Best of 2007

I live for lists. My friends and I make the best-of music lists every year for shits and giggles. I started writing this list in September, mostly because last year I didn’t have a top 10. It was more of a top 6, because I didn’t like as many albums as I thought I would. ( Here’s 2005, I think I lost my 2006 entry). This year was the exact opposite…Here is my top five followed by ones that spent a lot of time on my iPod

1. Battles – Mirrored
Watching Battles live — twice — was one of the biggest pleasures of my year. I love how their music is so cerebral yet hits your gut everytime. That they’re able to channel emotion, intelligence, wit, and intensity through thier instruments, without having to say a word. (Well, OK, sometimes they do.) And Tyondai is hot. Actually they all are. So there.

Battles, Lee’s Palace, Toronto

2. The National – Boxer
My favorite kind of music puts me in that in-between state of waking and dreaming. Where you don’t know where you are, exactly, you just know that you’re lost. But not in a bad way. This album did that for me, many times over.
The National, Pabst Theater, Milwaukee

3. Feist – The Reminder
Oh, Feist. My idol, my forever girl-crush. No song of hers could ever disappoint. Even though Justin thinks she’s a female John Kerry, I think she can do no wrong.
Feist, The Vic, Chicago

4. Radiohead- In Rainbows
Sometimes I go through Radiohead phases, where I want to listen to nothing but Radiohead on repeat. And the more albums they have, the longer that phase gets for me! YAY!

5. Brazzaville – East LA Breeze (2006, but I just discovered it.)
I love David Brown’s voice. And I love that his music is neither organic yet urban, Oriental and Western, here nor there.
Brazzaville, Bay View Bash, Milwaukee

Other CDs I totally loved:

J Todd vs. Milwaukee
Maritime
Andrew Bird
The Bird and the Bee, Again and Again
Explosions in the Sky, All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone
Arcade Fire, Neon Bible
Bright Eyes, Cassadega
Blonde Redhead, 23
Ryan Adams, Easy Tiger
Interpol, Our Love to Admire
Sharon Jones, 100 Days, 100 Nights