The obligatory year-end post
Ok, fine, secret's out: the only reason I keep this music blog online is because all I really want to do is write a year-in-review post. I mean, obviously, or else I would've updated this thing between April 23, 2007 and December 23rd or just deleted it that day in June when we discovered that some random site in China was downloading the 10 songs I had uploaded to this thing over and over and over again.
I've gotten distracted by my various other blogs (here, here, oh there's this, and um, Facebook, and Livejournal too), but what's important is that here we are now, together, for the holidays. I know we missed each other, but like old friends we slip back into the old familiar routine, no awkward pauses, just comfortable silence. And, oh, I forgot to say something about your new haircut: you look fabulous.
2007 was a good year for me, all round. A sort of transition year - quitting my job, starting a new one, easing myself back into the kinds of projects I had been dreaming about for awhile. Writing, cooking, even just the practice of chilling out.
Music-wise I'm finding that I'm falling into that bad habit where I get lazy about the music I seek out (one of the things about "growing up" that I should rail against really. So, New Year's Resolution here I come), but nevertheless, there have been nice music memories in 2007. Like, that late summer/early fall Sunday we lent our accordion to Okkervil River for their show in Montreal. I've listened to Okkervil River so much since then. They're amazing, their lyrics kill me. That evening Andrew and I drove down to Ottawa to watch an Eric's Trip reunion show before skipping the country for a Thanksgiving roadtrip. It was October and still warm enough to walk to the bar in a t-shirt. The Rilo Kiley show I went to in Montreal, the way I felt when they had a sing along to "With Arms Outstretched"? It was exhilarating. The weekend I visited Toronto and drove around in my father's car, listening to Young Marble Giants and stopping in the parking lot on the Lakeshore to look at the dirty Lake Ontario water. Those train trips between Montreal and Toronto, always starting it off with "Ys" on my Ipod, a ritual I still haven't given up. Neil Young in the car on the stretch of the Thousand Islands, off of the 401, looking at those little islands. How I now associate Stars with the first snowstorms of December. Something about the clumpy snow and cold, the warming music. I clearly remember that afternoon I walked out of theatre after seeing the Ian Curtis biopic, "Control". There was this huge rainbow stretching across St. Laurent. We walked home, stopped to buy chocolate to eat in Parc Lafontaine. Etc.
2) Plus Ones - Okkervil River
3) Helpless (live) - Neil Young
5) See America Right - The Mountain Goats
6) Take Me To The Riot - Stars
7) Give A Little Love - Rilo Kiley
8) Eating Noddemix - Young Marble Giants
9) Transmission - Joy Division
10) The Park - Feist
11) Open Your Heart - Lavender Diamond
12) Goin' to Acapulco - Calexico and Jim James
13) Oh, My Darling - Basia Bulat
I've gotten distracted by my various other blogs (here, here, oh there's this, and um, Facebook, and Livejournal too), but what's important is that here we are now, together, for the holidays. I know we missed each other, but like old friends we slip back into the old familiar routine, no awkward pauses, just comfortable silence. And, oh, I forgot to say something about your new haircut: you look fabulous.
2007 was a good year for me, all round. A sort of transition year - quitting my job, starting a new one, easing myself back into the kinds of projects I had been dreaming about for awhile. Writing, cooking, even just the practice of chilling out.
Music-wise I'm finding that I'm falling into that bad habit where I get lazy about the music I seek out (one of the things about "growing up" that I should rail against really. So, New Year's Resolution here I come), but nevertheless, there have been nice music memories in 2007. Like, that late summer/early fall Sunday we lent our accordion to Okkervil River for their show in Montreal. I've listened to Okkervil River so much since then. They're amazing, their lyrics kill me. That evening Andrew and I drove down to Ottawa to watch an Eric's Trip reunion show before skipping the country for a Thanksgiving roadtrip. It was October and still warm enough to walk to the bar in a t-shirt. The Rilo Kiley show I went to in Montreal, the way I felt when they had a sing along to "With Arms Outstretched"? It was exhilarating. The weekend I visited Toronto and drove around in my father's car, listening to Young Marble Giants and stopping in the parking lot on the Lakeshore to look at the dirty Lake Ontario water. Those train trips between Montreal and Toronto, always starting it off with "Ys" on my Ipod, a ritual I still haven't given up. Neil Young in the car on the stretch of the Thousand Islands, off of the 401, looking at those little islands. How I now associate Stars with the first snowstorms of December. Something about the clumpy snow and cold, the warming music. I clearly remember that afternoon I walked out of theatre after seeing the Ian Curtis biopic, "Control". There was this huge rainbow stretching across St. Laurent. We walked home, stopped to buy chocolate to eat in Parc Lafontaine. Etc.
This little collection of favourite songs from 2007 has a kind of breezy, summer feel to it, like sitting out on the balcony at dusk with a bottle of white wine and good company.
LETS MAKE THE WORLD'S STUPIDEST STAND AND TRULY MEAN IT
1) I'd Rather Walk Than Run - Herman Dune2) Plus Ones - Okkervil River
3) Helpless (live) - Neil Young
5) See America Right - The Mountain Goats
6) Take Me To The Riot - Stars
7) Give A Little Love - Rilo Kiley
8) Eating Noddemix - Young Marble Giants
9) Transmission - Joy Division
10) The Park - Feist
11) Open Your Heart - Lavender Diamond
12) Goin' to Acapulco - Calexico and Jim James
13) Oh, My Darling - Basia Bulat
posted by terki at 9:36 PM
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