So Long, Oh Seven.

Hope everybody had a New Year's Eve as fun- and friend-filled as ours was. I played a show with Al Tuck at the Bus Stop Theatre on Gottingen, opening for the Zumbini Circus. Our part of the show was frankly awful, what with nightmarish sound problems, no set list, and some very non-standard tunings, but luckily they cut us short after about five songs so that the great Zumbinis could make their spectacular appearance. They're a fairly large band who play Brazilian and afrobeat music, and they started their set by marching out through the audience thumping and shaking various percussion instruments. By the time they got onto the stage and really got down to it, the whole crowd was on their feet dancing. And they kept it up until the show was over at around 2:00 or so. Actually, I think there was even another small set after that, but Alison and I went home at around 2:30, getting to sleep by probably about four.







I'd like to offer some kind of 2007 retrospective roundup of personal themes and experiences, but all I seem to have come up with is my top ten music albums of the year. Very nerdy, I know. But anyway, you already know what happened to me all year, so why not find out what was playing in my head while it was going on? Here's my favourites, in no particular order.

The Shins - Wincing the Night Away
This band can do no wrong.

Radiohead - In Rainbows
Nor this one. For some reason, I put off buying this album over the internet, paying whatever I felt like paying, and when I finally got around to it a couple of weeks ago it was no longer available. I had to procure it by other, less ethical means, which was kind of ridiculous since I could have gotten it for free to begin with. Once I had it, I loaded it on the old iPod and Alison and I walked to our friends Charles and Kelly's house in the deep north end while listening to it in its entirety. A fantastic soundtrack to melting icicles in the late afternoon sunlight.

Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
Impossibly, even better than Funeral. More coherent, I guess.

Caribou - Andorra
He sings on pretty much every track, and it's weirdly pretty. Sometimes he sounds a lot like that guy in the Silver Apples.

Deerhoof - Friend Opportunity
Quirky and frantic and constantly changing, but somehow really catchy. Like it makes you mad that there's no way you'll ever be able to sing along to a whole song, no matter how hard you try. It must be terribly difficult to make a record that gets more enjoyable every time you listen to it, even after twenty or so times. And my friend Ron tells me they record all their albums using the free version of ProTools that you can download but you have to switch your computer over to an older version of the operating system and there are no plugins available and only eight possible tracks. Just like me! Choo choo choo choo, beep beep!

Interpol - Our Love to Admire
OK, even though these are not supposed to be ordered, this one's my number one favourite from the year. Critics didn't like it as much as their last one, but I think it's better because they've gone back to the dark Joy Division-derived sound that made the first album so great. I wish I could write basslines like Carlos Dengler.

Iron & Wine - The Shepherd's Dog
Call me an impurist, but I like some orchestration with my wimpy folk.

Neil Young - Live at Massey Hall 1971
I don't know whether this should actually count as a 2007 album, but that's when it came out and I'll be damned if it's not making it onto this list. It's just too good. Neil explains to the audience what "Old Man" is about, because they've never heard that song before! A fantastic solo acoustic show from the top of his game.

Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings - 100 Days, 100 Nights
Just really, really fun. No one makes soul music like this anymore. Well, maybe Amy Winehouse, but Sharon's the real deal.

Blonde Redhead - 23
I missed seeing Blonde Redhead when I was on tour in Europe with Buck 65, because I'd slept through the alarm that morning and been rushed onto the bus in a groggy and foul mood, and we'd seen a ridiculous number of rock shows over the past few days and I just wanted some time alone. Everyone thought I was crazy going off into the woods surrounding the festival location somewhere in France while they all checked out these incredible Italian twins with a Japanese woman for a singer, and maybe I was in retrospect. But I could hear the music drifting toward me while I sat quietly under a tree, and I don't know if seeing them onstage could possibly have made me feel any better than that did. They've held a special place in my eardrums ever since.

Back to work tomorrow, and a regular schedule. I think I kind of need it. I'll be doing some recording with Skratch Bastid in a couple of days, and then my big resolution is to get Lowlands playing some shows. We've been working on this for a year now — time to spit or get off the cuspidor. Also, I'm going to more regularly do the things that are supposed to be done regularly, such as exercise and blogging, try to have fun doing the things I don't like doing, and eliminate distractions as much as possible. Ali says she's going to get her driver's license before the summer so we can go on a road trip. How about all a' y'all?

- Andrew