The wonderful John Peel used to organize the Festive 50 each year, where listeners would vote for their 3 favorite songs of the year, restricted to songs that Peel had actually played on his radio show. The results would be tallied, and he would then play the 50 top vote getters over two consecutive nights in late December. These were some amazingly great shows, and I can’t begin to recount how many of my favorite songs I first heard via his Festive 50 shows.
The folks at Dandelion Radio are trying to continue the tradition, and voting ends tonight, so rush on over there if you’d like your voice to be heard. (They say the voting ends at midnight, but they don’t provide a time zone. I’m gonna assume GMT unless someone out there knows different.)
I’m glad they’re making the effort, and I’m gonna vote, but I must say that I’m not entirely convinced. One of the things that was cool about Peel’s Festive 50 was that it was restricted to things he’s played on his show. Thus it “felt” like him even though the listeners chose the tracks and their order. Here it’s a free-for-all, so I’m not at all sure what it’s gonna sound like. I look forward to listening after Xmas, though.
So, choices, choices…
Getting down to 3 is really hard. And any list I make is likely to be skewed to the first half of 2007 since I haven’t been listening to nearly as much new music since we came to the UK (and left KUMM behind for the year). All that said, and after much agonizing, my choices are gonna be:
- Sage Francis – “Going back to rehab” from Human the death dance
- Mavis Staples – “99 and 1/2” from We’ll never turn back
- Paolo Angeli – “Ahead in the sand” from Tessuti
Some serious contenders included:
- Jawbone – “All want Jesus name”
- Artichoke – “Anarchy in the UK”
- Anais Mitchell – “Hobo’s lullabye”
- Biota – “Pack-a-penny day”
All three of the albums that my top three came from are great, but I think I’d have to choose Tessuti as my fave album of the year, with the other two coming a very, very close second. Angeli’s music has such depth, power, and finesse that I find myself drifting to the language of classical music to describe it, and I mean that in the best possible way. Profound and wonderful stuff.
The albums by Sage Francis and Mavis Staples are also incredibly powerful, if in very different ways to Tessuti. Francis’ work is so full of intelligence and perception that it makes my head spin, and even after many months Sub-Evil and I still love jamming out to almost anything from this album. (He, in fact, argued quite cogently for “Civil Obedience” from this disc, but in the end I had to go with my gut and choose “Going back to rehab”.) Staples’ voice is rich and powerful, projecting all her years of experience as a musician and civil rights activist. An album like this could have sounded like a museum piece, retreading songs that were important decades ago. In her hands, though, these songs are fresh and powerful and relevant. Truly great stuff.
Go enjoy some music, and consider voting if that’s your sort of thing.