Yndlinge

How fitting -- my 100^th post is the ‘favorite albums of 2007’ one... As always, feel free to let me know if you agree or disagree with my assessments here -- but before you take me to task too badly, please remember that after about April, I didn’t listen to all that much new stuff. Hence, I (rather unfortunately) haven’t even heard most of the albums that are at the tops of most people’s ‘best of the year’s. And these are not necessarily the best releases of the year; they are simply my favorite albums -- what I listened to, and liked listening to, the most.

10. 23 – Blonde Redhead
I’d be lying if I didn’t say I loved this album. The first time I heard 23 (the song) I thought it was just gorgeous. Later, I felt the same way about the album. And -- even if I don’t listen to it so much as I used to -- I still do.

9. Make Another World – Idlewild
According to my iTunes, I’ve listened to one of the songs on Make Another World only six times. However, I’ve listened to one of the other tracks -- You and I Are Both Away -- far more than enough times to make all of my neighbors either adore or despise it. It’s one of those songs that just gets put on repeat forever, and you run the gamut of emotions every time. One of my (ever-changing) life ambitions is to start a reprints-only vinyl label so I can own a copy of this song on 7”. The rest of Make Another World is solid, too, although it’s really You and I Are Both Away that makes the album.

8. No Shouts No Calls – Electrelane
This is a gorgeous album which would surely be higher on the list if only I’d gotten around to listening to it sometime before… yesterday. I bought No Shouts No Calls in, I think, August, but, due to my peculiar compulsion to only play vinyl under circumstances which are absolutely perfect, it was only very recently that I heard the album all the way through. I’ve liked all of Electrelane’s previous albums, and their new songs heard in other places all went over well; hence, the reservation of a spot in the top ten. I only wish I’d taken the time to evaluate it earlier -- discovering this kind of stuff makes me really lament the fact that my strongest skill is procrastination. Glorious fuzz.

7. The Magic Position – Patrick Wolf
Looking at the thousands of other ‘best of’ lists around the net, it seems everyone’s forgotten Patrick Wolf. Maybe I’m committing a grevious error, but I’m pretty sure The Magic Position came out in 2007. Even if it didn’t, that’s when I heard it first, and it makes it onto the list for this reason: In what must have been January or February of this year, an old friend was trying to get me to like Patrick Wolf. Whenever I wasn’t looking, he would change the song playing on his iPod -- which was usually on shuffle -- to play Overture. After about the fourth or fifth time, I got the hint and asked what it was. He was so excited -- and that’s what I think of every time I listen to Patrick Wolf (even sad and depressing Patrick Wolf) -- being excited. That, and The Magic Position has the best-smelling liner notes I have ever encountered.

6. On Trade Winds EP – Air France
This is the only EP on my list, and it really shouldn’t be here at all -- because I’ve only ever heard it all the way through once. It was months ago, and I wasn’t really paying attention, and now I can barely remember what the songs sounded like. So I guess it’s really the experience I’m putting on here, rather than the album. I miss being able to listen to that kind of stuff and being happy. I miss pointing out the inherent contradiction in having a traffic sign which reads ‘Ocean Beaches / Beaverton.’ I miss pretending but still being able to believe it was real.

5. Night Falls Over Kortedala – Jens Lekman
Like No Shouts No Calls (8), Night Falls Over Kortedala might have been higher on this list had I heard it sooner. Also like No Shouts No Calls, Night Falls Over Kortedala has been doing markedly well on year-end lists around the music world. However, unlike (most) of Electrelane’s songs, Jens Lekman’s feature phenomenal lyrics. Funny, though -- with this latest album especially, I often find myself more interested in the sound of his voice than in what he’s saying. I know the stories are good and the lines are clever (what’s broken can always be fixed; what’s fixed will always be broken), but I’m still a bit caught up in the delivery. Oftentimes I do pay a lot of attention to lyrics, while other times I’m only concerned with the way a piece of music comes across, the way it sounds. Jens Lekman presents the best of both worlds: it’s obvious that he means what he’s saying, and wow, does he sound good saying it.

4. Where the Ocean Meets My Hand – Billie the Vision and the Dancers
I first encountered Billie the Vision and the Dancers due to the “duet” Hello Saferide did with them, Overdosing With You. Even though their recurring character, Pablo, kind of annoyed me, I kept listening, and shortly fell in love. Billie the Vision and the Dancers are the kind of twee pop band who sing about TV shows and music (including their own band) and, of course, break-ups. But the last track on the album, Stick to You, is so sad and sweet that I can’t tell whether they’re breaking up or getting back together again after a long and painful time away.

3. The Bird of Music – Au Revoir Simone
Au Revoir Simone played Portland three times this year. I wasn’t old enough, and couldn’t go. I’m not completely sure, but I think it would be safe to say I cried every time. I probably would have done the same thing if I’d been there. Need I say more?

2. Migration – Sambassadeur
A very close second. Anything I might be able to say about this album has already been said -- perhaps even by me. I’m sitting here waiting for the falling of stars to come back in fashion again and crying in toy stores and god knows what else. This band will take my life.

1. The Boy Who Couldn’t Stop Dreaming – Club 8
Even if I’d never heard this album, I’d have put it in the number one spot just for its title. This is a beautiful title. However, the songs on The Boy Who Couldn’t Stop Dreaming earn their place here, too. The sound, and the lyrics, and everything… how was I ever content before this album came out? I don’t know. Cos I’m still not.