I’m in the corner, home, considering heading out to a movie, but T, N, and one of N’s friends are over and M needs to go out for a bit. T said his stomach hurt this morning, before school, but I made him try out the morning. The secretary told me he was “very insistent” that she call me so I could pick him up. That’s my boy. He looks fine now, but he almost never misses school, so I can’t complain.

Ok, so much for a quiet afternoon. Anyway, I’ve been thinking of writing up an entry on my favorite 2007 music, and this seems as good a time as any. A couple guidelines:

1) This is not a “top ten albums that were released in 2007” list. I don’t keep up enough with music for that type of delineation.
2) Some are albums, some are artists, some are both.

Without further ado…

A) Stars of the Lid. I probably listened to Stars of the Lid more than any other artist this year. I focused most of my listening on “The Tired Sounds of Stars of the Lid” but I haven’t heard a bad disc in their catalog. They’re supposed to tour America next spring. Can’t wait.

B) Sparklehorse. I discovered Sparklehorse this spring, and they’ve quickly become one of my favorite bands.

C) Vic Chesnutt. I saw VC about fifteen years ago, when he supported Bob Mould in Chicago, and his work has always interested me. This year, spurred by his “Monkey in the Zoo” track on the Daniel Johnston tribute disc, I delved deeper into his catalog. “About to Choke” is a classic. I’m having a hard time finding some of his other material, believe it or not, but I’ll track it all down sooner or later. His 2007 release, “North Star Deserter” is as dark and dense as anything I’ve heard in a long time.

D) Mum. Icelandic post-rock...I played this early in the morning in my office a lot this fall.

E) We All Have Hooks for Hands-“The Pretender”. I played this disc to death over the summer…nine kids from South Dakota making glorious, melodic noise? You don’t have to ask me twice. Great disc.

F) The Hold Steady-“Boys and Girls in America”. I know this was released last year, but I don’t care.

G) AA Bondy-“American Hearts”. I’m not a huge acoustic guitar fan, sorry, older brother, but this disc caught and held my attention. Nice recommendation, Colin.

H) Low-“Things We Lost in the Fire”. A lost classic, as far as I’m concerned. TWLITF is one of those discs of which I had heard but never heard. The opening track still runs through my head a lot.

I) Caribou-“Andorra”. This is another disc I played over and over again this fall. Sometimes the Brian Wilson imitators get it right.

J) Feist-“Let it Die” and Regina Spektor’s “Begin to Hope.” Two brilliant singers who ended up on VH1 despite the network’s tepid tastes. Hope springs eternal for the commercial prospects of cute and talented girl singers.

Ok, that’s ten, so I’ll stop for now. I’m sure I’m forgetting some. You know how it is.