My top artists chart of 2007
My Last.fm top artists chart of 2007 proves that I'm officially an old codger now. Where are the new bands and artists? Do I still care? I do, but my loyalty to and infatuation with older performers gets in the way. Amy Winehouse is the only 'young' act in the top 5 and while her music may be timeless, it's not exactly innovative. Still, reactionary as my chart may be, it's still eclectic as fuck and I love to see Fatima Mansions sitting quite comfortably next to Take That, and Robbie rubbing shoulders with Nick Cave.
The Church stand out in the top spot with a staggering lead on Winehouse. I 'rediscovered' them when I saw them live early in the year and then went a bit obsessive. Their 'oldie' Destination is my most played track, but it was the rather more recent song Block (listen) that I wanted to hear the most and played over and over again on my non-Last.fm-scrobbling Archos mp3-player.
The chart's a little skewed, in that the prominence of some of the acts is mainly due to a somewhat limited, and totally different, selection of music on my work computer. (The old one, I'm not playing a lot of music in my new job. Too busy.) Bowie, Almond and Peter Gabriel benefited from this fact, but I don't really begrudge them their place in this year chart. Gustavo Santaolalla looks the odd one out in the list, but he composed and sequenced the score and soundtrack of the film Babel, easily my favourite film and soundtrack of the year, featuring the sounds of David Sylvian and Sakamoto as well as Santaolalla's own mesmerising ventures into the Arabic soundscape. The medley Bibo no Aozora/Endless Flight/Babel was another track that I put on repeat on my Archos.
Listen:
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I haven't really been listening to albums as such in a long time, blame the shuffle switch for that. So I hesitate to draw up a 'best album' list. Maria McKee's Late December was one of her stronger releases and Marc Almond's Stardom Road was nothing less than heartwarming. I enjoyed LCD Soundsystem's Sound of Silver, but the shuffle feature mostly ignored its presence.
M.I.A. caught my eye and ears and I need to spend some time with her Kala. Rufus Wainwright's Release the Stars was the first album of his I could actually sit through playing in its entirety, while Arcade Fire's Neon Bible had quite the opposite effect and I can't quite get Win Butler's basketballgate out of my head.
I'll have to mention Bruce Springsteen. Yes, I'm ending my reflection on my year in music with another seasoned artist. I've only just heard his new album 'Magic' and while I never have been a fan of the man, it impressed me throughout. Twelve catchy, uplifting tunes that could well all be singles and easily wipe contenders like The Killers think they are off the table. And while we're touching on Americana, I'll have to mention to U2's The Joshua Tree, magnificently re-released this year. Musically never really my favourite album of the band, its Corbijn-shaped imagery haunted my student years. I hope their newest effort, co-written with Lanois and Eno and set for release in 2008 will be equally defining.
The Church stand out in the top spot with a staggering lead on Winehouse. I 'rediscovered' them when I saw them live early in the year and then went a bit obsessive. Their 'oldie' Destination is my most played track, but it was the rather more recent song Block (listen) that I wanted to hear the most and played over and over again on my non-Last.fm-scrobbling Archos mp3-player.
The chart's a little skewed, in that the prominence of some of the acts is mainly due to a somewhat limited, and totally different, selection of music on my work computer. (The old one, I'm not playing a lot of music in my new job. Too busy.) Bowie, Almond and Peter Gabriel benefited from this fact, but I don't really begrudge them their place in this year chart. Gustavo Santaolalla looks the odd one out in the list, but he composed and sequenced the score and soundtrack of the film Babel, easily my favourite film and soundtrack of the year, featuring the sounds of David Sylvian and Sakamoto as well as Santaolalla's own mesmerising ventures into the Arabic soundscape. The medley Bibo no Aozora/Endless Flight/Babel was another track that I put on repeat on my Archos.
Listen:
powered by ODEO
I haven't really been listening to albums as such in a long time, blame the shuffle switch for that. So I hesitate to draw up a 'best album' list. Maria McKee's Late December was one of her stronger releases and Marc Almond's Stardom Road was nothing less than heartwarming. I enjoyed LCD Soundsystem's Sound of Silver, but the shuffle feature mostly ignored its presence.
M.I.A. caught my eye and ears and I need to spend some time with her Kala. Rufus Wainwright's Release the Stars was the first album of his I could actually sit through playing in its entirety, while Arcade Fire's Neon Bible had quite the opposite effect and I can't quite get Win Butler's basketballgate out of my head.
I'll have to mention Bruce Springsteen. Yes, I'm ending my reflection on my year in music with another seasoned artist. I've only just heard his new album 'Magic' and while I never have been a fan of the man, it impressed me throughout. Twelve catchy, uplifting tunes that could well all be singles and easily wipe contenders like The Killers think they are off the table. And while we're touching on Americana, I'll have to mention to U2's The Joshua Tree, magnificently re-released this year. Musically never really my favourite album of the band, its Corbijn-shaped imagery haunted my student years. I hope their newest effort, co-written with Lanois and Eno and set for release in 2008 will be equally defining.
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