So the Top 10 is pretty cliché and everyone has on and no one cares. And besides everyone is already listening to all these albums anyways right? Sure, there probably isn’t anything on here that you haven’t heard but looking back it will be great to see what the hell was so hot in 2007.
In addition, there are still some records out there I haven’t heard that might blow my lid. (new MIA, Celebration, We are Wolves, White Williams, etc) And really, it is rare for my favorite albums of a specific year are even the albums that get the most play on my stereo. For example this year, I definitely bumped the latest Clipse album and Young Jeezy’s Thug Motivation more than anything else. Nevertheless, this is what I got so far on top…
*Jens Lekman- songs over kortedala
If you are fan of any kind of pop whatsoever, then there is a 99 percent chance you will find this record irresistible. There are parts of this record that sound almost like a Swedish Neil Diamond or dare I say Barry Manilow and yet it is still amazing. It must be his sincerity and awkward lyrics that are clincher. Best live performance of the year.
*Twilight Sad-fourteen autumns and fifteen winters
What? You didn’t download this yet? Well, you better get to it. Four nerdy Scottish guys play earnest rock with a cascading wall of guitar and drums reminiscent of OK Computer at its loudest and loosest. Oh but wait…its just four dudes and one doesn’t even play an instrument. In a year seemingly marked with a slow return to sincerity, this got me the most. Lyrically moving with just the right musical accompaniment where you don’t feel like your being told how to feel but rather just helping you express it. All Music’s review of this album finished by stating, “The density of the Twilight Sad's sound evokes wide open spaces, yet the louder they are, the more intimate they sound -- these kinds of paradoxes make this album a powerful debut.” Well put. This band has the ability to outlast most bands I have encountered over the last couple years. Let’s hope they do it.
*Electrelane-No Shouts, No Calls
Is this last album from them? I hope not. Apparently they have gone on what they call “indefinite hiatus”. It would be a shame but if it were true they would be going out after releasing their most focused and best LP yet. Electrelane has always been a bit of a mish-mash of different styles that never are fully realized to their potential. Here, they are able to perfectly blend it all into a focused and beautiful album that was originally hinted at on their first LP “the lights out”. I think Electrelane is my favorite rock band…if that is what they can even be called.
*Love of Diagrams- mosaic
You got to love the bands that keep it simple sometimes. This Australian trio brings female vocals a la Siouxie Sioux-esque backed by an angular post-punk sound with a touch of surf rock for kicks. I know it sounds like nothing special and admittedly the lyrics feel very much like poetry written on bathroom walls of an art-school. However, these are also part of the reasons why I love it so much. Stripped down, no-nonsense relentless rock that perfectly comes together to create an almost flawless album. These kids aren't doing anything new, but damn if they don’t do what has already been done perfectly.
*The Original Silence-The First Original Silence
Holy shit. I don’t think I have ever wanted to repeatedly listen to a live, improvisational jam so much in my life. (Well…maybe not including some key jazz records.) This is a heavy, moody, eerie and beautiful LP by Thurston Moore, Jim O’Rourke, two members of NY free jazz group The Thing and Terrie Ex from the Ex live in Italy. Mayhem ensues…
*Silver Daggers-New High and Ord
This album is essentially one relentless, apocalyptic noisy no-wave jazz onslaught of a song played eleven different ways. A mean and convincing example that one can be successfully heavy and intense without the use of peddles or by being a metal band. These kids sound like they recorded this in an abandoned warehouse using found instruments and somehow they pulled off one of the most angular and intense albums of the year. Los Angeles has been making me proud lately.
*Talib Kweli- Ear Drum
Okay…there is a lot on this album that I feel like only Talib can get away with. (Holy Holy, I got to get some religion in me like a/like a /holy moley)ß--- Frankly, this is one instance of some corny lyrics that Kweli brings. However, it’s Talib. When he steps up to the mic he is going to be nothing but himself. And that is respectable and makes you like it. Not to mention that there is some great production on this record. I have a soft spot for drug/gangster rap but on EarDrum Kweli seems to often bring the angst and energy of a drug rapper with the mind of an MFA student. I am pretty sure that Kweli is well into his thirties and I think he might have just made the best record of his career. Shake your ass and get educated all in 70 mins or less with EarDrum.
* Prodigy (of Mobb Deep) - Return of the Mack
Did I mention gangsta rap? The solo record of Mobb Deep’s Prodigy is exactly that. However, Prodigy’s laid back delivery and the 70’s soul-drenched blaxplotation influenced production give this record an interesting mood that is both eerie and seductive at the same time. It helps you forget the sometimes not so creative lyrics of Prodigy and allows you to just roll with it for a good 40 mins. However, to give him some credit Prodigy brings back the grime and sweat and hustle of a gangsta that in today’s hip-hop is often overshadowed by gold chains, fast cars and poolside parties. Ain’t nothing glamorous about this record and that is seemingly refreshing.
*Panda Bear- Person Pitch
I have a series of friends that refuse to listen to anything new that is just “re-hashing” something that has already been done a couple of times. While I partially am like this, I do listen to a lot of stuff that would definitely be considered 2nd or even 3rd wave knockoffs of past-sound. However, much like this recent album, some bands take an old sound and add or alter it just a bit to create something that is both familiar and entirely new. Sure, he is totally influenced by The Beach Boys and 60’s pysch. That doesn’t mean this sounds anything like that. I can’t help but feel that this album is the direction that I wish Animal Collective had gone-strange, organic, loopy experimental pop pysch. I also must mention that Person Pitch contains probably the most accessible thirteen minute song I have ever heard.
* !!!-myth takes
Oh I bet no on saw this coming. The sad thing about this album is that by the time it came out, !!! had already lost half their fan base with the slow death of dance-punk and their politically disco misstep, “Louden Up Now”. Myth Takes is their fullest and most intelligent record yet. An intense and energetic attack that rarely lets up and at some moments creates the same atmosphere felt on “Remain in Light” or even “Little Creatures” by the Talking Heads. I have a bad feeling this record will quickly (if not already) be forgotten. It would be a shame because its probably the only record(so far) of this entire dance-punk revival that tried to NOT just make white-belt wearing hipsters dance but actually create a lasting, and musically legitimate album that can be appreciated outside the genre. And besides, Nic Offer even shuts the fuck up a bit on this album.
Seriously Seriously Honorable Mentions:
Caribou-Andorra (pop songs influenced by 60’s pysch drowned in reverb and repeated rhythms. Organic, melancholy, lush…great.)
Shocking Pinks- s/t (I am still not entirely sure what this kid is doing on DFA…moody, low-fi post-punk for fans of Josef K, factory records, c-86 stuff.)
Black Moth Super Rainbow-dandelion gum (if Air listened to the Flaming Lips instead of classical music growing up)
King Khan and His Shrines-What is!?(I think this band has more soul and is way more interesting than any other garage-revival band out their. Fun, soulful and even has an ode to Jacques Dutronc!)
Health –s/t (oh los angeles…you make me so happy. Lo-fi and loud, spacious and screamy, angular and intelligent? Shoegazey, post-punk with a love for industrial music and grind? I dunno how to describe this…beautiful at times but also could make you shit your pants. Impressive)
Ponytail- Kamehameha (probably most closely associated with Deerhoof, I can’t help but argue that such comparison doesn’t do this band at all justice. This is surf music for the 21st century led by a female vocalist who sounds like she is either swallowing the mic or is doing a drunken Mickey Mouse impression. This record is by far the most fun I have heard in awhile.)
Boris with Michio Kurahara- Rainbow (Boris is really good at being heavy in a million different ways. Here they do the laid, back nighttime, after party heavy.)
Justice-cross (This might contain the single of the year...i dunno. Nevertheless, I do have a love for electronic music. I think the first cd I ever bought with my own money was Daft Punk's "homework". I have definitely had a love for it ever since. This is dancy, rocking and moody all in the same. Great stuff...)
Stars of the Lid -and their refinement of the decline (describing good ambient music can be hard. The best I feel is when it creates a solid mood but is never asks for too much attention. This record does that perfectly.)
The Angels of Light- We Are Him (Michael Gira maintains his creepiness filtered through Waits and Cave-esque moods to create his own brand of down and out curmudgeon music. Highlights include Gira yelling, “I am the God of this fucking land!! after a momentary pause in the rhythmic pounding of a piano and drums.)
Radiohead-in rainbows (probably most focused album since The Bends. Turns out pretty good. big surprise I know...
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Possible surprises of 2007 that I haven't heard yet that might make it onto this list.
Food for Animals-belly
Clipd Beaks-hoarse loads
These are Powers- terrific seasons
Saturday looks good to me-fill up the room
Daft Punk-alive 2007
gui borotto-chromophobia
we'll see....
So, I am going back to Southern California for New Years. New York didn't really work out. People flaked, its too cold, etc. This trip was suppose to be dedicated to friends and family. NYC wasn't really giving me that suddenly. Anyways, I got some airline credit. So I will probably try again in a couple months. OR finally hit up Chicago. Haven't been there yet...
