Two Mistakes of 2007

Looking back on 2007 with the distance and perspective a few months provide, there are of course the bright spots and good memories that pop up. But it’s oftentimes the regrets and mistakes that we end up dwelling on. And I will share with you two of mine: Loney, Dear and Delta Spirit.

I missed out on these two bands for my fairly lengthy “Top 28 Albums of 2007” list.

Emil Svanagen, aka “Loney, Dear” (photo by Peter Beste)

I’ll start off with Loney, Dear, which is the performing/artist name for Swedish singer-songwriter, Emil Svanangen. His music is a swirling mixture of light electronic lo-fi rock, each song built on layer upon layer of itself with things like tambourines, bells, xylophone, horns, accordion, harmonica, hand-claps(!), and other happy-endorphin arousing sounds. And his airy, endearingly (and not annoyingly) earnest voice floats in and out of the music throughout, accompanied by his team of back-up singers and musicians. Independent label Sub Pop have signed him and is distributing his back catalog as well. The current album is Loney, Noir and he is working on a new one as I write this. You can get Loney, Noir straight from Sub Pop.

I found out about Delta Spirit in a most unexpected way. Cruising through blogs one day, I came upon one of life’s biggest pieces of crap: auto-start music/video/anything on blogs. I clicked onto this obnoxious person’s blog and the music started up within seconds (luckily I didn’t have my volume turned up nor was I listening to any music of my own). So I reacted how I normally do, immediately moving my cursor to ‘x’ out of the blog…but I kind of liked the song. So I let it play out. Then I googled the lyrics which landed me on the band’s Myspace. I listened to a couple more of their tracks, then I took out my credit card to place an order for their album, Ode to Sunshine, which was released last year.

Soon after, I found out they were the touring mates of the Cold War Kids, who I enjoy quite a bit. It wasn’t too surprising as their sounds are somewhat similar: bluesy and stripped down yet still loud, with a raw, bare rock sound. But Delta Spirit have more of a country-folk twang (I think it’s the “twang” that sets them apart) to many of their songs, which adds a certain rustic, somewhat timeless quality to their music. They can certainly get you up and dancing too. The sample tracks I’ve chosen are the more upbeat songs, ‘cos I like them the most. You’re going to have to get the album to get the quieter, more folksy songs. Buy Ode to Sunshine from the band and receive a free poster!

Songs of the Day:

Loney, Dear – “I am John”
Loney, Dear – “I Won’t Cause Anything at All” /  (album link)

Delta Spirit – “Tomorrow Goes Away” – the song I heard on that blog
Delta Spirit – “People C’mon” /  (album link)

Delta Spirit – “Streetwalker”, off the I Think I’ve Found It EP, which is strangely unavailable anywhere except iTunes. So I don’t have the complete EP yet. I’d be willing to buy it off anyone willing to sell it.

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The 28 Best Albums of 2007

Hey Fahim, is that you striking that suave pose? I think that girl on the right’s checkin’ you out! But seriously, he does look eerily similar to the jr. high you…right down to the nerdy clothes…HA!

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Yes, that’s right. It’s time to put on those dancing shoes because we’re ready to announce Michael’s Top Albums of 2007!

Since you guys are all excited, I’ll try to hurry up and introduce the list. I set out trying to compile a simple top 10 list. So I decided to first amass a large base of albums to choose from. Then I couldn’t decide which ones to cut, so I just decided to make a list with however many albums I had. I put them all in a certain order and was painstakingly comparing, re-listening, re-ordering, and re-ordering again for an hour or two. Then I just stopped because I realized that there was no way I was going to spend any more time and energy on a list that only 4 people will read. So here’s the best list ever of the top 28 albums of 2007. (I hope no one else has made a “top 28″list. If so, I’m not sure if this will be “The Best” anymore.) Some album descriptions will be one sentence, others may be up to two paragraphs, and, in some descriptions, I may not even talk about the album. I’m not sure, we’ll see how it goes. But ALL will have one or two carefully selected sample songs to whet your appetite. I can wholeheartedly recommend all of these albums as “sound” investments (by the way, that is a clever, wit-tastic pun. I put quotation marks just in case anyone might miss it), so go buy them, or hear them in concert, or something. I hope you enjoy the list.

(Click on the artist/album name to go to the Amazon page where you can check out or buy the album. I get absolutely no compensation for it. I probably should though…)

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Youtube Gems of 2007

In the spirit of retrospective looks back on the year, here are some memorable youtube videos I came across this year. And because of my very spotty memory, by “this year” I mostly mean “whatever I remember from the last 4 months or so.” Without further ado, I bring to you my top 6 personal youtube favorites of 2007! In random order! Woooooo! I…don’t know what we’re yelling about! Loud Noises!!

1) You think your wedding day was/will be stressful? Watch this and count your blessings:

2) You think you know what “androgynous” means? Give it some more thought after watching this (you have to watch at least to the 1 minute mark):

3) I never knew birds had such rhythm. Perfectly synchronized foot/leg swinging and stomping. This bird is a natural. His/Her infectious dancing spreads in a matter of seconds to the bird at the left of the screen in the background.

4) Ever wonder why some white chicks (or any young girl…or guy) flash up gang signs whenever a camera is within sight? This next guy pondered that same question — and wrote a song about it. (oh…watch for the coffee mug. it basically pushes the video to awesomeness level.)

5) I love nerds who love sports. (So yes, I love myself.) Paul Brogan artfully remixes Fergilicious, Mims’ “This Is Why I’m Hot,” and Nelly Furtado to make some great comments on the state of the NBA.

6) This next video is one I used to watch at least once everyday to make me smile. Now I watch it every week. At least. “Baby juggah” “Blood-duh” “Not funny!”

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I know I’m forgetting at least 17 other ones. So if you happen to know any more, please let me know. I cannot let the year wind down without giving those other videos some recognition.

Songs of the Day (follow links to download page):

Spoon – “I Turn My Camera On”
Okkervil River – “Our Life Is Not a Movie or Maybe”

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