lists of top ten records for 2007. if you would like to contribute, your list and your name will be included on my blog, which I know is a very high honor, and excites you verymuch. if you want to contribute a list, I need it within 48 hours. only rule - your list can only contain records which were released during 2007. I'm having a hard time deciding on number 10 (I'm hoping your lists will help me). here's my top 9 at the moment:
wilco - sky blue sky
josh ritter - historical conquests of josh ritter
travis - the boy with no name
iron and wine - shepherds dog
radiohead - in rainbows
the national - boxer
patty griffin - children running through
sea wolf - leaves in the river
small sails - similar anniversaries
HUNTER BARROW'S TOP 11-
art director / intermark group, birmingham, al.
Ah yes...the “list”. Alright. I guess I’ll make some caveats here. Since the boys from Oxford made basically everyone’s list (and everyone knows of my Radiohead love) it is a foregone conclusion that In Rainbows would be on my list. I don’t even feel the need to list it. It’s a given and would waste one of my spots. Great album. Also, Ryan Adams is permanently excluded from my lists. I know, I know...but he’s so brilliant, blah blah blah. His newest album is incredible blah blah blah. Yes, he is. I agree. I love him, BUT he puts out 13 albums a year. He’s out. Hate me if you want. Write a song about. Here are my favs of 2007 (in no particular order):
1. Spoon – Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga (These guys continue to get better and better and this album is people’s exhibit F in the case against the badassness of Britt Daniels and crew. His voice makes me want to be reborn as a Marlbro Light.)
2. The National – Boxer (What can I say about this one? It’s right as rain. “Do you really think you can just put it in a safe behind a painting, lock it up and leave?....” Hell no, I don’t. One of the best albums put out this year.)
3. Iron & Wine – Shepard’s Dog (I hated this up until I heard the first chorus of Flightless Bird, American Mouth. I started the cd over and fell in love. It’s pretty and bucolic, like Eva Green. And plus, you all love it, so it HAS to be good.)
4. Andrew Bird – Armchair Apocrypha (“This joker can whistle” was my first thought when I heard this record. “I think I’m in 1920’s Kansas” was my next. This is one of those albums that just takes you to other places.)
5. Editors – An End Has a Start (For the second straight year, the Birmingham kids are in my list. Brilliant album of death, decay and broken hearted hope.)
6. Kings of Leon – Because of the Times (I love the Followill boys. What can I say. I too saw them at the Tabernacle and after they finished only skulls and ashes remained. They still give better shows than pretty much anyone else in music.)
7. Rogue Wave – Asleep at Heaven’s Gate (One word. Solid. Front to back, it’s a great album. It stayed in my stereo for about 2 months straight.)
8. Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova – Once (OK OK...yes, this is a soundtrack, BUT it is beautifully brilliant. You NEED to see this film. You will then understand why I chose this and why it’s not actually a “soundtrack”)
9. Blonde Redhead – 23 (Creepy as always, but in a more adult-themed Halloween party kind of way. Like your mom in a french maid costume drinking a Tab.)
10. Laura Veirs – Saltbreakers (OK, so yeah, it’s sweet and quirky, but this girl can craft a melody. Sometimes, when I want to feel girly without having to listen to the Garden State soundtrack....this album becomes my elixir.)
11. Richard Swift – Dressed Up for the Letdown (Yeah, I gave 11....who wants to make something out of it? He’s like Rufus Wainwright with the gay turned way down. He’s one hell of an American songwriter. Plus, anyone who can sing “I wish I was dead most of the time, but I don’t really mean it...” gets my vote.)
I know I missed stuff. This was an absolutely stellar year for new music. It’s nuts how much good shit came out this year. These were just a few that came to mind first. If you ask me again in 2 months, the list would probably be different. I withhold the right to edit this list whenever the hell I want. Got that BTM? And yes, I realize that it’s a pretty soft list. I’ve had one of those years. Sad bastard music was the house special. I am 23.7% less cool than you bastards.
JACOB TUBBS' TOP 10-
Wow, this is hard. I have burned literally thousands of dollars in lost potential billable hours on this list, and I'm pretty proud of myself. A few notes before the list:
- Brian T. Murphy hates women, or at least women's taste in music. (Perhaps he does not trust their smaller brains?)
- Brian T. Murphy has friends with good taste in music.
- My musical tastes run a little bit more to the rock and the roll than most of yours. "Face-melting factor" is probably my number one musical criterium.
- I kind of wanted my list to be Nickelback 8 times, then the new "Daughtry" album, then Nickelback again in el posicion numero uno, but I want you all to respect me in the morning.
Ok, here we go (no particular order at first, some order later):
Easy Tiger - Ryan Adams
- I should've been a huge Ryan Adams fan years ago, but I resisted for some reason. This album effectively ended that resistance and made me atone for my years of neglecting him. "I taught myself how to grow old" has been playing in my head constantly since the first time I heard it.
All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone - Explosions In The Sky
- This is the kind of music I would make if I could make music. This is what they make 6 foot tall amps for. This is what I hope they play at my funeral.
Zeitgeist - Smashing Pumpkins
- It would be easy to assume that the Pumpkins are done, that their time was the 90s and we should accept that and move on. This album is a thundering, snarling, riveting, gripping rebuttal to that viewpoint. This album makes me feel like I'm in the middle of the movie Bladerunner, wearing black leather and a cape, leaping from rooftops at night in the rain, punching through walls.
In Rainbows - Some band
- Yeah. Some band sort of lost me about 10 years ago. I need rhythm, I need verse-chorus-verse. I gave up. They were too hard, to inaccessible for my cheap ears. Then this. Then "All I Need" on repeat for 12 hours straight. Then "Videotape" in the dark teatime of my soul. I still don't get all of it. But there is depth and weight to this album, and these songs in particular, that is breathtaking.
Boxer - The National
- I still like their last one better, but this is still easily in the top 10. "Start A War" punches me in the gut every time I hear it.
An End Has A Start - The Editors
- This is an album filled to its entirety with achingly sad, shiveringly cold songs. I loved every one. "Smokers Outside the Hospital Door" and "Escape the Nest" kill me.
Friend and Foe - Menomena
- I'm not a drummer, but I bet a lot of drummers kick themselves a little bit when they hear this record. Rhythm, rhythm, rhythm. Creative, creepy songwriting.
Icky Thump - White Stripes
- I saw them at Sloss this year. It should be pretty obvious that I like guitar from my list. Jack doesn't play guitar. He plays whatever instrument it is that Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton played. The sounds he makes, and the audible savagery that his guitar and Meg's tribal, primal, off-balance drumming create, are collectively one of the most forceful things I've ever heard.
The Story - Brandi Carlile
- She has the best female-folk-alt-country-rock voice in the world. I saw her twice this year and once last year, and I think that any of those shows could go down as one of the finest complete-band performances I've ever seen. She is the only person in the world that can cover Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah, Radiohead's Creep, Johnny Cash's Folsom Prison Blues, Counting Crows' Raining in Baltimore, and CCR's Fortunate Son, and sincerely do right by all of them. (I know you don't believe me, but I've heard them all firsthand, and you're wrong.) She's talented enough to sell millions of records on her own, but with Gibb Droll on guitar and the Hanselroth brothers on bass / rhythm, her band could play by itself and I'd pay to see them. Her songs are relatively simple, kind of like 50,000 pounds of high explosive and a lit fuse are relatively simple.
Because of the Times - Kings of Leon
- This one came out of nowhere for me. I've never been a KoL fan, but the first song on this album -- Knocked Up -- grabbed me deep in the wanderlust-open road-redneck-pregnant teenage girlfriend part of my soul and has not let go. The whole album appeals to me like Exile on Main Street appeals to me. It's visceral and dirty and authentic and volcanic. I saw them at the Tabernacle and I had some sincere concerns that they were going to tear the place down. I still kind of wish they had. "On Call" is captivating
Barely missing the list:
Cease to Begin - Band of Horses. If I were perfectly honest, I'd say this was a little disappointing, if only because their first album was one of my favorites of the last 5 years. Still pretty damn good though.
Kala - M.I.A. "Paper Planes" alone is enough to put it very high on any list.
Neon Bible - Some Canadian Band. "Intervention" alone is enough to put it very high on any list. I got a little tired of the Jesus-band posturing this year, but let's face it -- they're making incredibly good music. The pipe organ intro to Intervention means that it will probably be the song that gets me kicked out of my condo.
The Meaning of 8 - Cloud Cult. Can't decide if they're an art exhibit or rock band, but great music nonetheless. Very disappointed I haven't seen them yet. Will fix that this year.
Sound of Silver - LCD Soundsystem. "All My Friends" is basically a perfect song. I wonder what it feels like to make a perfect song?
EPs that I really dug that promise great things:
The Blakes EP. The Blakes are touring the country, burning places to the ground. They will be famous if they live long enough. (Big if.)
Dead Confederate - Dead Confederate. Athens strikes again. Watch out for them. Really.
Fameseeker and the Mono - Arizona
Is Is - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Pela. Their "Anytown Graffiti" would've been in the top 3 of my 2006 list if I had known about them then. They're recording a new album right now. Arthur & Yu, Ha Ha Tonka, Le Loup
Finally, a list of trendy bands that I don't believe are good / just can't get into no matter how much the blogosphere gushes about them, and which I am happy to see that none of you are including on your lists:
- Of Montreal
- Panda Bear
- Animal Collective
I will probably put excerpts of some of my faves on ye olde blog for your listening pleasure.
Rock on, JMT
JEFF IRWIN'S TOP 3-
(jeff is based in nashville, tn.) my top ten is a top 3:
wilco - sky blue sky
radiohead - in rainbows
tori amos - american doll posse
honorable mentions:
thad cockrell - to be loved
the silver seas - high society
FURTHERMORE, i'm with mr avery, i'm going to have to get easy tiger now. also, like mr tubbs, i have perhaps.. put off this ryan adams guy too long. what the hell, pretension is so 2007.
SHAWN AVERY'S TOP 10-
this is hard. i didn't listen to much from 2007. at least not constantly. i'll compromise... i'll do a top 9 and then use number 10 to include records that were released "recently" that i actually listened to a lot... or that i'm just now starting to get into this year.
as for a true best of list... stuff that i listened to in the car, at home, etc with regularity... it would include verbena, nin, aphex twin, the police, wiseblood, the spots, van halen, sneaker pimps, the cardigans - first band on the moon (a masterpiece), old country compilations, miles davis concerts, down tempo compilations, zero 7, numerous demos, various sxsw bands, tons of local bands... and on and on. my 2007 list is a hollow reflection on where my ears were this year... but a great exercise nonetheless. alas, my half-assed list, in no particular order:
1. nine inch nails - year zero
2. through the sparks - lazarus beach
3. st. vincent - marry me
4. clutchy hopkins - the life of clutchy hopkins
5. greg gillis aka girl talk - miscellaneous bootleg cds
6. aa bondy - american heart
7. nine inch nails - year zero remixed (a totally different animal)
8. the rosebuds - night of the furies
9. the shins - wincing the night away (mainly listened to sea legs)
10... honorable mentions...
travis - the boy with no name
the damnwells - air stereo ('06 release)
midlake - the trials of van occupanther ('06 release)
the fire theft - the fire theft (old, but awesome emo-prog)
i'm just now getting into the radiohead cd. the jury is out. i'm totally with you brian on the iron and wine and travis albums... unfortunately, i cannot get into sky blue sky. i just dont get it. it is so passive. still a great band though. josh ritter annoys me to no end. the national cd is starting to grow on me... if i had to recommend some 2007 albums to you guys as no brainers... i would suggest:
st. vincent - marry me
clutchy hopkins - the life of clutchy hopkins
aa bondy - american heart
all brilliant. please help me out with some suggestions as well. i have a tendency to get stuck in musical ditches.
BRIAN T. MURPHY'S TOP 10-
pianist, songwriter, producer - currently working with red mountain music, the spots, and others.
okay boys. I'm compiling my lists of top ten records for 2007. if you would like to contribute, your list and your name will be included on my blog, which I know is a very high honor, and excites you verymuch. if you want to contribute a list, I need it within 48 hours. only rule - your list can only contain records which were released during 2007. I'm having a hard time deciding on number 10 (I'm hoping your lists will help me). here's my top 9 at the moment:
wilco - sky blue sky
josh ritter - historical conquests of josh ritter
travis - the boy with no name
iron and wine - shepherds dog
radiohead - in rainbows
the national - boxer
patty griffin - children running through
sea wolf - leaves in the river
small sails - similar anniversaries
HUNTER BARROW'S TOP 11-
art director / intermark group, birmingham, al.
Ah yes...the “list”. Alright. I guess I’ll make some caveats here. Since the boys from Oxford made basically everyone’s list (and everyone knows of my Radiohead love) it is a foregone conclusion that In Rainbows would be on my list. I don’t even feel the need to list it. It’s a given and would waste one of my spots. Great album. Also, Ryan Adams is permanently excluded from my lists. I know, I know...but he’s so brilliant, blah blah blah. His newest album is incredible blah blah blah. Yes, he is. I agree. I love him, BUT he puts out 13 albums a year. He’s out. Hate me if you want. Write a song about. Here are my favs of 2007 (in no particular order):
1. Spoon – Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga (These guys continue to get better and better and this album is people’s exhibit F in the case against the badassness of Britt Daniels and crew. His voice makes me want to be reborn as a Marlbro Light.)
2. The National – Boxer (What can I say about this one? It’s right as rain. “Do you really think you can just put it in a safe behind a painting, lock it up and leave?....” Hell no, I don’t. One of the best albums put out this year.)
3. Iron & Wine – Shepard’s Dog (I hated this up until I heard the first chorus of Flightless Bird, American Mouth. I started the cd over and fell in love. It’s pretty and bucolic, like Eva Green. And plus, you all love it, so it HAS to be good.)
4. Andrew Bird – Armchair Apocrypha (“This joker can whistle” was my first thought when I heard this record. “I think I’m in 1920’s Kansas” was my next. This is one of those albums that just takes you to other places.)
5. Editors – An End Has a Start (For the second straight year, the Birmingham kids are in my list. Brilliant album of death, decay and broken hearted hope.)
6. Kings of Leon – Because of the Times (I love the Followill boys. What can I say. I too saw them at the Tabernacle and after they finished only skulls and ashes remained. They still give better shows than pretty much anyone else in music.)
7. Rogue Wave – Asleep at Heaven’s Gate (One word. Solid. Front to back, it’s a great album. It stayed in my stereo for about 2 months straight.)
8. Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova – Once (OK OK...yes, this is a soundtrack, BUT it is beautifully brilliant. You NEED to see this film. You will then understand why I chose this and why it’s not actually a “soundtrack”)
9. Blonde Redhead – 23 (Creepy as always, but in a more adult-themed Halloween party kind of way. Like your mom in a french maid costume drinking a Tab.)
10. Laura Veirs – Saltbreakers (OK, so yeah, it’s sweet and quirky, but this girl can craft a melody. Sometimes, when I want to feel girly without having to listen to the Garden State soundtrack....this album becomes my elixir.)
11. Richard Swift – Dressed Up for the Letdown (Yeah, I gave 11....who wants to make something out of it? He’s like Rufus Wainwright with the gay turned way down. He’s one hell of an American songwriter. Plus, anyone who can sing “I wish I was dead most of the time, but I don’t really mean it...” gets my vote.)
I know I missed stuff. This was an absolutely stellar year for new music. It’s nuts how much good shit came out this year. These were just a few that came to mind first. If you ask me again in 2 months, the list would probably be different. I withhold the right to edit this list whenever the hell I want. Got that BTM? And yes, I realize that it’s a pretty soft list. I’ve had one of those years. Sad bastard music was the house special. I am 23.7% less cool than you bastards.
JACOB TUBBS' TOP 10-
Wow, this is hard. I have burned literally thousands of dollars in lost potential billable hours on this list, and I'm pretty proud of myself. A few notes before the list:
- Brian T. Murphy hates women, or at least women's taste in music. (Perhaps he does not trust their smaller brains?)
- Brian T. Murphy has friends with good taste in music.
- My musical tastes run a little bit more to the rock and the roll than most of yours. "Face-melting factor" is probably my number one musical criterium.
- I kind of wanted my list to be Nickelback 8 times, then the new "Daughtry" album, then Nickelback again in el posicion numero uno, but I want you all to respect me in the morning.
Ok, here we go (no particular order at first, some order later):
Easy Tiger - Ryan Adams
- I should've been a huge Ryan Adams fan years ago, but I resisted for some reason. This album effectively ended that resistance and made me atone for my years of neglecting him. "I taught myself how to grow old" has been playing in my head constantly since the first time I heard it.
All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone - Explosions In The Sky
- This is the kind of music I would make if I could make music. This is what they make 6 foot tall amps for. This is what I hope they play at my funeral.
Zeitgeist - Smashing Pumpkins
- It would be easy to assume that the Pumpkins are done, that their time was the 90s and we should accept that and move on. This album is a thundering, snarling, riveting, gripping rebuttal to that viewpoint. This album makes me feel like I'm in the middle of the movie Bladerunner, wearing black leather and a cape, leaping from rooftops at night in the rain, punching through walls.
In Rainbows - Some band
- Yeah. Some band sort of lost me about 10 years ago. I need rhythm, I need verse-chorus-verse. I gave up. They were too hard, to inaccessible for my cheap ears. Then this. Then "All I Need" on repeat for 12 hours straight. Then "Videotape" in the dark teatime of my soul. I still don't get all of it. But there is depth and weight to this album, and these songs in particular, that is breathtaking.
Boxer - The National
- I still like their last one better, but this is still easily in the top 10. "Start A War" punches me in the gut every time I hear it.
An End Has A Start - The Editors
- This is an album filled to its entirety with achingly sad, shiveringly cold songs. I loved every one. "Smokers Outside the Hospital Door" and "Escape the Nest" kill me.
Friend and Foe - Menomena
- I'm not a drummer, but I bet a lot of drummers kick themselves a little bit when they hear this record. Rhythm, rhythm, rhythm. Creative, creepy songwriting.
Icky Thump - White Stripes
- I saw them at Sloss this year. It should be pretty obvious that I like guitar from my list. Jack doesn't play guitar. He plays whatever instrument it is that Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton played. The sounds he makes, and the audible savagery that his guitar and Meg's tribal, primal, off-balance drumming create, are collectively one of the most forceful things I've ever heard.
The Story - Brandi Carlile
- She has the best female-folk-alt-country-rock voice in the world. I saw her twice this year and once last year, and I think that any of those shows could go down as one of the finest complete-band performances I've ever seen. She is the only person in the world that can cover Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah, Radiohead's Creep, Johnny Cash's Folsom Prison Blues, Counting Crows' Raining in Baltimore, and CCR's Fortunate Son, and sincerely do right by all of them. (I know you don't believe me, but I've heard them all firsthand, and you're wrong.) She's talented enough to sell millions of records on her own, but with Gibb Droll on guitar and the Hanselroth brothers on bass / rhythm, her band could play by itself and I'd pay to see them. Her songs are relatively simple, kind of like 50,000 pounds of high explosive and a lit fuse are relatively simple.
Because of the Times - Kings of Leon
- This one came out of nowhere for me. I've never been a KoL fan, but the first song on this album -- Knocked Up -- grabbed me deep in the wanderlust-open road-redneck-pregnant teenage girlfriend part of my soul and has not let go. The whole album appeals to me like Exile on Main Street appeals to me. It's visceral and dirty and authentic and volcanic. I saw them at the Tabernacle and I had some sincere concerns that they were going to tear the place down. I still kind of wish they had. "On Call" is captivating
Barely missing the list:
Cease to Begin - Band of Horses. If I were perfectly honest, I'd say this was a little disappointing, if only because their first album was one of my favorites of the last 5 years. Still pretty damn good though.
Kala - M.I.A. "Paper Planes" alone is enough to put it very high on any list.
Neon Bible - Some Canadian Band. "Intervention" alone is enough to put it very high on any list. I got a little tired of the Jesus-band posturing this year, but let's face it -- they're making incredibly good music. The pipe organ intro to Intervention means that it will probably be the song that gets me kicked out of my condo.
The Meaning of 8 - Cloud Cult. Can't decide if they're an art exhibit or rock band, but great music nonetheless. Very disappointed I haven't seen them yet. Will fix that this year.
Sound of Silver - LCD Soundsystem. "All My Friends" is basically a perfect song. I wonder what it feels like to make a perfect song?
EPs that I really dug that promise great things:
The Blakes EP. The Blakes are touring the country, burning places to the ground. They will be famous if they live long enough. (Big if.)
Dead Confederate - Dead Confederate. Athens strikes again. Watch out for them. Really.
Fameseeker and the Mono - Arizona
Is Is - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Pela. Their "Anytown Graffiti" would've been in the top 3 of my 2006 list if I had known about them then. They're recording a new album right now. Arthur & Yu, Ha Ha Tonka, Le Loup
Finally, a list of trendy bands that I don't believe are good / just can't get into no matter how much the blogosphere gushes about them, and which I am happy to see that none of you are including on your lists:
- Of Montreal
- Panda Bear
- Animal Collective
I will probably put excerpts of some of my faves on ye olde blog for your listening pleasure.
Rock on, JMT
JEFF IRWIN'S TOP 3-
(jeff is based in nashville, tn.) my top ten is a top 3:
wilco - sky blue sky
radiohead - in rainbows
tori amos - american doll posse
honorable mentions:
thad cockrell - to be loved
the silver seas - high society
FURTHERMORE, i'm with mr avery, i'm going to have to get easy tiger now. also, like mr tubbs, i have perhaps.. put off this ryan adams guy too long. what the hell, pretension is so 2007.
SHAWN AVERY'S TOP 10-
this is hard. i didn't listen to much from 2007. at least not constantly. i'll compromise... i'll do a top 9 and then use number 10 to include records that were released "recently" that i actually listened to a lot... or that i'm just now starting to get into this year.
as for a true best of list... stuff that i listened to in the car, at home, etc with regularity... it would include verbena, nin, aphex twin, the police, wiseblood, the spots, van halen, sneaker pimps, the cardigans - first band on the moon (a masterpiece), old country compilations, miles davis concerts, down tempo compilations, zero 7, numerous demos, various sxsw bands, tons of local bands... and on and on. my 2007 list is a hollow reflection on where my ears were this year... but a great exercise nonetheless. alas, my half-assed list, in no particular order:
1. nine inch nails - year zero
2. through the sparks - lazarus beach
3. st. vincent - marry me
4. clutchy hopkins - the life of clutchy hopkins
5. greg gillis aka girl talk - miscellaneous bootleg cds
6. aa bondy - american heart
7. nine inch nails - year zero remixed (a totally different animal)
8. the rosebuds - night of the furies
9. the shins - wincing the night away (mainly listened to sea legs)
10... honorable mentions...
travis - the boy with no name
the damnwells - air stereo ('06 release)
midlake - the trials of van occupanther ('06 release)
the fire theft - the fire theft (old, but awesome emo-prog)
i'm just now getting into the radiohead cd. the jury is out. i'm totally with you brian on the iron and wine and travis albums... unfortunately, i cannot get into sky blue sky. i just dont get it. it is so passive. still a great band though. josh ritter annoys me to no end. the national cd is starting to grow on me... if i had to recommend some 2007 albums to you guys as no brainers... i would suggest:
st. vincent - marry me
clutchy hopkins - the life of clutchy hopkins
aa bondy - american heart
all brilliant. please help me out with some suggestions as well. i have a tendency to get stuck in musical ditches.