The top 30, part one.
Holy crap, why do I put myself to the painful and arduous task of making this list year after year? Part of it is for myself to remember what's what, to recollect what made my booty shake and my head nod...unlike last year's lists, what's below and to follow is oddly lacking in hip-hop and acoustic jams (last year, discs from Quantic and M. Ward ruled my ears), while this year's list is a bit heavy, a bit minimal, a bit...eclectic. It's in that spirit that instead of breaking it down by genre, I've assembled what I think are the best 30 records released in 2007...here we go.
30) Pela: Anytown Graffiti - Great Society Records
This record had me from the first second, with its railcar snare drum, chugging along beneath finger-picked guitar...and then came the yelp, "I had a sideways stare like a signal flare!". Ballads, rockers, jams, anthems - this record is chock-full of the new brand of sprawling Americana-meets-indie-cool championed currently by Pela tourmates The National, and previously by XTC and Wilco. This record is hard to find, but is available online at emusic.com and via mail through the band's myspace.
29) Municipal Waste: The Art of Partying - Earache Records
This might be the funnest metal album of all time. This is not a rip-off of 80s thrash, it's a tribute, a homage to the bloodline that carries Suicidal Tendencies and Anthrax, but here its played without a shred of revisionism. It's honest in its aim; this is, as the title suggests, jams to get wasted and wreck shit to. It's fast and heavy, complete with monster riffs, face-melting solos and epic drunk chants, resulting in a dozen excuses to do totally awesome hair whips. As the chant says, "MUNICIPAL WASTE IS GONNA FUCK! YOU! UP!"...they really will.
28) The Locust: New Erections - Epitaph
If I had never heard The Locust before hearing this record, I'm not sure what I'd think, but as an old fan, I'm fascinated to see that some of their songs have managed to cross the 3-minute mark. The spastic pummeling that makes up most of their frantic noise often clocks in at just over a minute, but here sees new life as fuller songs, with lyrics throughout. The snotty tone of past releases feels angrier now - less desperate, more focused. One of the standout tracks, "We Have Reached an Official Verdict: Nobody Gives a Shit", is streaming on their myspace. This is a fantastic release that none of your friends will want to listen to with you. Bummer.
27) Baroness: The Red Album - Relapse Records
Like the mythical dark places this album's lyrics describe, the music is vast, sweeping and mysterious. It's prog-conscious but not noodley and self-indulgent, while remaining full, dense and mean. The anthemic riffs of "The Birthing" show an tip of the hat to the sound of Rollins Band, Megadeth-size guitar solos and southern US muscle rock. Metal in 2007 should sound like Baroness. Destructive, forward thinking, and oh-so-heavy.
26) Bumps: Bumps - Stones Throw
Dan Bitney and the Johns, McIntire & Herndon, set out to make an album of straight rhythms, and so they did. If you were already a fan of their experimental post-rock in projects like Tortoise, A Grape Dope, & Brokeback, this disc strips away all the niceties of those groups and delivers raw, crunchy beats built for loops and raps. The concept is simple - no track over 2:00 in length, touch on as many drum break shapes as you can, and keep it slamming. Latin, funk, afrobeat, samba and jazz beats are deconstructed and reconsidered over 24 tracks; "Can You See?" is a logical extention of Tortoise's "Seneca" (from Standards), while "Tryplmeade Gorsmatch" is new ground broken, yet again, not to mention an excellent opportunity to tap those toes.
25) Patrick Wolf: The Magic Position - Loog Records
Of course an epic orchestral pop record should begin with an overture, and of course you should crank it up off the top with a catchy-as-hell title track, and obviously the key to left-of-centre, gay, showoff-y music is to have a loud, insane live show and costumes to match. Its a good thing that Patrick Wolf knows all the rules, and how to break them. His music has never sounded so big and bold as it does on this disc, with showstoppers like "Accident & Emergency" and the spooky ballad "Bluebells". Fans of Final Fantasy, Morrissey, Rufus Wainwright and New Order take note, Patrick Wolf is coming for your heart and mind. Lock up your sons.
24) New Young Pony Club: Fantastic Playroom - Universal/Island
23) Klaxons: Myths Of The Near Future - Polydor
I'm going to write about these two discs together - two shades of the unfortunately-named "nu-rave" genre that emerged in 2007...it's both sad and humorous to me that hype will eventually kill off these bands, as new wave before it (A-Ha? Split Enz anyone?)...that said, these albums are fulfilling listens, full of catchy hooks, singalongs and tunes to inspire shaking...but for different reasons. Klaxon's remix-ready indie rock was marketed to be more about what the band WORE rather than what they PLAYED. On the other hand, NYPC were thrown at the dance crowd as one of their own, to be thrashed about to in clubs and open-format DJ throwdowns. Unfortunately, I didn't hear much of either on the dancefloor this year, aside from the 9 billion "Atlantis to Interzone" remixes with that piercing 1990s rave horn and the cut "DJ! DJ!". Fantastic Playroom was, to be sure, the dancier of the two records, with snappy house basslines and sample-worthy lyrics ("I can give you what you want/I can make your heart beat short", from "Ice Cream"), made jagged with post-punk guitar stabs not unlike those heard on records by Gang of Four and The Slits. We can only hope that the bands' sophomore releases will stand up as well as these impressive debuts.
22) Modeselektor: Happy Birthday! - Bpitch Control
If stand-up comedy could be danced to, this would be the soundtrack. It's not often that dance records actually make you LAUGH (though the horn tweaks on any release by Crackhaus are enough to inspire giggles), but this totally silly record takes its' aim seriously - a set of tracks aimed at the dancefloor. "Hyper Hyper" builds up from echoey, dubstep-inspired snare crashes giving way to heavy trance horns and a throbbing 4/4, while "The Black Book" is the duo's tribute to the the heyday of acid techno. Thom Yorke guests on "The White Flash", a surprising place to find the giant of melancholy, awash in subfrequencies and gleeful chimes. Could this be the funnest electronic record ever? I say YES.
21) Boys Noize: Oi Oi Oi - Last Gang/Turbo
If the image of a disco ball in the shape of a skull isn't indicative enough of what lies within, a scan through the tracks on Oi Oi Oi show you a side of techno that is distinctly UNfunny. Taking cues from hard-edged French touch, German techno and the sounds of computers themselves, Alexander Ridha delivers an album of moods, and none of them good. The anger of "The Battery", the uneasy Kraut bass of "Frau" make for an album you shouldn't listen to unless you want to be taken down the rabbit hole of punked out heavy rhythm. Nonetheless, this is an excellent record, the icing on the cake of which is his flawless remix of Feist's "My Moon My Man", which caps off the disc.
20) Clipd Beaks: Horse Lords - Lovepump United
I can't and won't claim to know much of anything about the LA noise scene - I know of an all ages venue called The Smell, where bands like No Age, HEALTH, The Mae Shi and Abe Vigoda, along with Clipd Beaks, have made an absurd racket this year, both musically and critically. This record stands out among all for its complete lack of restraint. Tribal drums thump below arcing, screeching guitar and gut-wrenching wails, all with a pace and momentum akin to Suicide or This Heat. "Melter", the opening track sees the band trading keyboard and guitar distortion aside a rolling crash cymbal and waddling bassline. The vocals are almost indistinguishable from the mechanical chaos, and its a good thing. A really, really good thing.
19) The Weakerthans: Reunion Tour - Epitaph/Anti
I admit that this may only be on the list because I feel like The Weakerthans can do no wrong. Their brand of poetry-positive Canadiana is unmistakable and timeless, and this record expands on John K. Samson's innate ability to tell stories. In this case, they are about busdrivers and professional curlers and a cat named Virtue. "Relative Surplus Value" tells the story of a hungover victim of middle management who notes that "the graphs in the boardroom show/by the time that the market opens in Tokyo/I'll be worthless..." Even in capitalism there is poetic melancholy, and Samson knows exactly how to channel it.
18) Stars: In Our Bedroom After The War - Arts & Crafts
It's impossible talk about this band and not mention these words:
1) Romantic
2) Grandiose
3) Dramatic
This album has all three in spades, delivered through 13 songs of soaring pop gems, drenched in synthesizers and monumental drum lines. The lead single, "Take Me To The Riot"(video) delivers on the title by building up slowly toward chaos, as Toquil Campbell and Amy Millan harmonize as they know best to - romantically, dramatically and in a grandiose manner...
17) Apparat: Walls - Shitkatapult/Finetunes
In my opinon, forward-thinking music is SO important, and this album is so ahead of its time, its mindblowing. If you were a fan of his Orchestra of Bubbles project with Ellen Allien, this gorgeously textured album will only drag you further into his complex and layered soundscapes. From the dubstep of "Limelight" to the gritty drone of "Fractales *(Pt 2)", this collection breathes diversity. There are places where xylophones and strings form the low end of the beat, while wispy rhythms shimmer around them, leading one to see that there's an unspoken theme here - futurism. To match this theme, the album cover depicts organic streams of color, perhaps an imagining of what this music would look like, the shape of pop sensibilities and lush electronic spaciousness.
16) Attack In Black: Marriage - Dine Alone Records
Mark my words, this band is going to be fucking huge. They have all the right elements from the perfect 'na-na-nana-nas' and handclaps to Springsteen-inspired pop tropes, resulting in a total gem of a record. One of the key ingredients is Ian Blurton's production, who puts the finishing touches of what is already surprisingly mature songwriting. "Young Leaves" is an apt title for the lead single, the story of band on the road, as they answer their call, "there's a void / begging desperate as a lie / for us to make it feel alive". With bands like Sparta, The Weakerthans and Built To Spill singing their praises, its only a matter of time before Attack In Black explode.
The top 15 is to follow...but for now, think ahead to the new year... here are 10 artists (in no order) you won't be able to ignore in 2008:
1) The Ting Tings
2) Vampire Weekend
3) No Age
4) White Williams
5) Kate Nash
6) Gotye
7) O'Death
8) DatA
9) Fuck Buttons
10) Jay Reatard
Hopefully I'll get a chance to post the rest before the end of the year, but if not...have a safe and happy holidays!
30) Pela: Anytown Graffiti - Great Society Records
This record had me from the first second, with its railcar snare drum, chugging along beneath finger-picked guitar...and then came the yelp, "I had a sideways stare like a signal flare!". Ballads, rockers, jams, anthems - this record is chock-full of the new brand of sprawling Americana-meets-indie-cool championed currently by Pela tourmates The National, and previously by XTC and Wilco. This record is hard to find, but is available online at emusic.com and via mail through the band's myspace.29) Municipal Waste: The Art of Partying - Earache Records
This might be the funnest metal album of all time. This is not a rip-off of 80s thrash, it's a tribute, a homage to the bloodline that carries Suicidal Tendencies and Anthrax, but here its played without a shred of revisionism. It's honest in its aim; this is, as the title suggests, jams to get wasted and wreck shit to. It's fast and heavy, complete with monster riffs, face-melting solos and epic drunk chants, resulting in a dozen excuses to do totally awesome hair whips. As the chant says, "MUNICIPAL WASTE IS GONNA FUCK! YOU! UP!"...they really will.28) The Locust: New Erections - Epitaph
If I had never heard The Locust before hearing this record, I'm not sure what I'd think, but as an old fan, I'm fascinated to see that some of their songs have managed to cross the 3-minute mark. The spastic pummeling that makes up most of their frantic noise often clocks in at just over a minute, but here sees new life as fuller songs, with lyrics throughout. The snotty tone of past releases feels angrier now - less desperate, more focused. One of the standout tracks, "We Have Reached an Official Verdict: Nobody Gives a Shit", is streaming on their myspace. This is a fantastic release that none of your friends will want to listen to with you. Bummer. 27) Baroness: The Red Album - Relapse Records
Like the mythical dark places this album's lyrics describe, the music is vast, sweeping and mysterious. It's prog-conscious but not noodley and self-indulgent, while remaining full, dense and mean. The anthemic riffs of "The Birthing" show an tip of the hat to the sound of Rollins Band, Megadeth-size guitar solos and southern US muscle rock. Metal in 2007 should sound like Baroness. Destructive, forward thinking, and oh-so-heavy.26) Bumps: Bumps - Stones Throw
Dan Bitney and the Johns, McIntire & Herndon, set out to make an album of straight rhythms, and so they did. If you were already a fan of their experimental post-rock in projects like Tortoise, A Grape Dope, & Brokeback, this disc strips away all the niceties of those groups and delivers raw, crunchy beats built for loops and raps. The concept is simple - no track over 2:00 in length, touch on as many drum break shapes as you can, and keep it slamming. Latin, funk, afrobeat, samba and jazz beats are deconstructed and reconsidered over 24 tracks; "Can You See?" is a logical extention of Tortoise's "Seneca" (from Standards), while "Tryplmeade Gorsmatch" is new ground broken, yet again, not to mention an excellent opportunity to tap those toes.25) Patrick Wolf: The Magic Position - Loog Records
Of course an epic orchestral pop record should begin with an overture, and of course you should crank it up off the top with a catchy-as-hell title track, and obviously the key to left-of-centre, gay, showoff-y music is to have a loud, insane live show and costumes to match. Its a good thing that Patrick Wolf knows all the rules, and how to break them. His music has never sounded so big and bold as it does on this disc, with showstoppers like "Accident & Emergency" and the spooky ballad "Bluebells". Fans of Final Fantasy, Morrissey, Rufus Wainwright and New Order take note, Patrick Wolf is coming for your heart and mind. Lock up your sons.24) New Young Pony Club: Fantastic Playroom - Universal/Island
23) Klaxons: Myths Of The Near Future - Polydor
I'm going to write about these two discs together - two shades of the unfortunately-named "nu-rave" genre that emerged in 2007...it's both sad and humorous to me that hype will eventually kill off these bands, as new wave before it (A-Ha? Split Enz anyone?)...that said, these albums are fulfilling listens, full of catchy hooks, singalongs and tunes to inspire shaking...but for different reasons. Klaxon's remix-ready indie rock was marketed to be more about what the band WORE rather than what they PLAYED. On the other hand, NYPC were thrown at the dance crowd as one of their own, to be thrashed about to in clubs and open-format DJ throwdowns. Unfortunately, I didn't hear much of either on the dancefloor this year, aside from the 9 billion "Atlantis to Interzone" remixes with that piercing 1990s rave horn and the cut "DJ! DJ!". Fantastic Playroom was, to be sure, the dancier of the two records, with snappy house basslines and sample-worthy lyrics ("I can give you what you want/I can make your heart beat short", from "Ice Cream"), made jagged with post-punk guitar stabs not unlike those heard on records by Gang of Four and The Slits. We can only hope that the bands' sophomore releases will stand up as well as these impressive debuts.22) Modeselektor: Happy Birthday! - Bpitch Control
If stand-up comedy could be danced to, this would be the soundtrack. It's not often that dance records actually make you LAUGH (though the horn tweaks on any release by Crackhaus are enough to inspire giggles), but this totally silly record takes its' aim seriously - a set of tracks aimed at the dancefloor. "Hyper Hyper" builds up from echoey, dubstep-inspired snare crashes giving way to heavy trance horns and a throbbing 4/4, while "The Black Book" is the duo's tribute to the the heyday of acid techno. Thom Yorke guests on "The White Flash", a surprising place to find the giant of melancholy, awash in subfrequencies and gleeful chimes. Could this be the funnest electronic record ever? I say YES.21) Boys Noize: Oi Oi Oi - Last Gang/Turbo
If the image of a disco ball in the shape of a skull isn't indicative enough of what lies within, a scan through the tracks on Oi Oi Oi show you a side of techno that is distinctly UNfunny. Taking cues from hard-edged French touch, German techno and the sounds of computers themselves, Alexander Ridha delivers an album of moods, and none of them good. The anger of "The Battery", the uneasy Kraut bass of "Frau" make for an album you shouldn't listen to unless you want to be taken down the rabbit hole of punked out heavy rhythm. Nonetheless, this is an excellent record, the icing on the cake of which is his flawless remix of Feist's "My Moon My Man", which caps off the disc.20) Clipd Beaks: Horse Lords - Lovepump United
I can't and won't claim to know much of anything about the LA noise scene - I know of an all ages venue called The Smell, where bands like No Age, HEALTH, The Mae Shi and Abe Vigoda, along with Clipd Beaks, have made an absurd racket this year, both musically and critically. This record stands out among all for its complete lack of restraint. Tribal drums thump below arcing, screeching guitar and gut-wrenching wails, all with a pace and momentum akin to Suicide or This Heat. "Melter", the opening track sees the band trading keyboard and guitar distortion aside a rolling crash cymbal and waddling bassline. The vocals are almost indistinguishable from the mechanical chaos, and its a good thing. A really, really good thing.19) The Weakerthans: Reunion Tour - Epitaph/Anti
I admit that this may only be on the list because I feel like The Weakerthans can do no wrong. Their brand of poetry-positive Canadiana is unmistakable and timeless, and this record expands on John K. Samson's innate ability to tell stories. In this case, they are about busdrivers and professional curlers and a cat named Virtue. "Relative Surplus Value" tells the story of a hungover victim of middle management who notes that "the graphs in the boardroom show/by the time that the market opens in Tokyo/I'll be worthless..." Even in capitalism there is poetic melancholy, and Samson knows exactly how to channel it.
18) Stars: In Our Bedroom After The War - Arts & Crafts
It's impossible talk about this band and not mention these words:
1) Romantic
2) Grandiose
3) Dramatic
This album has all three in spades, delivered through 13 songs of soaring pop gems, drenched in synthesizers and monumental drum lines. The lead single, "Take Me To The Riot"(video) delivers on the title by building up slowly toward chaos, as Toquil Campbell and Amy Millan harmonize as they know best to - romantically, dramatically and in a grandiose manner...
17) Apparat: Walls - Shitkatapult/Finetunes
In my opinon, forward-thinking music is SO important, and this album is so ahead of its time, its mindblowing. If you were a fan of his Orchestra of Bubbles project with Ellen Allien, this gorgeously textured album will only drag you further into his complex and layered soundscapes. From the dubstep of "Limelight" to the gritty drone of "Fractales *(Pt 2)", this collection breathes diversity. There are places where xylophones and strings form the low end of the beat, while wispy rhythms shimmer around them, leading one to see that there's an unspoken theme here - futurism. To match this theme, the album cover depicts organic streams of color, perhaps an imagining of what this music would look like, the shape of pop sensibilities and lush electronic spaciousness.
16) Attack In Black: Marriage - Dine Alone Records
Mark my words, this band is going to be fucking huge. They have all the right elements from the perfect 'na-na-nana-nas' and handclaps to Springsteen-inspired pop tropes, resulting in a total gem of a record. One of the key ingredients is Ian Blurton's production, who puts the finishing touches of what is already surprisingly mature songwriting. "Young Leaves" is an apt title for the lead single, the story of band on the road, as they answer their call, "there's a void / begging desperate as a lie / for us to make it feel alive". With bands like Sparta, The Weakerthans and Built To Spill singing their praises, its only a matter of time before Attack In Black explode.
The top 15 is to follow...but for now, think ahead to the new year... here are 10 artists (in no order) you won't be able to ignore in 2008:
1) The Ting Tings
2) Vampire Weekend
3) No Age
4) White Williams
5) Kate Nash
6) Gotye
7) O'Death
8) DatA
9) Fuck Buttons
10) Jay Reatard
Hopefully I'll get a chance to post the rest before the end of the year, but if not...have a safe and happy holidays!
posted by Eli at 5:25 PM
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