Twenty songs Austin really loved this year

Above: Jens Lekman

Boy howdy. If you think there were a lot of albums this year, you should try thinking about how many songs there were. Austin did a calculation*, and he determined that 4,321,093 songs were released this year. Consider yourselves lucky that he narrowed it down 20. Then again, to be fair, his individual tracks list changes about every 15 minutes. That said, consider this, then, a snapshot of a handful of really awesome songs. OK! Enough! Enjoy!

1. Jens Lekman - "A Postcard to Nina"
2. Muscles - "Ice Cream"
3. LCD Soundsystem - "All My Friends"
4. Chromeo - "Tenderoni"
5. White Rabbits - "The Plot"
6. Animal Collective - "For Reverend Green"
7. Rihanna - "Umbrella"
8. Panda Bear - "Bros"
9. Rich Boy - "Boy Looka Here"
10. Radiohead - "Bodysnatchers"
11. Justice - "D.A.N.C.E."
12. Amy Winehouse - "Rehab"
13. Jay-Z feat. Nas - "Success"
14. Blitzen Trapper - "Wild Mountain Home"
15. Book of Knots feat. Tom Waits - "Pray"
16. Patrick Wolf - "The Magic Position"
17. Ted Leo and the Pharmacists - "The Toro and the Toreador"
18. Spoon - "You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb"
19. Of Montreal - "Heimdalsgate Like a Promethean Curse"
20. Band of Horses - "Plans" (Grizzly Bear cover)

* He actually did no such calculation.

Eliot, Austin and Kerry's favorite odds 'n' sods, reissues and box sets from the foul, twisted year of twenty ought seven

This is probably the least scientifically put together list of them all. Eliot, Austin and Kerry basically threw their picks into a pile, shuffled them around and then waited to see what fell out of the hat first. Very great stuff, though. Have a look:

1. Sonic Youth – Daydream Nation
2. Sandy Denny – Live at the BBC
3. Joy Division - Closer/Unknown Pleasures
4. Albert Ayler & Don Cherry – The Hilversum Session
5. Lisa Germano – Lullaby for Liquid Pig
6. The Sly & the Family Stone catalog/box set
7. Just about anything the Numero Group put out this year
8. Pylon - Gyrate Plus
9. Betty Davis - Betty Davis/They Say I'm Different
10. The Art of Field Recording box set
11. The Modern Lovers - s/t
12. Ornette Coleman – Live at the Hillcrest Club
13. The Pink Floyd – The Piper at the Gates of Dawn
14. Townes Van Zandt - various
15. Magazine - Real Life
16. Sun Ra – Strange Strings
17. Leonard Cohen - various
18. Michio Kurihara – Sunset Notes
19. Magnolia Electric Co. - Sojourner box set
20. The King Khan & BBQ Show

Austin's top eight ATL musical discoveries of 2007

Still a relative newbie to the south, Austin really threw himself into the local scene this year, catching plenty of shows, sampling CDs here at the store and spending far too much time hopping from MySpace page to MySpace page. As such, he found a lot of great Atlanta bands. Keep in mind, though...many of these acts have been performing for quite a while in their own respective ways. Austin used a "if I haven't heard it, it's new to me" mentality for this list. Enjoy some of his favorite local discoveries from 2007. They run the gamut from old timey bluegrass to doom metal, so be sure to click on the links and sample the music from each act's MySpace page. Support your local musicians, y'all:

1. The Coathangers
2. Zoroaster
3. Gentleman Jesse and His Men
4. Stonerider
5. Scars
6. Georgia Fireflies
7. The Carbonas
8. Pistolero

The top 11 albums Austin thinks you unfairly ignored in the year 2007

Austin is extremely tired of year-end lists. He's read something like 37 of them already, and it seems like there is a new one every day. Despite this fact, he knows he has a duty for Decatur CD, and by golly, he shall fulfill this duty. As such, he'd like to address a few albums he feels people haven't been listening to closely enough. Oh, and though he refuses to type up any descriptors about the following selections, he would be more than happy to talk to you about them. Just ask. But for now, enjoy:

Jens Lekman - Night Falls Over Kortedala
White Rabbits - Fort Nightly
Lil Wayne - just about anything
Clockcleaner - Babylon Rules
Spank Rock - FabricLive 33
Queens of the Stone Age - Era Vulgaris
Muscles - Guns Babes Lemonade
Yeasayer - All Hour Cymbals
Bill Callahan - Woke on a Whaleheart
Grinderman - s/t
Matthew Dear - Asa Breed