RTP07 Top 10: quirken
I agree with FrazerJames: building my list of top 10 records for 2007 was much harder than I thought it would be. Too often, great records had to be left off my list because they started strong, but finished weakly. While the list struggled at times from six through 10, my top five were no doubters from the first time I listened to them. Please to enjoy.
Honorable Mentions
Band of Horses – Cease to Begin
David Vandervelde – Moonstation House Band
Feist – The Reminder
Menomena – Friend or Foe
Rufus Wainwright – Release the Stars
Spoon – Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
St. Vincent – Marry Me
The Shins – Wincing the Night Away
10 Amy Winehouse – Back to Black
No one is really doing this kind of nonsense anymore, and that is too bad. Is it the US that is holding them back? I remember when people used to really put on shows. No longer; now we are stuck with our memories. This record plays so well in my memory.
Seminal Moment: Back in Black, 2:44
09 Wilco – Sky Blue Sky
I declared this the worst Wilco record since I heard the lyrics “livin in Pekin.” Then I heard that Jeff Tweedy typed all the SBS lyrics on “an old typewriter.” In spite of that, and though I initially thought this was adult contemporary, I can declare this record great.
Seminal Moment: You Are My Face, 1:30
08 Office – Night at the Ritz
If you don’t know by now, Office made it to number 07 on the listing of my 10 favorite records this year. As a side note, this record was well received by several of my peers (and direct reports) which always reaffirms my belief that I have good taste in music.
Seminal Moment: Oh My, 0:01
07 Panda Bear – Person Pitch
When was the last time you found out that a record was great from your goddaughter’s older brother. For me, it was the afternoon of the annual family baseball game. I had a whiskey that night with the whole family and then went 6 for 7 at the plate.
Seminal Moment: Take Pills, 2:50
06 Blonde Redhead – 23
On Saturday mornings, my family and I like to listen to an opera right after the girls wake up. One week, 23 played in place of that week’s opera and a goodly amount of dancing ensued. Little girls dancing wildly to music they had never heard before.
Seminal Moment: Dr. Strangeluv, 1:08
05 Of Montreal – Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?
How can I explain what it is that makes this record and group so important? Maybe it is the onstage antics including formal dress, lobster claws and red, red blood, yet, I think not. Theatrical punk pop (from Georgia, no less) has never been this literary or relevant.
Seminal Moment: The Past is a Grotesque Animal, 4:43
04 Yeasayer – All Hour Cymbals
The singer for this band sounds exactly like I do in my own head, and thus sounds great. The percussion and effects really transcend a lot of the stuff that I think is cutting edge. This record makes me want to finish that script I have been working on since 2004.
Seminal Moment: 2080, 2:50
03 Radiohead – In Rainbows
Lost in the hype of blogger mania, a free digital download and a confusing fabric of 1s and 0s woven in and out of the record is a completely accessible and polished record that consistently stunned me from beginning to end. And then they released the second half.
Seminal Moment: Nude, 3:56
02 Vampire Weekend – Vampire Weekend
From my first listen to the first time I revisited it after an unremarkable live show, this record really vitalizes me. It reminds me what it was like to play in a band and the potential that singers and songwriters have to change the way people feel.
Seminal Moment: Mansard Roof, 0:21
01 Arcade Fire – Neon Bible
This record is nearly flawless from start to finish, sounding complex from both a technical and lyrical standpoint, yet was familiar on the first listen. Use of unique instrumentation, studio techniques and communist-inspired clothing ingratiate further.
Seminal Moment: Black Wave / Bad Vibrations, 1:39
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