Best Songs of 2007
It would be great to list the best albums of 2007, but since album-making is virtually a dead art (sad, but true), I’d rather honor some of the coolest songs of the year.
I used to be really strict about release dates. (In other words, for me to list a song on my year-end best of list, it had to be released in that calendar year.) But in recent years, I’ve mellowed on that rule a bit. Partly because I run in different circles now, and don’t always have a promo copy four months in advance of an album’s release. (And anyway, people are releasing stuff right after they get it mixed nowadays, so there’s not as long of a wait for albums to come out as there used to be.)
The other reason is that, like movies, the best music has a way of getting released in the second half of the year. So, while something might have been released in the the fall of 2006, it may have made its greatest impact on listeners (i.e. me) in early 2007, and so on. (Case in point: Three of the albums I listened to most this year (John Legend’s Once Again , Razorlight’s eponymous sophomore effort, and The Kooks’ Inside In/ Inside Out) were actually released in 2006, but just kept keeping on, ya know?)
OK, so let’s get to it:
The Five BEST OVERALL Songs of 2007:
Kiss the Sky by Shawn Lee’s Ping Pong Orchestra feat. Nino Moschella
When Your Mind’s Made Up by Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova
Love Is All Around by Sloan
Australia by The Shins
Sunday Morning by K-OS
The Five COOLEST Songs of 2007:
Heretics by Andrew Bird
Objects of My Affection by Peter Bjorn and John
Wet and Rusting by Menomena
No One’s Gonna Love You by Band of Horses
Like I Needed by Rogue Wave
The Five BEST Songs from Other Shores:
This is How It Goes by Missy Higgins (Australia)
Das Gute Gefuhl by Juli (Germany)
New York by Eskimo Joe (Australia)
Water by Blue King Brown (Australia)
UFO by Sneaky Sound System (Australia)
The Five BEST Songs released in 2007 that could have sucked but turned out to be really good:
Ever Present Past by Paul McCartney
Running Man by Hanson
Don’t Stop Now by Crowded House
Sing by Annie Lennox
Radio Nowhere by Bruce Springsteen
Best Singalong Girl Song of the Year:
Love Song by Sara Bareilles
Best Comeback Song:
Miracles by Arrested Development
Top Five FUN Songs of 2007
Tell Me ‘Bout It by Joss Stone
Take My Time by Junior Senior
Grace Kelly by Mika
Makes Me Wonder by Maroon 5 (OK, give me hell, but this had a great melody.)
Ruby by Kaiser Chiefs
Best moody and/or chill and/or groovy songs of 2007:
The Trumpet Child by Over the Rhine
Joy by Ledisi
Rich Girls by The Virgins
Where Do We Go From Here by Alicia Keys
State of Clarity by Guru featuring Common & Bob James
Djin Djin (Featuring Alicia Keys & Branford Marsalis) by Angelique Kidjo
Best Remake:
Gone Daddy Gone by Gnarls Barkley
The Ten BEST Songs not released in 2007 that were still cool hanging around from 2006:
Crosses by Zero 7
America by Razorlight
Postcards From Italy by Beirut
Once More With Feeling by Get Cape, Wear Cape, Fly
Goodbye by the Postmarks
Take it From Me by The Weepies
Satellite by Guster
Rusted Wheel by Silversun Pickups
Love is Something by MoZella
And I was A Boy From School by Hot Chip
Honorable Mention/ Best of the Rest:
Apartment Story by The National
Waiting Game by Lightspeed Champion
Delivery by Babyshambles
One Night Stand by the Pipettes
It’s All True (Radio Edit) by Tracey Thorn
No More Empty Words by The Thrills
Take Me to the Riot by Stars
Say It All by Sondre Lerche
Entertaining Thoughts by Over The Rhine
A Man In Love by Nick Lowe
Nothing Left to Lose by Mat Kearney
Right Moves by Josh Ritter
Tonight by Hard-FI
Told You So by The Guggenheim Grotto
Be Good or Be Gone by Fionn Regan
Never Be Lonely by The Feeling
Under Cloud by David Kilgour
I Still Remember by Bloc Party
When DId Your Heart Go Missing? by Rooney
The Only Evidence by John Ralston
Matter of Time by Tahiti 80
Kiss Me by Uncut
Nite Runner by Duran Duran
Save Yourself by The Colour
If You Fall by Azure Ray
History Song by The Good, The Bad And The Queen
Strange Lights by Deerhunter
We Made the Team by The Radio Dept.
Cardigan Weather by Meg & Dia
Don’t Wake Me Up by The Hush Sound
We Can Work It Out by Dislocation Dance
Passing the Hat by Cold War Kids
Golden by Brookville
White People for Peace by Ben Lee
Older songs I listened to a bunch this year for some crazy reason:
Thieves Like Us by New Order
On the Horizon by Melanie C
All Possibilities by Badly Drawn Boy
Hey Mockingbird by Dillon Fence
Remind Me by Royksopp
Alcohol, Pt. 1by Robert Jay
Galvanize by The Chemical Brothers
The BEST WTF!?! Song of the Year:
Patience by Take That (Brilliant chorus, that!)
Top Ten general comments on the year, good and bad:
1.I’m all for quirky girl singers, but, thanks to Grey’s Anatomy, video iPods, and other crazy influencers in this brave new digital world, there were WAY too many Cat Power wannabes this year. Chan is an original, please don’t imitate her!
2.This is the first year since 1992 that I wasn’t annoyed by someone trying to sing like Kurt Cobain (or actually like bad early fake grunge such as Creed). Vocals in general have really gone back to a smoother, more pop-influenced style, leaving post-grunge, aggro, and other annoying styles in the past (a trend I have been waiting for for fifteen years!)
3.Only parents will understand this: High School Musical could have been much worse. Let’s thank our lucky stars that Kenny Ortega has some decent friends in the music biz.
4. Bruce Springsteen made his best album since Born in the USA
5.Joss Stone is the real deal.
6.New Order and Joy Division finally got their due, thanks to Control, but we lost Tony Wilson. : (
7.Look out for Missy Higgins. I think she’ll be big in these here parts.
8.Australia still counts (see #8).
9.I am undecided about In Rainbows. I want to love it, because lord knows, I was one of the first three US journalists to interview them MONTHS before Pablo Honey was released back in 92, and that I went on to interview them several more times and see them live on many occasions …
10. Never underestimate the power of pop music. Rock ‘n’ Roll may be dying, but great melodies will live on forever!