In the final part of I Rock Cleveland’s Year End Extravaganza Bonanza for 2007, Rockers and Readers weigh in with their own opinions on the past year.

Brandon Stevens from Exit Stencil:

2007 was both a sad and exciting year for me: it saw the demise of Parish Hall Cleveland, which was something the 5 of us involved in worked really hard at for about 2 years; but the label (Exit Stencil) took the opportunity to move into a new space in Collinwood (right down the street from the Beachland and Music Saves) which has given us the chance to build out a full recording studio, as well as have some “official” looking office space. So, in coming up with a 2007 wrap up, I thought I’d look back a little bit at the life and death of Parish Hall, and a little of what we’re looking forward to in the coming year. and the obligatory top few albums…

Favorite events at Parish Hall in 2007 (not in any particular order):

1. Silly putty interactive putt putt installation (Feb 23rd) – this was both fun to make for everyone involved, and we probably had the most diverse crowd for this one. Although, in retrospect, using sand in my piece was probably a bad idea, especially with an indoor cat since it became a big litter box.

2. A beginner’s guide to psychedelia (March 2nd) – we really under promoted this one because we were worried about the legalities of airing copyrighted material. it ended up just being a small group of friends doing the cliche’ wizard of oz / dark side of the moon thing, then the Flaming Lips “Zaireka” on 4 stereos, and finally watching Wonder Showzen on the large projector.

3. The Dreadful Yawns CD release party (May 4) – this was amazing, the Yawns did two sets….one with a full 12 piece orchestra….and one set as a “rock band.” it was pretty cool. if you’re interested there is some video @ http://www.exitstencil.org/dreadfulyawns_multimedia.html

4. Amy Casey art opening (June 1st) – Amy’s work is just overall amazing and I was really glad that this show happened at the space.

5. Gowns (Apr 12th) – they were a last minute add on to the bill and ended up being one of the most interesting bands we had play the space.

There were way more shows and so many people that supported us throughout the time the venue was around. I don’t want to leave anyone or anything out, but these are the events that stick out the most for me.

Looking forward to the most for 2008:

Not to sound silly but, on the whole, I’m looking forward to seeing what the whole area is going to do with music. So many different but great bands are out there right now that I think it’s only a matter of time before someone or something really takes off and draws a lot of attention to the whole area. Of course I really love all the bands that we work with at Exit Stencil (and we just signed two new amazing bands: Hot Cha Cha from here in Cleveland, and Spanish Prisoners from Columbus, that will be having records out in Spring of 2008). But there are so many other great things in the area such as Audio Eagle out of Akron, Music Saves / Square Records and all their show swaps, Bears, the Tower 2012, etc. etc. etc. It’s pretty exciting time for music here!

Obligatory top albums of 2007:

1. The National: The Boxer
2. Bright Eyes: Cassadaga
3. Okervill River: The Stage Names
4. Arcade Fire: Neon Bible (Best show of 2007 too)!
5. Radiohead: In Rainbows

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Eric Yawns aka Eric Schulte from The Dreadful Yawns:

Top Ten Things Heard at a Dreadful Yawns Show in 2007:

10) “Check out that chick over there. She may be handicapped, but ‘dem titties ain’t retarded.”
9) “When are they going to do that Porter Wagoner Cover?”
8) “What happened to the good guitar player?”
7) “Where is everyone?”
8) “As seen on MTV!”
7) “I guess someone put them in Spin. I don’t know why.”
6) Homeless guy hijacking microphone and singing Proud Mary over one of our songs at Open Air in Market Square. While playing a harmonica in the wrong key.
5) “Can I get a Hell Yeah? Can I get a Woo Wee? NEW WORLD ORDER!”
4) “Did a bird just shit on me?”
3) “You guys have good tone.”
2) Person A “You guys aren’t too loud. It’s perfect” Person B “I knew what house it was because we can hear you all the way down on Madison.”
1) “We really got somewhere tonight!”

Excellence in Awesomeness goes to The Very Knees. easily.
Grand Michael Stanley Band Award goes to Afternoon Naps
New Kid on the Block Award goes to His Hideous Heart
Rusty Shovel Award goes to ***** but I didn’t say that and will deny ever saying it.
And an award of my own invention the Ian Hunter a.k.a. Honorary Clevelander Award goes to Spanish Prisoners.

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Joel from Columbus (a loyal IRC reader):

“Best” albums of 2007

Besnard Lakes – Are The Dark Horse
Vietnam – The Social Registry 12″ series
Menomena – Friend and Foe
Dr. Dog – We All Belong
Radio Moscow – S/T
Dungen – Tio Bitar
Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso UFO – Crystal Rainbow Pyramid Under The Stars US & Canada TOUR LP

“Best” singles

Douglas Armour: The Social Club Nº 4 7″
Black Mountain: tour only 12″
Brimstone Howl: Uptight 7″

“Best” live shows

Black Angels / Stereo Workers Union – Beachland Ballroom Cleveland OH
New Pornographers – Fun Fun Fun Fest Austin TX
Arcade Fire / LCD Soundsystem Columbus OH
Of Montreal – Beachland Ballroom Cleveland OH
DJ Shadow – Bonnaroo 07

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Music Saves Top 20 of 2007 (In alphabetical order):

Animal Collective – Strawberry Jam (Domino)
Arthur & Yu – In Camera (Hardly Art)
The Besnard Lakes – The Besnard Lakes Are the Dark Horse (Jagjaguwar)
Celebration – The Modern Tribe (4AD)
Film School – Hideout (Beggars Banquet)
Jose Gonzalez – In Our Nature (Mute)
Land of Talk – Applause Cheer Boo Hiss (Rebel Group)
Liars – Liars (Mute)
Menomena – Friend and Foe (Barsuk)
Mice Parade – Mice Parade (Fat Cat)
Nina Nastasia & Jim White – You Follow Me (Fat Cat)
The National – Boxer (Beggars Banquet)
Okkervil River – The Stage Names (Jagjaguwar)
Panda Bear – Person Pitch (Paw Tracks)
Parts & Labor – Mapmaker (Jagjaguwar/Brah)
Phosphorescent – Pride (Dead Oceans)
Radiohead – In Rainbows (Self-released)
The Rosebuds – Night of the Furies (Merge)
Marnie Stern – In Advance of the Broken Arm (Kill Rock Stars)
The Veils – Nux Vomica (Rough Trade)

More from I Rock Cleveland’s Year End Extravaganza Bonanza:

Top 25 Albums
Top 40 Tracks
Top 10 Northeast Ohio Releases
Year End Awards