In celebration of the Grammy Awards tonight, I’m posting my favorite albums of 2007. This is no top ten list because many of my favorite albums I bought last year were done in the 70s or 80s (for instance, I bought several Pink Floyd albums). These are probably the albums that moved me the most, that I played the most, and that I enjoyed.
–Goodbye by Ulrich Schnauss. This guy makes very cool electronica. Very moody music with a distinct sound. The title track is my favorite, and very appropriate for last year.
–Light at the End of the World by Erasure. I’ve been a big fan of Erasure since the 80s, and they made one of their best albums yet last year. It’s fun synth-pop. The sounds are so warm and upbeat–it’s a great album to help the Monday morning blues.
–Year Zero by Nine Inch Nails. This is a great album to help you commit road rage. I was surprised that Trent Reznor was releasing an album so quickly. This is the on the opposite end of electronica compared to a group like Erasure. Trent might be full of anger, but he can write catchy melodies that are hidden under strange computer sounds and searing beats.
–In Rainbows by Radiohead. This was on everyone’s top ten list and it should be. It’s very accessible music by a fabulous group that never repeats a formula. It’s has beautiful and sad songs on it.
–The soundtrack for the movie Once. I loved the music and loved the movie. So utterly moving and so real. It feels like listening to someone’s journal put into music.
–Hourglass by Dave Gahan. He’s the lead singer of my favorite group, Depeche Mode, and this sounded like a DM album. I like this a lot more than his first solo album. It’s still not as great as Martin Gore penned songs, but it’s still good.
–War Stories by UNKLE. This has a lot of energy to it. The group uses various singers so each song is a somewhat unique experience. Great to drive to and great to work out to.
–Instead by Onetwo. This is a synth-pop group that has just started (with one of the guys from the 80s group OMD) that is fun, similar to Erasure. It’s got a fabulous dance-version of the Pink Floyd song, “Have a Cigar.” I know that sounds crazy, but it really works.
–Elevations by Erik Wollo. This is an instrumental, electronic album that I played alot as I wrote my adventure novel, Out of the Devil’s Mouth. A couple of the songs are theme songs to the characters. It seems strange that I’d use this for a novel taking place in 1929, but it fit. Sometimes when you’re writing, you hear a song and it becomes the theme song for a person or a theme in your story.
–System by Seal. I like Seal but I didn’t expect to love this album. So many of the songs hit me where I was at. They mostly dance songs, but Seal puts his heart and soul in them. The song “Rolling” is maybe the most moving song for me of 2007 simply because it fits in a lot of ways.
