A small gathering of "Best of 2007" from NEXT listeners

From Mike
Thanks for the email and being the first NEXT listener to get a BEST OF 2007 list to me.

Mike says that these are his favorite songs of the year. In no order. It started as a top ten and morphed into a top 30. I feel your pain Mike I find it hard to narrow down the list too. My countdown on NEXT will start on the 26th. So listen and compare notes. Great list brother man.

Clientele - Isn't Life Strange
Fountains of Wayne - Someone to Love
Electrelane - To the East
Marc Knopfler - Punish The Monkey
The National - Fake Empire
White Rabbits - Kid on my Shoulders
Great Lakes Myth Society - Summer Bonfire
Peter, Bjorn, and John - Young Folks
The Shins - Split Needles
Spoon - The Underdog
Wilco - Impossible Germany
Arctic Monkeys - Flourescent Adolescent
Cat Empire - Sly
Locksley - She Does
Band of Horses - Islands on the Coast
Babyshambles - Delivery
Sea Wolf - Winter Windows
The Thrills - Restaurant
Vampire Weekend - Oxford Comma
They Might Be Giants - Take Out The Trash
Modest Mouse - Missed the Boat
Jose Gonzalez - Down the Line
Bella - Give It a Night
The Aliens - I Am The Unknown
Stars - The Night Starts Here
Alternate Routes - California
Arcade Fire - Keep The Car Running
Colin Hay - Wish I Was Still Drinking
Mary Onettes - Explosions
Warm in the Wake - She's Never Seen It

More this time from Sessine

Dear Chris

Thank you again for your great selection of music.

This song keep n humming in my head. It should become a hit.
My Favorite next song for the end of the year list is:. Silver Lining from Rilo Kiley.
Other Ones: Raise your Hand from Super Furry Animals
Click Your Heels from The orange Lights

MORE FROM VICTOR THIS TIME

Happy Holidays. I am slowly catching up on your shows (I enjoy them
tremendously, but my schedule has been crazy). The Blakes! Yes, very happy
to hear them on your show. One of my favorites on 2007. Everyone has a list
- here's my top 12

Favorite Songs on 2007
1. Myriad Harbor - New Pornographers
2. A-Punk - Vampire Weekend -
3. Girls in their Summer Clothes - Springsteen (Magic)
4. O' Mary Don't You Week - Springsteen (Live in Dublin)
5. I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance - Black Kids
6. You Go Banging On- The Go
7. Modern Man - The Blakes
8. Your English is Good - Tokyo Police Club
9. Gone Gone Gone - Plant-Krauss
10. Ill Wills - Shout Out Louds-
11. Typical - Mute Math
12. Anything on the Office CD

MORE
This from Mark

Ten Disks Everyone Should Get or Give for Christmas Cauci:In no particular order, our top ten which is part consensus/amalgem, part our own skewed view. For added measure, we’ve thrown in top ten on the horizon of artists you’ve may never have heard but should check out.
TOP TEN (+ FIVE) ALL AROUND
1. Amy Winehouse, “Back to Black”Better get herself to rehab, yes, yes, yes. Or this may the talented train wreck’s last contribution.
2. Spoon, “Ga Ga Ga Ga”Not even their best, but even this one breaks them into the big time where they belong.
3. Bruce Springsteen, “Magic”We’ve never been among the legion of Bruce fanatics, but this is a flawless album as the Boss returns to classic rock and pop form.
4. Paolo NutiniOK, verging on too pop, but, this Scottish kid with the Italian name can write a terrific hook and he’s got great stage presence. Get your “New Shoes” on....
5. Decemberists, “The Crane’s Wife”A phenomenal album, rich/evocative lyrics and instrumentation that seems part Ireland, part New Orleans, part 19th century.
6. Arcade Fire, “Neon Bible”Caucusite A. Ignatius saw ‘em coming first and put ‘em on the cover of Canada’s TIME magazine. Now, they’ve crossed the border and lighting it up everywhere. Cornucopia of instrumentation and sound best devoured live.
7. Miranda Lambert, “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend”If you want to sample some sassy new country, check out this smokin’ young firecracker.
8. Little Big Town, “A Place to Land”Think of this band as a modern equivalent to the Eagles. Avalanche of harmony. Country yes, but with a whole lot of rock ‘n’ roll.
9. Lyle Lovett, “It’s Not Big, It’s Large”The most humble cat in the biz names his best effort in years after his band.
10. Stephen Stills, “Roll Tape”Proof that before the whiskey and cocaine, Stills was a genius. Having recently viewed the Woodstock documentary which features Crosby, Stills and Nash in their second ever live performance, we are voting this guy to the Hall of Fame first ballot.
11. Kelly Willis, “Kelly Translated From Love”Simply great. After a couple of so-so efforts, the Queen of Texas country cranks out a masterpiece.
12. Patty Griffith, “Children Running”Best of the singer-songwriters working today.
13. The Shins, “Wincing the Night Away”Shins evolving and this album proof.
14. Radio Head, “In Rainbow”These guys make the list for the most revolutionary experiment in years: allowing fans to download and pay whatever they want.
15. Eddie Vedder, “Into the Wild” Good movie, great sound track.

TEN ON THE HORIZON:
1. Brett Dennen, “So Much More”
2. Sondre Lerche, “Phantom Punch”
3. Future Clouds and Radar, “Future Clouds and Radar
4. Ari Heist, “The Break-in”
5. Cadillac Sky, “Blind Man Walking
6. Jeffrey Foucault, “Ghost Repeater”
7. Joe Henry, “Civilians”
8. Will Hoge, Black Bird on a Lonely Wire
9. Cross Canadian Ragweed, “Mission California”
10. Ernie Halter, “Congress Hotel”

From E. McMenamin:
Arcade Fire (of course), Neon Bible
Amy Winehouse, Back to Black
The Killers, Sam's Town
Shout Out Louds, Our Ill Wills
Paolo Nutini, These Streets
Rilo Kiley, Under the Blacklight
Band of Horses, Cease to Begin
Bruce Springsteen, Magic
But my favorite musical event of this year was easily the reintroduction into popular culture of Journey's " Don't Stop Believin," thanks to the Sopranos finale. So brilliant. Turn it up!!!

From S. Johnston:
Plain White T's "Hey There Delilah
"Rihanna "Umbrella
"Mute Math "Typical"
Albums
Common Finding Forever
Maroon 5 It Won't Be Soon
John Mayer Continuum
Kanye West Graduation
Jimmy Eat World Chase This Light
Eddie Vedder Into the Wild Soundtrack
The Hives The Black and White Album

From A. Ignatius:
Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
Hysterics - Hysterics
Kanye West - Graduation
LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver
MIA - Kala
The National - The Boxer
Radiohead - In Rainbows
Rilo Kiley - Under the Blacklight
Spoon - Ga Ga Ga GA GA
White Stripes - Icky

From M. Z. Barabak:
Easy Tiger, Ryan Adams
Neon Bible, Arcade Fire
The Reminder, Feist
Between Daylight And Dark, Mary Gauthier
Revival, John Fogarty
In Rainbows, Radiohead
Wincing The Night Away, The Shins
Magic, Bruce Springsteen
Graduation, Kanye West
West, Lucina Williams

From B. Moore:
1. South Texas Girl, Lyle Lovett -- It's Not Big It's LargeLyle brings back his Large Band and returns to his damn Aggie roots.
2. Leavin’ Tennessee, Cross Canadian Ragweed – singleJust the lyric “F**k you and f**k Nashville, I’m leaving Tennessee” is goodenough for me.
3. Nobody Wants to Go to the Moon Anymore, Kelly Willis – Translated fromLoveYou woulda gone to the moon with her.
4. Hush, Hush, Jimmie Vaughn and Omar Kent Dykes – The Jimmy Reed Highway The Blues the way they were meant to be.
5. The Sky Is Crying, Stevie Ray Vaughn live with B.B. King, Albert King andPaul Butterfield -- Solos, Sessions & Encores The Blues the way there were.
6. If You Don't Love Jesus, Billy Joe Shaver – Everybody’s Brother Hot-rod music you can ride to Hell.
7. The Answer to All Your Prayers, Monahans – Low Pining Milton Mapes with a different name but songwriting that remainsgreat.
8. Down the Road, Rodney Hayden – Down the Road Comfort food of six-string and steel.
9. Fe Fi Fo, One Mississippi – One Mississippi A handful of long-time Austin rockers and a new band.
10.You’re From Texas, Asleep at the Wheel – Kings of Texas Swing Ray Benson is the hardest working musician on the planet.

S. Spearman,
with thoughts on 2007 and best ever:
And last, it’s getting toward the end of 2007 and I know many of you have already started checking out “Best of 2007” music list. My recommendations are Spoon’s Ga Ga Ga Ga and Kenna’s Make Sure They See My Face. (In case you're wondering, my other recs are 2005's Little Brother's The Minstrel Show and 2006's The Dears’ Gang of Losers.)However, instead of talking about just ’07, why not give you a list of the best albums in my lifetime. There are many from the mid-to-late ‘80s that could go on here, but since I didn’t purchase my first album until around the 1990, I limited my pre-‘90 selections to Number One:
1. Michael Jackson’s Thriller - Technically, it was released on Dec. 1, 1982, and I know there are plenty of great albums that have come out since then, but none will have more meaning for me. Michael Jackson’s music built bridges across race, gender, socio-economic, and geographic barriers that no artist ever has.
2. Jay-Z’s Reasonable Doubt - The Blueprint, Black Album, and American Gangster are all worthy of consideration, but I have to go back to the beginning of Jay-Z. I can play this album straight-through to this day, eleven years later. And Regrets is one of my favorite five songs of all time.
3. Dave Matthews Band’s Crash - Under the Table and Dreaming was/is a really good album, but Crash is DMB’s truly great work. Crash Into Me helped push the jam band into U2 touring status and #41 is another one for my top five songs of all time.
4. A Tribe Called Quest’s Midnight Marauders - In the mid-to-late ‘90s when Tribe called it quits, I wasn’t sad because The Love Movement wasn’t as good as their earlier work. I was sad because I never got to see them in concert. Midnight Marauders, to me, is Tribe at their best.
5. Outkast’s The Love Below/Speakerboxx - I know a lot of people point to Aquemini and Stankonia because of their hits like “Rosa Parks” and “Ms. Jackson,” but the Grammy voters had it right when they gave Outkast the award for best album with this one.
6. Wilco’s A Ghost is Born - Jeff Tweedy is a genius, but he’s even smarter on this album because of the musicality employed by his bandmates. Like on “Muzzle of Bees.”
7. Radiohead’s Kid A - I’d be willing to hear someone make a case for OK Computer as Radiohead’s best work, but - for me - Kid A and it’s downtrodden, mellow tunes are exactly what I like from them. What other band can have a song called “How to Disappear Completely” that made you feel like a zombie walking the eart then have a song called “Optimistic” that made you feel like a bird flying in the sky?
8. Jill Scott’s Beautifully Human Part I - This album is a lot like Midnight Marauders in that it makes you feel something with every single track and you can’t stop listening to what she’s saying and how she’s expressing it. I cannot wait to see her in March!
9. Kanye West’s College Dropout - I can’t lie, I think both Late Registration and Graduation are better albums, but College Dropout is that original, first-cut Kanye. I remember listening to this album for four months straight when I bought it. I also had the chance to meet him briefly after a show in Houston in ’04, so that makes College Dropout extra special for me.
10. N.E.R.D.’s In Search of… - This was, by far, the toughest to put in the top ten. Not because it’s not top-ten material. This album makes it into the top-15 on the strength of “Am I High” another top-fiver alone. But the next five albums could easily be in its place. If only I didn’t have more sentimental value for this album since I met Pharrell in early ’05 before and after a show in Dallas.
11. 311’s Transistor - I used to listen to this on band trips and track meets throughout sophomore year of high school. Now I listen to it to fall asleep (it’s mellow). Any album that gives you new reasons to like it 8 years later is top-notch material.
12. Beck’s Sea Changes - Beck has made so much high-quality music that it’s tough to pick his best work. So I just picked his most depressing music, which doubles as his most sensible music. Between this and 311’s Transistor, I could sleep for eons.
13. Dr. Dre’s The Chronic - A lot of you may think this should be much higher, but I can’t listen to it straight through anymore because it’s lost a little bit of its hard-hitting/shock value now that we’ve had several years of Dre hits bumpin’ in our bars and cars.
14. 50 Cent’s Get Rich or Die Tryin’ - Speaking of Dr. Dre, he and Eminem teamed up to make 50 Cent our generation’s LL Cool J. The total package: lyrical prowess, sales success, a strong reputation with men and women (LL lost the men though) rap fans and Queens on his back.
15. Sevendust’s Animosity - Never heard the album? That’s okay. Just wait until you’re in a really fired up mood or you’re driving (and don’t mind getting a speeding ticket) to put this CD in and be prepared to ROCK. This thing is absolute fire! I remember flying with my oldest brother to Texas and singing “Crucified” at the top of my lungs.
16. T.I.’s - Both King and this year’s T.I. vs. T.I.P. are better albums, but Urban Legend is T.I. at his best. I had 85 of my favorite CDs stolen on an American Airlines flight last October and this is one of the albums I missed within a day.
17. Roni Size’s New Forms - My oldest brother and I are early adopters, him more than me, when it comes to popular music (is that oxymoronic? early adopter/popular?) but I can’t say we were among the first to hear Roni Size. I can only when we picked up Brown Paper Bag, it reinforced to both of us that there was a world out there - outside of the 3 Rs of music (R&B, rock and rap) - and we needed to hear more!
18. Badly Drawn Boy’s Hour of the Bewilderbeast - My best friend Colby put me up on BDB and I immediately became a huge fan. An even bigger fan after seeing him perform, albeit tipsy, in a room of about 100 people last fall. As he put it, he’s “the best singer/songwriter to come out the UK in 20 years.”
19. John Mayer’s Room for Squares - Call me corny if you want, but this album came at just the right time. That good ol’ bubble gum, road trip pop rock that keeps on giving. I know he’s tried to get all bluesy and mature, but stick to what works John. Why? Because I wanna run through the halls of my high school…
20. Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation - Those who know me well know that I love to dance. I remember watching Janet videos and practicing the moves, like that one on the chair. She and her older brother have so many copy-cats, but they will never been better than the originals.
And the rest in no particular order…and my favorite tracks on them:
Fuel’s Sunburn - “Sunburn”
Coldplay’s A Rush of Blood to the Head - “Clocks”
Incubus’ Morning View - “Warning”
Justin Timberlake’s Justified - “Last Night”
No Doubt’s Tragic Kingdom - “Don’t Speak”
Fugees’ The Score - “Fu Gee La”
Eminem’s Marshall Mathers LP - “Stan”
Maxwell’s Embrya - “Luxury: Cococure”
New Radicals’ Maybe You’ve Been Brainwashed Too - “Get What You Give”
Jump, Little Children’s Magazine - “Cathedral”
Foo Fighters’ The Colour and the Shape - “Walking After You”
Korn’s Issues - “Make Me Bad”
Jamie Cullum’s TwentySomething - “All At Sea”
Little Brother’s The Minstrel Show - “Beautiful Morning”
Erykah Badu’s Baduizm - “The Other Side of the Game”
Nas’ Illmatic - “The World is Yours”
Third Eye Blind’s Self-Titled Debut - “Jumper”
Notorious B.I.G.’s Ready to Die - “Me & My Bitch”
Keane’s Hopes and Fears - “Sunshine”
RJD2’s Deadringer - “The Proxy”
Red Hot Chili Pepper’s Californication - “Scar Tissue”
Wu-Tang Clan’s Wu-Tang Forever - “Better Dayz”
Rage Against the Machine’s The Battle of Los Angeles - “Guerrila Radio”
D’Angelo’s Voodoo - “Lady”
Nirvana’s Nevermind - “Come As You Are”
Lupe Fiasco’s Food and Liquor - “Kick, Push Pt. II”
Young Jeezy’s Thug Motivation 101 - “Standing Ovation”
Pearl Jam’s 10 - “Even Flow”
Wallflowers’ Bringing Down the Horse - “One Headlight”
Matchbox 20’s Yourself or Someone Like You - “Push You Around”
Toni Tony Tone’s Greatest Hits - “Anniversary”
New Edition’s NE Heartbreak - “N.E. Heartbreak”
Snoop Doggy Dogg’s Doggy Style - “Murder Was the Case”
Common’s Be - “Go”
The Streets’ A Grand Don’t Come for Free - “Could Well Be In”
Clipse’s Hell Hath No Fury - “Nightmares”
De La Soul’s Stakes is High - “Long Island Degrees”
The Dears’ Gang of Losers - “Ballad of Humankindness”
Spoon’s Ga Ga Ga Ga - “
Air’s Talkie Walkie - “Cherry Blossom Girl”
Ben Fold’s Whatever & Ever Amen - “Brick”
Ghostface’s Fishscale - “Underwater”
Bloc Party’s Silent Alarm - “This Modern Love”
Blockhead’s Downtown Science - “Roll Out the Red Carpet”
Boyz II Men’s II - “Vibin’”
U2’s How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb - “Vertigo”
Camp Lo’s Uptown Saturday Night - “Sparklin’”
Dido’s No Angel - “All You Want”
Fatboy Slim’s You’ve Come a Long Way Baby - “Rockafeller Skank”
The Game’s The Documentary - “Hate it or Love it”
The Garden State Soundtrack - Frou Frou’s “Let Go”
Kenna’s Make Sure They See My Face - “Phantom Always”
Linkin Park’s Meteora - “Nobody’s Listening”
Ludacris’ Southern Hospitality - “Fantasy”
The Mars Volta’s Frances the Mute - “The Widow”
Mary J. Blige’s What’s the 411 - “Love No Limit”
Metallica’s Black Album - “Enter Sandman”
Mic Geronimo’s The Natural - “Shit’s Real”
The Prodigy’s Fat of the Land - “Smack My Bitch Up”
Usher’s Confessions - “Caught Up”


Thanks to everyone and happy shopping