Oooh no!! Not another year end list, please?!!!

I'm not too keen on making year end lists as far as new albums are concerned simply because most of the time, I discover the real gems many months after their initial release date. Only last year for example did I become hooked on Wheels On Fire's fabulous debut album (2006) and Nicole Willis' awesome 'Keep Reachin' Up' (2005), while yesterday I terribly enjoyed James Hunter's 'People Gonna Talk', an album that I didn't even notice when it came out in 2006!

So with a fat chance of omitting some terrific albums, here's a list of my personal favourite new albums of 2007:

1.The Pirate’s Gospel - ALELA DIANE (Fargo CD)
2.Aman Iman : Water is Life - TINARIWEN (Independiente CD)
3.Comicopera - ROBERT WYATT (Domino CD)
4.Mutilation Nation - CPC GANGBANGS (Alien 8 Recordings LP)
5.Icky Thump - THE WHITE STRIPES (XL Recordings 2LP)
6.Dirt Farmer - LEVON HELM (Vanguard CD)
7.Sonic Chicken 4 - SONIC CHICKEN 4 (In The Red LP)
8.Renunciation - DAVID S. WARE QUARTET (Aum Fidelity CD)
9.Deuteronomy - THE INTELLIGENCE (In The Red LP)
10.Little Animals - BEASTS OF BOURBON (CD)

other personal favorites include Whiskey Flower - THE GOLDEN BOYS (Hook or Crook LP), Satan’s Little Pet Pig - DEMON’S CLAWS (In The Red LP), Segu Blue - BASSEKOU KOUYATE & NGONI BA (Out Here 2LP), Los Valientes del Mundo Nuevo - BLACK LIPS (Vice Records LP), The Hex Dispensers - THE HEX DISPENSERS (Alien Snatch LP), Walk Into The Sea - CHEATER SLICKS (Dead Canary LP), Volume 2 : Summer Snow - WILLIAM PARKER & HAMID DRAKE (Aum Fidelity CD), From the River to the Ocean - FRED ANDERSON & HAMID DRAKE (Thrill Jockey CD), Bad Trips - BAD TRIPS (Rocket ship Records LP) and Good Bad Not Evil - BLACK LIPS (Vice Records CD) and Wooden Shjips - WOODEN SHJIPS (Holy Mountain 2CD)

As far as compilations/reissues go, there were many terrific ones in 2007. Here's a broad selection:

o I belong to this band: 85 Years of Sacred Harp Recordings (Dust-to-Digital CD)
o Free Your Mind : The 700 West Sessions – AMNESTY (Now-Again 2LP)
o Senegal : The Teranga Spirit (Syllart 2CD)
o Classic Cuts – WAILING SOULS (Greensleeves CD)
o Gems from the Classic Years 1967-1974 – KING SUNNY ADE (Shanachie CD)
o When the Levee Breaks : Mississippi Blues Rare Cuts 1926-1941 (JSP 4CD)
o Nuh Skin Up – KEITH HUDSON & THE SOUL SYNDICATE (Pressure Sounds CD)
o New York Latin Hustle – The Sound of New York (Soul Jazz 2CD)
o The Sounds of Our Time – JIM FORD (Bear Family)
o Brainbombs – BRAINBOMBS (Pollymaggoo Records CD)
o Black & White in Dub – CARLTON PATTERSON & KING TUBBY (Hot Pot Records CD)
o Sounds From A Bygone Age Vol.4 – TONI IORDACHE (Asphalt Tango CD)
o Mexican Boleros : Songs of Heartbreaking, Passion & Pain 1927-1957 (Trikont CD)
o Moonscape – MICHAEL GARRICK (Trunk CD)
o Songs of Defiance : Music of Chechnya and the North Caucasus (Topic CD)
o The Black Ark – NOAH HOWARD (Bo Weavil Recordings CD)
o Cuban Pearls 1 : Una Noche en la Habana 1947-1957 (Syllart 2CD)
o Doctor Jazz – JELLY ROLL MORTON (Proper 4CD)
o Compulsion – ANDREW HILL (Blue Note CD)
o Brazil 70 : After Tropicalia – New Directions in Brazilian Music in the 1970s (Soul Jazz)
o Zanzibar 3 : Ujamaai – The 1960s Sound of Tanzania (Buda CD)
o The Classic Guinean Guitar Group – AFRICAN VIRTUOSES (Stern’s CD)
o The Very Best of Ethiopiques (Manteca 2CD)
o The Voice of Lightness : Congo Classics 1961-1977 – TABU LEY ROCHEREAU (Stern’s 2CD)
o An Electric Storm – WHITE NOISE (Island CD)
o Make it Stop! The Most of Ross Johnson (Goner CD)
o Art of Field Recordings Volume I : 50 Years of Traditional American Music documented by Art Rosenbaum (Dust-to-Digital 4CD)
o Melodii Tuvi : Throat Songs and Folk Tunes from Tuva (Dust-to-Digital CD)
o Black Mirror : Reflections in Global Music (Dust-to-Digital CD)
o Victrola Favorites : Artifacts from Bygone Days (Dust-to-Digital CD)
o Dr Boogie Presents Rarities from the Bob Hite Vaults (Sub Rosa CD)
o Untouchable! The Classic 1959-1966 Recordings – JOHNNY “GUITAR” WATSON (Ace CD)
o Love and Affection – NATHANIEL MAYER (Vampisoul 2LP)
o People Take Warning : Murder Ballads & Disaster Songs (Tompkins Square 3CD)
o Rare & Unreleased Recordings from the Golden Reign of the Queen of Soul – ARETHA FRANKLIN (Rhino 2CD)
o LA, Memphis & Tyler – DALE HAWKINS (Rev-ola CD)
o Tribulation : Down in Jamdown 1974-1979 – BIM SHERMAN (Pressure Sounds CD)
o I hate CD’s (Norton CD)
o Anatolian Wedding – SELIM SESLER (Double Moon CD)
o When Rhythm Was King (Heartbeat CD)
o Ape-Ology – LEE PERRY AND THE UPSETTERS (Trojan CD)
o Ethiopiques, Volume 22: ALÈMAYÈHU ESHÈTÉ (Buda CD)
o ETHIOPIQUES, VOLUME 23: ORCHESTRA ETHIOPIA (Buda CD)
o Savage Pencil Presents LION vs. DRAGON in Dub (Trojan CD)
o The Complete Machine Gun Sessions – PETER BRÖTZMANN (Atavistic CD)
o Super Afro Soul – ORLANDO JULIUS (Vampisoul 2CD)
o ABDEL HADI HALO & THE EL GUSTO ORCHESTRA OF ALGIERS (Honest Jons)
o Music of Central Asia Vol.6 : ALIM AND FARGANA QASIMOV – Spiritual Music of Azerbaijan (Smithsonian Folkways CD)
o Jukebox Explosion – JON SPENCER BLUES EXPLOSION (ITR CD)
o The Chicago Octet Tentet – BRÖTZMANN (Okkadisk 3CD)
o Doom & Gloom : Early Songs of Angst and Disaster 1927-1945 (Trikont CD)

I'm sure you are going to discover at least one album that you haven't heard yet and will become one of your personal favorites of 2007. And the thought alone really brightens my days!