to bed with '07 (counting down to midnight...)

just like last year - i guess i'm falling back on old forms for lack of new inspirations - the way i really capped off my musical year was with a big honkin' round-em-up mash-em-up dance mix. available for your downloading pleasure in two handily-sized portions, by clicking on those words; also from the sidebar.

the tracklisting will serve in lieu of a favorite singles list - the majority of my favorite tracks and artists of the year made it on here - well at least those that fit into any vaguely dance-related genres. for those that don't (and others that do), please see the musician plugs 2 mix, which i'll probably never get around annotating. but just to make this a more complete repository for my favorite 07 singles, consider:

these songs were disqualified due to inclusion on earlier mixes (popsical, summertime, cont., or the soon-to-be-revamped love is the dancer):
lil mama: "lip gloss"
natasha bedingfield: "i want to have your babies"
mistah f.a.b: "ghost ride it"
bonde do role: "office boy"
rihanna: "umbrella"
mark ronson ft. lily allen: "oh my god"
mims: "this is why i'm hot"; fat joe: "make it rain (rmx)"; birdman/lil wayne :" i know what i'm doing" (sorta)
calvin harris: "acceptable in the '80s"
dragonette: "i get around"
justin timberlake: "lovestoned" and "summer love" (also generally disqualified for being from 2006)
fujiya and miyagi: "collarbone"

victims of temporary amnesia:
rich boy: "throw some d's"
frankie valli (and the four seasons): "beggin' (pilooski edit)"

casualties of war (er i mean editing/whittling):
amy diamond: "stay my baby"
el-p: "up all night"
les savy fav: "patty lee"
digitalism: "zdarlight"
mims: "this is why i'm hot" ['cause it deserved a spot anyway]
devin the dude ft. andre 3000 and snoop dogg: "what a job"
alice smith: "woodstock"
tiniwaren: "matadjem yinmixan" [notice how that title contains both "dj" and "mix"?]
lyle workman/superbad OST: "flashback party weekend"
kylie minogue: "2 hearts"
arctic monkeys: "flourescent adolescent"
linda sundblad: "back in time"
fall out boy: "this ain't a scene..."
joss stone: "girl they won't believe you"
ashlee simpson: "outta my head"
apples in stereo: "same old drag"

meanwhile, here's what we danced to leading up to midnight on new years eve:

"Lips Are Unhappy" by Lucky Soul
definitely my favorite song from an album that i still can't quite wrap my mind around. my capsule nugget is 'halfway between camera obscura and the pipettes' (which isn't much of a span to traverse), and everything about that description hits me exactly right, but though there are definitely a number of stunners i'm not sure the songs are quite all there. either way, this one's pure pop bliss. and dig the groovy video!

"Parentheses" by The Blow
by special request. technically '06 but most people (including me) heard it this year. total jam. also a totally weird song.

"Lose You" by Linda Sundblad
in the top 4-5 of both my critic poll ballots (which only had three or four songs in common.) i feel i have not done well enough by this song, as linda still has yet to grace a mix of mine - save the ladies love series of girlpop comps for my sister - but i'll keep swooning right along. at least i gave it it a good profuse gush on amg.

"I Want To Have Your Babies" by Natasha Bedingfield
i've gotten over it a bit, but it still does the trick. some excellent possibilities for demonstrative acting-out dances here.

"Stay My Baby" by Amy Diamond
feel particularly bad for amy as she got cut out of last year's mash-mix too, just because i ran out of time to squeeze her in right at the end, back at the low end of the tempo-wheel. jury's out on album #3 (not me, not now) but this one's a keeper.

"Lip Gloss" by Lil Mama
"Umbrella [remix ft. Lil Mama]" by Rihanna
"Take Control" by Amerie
"Gimme More" by Britney Spears
"1 2 3 4" by Feist
a.k.a. dancepop inevitables, 2007 edition
"Paper Planes" by M.I.A.
"Bunny Ain't No Kind Of Rider" by of Montreal

then we took it down a notch and played an abortive game of celebrity password to this soundtrack:

"Hatchet (Optimimi Version)" by Low
"Bookshop Casanova" by The Clientele
"Someone Like You" by Aberfeldy
"Again & Again" by The Bird And The Bee
"Baby I'm Broke" by Lucky Soul
my other possible favorite by them. so fragile, so sweet. calls to mind "crown of love," which i'd nearly forgotten i once loved.
"Solid Ground" by Marit Larsen
"Blush" by Aly & AJ
"Boy With A Coin" by Iron and Wine
haven't really given the album a fair shakedown yet, but this single bodes well
"Fake Empire" by The National
i go back and forth on whether i actively like the rest of the record or just passively enjoy it, but this song is undeniably something special.
"Behind The Sun" by The Good, The Bad & The Queen
"Shirin" by Jens Lekman
"Falling Off A Log " by Tracey Thorn

and then it was midnight...or, not quite, it was slightly past, or by the oven clock maybe a little before, but we decided to pretend that it would be midnight at precisely the end of the song, which was:

"The Underdog" by Spoon
a fitting enough fanfare/farewell, musically at least, pumping us right up into 2008 and the beginning of my mix, which carried the dance party through the first 70 minutes of the new year, at which point we switched over to "like a prayer," phoenix, and beyond. new year, new entry for the mix proper. stay tuned...

p.s. party pix: dance dance dance dance!!!