Hear This

With the year a quarter of the way over already, I was thinking that 2007 just might turn out to be a pretty decent year for music. I was looking over what 2007 releases I've been listening to and I'm actually quite impressed that as much music has come out as it has. Here are 15 albums I've been playing:

Patty Griffin Children Running Through
She just gets better and better each album. She's tried doing different things on different albums and this seems like she's taken everything she's done in the past and given us a little bit of everything.

Malcolm Middleton A Brighter Beat
I love when someone's accent comes through in their singing voice. And I love it when someone names their songs titles like "Fuck It I Love You."

Tracey Thorn Out of the Woods
While I like Tracey Thorn best when she's doing the folkie Everything But The Girl stuff, her voice works so well with a techno pop backdrop. I just adore her.

Amy Winehouse Back To Black
This woman has balls. She's a fucking mess and I love that in a singer.

James Morrison Undiscovered
I guess he's going to be thrown in to the whole "James Blunt like singer" category, but it's not fair to him. I really like this album and I hope it does well.

Harry Connick, Jr Oh My NOLA
There's not much Harry can do that I won't like. This is his latest themed album, songs from, about or by artists from New Orleans.

Macy Gray Big
Macy Gray is a mess. She's always been a mess and she'll always be a mess. And when she can channel that mess into making great albums, I'm a happy boy. Big is a great album. "Strange Behavior" has got to be my newest favorite song.

Barenaked Ladies Are Men
The follow up to Barenaked Ladies Are Me. More upbeat than the last one. It's a fun listen.

Mika Life In Cartoon Motion
He really wants to be a Scissor Sister. In the worst kind of way.

Norah Jones Not Too Late
What I really like about this is how mellowed out it is. Not that Norah Jones is a heavy rocker or anything, but the arrangements and beautiful and sparser than the last two records. I think this is my favorite of all her albums.

Mary Chapin Carpenter The Calling
She's not breaking any new ground on this record, but it's still nice to hear her sing.

Lucinda Williams West
I haven't been a big fan of Lucinda's last couple of albums. I tried this one with some trepidation, but she put out an album that I find listenable. The last couple I could barely sit all the way through. This is more the speed I like, more like the stuff on her self titled or Car Wheels On A Gravel Road.

Kaiser Chiefs Yours Truly Angry Mob
I've been bitching to myself that I have stopped listening to new artists. Since I've made myself aware of that fact, I've been trying different things here and there. I tried the Shins, but I found them boring as hell. I tried the Kaiser Chiefs and really surprised myself with how much I liked them. They are definitely big 80's music fans because it shows in every one of their songs. And I mean that in the best way possible.

Roddy Frame Live In Osaka
Roddy is my rock star boyfriend.

Joss Stone Introducing Joss Stone
I've only listened to this twice, so it really hasn't sunk in too deep yet. I just love her voice.

Falco Hoch Wie Nie
Okay, this is actually the 16th album in the list. And it's a greatest hits album, so it doesn't really count. But Falco is such a guilty pleasure. There can't be anything wrong with me liking Falco, right? He really did write and perform a lot of fun pop songs. Honestly. Stop looking at me with that contempt in your eyes. I bet you like a lot of crap, too. You're just too shallow to fess up to it. So there.