My Favorite Music Releases of 2007
I made this list a few weeks ago.
Here are my criteria for my list: 1) I include various artists compilations unless they’re just “Best of’s” and/or label comps, and most songs have been released previously; 2) I include reissues as long as the previous or original issue was very difficult to find, out of print for a long, long time, and/or was never properly issued in mass quantities until 2007 (e.g., the Sebadoh and Townes Van Zandt reissues are not eligible); and 3) Eligible albums include those that may have been released in late 2006 (like in December) that I didn’t hear of until 2007.
I’d also like to note two more things. First, I was lucky enough to have acquired a very limited press Warhammer 48k An Ethereal Oracle CD in 2006; it was re-released (in slightly larger quantities) by Permanent Records on vinyl in 2007...had I not already had this album, it would most definitely be on my list. Second, Circle (one of my favorite bands ever) released at least 7 albums in 2007 (including reissues). One of their reissues was the long out-of-print Sunrise album. If I didn’t already own this, this would’ve probably been my #1 album of 2007.
Here are my honorable mentions (in alphabetical order):
Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam (Domino)
The Arcade Fire - Funeral (Merge)
Avarus - Rasvaaja (Secret Eye)
Sir Richard Bishop - While My Guitar Violently Bleeds (Locust)
Boris with Michio Kurihara - Rainbow (Drag City/Pedal)
Anne Briggs - The Time Has Come (Water)
Burial - Untrue (Hyperdub)
Circle - Katapult (No Quarter)
Circle (featuring Verde) - Tower (Last Visible Dog)
Karen Dalton - Cotton Eyed Joe (Megaphone)
Fursaxa - Alone in the Dark Wood (ATP Recordings)
Ghost - In Stormy Nights (Drag City)
Daniel A.I.U. Higgs - Atomic Yggdrasil Tarot (Thrill Jockey)
Michael Hurley - Ancestral Swamp (Gnomonsong Recordings)
Krypt Axeripper - Mechanical Witch (Ektro)
NVH/Chasny - Plays the Book of Revelations (Yik Yak)
Pekos/Yoro Diallo - S/T (Yaala Yaala)
The Ponys - Turn the Lights Out (Matador)
Shellac - Excellent Italian Greyhound (Touch and Go)
Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga (Merge)
Sunburned Circle - The Blaze Game (Conspiracy)
The White Stripes - Icky Thump (Warner Bros.)
Wiley - Playtime is Over (Big Dada)
Here’s the Top 25 (in descending order):
25. High on Fire - Death Is This Communion (Relapse)
24. The Dead C - Future Artists (Ba Da Bing)
23. Circle - Panic (Ektro)
22. Radiohead - In Rainbows (self-released)
21. Jay-Z - American Gangster (Roc-A-Fella)
20. Six Organs of Admittance - Shelter From the Ash (Drag City)
19. Pink Reason - Cleaning the Mirror (Siltbreeze)
18. Meg Baird - Dear Companion (Drag City)
17. V/A - Thai Pop Spectacular 1960s-1980s (Sublime Frequencies)
16. Blues Control - S/T (Holy Mountain)
15. Panda Bear - Person Pitch (Paw Tracks)
14. Bruce Haack - The Electric Lucifer (Omni Recording Corporation)
13. Lambsbread - Stereo Mars (Ecstatic Peace)
12. Kemialliset Ystävät - Untitled (Fonal)
11. Wooden Shjips - S/T (Holy Mountain)
10. Deerhunter - Cryptograms (Kranky)
9. Von Südenfed - Tromatic Reflexxions (Domino)
8. Sir Richard Bishop - Polytheistic Fragments (Drag City)
7. V/A - Carolina Funk (Jazzman)
6. Dinosaur Jr - Beyond (Fat Possum)
5. Keith Hudson (and the Soul Syndicate) - Nuh Skin Up (Pressure Sounds)
4. M.I.A. - Kala (XL)
3. V/A - Melodii Tuvi: Throat Songs and Folk Tunes from Tuva (Dust to Digital)
2. Eroc - 1 (Brain/Universal)
1. Times New Viking - Present The Paisley Reich (Siltbreeze)
posted by John @ 4:27 PM
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