Favourite gigs of 2007

1. Daft Punk @ Wamu Theater, Seattle, WA, USA – 29th July
2. !!!, Holy Fuck, Midnight Juggernauts @ Koko, London, UK – 7th November
3. Dan Deacon @ The Dome, London UK – 7th December
4. Capitol Hill Block Party @ Seattle, WA, USA – 27th July
Girl Talk @ Bardens Boudoir, London, UK – 11th December
Matt and Kim and Jonquil @ The Barfly, London, UK – 9th November
5. Electrelane @ Koko, London, UK – 29th November
6. Acoustic Ladyland @ the Zodiac, Oxford UK – 29th April
7. Grizzly Bear @ the Scala, London, UK – 21st May
8. Silver Mt Zion and Jonquil @ the Zodiac, London, UK – 3rd May
9. Youthmovies, TTNG, Jonquil, Meet me in St Louis @ a house party, Oxford, UK 14th April
10. Beirut @ Rough Trade East, London, UK – 5th November
11. The Shins @ Bush Hall, London, UK – 26th February
12. Forward Russia @ Borderline, London, UK – 6th December

Favourite albums of 2007

1. Beirut – The Flying Club Cup
2. Justice – Cross
3. Jonquil – Lions
4. Holy Fuck – LP
5. Super Furry Animals – Hey Venus!
6. Daft Punk – Alive 2007
7. Keyboard Choir – Mizen Head to Gascanae Sound
8. Eugene McGuinness – The Early Learnings of…
9. Electrelane – No Shouts No Calls
10. Herman Dune – Giant
11. Tegan and Sara – The Con
12. Menomena – Friend and Foe

And a special mention for In Rainbows by Radiohead. When I paid £40 for the boxset, it really did seem like it cost too much, but when the boxset arrived it was worth every penny.

So this was 2007

For me, 2007 was split into 3 parts. Part 1 consist of temping in Oxford, and going slightly mad by going to far too many gigs in London. Part 2 was my 10 week quick trip around the world, buying too much music and watching some amazing shows that I wouldn’t have imagined seeing at the beginning of the year. Part 3 was my move down to London, starting a new job, and discovering all that when there’s far too much choice, I always end up choosing something I know.

So instead of a song and album round up of the year (like I did last year), this year it’s about the gigs and albums. Some of these gigs really defined my year, while some others were just really great experiences. Rather than listening to individual songs again and again, this year I paid attention to albums, whether to pass the time doing endless hours of data entry or to accompany me as I wander around cities by myself.

Really the last gig of the year (probably).

Trademark, originally uploaded by jellybeanz.

So much for saying that Girl Talk was my last gig of the year. This weekend I found myself watching Trademark at a Festival of Sin, surrounded by a burlesque dancer, a naked (except for a thin belt) 40 yr old man and stilt walkers. It is definitely the strangest gig of the year, and the oddest setting I’ve ever seen Trademark.

It was worth the effort to work out where to look (luckily the naked man disappeared during Trademark’s set), as Trademark played a storming set. Along with a few great, new songs, they also played the best of uptempo tracks from their last two albums. I always forget just quite how much fun Trademark are live, and completely glad that I dragged myself to Camden on a Saturday night to see them.