2007 in music

Top Ten Albums

1. You Am I, Convicts—Rock! Awesome three chord rock! It lives!
   
2. Modest Mouse, We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank—Weird, funky, catchy…what a combination.
   
3. Wilco, Sky Blue Sky—This shows what a great band can do with a song. Awesome arrangements. Worth it just for “Impossible Germany,” if nothing else.
   
4. Two Cow Garage, III—Working class garage rock with improved songwriting
   
5. We Are The Fury, Venus—Toledo area Glam Rock hits the national stage. “Saturday Night” might be the perfect pop song of the year.
   
6. Ryan Adams & the Cardinals, Follow the Lights—Honest, soulful alt-country. Too bad Easy Tiger, RyRy’s full length release, didn’t have this level of emotion.
   
7. Jason Isbell, Sirens of the Ditch—A great but sometimes overly subtle debut. There’s hidden depth on this.
   
8. Jesse Malin, Glitter in the Gutter—Great songs for car rides, but this has hidden depth. Fave line? “One day you wake up, you’re 30, and you can’t even drive a truck.”
   
9. Glossary, The Better Angels of Our Nature—My spousal unit told me, after listening to the disk, that “This is Mike music.” How true. (you can download this for free from their website)
   
10. Grand Champeen, Dial T for This—Minus the ending track (a very sappy “Olivia”), this turned out to be a good album…unfortunately, though, it just doesn’t sound much like Grand Champeen. C’mon, you don’t have to stop rocking to grow as musicians
    

Too New to Tell

• Weakerthans, Reunion Tour
  
• Maritime, Heresy and the Hotel Choir (what I have heard is pop dynamite)
  
• Keller Williams, Dream
  
• Martin Sexton, Seeds
  
• Robert Earl Keen, Farm Fresh Onions
  
  (yes, this is more than I would normally buy, but I had a good haul from the BGSU Music Library sale)
  

“Meh” Albums

• White Stripes, Icky Thump—Some of this is good but sounds like “running through the motions,” while other songs are just annoying.
  
• Ryan Adams, Easy Tiger—This is entirely too polished and commercial for my tastes
  

Top Songs

1. You Am I--"Secrets"
   
2. Wilco--"Impossible Germany"
   
3. Two Cow--"Should've California"
   

Best Concerts

1. Ryan Adams & the Cardinals, Michigan Theater, Ann Arbor MI
   
2. Route 33 Rhythm and Brews Anniversary Show, with The Drams, Jason & the Scorchers, and more, Wapakoneta OH
   
3. The Hold Steady, some theater, Columbus OH
   
4. Modest Mouse, some amphitheater, Columbus OH
   
5. You Am I, Beachland Ballroom, Cleveland OH