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A list by ParisOsmosisCategories: 2007 just a few releases that were playing on repeat a lot during 2007... |
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 | Sunset RubdownRandom Spirit Lover (2007)Number Ten Similar to comparing the Jicks outings between the first two Malkmus albums, Sunset Rubdown finally feels like a project unto itself as opposed to a vessel for the lead-man to filter his sole creative talent though. The whole experience is dense, disorientating and challenging which at the end leaves a sense of masochistic longing to dabble with it again and again. For awhile I resisted its charms and was immune to its allure; I would put it on and note some of the solos or releases of tension but never really sank into it. The songs flowed almost too seamlessly, the transitions too disorientating; it was too damn unpredictable and cryptic. But then, finally, it hit me and I was floored. There are always those concept albums that need to be heard in full to understand but this album transcends that approach. Its a dream with really no cohesion between actions and situations, just a dense collage of emotions, memories and magic. It may be abrasive and abstract at first but eventually when all your pre-convinced notions of what it should or might be are broken down are you finally allowed to be swept away its wonderful trance-like state. |
 | DeerhunterCryptograms / Fluorescent Grey (2007)Number Nine This album has an incredibly calming effect on me. During the spring when I was still in my "dark time" that was prevalent for the first half of this year I would drive around and let the waves of "Providence" and "Cryptograms" wash over me; serenity and peace would become the focal point of my mind during these times. That speaks volumes of the mood and effect this album attains to. Bradford Cox obviously has some issues, most notably is his contorted stage presence and look. As my buddy Cal noted "he has to be the ugliest lead-singer I have ever seen" after their show at Pitchfork earlier this year. His exile from normalcy and reported sexual abuse feed the emotional undercurrent of the album. "Spring Hall Convert" and "Lake Somerset" tap into this repressed frustration but what balances the album are the safe points akin to a child's hiding spot in "Hazel St" and "Heatherwood"; "I was 16 / I lived on Hazel Street / Protect me from my seam / And guide me with your heat" |
 | El-PI'll Sleep When You're Dead (2007)Number Eight I really dig El-P's production and approach to hip-hop; best emphasized on Cannibal Ox's 2001 release where El-P’s work demanded as much attention as the desolate and bleak rhymes. "I'll Sleep When You're Dead" is just as sick and slick with a more personal and potent approach due to him taking the MC reins under his own moniker Generally there is always that one moment in each of his songs where everything comes together and journeys to an "oh shit" moment where totally brilliance hits a swell point. Uncontent to find one catchy sample and to hit "repeat" his songs have a discernable beginning, middle and end with compelling tales and characters woven within. All of this is emphasized with wry humor, a bleak vision and fucking bad-ass persona. These points are best presented with Aesop Rock in the hip-hop banger "Run The Numbers". "2 out of the five of these fuses are wired live / if I wanna survive I gotta FIND THOSE DETONATORS!" opens the track and only continues to blaze and build from there. True an argument could be made for a aurora of over-indulgence and extreme theatrics with "I found a cure for cancer but it wasn't radio friendly" but honesty and on-target points are so prevalent that its less pessimistic and instead just depressingly realistic. I have pondered the influence of society and current state of the global conciseness on current music and we are most obviously in a dark place and time right now; El-P is suitable and important music for these times. As opposed to cashing in his distinctive talent with themes of drugs money and sex, hip-hip pre-requisites, El-P takes the road less traveled and continues to mould hip-hop into a battle-cry for the pissed-off and frustrated individual. |
 | MenomenaFriend and Foe (2007)Number Seven A fucked up version of Sesame Street to be sure, Menomena provide an uncompromisingly playful and dark vision to their rock. This is shit the Flaming Lips wish they could produce. "The Pelican" is one of the finest and most sinister tracks of '07. From the pounding on the piano to the searing guitar intro and finally the choir ending; the rest of the album is littered with similar moments but none as potent as Pelican. "Air Aid" and "Evil Bee" are both filled with smooth grooves balanced by moments of childlike jubilation while on the other hand "Boyscouti'n'" will have you humming along to a chorus of whistling while the singer ruminates "I can't believe I lanced my hand to help destroy a helpless man". What separates this album from being another novelty indie shtick of a band are the sobering themes and subtlety that run rampant throughout the song-writing. "What if all my enemies were dead?" is uttered with dread and disdain lacking any sense satisfaction and its polarizing moments such as these that make the album really stand-out and give it emotional weight. Creative, hilarious and heat-breaking, oh and it also has what is possibly the best CD cover art ever. |
RadioheadIn Rainbows (2007)Number Six I hazily almost admitted to my friend Zak a week ago that "In Rainbows" may in fact be better than "Kid A"; something that would have sounded crazy to me only a month previous. Kid is a hard cookie to crack as I remember having "Morning Bell" and "Optimistic" on repeat for months while walking the cold fall streets of Madison on my way to work at Mountain Jacks in 2000. "Kid A" was a revelation to many jaded rock listeners yet to me at the time it was just the album after OK; there were few rock cynicisms in my mind then and its tone and mood are tied to me without precursor. "In Rainbows" did not have this luxury with me. Now there are horrible things like “expectations” and “comparisons” to bring into the equation yet the album has yet to falter in my mind and has instead grown. What I love about this album is how heartfelt it is. While reading some Soto Zen parables today the phrase "Do not think of yourself as someone's teacher or as someone's predecessor" hit me and while in-taking the thought I decided that in fact is the way to not only approach music but practically everything else that surrounds and feeds into music; Radiohead have that wonderful attribute of taking the knowledge necessary to evolve their sound and skill but the ability to separate their influences or ego from tarnishing the music itself. I was sure this album would be their undoing; how wrong I was. It came at the perfect time with execution and style to match and once again I found myself heading to work while obsessing over Radiohead. | |
 | The NationalBoxer (2007)Number Five Ryan and Audrey, my brother and his girlfriend, lived with me from March of this year until November. A good experience to be sure with the normal complications arising from sharing a space with two other people. Anyway, Ryan and I are drastically different; night and day, cats and dogs, Pumpkins and Pavement. Regardless he heard me play this album once or twice and almost immediately he burned a copy to his Xbox 360's harddrive. For 6 months this album was mixed within a collage of Sublime, Tool, Rage and Chili Peppers while he grinded away at accomplishing a high-level achievement in Gears of War; this all being something that I watched and experienced with him as part of a daily social engagement. (To give you some perspective it took that kid probably 200 hundred hours to get that fuckin’ achievement, no joke) What I think Ryan and I have in common is a shared appreciation of the desolation and isolation that comes with not only living within the "American Dream" but just from living in general. Springsteen, 80's U2 and even Joy Division tapped into that aging desperation of humanity by applying it to relatable and wholesome settings only to destroy the idealistic vision and show what lies behind the curtain. So getting back to Ryan and I and The National. "Let's put a little something in our lemonade" is our upbringing in a lot of ways with all the complexities that comes from being around frustrated and confused adults to which I now call myself apart of and this album is easily the biggest bridge album between the two of us as brothers. |
 | Arcade FireNeon Bible (2007)Number Four "Neon Bible" is infinitely more interesting to me than "Funeral". Supposedly bible is the case for how much Win Butler can overstate his lyrics; bullshit. Bible sees the band expanding their lyrical scope and instrumental use and the results are half a step short of perfection. "Black Mirror" opens on a somber note with a pulsating beat steadfastly progressing the song. Granted the album would fall into the category of "grating" if every song was similar to track 2, "Keep the Car Running", but the brilliance comes from the polarizing song selection with the subtle and beautiful album-titled track 3 preventing this from becoming another chamber-pop record. "Ocean of Noise", the centerpiece of the album, debates the struggles of discerning truth from fiction, wrong from right and the hopelessness and frustration that arise from such impossible questions which accumulate in a heartbreaking release "I'm gonna work it out/Cause time wont work it out/I'm gonna work it out/Cause time wont work it our for you". Most importantly for me Arcade Fire have brought back a band mystique that is seriously lacking from 99% of the music currently being produced. There are things to discover within "Neon Bible" whether its embedded in the cryptic "overstated" lyrics or from calling the "Neon Bible" hotline or even viewing the equally mysterious videos and projects they have designed around the album. Nothing is straight-forward or obvious. Is it really so bad that a band finally drop the cynicism that arises from writing emotive and powerful lyrics? Is it really that horrible to have emotional-weight to anchor a band instead of some sort of tongue-in-cheek hipster persona (see No. 1 Of Montreal)? Thank you Arcade Fire for restoring my faith in giving a shit about something. |
 | SpoonGa Ga Ga Ga Ga (2007)Number Three This is Spoon at their unhinged greatness. "Gimme Shelter" was too shortsighted, "Kill the Moonlight" too juvenile; Ga rectifies and refines the Spoon formula and what is left is a damn near perfect rock 'n roll record. I am all for minimalism and am a huge fan of Spoon’s sparse song-structures since "Kill" was released but it finally seems they are tired of playing it safe and instead choose to just rock out while remaining as catchy as possible. The album opens up with Britt Daniel asking to not be made a target which accumulates in an eye-popping swell of static guitar at the conclusion of the track. Following is the sublime "The Ghost of You Lingers" which is a perfect lesson in how to make an empty "bridge" song within an album concept take on a life of its own. "Don’t You Evah" and "The Underdog" put on full display Spoon’s ability to come off as the coolest motherfuckers in indie right now and really do nothing special aside from just being damn good. "Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga" is a rock record first and foremost tied around a lose concept with an oddly fitting industrial production to boot. It doesn't do anything new per say or anything experimental, its just awesome indie rock with no filler or over-hyped band image to get in the way which makes it special not just for 2007 but for indie rock in general. |
 | M.I.A.Kala (2007)Number Two The first day I got the vinyl I rushed home, threw it on my turntable and immediately called Leslie on the phone "So M.I.A. is the new Madonna" "uh yeah", with obvious and justified skepticism in her voice "mark my words; she is new queen of pop" Typically when I burn hot on an album a certain amount of apprehension sets in. Is this love going to run out shortly? Is the record really that good? I emailed Cal a few days later declaring it one of the best of 2007 which brings us to now; this album is easily one of the best pop albums in what, a couple decades? Hyperbole aside every track on there is either killer or oddly compelling (i.e. Mango Pickle Down River). "Bamboo Banga" starts out with some Modern Lovers lyrics sewn in before it hits the gas mid-song, the tempo carrying over into the schizophrenic "Bird Flu". "Jimmy" weaves in some disco fever and passionate desperation; "You told me that your busy / Your loving makes me crazy / I know that you hear me / Start acting like you want me". "World Town" and "XR2" are dance manifestos rushing into the show stopper "Paper Planes" where a meager-sounding Maya details her illegal exploits to a Clash sample and some of the most effective sound-effects I have encountered in a song. There are so many aspects to this album that work that it would take pages to detail all the positives. It has a fierce attitude and bleak, yet provocative, outlook on the world. Its danceable, jamable, insanely fun and heart-breakingly sad. This album is so fucking good that I have had to go back and listen to her first album, "Arular", and reconsider its merits; turns out "Kala" has even elevated the effectiveness of that album as well. I think it was in October when I was talking to Leslie and she said, "You know that Jimmy song? It sounds a lot like Madonna". |
 | of MontrealHissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? (2007)One Sweet One Where to start with this one? What hasn't this album symbolized to me in the last 12 months? Let me preface with a short story. I escaped a horrible relationship in August of 2006. Over the next 2 months three of my best friends left Wisconsin in conjunction with me moving into an apartment by myself for the first time ever. To say that I was secluded, frustrated and despondent would be an understatement. I subsequently had the worst November ever followed by a confusing and depressing winter. I found this album in February and poured all my frustrations into it. “Poppy cynicism for the art of breaking-up” is an apt description of the album. Songs are bouncy, playful and sprawling yet tied to the central theme of Kevin Barnes’ temporary separation from his wife shortly after having their first child. His approach of strength by setting up tough emotional barriers and disconnecting though indifference are regular tactics in my own handbook. "chemicals don't strangle my head" in “Heimdalsgate Like a Promethean Curse" parallels my own drastic and uncontrollable shifting between moods as repressed longing and frustration boiled and seeped out though my actions. "and its just like you to hurt me when I'm feeling good”; preach it brother. On "The Past is a Grotesque Animal" Barnes lets loose in a 12 minute bitch-out of his ex-lover which jumps over into "Bunny Ain't No Kind of Rider" where "you ain't got no soul power" relates the gross lack of meaning within the relationship. "Faberge Falls for Shuggie" contains one of the most awesome spills of emotion found in a pop song this year with the equally brilliant "She's a Rejecter" diving to the lowest of lows as a bitter Barnes mulls paying off some random chick to go lay the beat-down on his ex; a fucking beautiful thought that I only replayed in my mind for months on end. None of this quite captures my experience of love lost as "A Sentence of Sorts in Kongsvinger". "I spent the winter on the verge of a total breakdown / While living in Norway / I felt the darkness of the black metal bands / But being such fawn of a man / I didn't burn down any old churches / Just slept way too much, just slept"; the similarity between his experience and mine are uncanny...save for my never visiting Kongsvinger I suppose. "And through many dreadful nights / I lay praying to a saint that nobody has heard of / And waiting for some high times to come again" was day in and day out my mantra. By this point I had lost my faith in any god or entity having any control over the universe and thus any meaning within life was null with my brain. Love was a fucking piece of shit as was my ex and maybe, even myself. My perception was so distorted and lost in existentialism that enjoyment was sucked from practically every aspect of my life and I was a bitch because of it. But eventually Bares re-connected with his wife and I did the same with life in general...or I guess I found a fulfilling outlet in my job at the Co-Op come July of 2007. To me this is the perfect break-up album capturing angst, despondency and remorse. I don't think anyone can say Barnes is entirely an adult in his approach of dealing with loss but who the hell is? This album was my life for almost 6 months both in how much I played it and all the eerie parallels to my life and from that it has been bound to a memory and time of extremely high emotional resonance; because of all that it is easily my pick for 2007. |
And then a few other items that had me jammin' a lot (in no particular order): | |
 | The FieldFrom Here We Go Sublime (2007) |
 | PJ HarveyWhite Chalk (2007) |
 | NeurosisGiven to the Rising (2007) |
 | The Fiery FurnacesWidow City (2007) |
 | DeerhunterFluorescent Grey (2007) [EP] |
 | Lil' MamaLip Gloss (2007) [Single] |
 | LCD SoundsystemSound of Silver (2007) |
 | Panda BearPerson Pitch (2007) |
 | Animal CollectiveStrawberry Jam (2007) |
 | A Place to Bury StrangersA Place to Bury Strangers (2007) |
 | Róisín MurphyOverpowered (2007) |
 | JesuConqueror (2007) |
 | DeerhoofFriend Opportunity (2007) |
 | BattlesMirrored (2007) |
 | Aesop RockNone Shall Pass (2007) |