Music 2007
Aesop Rock – ‘None Shall Pass’ (None Shall Pass) [exp]
Alicia Keys – ‘No One’ (As I Am)
Animal Collective – ‘Peacebone’ (Strawberry Jam)
Antibalas – ‘Beaten Metal’ (Security)
Architecture in Helsinki – ‘Heart in Races’ (Places Like This)
Billie Holiday – ‘Glad to Be Unhappy’ (DJ Logic Remix) (Remixed & Reimagined)
Bjork – ‘Earth Intruders’ (Volta)
Cold War Kids – ‘We Used to Vacation’ (Robbers & Cowards)
Common (feat. Bilal) – ‘Black Maybe’ (Finding Forever)
Consequence – ‘Don’t Forget Em’ (Don’t Quit Your Day Job!)
The Good, the Bad, and the Queen – ’80’s Life’ (The Good, the Bad, and the Queen)
The Harlem Experiment – ‘Reefer Man’ (The Harlem Experiment)
Hi-Tek (feat. Dead Prez) – ‘Handling My Bizness’ (Hi Teknology 3) [exp]
Justice – ‘D.A.N.C.E.’ (Cross)
Kaiser Chiefs – ‘The Angry Mob’ (Yours Truly, Angry Mob)
Kanye West (feat. Dwele) – ‘Flashing Lights’ (Graduation)
Lucinda Williams – ‘Come On’ (West)
Lucy Wainwright Roche – ‘Bridge’ (8 Songs)
Mark Ronson (feat. the Daptone Horns) – ‘God Put a Smile Upon Your Face’ (Version)
M.I.A. (feat. Timbaland) – ‘Come Around’ (Kala)
The National – ‘Fake Empire’ (Boxer)
Nicole Atkins – ‘Brooklyn’s On Fire’ (Neptune City)
Radiohead – ‘Nude’ (In Rainbows)
Scarface – ‘Git Out My Face’ (Made) [exp]
Spoon – ‘The Underdog’ (Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga)
The Streets – ‘Memento Mori’ (The Hardest Way to Make An Easy Living) [exp]
Talib Kweli – ‘In the Mood’ (Ear Drum) [exp]
Timbaland – ‘Oh Timbaland’ (Shock Value)
Twista (feat. T-Pain) – ‘Creep Fast’ [exp]
White Stripes – ‘300 MPH Outpour Blues’ (Icky Thump)
Nothing from The National?
Good call – it’s there now.
I’m tortured and troubled, but perhaps all I need is a good musicologist to discuss with me. Are we a singles culture simply returning to our roots with the advent of the mp3/ipod, or is our affection for the single an indication of a deeper <>? Or have we always loved the single but we’d lost a practical delivery method when the LP died (HA!!!!! HA!!!). Or am I making something out of nothing?
What’s happened to the album, Man? What should I make of the guilt I experience when I just tell my ipod to “shuffle songs?” Why do I feel like I should hold an artist responsible for completing an entire work, not letting him off the hook with a mere single?
Judging by the list above, you’re not experiencing a similar guilt. But why? (Why, Sandy Claus? Why?)
And, finally – as a side note -Born in the USA is a damned fine example of songwriting brilliance. Please, for your own sake, familiarize yourself.
Midnight Earl,
I’ve been thinking about this singles thing for a long time. I’m not sure that enjoying singles is necessarily exclusive of appreciating a fuller album. For instance, I rarely acquire a single song at a time, and I listen to albums a lot. But I do the shuffle thing, and I can pick out some favorites from complete albums. Some on this list are singles, while others won’t be released for radio play, and it isn’t comprehensive. I could have just as easily made a list of albums (and I still may), but then I wouldn’t have been able to make use of all of this extra gigabytage that K bought me by posting links to music files.
I think the fuller question deserves its own post, so if you can promise me to stop back by and join in, then I’ll post about the single/album conundrum in the next few weeks. Of course, if you’re looking for a good musicologist, maybe keep surfing the blogosphere till you stumble upon one…
I also plan to move ahead with Springsteen. I don’t doubt that he’s a great songwriter; it’s just that I’ve never enjoyed listening to him much. This happens from time-to-time, I suppose. I can recognize the brilliance of something without deriving any pleasure from it. Springsteen may end up being that sort of artist for me – someone about whom I could, perhaps, write a nice paper, but to whom I would rarely choose to listen. I’m taking it slow so as not to shock my system, so we’ll see.
Frankly, I was hoping to goad you into exactly that: a post by the budding musicologist on the virtue of the single…or the album…or both.
I’ll stop back by, join in, and offer what little I can.
I’m also having a hard time separating this issue from the tension between the old and new worlds of music “delivery” for lack of a better term. That is, say, the difference between the implications of the LP versus the mp3. The delivery method can dramatically change how we listen to the music.
Anyway, does that whole ball of wax (singles, albums, LPs, mp3s) make a statement about our society as a whole, and if so, what is that statement?
And I could go on asking broad, vague questions, but I’ll let you do your thing.
I’ll just go get a cup of coffee.
You’ve provided the perfect preview. I’ll talk mostly about delivery because 1). that’s mostly what I think about, and 2). not too far afield from number 1, that’s what I think has the biggest effect on whether we are a singles or album culture.
You’re an excellent goader.
Sidebar: I’ve been roasting my own coffee lately. The jump in fullness of flavor is absolutely stunning.
Excellent! [[twiddles fingers, grins in cunning Grinch fashion]]
sidebar comment: I used to know a guy in a small town in AR who roasted his own coffee and primarily listened to LPs.
Hmmm, sounds vaguely familiar…
I **love** The Good, The Bad, and the Queen! YAY for Blur and the Clash. ‘Lil Wayne and that random rapper we heard the other night don’t make the cut? The rapper who sang Kathryn’s favourite song? hehe.
Thanks for including the links! I like Aesop Rock. x S
Sammee, you mean ODB? He’s not 2007; I’m just re-enjoying him in the last few weeks. If you like Aesop Rock, you should check out El-P.