Saturday, June 30, 2007

The Way I Live: Midway 2007


















TOP 20 SHOWS
I've had the good fortune of attending over fifty shows comprising over 175 performances in the first half of 2007. These are my twenty favorites. Roy Hargrove renewed my faith in the viability of traditional acoustic jazz. Charlie Louvin gave it his all for 25 people. I'm still smiling. Blood flowed during Drowning Pool's brief set.

1. Roy Hargrove- Folly Theater
2. Charlie Louvin- Grand Emporium
3. Drowning Pool- Rockfest at Liberty Memorial (Same show fan footage)
4. Arturo Sandoval- Jazz In the Woods
5. Alison Krauss & Union Station- Starlight Theater
6. Albert Hammond, Jr.- Uptown Theater (Same show fan footage)
7. John McEuen- Mountain Music Shoppe
8. Ronnie Milsap- Kemper Arena (Same show fan footage)
9. Social Distortion- Beaumont Club
10. Burden Brothers- Rockfest (Same show fan footage)
11. Christina Aguilera- Kemper Arena (Same show fan footage)
12. Lynda Randle- Kemper Arena
13. Sean Lennon- Grand Emporium (Same show fan footage)
14. Roger Clyne & the Peacemakers- The Hurricane
15. OK Jones- house party
16. Bowling For Soup- Grand Emporium (Same show fan footage)
17. Ziggy Marley- Crossroads (Same show fan footage)
18. Hubert Sumlin with Kenny Wayne Shepherd- Uptown Theater
19. The Elders- Uptown Theater
20. Jack Ingram- Verizon Amphitheater


SONGS
These twenty songs are insanely wonderful. I limited my selections to songs that have received airplay on commercial radio and television. The exceptions are "Sirens" and "45"; I'm only pretending they're actual hits.

1. Dizzee Rascal- "Sirens"
2. Lil Mama- "Lip Gloss"
3. Rich Boy- "Throw Some D's"
4. Amy Winehouse- "Rehab"
5. Gerald Levert- "In My Songs"
6. Juan Luis Guerra- "La Llave De Mi Corazon
7. White Stripes- "Icky Thump"
8. Spoon- "The Underdog"
9. Jason Aldean- "Johnny Cash"
10. Baby Boy Da Prince- "The Way I Live"
11. James Morrison- "You Give Me Something"
12. Tim Armstrong- "Into Action"
13. Albert Hammond, Jr.- "In Transit"
14. Miranda Lambert- "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend"
15. The Saturday Knights- "45"
16. Anthony Hamilton- "Struggle No More"
17. Modest Mouse- "Dashboard"
18. Jake Owen- "Startin' With Me"
18. Beyonce- "Irreemplazable"
20. Lil Flip and Lyfe Jennings- "Ghetto Mindstate"


TOP 20 ALBUMS
While I'm in love with each of the songs listed above, not a single one of these albums completely floors me.

1. Robert Glasper- In My Element
2. The Frames- The Cost
3. Autumn Defense- Autumn Defense
4. Angelique Kidjo- Djin Djin
5. Pendergast- Between the Bottle and the Pulpit
6. White Stripes- Icky Thump
7. Lil Flip- I Need Mine
8. Beyonce- B'Day 2.0
9. OK Jones- Elephantoms
10. Modest Mouse- We Were Dead Before Before the Ship Even Sank
11. Wynton Marsalis- From Plantation To the Penitentiary
12. James Morrison- Undiscovered
13. Alison Krauss- A Hundred Miles Or More
14. Dino Saluzzi and Anja Lechner- Ojos Negros
15. Billy Strayhorn: Lush Life
16. Arcade Fire- Neon Bible
17. Society's Parasites- Society's Parasites
18. Kenny Wayne Shepherd- 10 Days Out
19. Paul Motian- Time and Time Again
20. John Hammond- Push Comes To Shove

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Who sings the title track on that Lush Life CD? The version done by John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman on this album is one of my favorite recorded songs ever.

Happy In Bag said...

Dianne Reeves does the honors, Jason. And she's pretty faithful to the spirit of the Hartman version.

Anonymous said...

So it's adequately depressed? Good.

WLIB said...

Nice lists. I wish I could stay out past 8:30. Also, nice subliminal nod to Hilary Duff.

bgo said...

Nice list as I would expect from a perceptive critic/fan such as yourself. Keep on, keeping on.

Bill O (Bgo)

Happy In Bag said...

Although my hopes are regularly dashed, Lee, I approach every teen idol's music with high expectations. Not everyone can be Ricky Nelson or Jenny Lewis.

Thanks, BGO.