Current mood:	happy
Current music:	The Monkey's Back by Menomena

Favorite Artists of 2007
Before we go on with tonight's post, I want to say that from now on I'm gonna start posting around this time every night, or at least trying to. My new year's resolution to wake up every morning and go running involves 9 am, lol. So yeah enjoy.

Instead of giving you an exploration topic tonight, which I promise will come this week, I’m going to talk about something else. Right now I’ve been reading a lot of top albums of 2007 and I’ve felt kind of left out because I didn’t listen or pay attention to new albums in 2007. Of course that will change for ’08, but I want to do something for ’07. So I decided to give you the top 5 artists that I discovered/was shown in 2007.

The artists in this list are the 5 artists I’ve found that I can listen to anytime. Anyone of them can relieve my music ADD, and all of them have etched permanent spots in my favorite music library. Before you read the list though keep in mind that I am weird when it comes to music. I don’t like a particular genre, but rather I like a whole bunch of different genres. When I’m asked what kind of music I listen to I always reply, “I listen to good music.” Whether that music be rock, indie, techno, hip hop, punk, etc. Pie4weebl attends to disagree with some of my choices though, boo for him.

Please check out all five of these following artists. I’ve placed a link to their myspace pages for you to take a listen. Enjoy!

Top Five Artists of 2007

5. After The Tragedy

These guys were one of the six finalists in this year’s Dew Circuit Breakout competition. In my opinion they should have been the winner. The “feel good rock” they play edges its way into my heart every time I turn them on. They are always an experience to listen to and is a band I’ll be watching for 2008. Sometimes their words can be a little hard to understand, but that only furthers the experience of listening to them.Their new EP The Voyage of Reason was just released this year, and I highly recommend it to anyone.

Favorite Song: The Merchant and the Blue Candle

Check out After The Tragedy

4. Maximo Park

I’ve actually had Maximo Park on my computer since August of 2006. I however dismissed them back then based on the fact that I had never heard of them, and being an arrogant fool I stowed them away in the depths of my hard drive. It wasn’t till this summer when I first gave these guys a try. Needless to say I was very surprised when I started taping my feet to the guys from Newcastle. They always provide a lift for me with their upbeat sounds and catchy lyrics. The fact that they are British earns them extra points. Right now I only have one of their albums, A Certain Trigger, but I expect that any of their music would have the same affect on me. I’ve been meaning to catch them live but so far have been unsuccessful.

Favorite Song: Apply Some Pressure

Check out Maximo Park

3. Fair to Midland

I kind of cheated with these guys a little bit. Technically I’ve known their song Dance of the Manatee since summer 2006. I didn’t however know that they are the ones that wrote that song until the beginning of last year, so they count. Of any of the top 5 these guys are the most hard rock you will find. They don’t follow the normal rock stereotype though. Rather their sound is a mixture of different genres that allows me to listen to them on a regular occasion without it ever getting old. This becomes especially apparent when you listen to their less known songs such as A Seafarer’s Knot and Tall Tales Taste like Sour Grapes. I caught these guys live in St. Paul in December and the amount of energy they put into their shows is amazing. The lead singer, Darroh Sudderth, actually hangs from the ceiling at every show he plays. What makes that even more amazing is that when I saw them in St. Paul Darroh was sick with the flu and they still put on an awesome show.

Favorite Song: April Fools and Eggmen

Check out Fair To Midland

2. The Field

No genre name can describe the smooth almost eerie sounds The Field brings to your ears. An unknown to me till this year The Field is the perfect after music to any sort of adventure. The sounds Axel Willner (The Field) brings will make any person’s heart slow to 40 beats a minute and drown them in a complete relaxed state. Pie4weebl and I find ourselves listening to The Field after every exploration we go on, every concert we attend, and every time both of us are sick after a long day. What’s extraordinary about it is that it works every time. Therefore it’s easy to place The Field at the #2 spot. I can listen to them any day and feel better afterwards.

Favorite Song: The Deal

Check out The Field

1. Tapes N’ Tapes

Of course my favorite artist of 2007 happened to headline the first concert I went to this year. Of course my favorite artist of 2007 also happens to hail from the great state of Minnesota. Beyond these two facts though of all the bands I was turned on to in 2007 these guys were without a doubt my favorite. They are and always were my favorite Indie Rock band, and no matter what kind of mood I’m in I can turn on their 2005 record The Loon. These guys are my ultimate music ADD fix. There is just no getting around screaming my head off to songs such as Just Drums and Insistor. The fact that they use a baritone in a couple songs also make these unbelievable awesome. I’m hoping that I can catch these guys in MN over the summer. Their new CD has been finished and is waiting to be released, I believe, cross my fingers. If any CD is going to be on top lists for albums in 2008 it is going to be this new album. And when you rush I’ll call your name!

Favorite Song: tie between Just Drums and Cowbell

Check out Tapes N' Tapes

Although these were the top 5 artists of the year I also discovered/was shown a lot of other great music in 2007. Honorable mentions include, Justice, Menomena, Deepfield, Story of the Year, Arcade Fire, and Illinois. I hope that 2008 will be just as good of year for music as 2007. I know of two shows that I will be attending this semester so far, both free J And with the Radiohead tour starting in just a couple months I expect to be very happy.

Lastly kudos to whoever told me to check out Menomena's older album, it's all kinds of awesome.

Peace out!
Zmuh11