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Great Releases of 2007

by Brett Milano on January 7

Around this time of year, we writers usually weigh in with our favorite releases of the previous year. Usually this just means favorite CDs, maybe a download or two (especially if you're into Radiohead). But I thought we'd push the concept a little further — so here's a list of our favorite "releases" of 2007. To avoid blowing our own horn, we've left out the release of a certain video game around Thanksgiving.

1. Amy Winehouse's release from rehab. Soap operas aside, she made one of the year's few blockbuster albums that deserved it. And as soap operas go, hers is way more interesting than Britney's — Just hope she pulls it together before it gets even more out of hand.
2. Paul McCartney's release from Heather. Prompted some good jokes and Macca's best album in decades, "Memory Almost Full."
3. The Sonics' release from oblivion. Eat your heart out, Led Zeppelin: The late 60s punk legends played the reunion show of the year at Cavestomp! in NYC during November. Largely known (thanks to a car commercial) for "Have Love, Will Travel," they sounded like they'd been locked in the same garage for the past four decades.
4. Danny Federici's health release from the E Street Band. The original Springsteen keyboardist is off the road for health reasons; his last show (for now) happened in Boston and featured his long organ solos on "Sandy" and "Kitty's Back." Sad occasion, but a killer show.
5. The Spoon show I saw in November, which was a loud release from start to finish. Ain't it great that a band this quirky can become a fairly big deal?
6. Radiohead releasing "In Rainbows" as a choose-your-price download. I'm not a big enough fan to spring for the $80 box-set version (though it looks really beautiful if you want the same music on CD and vinyl). So I paid three bucks for the advance and figured that was $2.99 more than most people.
7. Neil Young releasing a full-fledged lost masterpiece, the long-lost 18-minute song "Ordinary People" (on his latest CD, "Chrome Dreams II")—and then forgetting to play it on tour.

And finally, a few great CD releases you should know about: The Black Lips, Good Bad Not Evil,, Kristin Hersh, Learn to Sing Like a Star; Spoon: Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga; the Fiery Furnaces: Widow City (Thrill Jockey); Graham Parker, Don't Tell Colombus; The National, Boxer; MIA, Kala, Band of Horses, Cease to Begin. And of course, loads of others.

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January 7
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