the false 45th 2007 year end music survey

Being such a big fan of the Vermont blog False 45th, and given their annual Year End Music Survey is a great way to get back into posting here, I figured I’d take a stab at it, despite having not been invited to do so. (To clarify my Vermont cred, I was born and raised there and lived there after college before moving to DC in 2003.)

1) What was your favorite song of 2007?

There were several songs in ‘07 that earned default-entry-onto-any-playlist status on my iPod for periods of time. Among them: “Everybody Knows” from Ryan Adams’ Easy Tiger, “Hate it Here” from Wilco’s Sky Blue Sky, “Safety Bricks” from Kevin Drew’s Spirit If… (incidentally, have you noticed how the acoustic guitar part on this song is more or less totally identical to the Feist song “I Feel It All”?)… but the one track that has to take the cake would be “Finer Feelings” from Spoon’s Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga. Such a perfect Spoon song.

2) What was your favorite album of 2007?

Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga. No question.

3) What was your favorite concert of 2007?

Going home to Vermont in the summer and being able to see Wilco perform outside at Shelburne Farms overlooking the lake on a glorious afternoon was a highlight of the year overall, let alone just concerts. The fact that the band was so warm and played so well made it especially great.

4) What was your favorite thing about 2007?

My favorite thing about 2007 was writing and recording a country music album with my friend Tim. Neither of us are very good musicians– in fact, we’re both pretty terrible– but we have some friends who are. We decided it would be fun to use our friend’s studio to record a country album as a joke, and sell it to our friends. We did just that, and had a CD release party and everything. We raised enough money to sponsor a child named Paul in rural Uganda for an entire year. The whole music making process was ridiculously fun. One day we set a kitchen timer and challenged ourselves to write music and lyrics for 3 country songs in 15 minutes. What emerged were three totally absurd gems: “My Whiskey Bottle,” “Momma’s Drunk (Again)” and “Roadside Diner.”

5) What are your best wishes for 2008?

That I read more books.