Mark Saleski: Bruce Springsteen - Magic
Norah Jones' Not Too Late was released just before the end of January. I thought it was so good that nothing could knock it out of my top spot. The vast majority of the musical year stretched out ahead of me, but I just could not imagine anything coming along to nudge out incredibly beautiful songs like "Wish I Could," or "Not My Friend."
Well, it happened. Bruce Springsteen came out with Magic, an album so painfully good that it occupied almost all of my listening time for several weeks. It's unfortunate that I didn't use a camera to record the looks that flashed across my face during my initial listen as I could hardly believe my ears. Finally, the 'true' E Street vibe exploded from those grooves. It was like bumping into a long-lost friend. And what do long-lost friends do? We ducked into the nearest bar, knocked back a cold one, and reminisced about Norah Jones.
Thank you to the writers who participated in this year's column, and to the rest of you, please feel free to chime in below. Let us know if you agree with the choices made and share your favorite album of 2007.
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!