the elite core. (keni)

my top 5 albums of 2007 along with brian little's (guitarist from vedera) top 5 at the bottom.

5. the chariot - the fiancée
my first impression of the chariot: "dear god. how can anyone listen to this?" however, after putting on the album after a pretty bad day that changed to "how can anyone not listen to this?" This music is, indeed, harder than most, but i find a better way to describe it is urgent and very calming. so suprisingly enough i fell in love with this album. favorite track: “the deaf policemen.”

4. eisley - combinations
i felt a faster, more upbeat sound was present on eisley's newest cd "combinations", but the beautiful vocals on eisley's first album, "room noises", carried over as well. only one song was out of place: "marsh king's daughter" had a peppy and (what could be described as) a disney feel to it. favorite track: “a sight to behold”.

3. brighten - king vs. queen
before i actually acquired this album it was all i could do to not listen to the four songs up on brighten's myspace over and over. along with their indie-pop music, clever lyrics such as "i am windows breaking in the airplane" kept me very interested. to sum it all up: i love the vocals, i love the sound, i love it. favorite track: “darling nicotine” or “treasure island.”

2. dead poetic - the finest
this album eased my indecision when trying to settle on only five from this year. it is a "best of" album from dp and includes tracks from all three albums. if i had a say in choosing the songs, i might have switched a few, but i feel the collection is pretty well put together and (for all you die hard dead poetic fans) an acoustic version of "in coma" and some demos are also included. favorite track: “glass in the trees.”

1. anberlin - cities
i know i'll probably get a lot of crap for putting this album as my number one, but anberlin gets a bad rep as "that band with the really old singer trying to dress like an indie kid." however, if it even means a thing, i am sticking up for them. you know the albums you buy, then play over and over until you know it completely? this was that album. i literally bought it and for days straight i played nothing else. perhaps it was just the time in my life that it came out, but i found cities to be inspiring and life changing. frontman, stephen christian, commented that this album had a self vs. self theme (and i'm paraphrasing to the best of my abilitly). it kept that familiar anberlin sound and as their third album out not only seemed more mature, but deeper as well. favorite track: “fin” or “reclusion.”

other albums i enjoyed this year (alphabetical, by band):

andrew bird - armchair apocrypha

the arctic monkeys - favourite worst nightmare
as cities burn - come now sleep
the cinematics – cinematics
dear and the headlights - small steps, heavy hooves
gregory and the hawk - in your dreams
lovedrug - everything starts where it ends
mayday parade - a lesson in romantics
maylene & the sons of disaster - II
the shins - wincing the night away
stars - in our bedroom after the war
straylight run - the needles the space
yeah yeah yeahs - is is ep

i think i got a little carried away…2007 was better than I thought.

as far as disappointments go, armor for sleep and their new album “smile for them” took the cake. “smile for the camera” was a catchy song (and the only one i really liked), but to me it wasn’t armor for sleep. maybe i should cut them some slack since “what to do when you are dead” has to be one of the hardest albums to follow up. another really disappointing album of 2007 was “santi” by the academy is… i stopped listening after “lax to o’hare.”

Brian Little's (Guitarist from Vedera) top 5 of 2007

1. Foo Fighters "Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace"
2. Radiohead "In Rainbows"
3. Iron & Wine "The Shepherds Dog"
4. Rogue Wave "Asleep At Heaven's Gate"
5. Stephen Marley "Mind Control"

copelame? copelawesome?

b-sides albums are inherently bad. if the songs were amazing, they would have made it onto a full album. that said, b-sides are fun for the fans and can contain something amazing (tisbury lane by mae would be an example of this). despite this, there are good b-side's albums and really bad ones (anyone who bought anberlin's recently released b-sides knows that pain all too well. and if we find out you paid money for it, we'll feel bad for you, but we will tease you too. seriously, what were you thinking?!).

in truth, dressed up and in line is a fair compilation of my personal experience with copleand and is a pretty good b-sides project. the militia group would want me to talk about how some of the tracks were re-recorded and they really spent time and effort instead of just slopping together a bunch of demos. real copeland fan's won't care one way or the other though and i don't care either.

some tracks are impressive and amazing. "may i have this dance" was one of copeland's first recorded songs and it's great to have it and i know it will be played often in my home. i will love it like i loved beneath medicine tree, which in my opinion is one of the best albums the militia group has released so far (if ronnie day reads this, he'll be so pissed). other tracks like their cover of soundgarden's black hole sun are really not anything special and sum up the way i feel about eat, sleep, repeat - an album that for me, was disappointing.

other tracks are just what you'd expect on a b-sides: early demos, alternate versions and covers - some of them you'll love and others you will really hate and maybe even delete them off your itunes. copeland fans will want to buy this album. for the casual fan though, i would still just suggest buying beneath medicine tree. either way, your money will be better spent on this cd than on the anberlin b-side that curiously was released on the same day as copeland's.

as for copeland, who knows? with the recent friendly departure of bassist james likeness and their recent booting from columbia records, copeland's future isn't as rosy as they are portraying. i am sure that they'll land on their feet and keep making music; i just don't think it will be as easy and quick as they're saying. i hope this isn't the last copeland cd that comes across my kitchen table, but if it is, it is a fair remembrance of copeland.