| Top albums for '07. |
[Dec. 28th, 2007|04:04 pm] |
First off, honorable mentions go to:
20. Stars' "In Our Bedroom After the War."
19. Air's "Pocket Symphony."
18. Kanye West's "Graduation."
17. Lily Allen's "Alright, Still."
16. The Pipettes' "Pull Shapes."
15. The Arcade Fire's "Neon Bible."
14. Broken Social Scene Presents: Kevin Drew's "Spirit if..."
13. Rilo Kiley's "Under the Blacklight."
12. Marnie Stern's "In Advance of the Broken Arm."
11. The Fiery Furnace's "Widow City."
Top 10 Albums(plus awards):
10. "Hissing Fauna... Are You the Destroyer?" - Of Montreal.
-It's kinda weird how this & Sunlandic twins are the same stylistically, and yet on completely opposite sides of the spectrum in terms of mood. Hissing Fauna's the dark to sunlandic twins' light. You finally get to hear Kevin Barnes being as cynical as you want him to be!! (Assuming, of course, that you're like me and really want Kevin Barnes to be cynical.)
9. "All Y'All" - Travis Morrison Hellfighters.
*Closest-thing-to-a-spazz-rock album*
-It saddens me that Travis is embarassed of his first album, but since "All Y'all" probably wouldn't have happened otherwise, the ends justify the means. Close enough to spazz-rock to make me happy, and i guess far enough from it to make Travis happy. Still needs to stop being so vague with his lyrics though.
8. "Friend and Foe" - Menomena.
Except when he sounds too much like Bob Nanna from Braid/Hey Mercedes and it creeps me out. That's only for 2 songs though... As catchy as it needs to be, with just a little power behind it. Strong representative for indie-rock in '07.
7. "Marry Me" - St. Vincent.
*Prettiest album of '07*
I got on board for St. Vincent a little late, but luckilly I made it. "Marry Me" is an easy album to listen to. Jazzy, light-hearted, poppy when it needs to be, good for all moods. Basically, St. Vincent > Feist.
6. "Volta" - Bjork.
*Best female release*
New Bjork! Hooray! Constantly redefining herself, she now incorporates beats by TI in her music. She mainly uses them as tribal like beats and it works really well. Much more accessible than her last album "Medulla." If it weren't for "Declare Independence" the album would be flawless.
5. "Some Loud Thunder" - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah.
*Winner of the CYHSY/Arcade Fire follow-up face-off*
Elements of a successful follow-up to your debut: improve upon at least one aspect or use of an instrument in your music... Check. Sing better than you could before... Check. Write a song noone expected to hear from you... Check. It's just that! The issue of Alec's voice is no longer a problem, he actually sings better now. As for the song, "goodbye to the mother and the cover" is a ballad with almost a dueling guitar sound. that blows up into a CYHSY sing along. A good follow up!
4. "Challengers" - The New Pornographers.
*Feel good album of the year*
Very laid-back for a New Pornos album. Sounds more like AC Newman's solo work. The hits on "Challengers" are exactly that, and this album has a few of their most addicting songs yet. Great division of who sings which songs, and Neko Case's voice shines on "Challengers."
3. "Myth Takes" - !!!.
*Most improved*
!!! takes a new direction, and it's a good one. No longer as much of a jam band as they used to be, now they've taken their self-labeled "funk punk" style to its limits with powerful, catchy dance songs.
2. "Strawberry Jam" - Animal Collective.
Animal Collective didn't kid around this year... "Strawberry Jam" is a big change from their past albums, but in all the right ways. They're no longer hiding the catchiness of their songs behind noise. Rather, they've created a symbiotic relationship between the two, where the chaos can often be the catchiest aspect of the song.
1. "Fur & Gold" - Bat For Lashes
*Album of the year... Duh.*
*Best alt-folk album*
The song "Trophy" alone could potentially be a win for Bat For Lashes. Natasha Khan's Bjork-esque voice collides against endless hordes of percussion "instruments." Half the album makes you want to dance the night away while the other half leaves you stunned as Natasha belts out some mystical folklore.
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Noteworthy EP's:
Beirut's "Lon Gisland EP."
A Hawk & A Hacksaw's "A Hawk & A Hacksaw and the Hun Hangar Ensemble."
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Top 5 Live Performances:
5. Stars @ Vic.
4. Appleseed Cast & Enon @ Abbey Pub.
3. Bat for Lashes @ Empty Bottle.
2. Broken Social Scene @ Webster Hall.
1. Hey Mercedes @ Metro..
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Top 5 Songs:
5. "Keep the Car Running" - The Arcade Fire..
4. "Adventures in Solitude" - The New Pornographers.
3. "My Moon My Man" - Feist.
2. "Australia" - The Shins.
1. "Trophy" - Bat For Lashes.
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Top 5 Let-downs: (honorable mention goes to Wilco)
5. "Back to Black" - Amy Winehouse.
-With all the hype about Amy Winehouse, I was expecting something yanno... Good. Instead, I got a gimmick... An ugly little Jewish girl who sounds like she's black. I'll stick with the 50's...
4. "Places Like This" - Architecture in Helsinki.
-Why do they sound like the B-52's now? Actually, better question... Why would anyone sound like the B-52's?
3. "The Reminder" - Feist.
-I've really given it my all to like this album... There are a few good songs on there, but Feist is too much of a hits artist. As a whole, the album is just too boring. I don't really consider Feist much of an alternative artist anymore.
2. "Wincing the Night Away" - The Shins.
-Again, boredom is the issue. The Shins do poppy well, and there are a few hits on this album too (it's kind of weird that 2 of my favorite songs in '07 came from 2 of the albums that most disappointed me.) But Slow Shins? No thank you. They don't really have the talent to slow down & keep my attention.
1. "We Were Dead Before the Ship Sank" - Modest Mouse.
-Might as well be a collection of Modest Mouse gimmicks. I still do NOT understand why Johnny Marr joining Modest Mouse was a big deal? People who got into Modest Mouse from "Good News for People Who Love Bad News" probably had to wikipedia him to find out who he was, and people who do know him probably know he's done nothing good since The Smiths, and "We Were Dead" is no exception. It's basically Isaac Brock doing all the quirky things he does on his previous albums, except that's ALL he does now.
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Worst song of '07: Bjork's "Declare Independence."
-Love Bjork to death, but she should NOT be writing political punk songs.
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Top 5 "I really don't care about..."s:
5. White Stripes "Icky Thump."
-I'm starting to rethink this one... Especially because I bumped Queens of the Stone Age for it. My thought throughout the year was "I've had enough Jack White. Leave me alone." But we'll see what '08 has to say about Icky Thump.
4. Iron and Wine's "The Shephard's Dog."
-Didn't get as much buzz as I expected it to, but I still didn't care when it came out.
3. Tegan & Sara's "The Con."
-I like "So Jealous" to a point. That's all the Tegan & Sara I really need.
2. Radiohead's "In Rainbows."
-By now we should all know that I hate Radiohead. I don't care that your album's free and you're asking for donations (that's what "name your price" is, stop sugar-coating it.) It's been done before, this isn't stuff that should be in newspapers.
1. Rivers Cuomo's "Alone."
-When they release an anthology of Rivers Cuomo's life I might by it. Only if he's actually dead though. I don't care about his home recordings. Only Weezer member I still care about is Brian Bell (sorry, Patrick).
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Stuff I wish I got to check out/listen to more of/really get into before writing this:
Apples in Stereo, Band of Horses, Battles, Black Kids, Black Lips, Carribou, Dan Deacon, Davandra Banhart, Deerhoof, Dinosaur Jr, Enon, Georgie James, Ghost, Go! Team, Grizzly Bear, Ladybug Transistor, Les Savy Fav. (Why aren't you, heap anywhere!?, Liars, Maritime, MIA, The National, Okkervil River, Robert Pollard, Panda Bear, The Sea & Cake, Six Organs of Admittance, Sunset Rubdown, Thurston Moore.
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Highs and Lows of Robby's Life in '07:
5- Loss of a few friends.
5+ Met some cool replacements.
4- Missed a lot of shows for a lot of stupid reasons: 4 of which I'd even purchased a ticket to!
4+ The great Wal-Mart scandal of '07: Started in '06, returned $70 worth of merchandise from EB to Wal-Mart for a total of $350 in store credit. Bought a Wii!
3- Working at Wal-Mart for 3 months: On the plus side, I did steal a lot.
3+ Alcohol is introduced into Robby's life on his 21st birthday: All of a sudden, speaking gets a lot easier.
2- Sex with underage girls: Especially when their mother finds you there in the morning and informs you of their daughter's age... *cringe*
2+ Rebellious behavior as an RA at Five Towns College: Includes drinking in the RA booth, doing absolutely nothing job-related, writing articles against the administration, and wiping my ass with job-related-documents in front of my boss.
1- Death of 2 cats: Speedy(age: 15) and Casey Jones(age: 5 months): I put them together because it's unfair to rate them against one another.
1+ Transfering out of Five Towns and moving to Chicago: good move, Robby. |
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