best music of 2007

I promised a list of the best music of 2007, but I’ve hit a bit of a snag. It’s this: I didn’t actually like any music this year.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve listened to music more or less constantly, but almost all of it is old. I’m not much of a fan of anything new.

So here goes:

My favourite music of 2007

1. Best song line

“The drunks are ricocheting”
From Sky Blue Sky, by Wilco

This is going to sound hugely pretentious, but it reminds me of the opening scene from Bela Tarr’s film “Werckmeister Harmonies” (see pic on the right).

If you’ve seen the film, you’ll know what I mean. If, like 99.9% of the population, you have no idea what I’m talking about, don’t worry. Believe me, it’s a good thing.

Runner up:

“This one’s called Stella was a diver and she’s always down”
From “Turn on the bright lights”, by Interpol

2. Best pop song
This goes to a very old song, from the 60s. But it’s new to me this year. It’s called “Little wheel spin and spin” and it’s by Buffy Sainte-Marie. I wrote a post about her earlier in the year.

It’s biblical, apocalyptic, paranoid, percussive, tuneful, beautifully delivered and keeps me coming back again and again. Go out and find a copy and listen to it a couple of times.

Other songs I’ve enjoyed, in no particular order:

• “Song to the siren” by Tim Buckley
• “Hurricane” by Faker
• “Stories of the Street” by Leonard Cohen
• “Stone free” by Jimi Hendrix
• “Fast as you can” by Fiona Apple
• “A song about ping-pong” by Operator Please
• “The magic number” by De la soul
• “Don’t you think it’s time” by Bob Evans
• “Flame” again by Bob Evans
• “Serenade” by Emiliana Torrini
• “Poor places” by Wilco
• “Upstarts in a blowout” by Cody Chestnutt

3. Best album
Those little Ipod things everyone carries around have just about killed off the album, but there still are a few good ones around out there. My favourite this year has been:

Turn on the bright lights, by Interpol.

4. Best classical
It’s been yet another year dominated, for me, by Mr JS Bach. There’s been an awful lot of Goldberg Variations, a fair whack of the Cello suites and bit of almost everything else.

I’ve also enjoyed Scriabin’s piano music, Faure’s Requiem and Sonatas for Piano and Violin, and Schumann Lieder.

5. Most overrated
Quite a bit of competition for this one. “Umbrella” by Rihanna is a prime example. Nice looking girl, but the song is absolute sludge. Boooooooring.

Silverchair - everything they do is overrated, if you ask me. Powderfinger also get a guernsey in this category. Double booooooring. I’m also not that impressed with the “J award” winners - the Panics. It’s all a bit samey, to me.

But the winner is Kanye West.

He may be nominated for a whole lot of Grammys, but that doesn’t mean he’s good. He may be better than 50 cent, but that doesn’t mean he’s good. They may play him on Triple J, but that doesn’t mean he’s good. He may say he’s good, but that doesn’t make it so. Listen to it - it’s boring, average, almost totally uninteresting.

6. Worst song
Again, a fair bit of competition. In a year when Fergie, Deltra Goodrem, Bon Jovi, Nelly Furtado, Timbaland and Barbara Streisand all plumbed new depths it’s quite an achievement for:

Will.I.am: I got it from my mama

Let me tell you, the film clip doesn’t help. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything worse.

Wan.K.er