Tulip Frenzy

Tulip Frenzy is not K-Tel.  We have no deals with labels, and we don’t advertise on late-night television.  But if we were to put together a playlist with two songs each from the 2007 Tulip Frenzy Top 10 List (c), here’s what it would be: 

1. Ryan Bingham Album: Mescalero Songs: Bread and Water/Hard Times;
2. New Pornograhers Album: Challengers Songs: All The  Old Showstoppers/Fortune;
3. Wilco Album: Sky Blue Sky Songs: Impossible Germany/Let’s Not Get Carried Away; 
4. Black Rebel Motorcycle Gang Album: Baby 81 Songs: Weapon of Choice/Coldwind;
5. Apples In Stereo Album: New Magnetic Wonder   Songs: Skyway/7 Stars;
6. Iron & Wine Album: Shepherds Dog Songs: Pagan Angel and A Borrowed Car/Carousel;
7. Babyshambles Album: Shotter’s Nation  Songs: Deft Left Hand/Crum Begging;
8. The Chesterfield Kings Album: Psychedelic Sunrise Songs: Up and Down/Outtasite;
9. Eddie Vedder Album: Into The Wild Songs: Hard Sun/Far Behind;
10. The Waterboys Album: Book of Lightning Songs: Crash of Angel Wings/It’s Gonna Rain;

Now, go to the iTunes Store and assemble.    

• 10. The Waterboys “Book of Lightning”Who ever would have thought that the Waterboys would rock as hard as, and sound a lot like, Robyn Hitchcock?  This was a left-field surprise that went beyond a return to form, since never once had they sounded this good.
• 9. Eddie Vedder “Into The Wild”Great movie, perfect soundtrack to it.  
• 8.The Chesterfield Kings “Psychedelic Sunrise”Until the next Fleshtones album comes out (January 22nd), this is the garage classic of the moment.
• 7.Babyshambles “Shotters Nation”Pete Doherty makes Amy Winehouse seem like she’s overly fond of 3.2 beer or something, but I was shocked by what an amazing album this is, the best Brit-rock album since Blur was functional.  We need to keep this guy alive.
• 6.Iron & Wine “The Shepherd’s Dog”Music to listen to while getting tanked up on coffee, sitting in sunlight, while reading six sections of the Sunday Times.  That’s actually a compliment.
• 5. The Apples in Stereo “Science Faire”The little pop-rock genius Bob Schneider made a good ‘un, rocking hard but not at Ramones speed, while still catchy as their soundtrack for the Powerpuff Girls.
• 4. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club “Baby 81″Even in a year when the Jesus and Mary Chain came back at Coachilla, this was the best moment for off-kilter hard rock that I lived through.
• 3. Wilco “Sky Blue Sky”Why put down Jeff Tweedy’s sobriety? With Nels Cline sounding like Tom Verlaine on a good day, this beautiful symphony of noise deserved a far, far better fate than the slagging it took.  (Funny how after putting it down, Uncut put it in their Top Five list…)
• 2. The New Pornographers “Challengers”Another album hipsters gainsaid, yet still packed such an un-Canadian wallop, it’s a wonder the Arcade Fire didn’t do the honorable thing and just move to Paraguay. 
• 1. Ryan Bingham “Mescalero”The best album of 2007 was by a West Texas songwriter named Ryan who was smart enough to embrace, not run from sounding like the great lost Whiskeytown album.