Out the Other

Favorite Songs of '07 - #12

Sandro Perri - "Family Tree"

I know "love" is a term that shows up in every other sentence when I'm describing how much I enjoy certain songs, but when it's comes to "Family Tree," this song feels like falling in love.  Beautiful, delicate, romantic - it makes me think of the kind of dancing newly introduced couples can magically do in the movies when the rest of the room fades to black and they're left alone in the middle of an empty dance floor.  We're definitely getting into could-listen-to-for-hours territory with this one.  A month ago I wrote about Perri's Tiny Mirrors and said I could barely had the willpower to make it past this track on the album, and that is still absolutely true, although the rest of the album is beautiful as well.

Favorite Songs of '07 - #13

Dr. Dog - "My Old Ways"

Okay, yet another song that was selected from an album of great songs for the primary reason that it served as my introduction to said excellent album, as well as an excellent band.  I had heard of Dr. Dog before "My Old Ways" landed in my inbox via a promo email, but I had never stopped to listen.  This tune definitely made me stop and pay attention, and now I've managed to catch the band live a few times and I've even scooped up most of their catalog.  We All Belong is one of my favorite albums of 2007, and "My Old Ways" captures most of what I love about the whole record.

Favorite Songs of '07 - #14

Menomena - "Wet and Rusting"

I had a tough time choosing which track from Friend and Foe I would include in my top 20 (I restrict myself to only one song per artist) - the album has been one of my absolute favorites this year and there are more than a few songs that have spent some quality time on repeat.  But "Wet and Rusting" is the one that started it all - the track that got my attention when I didn't even know who Menomena was.  Even though I really came to love the band for the million things that aren't even showcased in this song, it remains the reason I checked out Menomena in the first place, so I owe "Wet and Rusting" a lot.  Plus, I think my favorite video of the year is the one La Blogotheque created for this tune.

Favorite Songs of '07 - #15

Muscles - "Chocolate, Raspberry, Lemon and Lime"

I almost didn't include this Muscles track in my top 20, and it's pretty much the only really dance-y tune that ended up in the countdown (well, one more will show up a little later but it's a bit more low-key).  I was trying to exclude songs that I really had to be in the mood to listen to  (because really, how could I love them more than something I'm always wanting to hear?) and "Chocolate, Raspberry, Lemon and Lime" definitely falls into that category - it's almost silly clubby fun and you have to be in that kind of bouncy, crazy, ready-to-dance or work out kinda mood to listen to it.  Then I thought about it though, and realized I seem to be in that mood a LOT.  Because I've listened to this song about 5 bazillion times since I wrote about it in February. Everyone needs a little crazy fun now and then - and anything on Guns Babes Lemonade can certainly provide it.

Favorite Songs of '07 - #16

Windmill - "Tokyo Moon"

I have Music For Robots to thank for my introduction to Windmill - they posted this track off of Puddle City, Racing Lights way back in February.  It was one of those songs I clicked on at work and then immediately listened to on repeat for the next hour or so.  To a certain extent "Tokyo Moon" is just as joyful as "Andy Warhol & The Honey Bees," but really it's the touch of melancholy, the extra something slightly sad in this song that makes it one of my favorites.  The chorus of voices, the surprisingly un-annoying squeak of the singer's vocals, the laugh that slips in occasionally, the echoed lines - for ten months I've been coming back to that perfect combination of ingredients. 

Favorite Songs of '07 - #17

Walker Kong - "Andy Warhol & The Honey Bees"

I can't even remember when I first heard this song and where I got it - I have to assume it was another music blog, but I'm honestly not sure which one.  But no matter how this song entered my mp3 collection, it sat there quietly for a while, relatively unnoticed, until one day it popped up like a bright little dandelion in an acre of drooping green grass.  This is one of the happiest-sounding songs I've heard all year, and it never fails to make me want to dance around the room, pretending it's spring.  The rest of Walker Kong's most recent album, Deliver Us From People, is good too, but nothing comes close to the bouncy, cheerful gem that is "Andy Warhol & The Honey Bees."

Favorite Songs of '07 - #18

Butane Variations - "Goldie Hawn"

I wrote about Butane Variations and their self-titled album just a few weeks ago, but here they are again, coming in with my #18 favorite song of 2007.  I said it then and I will say it now - this song is a knock-out.  Warm and beautiful, "Goldie Hawn" seems to envelop me every time I listen, and no matter how many times I hear it I find myself smiling, delighted by the way the song unfolds.  Everything - the melody, the lyrics, the vocals, the instrumentation - seems to fall perfectly into place, and I really can't imagine Butane Variations could have improved a single note.

Favorite songs of '07 - #19

Wilco - "Sky Blue Sky"

I think a lot of loving a song has to do with context - particularly if where or when you hear a song for the first time helps it leave a lasting impression.  And context is exactly why I love Wilco's "Sky Blue Sky" so much, because the first time I heard the title track from their wonderful 2007 release it stayed with me for weeks afterward.  Back in January, I had the opportunity to see Jeff Tweedy play here in Nashville at the James K. Polk Theater, and I think it still stands out as one of the best shows I saw this year - entertaining, engaging, intimate, and acoustically one of the most perfect sounding performances I've attended.  During the performance, Tweedy announced the release date for Sky Blue Sky to the world, and along with drummer Glenn Kotche, played a beautifully quiet version of this song.  Its simplicity captivated me then, and the perfection of that moment comes back every time I listen to "Sky Blue Sky."

Favorite Songs of '07 - #20

All We Seabees - "Black Girls"

I think I'm going to remember 2007 as the year I got into the Nashville music scene.  Yes, I've been talking about local bands and musicians since I started the blog (and my radio show on WRVU), but this is the year I really got out there and took advantage of the music this town has to offer.  In a year when I saw more performances than maybe the past few years combined (I don't have the final count yet, but it's something like 90 shows, two festivals, and about 190 different bands/performers), I actually spent most of my time checking out local music, and almost half of the acts I saw in 2007 were Nashville or Murfreesboro-based (seriously, I think the exact number is 79).  I love the fact that at least every month - and almost every week - I'm learning about, hearing or seeing someone new, someone who is crazy talented and making excellent music right here in Nashville. 

All We Seabees is one of those bands I "discovered" earlier this year - in fact I saw them for the first time less than six months ago, and since then I've seen them another four times.  In that short amount of time they've definitely become one of my favorite Nashville acts, not to mention four of my favorite guys in the local music scene, and I hope that everyone will be hearing much more about them very, very soon.  This song, "Black Girls," is taken from a promo CD the band handed out at this year's Next Big Nashville, and it will hopefully appear on a new album in 2008.  It's definitely one of the most beautiful songs I've heard this year, which is why it made my top 20.

Favorite Songs of '07

Counting down my favorite songs of the year was a new tradition I started last December, and for the past two weeks I've been working on determining this year's top 20.  I just went back to last year's introduction to see how I explained the whole tricky process, and I think a little self-quoting is in order, because this is still exactly how I feel:

"...I decided that this year, in addition to writing about my favorite albums of 2006, I would write about the twenty songs that have highlighted the soundtrack to the past twelve months of my life.  I also decided to rank them, so I can do a countdown leading up to Christmas, and I quickly found that creating such a list is incredibly, completely and insanely difficult. Loving a song is easy - hell, I have a new "favorite" song every few days - but to take one specific song that I adore and try to determine whether I love it more or less than another is, well... tough.  I know that the way I rank these songs matters very little to anyone other than me, but the thing is, in creating this list I ended up with this perfect, perfect mix. And when I listen to it straight through from #20 to #1, it's just this amazing, slowly intensifying ball of musical happiness that I think I could listen to forever."

The 2006 version of me hit it right on the nose - this year's list has the exact same intensifying ball of musical happiness kind of feel.  As well it should - every one of these songs is fantastic, and spent a fair amount of time on repeat in the past eleven months.  Once again, I know there are a few songs I'm leaving out - tracks that sound best in the context of an album, songs by artists I didn't want to include twice on this list, etc. - but I feel good saying that these are my twenty favorite songs of 2007.  Hope you love them as much as I do!