It’s normally around this time that the various media of the world: TV, radio, newspapers, magazine and regional niche websites, chose their best of the year.
I will start the ball rolling with my choices. 2007 for me was not a particularly prolific year, I didn’t go to that many gigs and I didn’t purchase many CDs. I still love my music but I found my focus to be elsewhere, this year I have heavily been into podcasts.
I am a big fan of the radio, especially BBC Radio 4; I work hard and travel a lot and I found that the BBC decision to make some of the best Radio 4 programmes available as podcasts to be real blessing. Most of the time I prefer to listen to spoken word rather than music.
Favourite gig: Memo Gonzalez at Warrington. I have publically stated many times how much I love this band and their September show was a killer. Have a look through the bluesinthenorthwest.com archives for September.
http://www.bluesinthenorthwest.com/index.php/2007/09/
Favourite CD: As already mentioned I don’t really have a favourite from this year. What I have done is to take a look at iTunes and mention some of the CDs and artists who have had more playtime than the others. A selection of tunes from my Top25 Most Played.
Top Blues Tunes
“I still love you baby” – Lowell Fulson – for me the most played song of the year.
“Reconsider Baby” – Lowell Fulson – Number three in my most played list.
Rick Holmstrom did well with “Descanso” from Late in the Night.
Frank Goldwassser had a lot of plays with his CD Bluju. The standout for me was the killer instrumental “Bluju” and the lovely story “Three Sisters“.
Non Blues
About half of the songs and albums played most on my MP3 this year were non-blues. There are two CDs that stand out as the most played non-blues of the year.
Here and Now – Gospel of Free Love. A mish-mash selection highly improvised hippie/punk space rock recorded at various squats and free gigs in the 1970s. You can read more about Here and Now at this site. If you want to hear a sample then here you go. Please don’t complain.
The Thievery Corporation – The Outernational Sound. A brilliant compilation of an ecletic mixture of sounds from around the world. I think that the Wikipedia article sums them up better than I ever could.
Thievery Corporation is a Washington, D.C.-based production and DJ duo consisting of Rob Garza and Eric Hilton and their supporting artists. Their music style is dub, acid jazz, Indian classical and Brazilian (such as bossa nova) fused together with a lounge aesthetic
All bluesinthenorthwest.com readers should check out the tunes from this compilation…
Big Boss Man – Sea Groove (sorry – you’ll have to search for your own samples)
and
Breakestra – Cramp Your Style (ace reworking of a classic funk tune ALL THE PEOPLE/DENNIS COFFEY – Cramp Your Style)
**Thievery Stop Press** – The front page of the Thievery Corporation website has a link to a 30 mins DJ mix recorded for the BBC.
Spoken Word: As well as the many fabulous BBC podcasts already mentioned, this year I have been developing my Spanish and have listed to a few Spanish language resources to assist in the all so important (and very difficult) comprehension. Man, do those folks speak quickly.
RIP in 2007: I was very saddened by the premature loss of Gary Primich this year. Such a great player, such an influence.
Over to you: What did everyone else like……?
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