Best of 2007, Pt. 4

October
Eileen Barton - If I Knew You Were Comin', I'd've Baked a Cake
Granted, the opening is a little grating (and shrill. Don't turn up the music till she's finished saying "look who's here!!") but once it gets rolling, this novelty song from 1950 is an addictively bouncy little swing tune.

Also, I like to bake cakes, so it makes a nice soundtrack for me. :D

Dave Brubeck - Blue Rondo a La Turk
A West Coast jazz classic from 1959, it's a musical breath of fresh air.

Yannick - Ce Soires La
A French, and even more disco, cover of the Four Seasons' "Oh What a Night." Of all the earworms I found this year, this one's the earwormiest.

And of course, this year's favorite Halloween carols:

The Atomic Fireballs - Man With the Hex
From the '90s swing revival - thanks for this one, Chris!

I Monster - The Blue Wrath
From the Shaun of the Dead soundtrack.

The 5 Jones Boys - Mr. Ghost Goes to Town
A scratchy, satisfying old doo wop tune.

Jonathan Coulton - RE: Your Brains
I think we've all had to deal with zombies in the workplace.

November
Evelyn Evelyn - Have You Seen My Sister Evelyn?
Amanda Palmer of Dresdon Dolls & Jason Webley are Evelyn Evelyn, and Webley explains their music like this: "...sounds like something the Andrews Sisters might have recorded if they had grown up in the circus listening to new wave music." That's a pretty good description, though at least this song I'd just call vaudeville.

Patrick Wolf - Pumpkin Soup
As melancholy and evocative as "Magic Position" was happy and cheerful.

Mika - Lollipop
Speaking of happy and cheerful, this is awfully joyous-sounding. Until you listen to the lyrics and realize that they're actually pretty bitter.

Nina Simone - I'm Going Back Home

Ingrid Michaelson - The Way I Am
I first heard this in an Old Navy commercial and fell in love with it. It's sweet and very romantic and right at home in the autumn.

Amy Winehouse - Cupid
Ok, last one (for this year, anyway), I promise.

December

Celia Cruz - Yo Vivire
Cruz's cover of "I Will Survive." I got this and the above "Ce Soires La" at one of my favorite music blogs, "Copy, Right?"

The Pierces - Secret
I first heard this during the debutante ball scene of Gossip Girl and had to have it.

The Puppini Sisters - Crazy In Love
Their signature take on Beyonce's hit.

Best of 2007, Pt. 3

July
Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings - 100 Days, 100 Nights
Old-fashioned '60s soul music created in the here and now. Amy Winehouse used the Dap-Kings as her backing band at one time. This is time travel music.

Pink Martini - Sympathique
I remember just enough French from college to be able to sing along with this poppy little song.

Blossom Dearie - A Fine Spring Morning
Simply a pretty song.

August
Louis Prima - Buona Sera
His very best, as far as I'm concerned. If you like swing, take this.

The Sweet - Wig Wam Bam
The Sweet - Funny Funny
'70s bubblegum heaven. Warning: also earworms. You'll never really get these out of your head. For the rest of your life.

September
Pelle Carlson - Clever Girls Like Clever Boys Much More Than Clever Boys Like Clever Girls
I'm pretty sure I found this over at The Clap, a music community where the only songs that may be posted are songs with hand claps. I fell hard for this one.

Mark Ronson & Amy Winehouse - Valerie
More addictive even than most tracks on Back To Black.

Edith Piaf - La Vie En Rose
I'm finding myself more and more interested in both popular music from the early 20th century, and French popular music, and this would be the most well-known intersection.

Best of 2007, Pt. 2

April
Kevin Rowland - Thunder Road
He's best known as the lead singer of Dexy's Midnight Runners, and his cover of Thunder Road evidently so displeased Springsteen that he prevented Rowland from releasing it. I'd call this "Irish lounge" if I had to pick a genre, and I love this more than I can say.
Amy Winehouse - You Know I'm No Good
She needs to survive her insanity and addictions so that she can go on making fabulous faux '60s soul music for many, many years to come. She'll be well represented in these lists, but this one's my favorite.
Corinne Bailey Rae - Put Your Records On
The rest of the cd did nothing for me, but this did. This one and the one above remind me of the road trip my friend Angie and I took to Dayton; spring had finally sprung, so we grabbed our cameras and lit out for unknown territory.

May
Amy Winehouse - Rehab
This is likely going to be the song that everyone thinks of when they think of 2007.
Mika - Grace Kelly
This is another artist I first heard thanks to Angie. His songs are catchy as hell, but even so, I'd have to love him, because sometimes I think he might be Freddie Mercury reincarnated.

June
Blossom Dearie - I Won't Dance
A slower, softer version of the Louis & Ella classic.
Peter, Bjorn & John - Young Folks
Yeah, I finally gave in. This one is like a Ceti eel; it wraps itself around your cerebral cortex and drives you mad.

Best of 2007. Pt. 1

My favorite new music of the year, in four parts.

By new music, I mean music that was new to me in 2007, not just music that was released this year. If you're wondering how some of this could have escaped me when it was first released, the answer is that I don't listen to the radio. (I'm sorry, Ang!)

January
Betty Hutton - Blow a Fuse
The original song behind Bjork's "It's Oh So Quiet," released in 1948. I will always associate this one with a photohunt in the driving snow in Bellefontaine, Ohio.
Bow Wow Wow - Fools Rush In
A Sinatra cover, and a superior one. This comes from the Marie Antoinette soundtrack.
Joss Stone - Put Your Hands On Me

On January 31, Harry Connick, Jr. released Oh My Nola, and it became one of my favorite of his albums. I could list the whole cd here, but I'll stick to my most-played tracks.
Won't You Come Home, Bill Bailey
Working In The Coal Mine
Oh, My Nola
Take Her to the Mardi Gras
and my favorite of all,
Jambalaya

February
Patrick Wolf - The Magic Position
I downloaded this because I liked "The Libertine," and assumed that it would be as moody; instead, I found the most upbeat, cheerful pop song I've heard in a long time.
Michelle Shocked - Hardcore Hornography
Her Mardi Gras single, a raw brass band tribute to New Orleans. Why can't I find more music like this?
Susanna Hoffs - To Sir With Love
William Shatner - Common People
Once I heard this, I couldn't be bothered with the original. Bill rocks. I love this man more every day.
Blossom Dearie - Always True to You In My Fashion
The first Dearie (yeah, that's her real name) song I'd ever heard. Between Cole Porter's lyrics and her presentation of them, this is 2:51 of pure wit and sophistication. I discovered this song and the vodka gimlet at the same time; together, they took the edge off a nasty winter.

March
Captain Smartypants - Xanadu
Their website blurb refers to them as "those nine homosexuals who won't stop singing." I love their version almost as much as Olivia Newton-John's, and that really means something.
Blossom Dearie - Down With Love
The song used as the title music for the recent movie was actually written back in 1937; Dearie recorded this in 1958, and it's a much shorter, faster, sparer version. I like it a lot.