LIST: The Breakdown: 2007 Sorted and Stacked
When compiling this year's Best Of... list I felt that I could do more. There was a lot of great stuff out this year and the best of it came from multiple genres, so I'm taking a little extra time to shuffle through the year, compiling small lists of my favorites in hopes of giving some exceptional albums their due.
Best Rock
The National The Boxer
Spoon Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
Band of Horses Cease to Begin
Arcade Fire Neon Bible
Ted Leo & The Pharmacists Living with the Living
Rogue Wave Asleep at Heaven's Gate
Best Rocktronica
LCD Soundsystem Sound of Silver
Radiohead In Rainbows
!!! Myth Takes
Best Pop
New Pornographers Challengers
Feist The Reminder
Rilo Kiley Under the Blacklight
The Shins Wincing the Night Away
Andrew Bird Armchair Apocrypha
Apples in Stereo New Magnetic Wonder
Best Weirdo Pop
Grizzly Bear Friend ep
Panda Bear Person Pitch
Animal Collective Strawberry Jam
Of Montreal Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?
Sunset Rubdown Random Spirit Lover
Besnard Lakes ...are the Dark Horse
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! Some Loud Thunder
Best Electronic
Dan Deacon Spiderman of the Rings
Matthew Dear Asa Breed
Justice (cross)
The Field From Here We Go Sublime
Simian Mobile Disco Attack Decay Sustain Release
Best Hip-Pop
M.I.A. Kala
Lily Allen Alright, Still
Jay Z American Gangster
Kanye West Graduation
Best Post-Something
Battles Mirrored
Blitzen Trapper Wild Mountain Nation
Liars Liars
Black Lips Good Bad Not Evil
King Khan & the Shrines What Is?
Best Americana (Rock)
Okkervil River The Stage Names
Iron & Wine The Shepard's Dog
Wilco Sky Blue Sky
Avett Brothers Emotionalism
Ryan Adams Easy Tiger
Lyle Lovett It's Not Big It's Large
Joe Henry Civilians
Steve Earle Washington Square Serenade
Best Plain Old Folk
Jose Gonzales In Our Nature
Best Surprise
Blitzen Trapper Wild Mountain Nation
Black Moth Super Rainbow Dandelion Gum
Biggest Letdown
Interpol Our Love To Admire
Best Song
Okkervil River Unless it Kicks
The National Apartment Story
LCD Soundsystem Someone Great
Liars Houseclouds
New Pornographers All the Old Showstoppers
Spoon You Got Yr Cherry Bomb
Arcade Fire Keep the Car Running
Dan Deacon Wham City
The Shins Australia
M.I.A. Boyz
Animal Collective Peacebone
Of Montreal Heimdalsgate Like A Promethean Curse
New Pornographers Myriad Harbour
The Shins Phantom Limb
Band of Horses Is There a Ghost
The National Fake Empire
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah Satan Said Dance
Wilco You Are My Face
Feist I Feel It All
Battles Atlas
Lily Allen LDN
Radiohead House of Cards
Panda BearBros
Rilo Kiley Breakin' Up
Ted Leo & the Pharmacists Bomb.Repeat.Bomb.
Black Lips Veni Vidi Vici
Blitzen Trapper Wild Mountain Nation
!!! Must Be the Moon
Black Moth Super Rainbow Melt Me
LIST: 25 Best Albums of 2007
Every year as I compile my Best Of... list a theme emerges. Last year it was percussion (Liars, TV on the Radio, Glenn Kotche). This year seemed to mark a return to good old rock'n'roll peppered with outstanding electronic artists who seem to be at their best when applying their craft to - you guessed it - rock'n'roll. The top two spots were cemented early. The real battle was for the heart of the line up, #2 - 10, and #11-25 weren't much easier. Hope you had a good year of listening, all the best in 2008!
1. The National Boxer A bruised and beautiful punch drunk love letter to lost nights and the normal life.
2. LCD Soundsystem Sound of Silver Dance and rock make beautiful babies, as smart and soulful as they are fun
3. Spoon Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga Texas via Motown, Spoon grows and brightens their sound without losing the thread.
4. Radiohead In Rainbows Surpirse! Radiohead is a real band made of real men and they make real songs! What, you thought it was an elaborate technopolitical audio supercomputer managed by the great and mysterious Thom Yorke?
5. Battles Mirrored Score one for mathrock and unintelligible vocoder babble - big, bad, brainy and fun.
6. Band of Horses Cease to Begin The band's move to South Carolina softens well honed Pacific Northwest guitars.
7. Okkervil River The Stage Names Heart exploding rockudrama - amazing stories and characters set to outstanding Americana infused rock'n'roll.
8. Blitzen Trapper Wild Mountain Nation Their sophomore album marks huge strides forward. Loose and accessible but still loud, weird and fun - a very pleasant surprise.
9. New Pornographers Challengers Coming off of Twin Cinema's huge critical success in 2005 the bar was raised. AC Newman and Co. turn in yet another solid set of power pop anthems which sounds better every time I listen.
10. Grizzly Bear Friend ep EPs are like soup, often served in prelude to the main course. This soup eats like a meal, maybe an autumn lunch in New England with Brian Wilson.
11. Liars Liars Liars connect the dots between Trench and Drum and points between.
12/13. Panda Bear Person Pitch / Animal Collective Strawberry Jam Animal Collective member Panda Bear's solo outing isolates the larger outfit's parallel atmospheric and pop sensibilities while the full band's effort reins in the former, showcasing an increasingly tighter sound and Avey Tare's leadership as a frontman. Both are still plenty out there, but getting closer all the time.
14. Dan Deacon Spiderman of the Rings Is there such a thing as freaktronica? There is now, and Dan Deacon is its king.
15. Arcade Fire Neon Bible Oh so gloomy beautiful - a Springsteen / Bowie lovechild is born.
16. Of Montreal Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? Of Montreal can come off as simply trippy, manic or oddball, but Fauna finally adds some grown up teeth to the sound without dampening the party.
17. M.I.A. Kala Third world rhythms and politics meet western production causing many dance rave-ups along the way. I bet the kids still can't find Darfur on a map.
18. Lily Allen Alright, Still Saucy, grrly brit pop that doesn't slip into some Spice Girls caricature. Catchy and fun with no sticky aftertaste.
19. Iron & Wine The Shepard's Dog They might finally be a band rather than Sam Beam's musical moniker. I&W steps out rhythmically, bumping the tempo and volume ever higher but keeping their roots in Beam's poetic southern snapshots and situational studies.
20. Feist The Reminder Lovely, airy pop vocals from the Broken Social Scene siren. I'm sure this would have ranked higher if I were a nineteen year old girl.
21. Jose Gonzalez In Our Nature Earnest folk balladry gently pleas for better days, instead gets better music.
22. Matthew Dear Asa Breed To quote Greenie, "minimal-meets-electro funk." Dear keeps his vocals on the down-low letting the subtle swagger of his beats do the talking.
23. Justice (cross) Francokrautronica. Dark, big, bombastic and tightly controlled electronic / dance tracks from French kids who hate American kids but want all their stuff.
24. Black Lips Good Bad Not Evil Cheeky, raw, sincere and political, the Atlanta garage band breaks out.
25. Rilo Kiley Under the Blacklight Jenny Lewis' recent solo turn ads confidence to their sound, now sparkling beneath a mirror ball on loan from Debbie Harry.
2. LCD Soundsystem Sound of Silver Dance and rock make beautiful babies, as smart and soulful as they are fun
3. Spoon Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga Texas via Motown, Spoon grows and brightens their sound without losing the thread.
4. Radiohead In Rainbows Surpirse! Radiohead is a real band made of real men and they make real songs! What, you thought it was an elaborate technopolitical audio supercomputer managed by the great and mysterious Thom Yorke?
5. Battles Mirrored Score one for mathrock and unintelligible vocoder babble - big, bad, brainy and fun.
6. Band of Horses Cease to Begin The band's move to South Carolina softens well honed Pacific Northwest guitars.
7. Okkervil River The Stage Names Heart exploding rockudrama - amazing stories and characters set to outstanding Americana infused rock'n'roll.
8. Blitzen Trapper Wild Mountain Nation Their sophomore album marks huge strides forward. Loose and accessible but still loud, weird and fun - a very pleasant surprise.
9. New Pornographers Challengers Coming off of Twin Cinema's huge critical success in 2005 the bar was raised. AC Newman and Co. turn in yet another solid set of power pop anthems which sounds better every time I listen.
10. Grizzly Bear Friend ep EPs are like soup, often served in prelude to the main course. This soup eats like a meal, maybe an autumn lunch in New England with Brian Wilson.
11. Liars Liars Liars connect the dots between Trench and Drum and points between.
12/13. Panda Bear Person Pitch / Animal Collective Strawberry Jam Animal Collective member Panda Bear's solo outing isolates the larger outfit's parallel atmospheric and pop sensibilities while the full band's effort reins in the former, showcasing an increasingly tighter sound and Avey Tare's leadership as a frontman. Both are still plenty out there, but getting closer all the time.
14. Dan Deacon Spiderman of the Rings Is there such a thing as freaktronica? There is now, and Dan Deacon is its king.
15. Arcade Fire Neon Bible Oh so gloomy beautiful - a Springsteen / Bowie lovechild is born.
16. Of Montreal Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? Of Montreal can come off as simply trippy, manic or oddball, but Fauna finally adds some grown up teeth to the sound without dampening the party.
17. M.I.A. Kala Third world rhythms and politics meet western production causing many dance rave-ups along the way. I bet the kids still can't find Darfur on a map.
18. Lily Allen Alright, Still Saucy, grrly brit pop that doesn't slip into some Spice Girls caricature. Catchy and fun with no sticky aftertaste.
19. Iron & Wine The Shepard's Dog They might finally be a band rather than Sam Beam's musical moniker. I&W steps out rhythmically, bumping the tempo and volume ever higher but keeping their roots in Beam's poetic southern snapshots and situational studies.
20. Feist The Reminder Lovely, airy pop vocals from the Broken Social Scene siren. I'm sure this would have ranked higher if I were a nineteen year old girl.
21. Jose Gonzalez In Our Nature Earnest folk balladry gently pleas for better days, instead gets better music.
22. Matthew Dear Asa Breed To quote Greenie, "minimal-meets-electro funk." Dear keeps his vocals on the down-low letting the subtle swagger of his beats do the talking.
23. Justice (cross) Francokrautronica. Dark, big, bombastic and tightly controlled electronic / dance tracks from French kids who hate American kids but want all their stuff.
24. Black Lips Good Bad Not Evil Cheeky, raw, sincere and political, the Atlanta garage band breaks out.
25. Rilo Kiley Under the Blacklight Jenny Lewis' recent solo turn ads confidence to their sound, now sparkling beneath a mirror ball on loan from Debbie Harry.
REVIEW: Simian Mobile Disco "Attack Decay Sustain Release"
Dance is a label meant to describe the effect music has on one's body - a visceral, ape-brain response to rhythm and tempo. Electronic simply describes the way a sound is made. Together they are a thing and its purpose - form and content. The question is this: if the form is properly described (electronic) but the content falls short of its intended effect (dance) can it still keep the label? Is it dance music if it merely sounds like dance music without making one dance? All the signifiers are there, the bmmp bmmp bmmp and the arpeggiated metallics, the sexy guest vocalists half-singing syllables meant to loose meaning the second they've been heard. Yet there is something that falls just short of ecstatic / tribal / sexy or whatever else it is that flips the switch every time. "I Got This Down," the stand out single "Hustler," and "Tits & Acid" are each great tracks but they come off sounding more hip than hip-shaking. It's truly fine electronic pop mined from the rich and often tapped Daft Punk vein, but hipness can turn on a dime and there is seldom room for imitators at the top. Dance music about dancing that somehow barely, though occasionally, manages to make me dance.
LIST: Kyle's Totally Shameless Twelve Days of Music Wish List, 2007
It must be time for the 2007 edition of my Totally Shameless Twelve Days of Music Wish List!
5. Ryan Adams Follow the Lights ep
8. Queens of the Stone Age Era Vulgaris
9. Akron Family Love Is Simple
10. Great Lake Swimmers Ongiara
11. Various Artists People Take Warning! Murder Ballads & Disaster Songs, 1913-1938
12. Magnolia Electric Co. Sojourner (box set)
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