Indeed, this effort illustrates much of what makes Bruce Springsteen such a significant artist. He’s Steinbeck with a Stratocaster and this is his Winter Of Discontent.
Mat Brewster: Norah Jones - Not Too Late
There are many reasons to pick an album out as the best of any given year: inventiveness, creativity, originality, production value, and so on. For me beyond all that, the true litmus test is my ability to listen to it often and over long periods of times. Like an ontological argument for records, the question should be asked, if the greatest of all albums is never listened to, is it really that great?
While there was a lot of great music released in 2007 Norah Jones' Not Too Late makes it to the top of my list for not only being a great album, but one I find myself turning to constantly. Norah's voice continues to sound soothing, sensual, and lovely as ever. The music is her most mature, and interesting to date.
Interesting is a good word too for where her other albums had a tendency to fade into the background calmly,Not Too Late jumps and sizzles and moves. The horn on "Sinking Soon" is worth the price of admission all by itself, and when you add in that punchy groove coupled with Norah's voice singing "I've been thinking about you," well then all you need are some candles and clean sheets and then the night is yours.
Tom Johnson: Wilco – Sky Blue Sky
Opening with the gentle guitar of "Either Way," a film begins to unreel in my mind. The black screen, the titles, and then Jeff Tweedy's soft, scratchy voice crackles out "Maybe the sun will shine today" just as a scene of the open road is revealed. That's what Sky Blue Sky is to me – road music, an escape, transportation away from the everyday nothingness that often drives us insane. And, more than any other piece of music, escape is exactly what I did with this album since it came out earlier this year.
Wilco may have taken a quiet and calming turn here, but there's so much more going on. The music is subtle, revealing layers of intricate, thoughtful, and sometimes downright weird stuff going on underneath the top coating of amiable, easy-going tunes. Listen close and it's impossible to ignore jazz guitarist Nels Cline's contributions, or the unusual drumming that Glenn Kotche lays down behind the band. These elements take Sky Blue Sky from simply being a good album to being something that needs to be listened to again and again. It's an instant modern classic rock album – a rarity these days.
Article comments
1 - Donald Gibson
Thank you, Connie, for including my selection in this article. You did a great job putting everything together.
- Donald
2 - Pico
I concur with Donald, Connie, you did a great job with this article and overall with the BC Music Section. I'm proud to be associated with such a well-run subsite.
3 - Connie Phillips
Thank you Donald, Pico, and every other writer who contributed to this article and the section throughout the year.
I enjoyed reading the varied choices all of you brought to this article, as much as I enjoy reading about and discovering new music through your writing through out the year.
I look forward to the new year of releases and reading what all of you have to say about them.
4 - Chris Beaumont
Excellent stuff here! (especially Tomahawk!)
5 - Mark Saleski
hmm, i'll have to revisit Tomahawk. i bought it, listened, and then managed to misplace it!
6 - Tom Johnson
Thanks for putting this together, Connie. From the looks of things, our choices mean we're not going to sit well with the Pitchforkmedia set. I'm seeing some stuff they would probably categorize with a prefix of "dad-" thrown on for the ease of insult. Regardless, as I've said in other pieces about favorites, these are likely to be the albums we continue to listen to in many years rather than ones that are chosen out of a need to maintain some aspect of "cred," whatever that really means anymore.
Yep, that Tomahawk is one of those odd albums that I love yet won't be listening to all that often. Definitely suits a particular need. A bright moment of the year, for sure, but not something I can put on my list simply because I can't listen to it that regularly.
7 - Glen Boyd
No arguments with two picks for Bruce, plus Wilco, Norah, and the rest. Of those I haven't heard Tomahawk, Torn, and Uncle Earl all sound pretty interesting. Good list all around from our crack group of music scribes for sure.
-Glen
8 - Sterfish
Great article. The beauty of these types of posts is that it makes you want to seek out stuff. I have never listened to any of the albums in this article. In addition, I haven't even heard of a couple of artists on this list.
My pick for best of 2007 would be The White Stripes' Icky Thump.
9 - Michael J. West
Thanks so much for including me in this, Connie! And great job to everybody else who contributed, too!