My Best of 2007 (16-20)

Here's my ##16-20 albums of 2007. Again, sample songs for each album can be found in the widget at bottom.

20. Jason Isbell, Sirens of the Ditch
As I mentioned recently, this is an album that I've just started to really get into. I liked it when I first got it but it kinda got buried in with a lot of other stuff I got around that time. Then I heard the song "Chicago Promenade" somewhere (WOXY?), and it was clear that I had to give the album another listen. For those wondering who the next great "alt-country/Americana" is, this album just may give you your answer.

19. Blonde Redhead, 23
This one kinda came from out of nowhere for me. I've never been a huge Blonde Redhead fan in the past, though, to be fair, I hadn't heard a ton of their stuff. So I was amazed at how much I absolutely loved 23 on my very first listen. In a year where it seems like everyone's trying to revive the whole "shoegazer" thing, this album pretty much puts everyone else to shame. It's powerful, ethereal, and haunting, and was pretty much on repeat on my iPod for much of the spring.

18. You Am I, Convicts
How had I never heard of You Am I before this year? They've been around forever, and are apparently huge-mungous in their homeland of Australia. This album is essentially the album we've (I've?) been waiting for Paul Westerberg (or a reunited Replacements) to make for the past 15 years. Raw, snotty, catchy and loud. And their live shows are even better.

17. Dinosaur Jr., Beyond
This is the way reunion albums should be done. Although it doesn't sound much like the band's early albums, it fits snugly into the sound that the band was making throughout much of the 1990's, but thankfully never sounds like a re-tread. In fact, the album opener "Almost Ready" is already one of my favorite tracks the band has ever done (I just wish they didn't play it in double time live), and the rest of the album holds its own as well. As long as J Mascis is making music somewhere, the world is a wonderful place.

16. Wilco, Sky Blue Sky
The album that Volkswagen killed. Would have been much higher on my list had it not been for those ads. And before anyone points out that the band's decision to use the ads in a commercial doesn't affect the quality of the music itself - you're right. But it definitely affected how I related to the music. Hearing 30 second snippets of many of the songs from the album every 5 minutes during commercials for 4 months this year simply wore me down on the songs, and sapped any interest I had in listening to the disc. It's an excellent album, but one that I just couldn't bring myself to listen to (or connect with) like I would have wanted.


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