Best of 2007

What a fantastic year for music! There were so many great releases from a slew of old and new friends, but without a doubt, the album of the year was the soundtrack to the movie Once.

Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, the "guy" and "girl" from the film, created one of the more moving, engaging collections of songs I've heard in a while. And it's hard for me to separate the way I feel about the music from the way I feel about the film itself because the two exist in beautiful symbiosis. The emotional ride I got from the movie will forever influence the way I hear the songs, and each time I see the film I enjoy the songs in a slightly different way. Who can hear "Falling Slowly" without reliving the goosebump-inducing scene at the piano in the music store? When "If You Want Me" starts, it's impossible not to see Marketa strolling the streets of Dublin at night in her slippers. And the build up in "When Your Mind's Made Up" is like a tidal wave crashing to the shore - such sweet release, with visions of Glen and the band making their record over the course of one triumphant weekend in the studio.

I could go on and on, track by track, scene by scene. The film and its soundtrack somehow managed to capture the passion, heartache, indecision, frustration and joy that goes into making music, while telling an honest, genuinely touching love story along the way. I can't recommend Once more highly to anyone who loves music.

Now that you've heard about the best of the best, here's the rest of the best, in the form of the requisite "best of" list that's every blogger's pseudo-obligation. Like last year, I've included the annual mix that I make for friends and family at the end of the post. If you like some of the music I've posted on this blog then chances are you'll find something you like on the mix. And away we go...

Sweet Oblivion's Essential Albums From 2007
(Alphabetical by artist)

Ryan Adams - Easy Tiger

The prolific Adams made a concise musical statement for once, and this may be his strongest album yet. All the good stuff we love in his songs without any wasted space. (Oh, and by the way, he released an EP too. It was outstanding as well.) Buy it here.

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Baby 81

BRMC put together a tour de force in Baby 81, managing to combine the sounds of their first three records into something awesome and new. A cohesive musical statement with a plethora of single-worthy tunes to boot. Buy it here.

Brandi Carlile - The Story

Last year's "little singer that could" is now a full blown star, and her sophomore effort is simply stunning. I can't get enough of her voice, and if this record is any indication of the depth of talent this young woman has, then she's in for a long, impressive career. Buy it here.

The Frames - The Cost

Irish rockers The Frames produced a fantastic album in The Cost, successfully riding the wave of singer Glen Hansard's current creative epoch. If you were taken by Once's music, this album will treat you right. Buy it here.

Matthew Good - Hospital Music

It's a challenging listen, but it's emotional darkness and brutal honesty are right up this listener's alley. Matthew Good continues to make compelling music year after year, and it still amazes me that he's not as famous on this side of the US-Candian border as he is in his home country. Buy it here.

Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova - Once (OST)

I've said it all above, but in case you missed the memo - go buy this album and see this film!!!

Idlewild - Make Another World

These Scottish rockers continue to do what they do, and each time they do it it gets better and better. Some of the most interesting music of the band's career. Buy it here.

Jason Isbell - Sirens Of The Ditch

Isbell was always my favorite songwriter in The Drive-By Truckers, and now he's made the DBT album I've always wanted to hear. Heartfelt, soulful southern rock. Buy it here.

Matt Nathanson - Some Mad Hope

I've been a longtime fan of Matt Nathanson's concerts, but his studio work has never been consistent enough for me to supersede his live show. With Some Mad Hope he's made a great pop rock record that begs for repeated listens. Finally! Buy it here.

Soulsavers - It's Not How Far You Fall...It's The Way You Land

Absurdly long title aside, this is an awesome album. It may be unusual, dark and moody, but Mark Lanegan sings the songs. Need I say more? It's a more fully realized "Lanegan album" than 2004's Bubblegum. Buy it here.

Stereophonics - Pull The Pin

I couldn't put together a best-of list without including at least one import-only release. I'd all but written off the Stereophonics, thinking they'd lost the plot after their third LP, 2001's stellar JEEP. With Pull The Pin it feels like they've regained the form they had back in the good ol' days. It's worth the extra coin to order this one from overseas. Buy it here.
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Noticeably absent (at least to me) from this list is Radiohead's In Rainbows. I've made an executive decision to claim that one for 2008, when it's been released to the masses on CD. However, I will say that the limited edition box set that I finally have in my grimy little hands is one of the sweetest packages a collector could hope for. Grab one now before they're sold out.

In terms of the other artists on the mix below, Turin Brakes are finally back on track with Dark On Fire, although the companion EP, Something Out Of Nothing, is a more concise and impressive piece of work. A few other old standbys like Steve Earle, Wilco, Centro-Matic, Foo Fighters and Son Volt all made good albums. Though Chris Cornell's second solo effort just doesn't sit that well with me as a whole, his live shows this year were simply unbelievable. Buffalo Tom came out of retirement to make a solid record with a few outstanding songs on it. Feist's second record is good stuff too. Eddie Vedder's music for the film Into The Wild is really compelling - his voice seems the perfect complement to the visuals in the movie. Charmparticles and Dala are my "little secret discoveries", the former from a couple years ago and the latter from this year. And I've finally come around to the Manic Street Preachers. Their new one is a solid, rocking set of tunes.
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Sweet Oblivion's Best of 2007 Mix
(in multiple parts due to Savefile's size restrictions)

Tracklist:

Volume I
Jason Isbell - "Brand New Kind Of Actress"
The Frames - "When Your Mind's Made Up"
Brandi Carlile - "The Story"
Buffalo Tom - "Bottom Of The Rain"
Ryan Adams - "Two"
Chris Cornell - "No Such Thing"
Son Volt - "Action"
Idlewild - "Finished It Remains"
Matthew Good - "The Boy Come Home"
Soulsavers - "Paper Money"
Eddie Vedder - "Hard Sun"
Matt Nathanson - "Bulletproof Weeks"
BRMC - "All You Do Is Talk"

Volume II
Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova - "Falling Slowly"
Manic Street Preachers - "Your Love Alone Is Not Enough"
Stereophonics - "It Means Nothing"
Turin Brakes - "Brave New World"
Feist - "1 2 3 4"
Charmparticles - "Rarest Numbers"
Ryan Adams - "My Love For You Is Real"
Dala - "Marilyn Monroe"
Wilco - "What Light"
Centro-Matic - "Operation Motorcide"
Foo Fighers - "But, Honestly"
Steve Earle - "Come Home To Me"

Bonus Tracks:
"Missed in '06"
8 songs that I didn't get into until 2006 had passed us by.

Download the mix here.

The Frames: 11-21-2006 Melkweg

Here's the final installment in my Frames deluge. This show is from the band's most recent tour supporting their latest, The Cost. It's got great song selection and an all-around fantastic performance.

The Frames
11-21-2006
Melkweg

Intro
Turbit
Keepsake
Rise
Finally
God Bless Mom
Falling Slowly
Seven Day Mile
Song For Someone
Revelate
Fake --> No Woman No Cry --> Fake
Sad Songs
True
People Get Ready
---encore break---
Leave (Glen solo)
The Cost
Santa Maria
Star Star
Fitzcarraldo

Download the show here.

Buy The Frames' music here.

The Frames: 09-11-2002 Paradiso

Here's another show from The Frames. This short set was part of a large bill of bands from London at the Paradiso in Amsterdam in 2002. Glen makes a point of telling the audience that The Frames are from Ireland, not London. Though the band only plays five songs, each one is totally rocking, most featuring extended endings.

The Frames
09-11-2002
Paradiso

Intro
Plateau --> Jane Says tease
Lay Me Down
God Bless Mom
What Happens When The Heart Just Stops
Glen talking
Santa Maria

Download the show here.

Buy The Frames' music here.

Cover Of The Week: The Frames do Mic Christopher

Mic Christopher was an Irish singer/songwriter that Frames singer Glen Hansard befriended back in his busking days. He died suddenly at the age of 32 in a weird accident where he slipped and hit his head, causing him to fall into a coma from which he never woke up. The Frames and Damien Rice have dedicated their albums to Christopher. Here's a cover version of Christopher's "Listen Girl" from The Frames' "Headlong" single in 2002.

The Frames - "Listen Girl"

Buy The Frames' music here.

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Check out previous Cover Of The Week posts by clicking the "Cover Of The Week" label below or the link on the right side of the page under "Return To Oblivion".

The Frames: 09-30-2003 Minneapolis

I was out watching the fantastic Leslie Feist perform at the Tower Theater last night, so I didn't get to post anything in the evening. But I'm back on my Frames kick. Here's a brief set from 2003 in Minneapolis. The set contains an early version of "People Get Ready", which is a standout track on their new record, The Cost. Also, the Johnny Cash tease is good stuff.

The Frames
09-30-2003
Minneapolis, MN

People Get Ready
Lay Me Down
What Happens When The Heart Just Stops
God Bless Mom
Your Face
Fake --> Ring Of Fire (Johnny Cash) tease
Star Star

Download the set here.

Buy The Frames' music here.

B-Side Of The Week: The Frames

I promised a lot more Frames stuff and I mean to deliver. This b-side is from the sessions for The Frames' latest, The Cost. The band recorded the album live in the studio to try and capture the legendary-amongst-their-fans energy of their live show. This track could've been right at home on the album, but was relegated to b-side status nonetheless.

The Frames - "No More I Love Yous"

Buy The Frames' music here.

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Check out the archived B-Side Of The Week posts by clicking the label "B-Side Of The Week" below. Previous b-sides were from artists such as Radiohead, The Black Crowes, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Ryan Adams, Jeff Buckley, Oasis, Catherine Wheel, Juliana Hatfield, and many more.

The Frames Rock Webster Hall in NY

I've never managed to see The Frames when they toured through the Philly area, but I love their new record The Cost and singer Glen Hansard's music from the film Once so much that I was determined not to miss them this time around. There was no Philly date on their brief tour of the US in Aug/Sept, so I made the trek up to New York last night to see them play Webster Hall in the East Village.

Needless to say, the trip was sooooo worth it, in spite of the way I'm dragging myself through the work day today. All the stories I'd heard about how fantastic The Frames are live were understatements. They blew me away from the first swinging acoustic chords of set-opener "Rise". I heard just about every song I'd hoped to hear them play, and the encores were a dream. Hansard's co-star in Once, Marketa Irglova, who hadn't been on tour with The Frames this time, was in town for this final show (and for a Letterman taping earlier in the day). She joined Hansard for a chill-inducing run through "Falling Slowly" and "When Your Mind's Made Up". Later on during "Red Chord", the last song of the second encore and perhaps my favorite track from the band's back catalog, she again joined Hansard, sharing the mic with him as they belted out the rousing crescendo of the tune's final chorus. I'm getting chills again just remembering it. Here's the setlist:

Rise
Sad Songs
Lay Me Down
God Bless Mom
Stars Are Underground
A Caution To The Birds
Rent Day Blues --> I Have the Moon (Magnetic Fields cover)
What Happens When the Heart Just Stops
Pavement Tune
Fake
Your Face --> Lilac Wine tease
Revelate
Star Star --> Hotellounge (Be The Death of Me) tease (Deus cover)
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Blue Shoes - Colm: "Because it's Sep 10th, I'd like to dedicate it to the people
who are gonna be lonesome tomorrow." (violin solo)
Falling Slowly (w/ Marketa Irglova on keys and vox)
When Your Mind's Made Up (w/ Mar on keys & vox)
People Get Ready
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Out on the Weekend (Neil Young cover)
Red Chord (w/ Mar on vox)

I'm too exhausted to post a full Frames gig right now, but the rest of this week's posts are going to be heavy on the Irish rockers' music. Here's Glan Hansard and Marketa Irglova's performance of "Falling Slowly" that I recorded last night off TV while in NYC.

Glan Hansard & Marketa Irglova - "Falling Slowly (live on Letterman)"

Buy The Frames' music here.

The Swell Season: KCRW 2007

If you haven't seen the film Once and you claim to like music then there's something very, very wrong with you. But don't worry, all the remedy you need is contained in the beautiful, moving film. Go see Once now...Go see Once now...Go see Once now...

Now that the plug is done I can get to the music. Glen Hansard (of The Frames) and Marketa Irglova made a gorgeous record, called The Swell Season, together in 2006 prior to the film becoming such a critical and popular darling. Here are the two of them performing songs from the album, most of which appear in the film and on its soundtrack, on KCRW earlier this year.

Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova
KCRW 2007

- Intro -
Lies
When Your Minds Made Up
This Low
If You Want Me
- Interview -
Falling Slowly
Leave
Once
- Outro -

Download the set here.

Buy The Swell Season here and the soundtrack to Once here.

Monday Morning MiniMix

The "Monday Morning Live" feature that I ran for a good number of months just didn't seem to catch people's interest, so I've moved on to a new idea - a mini mix of a few tunes strung together as an mp3. I just got back from vacation, the location of which is the inspiration behind this first set of song selections.

MiniMix 08-27-07

U2 - "In God's Country"
Gemma Hayes - "Ran For Miles"
The Frames - "Red Chord"

Download the minimix here.