Countdown to 30: My Favorite Album From 2007

 2007

Obviously, we are right in the "difficult-to-choose" territory, so I'm going to launch right into my runner-up albums.

Mika's debut album Life in Cartoon Motion came out in 2007. Mika's concept for his first few albums was that they would represent different stages in his life. Cartoon Motion represents childhood. It uses falsetto heavily and is loaded with the most sugary pop songs you can imagine, beginning with "Grace Kelly," a response to a label asking him to change his style to be more commercial. My sisters and I each went through a phase in order of age, in which we absolutely loved Mika. For me, it started after my Canadian friend played "Grace Kelly" for me. I didn't know what to think of it at first, and then ended up playing it basically on repeat for months.

If you've been reading the articles up until now, or at least 2006, you'll know that this was the era for getting big on Myspace. Kate Nash was one of those lucky souls. Her first album, Made of Bricks was #1 in the U.K., but also made it to #36 in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, #8 in the Top Alternative albums. I always compared Nash to Lily Allen at the time, but their music is quite different. The main thing they have in common is a refusal to hide their accents. At the time, Nash wrote songs about crushes, dysfunctional relationships, and identity, but also "Skeleton Song" which is a girl's letter to her own skeleton. At first glance, "Birds" is a folk ballad about love, but really it's about having difficulty putting romantic feeling into words. "Mariella" is an identity song at first, but then becomes a song about a character named Mariella who defies all social expectations. 

I discovered Nash thanks to my friend Zack and thought at the time that nothing Nash could do would top Made of Bricks.

Rooney's sophomore album, Calling the World came out in 2007. Producer John Fields gave the album a warm sound as the band began to explore more classic rock/pop sounds. The cover makes their classic rock roots obvious, acting as an homage to The Beatles Rubber Soul or The Doors debut album. Direct influences can be heard on several songs, such as an ELO-style backing vocal in the bridge of "Believe in Me." "What For" features a slide guitar part reminiscent of George Harrison (Harrison's son Dhani is actually on the album, but as backing vocals on "Calling the World") with rhythm guitar and a melody line similar to Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. The song "Are You Afraid?" seems to me to have elements of Toto as well as more backing vocals that sound like ELO. Between the solid production, fantastic guitar from Taylor Locke, and some peak songwriting from frontman Robert Schwartzman, Calling the World might be Rooney's strongest album.

Feist released her most commercially successful album, The Reminder. The Reminder reached #16 on the U.S. Billboard 200, #5 on the Alternative Albums charts. This album is less explorative than Let it Die, relying primarily on jazz with a sprinkling of pop. Leslie Feist's voice is truly showcased on tracks like the opener, "So Sorry." Feist's breakthrough hit was "1234," a song primarily written by Sally Seltmann. "1234" reached #8 in the U.S. and #4 in the digital sales charts. A big boost to listenership came from its inclusion in an iPod commercial. Admittedly, "1234" was my introduction to Feist, and is what inspired me to buy both Let it Die and The Reminder. "I Feel It All" received the most critical praise, but my favorite tracks on the album include the sparse "The Park," "My Moon, My Man," and "Brandy Alexander," the last of which was written with Ron Sexsmith. The tracks in-between all have merit also, Feist's voice elevating even the weakest songs.

Picking from the top two is really a chore, because they are two of my absolute favorite albums. I dearly love them both, and would make it a tie if I could. But, the arbitrary rules I've created for myself must remain strict.

During a period of emotional turmoil for both women, Tegan and Sara released their fifth studio album The Con in 2007. As a result of events in their personal lives, The Con is an incredibly emotional album. "Relief Next to Me" and "Back in Your Head" center around lovers growing emotionally distant from one another. Many of the tracks center on breakups in some way or another, with the final track, "Call It Off" describing a breakup the narrator isn't sure is for the best, but it seems inevitable.

The Con is produced by Chris Walla, who enlisted fellow Death Cab For Cutie member, Jason McGerr for drums. Matt Sharp (founding member of Weezer) plays bass on all of the songs written by Sara Quin, while Hunter Burgan of AFI plays bass on the songs written by Tegan Quinn. 

I first heard of Tegan and Sara when I accidentally ended up with a bunch of my friend Zack's music on my mp3 player. I ended up with "I Know I Know I Know" off of So Jealous, and I enjoyed it quite a bit. Then I found out Tegan and Sara were going to be opening for Death Cab For Cutie at a concert I bought tickets for. It was basically my first concert, so I researched the opening act (City and Color was there too, but I didn't hear about him ahead of time). I purchased and listened to The Con front to back and knew it by heart by the time of the show. It was really great to hear them play the album live, and they have great rapport live. I was fortunate enough to catch their The Con X tour in 2017 as well. The Con will always have a piece of my heart.

However, 2007 was also the year Everybody Else released their debut album. Their name is drawn from The Kinks song "I'm Not Like Everybody Else." Frontman Carrick Moore Gerety was formerly in a power pop band called The Push Kings with his brother Finn in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Drummer Mikey McCormack had been in a Richmond, Virginia rock band called The Waking Hours. Both men moved to Los Angeles, hoping to find more success. Eventually, they teamed up with bassist and vocalist Austin James Williams III, creating the lineup on their self-titled debut, Everybody Else. 

Everybody Else is a fantastic power pop album in its own right. Lead single "Meat Market" kicks the album right, showing off the skills of each member. The album never really became a massive hit, so there aren't a lot of facts to pull from. I'm going to jump right into the personal element.

Way too cool for school in 2007.

I know I've mentioned the fanmix community a fair number of times, but this is from the other side of it. I got into Everybody Else from a Twilight fanmix, Fanmixes were a bit like the mixtapes of yore, but specifically centered around a certain piece of media or the relationships therein. I don't remember everything from the mix in question, but I remember that the two songs I discovered from it were "Must Have Done Something Right" by Relient K and "Meat Market." I am forever thankful to whoever created that fanmix, because that is probably the only way I would have discovered Everybody Else. I was totally hooked by "Meat Market." I wanted more. Online, you could find the cute black and white video for "Meat Market," an acoustic "Button For Punishment," and an animated video for "Rich Girls, Poor Girls." Their Myspace may have had more songs than that, but I just know that I went into my local F.Y.E. to special order Everybody Else. I wasn't disappointed in the slightest when it arrived. The cover art, designed by Moore Gerety is fabulous (even if it contains lots of nipples), and the packaging itself folds out to reveal the liner notes. Top to bottom, this is a solid album full of power pop. There are fast songs like the aforementioned "Meat Market" and "Rich Girls, Poor Girls" and slower songs like the aforementioned "Button For Punishment" and "Alone in the World" but they all have a place on the album.

Everybody Else opened for Rooney on one tour. One of my greatest regrets from high school is not finding a way to go see them. Most nights, the bands closed the show on stage together with a cover of "Helter Skelter." I think missing that show contributed largely to my research of opening acts in the years that came after. Hey, I mean, without missing that show, I may never have gotten into 2005 album-from-the-year act Tally Hall.

When I listen to this album again, I still enjoy every track. Carrick Moore Gerety's voice is an absolute treat and the melodies are fun to sing along with. I think everyone should hear this album. but at the very least you should check it out if you're a fan of power pop or even pop punk.

Let's see what it looks like on that leaderboard!

Join me tomorrow for my favorite album from 2008.

Countdown to 30: My Favorite Album From 2004

 2004

In 2004, Leslie Feist (or simply Feist as she is known to most) released her second solo album, Let it Die. Feist sold her first solo album Monarch at Broken Social Scene shows for a from 1999-2001, and she was finally ready for an album with a wider release. 

Let it Die is blend of indie rock, jazz, and bossa nova. It was identified as one of the best Canadian pop albums of 2004, and ended up winning two Juno awards in 2005 (Best Alternative Album and Best New Artist). In 2012, NOW Magazine ranked Let It Die as 4th on list of The 50 Best Toronto Albums Ever. The Canadian version of the album is a little different from the versions other countries got, so for the record, I will be talking about the American edition of Let it Die. 

The album contains many original Feist tracks  (or tracks cowritten by Feist), with covers taking up the latter half of the album. As far as original Feist pieces, "Mushaboom" is a strong, jazzy contribution. Mushaboom is the name of the villiage in Nova Scotia in which Feist was born and the song also plays on the syllables "sh-boom," a popular fifties pop chant. Title track "Let it Die" is a beautiful jazz tune about the inevitable ending of a relationship. As covers go, you can't beat Feist's "Inside and Out," her version of the Bee Gees tune "Love You Inside Out," a dreamy cover with electronic elements that bring the track into the 21st century. Well, you can barely beat it with "Secret Heart," a cover of a Ron Sexsmith track about expressing your hidden emotions. Thank you for asking- yes, it made it onto one of my fanmixes.

I listened to this album many times over, and am the proud owner of the Vinyl Me Please reissue on colored vinyl. However, another female solo artist just barely edged Feist out for my favorite album of 2004.

Eye to the Telescope is the debut album by Scottish singer-songwriter KT Tunstall. Obviously, it is my pick for favorite album of 2004. 

You probably know who KT Tunstall is, but even if you don't, you definitely know either "Suddenly I See" or "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree." When you listen to the album though, it seems as though any of the songs could have been either singles or tunes from a soundtrack. 

"Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" features the Bo Diddley beat. It saw a great deal of success here in the U.S. after Katherine McPhee chose to sing in on the 5th season of American Idol. It went from 79 all the way up to #20 in the Billboard charts, becoming Tunstall's highest ranking single to date. 

The other popular single from the album here in the U.S. was "Suddenly I See," thanks to its use in The Devil Wears Prada. "Suddenly I See" is about the way the photo of Patti Smith on her album Horses made KT Tunstall realize that she wanted pursue a career in music. The lyrics lent themselves well the the film about making it in the fashion world. 

"Other Side of the World" (much like the runner-up album for 2003) is about a long-distance relationship. Allegedly, two of Tunstall's friends were attempting to date long distance, inspiring this tragic song about how "the fire fades away//and most of every day//is full of tired excuses."

The songs on the album dart back and forth between sounding acoustic and sounding more intense. Tunstall's rich alto voice works its way through her catchy melodies with ease.

I believe this was taken on my first day
of 8th grade, 2004.

I was among the many exposed to Tunstall through The Devil Wears Prada but evidently among the few in the U.S. who became obsessed with her further discography. A trip to the public library yielded both this album and Drastic Fantastic, meaning I got to hear both lyrically and musically complex albums. I love Tunstall's songwriting, her sense of humor, and I certainly would call Eye to the Telescope a near-perfect album. "Under the Weather" was an early favorite on mine. I love the way it musically emulates a rainy day. A couple of the songs made it onto a fanmix or two, but I'm going to stop telling you which ones.

Tunstall is one of my favorite artists to sing at karaoke, and since the tracks you can find in the songbooks are usually "Suddenly I See" or "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree," I have gotten pretty intimately familiar with those tracks. My other signature is off of her second album, and I sang it for my senior year singing scholarship competition.

During college, I went to very few shows, with Tunstall's being one of them. I've since seen her twice more, once as an opener for The Barenaked Ladies and Better Than Ezra, and another time as the opener for Squeeze. I'll actually be seeing her again in August *fingers crossed* as she will be opening for Hall & Oates and Squeeze then!

Eye to the Telescope is fantastic start-to-finish, and it's a great place to start checking out Tunstall's discography.

Let's see it on that leaderboard!

Join me tomorrow for my favorite album from 2005.

Concert Review: Feist in Columbus, Ohio

Last Wednesday, I had the pleasure of seeing one of my favorite vocalists, Feist, live at the Wexner Center. The Wexner Center, as a venue, is not a rock setting, but it's definitely great for performances. The acoustics are possibly the best I've experienced at any venue.

The Low Anthem opened, playing a folky and Bob Dylan-esque set.

The Low Anthem

Having never heard The Low Anthem before, I was very impressed. They have a warm, rich sound and definitely know their way around musical instruments and concepts. I've never seen the saw played onstage before, and would love to again.

Feist and her band took the stage after a short wait and jumped right in with "A Commotion." I liked the live version of "A Commotion" much better than the album one. Such was not the case with "How Come You Never Go There," which was for some reason sped up immensely, so that it was almost unrecognizable. They carried some of the tribal sounds from Metals over to a version of "Mushaboom" with heavy drum beats.

 

Things began to sound more like the Feist of the earlier albums with "The Circle Married The Line," which I think is one of best songs from Metals, followed by "I'm Sorry." They played "Graveyard" in a style much more similar to something from Let It Die, flowing into a haunting "My Moon My Man," with a keyboard part far more unsettling than the album version. The whole song was played in a very rocky and somewhat staccato style unlike (but not worse than) the album version.

"I Feel It All" was made far more upbeat, causing most of the audience to stand and dance or clap. For some reason, it was performed twice, to no one's disappointment. Next up were three more songs from Metals; "Anti-Pioneer," "Bittersweet Memories," and "Undiscovered First." "Bittersweet Memories" turned out to be a fairly moving performance.

  

They played a version of "The Limit to Your Love" in which the beats were made more prominent and heavier. Afterwards, Feist drew attention to the backing vocalists, a trio called Mountain Man. Mountain Man performed a short song acapella, and then the band returned with "The Bad In Each Other," which, like "I Feel It All," they chose to play twice.

They closed the set with three more songs from Metals; the lovely and tragic "Comfort Me," "Caught a Long Wind," and a surprisingly beautiful "Get It Wrong, Get It Right."

 

For the encore, they opened back up with "Cicadas and Gulls." During the song, the bass/keyboard player danced topless backstage and was projected onto the background screen. Much of the audience and some of the band found it difficult to concentrate on the song with the interpretive dancing going on. Next, they played "Sea Lion Woman" from The Reminder, which was essentially everything I hoped for. The show concluded with a keys-riddled "Let It Die."

Seeing as I was not a huge fan of Metals, and the entire album was dispersed through the set, I was quite impressed with the show. Feist is a good performer who is lively onstage and able to engage the audience well. Her band and Mountain Man are also able to hold their own in terms of talent. I wouldn't recommend Feist if you're looking for a rock show, but she certainly gives a good performance.