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A look back at 2007
It’s been a great year for The Sharp Things, so let’s have a look back, shall we? We shall.
The first half of 2007 was consumed with completing our third album, A Moveable Feast, which was released June 26, on Bar/None Records. Feast was rapturously received by the critics (as usual), garnering dozens of favorable reviews in such pubs as HARP, Magnet and All Music Guide, which declared: “This album might just be the Sharp Things’ finest work.”
Then commenced our summer mini-tour, with shows in Hamden, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Cincinnati (live on WOXY and at the Lite Brite festival) and Arlington. In his review of our Lite Brite show, Bryan Baker in the Cincinnati City Beat wrote: “All of the Sharps’ old songs have benefited from the band’s newfound sense of unity and direction; anytime this many people can travel by van from New York to anywhere and not kill each other along the way, let alone put on a world class show…this is a group with a very clear sense of purpose and inner fulfillment.”
Added to our busy schedule were a handful of local shows, including two at Luna Lounge, one at The Knitting Factory, an outdoor gig at McCarren Park and a surprise performance at Housing Works Used Books Cafe opening for the amazing Apples In Stereo. What a night that was!
The fun just kept coming: “The Devil In You Sings” from the new album hit the WOXY Top 20; celebrity photographer Tim Saccenti snapped us for Flaunt magazine; WBZC-FM gave us an hour on the air (sadly, host Kevin O’Hara died not long after; rest in peace, friend); work began on our new recording studio, The Kennel; our Knit show was previewed in the New York Post; our literary side was showcased by blogger Largehearted Boy; videos from Uncensored Interview revealed the Sharpies as never before; and as the year drew to a close, JamNow.com presented our show live on the Internet!
Speaking of which, a year-end recap would not be complete without a few web stats:
- More than 48,000 visitors logged 71,000 visits to this web site, an increase of 22% in visitors and 46% in visits over 2006.
- Those visitors downloaded more than 62,000 free MP3s, up 72% from last year.
- The top song download was “Cruel Thing” (23,369 downloads), followed by “An Ocean Part Deux” (12,346) and “Rey” (8,220).
- All-time MySpace profile views topped 50,000, our friend count approached 12,000 and plays of Feast songs exceeded 10,000.