Year in local music: Listen local

2007 in review

Year in local music: Listen local

By Chris DeVille and John Ross

Columbus proved again to be a microcosm of the national music scene in 2007, this year offering great indie-rock, hip-hop, folk, jazz and metal. So diverse was the home front that we decided to award albums in various categories rather than create a best-of list. Here they are, with a handful of songs to go out and hear at your local bar.

—John Ross & Chris DeVille

Best Compilation

Audio Eagle Presents: A Compilation of Bands from Ohio

The Akron label's collection of Ohio indie, post-rock and punk is what to lend to friends who insist they need to move out of town to hear amazing music.

Honorable mention: Alive's Swinging Sounds of Columbus

Easiest Record to Like

Paper Airplane, Middlemarch

Paper Airplane combines clever musings on life with soft, inescapable hooks for an album that's irresistible and comforting on first listen.

Honorable mention: Celebrity Pilots, Spooky Action

Best Cassette Release

Time & Temperature, Trust Apples

Valerie Glenn's limited-edition, lo-fi masterpiece features singing birds, the hiss of magnetic tape and beautiful acoustic songs. She's as emotive as Edith Piaf, as clever as Fiona Apple and as melodic as a Benedictine monk.

Honorable mention: Dolby F---ers, Dolby F---ers

Most Promising Release

Young Wise, The Cocky Mixtape Vol. 4

Wise combines the cocky swagger of Lil Wayne and the refined prestige of T.I. for a confident flow over an impressive range of original and recycled beats.

Honorable mention: Hugs & Kisses, The Casualties of Happiness

Best Comeback

Moviola, Dead Knowledge

Moviola holed up in a tiny record store and made an expansive survey of American music that's engrossing from start to finish. Cheers to a band putting out such ambitious music more than a decade into their career.

Honorable mention: Cheater Slicks, Walk Into the Sea

Ugly Duckling Award

Psychedelic Horseshit, Magic Flowers Droned

In a whirlwind of friction, diction and warped melodies, the catchiest "pop" of Washington Beach scrapes its way through the fuzz to rattle your brain. It ain't pretty, but it's beautiful.

Honorable mention: Times New Viking, Present the Paisley Reich

Efficiency Award

El Jesus de Magico, Funeral Home Session

Fitting three of their finest demented dirges on one 7-inch slab, El Jeezy staked their claim as masters of hazy hallucination and droning dystopia. Jon Witzky rants, the rhythm section beats like brutes and Tony Allman's keyboard steals the show.

Honorable mention: Necropolis, Workingman

Record to Get Evicted By

Deadsea, Deadsea

Instead of straightforward thrash, the city's best metal band chose to pepper their onslaught with a headier approach that borrows from film composition and free jazz.

Honorable mention: Mors Ontologica, The Used Kids Session

Back-To-Basics Award

The Whiles, Sleeper's Wake

The Whiles are not innovators, but the well-worn folk-pop of Sleeper's Wake is the latest proof that expert songcraft is better than blazing a trail off a cliff. Several tracks should be massive radio hits.

Honorable mention: Two Cow Garage, III

New Weird Columbus

The Black Swans, Change!

Jerry DeCicca's warble, Noel Sayre's gorgeous violin and graceful contributions from numerous others amounted to the best collection yet of the Black Swans' utterly distinctive balladry.

Honorable mention: Spanish Prisoners, Songs to Forget

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