2007, a year of promise Pt. 1

2006 was a pretty blase year (I still don't how to make the appropriate accent mark on blase). I don't mean for me personally. For me, 2006 was a year of large events both good and bad. But not for the world of entertainment. Movies and music both had a rough go in 2006 after a pretty decent 2005.

In music the year saw very few great releases from established bands. And there weren't many promising new bands to take up the slack. I'm a Bob Dylan fan, but I wasn't completely sharing the love for Modern Times. If I had to put out a top 5 albums they would go like this:

1. Tapes n' Tapes The Loon
2. Pearl Jam Pearl Jam
3. TV on the Radio Return to Cookie Mountain
4. Yeah Yeah Yeahs Show Your Bones
5. The Hold Steady Boys and Girls in America

These were five good albums, but the only one that has earned a permanent spot in the rotation is The Loon. I listen to the others quite a bit, but they tend to show up far less in any mix lists. I don't think that's a good sign.

But here comes 2007. As I type I am listening to Modest Mouse's newest album, We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank. It seems a return to form after the more popular, but less interesting Good News for People Who Love Bad News. Also out already are new albums from Bloc Party and The Arcade Fire. I've heard some of each and they both sound very promising. But those are just the tip of the iceberg. The next week will bring with it Because of the Times from The Kings of Leon. I have heard several of the tracks from this one, and it seems to me that it will be another shift with similarly outstanding results. Later this year we should also see new albums from Spoon, Wilco, and Interpol. There is also at least one debut that I am excited about. That is Costello Music from The Fratellis (the guys who do the song from the itunes commercial). It's the kind of energetic, funny music you can't help but enjoy. None of this means 2007 will be a musical juggernaut, but hey it'll probably be better than 2006.

I'll address the same issue with movies sometime soon.