The Best Songs I Heard in 2007 (Last of the 2007 Lists, Promise)

|current sounds| Fleetwood Mac- Tusk


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I didn't want to dredge up end-of-the-year business again, but one of my roommate's friends made a "Best of '07" mix CD for her friends... and I just couldn't resist. My inner nerd was calling.

I qualify the mix CDs as "the best songs I heard in 2007" as opposed to just songs from the Year of the Boar. So among 2007 material, there's vintage Neil Young, apocalyptic reggae, Brazilian psychedelic-folk lovers, great stuff I missed in 2006, and one of the greatest '80s power-pop songs ever recorded (disc 1, track 18).

Long-form songs have been excluded for time constraints, like "Psalm 42" by the '70s Christian commune band The Trees Community and the American debut of "Tevot" by Thomas Ades, a phenomenal piece I look forward to experiencing live myself one day. Therefore, the two mix CDs (you didn't think I could just do one, did you?) turned out fairly poppy and accessible by default. The mixes also miss the incredible vinyl records I purchased last year that are too many to list.

_____ and Dream Away:
The Best Songs I Heard in 2007, Disc 1

01. Jay Reatard "My Shadow"
02. Tahiti 80 "Chinatown"
03. The Mary Onettes "Lost"
04. Tegan and Sara "Back in Your Head"
05. Telenovela "Cinema Scope"
06. Nelson Angelo e Joyce "Vivo Ou Morto"
07. Long Legged Woman "Scalpels in the Sky"
08. Major Stars "East to West"
09. Serpent Throne "Wheels of Satan"
10. Culture "Get Ready to Ride the Lion to Zion"
11. Animal Collective "Fireworks"
12. Milanese "Caramel Cognac"
13. Gui Boratto "Acróstico"
14. ellul "Esophagus"
15. Burial "Archangel"
16. Yeasayer "2080"
17. Sondre Lerche "Say It All"
18. The Toms "Sun"

Download Disc 1

"Wasn't it a good year? Wasn't filled with talking":
The Best Songs I Heard in 2007, Disc 2

01. CJ "Who Knows?"
02. Scott Walker "Hero of the War"
03. The Dirty Projectors "Rise Above"
04. Neil Young "Don't Let It Bring You Down"
05. Cornelius "Breezin'"
06. Panda Bear "I'm Not"
07. His Name is Alive "How Dark is Your Dark Side"
08. Michio Kurihara "Pendulum on a G-String/The Last Cicada"
09. Richard and Linda Thompson "The Calvary Cross"
10. Low "Murderer"
11. Richard Swift "Most of What I Know"
12. Caribou "Melody Day"
13. Citay "Little Kingdom"
14. Jim James & Calexico "Goin' to Acapulco"
15. The Weakerthans "Sun in an Empty Room"
16. Feist "1234"
17. Smokedog "Piano Tuner"
18. Harvey Milk "Get It Up & Get It On"

Download Disc 2

You'll have to order the MP3s once you download the zip files, then click on the image at the top of the post for printable liner notes you can fold in half. It should fit into any standard jewel case.