Favourites from 07?

[whateverman42]

What are your favourite songs from 2007(he asks unashamedly looking for an opportunity to say his own)? I found it a very good year, mostly established acts putting out quality material.

The Boy Come Home- Matt Good
Someone Great- LCD Soundsystem
Another Version of the Truth- NIN
Genesis- Justice
Knocked Up- Kings of Leon
Green Fields- Good Bad and Queen
Jigsaw Falling Into Place- Radiohead
Nude- Radiohead
Angelicus- Delerium
Alive CD- Daft Punk

[Drico One]

Appalling year, 2007. Pop music is in terminal decline. Consider this: In 1987, the most reviled - and successful - man in pop was the egregious Pete Waterman. In 2007, the modern equivalent is Simon Cowell, a purveyor of such sterile analeptic boredom he makes his predecessor seem like Elvis. Cowell releases 50 singles a year, and 51 of them are crap.

With Waterman, you could forgive the absolute naffness of the vast majority of his work. Beneath the acquisitive avarice, you suspected a tiny but genuine sliver of creative impulse lurked to express the sincere hope that a truly great record could emerge from whole odious exercise.

With the ineffable Cowell, you see the Margaret Thatcher of pop - corporatist, conservative, and smugly self-centred. That his apotheosis coincided with the death of the single is no coincidence for no one individual contrived to bury what interest remained in the pop charts as much as Cowell.

Drico.

[whateverman42]

To me, music has nothing to do with popularity, charts, and hype. I buy CD's from quality artists, and there's always some exciting and original artist emerging. I don't get people who focus on popularity so much, if something is good, it's good. Appreciate it on that level at least..

I understand why you'd want good artists(like PSB) to get their just props, and crap artists to shrivel up, but people are genuinely stupid. Nothing else to it. I'm personally glad PSB are unpopular, gives me some mighty fine feelings of superiority and openmindedness.

[glennjridge]

In 2007, the modern equivalent is Simon Cowell, a purveyor of such sterile analeptic boredom he makes his predecessor seem like Elvis. Cowell releases 50 singles a year, and 51 of them are crap.

With the ineffable Cowell, you see the Margaret Thatcher of pop - corporatist, conservative, and smugly self-centred. That his apotheosis coincided with the death of the single is no coincidence for no one individual contrived to bury what interest remained in the pop charts as Cowell.

Drico.

of course thats your argument.you are so into this part your playing.

the market he is pushing his product on isnt your or my demographic. he isnt trying to reinvent the wheel, or target the resident internet curmudgeons. he is shooting for the teen market.

your point isnt anymore valid than it being fair for roger ebert or any other movie critic trashing some saturday morning cartoons aimed at children for being dumb and lacking a inventive coherent plot. american idol or the brit equivelent is essencially a kids show. old men like us arent expected to like that music anymore than any 11 year old girl cares what her father thinks about her kind of music.

[Janet Street-Porter]

of course thats your argument.you are so into this part your playing.

the market he is pushing his product on isnt your or my demographic. he isnt trying to reinvent the wheel, or target the resident internet curmudgeons. he is shooting for the teen market.

your point isnt anymore valid than it being fair for roger ebert or any other movie critic trashing some saturday morning cartoons aimed at children for being dumb and lacking a inventive coherent plot. american idol or the brit equivelent is essencially a kids show. old men like us arent expected to like that music anymore than any 11 year old girl cares what her father thinks about her kind of music.

He isn't targeting the teen market. X-Factor is on Saturday night on ITV - he's targeting the moron market, the same shapeless mass who watched Cilla in the 80s. Teenagers are out getting pregnant at that time of the week.

I don't buy the Radio 1 argument that you suddenly grow out of pop just as you're supposed to turn from Karl Marx into Richard Littlejohn sometime after your 32nd birthday. I love pop every bit as much now as I did when I was a teenager. X-Factor isn't peddling pop anyway: it's variety, the refuge of the never-weres and has-beens, the hapless and the desperate.

[Kris]

Appalling year, 2007. Pop music is in terminal decline. Consider this: In 1987, the most reviled - and successful - man in pop was the egregious Pete Waterman. In 2007, the modern equivalent is Simon Cowell, a purveyor of such sterile analeptic boredom he makes his predecessor seem like Elvis. Cowell releases 50 singles a year, and 51 of them are crap.

With Waterman, you could forgive the absolute naffness of the vast majority of his work. Beneath the acquisitive avarice, you suspected a tiny but genuine sliver of creative impulse lurked to express the sincere hope that a truly great record could emerge from whole odious exercise.

With the ineffable Cowell, you see the Margaret Thatcher of pop - corporatist, conservative, and smugly self-centred. That his apotheosis coincided with the death of the single is no coincidence for no one individual contrived to bury what interest remained in the pop charts as much as Cowell.

Drico.

I thought 2007 was a great return to form for pop music, personally. In recent years I've struggled to cobble together enough favourite records for a top 10 of the year list, whereas last month I found it really difficult to compile a top 20 for the opposite reason.

In fact, five of the top ten best-selling records of the year made my list and I genuinely can't remember the last time that happened.

For what it's worth, here's my top 20 singles of 2007:

1) Hellogoodbye – Here In Your Arms
2) Mika – Grace Kelly
3) Seal – Amazing (Thin White Duke Edit)
4) Take That – Shine
5) Keane – A Bad Dream
6) The Feeling – Rose
7) Sugababes – About You Now
8 Peter, Bjorn and John – Young Folks
9) Kaiser Chiefs – Ruby
10) Rihanna/Jay Z – Umbrella
11) Mutya Buena – Real Girl
12) Robyn – With Every Heartbeat
13) Mark Ronson/Amy Winehouse – Valerie
14) Girls Aloud – Call The Shots
15) Rufus Wainwright – Going To A Town
16) Shayne Ward – If That’s OK With You
17) Feist – 1234
18 Britney Spears – Gimme More
19) Jarvis Cocker – Don’t Let Him Waste Your Time
20) Tracey Thorn – It’s All True

[fluffmoln]

That awful Peter, Bjorn and John song is from atleast 2006. The same goes for Robyn's single.

[Twoism]

That awful Peter, Bjorn and John song is from atleast 2006. The same goes for Robyn's single.

It's not awful.

[Kris]

That awful Peter, Bjorn and John song is from atleast 2006. The same goes for Robyn's single.

Well, both charted in the UK in 2007 so they are both eligible as far as I'm concerned. And I think Young Folks is a fantastic anthemic pop record.

[dVTB]

[deleted]

[BlueSwan]

Lots of great CHART music last year. However, not a single truly excellent album - at least not any of the ones I heard.

An attempt at a year-end top 30:

1. Take That: Rule The World
2. Robyn & Kleerup: With Every Heartbeat
3. Lucky Twice: Lucky
4. Erasure: Storm In A Teacup
5. Lizzie: Ramt I Natten
6. Tokio Hotel: Monsoon
7. Alex feat Nik & Jay: Hvad Nu Hvis
8. Young Buck: Buss Yo Head
9. Margaret Berger: Robot Song
10. Assemblage 23: Awake

11. Rihanna: Don’t Stop The Music
12. Britney Spears: Gimme More
13. Freemasons: Uninvited
14. Young Buck: Say It To My Face
15. The Fray: How To Save A Life
16. David Guetta: Baby When The Light
17. Pet Shop Boys: Integral (perfect immaculate mix)
18. Plain White T’s: Hey There Delilah
19. Hello Goodbye: Here (In Your Arms)
20. Arctic Monkeys: Flourescent Adolescent

21. Kanye West: Flashing Lights
22. BWO: Stay With You Again
23. Nelly Furtado: Say It Right
24. Fergie: Big Girls Don’t Cry
25. Mika: Happy Ending
26. Assemblage 23: Blindhammer
27. Lil’ Kim feat The Game: Quiet
28. Kate Ryan: Voyage Voyage
29. McFly: Baby’s Coming Back
30. Rihanna: Umbrella

Not all of them were actually released in 2007, but I heard all of them for the first time in 2007.

[Janet Street-Porter]

What I hated most about 2007: the ubiquitous Mark 'Jive Bunny' Ronson and his genius for re-interpretation. Truly a case of the New Emperor's Clothes. I like Rehab but that's about it.

[Deschanel]

Ahh, I actually love Mark Ronson's stuff, "Valerie", the Robbie version of "The Only One I know", even "Stop Me". He's one to watch I think.

"Young Folks" was a brilliant and meaningful song to me this year, I don't care who heard it in 2006.
I found it beautiful and eerily soulful. I play the video on my iPhone for my bright nephew (he's 4) and we whistle along, enjoying the Brady Bunch animation.

"Umbrella" was apparently ubiquitous, but I don't listen to pop radio, so in Spring even the fogies at the NY Times were describing the "'ella, ella,ella" before me. It was only after the Lush Mix, which is "It's Alright" in frenetic, excellent new drag, that I declared Rihanna WOULD become my secret girlfriend, oh yes. Mwahaha! Rihanna's a quarter Irish as well,which I love.

That and a mashup of Umbrella with "Tenderness" by General Public. Brilliant.
On YouTube, type "Tender Umbrella".

I'm forgetting tons. Enjoyed Drico's Waterman/Cowell point above, but must admit that SAW really did make some enjoyable pop singles in the day. Cowell's empire can't be bothered with THAT petty detail, apparently.

[beautyqueen85]

Addicting, and still going strong.

[Deschanel]

Forgot to mention "Catch You" by Sophie Ellis-Bextor, enjoyable track to me.