måndag 24 Dec 2007, 16:12
This year had a lot of ups and downs, musically. I recall early April thinking that I'd just had he best musical beginning of the year in a long time. I have had that thought before, but was surprised to see that those early feelings held true and that as I put this list together, a number of those early faves made it to the top. As usual, there were a few big dissapointments (that second half of the Shellac album totally killed that one for me) and a few things that I really didn't seem to get as much as everyone else (but by all accounts should have based on my general tastes… hello, The Field?).
I'm still looking forward to seeing everyone else's list and using up that Amazon credit that's burning a hole in my virtual pocket. Also, still looking forward to the CBS Top 100 (Tune in Dec 26th!) which, if past years are any predictor, will give me plenty to add to my early purchase bin in 2008.
No more fanfare..
Top 10 in order:
1. El-P - I'll Sleep When You're Dead: While my indie hip hop listening has waned the past few years, this album was way more than a just a good rap album. It reminded me of so many of my first musical loves; conveying of an intense and honest passion and politics, both worn on its sleeve…like great punk or raw, earnest indie pop. Favorite Track: Up All Night
2. Burial - Untrue: It's a total cop-out, but I had to forgo my blub about this album when I saw the Pitchfork year-end list. Like few reviews on their site, this paragraph was a perfect, succinct and yet complete encapsulation of why this is one of the two albums this year I'd deem an objective masterpiece (El-P being the other). So yeah, what Mark Richardson said...
Favorite Track: Etched Headplate
3. Dinosaur Jr. - Beyond: I don't know anyone who saw this fantastic reunion album coming. Of course, despite testifyin' like crazy, I still don't think I've managed to convince hardly anyone that this is truly a fantastic album, period. While Lou Barlow defined my latter 1990s, he lost me somewhere and I recommend deleting his two songs off this album to boost it up to a 100%-kick-ass rating from start to end. Favorite Track: It's Me
4. Gui Boratto - Chromophobia: A refreshing break from a lot of techno sameness in terms of sounds, this album manages to inject some brightness and cheer into a solid, ass-shaking 'minimal' base. It gets me head-nodding, knee bouncing and cracking a little dance-smile every time I come back to it. Looking back at some of the pure techno additions to my "best of" lists from past years, I find a fair number of less-than-timeless entries. But as for Chromophobia, I still haven't heard anything that hits these same sweet spots…Total keeper. Getting too drunk to enjoy his only Smart Bar appearance was one of those boozy mistakes I regret more than most. Favorite Track: Terminal
5. LCD Soundsystem - Sound Of Silver: So
many high moments on this album, it's one that has that great quality of offering new favorites with each additional listen. And I must mention that the pych-freak-out hugeness of their live show managed to crush even the monumental annoyance of a urine-smelling-hippie. Not that I still can't bitch about how nasty that was. Favorite Track: Someone Great
6. Jesu - Conqueror & Lifeline: I'm putting these two (the full length and an EP) together because it's my list and I can. Jesu has now made my last 2 years of "best ofs" and the gentle shifting in direction towards even more fuzzed-out, shoegazer-y dream-metal has been the icing on their discography cake. Perfect, heavy and lush, this winter I plan on many loud listens on headphones or when the house is empty. It's gonna be better than having a fireplace and a fake-bear rug. Another set of great live shows..beautiful, devastating. Favorite Track: Lifeline
7. Justice - †: Big, bouncy, fun. Banging good electro with that tough meaty edge that pushes this one over the top for me. The hints of disco and the fat buzzy synths…=> Goooood stuff. Songs this huge have a tendency to burn themselves out pretty quickly (see: Simian Mobile Disco), but I think that the super high quality of the songs and the significant variety within each song and within the album as a whole keep this pretty fresh despite a large number of listens. Favorite Track: Phantom
8. Modest Mouse - We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank: Can I take back my placement of their last album on my 2004 list? What I really meant is that *this* is the album that deserves the top spot. I was never a Smiths fan so the addition of whats-his-name doesn't really mean anything to me, but whatever they are doing, they should definitely keep it up. I don't listen to enough radio to know if Dashboard was the hit single it should have been. Was it? People as Places as People is another great one that has all those classic MM moments.. bit of yelping, the bendy guitar lines, a healthy dose of jingle jangle… Favorite Track: People as Places as People
9. Liars - Liars: A Liars album that everyone can get into. A great example of an album that doesn't overstay it's welcome. Anyone reading this knows that you can half fill a CD with great music and it's going to be a better value than an 80 minute disc that's half filler and throw-aways. Short, to the point, great hooks that are nicely buried and mangled and NOISY! Favorite Track: Cycle Time
10. Dan Deacon - Spiderman of the Rings: When
I'm trying to describe something and I'm flailing around and the best I can come up with is "They don't really sound like much I can pinpoint", that's usually a good sign. Unless of course it's total crap. But this isn't.. and this was one of my eMusic experiments this year which makes it a nice cheap find as well as a good one. Seriously, I'm not going to try and describe what I love about this album except to say that it's nuts, and hilarious and definitely unique. Smiling now as I think about how awesome Snake Mistakes are…. is. Snake Mistakes
These 10 are highly recommended as standing out from the rest as well.
Blonde Redhead - 23
The Ponys - Turn The Lights Out
Thurston Moore - Trees Outside The Academy
Ulrich Schnauss - Goodbye
Studio - West Coast
Matthew Dear - Asa Breed
Battles - Mirrored
Daft Punk - Alive 2007
Apples in Stereo - New Magnetic Wonder
Marnie Stern - In Advance of the Broken Arm