Best Cds of 2007

This last year has seen a reduction of the quantity of CDs I have bought. I am starting to realize that no one really has time to listen to all this music. In fact the summer of 2007 was the year of The Great Purge in which I sold 40% - 50% of my music. I wish I could say how many CDs I bought this year (I actually do count and compare from year to year) but its been over 7 months since I made that count. I would guess I bought about 80 CDs, which is down from the usual well over 100 CDs per year. With finances being really tight, I expect the number for next year to be even lower. Right now as of August 2008, I have about 40.
Another thing about this year is that I noticed that some of the CDs I have not listened to very much, which means I really don’t have a great idea of what they are about – A general idea but not a great understanding. So I expect that the ranking of the cds will be very loose, especially for the lower ranking CDs. So without any further ado, here is the best of 2007:

1. Beirut – The Flying Club Cup – This guy just doesn’t miss. In my opinion it’s a slight improvement over the last CD. Has a little more French influence, but the Eastern European is still there.

2. Great Lake Swimmers – Ongiara – While a tad on the softer side, there is some beautiful acoustic folk music here.

3. Grinderman – Grinderman – Nick Cave rocking out. I think that this is better than the Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! CD, though many critics disagree with me.

4. Jessie Sykes & The Sweet Hereafter – Like Love & Lust & The Open Halls of the Soul – A little more rocking than her last CD, yet still lush and haunting.

5. The National – The Boxer – Another Solid effort, though I still prefer Alligator.

6. Stax – 50th Anniversary Celebration – Now I’m not a fan of Rhythm and Blues, but the quality of song writing on this CD is unquestionable. If you don’t know what Stax is, thing Motown but hipper.

7. Iron & Wine – The Shepard’s Dog – I like his more recent work because it is a little more rockier.

8. P.J. Harvey – White Chalk – She plays piano instead of guitar. The results are spooky and beautiful.

9. Spoon – Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga – This one is a bit more minimalist than their others, but still some catchy tunes.

10. Monsieur Gainsbourg Revisited – Various Artists – Some nice renditions of classic songs.

11. Bright Eyes – Cassadaga – No new sound really, but there are some really good songs.

12. Chris & Carla – Fly High Brave Dreamers – I have not been able to get into this CD very much, though they are some of my all time favorite performers. I suspect with more listens, this would go up more in the rankings.

13. Bishop Allen & the Broken String - Bishop Allen & the Broken String – My Space Phenom. They release all their songs on My Space and than compiled their best songs for the CD. Great catchy pop songs.

14. Blanche – Little Amber Bottles – A Bit of a disappointment from their debut CD, but there are still some great songs on here. Maybe with some more listens…

15. Joe Henry – Civilian – A solid CD of Americanaish music. Very good song writing.

16. New Model Army – High – Solid Songs from punk Rock/Activist group

17. Andrew Bird – Armchair Apocrypha – While this one is good, I have not been able to get into this one as much as the previous CD. More listens needed?

18. Earlimart – Mentor – Good solid pop music. Kind of drags in second half .

19. Chuck Prophet – Soap and Water – Americana music but slightly more rockin’ than the typical for the genre.

And the bottom of the pile. Still good but perhaps they need more listens.

20. Cafe tacuba - Sino
21. Josh Ritter - The Historical Conquests of...
22. Bryan Ferry - Dylanesque
23. Pylon - Gyrate (rerelease)
24. Karen Ann - Karen Ann
25. Moby Grape - Listen My Friends (rerelease)

Rendition **1/2

2007
Seen on DVD
Screenwriter - Kelley Sane
Director - Gavin Hood
With: Omar Metwally, Jake Gyllenhaal, Reese Witherspoon,
Peter Sarsgaard, Meryl Streep, Alan Arkin



This is a mostly well done film about rendition. - the practice of the U.S. government to take suspected terrorists to foreign countries because torture is not permitted in this country. There is some fine acting and some fairly big names.



The film has several story lines. There is a CIA agent who has to oversee the torture and of course there is the Egyptian-American who is being tortured. The agent is a bit"green" and is conflicted by what he sees (as well as the viewer, which I liked about this film). The victim is married to Reese Witherspoon's character, which shows how 'American' he is. Reese Witherspoon tries to find out what is happening, since the suspect is not allowed any phone calls. Apparently, the government has some phone records which show that the suspect's cell had been in contact with a known terrorist. At first he denies any knowledge of the phone calls and claims the information is mistaken. Then under duress, he "confesses". The film keeps the viewer wondering for a relatively long time what the truth of the matter is.



There is another subplot about a young man and his girlfriend. The young man is drawn to the radical Jihadist movement by past tragedy in his life. This line of narrative is criticised by the Reader as being unnecessary, though it does serve to tie in most of the characters. I tend to agree with the Reader, but I did like how this subplot messes with the narrative and ends up being sort of a twist which kept me off guard somewhat.



This is a well done political thriller, with nary a complaint against it. There's not much to say about it really.