Firefall15. Y Society -- Travel At Your Own Pace
Considering how heavily I was into hip-hop in high school and college, it’s a little dissapointing that I don’t keep up with the genre. Too much of the popular stuff (in my opinion) is really watered-down gangster rap cliches heard 1,000 times before with dull beats and R&B choruses. If that’s the criteria for sales, this album won’t sell much. But when it comes to the stuff I dug about hip-hop waaaay back when: clever sampling, addictive beats and smart, well-written raps (no obscenities – no kidding), Y Society comes up huge. Check out both versions of “Never Off (On and On)” and “Dizzy.”
14. The Crimea -- Secrets of the Witching Hour
This promising Brit band gave this away (right here) yet sadly did not quite get the press other bands got for doing similar things. Oh well, it’s a good album regardless. Lots of sweeping rock without necessarily shooting for U2-esque grandiosity.
13. Grand Drive -- Everyone
Props to my last.fm pal Antoniazzi, who got me into this UK band. Proof you don’t have to live in America to create intelligent, inspiring Americana. “Knives and Forks” and “Be Lucky” are just two of the highlights.
12. Fountains of Wayne -- Traffic and Weather
It wasn’t well-reviewed and the lack of another “Stacy’s Mom” didn’t help saleswise. Still, us power pop addicts still nodded and sung along, and at the end of the day, isn’t that what it’s all about?
11. The Twilight Sad -- Fourteen Autumns, Fifteen Winters
An intriguing debut, to be sure. Lots of distorted guitars, throbbing bass, and a lot of other instruments (harmoniums? accordians? White-noise machines? All of the above?) converge to make this thick fog of sound, with a dude with a pronounced Scottish brogue struggling to be heard above it all. I especially liked “Tonight I Am Taking the Train Home,” not only for the climatic aural blizzard in the final third, but for the way they hit a certain chord in the chorus that sounds beautiful and wrong at the same time. The problem The Twilight Sad have now is how exactly they’ll follow up on such a distinctive sound.
10. Queens of the Stone Age -- Era Vulgaris
Josh Homme and company still tread that “too indie for the metal kids, too metal for the indie kids” line, but cutting down on the rock star cameos and keeping the same core band throughout continues to pay dividends here. “3s and 7s” just may be the best thing they’ve ever created in the studio, and the video’s nice and naughty as well.
9. Spoon -- Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
There are quite a few bands I count on releasing top 15 materiaal with every CD they release, and almost every year a few bands end up short of the mark, at least in my eyes. This year, you can certainly count the latest New Pornographers CD in that category (though Challengers still may end up growing on me) and also this one, though not as much. The songs I love, I really love (the first 3 songs and “My Little Japanese Cigarette Case”) and the others don’t make much of an impression.
8. Voxtrot -- Voxtrot
The popular consensus is that this, Voxtrot’s first full-length, didn’t maintain the fiery passion and pop smarts found on their previous E.Ps and singles. You won’t hear that from me, but then again, I have yet to hear any of their other material (I found a promo copy of this for $.50 at a record store’s birthday sale.) Now I’m almost afraid to listen to their early stuff for fear of being retroactively dissapointed! I do think these guys have a winning (if not terribly original) sound, and you have to admire a band that writes a chorus like “Cheer me up, cheer me up/I’m a miserable fuck.”
7.You Am I -- Convicts
Some see the act of making albums as work, art, or contract fulfillment. With You Am I’s 6th record, it certainly seems like an act of catharsis. It takes a certain kind of temperment to write songs with titles like “Thank God I’ve Hit the Bottom,” “It Ain’t Funny How We Don’t Talk Anymore” and “I’m a Mess.” The silver lining of this gigantic grey cloud is that the subject matter didn’t dilute the band’s talent for rock drive, pop hooks and sly sense of humor. (The title refers to their Australian heritage, see...) [Note: while this was released back in 2006 elsewhere, we USA folk didn’t get ours until February, so that explains that.]
6. Josh Rouse -- Country Mouse, City House
This makes Mr. Rouse an occupant on three consecutive top 15 charts penned by yours truly. Sorry, I don’t have a certificate or statuette, but maybe the next time he swings by southern WI I’ll bake him some cookies or something. Sterling live show as well.
5. The National -- Boxer
Yeah, this is ending on a LOT of top 10 lists, and there’s a damn good reason why. The 12 songs join together like scenes in a movie, filled with smoky rooms, seedy characters and a cinematographer’s deft sense of shadow and light. The uptempo stuff (“Mistaken for Strangers”) sticks in the cranium, and the more melancholy songs (“Ada,” “Racing Like a Pro”) almost seems to smolder.
4. Idlewild -- Make Another World
Idlewild may never top 100 Broken Windows. Still, thePixies never bested Surfer Rosa and R.E.M. (arguably) never quite matched Murmur, and that sure as hell doesn't invalidate the oevure of either band. Plenty of good tunes on Idlewild's latest nonetheless, especially opening track “In Competition For the Worst Time” and the way the title track just surges full of purpose and resolve at the chorus.
3. Sloan -- Never Hear The End Of It
Let’s face it: if any band had to record a 30-track, near-80 minute chunk of plastic with few pauses and even fewer clunkers, I’d nominate Halifax’s Fabbest Foursome to do the honors, anyway. Along the way, the band gleefully run through genres like costume changes at a community theatre – a little glam here, straight-up power-pop there, sensitive balladry down the line, witty lyrics a song or two ahead. [Again, we in the States did not receive a domestic release until early 07, but checking my records reveals it’d been #3 on the 2006 list, too.]
2. Radiohead -- In Rainbows
Blah blah name-your-price download blah blah blah surprise release blah blah blah shook the music industry blah blah blah blah their best album in years blah blah blah blah...
1. Wilco -- Sky Blue Sky
Not everyone was feeling Jeff Tweedy’s decision to get a little more laid back and easy listening, but to these ears it seemed like the perfect sound at the right time. Don’t get me wrong, I loved their harsher, artsier stuff too, but it seemed they had hit an impasse of sorts. (It doesn’t hurt that I have a soft spot for “mellow gold”-style artists like Bread, Firefall and Poco, either.) Plus, the more contemplative music allows the listener to appreciate what a fantastic lyricist Tweedy is. From “ceiling fan is on/chopping up my dreams” to “tires type black/where the blacktop cracks/weeds spout through/dark green enough to be blue” he always comes up with these perfect lines I wished I’d written.
OK, that's it for the honors. Thanks for reading and I'll put down the list of 2007 CDs that might have been on the list that I haven't gotten to just yet soon.
Considering how heavily I was into hip-hop in high school and college, it’s a little dissapointing that I don’t keep up with the genre. Too much of the popular stuff (in my opinion) is really watered-down gangster rap cliches heard 1,000 times before with dull beats and R&B choruses. If that’s the criteria for sales, this album won’t sell much. But when it comes to the stuff I dug about hip-hop waaaay back when: clever sampling, addictive beats and smart, well-written raps (no obscenities – no kidding), Y Society comes up huge. Check out both versions of “Never Off (On and On)” and “Dizzy.”
14. The Crimea -- Secrets of the Witching Hour
This promising Brit band gave this away (right here) yet sadly did not quite get the press other bands got for doing similar things. Oh well, it’s a good album regardless. Lots of sweeping rock without necessarily shooting for U2-esque grandiosity.
13. Grand Drive -- Everyone
Props to my last.fm pal Antoniazzi, who got me into this UK band. Proof you don’t have to live in America to create intelligent, inspiring Americana. “Knives and Forks” and “Be Lucky” are just two of the highlights.
12. Fountains of Wayne -- Traffic and Weather
It wasn’t well-reviewed and the lack of another “Stacy’s Mom” didn’t help saleswise. Still, us power pop addicts still nodded and sung along, and at the end of the day, isn’t that what it’s all about?
11. The Twilight Sad -- Fourteen Autumns, Fifteen Winters
An intriguing debut, to be sure. Lots of distorted guitars, throbbing bass, and a lot of other instruments (harmoniums? accordians? White-noise machines? All of the above?) converge to make this thick fog of sound, with a dude with a pronounced Scottish brogue struggling to be heard above it all. I especially liked “Tonight I Am Taking the Train Home,” not only for the climatic aural blizzard in the final third, but for the way they hit a certain chord in the chorus that sounds beautiful and wrong at the same time. The problem The Twilight Sad have now is how exactly they’ll follow up on such a distinctive sound.
10. Queens of the Stone Age -- Era Vulgaris
Josh Homme and company still tread that “too indie for the metal kids, too metal for the indie kids” line, but cutting down on the rock star cameos and keeping the same core band throughout continues to pay dividends here. “3s and 7s” just may be the best thing they’ve ever created in the studio, and the video’s nice and naughty as well.
9. Spoon -- Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
There are quite a few bands I count on releasing top 15 materiaal with every CD they release, and almost every year a few bands end up short of the mark, at least in my eyes. This year, you can certainly count the latest New Pornographers CD in that category (though Challengers still may end up growing on me) and also this one, though not as much. The songs I love, I really love (the first 3 songs and “My Little Japanese Cigarette Case”) and the others don’t make much of an impression.
8. Voxtrot -- Voxtrot
The popular consensus is that this, Voxtrot’s first full-length, didn’t maintain the fiery passion and pop smarts found on their previous E.Ps and singles. You won’t hear that from me, but then again, I have yet to hear any of their other material (I found a promo copy of this for $.50 at a record store’s birthday sale.) Now I’m almost afraid to listen to their early stuff for fear of being retroactively dissapointed! I do think these guys have a winning (if not terribly original) sound, and you have to admire a band that writes a chorus like “Cheer me up, cheer me up/I’m a miserable fuck.”
7.You Am I -- Convicts
Some see the act of making albums as work, art, or contract fulfillment. With You Am I’s 6th record, it certainly seems like an act of catharsis. It takes a certain kind of temperment to write songs with titles like “Thank God I’ve Hit the Bottom,” “It Ain’t Funny How We Don’t Talk Anymore” and “I’m a Mess.” The silver lining of this gigantic grey cloud is that the subject matter didn’t dilute the band’s talent for rock drive, pop hooks and sly sense of humor. (The title refers to their Australian heritage, see...) [Note: while this was released back in 2006 elsewhere, we USA folk didn’t get ours until February, so that explains that.]
6. Josh Rouse -- Country Mouse, City House
This makes Mr. Rouse an occupant on three consecutive top 15 charts penned by yours truly. Sorry, I don’t have a certificate or statuette, but maybe the next time he swings by southern WI I’ll bake him some cookies or something. Sterling live show as well.
5. The National -- Boxer
Yeah, this is ending on a LOT of top 10 lists, and there’s a damn good reason why. The 12 songs join together like scenes in a movie, filled with smoky rooms, seedy characters and a cinematographer’s deft sense of shadow and light. The uptempo stuff (“Mistaken for Strangers”) sticks in the cranium, and the more melancholy songs (“Ada,” “Racing Like a Pro”) almost seems to smolder.
4. Idlewild -- Make Another World
Idlewild may never top 100 Broken Windows. Still, thePixies never bested Surfer Rosa and R.E.M. (arguably) never quite matched Murmur, and that sure as hell doesn't invalidate the oevure of either band. Plenty of good tunes on Idlewild's latest nonetheless, especially opening track “In Competition For the Worst Time” and the way the title track just surges full of purpose and resolve at the chorus.
3. Sloan -- Never Hear The End Of It
Let’s face it: if any band had to record a 30-track, near-80 minute chunk of plastic with few pauses and even fewer clunkers, I’d nominate Halifax’s Fabbest Foursome to do the honors, anyway. Along the way, the band gleefully run through genres like costume changes at a community theatre – a little glam here, straight-up power-pop there, sensitive balladry down the line, witty lyrics a song or two ahead. [Again, we in the States did not receive a domestic release until early 07, but checking my records reveals it’d been #3 on the 2006 list, too.]
2. Radiohead -- In Rainbows
Blah blah name-your-price download blah blah blah surprise release blah blah blah shook the music industry blah blah blah blah their best album in years blah blah blah blah...
1. Wilco -- Sky Blue Sky
Not everyone was feeling Jeff Tweedy’s decision to get a little more laid back and easy listening, but to these ears it seemed like the perfect sound at the right time. Don’t get me wrong, I loved their harsher, artsier stuff too, but it seemed they had hit an impasse of sorts. (It doesn’t hurt that I have a soft spot for “mellow gold”-style artists like Bread, Firefall and Poco, either.) Plus, the more contemplative music allows the listener to appreciate what a fantastic lyricist Tweedy is. From “ceiling fan is on/chopping up my dreams” to “tires type black/where the blacktop cracks/weeds spout through/dark green enough to be blue” he always comes up with these perfect lines I wished I’d written.
OK, that's it for the honors. Thanks for reading and I'll put down the list of 2007 CDs that might have been on the list that I haven't gotten to just yet soon.
