Favorites of 2007

This year is almost over. It was a year full of releases of new artists and bands, together with some very good follow-ups. Like most blogs do, I tried to create a list of my favorite albums and automatically most played albums this year. Enjoy! Click the albums to download.

♥ Oh Laura - A Song Inside My Head
♥ Wallis Bird - Spoons
♥ Plastiscines - LP1

♥ Emma Pollock - Watch The Fireworks
♥ Monkey Swallows The Universe - Casket Letters
♥ Meiko - Meiko

♥ Bishop Allen - The Broken String
♥ Christine Fellows - Fearless
♥ Mary Timony Band - The Shapes We Make

♥ Cocoon - My Friends All Died In A Plane Crash
♥ Jaymay - Autumn Fallin'
♥ Tegan and Sara - The Con

♥ Immaculate Machine - Fable's
♥ Au Revoir Simone - The Bird Of Music
♥ Seabear - The Ghost That Carried Us Away

♥ Amy Macdonald - This Is The Life
♥ Eisley - Combinations
♥ Blonde Redhead - 23

I also want to thank every (loyal) visitor of this blog. In a few weeks the blog already had over 2200 unique visitors! Furthermore, I want to ask for your tips and feedback for making my blog even better. So please comment, together with your own favorites of this year!

A Happy New Year To All!

Bim

@ London, UK
♫ Acoustic, Electro, Pop
♥ The Battle (mp3)
▸ Myspace
▸ Official Website

Laura Groves

@ Shipley, UK
♫ Acoustic, Folk, Indie
♥ I Am Leaving (mp3)
▸ Myspace
▸ Official Website

Smoosh

@ Seattle, USA
♫ Indie, Pop, Alternative
♥ Find A Way (mp3)
▸ Myspace
▸ Official Website

Katrina Stone

Fort Collins, USA @
Acoustic, Rock, Pop ♫
Take Me Away (mp3) ♥
Myspace ◂
Official Website ◂

Afternoon Naps

@ Cleveland, USA
♫ Indie, Pop, Rock
♥ The Sun Ain't The Same (mp3)
▸ Myspace

Laurell Hubick

@ Vancouver, Canada
♫ Surf, Acoustic, Pop
♥ Love Boat (mp3)
▸ Myspace
▸ Official Website

The Hampdens

@ Perth, Australia
♫ Alternative, Ambient
♥ The Hype (mp3)
▸ Myspace
▸ Official Website

April Smith

New York, USA @
Pop, Folk Rock, Alternative ♫
The One That Got Away (m4a) ♥
Myspace ◂
Official Website ◂

Antarctica Takes It !

@ Santa Cruz, USA
♫ Indie, Folk, Pop
♥ Circuits (mp3)
▸ Myspace

Ariana Gillis

@ ?, Canada
♫ Indie, Pop, Folk Rock
♥ Boom Dah (mp3)
▸ Myspace
▸ Official Website

The Chapin Sisters

"Harmony, like you've never heard before"

The Chapin Sisters, Abigail Chapin, Lily Chapin and Jessica Craven, are three actual sisters who live and play music in Los Angeles. Upon hearing the first notes of one of their shows or recordings, it becomes obvious that the Chapins have the sort of tight, celestial harmony that only sisters can achieve. The Chapin Sisters’ lilting voices, lush arrangements and lovely melodies are wedded to dark lyrical content. Their words are sometimes cheeky, sometime utterly forlorn. Their EP of demos recorded in friends’ basements and garages has been a CDBaby top seller, and the Lake Bottom LP , their full- length debut was released by Plain Recordings in March of 2008.

Ana Miura

Ottawa, Canada @
Folk, Pop, Jazz ♫
Transcanada (mp3) ♥
Myspace ◂
Official Website ◂

LoveLikeFire

@ San Francisco, USA
♫ Rock, Pop, Indie
♥ Radio Nurse (mp3)
▸ Myspace
▸ Official Website

Rachael Cantu

Rachael Cantu is a singer/songwriter originally from Southern California. Just after her twenty first birthday she moved to Boston, where she had immediate success with the release of her "Blood Laughs" EP . Her haunting vocals and gentle melodies caught the attention of the entire Boston music scene, but it was a couple of Canadians that got her on the road. Touring with Tegan and Sara gave Rachael an opportunity to bring her music to a wider audience. Her second EP, "Run All Night" (Q Division) received critical acclaim and rocketed her up the charts where she sat comfortably in the double digits next to artists such as Neko Case and Ryan Adams on the CMJ top 200. Fueled by the success of her sophmore effort she went back on tour with Tegan and Sara, as well as Ben Lee, Tyler James and Limbeck. Today, you can find Rachael in the midst of writing and recording her next works. She is spending her time in Los Angeles wisely by taking advantage of classic venues to hone her live show, getting it in gear to hit the road once again. Her live show is known to be full of energy and surprises, including guest appearances from talented musicians such as Missy Higgins and Tegan Quin. You can hear her songs in the 2008 IFC film "ANAMORPH" starring Willem Dafoe, and on an upcoming episode of the ABC show "PRIVATE PRACTICE". Keep your ears peeled because there is much more to come!

@ Luther, USA
♫ Indie, Alternative, Rock
▸ Myspace
▸ Official Website

Belaire

@ Austin, USA
♫ Indie, Electro, Pop
♥ Waiting Patiently (mp3)
▸ Myspace

I Kissed Charles

@ Meppel, Netherlands
♫ Pop, Indie, Electro
♥ I'm Too Young (mp3)
▸ Myspace
▸ Official Website

Leanne Harte

@ Dublin, Ireland
♫ Rock, Alternative, Folk
♥ Hard To Grasp (mp3)
▸ Myspace
▸ Official Website

Pipas

@ New York, USA
♫ Alternative, Indie, Pop
♥ Riff Raff (mp3)
▸ Myspace
▸ Official Website

Youmeelectricity

Amersfoort, Netherlands @
Electro, Pop ♫
Show Me Light (mp3) ♥
Myspace ◂

Headlights

@ Champaign, USA

♫ Indie, Pop, Rock
♥ TV (mp3)
▸ Myspace
▸ Official Website

Promise And The Monster

@ Stockholm, Sweden
♫ Folk, Alternative, Indie
♥ Killing Fields (mp3)
▸ Myspace

Seabear

"Get cheered up by these exotic Islandic songs"

Seabear is 23-year old Sindri Már Sigfússon from Reykjavik, Iceland, who writes beautiful songs using acoustic guitar and piano, gentle vocals, tinkly-winkly mallets, synth flourishes, and restrained percussion. Seabear started as a one-man project and then turned into a band when Sindri was asked to open in Berlin. Never having performed these songs live, he asked two of his friends, guggý and örn, to come with him and play. They had so much fun playing live and practising that they decided that they would join the band. The music is subdued and mellow folk pop, with a little piano, violin, acoustic guitar and atmospheric vocals, all carefully squeezed through a lo-fi filter. They released their first full-length album, “The Ghost That Carried Us Away”, on August 17, 2007 (gas&row), and Sept 11, 2007 (usa) through Morr Music.

@ Reykjavik, Iceland
♫ Indie, Experimental, Folk
▸ Myspace
▸ Official Website
+ Free EP

Iron & Wine

Texas, USA @
Alternative, Acoustic ♫
House By The Sea (mp3) ♥
Myspace ◂
Official Website ◂

Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin

@ Springfield, USA
♫ Pop, Indie, Acoustic
♥ Oregon Girl (mp3)
▸ Myspace

Stacy Clark

@ New York, USA
♫ Electro, Soul, Rock
♥ Matter Of Time (mp3)
▸ Myspace
▸ Official Website

Space Mtn

@ Los Angeles, USA
♫ Indie, Pop, Rock
♥ The Bright Side (mp3)
▸ Myspace
▸ Official Website

Annie Stela

Los Angeles, USA @
Alternative, Acoustic, Pop ♫
Over You (mp3) ♥
Myspace ◂

The Eames Era

@ Baton Rouge, USA
♫ Indie, Pop, Rock
♥ Could Be Anything (mp3)
▸ Myspace
▸ Official Website

Adrina Thorpe

@ Orange County, USA
♫ Pop, Folk Rock, Down-Tempo
♥ Midnight (mp3)
▸ Myspace
▸ Official Website

Immaculate Machine

@ Victoria, Canada
♫ Indie, Alternative, Rock
♥ Jarhand (mp3)
▸ Myspace
▸ Official Website

Marit Larsen

"A voice that will let you see life as a fairytale"

Her everyday life revolves around making my songs. I find songs everywhere. In between two words of a conversation. Waiting for the bus. Watching myself in the mirror wearing a good dress. Reading phenomenal books. Walking up the five flights of stairs to my apartment. I've always been obsessed with music. Most of my memories, good and bad, have their own soundtrack (which is, by the way, by far the best thing about music). I play the piano, the guitar and sometimes the mandolin. When I write, I usually use them all. To me, different instruments show me different paths in lyrics and melody. It works out well. It wasn't until I was nineteen I decided to be a solo artist. A few years prior to that I was part of a duo that released records on a big American record label and travelled the world for four years. It was all absolutely overwhelming and exciting. I learned a lot. Especially this: When I was constantly travelling, going from one place to the next, talking about myself so much I almost forgot who I was talking about, always thinking about tomorrow and never today - I almost stopped writing songs. It sounds vain, but I almost lost my music. Two years ago I released my first solo album, entitled "Under The Surface" and my new album "The Chase" is set for release October 13th. I feel humble and priviliged being able to compose and perform music for a living. As long as I have stories to tell, I will keep writing, and as long as I keep writing I will continue this surreal way of life.

@ Stockholm, Norway
♫Pop, Folk, Acoustic
▸Myspace
▸Official Website

Lady & Bird

@ Reykjavik, Iceland

♫ Indie, Psychedelic, Pop

♥ Stephanie Says (mp3)
▸ Myspace