Beer of the Year - 2007

All of the breweries have been hounding me for weeks to finally put out the results of the BS award for Beer of the Year. It is the most prestigious of all of the BS awards. I wanted to make sure to get the results out in time for the lucky winners to attach this distinctive award as a centerpiece to their Super Bowl advertising.

This year, I have added a special category for vacation beer. I had the great fortune to do an insane amount of vacation travel in 2007. Somehow, I always found a way to sneak some beer into the equation. Each locale of 2007 has it's own distinctive Beer of the Year along with the best place on the trip to sample it.

Vacation Beers

New York - Feb 2007: Magic Hat #8 - sitting in a booth shaped like a baseball glove at JFK airport. Might sound like an odd place to enjoy a meal, but did I mention the booth is shaped like a baseball glove? Sad story, when I returned to this location in November, the New Jersey Who-er that was slowly waiting tables informed me that they discontinued that beer.

Chicago - June 2007: Leinenkugel's Sunset Wheat - crammed into the hopping Murphy's outside of the Wrigley Field bleachers. There were several different types of Leinie's on this trip and some of them tried too hard to inject it with flavor, but this lemony summer beer was my fave. And if you ever find yourself in the Chicago area, do yourself a favor; get bleacher tickets and spend some time pregame and postgame at Murphy's.

Mexico - August 2007: Pacifico - little lunch spot in Ensenada. Not a very inspired choice, but I love a cool Pacifico on a hot day... It goes down even smoother after a couple of complementary shots of tequila from my friend on the street. Somehow, I don't remember his name.

Paris - November 2007: Kronenbourg 1664 - McDonald's. I really didn't drink much beer in Paris for a two main reasons: red and white. Only partly kidding there. If you are not drinking wine in France, and I mean instead of soda, you are missing the boat. Plus the beer in France is really an afterthought. But if you are jonesing for some hops and barley, it's fun to be able to go into a McDonald's and order a beer to go with your Royale with Cheese. It's the little differences...

London - November 2007: Tie between Young's Bitter and Fuller's London Pride, cellar cooled. Hard to pick one place because there were soooo many cool pubs. But worth mentioning are The Porcupine, Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese and several others I can picture but don't remember their names. The good news is their are sooooo many pubs that I haven't visited yet in London. I love pubs! Went on two pub crawls on the first night in London. And London is a city that likes to get their beer on! Fancyapint? Cheers!

Beer of the Year

1. Pyramid Amberweisen on tap - As the beer of the night at my birthday party, this one has to take the cake. I wish it were a little easier to get, but the journey is worth the reward.

2. Newcastle - Always near or at the top of this list every year. We are still looking for that elusive Newcastle sponsorship for the Bad Gnus.

3. Fuller's London Pride - It's expensive stateside, but a tasty reward when you want to enjoy a real British ale.

4. Samuel Adams Light - Hard to believe that this is my favorite beer of the year from my second favorite brewery, but for day in and day out refreshment, I always like to reach for this silver label.

5. Samuel Adams Octoberfest - Maybe it is because it only comes out for a few months every year, but this is my favorite seasonal beer.

Best of the Rest (in no particular order): Sac Brewing Miner's Pale Ale, Pyramid Apricot Ale (I'm sticking with the original name here) Brew It Up Midsummer Honey, Samuel Adams Summer Ale, Leine's Sunset Wheat.

Here's to a tasty and righteous 2008... Party on!

Best Bands of 2007

The BS Awards in this category do not actually include the best band of the year as that is kinda album of the year. The award for Best New Band is for bands I had not heard of prior to the year. Yeah, they were probably around. But if I haven't heard of them, can they really exist? The award for Breakout Band is for bands that I have heard of but I just never really embraced of appreciated as much as I do now.

Best New Band

1. Art Brut - A very late entry but they took over my ipod at the end of the year and have rocketed to the top of bands that I want to see live. I found them through one of the Top Podcasts of 2007 (awards handed out later), NPR - All Songs Considered. Always a sucker for clever lyrics and upbeat rock, Art Brut delivers both. Each song is a little story, with the lead singer really talking more than singing. Love them!

2. The Fratellis - They hung around all year, get multiple plays on the ipod. Great upbeat party rock.

3. Flight of the Conchords - Hopefully some of you have checked out the HBO show. If not, you have to see the first 4 first. They are gold. It's hard to give a music award to a tv show, but they deserve it. Funny dudes singing fun songs.

4. (tie) Office & 1990s - I got into these two bands at the same time and they kinda sound alike so it is hard for me to decide which band is which much less who is better, so they tie.

Breakout Band of the Year

1. Electric Six - Glam/dance rock that sounds like a bit of a combination of Louis XIV and Tenacious D. Another upbeat band with clever lyrics that keep me shakin' and laughin'. Another band I didn't really get into until the end of the year, but when I did I fell into them in a big way.

2. The Hold Steady - If Bruce Springsteen really rocked, he'd sound like this. Good story telling in the songs though most of it ends up with him getting high. Not all songs are winners, but I got enough for a sweet ipod playlist.

3. Incubus - I really liked their album Light Grenades out this year. It led me to download some of their past songs that I just kind of glazed over. Incubus used to always be a fringe band for me. I wouldn't change the radio if they were on, but I never really bought much of their stuff. Now I have a nice collection.

4. Radiohead - This is the most surprising entry for me on this list. Radiohead has been a huge band for years and I just never really got it. With their clever sales promotion of letting the customers determine the price for download of the album, I couldn't resist downloading it. I played it a few times at work and thought it was ok. Then I listening to it with headphones and heard it all in a completely different light. I cannot really categorize the music and maybe that was my problem before. It's not really rock. It's more alternative, but it's not emo or new wave. Anyway, welcome to my world Radiohead.

5. Tokyo Police Club - There's a big drop off here from the top four, but I downloaded a few songs from this band this year that I really liked.

2007 BS Album of the Year

This was a remarkable year for great albums for me. I am having a very hard time ranking the top of the list, so I am going to put them into two groups of best albums of the year. Outstanding and Super. The Super albums I played over and over and really think they are special, but they just didn't crack the top 5. I still highly recommend them.

Super

Spring Awakening Soundtrack. I've never enjoyed a soundtrack album or a musical as much a this one. It rocks. It's emotional. I laughed. I cried. I might have said it before - go see this musical if you get a chance.

Radiohead - In Rainbows. Never really got into Radiohead before. Give them huge ups for allowing people to log onto their website and pay whatever they would like to download the album. It suckered me in and I even gave them 2 pound fifty for it. I listened to it a few time over speakers and was indifferent. Then I put on my headphones and really took in the music. It is really hard for me to categorize. The album is really a sonic journey not a collection of songs. Anyway, I dug it, so it makes the list.

Fall Out Boy - Infinity on High. Another album with a bunch of good songs, but I was never moved enough by the entirity of the album. The previous 2 FOB albums were great from start to finish. I thought this had a couple of holes.

The Fratellis - Costello Music. Best album by a new band of the year. The songs are short, infectious, booty shaking songs. So maybe you can only understand every third word out of their Scottish mouths, my hips don't mind.

Incubus - Light Grenades. There were many very good singles on this album but not enough of a complete album to elevate into the top 5.

Outstanding

1. Modest Mouse - We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank. This is the most thoroughly enjoying album from start to finish for me. There are rockin' songs and cool out songs. I usually need to hear Modest Mouse songs a few times before they sink in. But when I do they take root in me and I absolutely love it. I can't make out the meanings in most of the songs. They are big on the metaphors and I wish I had a key to it. They stuck to a nautical theme throughout the album, but I don't know what it means. Methinks Isaac Bruce enjoys the halluciangenics more than I do. But the feelings in the song are what's important here. Congrats Modest Mouse on your BS Award for Album of the year.

2. The White Stripes - Icky Thump. While it very cute to hear my 9 year Guitar Hero, Jackson singing "If Americans don't got nothing better to do, kick yourself out, you're an immigrant too" the next line including "you can't be a pimp and a prostitute, too" is not quite as cute. Meg White may be the only member of any band that I think I can replace. It certainly isn't the complex percussion that makes this band rock. Jack White is a musical genius. Again, some of these songs just don't hit with me so it cannot win album of the year, but it is very near the top.

3. Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga. Excellent album from start to finish. Good crisp, clean music that I listened to over and over and just really enjoyed.

4. Queens of the Stone Age - Era Vulgaris. An excellent album! QOTSA will probably never be able to put out an album without 2 or 3 songs that I just cannot listen to. But carving those out, Era Vulgaris might be my favorite Queens album. The cream of this album made for an superb Queens-Royalty mix for the iSexy.

5. Foo Fighters - Echos, Silence, Patience & Grace. I love the Foo Fighters and a number of their songs have made mixes through the year, but the album as a whole is just missing something. I loved The Pretender and Stranger Things Have Happened (see songs of the year BS awards!), but the hits weren't consistent enough to be on top. I think too many of the songs on this album went for the "whisper to a scream" trademark that the Foos have used successfully in the past. Still a great album.

Ok, so I went ahead and ranked them... I can't stop myself.

2007 BS Music Awards

This is always my favorite ranking of all of them. I spend more time doing this during the last couple months of the year than I should. But I love music and finding new music. Some music makes me want to get up and shake it... some makes me feel like I have a plate of warm, gooey cookies on my lap.


I am listing these songs in roughly their ranking for the year along with maybe a reason or maybe a lyric (if it made my 10 fave lyrics of the year) that I either found clever or just loved singing along too. I think it might be possible that some of you have not heard of all of these bands and songs or they might not be on your Most Played list on your ipod. If not, give the music on this list a try...


Top 20 Songs of the Year


1. The Pretender by Foo Fighters. The Foos are likley my favorite band and this song rocks with some of the best music they ever put out.


2. 3's & 7's by The Queens of the Stone Age. QOTSA never fials to rock. Now I'm strumming along to this on GH3! "Lie. Lie to my fa-ace. Tell me it ain't, no, thing. That's what I wanna hear."


3. Danger! High Voltage by Electric Six. One of several of songs on this list that is actually a couple years old. But it's new to me! This is a funk blowout with an over the top singer that turns me into a bobblehead as I drive down the road. "Fire in the disco, fire in the... Taco Bell"


4. There's a Traitor in this Room by Louis XIV. Release your dang new album already! I love Louis XIV and this song puts them right where they left off two years ago. "I can be so sweet to you (until I find the right excuse)"


5. Don't Make Me a Target by Spoon. Great song by a wonderful band.


6. Chips Ahoy by The Hold Steady. Glad I finally found this band. Good story telling songs. "She put $900 - on the 5th horse - in the 6th race. I think its name was Chips Ahoy".


7. Flathead by The Fratellis. I don't usually find my new music from TV ads but this song in an ipod ad introduced me to this rockin Scottish band.


8. Thrash Unreal by Against Me! Pretty upbeat song about a female junkie getting older, but if it doesn't bring you down, it rocks. "She can still hear that Rebel Yell just as loud as it was in 1983"


9. The Take Over, The Break's Over by Fall Out Boy. Here's a way to feel old... Go to a Fall Out Boy concert and be the only ones there that can buy beer, dance on the main floor and not need to meet your kid in front of the arena. Perhaps fave lyric of the year "They say your mind is a prison, well then these are just conjugal visits."


10. This is the End (For You My Friend) by Anti-Flag. Another song that is a couple years old, but new to me. Maybe they were just ahead of their time.


11. Anna Molly by Incubus. It's hard to even find music videos nowadays but this one is pretty creepy. The song rocks though.


12. Icky Thump by The White Stripes. It must be the tight, complex drumming that makes me love the White Stripes.


13. Good Night From Chicago by Burden Brothers. This was technically a 2006 album but this song didn't make a mix until 2007. The song rocks. "Close my eyes, snap my fingers and you'll just disappear." Would be much higher on the list if it hasn't been around so long for me.


14. Dashboard by Modest Mouse. With Modest Mouse the album is typically greater than the sum of its parts, but this song stands out from an album that you will read about for the BS award for album of the year.


15. Oh My by Office.


16. Totally Fucked from Spring Awakening. On it's own, the song is a good song. But to see it live, in context of the story of the musical, it is amazing. This release song comes right at the apex of sorrow, grief and angst. Perhaps never a better song in context of a musical. It is even better sitting on the stage where the whirl of dancing and jumping cast members makes you want to get up and jump around with them. This musical is coming to SF in 2008. I implore you to go check it out. (PS. Don't take your kids!)


17. Valerie by The Zutons. It's a couple years old and it survived a butchering of a remake by Mark Ronson, but I dig it.


18. Jane Fonda by Mickey Avalon. "1, 2, 3, 4 - get you booty on the dance floor." I'm predicting that it is the only Mickey Avalon song that will ever make my ipod, but who knows?


19. Your English is Good by Tokyo Police Club.


20. You Made Me Like It by 1990s.



Top 5 Cool Out Songs of 2007


Back when I was in college and I wanted to escape the world around me, I'd make my room as dark as I could and listen to a selected "cool out" song through headphones to just release me. I would lower my pulse, take fewer breaths and let the music lift me into the clouds of my mind. I still try to achieve that inner peace through music. These are my top 5 Cool Outs for 2007...


1. Stranger Things Have Happened by Foo Fighters - A rare double win! Song of the year and Cool Out of the year. Will it be enough to propel Echos, Silence, Patience & Grace to album of the year? Check back to find out!


2. Little Motel by Modest Mouse - I never feel comfortable deciding what Modest Mouse songs are about. This is either a love song, a break up song or a death song. But definitely not about a motel at all.


3. Black Like Me by Spoon - The only downside of the song is the dead air at the end.


4. All I Need by Radiohead - This band really works best with headphones and eyes closed. This song is really more of a sonic experience than the words that Thom Yorke sings.


5. (tie) Those You've Known from Spring Awakening - Griping and emotional song about coping with the loss of those close to you. Have I mentioned that you must see this musical?


5. (tie) Your Ex-Lover is Dead by Stars - Male and Female vocals, the strings and the building music make for a powerful song wrapped as a short story.


So there you have it. Check these songs out before a whole new batch for 2008 are filtered through my ipod.