Best of 2007

There were some excellent releases in 2007, so I thought I'd feature some in a new mix.

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My favorite ambient recording of the year was Stars of the Lid - And Their Refinement of the Decline. I know there are quite a few people who didn't care for the cd, but I love it. I like the more orchestral feel. I like that SOTL relies less & less on synths. A beautiful record.

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My favorite vocal record was PG Six - Slightly Sorry. Snips from the Boomkat review..."a collection of quite unashamedly gorgeous 'proper' songs...'Slightly Sorry' is an album without tricks...'The Dance', the second track on the record - there's nothing necessarily modern about the song itself, it could have come out any time since 1969 and nobody would have batted an eyelid, but it's great music, pure and simple." I played this probably more than any other record this year.

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As far as this mix is concerned, I pretty much stayed away from vocal tunes, with one exception in the middle of the mix. The mix opens with four drone tracks, including Paul Bradley, a new discovery thanks to the folks at the Hypnos forum. Some of his stuff gets a bit dark & dissonant for my taste, but his 2007 release "Chroma" features gorgeous, wide open drones. The drones gradually giveway to piano based tunes wich morph into electronics with a little beat then back to ambient to finish it off.

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My full best of 2007 list follows the tracklisting for the mix. What were your favorite releases this year? Please leave some comments, I'd love to hear what you think.

T R A C K L I S T :

1. 00:00 - 04:30 Stars of the Lid - Even(out)
2. 04:30 - 07:30 Paul Bradley - untitled #1
3. 07:30 - 09:40 Adam Pacione - Warming Trend
4. 09:40 - 15:30 Emeralds - arbole del tule
5. 15:30 - 20:30 Alio Die & Luciano Daini - Crucibulum
6. 20:30 - 24:24 Fennesz & Sakamoto - Aware
7. 24:24 - 25:45 Library Tapes - Snowleaf
8. 25:45 - 31:54 Dakota Suite - Because our lie breathes differently
9. 31:54 - 35:20 Wes Willenbring - While my lungs fill with water
10. 35:20 - 41:20 Sonmi 451 - Outer Shell
11. 41:20 - 46:05 Kiln - Flycatcher
12. 46:05 - 50:45 Rameses III - Theme 5
13. 50:45 - 54:20 Meursault - Ivy
14. 54:20 - 58:50 Alio Die & Zeit - Raag Drone Theory
15. 58:50 - 06:20 Taylor Deupree - Landing
16. 06:20 - 10:45 Tim Hecker - Norberg
17. 10:45 - 14:30 Northern - Cinema
18. 14:30 - 19:53 Stars of the Lid - Even if you're never awake

• B E S T O F 2 0 0 7

• Stars of the Lid - And Their Refinement of the Decline (kranky)
• Alio Die & Luciano Daini - End of an Era (hic sunt leones)
• Alio Die & Zeit - Raag Drone Theory(hic sunt leones)
• Tetsu Inoue - Inland (fax)
• Taylor Deupree - Landing (room40)
• Adam Pacione - from stills to motion (infraction)
• Paul Bradley - Chroma (twenty hertz)
• Emeralds - Allegory Of Allergies (gods of tundra)
• Fennesz & Sakamoto - Cende (touch)
• Northern - Drawn (infraction)
• Tim Hecker - Norberg (room40)
• Rameses III - Honey Rose ( important)
• sonmi451 - probes & prisms (u-cover)
• Meursault - Sleeping Debris (students of decay)
• Wes Willenbring - Somewhere someone else (Aquarius Records)
• Library Tapes - Sketches (make mine music)
• Kiln - Dusker (Ghostly Int'l)
• Iron & Wine - The Sheperds Dog (sub pop)
• Trespassers William - noble house ep
• various - Box of Dub (soul jazz)
• Once - soundtrack (columbia)
• Canon Blue - Colonies (Rumraket)
• Dakota Suite - Waiting for the dawn to crawl through and take your life (glitterhouse)
• P.G. Six - Slightly Sorry (Drag City)