2007: My Favorite Music
Posted on December 31, 2007 at 12:01 am | No Comments
Year-end lists used to be an annual tradition here on the ‘Nac, up until 2005, when the overabundance (and gun-jumping) of online list-makers prompted me to keep quiet. For the first time, I just didn’t feel like adding my signal to the overwhelming amount of noise, and the same held true at the end of ’06, as the listers grew exponentially, and the earlier-than-thou mentality got out of hand.
But a two-year break is just long enough (and a bunch of this year’s releases were just great enough) to get me to chime in again. One thing, though: I’ve decided I hate ranking my faves. Assigning a numerical order to the things I love is such an arbitrary exercise – things mean more to me depending on the day, week, or season – so what follows are my favorite albums and live shows of 2007, but with no numbers attached. Yeah, there are some of the usual suspects that you’ve seen on every other indie-slanted music blog, but hopefully a few surprises as well (though not too surprising if you visit here regularly). I’ve left off a few local Boston-area faves that filled my ears this year, as I’ll be spotlighting them in another post soon.
Arcade Fire – “Neon Bible”
(on Merge Records)
faves: “No Cars Go”, “Keep The Car Running”
Mp3: “Keep The Car Running“
Band of Horses – “Cease To Begin”
(on Sub Pop Records)
faves: “Ode to LRC”, “No One’s Gonna Love You”
Mp3: “Is There A Ghost“
Blonde Redhead – “23”
(on 4AD Records)
faves: “Dr. Strangeluv”, “23”
Mp3: “23“
Bottomless Pit – “Hammer of the Gods”
(on Comedy Minus One Records)
faves: “Human Out Of Me”, “Dead Man’s Blues”
Mp3: “The Cardinal Movements“
Buffalo Tom – “Three Easy Pieces”
(on New West Records)
faves: – “You’ll Never Catch Him”, “Hearts of Palm”
Mp3: “Three Easy Pieces“
Dinosaur Jr. – “Beyond”
(on Fat Possum Records)
faves: “Back To Your Heart”, “Pick Me Up”
Mp3: “Almost Ready“
Fields – “Everything Last Winter”
(on Atlantic Records)
faves: “Song for The Fields”, “You Don’t Need This Song”
Mp3: “Song For The Fields“
Film School – “Hideout”
(on Beggars Banquet)
faves: “Two Kinds”, “Compare”
Mp3: “Lectric“
Interpol – “Our Love To Admire”
(on Capitol Records)
faves: “Who Do You Think”, “Rest My Chemistry”
Mp3: “The Heinrich Maneuver“
Kevin Drew – “Spirit If…”
(on Arts & Crafts Records)
faves: – “Safety Bricks”, “Bodhi Sappy Weekend”
Mp3: “Tbtf“
Kristin Hersh – “Learn To Sing Like A Star”
(on Yep Roc Records)
faves: “Winter”, “Under The Gun”
Mp3: “In Shock“
The National – “Boxer”
(on Beggars Banquet)
faves: “Mistaken For Strangers”, “Brainy”
Mp3: “Fake Empire“
New Pornographers – “Challengers”
(on Matador Records)
faves: “Unguided”, “Myriad Harbour”
Mp3: “Myriad Harbour“
Ola Podrida – “Ola Podrida”
(on Plug Research)
faves: “Cindy”, “Pour Me Another”
Mp3: “Cindy“
Pinback – “Autumn of the Seraphs”
(on Touch & Go Records)
faves: “Good To Sea”, “From Nothing To Nowhere”
Mp3: “From Nothing To Nowhere“
PJ Harvey – “White Chalk”
(on Island Records)
faves: “Grow Grow Grow”, “The Piano”
Stream songs @ MySpace
Radiohead – “In Rainbows”
(self-released)
faves: “Videotape”, “All I Need”
Stream songs @ MySpace
Shellac – “Excellent Italian Greyhound”
(on Touch & Go Records)
faves: “The End of Radio”, “Kittypants”
no online audio available
Ted Leo & the Pharmacists – “Living With The Living”
(on Touch & Go Records)
faves: “La Costa Brava”, “The Lost Brigade”
Mp3: “Sons Of Cain“
Wheat – “Everyday I Said A Prayer For Kathy
And Made A One Inch Square“
(on Empyrean Records)
faves: “Little White Dove”, “I Had Angels Watching Over Me”
Mp3: “Move=Move“
I could’ve easily added another 10 or more on there, but that would’ve been a bit too self-indulgent. I should also mention that I shared some thoughts on a couple of the albums above on the year-end edition of Blog Fresh Radio, so if you feel like hearing me ramble, along with aural contributions from a bunch of ace fellow music bloggers, go here.
Caspian
@ Great Scott in Allston, MA
On Tuesday, January 9th, 2007
write-up
Sparklehorse
@ the Paradise in Boston, MA
On Thursday, February 27th, 2007
write-up
Asobi Seksu
@ the Middle East Downstairs in Cambridge, MA
On Wednesday, February 28th, 2007
live set forthcoming
Rob Crow (of Pinback)
@ TT the Bears in Cambridge, MA
On Wednesday, February 28th, 2007
write-up
Sebadoh
@ the Paradise in Boston, MA
On Friday, March 30th, 2007
live set
Low
@ the Somerville Theater in Somerville, MA
On Saturday, April 7th, 2007
live set
John Vanderslice & friends
@ the Middle East Upstairs in Cambridge, MA
On Friday, April 20th, 2007
live set
Dinosaur Jr.
@ Urban Outfitters in Cambridge, MA
On Thursday, May 10th, 2007
live set
The Arcade Fire
@ the Orpheum in Boston, MA
On Thursday, May 10th, 2007
live set
Kristin Hersh & the McCarricks
@ Hi-N-Dry in Cambridge, MA
On Sunday, May 27th, 2007
The Cal Robbins Benefit Shows
@ PA’s Lounge in Somerville, MA
with Ida, Secret Stars, Mark Robinson, Drew O’Doherty,
Geoff Farina, Chris Brokaw, Neptune, Helms, @ the Thalia Zedek Band
On Friday & Saturday, July 13th & 14th, 2007
live songs forthcoming
Darren Hanlon
@ the Lily Pad in Cambridge, MA
On Friday, August 17th, 2007
live set
Kevin Drew & Broken Social Scene
with Ryan Walsh (of Hallelujah the Hills)
@ TT the Bears in Cambridge, MA
On Tuesday, August 28th, 2007
Kevin’s live set / Ryan’s live set
The Lucksmiths
@ TT the Bears in Cambridge, MA
On Thursday, September 27th, 2007
live set
Kristin Hersh & Tanya Donelly
@ the Brattle Theatre in Cambridge, MA
On Saturday, October 6th, 2007
live sets shared soon
Film School
@ TT the Bears in Cambridge, MA
On Wednesday, October 24th, 2007
live set
The National
@ Paddy O’s in Boston, MA
on Friday, October 26th, 2007
live set
Drew O’Doherty, The Soft Drugs,
All Smiles, & David Bazan
@ TT the Bears in Cambridge, MA
On Saturday, October 27th, 2007
David’s live set / The Soft Drugs’ live set
Yo La Tengo
@ the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, MA
on Thursday, November 15th, 2007
live set
Spiritualized
@ the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, MA
On Monday, November 19th, 2007
live set
and not exactly musical (unless you count a song from “Annie”), but definitely rating a mention…
Zach Galifianakis
@ the Berklee Performance Ctr. in Boston, MA
on Saturday, July 7th, 2007
So until that momentum fades, I’ll keep on sharing live recordings, scattershot music-related info, and the occasional bit of tv/movie/books/comics randomness. I’ve got some cool posts planned, including a look at what a few Boston-area faves have in store for 2008, some amazing live stuff, and a pretty special giveaway. The comments and grateful emails you guys send really do keep me going, so thanks for those, and best wishes to all of you in the new year.
Guest Post: Chris from Tourfilter’s 2007
Posted on December 28, 2007 at 8:11 am | No Comments
Before I get to writing about my own favorite music of 2007, I’ve invited Chris Marstall, proprietor of the excellent Tourfilter, to sit in for the first-ever Almanac guest post. It’s only fitting, as my own year was made better by DJing at Cambridge’s River Gods as part of his TF-sponsored DJ nights. Chris uses this opportunity to reflect on his 2007 show-going experience, and offers up some pretty cool Tourfilter statistics as well. For those not in-the-know, Tourfilter provides live music listings for almost two dozen metropolitan areas, and allows you the ability to not only preview music by many of the cataloged bands, but to track your faves and be alerted when they come to town. It’s ace.
Handing over the microphone…
Hey ‘Nac readers! Chris Marstall from Tourfilter.com here with a special holiday guest post for ya. You all know about Tourfilter DJ Night at River Gods in Cambridge, which Brad has been kind enough to guest DJ for a bunch of times.
Well the night’s been going on most of the year and has become a regular thing (third Thursday of every month, 9PM-1AM, free), with Brad spinning every other month.
Thought late December might be a good time for a look at what shows I actually attended this year, and and whether/how much Tourfilter actually actually helped me personally in my show-going. After that I have a couple of “top” lists that I guarantee you won’t see anywhere else (or your money back). Without further ado, here are the …
shows that I actually attended this year…
28 Degrees Taurus, Middle East, January 7
Keith Fullerton Whitman, PA’s Lounge, January 13
Charlene, PA’s Lounge, February 11
Sparklehorse, Paradise Rock Club, February 26
Sebadoh, Paradise Rock Club, March 30
Sunburned, PA’s Lounge, April 25
Charlene, TT the Bear’s, May 30
Jandek, ICA, June 8
The Long Blondes, Great Scott, June 8
Janovitz, Lizard Lounge, July 17
Great Northern, Middle East, June 13
Miss Tess, Toad, June 24
Acid Mothers Guru, Middle East, August 31
Buffalo Tom, Somerville Theatre, October 26
Sidewalk Driver (as Ziggy Stardust), TT the Bear’s, October 31
Yo La Tengo, MFA, November 15
Shonen Knife, Middle East, November 25
Fiery Furnaces, Great Scott, December 10
…plus a few others i can’t exactly remember at toad, lizard lounge, etc. Being generous to myself, call it a couple dozen.
So did Tourfilter help? Well, being absolutely honest about my show-going habits, I’d say going to 24 shows makes for a banner year. Pre-Tourfilter, I think I would be lucky to go to one a month. I often have said that using Tourfilter will double the number of concerts you go to, and that seemed to hold true for me, for 2007 at least. The prime example is probably the Sparklehorse show back in February. Despite the fact that they’re one of my ultra faves, I was formerly such a lazy bastard that I probably never would have found out they were in town were it not for the ‘filter. Thanks, me.
Now let’s compare that number (24) to another – 329. That’s the number of Boston shows Tourfilter emailed me about this year – the number of shows by bands I track. The ideal number of shows for Chris. So how should I feel about those 304 shows i didn’t go to (hello and goodbye to TV on the Radio, Rickie Lee Jones, Holy Fuck, Hella, and Girl Talk)? I think I feel a little guilty, but on balance, I’m glad just to “know”, even if I don’t “go”.
Next number: 8415. That’s the total number of individual shows in Boston this year, according to Tourfilter. That’s bands performing, so there can be more than one “show” per venue per night if there are multiple bands on a bill. But still, yowza, that’s a lot of live music.
Sometimes I like to geek out on the Mysql command line, cooking up different ways of looking at all the information in the Tourfilter database. One interesting stat that’s easy to come up with is who’s playing the most in town. Call it The Hardest Working Bands In (Boston) Show Business. Excluding “house” bands that play mostly at a single venue, here’s the list for 2007:
Top Ten Hardest Working Bands in Boston (2007)
1. David Johnston, 20 shows
2. 28 Degrees Taurus, 19 shows
3. Geoff Farina, 16 shows
4. Mark Lind, 15 shows
Andrea gillis, 15 shows
Self-Righteous Brothers, 15 shows
7. This Car Up, 14 shows
Age Rings, 14 shows
9. Okay Thursday, 13 shows
Guillermo Sexo, 13 shows
Another thing I get to ponder on quite often while editing Tourfilter every night is band names, and trends thereof. I have my favorite band names (Drag The River + Coach Said Not To are two that are like 3-word short stories) and some less favorite that I won’t mention here. There are a lot of ways to slice the pie in terms of thinking about band names, but one that I thought would be particularly interesting is to look at the most popular words in band names this year. Mysql to the rescue. Here’s the top ten, excluding obvious words like a, the, of, and, band, trio, etc., plus people’s first names (which are very popular, John being #1)…
Most Popular Words In Band Names In 2007
(# of band names this word appears in in parentheses, click on word to see list of bands)
1. black (145)
2. big (113)
3. new (89)
4. red (76)
5. hot (73)
6. love (71)
7. blue (63)
8. white (62)
9. dead (57)
10. club (56)
And, finally, to round out the post, some other band-name-word statistical curiosities, which tickle me and hopefully not only me:
# of bands with “wolf” or “wolves” in their title: 35
# of these added in 2007: 11
# of bands with “broken” in their title: 15
# of these added in 2007: 10
# of bands with “dog” in their title: 32
# of these added in 2007: 12
# bands with “cat” in their title: 60
# of these added in 2007: 34
# bands with “south” in their title: 20
# of these added in 2007: 2
# bands with “north” in their title: 23
# of these added in 2007: 6
# bands with “west” in their title: 34
# of these added in 2007: 10
# bands with “east” in their title: 38
# of these added in 2007: 17
Peace, thanks to Brad, and see you all at River Gods (the next DJ night is Thursday, Jan. 18, + Brad + I will be spinning).
– Chris
As Chris said, the next Tourfilter DJ Night is at River Gods on Thursday, January 18th. I’ll be hitting the booth at 9pm sharp, and playing only songs by bands coming to the Boston area within the following month or so. And once again, thanks go out to Chris for the words above, and for the chance to play more songs at my favorite bar.