2007: In Memoriam

EDIT: The mega uber list of all 2007 music lists can be found here: 2007 Music Blog Zeitgeist; compiled with science by The Hype Machine.

Lest any reader think I have forsaken the blogging art, be calm; I merely needed respite for a time.

The year of our Lord two thousand and seven was home to a menagerie of highs and an implosion of lows. I will attempt to quantify the years peaks and valleys in list form.

• Lows:
  
  
  • I am fatter then ever
    
  • I read less this year (as seen from the shockingly short Books section below)
    
  • I have lived my last year of my twenties
    
  • Another National Treasure was released
    
  • Another year passed not doing what I want for a living
    
  • Stress. Stress of not knowing if I am actually going to get into grad schools, stress of the embarrassment if I don't, stress of paying off debt, et al.
    
  • I don't own an iPhone
  
  
  
• Highs:
  
  
  • Music: (Most but not all came out this year while some were discovered this year; same diff.) (also, I tried to find links to most the songs, some are only videos, and some I couldn't find at all...enjoy)
    
    
    • Radiohead's In Rainbows ALL OF IT (take a gander at Weird Fishes/Arpeggi)
      
    • Andrew Bird's Armchair Apocrypha ALL OF IT (listen to Sythian Empire)
      
    • Arcade Fire's Neon Bible (listen to Intervention)
      
    • Welcome Home -- by Radical Face (too good...favorite song of '07)
      
    • Fake Empires -- by The National
      
    • The Nest -- Jose Gonzalez
      
    • That Summer, at Home I Had Become the Invisible Boy -- by The Twilight Sad
      
    • Hljomalind -- by Sigur Ros
      
    • 23 -- by Blonde Redhead
      
    • Lost to the Lonesome -- by Pela
      
    • Wet and Rusting -- by Menomena
      
    • Sleepwalking -- by 120 Days
      
    • Iron and Wine's -- Shepherd's Dog (listen to Boy with a Coin)
      
    • Now, Now -- by St. Vincent
      
    • This is the Thing -- by Fink
      
    • Seahorse -- by Devendra Banhart
      
    • Loves a Sinner -- by David Poe with Duncan Sheik
      
    • So High, So Low -- by Maps
      
    • Tom Waits' Orphans, Brawlers, Bawlers, & Bastards (listen to Road to Peace)
      
    • Huzzah -- by Witch's Hat
      
    • Silently -- by Blonde Redhead
      
    • Slow -- by The Wheel
      
    • Savannah Smiles by Okkervil River
      
    • Knife -- by Grizzly Bear
      
    • Wolves -- by Phosphorescent
      
    • Everywhere -- by Bears
      
    • Vitamin C -- by Can
      
    • Devils & Dust -- Bruce Springsteen
      
    • Horse Feather's Words are Dead (listen to Hardwood Pews)
      
    • Sandstorms -- by Viking Moses
      
    • Lubbock Love Song -- by Sleepy Horses
      
    • Sinister in a State of Hope -- by Loney, Dear
      
    • Scenic World -- by Beirut
      
    • Diamond Dancer -- Bill Callahan
      
    • Double Dolphins on the Nickel -- by Mice Parade
      
    • Panda -- by Dungen
      
    • The Four Horsemen -- by Aphrodite's Child
      
    • Piddlebach -- by Grifters
      
    • Nothin' -- by Alison Krauss and Robert Plant (since i couldn't find this song listen to another good song off the album: Please Read the Letter
      
    • Deep Red Bells -- by Neko Case
      
    • Did You See the Words? -- by Animal Collective
      
    • Philip Glass' Metamorphosis piano movements (movement 2)
      
    • Falling Slowly -- by Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová
      
  
  
  
  Many thanks to my fellow Cochlea Plunder Guilders -- I owe much joy to this eclectic group.
  
  
  • Movies:
    
    
    
    • No Country for Old Men -- Too good. It was all I thought about for many days.
      
    • The Darjeeling Limited
      
    • There Will Be Blood -- Daniel D. creates a mesmorisingly deplorable character that is so captivating in his terror it keeps you rooting for his success while hating everything about him. Coupled with an equally eerie score by Jonny Greenwood (of Radiohead fame), this film will not be topped soon.
      
    • Juno -- Micheal Cera is the king of all geekdom.
      
    • Once -- A modern musical where the songs are not arbitrary but woven seamlessly into the movie. Beautiful.
      
    • 3:10 to Yuma -- Aside from Daniel Day-Lewis, Christian Bale is only bested in this movie by his role in:
      
    • Rescue Dawn
      
    • 300
      
    • Superbad
      
    • The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
      
    • Zodiac
      
    • Into the Wild
      
    • Sweeny Todd (I haven't seen it but, honestly, how could it be bad?)
      
    • Eastern Promises
      
    • The Bourne Ultimatum
      
  
  
  
  
  • Books:
    
    
    
    • The Road by Cormack McCarthy (thanks Joe)
      
    • What is the What by Dave Eggars
      
    • Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
      
    • East of Eden by John Steinbeck
      
    • Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
      
    • Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig
      
    • Dune by Frank Herbert
      
    • A reread of Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
      
    • A reread of Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
      
    • Devil in the White City by Erik Larson
      
  
  
  
• Miscellaneous Highs:
  
  
  
  • Year two of marriage to my eternal butt-head
    
  • Finally perusing a career path
    
  • Halo 3
    
  • Beating Halo 3 on Legendary in one sitting with Dan (12 hours)
    
  • Guitar Hero 3
    
  • My scooter
    
  • Beating call of Duty 4...the best ending to a video game I have played.
    
  • My voice activated, sonar guiding, infrared wielding R2D2 robot gifted to me for Christmas.
    
  • My retro immersion into music older then 1990. I have always loved the Beatles, but was a virgin when it came to the glory of the Kinks, Led Zeppelin, or some of the Rolling Stones and others. It has been a grand journey.
    
  • Watching three seasons of Battlestar Galactica with my wife. She is quickly slipping into a pair of well-fitted nerd shoes. However, that it is set in space shouldn't deter from perspective viewing. It is a gripping post-apocalyptic tale of a civilization on the run. Human drama abounds.
    
  • Going from two cars to one. Much money saved, only minor inconveniences. Well worth it.

to add to this media frenzy here is one of my favorite music videos and songs of last year:

RJD2 -- Work It Out