2007; a year in music

After covering the best albums of the year here and songs here I thought it was time to talk about the rest. Songs, Bands, Shows, Moments. look no further. I must say it's been a pretty huge year for me as far as music is concerned. It saw me go from a hardcore/screamo enthusiast to a mild mannered American Indie fan. Let alone the fact that I was in a reasonably successful band myself and toured over the summer.

first off, fundamentals. According to Last FM, my 2007 looked like this:

1 The National 501
2 Sonic Youth 423
3 Explosions in the Sky 406
4 Interpol 403
5 Orchid 400
6 Poison the Well 373
7 Jimmy Eat World 342
8 Converge 317
9 Radiohead 279
10 Fucked Up 236

Interesting top 2 as I only really got majorly into them this year. Explosions, Interpol and Converge roll on from the previous year, had a huge Orchid phase in Spring. Poison the Well and Radiohead had revivals, I discovered Jimmy Eat World's 'clarity' and Fucked Up joined in the fun from the Summer and pretty much completed hardcore punk for me.

Gigs:

General:

Biffy Clyro - Norwich, UEA
Explosions in the Sky - London Koko
Alexisonfire - London Astoria
Deftones - Norwich, UEA
Poison the Well - Colchester Arts Centre
Rise Against - Norwich, UEA
Klaxons - Norwich, UEA
Devil Sold His Soul - Norwich, B2
Hot Cross - London, Barfly
Glassjaw - London, Brixton Academy
Converge - London, Electric Ballroom
Converge - London, Kingston Peel
Fucked Up - Tales of the Jackalope
Slint - Performing Spiderland - Glasgow, ABC
Sonic Youth - Performing Daydream Nation - London, Roundhouse
Broken Social Scene Presents... Kevin Drew - London, Scala
Rolo Tomassi - London Notting Hill Arts Club
Los Campesinos! - Norwich, Arts Centre
Deerhunter - Glasgow, ABC2
Interpol - London, Alexander Palace
Interpol - Newcastle, Carling Academy
M.I.A - Norwich, Waterfront
Cloak/Dagger - Norwich, Cricketers Rest

Festivals:

Latitude;
The Arcade Fire
The National
Wilco
Final Fantasy
Cold War Kids

Fluff Fest;
Converge
These Arms Are Snakes
Kaospilot
La Quiete

Leeds Festival;
Jimmy Eat World
Brand New
Interpol
Gallows
Foals
Battles
Smashing Pumpkins
Nine Inch Nails
Bloc Party
I Was a Cub Scout
The Legacy!
We Are Scientists
Sparta

Moments:
*Deftones not only play my crappy home town, but play their cover of The Cure's 'If Only Tonight We Could Sleep' the world rejoices.

*Seeing Poison the Well give one of the most insanely passionate and tight (and varied) sets ever.

*Devil Sold His Soul (the first time) because the sound and low-key, strobed lighting was absolutely perfect

*Waiting 5 hours for Fucked Up to play at Vice's Tales of the Jackalope, they play two hours late at 2am, and get pulled after 4 songs, they were about to play 'Crusades'. For those 4 songs though, it was utter fucking anarchy.

*Slint play 'Washer'

*Finally seeing a version of Broken Social Scene play a sloppy but still memorable version of Cause = Time. part of the fun was them remembering how to play it on stage.

*Seeing Rolo Tomassi for the first time. Ya, I know I'm kinda biased now a days cuz we're toured and they're my friends, but the first time I saw them, I didn't know them yet, and they (Eva particularly) completely blew me away.

*Seeing Deerhunter destroy in Glasgow.

*Seeing Interpol make up for a string of misfortunes and rubbish experiences in Newcastle.

*The Above includes FINALLY SEEING 'PDA' AFTER A YEAR OF WAITING. It nearly makes me cry.

Festivals:
*Arcade Fire finishing Latitude.
*The National being the best band ever ever.
*Wilco, also.
*Converge, making up for a string of misfortunes and rubbish experiences in Prague.
*These Arms Are Snakes being amazing despite no one else really getting it.
*Jimmy Eat World plays 'Clarity' at Leeds.
*Brand New plays 'Sic Transit Gloria' in leeds; tent goes mental.
*Smashing Pumpkins play a set with mixed results in Leeds but completely nail 'Tonight, Tonight'.
*Nine Inch Nails do similar but with 'Hurt'. I cried. Missed LCD Soundsystem.

Dissapointments:
*The façade that led to me getting to see Explosions in the Sky which ruined it for me, then cancelling a headline slot on a small stage at Latiude.
*Glassjaw, a bit.
*MISSING CONVERGE PLAY JANE DOE
*Slint being generally flaccid despite preforming a masterpiece.
*Sonic Youth, a bit. Made up for it by having breakfast with them at the Camden Holiday Inn the day after though.
*Bloc Party at Leeds, a bit.

and finally, songs and albums that made my 2007 but weren't released in 2007.

1.Fucked Up.
This band did, to be honest, completely changed my year. They are, as far as I'm concerned, the missing link. I've grown up in the last few years of my life listening to lots of really good hardcore punk records, but none of them (with the possibly exception of Give Up The Ghost) ever gave me the sense of satisfaction or competitiveness. The thing is, is that, Fucked Up pretty much completed everything I always wanted from Hardcore but never got. They're one of the first bands to truly push the bar up and up and up and so far, thanks to their intellect and integrity, have yet to mess that up. It is still straight up Hardcore Punk, BUT, there's an indie rock sensibility about it, and hey, they've thrown in some psychedelic influences in there too which make the songs really massive, and hey, there's even a touch of Classical in the arrangements (thanks to the ever talented Mr. Owen Pallet) . Pop Melodies, Religious themes, Political awareness, apocalyptic dream-worlds, AMAZING ARTWORK, and a consistent sense of accomplishment. Really, this band HAVE got it all.

Fucked Up - Crusades

2.Jimmy Eat World - Clarity
I often got told how good this record was by some friends and some publications, but never really saw it myself. Then I did see it myself; live at Leeds Festival, with my beautiful girlfriend, and suddenly all the magic came screaming in. Suddenly, I was hearing that album literally come alive and I heard all the romance that was intended in this deeply passionate and intense record. It is, without a doubt, one of the most truly 'romantic' records I've ever listened to and is as much a celebration of life and love as it is a record about heartbreak and love loss. Plus, every song is brilliantly written and beautifully executed thanks to some truly wonderful and enchanting melodies, string sections and general production of the record.

Jimmy Eat World - Table for Glasses

3.Explosions in the Sky - The Moon is Down
At some point during the year, this became one of my favourite songs of all time. I'm not sure what it was in the first place that made me pick out this song in particular, because I consider the whole record an incredibly solid and magical piece, but I guess it was just from repeated listening. The thing is, this song has got basically every emotion I could possibly want from listening to music pegged within it (without even having any lyrics). It starts off in a world where the Moon really does seem to be shining down and everything sounds rather mystical and enchanting. Then they're an eerie chord change, and the song literally progresses through like that, until it's uber-tense but ultimately beautiful climax, with one guitar pretty much keeping it moving, and the other two guitars and drums contributing when appropriate. It is the ultimate song to go walking around on a quiet night, as it manages to be relaxing, yet chilling, yet exciting all at once. Truly, this is the band's finest hour (or 10 minutes).

Explosions in the Sky - The Moon is Down

Christmas was mental. this is me out for a few days, happy new year! xo