Best of Music 2007

My top 10 favorite albums of 2007 (released in 2007)
Drum Roll Please....

10. (tie) Once - Motion Picture Soundtrack
10. (tie) Elliot Smith - New Moon
9. Robert Plant and Alison Krauss - Raising Sand
8. Michael Penn - Palms & Runes, Tarot & Tea
7. Nine Inch Nails - Year Zero
6. Dinosaur Jr - Beyond
5. Ryan Adams - Easy Tiger
4. Josh Ritter - Historical Conquest
3. Jarvis Cocker - Jarvis
2. Radiohead - In Rainbows
1. Nine Inch Nails - Y34RZ3R0R3MIX3D

Overall I thought this was a pretty decent year in music. I seem to listen to less and less "new" music as the years go by, but 2007 found me in a peculiar mood in which I purchased a lot of 2007 albums. I continue to be disappointed with a lot of music out there today, but finding those musical treasures always keeps me coming back for more.

This is the first time ever a remix album has ever been crowned my album of the year, and it tops a great year for Trent Reznor as far as I'm concerned. Y34RZ3R0R3MIX3D is catchy, funky, and seductive. Reznor took a good album in Year Zero and totally transformed it into an exceptional stand alone record.

Radiohead continues to deliver goods with In Rainbows. Believe the hype! These guys are amazing.

This was also the first time in a long time (and maybe ever) that a hip hop/rap album didn't crack my top 10. Ironic because hip hop/rap really made a comeback for me personally. I reconnected with hip hop in many ways, but it was mostly older albums and Ipod (individual songs). Lupe Fiasco and Talib Kweli both had solid outings this past year and would probably fall into my honorable mentioned category.

And although I'm not writing these albums off, I admit I was most disappointed with new albums by Bruce Springsteen, Thurston Moore, Suzanne Vega, Wilco and River Cuomo. Not that these albums were bad, but I had extremely high hopes for all of them. Chances are, now that I have no expectation of them, I might learn to like them more in 2008.

As for the upcoming year, Right now I'm looking forward to new albums by Freedy Johnston, Morrissey, Counting Crows and many many more.

"When I was young we didn't have MTV; we had to take drugs and go to concerts."
- Steven Pearl