Musicwhore.org Music and memory

A decade ago, I wrote a series of entries ranking my favorite albums from 1985 to 2004. My collection has expanded greatly since then, particularly in the last five years. So I wanted to see what has changed in 10 years.

The further we get from the present day, the more we’ll find retroactive changes to the Favorite Edition lists. The 2007 list sees a lot of shifting in the Favorite 10, and a number of retroactive additions.

1. Explosions in the Sky, All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone
2. UA, Golden green
3. The Dead Betties, Nightmare Sequence
4. Björk, Volta
5. unkie, the Price of Fame
6. Nico Muhly, Speaks Volumes
7. Stephen Sondheim, Company (2006 Cast Recording)
8. Once, Music from the Motion Picture
9. Sasagawa Miwa, Mayoi Naku
10. Tokyo Jihen, Goraku (Variety)

Other favorites from the year:

• Synapse/Elliott Cole, The Oracle Hysterical
• Tommy heavenly6, Heavy Starry Heavenly
• Kawai Kenji, Seirei no Moribito
• Office, A Night at the Ritz
• M.I.A., Kala
• The National, Boxer
• Band of Horses, Cease to Begin
• Jason Isbell, Sirens of the Ditch

The cast recording for 2006 production of Company gets a retroactive boost, missing the Favorite 10 the first time out. A PBS broadcast of the revival directed by John Doyle went a long way in raising its ranking.

I didn’t discover the Dead Betties till a year and some change after the release of Nightmare Sequence, and it would have shot up to the Favorite 10 had I known about it. The album doesn’t lose its punch more than a decade on.

Rufus Wainwright’s Release the Stars and Smashing Pumpkins’ Zeitgeist fall of the list entirely. I think those albums earned their place on the Favorite 10 because I was not paying attention to what was happening in 2007, if the expanded list is any indication.

I’m not sure I actually like The National, but I remember catching the band’s appearance on Live from the Artists Den and thinking Matt Berninger was a tall drink of water. Boxer is rather fine album, nonetheless.

I would not have picked up Band of Horses without Renée Fleming. I get them mixed up with the Band of Heathens and Band of Skulls.

I didn’t actually like Sirens of the Ditch the first time I listened to it. I was just starting to explore Jason Isbell’s work after hearing Southeastern, and I wanted everything to sound like it. I had no context about his work with Drive-By Truckers. Sirens of the Ditch is closer to his work with the Truckers than his more recent albums, and that understanding goes a long way to building appreciation for his solo debut.

Tags: band of horses, bjork, elliott cole, explosions in the sky, favorite edition, jason isbell, kawai kenji, m.i.a., nico muhly, office, rewind, sasagawa miwa, soundtrack, stephen sondheim, the dead betties, the national, tokyo jihen, tommy heavenly6, ua, unkie