Yet another blogger releases a best of '07 list? Unfortunately, this time, it's me.
Here goes:

Armchair Apocrypha
Andrew Bird
After ...& the Mysterious Production of Eggs, my expectations were high for the whistling master and violin virtuoso Andrew Bird to produce another masterpiece. The album's more subdued sense of humor and somewhat darker instrumentation (more electric guitar!) work well with its title and theme...oh yes, the apocalypse. Every time I listen to "Yawny at the Apocalypse" I can feel a shiver run down my spine. At TGH's 2-year anniversary I declared Fiery Crash my favorite song of 2007, and it still holds true.

Andrew Bird - Cataracts
Buy Armchair Apocrypha from Amazon.com

Little Jabs
Two Hours Traffic
Throughout the year I've found myself continually falling in love with this album's playful take on the intersection between pop music and life. I hope you find yourself listening and giggling too. Two Hours Traffic may have begun my (bad) jokes about being addicted to Canadian artists.

Two Hours Traffic - Nighthawks
Buy Little Jabs (directly from the band)

Boxer
The National
Admittedly, I've spent more time listening to Alligator this year than Boxer, but mostly I've just spent a lot of time with the National. In "Brainy" Matt Berninger sings, "You might need me more than you think you will," and I'd agree: without the National to bring a sad smile into dark places, I think would have lost my mind this year.

The National - Apartment Story
Buy Boxer from Amazon.com

The Shepherd's Dog
Iron & Wine
This album came as a pleasant surprise. Though he's kept his beard (too bad), Sam Beam is a new man - suddenly he's comfortable with a dramatic piano, guitar solos, and a real drum part... it's crazy! And beautiful...because the man's voice keeps everything in line.

Iron & Wine - The Devil Never Sleeps
Buy the Shepherd's Dog from Amazon.com

The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter
Josh Ritter
Would I miss the opportunity to plug my favorite famous musically-inclined Oberlin alumnus? Never. Josh Ritter, who critics call "the new Bob (Dylan)" produced another prolific album. Beat that, Wesleyan!

Josh Ritter - Open Doors
Buy the Historical Conquests of... from Amazon.com


Page France and the Family Telephone
Page France
There's something in Michael Nau's songs that always manages to strike me unexpectedly, despite their cryptic and often whimsical lyrics and dainty instrumentation. This year I've found myself listening to ...and the Family Telephone on repeat, finding some deeper meaning for which words escape me. Goodness, what a great cop-out.

Page France - Wet Dog Afternoon
Buy ...and the Family Telephone

A Cork Tale Wake
Chris Bathgate
Not only do I love this album, but Chris Bathgate has been one of my favorite discoveries this year. Usually I'm not a fan of music that takes itself too seriously, but Bathgate's talk of life-changing moments and awakenings grabbed me. Not to mention his delicate, beautiful instrumentation.

Chris Bathgate - Serpentine
Buy A Cork Tale Wake

Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?
Of Montreal
This album made the list despite my disappointment after seeing them live this year. Why? Because, to state it simply, I was converted to an Of Montreal fan this year entirely because of this album.

Of Montreal - Bunny Ain't No Kind of Rider
Buy Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? from Amazon.com


Peel (self-titled)
Peel
I've been dancing to this album's chaotic electro-rock city soundtrack all year and not writing about it on TGH. Shameful? Yes. Catchy? YES.

Peel - Oxford [alt link]
Buy Peel from Peek-A-Boo Records



Heroes and Sheroes
The Eames Era
This album was responsible for filling my ears with female-fronted indie pop all year, and I'm grateful. I think you'll find you are too.

The Eames Era - Could Be Anything
Buy Heroes and Sheroes from Insound



Honorable Mentions:
1990s: Cookies
LCD Soundsystem: Sound of Silver
Pela: Anytown Graffiti
Sea Wolf: Leaves in the River

Not on the list: Bishop Allen. This is because, for me a least, The Broken String didn't really feel like a new release. I listened to the album as though it was the remastered version of 2006's greatest hits...otherwise it would be here.

Coming soon: best songs of 2007.

Labels: Andrew Bird, chris bathgate, Eames Era, Iron and Wine, josh ritter, Of Montreal, page france, peel, the national, top list, two hours traffic

Nothing about Iron & Wine's music has ever been revolutionary, nothing about Sam Beam's songwriting hasn't been done before. With a voice ancient and balmy as an ocean breeze, Sam Beam always struck closest to my heart when he told stories - it's no wonder that my favorite Iron & Wine song is "Jesus the Mexican Boy." Our Endless Numbered Days (2005) was an album obsessed with mothers, God, lovers, and what happens when the world goes wrong. The past lived within the present, and Sam Beam's imagination was clearly obsessed with the possibilities of a troubled Southern past with songs like "Free Until They Cut Me Down" and "Sodom, South Georgia."

With most of the Shepherd's Dog sitting on my computer and the Boy with a Coin single in my hand, I wonder where those obsessions have gone. Are they still there hiding in Iron and Wine's music? I'm not sure.

What I can tell you is this: with the Shepherd's Dog, I get the sense that Sam Beam has metaphorically placed his voice and Iron & Wine's instrumentation on an anvil and hammered it to perfection. The sapless quality of the vocals is gone, and while I miss the prominence of the guitar and lo-fi feel of older Iron & Wine recordings, I think the change is for the better.

Iron & Wine - Boy with a Coin (single)
Iron & Wine - Resurrection Fern (The Shepherd's Dog)
Iron & Wine - Jesus the Mexican Boy

The Shepherd's Dog will be released on September 25th.
Buy the Boy with a Coin single from Insound

Iron & Wine tour dates - all of these are in the UK in October

Labels: Iron and Wine, upcoming

Hello! Jason here.
I'm back from a beautiful weekend at pitchfork and my god was it amazing. The people at Pitchfork truly have put together another fine festival for the indie kid public. Hopefully they will continue to offer us poor starving indie kids a wonderful but inexpensive festival experience and not go the way of other festivals *cough*Lollapalooza*cough*

I noticed a few trends and highlights:

First of all, beards seemed to be popular at Pitchfork, and not just some scraggly indie beard (see: Voxtrot) (tons of those) but big fuckoff old testament beards. (apologies to Eddie Izzard) notable examples: Sam Beam of Iron and Wine and Brent Hinds of Mastadon. As a fan and supporter of beards that are not mine, I would like to see more of these great bearded musicians. Some of the members of Californe looked well on their way to the beard critical mass.

Second of all, I beat someone at one of the label tables at chess. I can't remember what label, I'll probably remember when I get an email from them (I signed up for their email list.) The girl wasn't terrible and she played a good game. I was missing The Sea and Cake at the time. I hope nobody finds that to be too big a crime against music.

One thing I'll say I have mixed feelings about is the lack of blood and bone being given up for the festival this year. Last year we had two notable musician injuries. We had one artist on the 3rd stage jump or fall (can't remember which) off the stage and break his arm. We also had Ted Leo getting much too excited and he seemed to have cut his head. We didn't have that kind of masochistic devotion this year. I'm really not sure if that's good or bad yet.

One thing that did return from last year is the announcer. The balding guy...was just a little excitable. He gave some of the corniest intros I have ever heard, which were sometimes very long-winded to boot. He also was infamous for announcing the Mountain Goats as the Billy Goats last year and this year announcing Deerhoof instead of Deerhunter. (Deerhoof did play last year though) Despite being terrible, he is rather amusing and I hope he sticks around despite all of his shortcomings.
Finally, although most bands were good, some great, some just weird as hell (I'm looking at you Deerhunter and Of Montreal) one band stands out in my mind. The New Pornographers played an amazing set getting everyone moving, and giving me an hour of bliss with old and new songs off their forthcoming album which Kate posted about a bit below.

P.S. For all those complete Yoko haters. No, the set was in no way shape or form great. I also think it wasn't appropriate for pitchfork or to be headliner. However, some of the noise rock they did was actually rather good and Thurston Moore gave a brilliant performance.

- Jason

P.S.S. Kate is a Yoko hater.

Labels: festival, Iron and Wine, jason post, New Pornographers, Of Montreal, pitchfork

I've become addicted to my RSS reader this past week, and it's had an interesting effect on my posting.

I'm not digging the new Stars song so much, but thanks to my initially jumping to conclusions on Feist I've learned my lesson. It took a while, but now I can safely say I'm madly in love with The Reminder. Still, I am a little worried about In Our Bedroom After The War - I didn't like Stars' Set Yourself On Fire anywhere near as much as Heart, and Set Yourself on Fire is arguably the better album.

Feist - One Two Three Four
Buy The Reminder from amazon.com
Stars - The Night Starts Here

The New Pornographers' upcoming album has me pretty psyched too, not to mention Iron and Wine.

The New Pornographers - Myriad Harbour
Pre-order Challengers from amazon.com
Iron and Wine - Resurrection Fern
Pre-order Boy with a Coin single

Hannah Montana beat out Kelly Clarkson for the top of the charts.
Hannah Montana - I Got Nerve
(Why do I have a Hannah Montana album sitting on my computer? That's what 11-year-old sisters are for)

Labels: Feist, hannah montana, Iron and Wine, Kelly Clarkson, New Pornographers, stars

The news of an upcoming New Pornographers album happened while I was on blog leave, but today Pitchfork released an interview with A.C. (or Carl) Newman in which he revealed some more details about the album. It's to be called Challengers, and will be released in August.

As for the tracklisting, some Dan Bejar songs to appear on the album are "Myriad Harbor," "Entering White Cecilia," and "The Spirit of Giving," and some of the other tracks are "All These Things That Go to Make Heaven and Earth", "Go Places", "Challengers", and "All the Old Showstoppers." Newman also mentioned that the album is quieter and includes a 6-and-a-half minute song, something unusual for the NP's. From the interview, it also sounds like Neko Case will be touring with NP's in the fall, though Dan Bejar is unlikely to (if you've ever been to a New Pornographers' concert, it's pretty freaking obvious that he HATES playing live). Read the full interview here.

Upcoming Tour Dates
April 28 - Indio, CA at Coachella
June 18 - London UK at Bar Academy SOLD OUT
June 19 - London UK at Borderline SOLD OUT
June 20 - London UK at 93 Ft East
June 22 - Pilton UK at Glastonbury Festival
July 4 - New York, NY at Battery Park w/ Midlake
July 15 - Chicago, IL - Union Park at Pitchfork Music Festival

The New Pornographers - Star Bodies
Buy Twin Cinema
The Band's Website / MySpace

Meanwhile, Iron & Wine will be releasing a new single on July 10 to promote the upcoming album, The Shepherd's Dog; Wilco has added new tour dates; and Kaiser Chiefs has announced some.

P.S. - Obama raised about as much money in the first quarter as Hillary, but with more donors.

Labels: Hillary, Iron and Wine, New Pornographers, Obama