Top 12 Albums of 2007, Part IV

My favorite albums of the year. To me at least, they are saying something, not simply running through the already established course of modern music. They are a collection of twelve records that made me say “What the fuck? How am I supposed to write about this?” It is music that denied simple classification, and in turn, inspired me to up my game and do my best to reach them halfway. Did I succeed? Mostly no, but I feel like a more well rounded person for exposing myself and at least giving it a go. These are twelve albums, in no particular order, that made me think, and that’s all I ever wanted to do. Thanks.

(p.s. There are a few other albums that deserve recognition as well. Patrick already covered Rainbow by Boris with Michio Kurihara, which would have easily made my list otherwise. Wu-Tang Clan’s 8 Diagrams makes a very strong case for inclusion, and probably would be listed if I had a few more weeks of digestion before posting this. And finally, Kode9 & the Spaceape’s Memories of the Future came out in 2006, but I didn’t hear it until 2007. It doesn't technically fit on this list because of its release date, but if it had, you can be damn sure it would be.)





Woods - At Rear House / Shrimper

Woods - "Keep It On" (Shrimper 2007)

The rustic, bittersweet tunes of Woods have become my escape from the toll of cement-laden city life. Poppy campfire songwriting, warm analog production, snickering outcast experimentation, At Rear House is the album you put on to unwind from a day of urban chaos. Light a candle, stare at that single tree outside your third story window and lose yourself in the tape hiss and rural psychedelia. Jeremy Earl and Christian DeRoeck, both of the Brooklyn indie-pop band Meneguar and masterminds behind Fuck-It Tapes, are to thank for these musical excursions. Their songwriting though never straying too far from the classic verse-chorus-verse structure is quirky, memorable and idiosyncratic. Melodies creep into your brain and set up camp for the weekend. Lo-fi but warm, creepy and cute, haunting yet cozy, At Rear House is a must for all fans of quirky folk, oddball pop and clever music in general.





Zelienople - His/Hers / Type

Zelienople - "Parts are Lost" (Type 2007)

Chicago trio Zelienople exist in a very odd cross-section of styles, an atypical angle that sees Low, Boris, Jackie-O Motherfucker and Flying Saucer Attack all overlapping characteristics. Released on stellar U.K. label Type (which could easily get my award for Label of the Year if I had such a competition), His/Hers is psychedelic in the mind-bending definition of the term, but not necessarily with the typical style associated with bright colors, flowers and free love. It is folk in spirit and instrumentation, but not afraid to wile out when necessary. It is noise where the source material plays just as strong a role as the distraught byproduct. And it is free jazz in the strategic placement of atonality and liberated structure, but existing in a folksy, almost warm realm that the genre rarely explores. It’s decomposed folk where the gangrene is made up of noise, psych, metal and free jazz. Zelienople craft a sound that is not necessarily meant for being the center of your attention; it is more about being a catalyst to exploring the sometimes dismal and sometimes delicate aspects of your mind.






Yesterdays Universe - Prepare for a New Yesterday, Vol. 1 / Stones Throw

The Last Electro-Acoustic Space Jazz & Percussion Ensemble - "Cold Nights and Rainy Days" (Stones Throw 2007)

Buried waist-high in monikers, split personalities and influences, Prepare for a New Yesterday, Vol. 1 is the fulfillment of Otis Jackson Jr.’s vast potential. Handling nearly all of the instrumentation and production himself (drummers Karriem Riggins and Azymuth’s Mamão contribute their services from time to time), Jackson, who you may know better as Madlib, built a jazzy fusion-funk record that crosses the path of nearly every substantial jazz, soul, funk and world artist from the 60s and 70s. It’s almost as if he tried to deconstruct his entire record collection into a brief fifteen songs. Groove after groove after groove slinks out of your speakers, each concocted with a different stylistic approach. Free jazz skronks, Brazilian rhythms, thick soul bass lines, funky guitar chops, hip-hop beats, post-bop piano, sitar drone, synthesizer solos, you can expect it all, and sometimes at the same time. I’ve been grooving along to Jackson for some time now and nothing quite satisfies and impresses as Prepare for a New Yesterday, Vol. 1.





Mannequin Men - Fresh Rot / Flameshovel

Mannequin Men - "22nd Century" (Flameshovel 2007)

At first listen, Mannequin Men simply sound like a hell of a good time. With a style primed for your week ending booze fest, the Chicago quartet snarl, sleaze, sass and suck the stress away from your 9-5 work day with their near-anthemic rock ‘n’ roll. There are choruses that cause the whole band to sing along, riffs that will fill the entire club with chiming jubilance, backbeats that will have you tapping your beer along unnoticeably and a lead singer that sneers his way through the amplifiers. But what is most impressive with the band’s Flameshovel debut, Fresh Rot, is the long line of influences that reveals itself when you spend some intimate time studying the music. Though they began as the love-child of Wire, The Wipers and Gary Numan, Mannequin Men now name-check nearly every substantial proto-punk band that ever disguised their musical talent and ambitions into head bangin’, devil-horn throwin’, drink along until you fall on the floor 3-minute rock songs with their sophomore release. Easily my favorite straight-up rock album of the year.





Paul Duncan - Above the Trees / Hometapes

Paul Duncan - "The Fire" (Hometapes 2007)

Elaborating on the folksy, electronically-tinged bedroom pop of his debut album, Brooklynite Paul Duncan teamed up with the cream of Chicago’s indie session players at Soma Studios for a rich, consoling album of autumnal guitar-twang. Duncan’s aching tenor, now forefront in the mix rather than weaving through the instrumental textures, is as relatable as ever, and the music, while more straightforward than the predecessor, is still garnished with an immense amount of subtle peculiarities. The album politely pulses with deep breaths of slide guitar and string flourishes; it’s Texas twang at heart but created with Chicago’s obsession of texture. Though Duncan has been pulled out of his bedroom and in turn some of the intimate idiosyncrasies have been lost along the way, Above the Trees is no less personal and exponentially more confident. It drifts caringly with complex pastoral tones, meandering along country roads seemingly towards nothing in particular, but certainly with an unmistakable fervor.





His Name is Alive - Sweet Earth Flower: A Tribute to Marion Brown / High Two

His Name is Alive - "Sweet Earth Flying" (High Two 2007)

After the success of a one-off concert at the University of Michigan Art Museum to pay tribute to Marion Brown, Warn Defeavor and his experimental pop band His Name is Alive (whose line-up includes members of NOMO and Antibalas for this outing) looked to elaborate on the idea with an album’s worth of material. Including three tracks from the original concert, Sweet Earth Flower is a moving and eye-opening tribute to the overlooked vanguard saxophonist. The music, though rooted in free jazz, is patient, hypnotic and warm, much like the playing of Brown in the mid-60s for ESP. Their recreation of his sound is that of reflection and exploration, or in other words, more spiritually influenced than technique-wise. It shimmers and drones, rouses and soothes. It is meditative music you can get lost in without ever actually feeling lost, and avant-garde jazz where the soulfulness is not lost in the intention to explore the outside. Sweet Earth Flower may be one of the most sorely overlooked releases of 2007, which I suppose is fitting in the context of the music. How frustratingly poignant.





Vieux Farka Touré - Vieux Farka Touré / World Village

Vieux Farka Touré - "Ana" (World Village 2007)

With ten songs just under fifty minutes, Vieux Farka Touré’s eponymous debut is a patient album that not only pays rightful respect to his culture, but also acts as a passing of the torch to the young guitarist from his renowned father, the recently deceased Ali Farka Touré. As expected, there are quite a few similarities between Ali and Vieux’s guitar playing. The sweet-toned, intensely meticulous and pastoral vibe of Ali’s Saharan blues is passed down to Vieux, who seems bent on not only perfecting his father’s earthy style but also pushing it in directions never before explored (and some of Ali’s last recorded material is present here in duet form with his son). There are elements of reggae, rock, funk and R&B creeping into the traditional sound, and in turn giving way to completely new hybrids of music. The production and recording is pristine (though maybe slightly too much at times), never opting for augmenting studio techniques but masterfully capturing the individual tones of each of the players. One of my favorite “world” records of the year, and maybe the strongest debut I came across.





Chris Connelly - The Episodes / Durto Jnana

Chris Connelly - "The Son of Empty Sam" (Durto Jnana 2007)

The most striking aspect of The Episodes is its incredibly dense, acoustic atmosphere. The one time industrial stalwart Chris Connelly and his talented cast of supporting characters fill each track to the brim with consciously monochromatic yet sprawling arrangements and opt for patiently developing, wholly organic songs. On paper, it is an odd collection of characteristics: Connelly’s creaking, Bowie-like croon emoting over an almost tribal circle of plodding toms, single-chord acoustic guitar strums, twinkling vibraphones, Ben Vida’s teasing electric guitar noodles, occasional synth base lines, free jazz-leaning drum kits, sparse electronic tinges and mandolin. Yes, when they all play together it is chaotic, but in the strategically sloppy manner Midwest indie-rock has been perfecting for years and under Connelly’s elegant direction. All of the manic instrumentation combines into one throbbing, hypnotic background with passionate narratives leading the way. It’s urgent, enigmatic and intense music that takes multiple spins to even begin to unveil.





Fog - Ditherer / Lex

Fog - "Inflatable Ape pt. 3" (Lex 2007)

The obvious difference between Ditherer and previous Fog releases is its surprisingly rocking sound… you could almost say Andrew Broder and company have completely left the bedroom for the garage. But this is Fog of course, so even if the amps are turned up, you can expect your fair share of absurd lyrical tropes and avant-pop arrangements. Ditherer is a hook-heavy and downright anthemic pop-rock album that excels greatly in its ability to tiptoe the line between accessibility and quirk. The number of collaborators may also be thanks for the more fleshed-out sound, Dosh, Pedestrian, Why?, Phil Elverum, Andrew Bird and Low all contribute to the oddball-pop party. Broder does an excellent job of balancing his increasingly confident vocals, oddly syncopated and typically multi-layered rhythms, accessible pop-rock guitar hooks, omnipresent background noise and seemingly spontaneous arrangements. I can’t claim to be the biggest Fog fan, but Ditherer is as infectious as they come with the number of knotty twists and turns matching the number of inescapable hooks.





Fred Anderson & Hamid Drake - From the River to the Ocean / Thrill Jockey

Fred Anderson & Hamid Drake - "Planet E" (Thrill Jockey 2007)

Despite saxophonist Fred Anderson’s age and commitment to running The Velvet Lounge and percussionist Hamid Drake’s dedication to a ridiculous amount of ensembles worldwide, they have found time to release at least one album a year working together since 1995. And even more remarkable, there has not been one lackluster or forgettable disc among them. 2007’s installment, From the River to the Ocean, is certainly not going to dispel this long-running tradition, and in fact is going to place itself near the top of the must-have list of Anderson-Drake partnerships. Recorded in Soma Studios and featuring the instrumental prowess of fellow Chicagoans Harrison Bankhead, Jeff Parker, and Josh Abrams, these five songs resonate emotionally in honestly the same way A Love Supreme does (at least personally). While it may be a clichéd parallel, it is nearly impossible not to have the thought at least briefly cross your mind with this mix of accessible free jazz, African instrumentation and spiritual timbre. Anderson, hunched over his tenor, utilizing every ounce of breath in his nearly 80-year-old lungs creates a thick, transcendent tone; and behind him, nearly hidden behind his array of percussive knicks and ringing knacks, Drake somehow finds an even, conclusive rhythm despite never relying on one drum or percussive toy for more than a minute or two. Modal and heavily meditative, the quartet rings through blues, swing, bop, free, avant-garde and modern creative, all meshing into one undeniably spiritual sound. If I had ranked my albums, I wouldn’t give a second thought to proclaiming this my favorite record of 2007.





Group Doueh - Guitar Music from the Western Sahara / Sublime Frequencies

Group Doueh - "Cheyla La Haiuune" (Sublime Frequencies 2007)

From the opening moments of Guitar Music from the Western Sahara you know you are in for a treat. Doueh's electric guitar blasts out of the raw recording with an odd combination of styles that has a sort of bluesy wah-wah deal going on while an exuberant chorus, care of two ladies singing at the top of their lungs, easily overmodulates within the tiny frequency bandwidth. If crisp production is your thing though, I seriously doubt you would have headed in Sublime Frequencies' direction in the first place. This is for us audiophiles that listen to music just to be baffled and awestruck. On the far west side of the Sahara, somewhere between the fuzzy borders of Mauritania and the Morroco-annexed territory known as Western Sahara, Baamar Salmou aka Doueh, his wife, son and friend jam under the name Goup Droueh. Their style is one in its own led by the unpredictable and intricate fingers of Salmou on his unrelenting electric guitar. While based in the local Mauritanian modal structure, Salmou relies as much on the psychedelic stylings of Hendrix and the energetic funk of James Brown as the hypnotic, trance-like Gnawan music from Morocco and other regional styles. You can understand where he's coming from, but it's nearly impossible to predict where he is heading next, which makes Guitar Music from the Western Sahara so much jaw-dropping fun.





Fred Lonberg-Holm Trio - Terminal Valentines / Atavistic

Fred Lonberg-Holm Trio - "There Never Was a Reason" (Atavistic 2007)

For the third album with his trio, including bassist Jason Roebke and drummer Frank Rosaly, Chicago-based cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm continues to perfect his balance between accessible and challenging avant-garde jazz. More demanding than his work with Terminal 4 and his previous two Atavistic releases, Terminal Valentine finds the cellist perhaps testing his love of intimacy and warmth by adding a little bit of grit to the relationship. He is still very much grounded in his attraction to lulling lyrical melodies, but frequently counteracts them with explorations into the outer edges of chaos. The intimacy of this recording sucks you in completely. Lonberg-Holm’s cello intricately weaves between Rosaly’s spry drumming and Roebke supple bass plucks. They sound very much tuned-in with each other (despite a few recording woes), painting with the same autumnal hues without ever muddling the individual colors. The album utilizes melody with great efficiency, drawing the listener in with longing affection and then demanding they work for such intimacy by jumping in and out of the framework of the song. This is late night music for those who refuse to give into the spoon-fed melodrama of 95% of the music out there.

Top 12 Albums of 2007, Part III

It's no secret that I burned out on music as 2007 rolled into its final quarter. After moving to Chicago and getting a job that actually kept me busy, it was hard to stay motivated splitting all of my time between working from 6AM to 6PM, keeping up appearances to try and get a foothold on this place, and making sure I paid all my bills. Growing up is demanding, I don't have to tell you this. Unfortunately for newcomers, there are a lot of albums already suited to coping with this issue. And looking back on this list, not too many from the second half of the year survived for consideration. That is no coincidence.

It's not just the real world that got to me, though. I am still re-evaluating what we even do this for. I've always had doubts about the Internet and blogging because, seriously, who gives a fuck that we were nominated for a Nielsen award, right? I tried mentioning that I was in The Wall Street Journal at the office Christmas party last week, just to see if I had gotten it wrong... But believe me, on East Wacker, nobody cares if you're doing it out of the goodness of your heart. Hey, if you've sold out by 20, you have no soul, and if you haven't sold out by 30, you have no brains. Somewhere in there, you have to make the transition.

All of that is to say that this list, like every other you read this holiday season, should not be looked upon as some kind of authoritative resource for what was good in '07. I sure as hell don't know. All I know for sure is what I thought was good. So consider this not as a best-of, but rather as a snapshot of who I was in 2007. I don't know what's going to happen in 2008 because I don't know how to keep this interesting for either you the reader or me the writer (term used loosely) anymore, but I want you to know that I respected all of these albums and even had it in my heart to love some of them. Hey, if you're cynical by 22, you've had no luck, and if you aren't cynical by 32, you have no limit for love. Somehow, it always goes back to the head and the heart, doesn't it?











The Nein - Luxury / Sonic Unyon

The Nein - Journalist, Pt. 1 (Sonic Unyon 2007)

I thought long and hard about how much I wanted to add Durham's The Nein to the end of this list, but after some consternation I decided that talking about them was worth more than wishing I had. Luxury was a quantum leap forward for a group that just two years ago was relying on a setlist full of poor Magazine ripoffs. Instead of boring post-punk riffs and silly Gang of Four dance beats (because there weren't already enough of those in the world in '05), The Nein took it to another level with found-sound sonic collage patchwork quilting and a thirst for adventure. The result was my biggest surprise of the year and a renewed interest in the band.











Roam the Hello Clouds - Near Misses / ~Scape

Roam the Hello Clouds - Pretender's Hand (~Scape 2007)

There were a ton of jazz and jazz-influenced releases this year. For a genre that most people unfortunately associate with Kenny G Christmas albums and easy listening on your radio dial during the workday, jazz was as vibrantly alive as it's ever been in 2007 and Roam the Hello Clouds were one of the main reasons why. Less about more conventional sounds in jazz (which other artists whom you will see tomorrow mastered to great effect), Roam the Hello Clouds was more a project in experimentation and sonic manipulation. For three Australians who had never met prior to a blind date at the Sydney Opera House, Near Misses was direct hit after direct hit and impossible not to enjoy.











Madlib - Beat Konducta Vol. 3-4: In India / Stones Throw

Madlib - Indian Hump (Stones Throw 2007)

Otis Jackson, Jr. was a typically busy man in '07, and while Yesterdays Universe got all the love, Beat Konducta: In India was my personal favorite. I was fond of Movie Scenes last year, but there was something about the exotic flavor and Jackson's magical ability to take all of the annoying out of Bollywood in these songs that sold me. Crackling on Michael's record player the night before I found the apartment I now live in, Beat Konducta was the soundtrack to my midsummer's dream of moving to the big time. Thanks for easing the pain of Michael's hardwood floor, Otis. You were added motivation to never sleep on an air mattress again.











The Twilight Sad - Fourteen Autumns & Fifteen Winters / Fat Cat

The Twilight Sad - And She Would Darken the Memory (Fat Cat 2007)

There was a healthy bushel of shoegaze albums that had me falling in love with hazy guitar sounds again this year: A Sunny Day in Glasgow, Cyann & Ben, Deerhunter, A Place to Bury Strangers, even My Bloody Valentine by way of Japancakes. While all were supremely good, The Twilight Sad stick out to me not just for their shamefully juvenile band name, but also for their deceptively juvenile songwriting. There was nothing revelatory about the way their guitars burst to life like a Rolls Royce turbofan, but their typically Glaswegian attitude was difficult for lovers of the especially noisy six-string to resist. Or maybe it was just the thick accents. That James Graham and his bluh eyes... So dreamy.











Black Dice - Load Blown / Paw Tracks

Black Dice - Kokomo (Paw Tracks 2007)



If you had told me in 2004 that Black Dice would be one of my favorite groups three years on, I probably would have tried to justify my hatred of the band via Miles of Smiles with some pretentious ramble. Now my pretentious rambles are in defense of Load Blown: Early singles should have (but did not) prepare us for a minor miracle. They conquered the arms-crossed crowd, they won over the new beat noiseniks, they left James Murphy to make the pop record the DFA always wanted out of them: If Black Dice care about the fence-sitters, they're not showing it. Load Blown was just another step forward for a band that has thrown down the gauntlet to fans and the merely curious alike: Survive and thrive or be left behind. My 2004 self still has no idea what hit him.











Mikhail - Orphica / Quartermass

Mikhail - Dance (Quartermass 2007)

It was interesting how two of the most progressive artists of the last 20 years, Björk and Radiohead, had mixed receptions about their respective releases in '07: Volta was by and large a disappointment to those who were looking for something more cerebral; In Rainbows was great for one disc and offered little on the second. London-based artist and composer Mikhail's efforts on Orphica go above and beyond both, and this quiet Quartermass release stands as one of the most interesting albums of the year to incorporate pop, classical and Aegean folk. It may also be the only album of the year to do that. All Greek to you by now? Then you're ready to listen.











Boris with Michio Kurihara - Rainbow / Drag City

Boris with Michio Kurihara - You Laughed Like a Watermark (Drag City 2007)

Though Mammatus made a strong argument, nobody rocked as powerfully this year as Boris and Michio Kurihara did on Rainbow. The former was looking to bounce back after the good-but-bizarrely-worshipped Pink and a muted split with Sun0))); Kurihara was looking to collaborate with a group that had superseded his own Ghost as Japan's most thundering psychedelic export. The result was one of the best albums in the career of either and positive reception that fueled the fire for Kurihara's Sunset Notes and will hopefully fuel the fire for future Boris releases.











Odd Nosdam - Level Live Wires / Anticon.

Odd Nosdam - The Kill Tone Two (Anticon. 2007)

There were a lot of days during the summer where I felt like I was toiling in my girlfriend's apartment wondering what I was doing (as most people do right out of college with no clear path to grad school, I guess). It was pathetic. I would go out on those hot Columbia evenings and get $2 burgers at The Whig and mull over another pint of Guinness, toasting certain strangers to no certain ending. If Madlib was the sound of me finally moving forward, Level Live Wires was the sound of me in stasis, a holding pattern, trying to figure out how to simply get it in gear and go. The airy beats, the humid strings, the hazy sampling - Like all things, the summer sun finally set on my time, too. But it wasn't without a learned appreciation of Columbia in my final weeks there. I'll miss it more than I like to admit.











Battles - Mirrored / Warp

Battles - Tonto (Warp 2007)

Battles was the great "indie" success story of 2K7, so chances are that you've already heard this album and toiled through the countless raves of it. Once more, with feeling: An unlikely foursome of rock deconstructionists tore apart the conventions of math-rock, post-rock and the very nature of the microgenre at large to brew up something better. There are two ways of looking at this "better."

1. Futurist-pop, another made-up sub-genre that the Brooklyn quartet can look around and see no one else in
2. The future

I don't know which is the truth, but I am glad "Tonto" had so many remixes.











Pantha du Prince - This Bliss / Dial

Pantha du Prince - Moonstruck (Dial 2007)

Hendrik Weber's latest under the Pantha du Prince moniker was released extremely early on in January, leaving all year to be upstaged in the press by The Field, Gui Boratto and numerous others. That is a matter of bad luck. It was a great year for electronic music, and even though there were countless great albums, Pantha du Prince stands out in my mind as the defining electro work of 2007. The ultra-minimal beats, the icy synth stabs, the chromophobic aesthetic Weber so meticulously cultivated, the very name I'm still not sure I'm pronouncing correctly... All the Lawrence and Efdemin comparisons in the world couldn't lower my opinion of This Bliss. Also, there really is nothing better for cold weather.











Dälek - Abandoned Language / Ipecac

Dälek - Tarnished (Ipecac 2007)

Though I've always been a sucker for sentimentality, 2007 was the year I finally proved to myself that I could actually move forward without just looking that way. It could be argued that Dälek was the catalyst in January for this. With a reputation for bringing together the most disparate elements of hip-hop, rock and the avant-garde (They worked with Faust, after all), this New Jersey duo brought the streets of Newark to me and reaffirmed what I always knew I wanted: Something grittier than any city south of DC could offer me. Newark was never a serious option, but thank God it exists, because without it, well... Who would have the balls to both show and tell us how tarnished our streets really are?











LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver / DFA/Astralwerks

LCD Soundsystem - Get Innocuous! (DFA/Astralwerks 2007)

When it leaked last December, Sound of Silver was almost immediately heralded as album of the year for 2007. It was also a prime example of why blogging's breakneck pacesetters couldn't remember anything beyond "All My Friends" and the campy "North American Scum" by June.

For me, Sound of Silver is the crystallization of a lot more than just James Murphy's musical vision. I'll take heat for loving this album given the esteemed company I'm keeping here, but I loved it because it was the sound of the record collector growing up; in that regard, it was the sound of me growing up. I kept coming back to two particular songs on this record. "Someone Great" was the first, a 45:33 rehash that still left the sentimental side of me appreciative of the warm synthesized sounds that built the beat and broke down the manliest of Mastodon-loving hipsters.

But it was "Get Innocuous!" that left the indelible imprint of 2007 upon me. If I actually gave a fuck about media player add-ons and worried about new places to find music, it would've been my most listened-to tune by a country mile. Just as "Losing My Edge" revealed more on repeated listens, so too did its sequel pull back the Burial-like hood of its dark dancefloor riches to expose an extended critique of the dancefloor itself. It was the sound of the end of the night, not the beginning. It was the sinister sound of progress creeping up on a 21-year child's play party interrupted by disturbing strings and the reality of normalizing life after the glass house. It made me feel alive. Jesus, it made me feel alive. I can only hope you felt that way about something this year, too.

Top 12 Albums of 2007, Part II

OK. So I know that I haven't been posting very much in the past few weeks, but freelancing has picked up! Fortunately, I still have 12 things that might interest you, even though they're metal (save for two of them). I just did these alphabetically so my brain didn't explode.





Aeon - Rise to Dominate / Metal Blade

Aeon - "Godless" (Metal Blade 2007)

Sure, their anti-Christian lyrics are broken (they're from Sweden, OK?) and a little childish, but that, mixed with clever songwriting and an overall feeling of dread makes for a great listen. Basically Deicide updated for the 21st century, the vocals range from the throaty, almost-hardcore bellow to the typical death-metal screech. Fans looking for an excellent combination of low-end mixed with interesting arrangements and supreme musicianship should look no further than Aeon. These guys, even with their slightly-slick production, are at the top of the modern death-metal game. Did I mention they love Satan?





Animosity - Animal / Metal Blade

Animosity - "Progression in Defeat" (Metal Blade 2007)

With so many bands relying on studio trickery to get their music across in a flawless manner, it's good to hear a band that has the chops and style to make this precision-recording style sound awesome. Way more on the death side of things in the deathcore tag this band often gets stuck with (you can just tell there's some hardcore influence in there), California's Animosity are fucking pissed, fast, brutal, and complete controlled chaos. Think Origin but for hardcore kids crossing over into death metal. Kurt Ballou (Converge) does an excellent job of adding a little grime to this bands formerly over-polished sound, but doesn't mire them down in static or tons of distortion. Animal is mega-pummeling and almost difficult to listen to because of its density. That's good!




Between the Buried and Me - Colors / Victory

Between the Buried and Me - "Prequel to the Sequel (Victory 2007)

Yeah, this is on Victory, which doesn't have the best reputation these days due to releasing a lot of music marketed towards 15-year-old girls, but they'll still pull a great release out every once and a while, and this is one of them. Between the Buried and Me (BTBAM) may have a name that screams metalcore, but that couldn't be further from the truth. Their impressive (to say the least) melding of metal, hardcore, and space-rock are enough to set them apart from others with similarly long band names, but it's the incredible execution that's really noteworthy. I guess it's at this point I should mention that this 65-minute album may be broken up into tracks, but it's arranged as one long piece.





Cephalic Carnage - Xenosapien / Relapse

Cephalic Carnage - "Vaporized" (Relapse 2007)

Yeah, another Relapse title . . . what can I say? This band is fucking ridiculous both in the studio and live. I've yet to see another death-metal band go as insane as these guys do live, while as high as they are. Yeah, another weed-loving band . . . what can I say? I guess it opens the mind, maaaaan. While a lot of people shat upon Cephalic's last album, Anomalies (which I loved), it seems like they just kept on doing what they do best, which is write super out-there death metal for the open-minded fan. It's not all gore and blast beats, nor is it all chugging and guttural vocals (although there are plenty of those). These guys write about the everything from priests um, corrupting children ("Touched By An Angel") to a great way to smoke weed ("Vaporized") to some sort of undersea battle story ("Megacosm of the Aquaphobics"). It's hard to keep things fresh in any genre, but Cephalic Carnage have managed to do it again and again, and Xenosapien is no exception.





Crowbar - Crowbar, Live + 1, Time Heals Nothing, Odd Fellows Rest, & Equilibrium (reissues) / Crash/Snapper

Crowbar - "All I Had I Gave" (Crash/Snapper 2007)

I'm not sure what the deal with the Crowbar back catalog is, as the latter two releases listed above were packaged in a twofer on Snapper, while the other three were issued as single discs on Crash, and Broken Glass remains on Candlelight Records. HUH?! Any way you look at it, though, 2007 brought these reissues to the masses (most likely due to guitarist/vocalist Kirk Windstein's involvement with Down) with little publicity. One of the heaviest band's ever, New Orleans' Crowbar sound like their name. Dark, punishing, but useful for, um, venting purposes. Take a dash of melancholy, mix it with severely-swampy riffs, and an average tempo of below 60 BPM and you've got Crowbar. No new release in 2007 from these guys, but five reissues rules just as much.





Dillinger Escape Plan - Ire Works / Relapse

Dillinger Escape Plan - "82588" (Relapse 2007)

As someone who's followed this band from nearly day one (one of my earliest unpaid writing gigs was to review the Under the Running Board 7"), I had some pretty low expectations for this album, mainly due to the direction they were headed after the disappointing Miss Machine. Alas, the Dillinger Escape Plan managed to pull through the shit like they always do (after losing their incredible and original drummer to lame-o's Coheed and Cambria) and released an amazing piece of work. There's plenty of insane technical grind freakouts to satisfy Calculating Infinity purists, but also enough excellent songwriting and hooks to turn the heads of Faith No More fans. This is a band that needs to be listened to with fresh ears every time, and this time around it was really rewarding.





Down - Down III: Over the Under / Independent Label Group (Warner)

Down - "The Path" (Warner 2007)

Third (duh) release from this New Orleans supergroup (with members of Pantera, Eyehategod, Corrosion of Conformity, and the always underrated Crowbar) is much more focused than their second effort from a few years back, which is largely in part to Hurricane Katrina fucking up their hometown and channeling their anger into a positive place. There's riffs galore, the songs are arranged incredibly well, and Phil Anselmo's voice couldn't be better suited for a band. His smoked-out croon fits the sludgey style of this '70s rock-loving band way better than it does in any of his other side bands (or maybe even Pantera), and even the artwork is killer. Fans tired of metalcore or any other style of metal should check this out for a breath of fresh air . . . from the past. Pickup truck owners should especially pay attention to this record.





Exit-13 - High Life! / Relapse

Exit-13 - "Open Season (The Story of Hunter Slaughter)" (Relapse 2007)

Another Relapse winner comes in the form of an almost-complete discography from one of metal's least-heard and under-appreciated bands. Hailing from Pennsylvania on the Philly side of the state, these guys had a rotating door of musicians file through the ranks, with such metal luminaries as Dan Lilker, Dave Witte, Scott Lewis, and Rich Hoak stop by at one point or another (although Hoak's only contribution isn't included on this release). Let me also say for the record that it's no secret that this band loved their marijuana. The lyrics are mostly grounded in love for the environment, hatred of mankind, weed, or whatever other ramblings they decided to put to tape. High Life's two discs compile both the Green Is Good and Ethos Musick full-lengths, as well as a handful of split 7-inches, solo 7-inches, and a CDEP. Fans of sloppy, Carcass/Earth-loving grind with a bizarre twist from time to time should check this out. And, if that musical description doesn't pique your interest, seek out their final release, Smoking Songs, which was an all-covers jazz album featuring songs about - you guessed it - marijuana.





Ben Lee - Ripe / New West

Ben Lee - "Numb" (New West 2007)

OK, this is decidedly non-metal. After being turned on to Ben Lee by an ex-girlfriend, I've followed his music-making career fairly closely. This album came out with minimal publicity in the states in September, marking Ben's sixth solo album since 1995. He's not quite as quirky or clever as he once was, but I'll be damned if he can't write a decent to great pop song. It doesn't look like Ben's going to break out of his mid-level success any time soon, but I'll take a modest-selling Ben Lee album over a multi-platinum Maroon 5 album any day of the week. Ripe continues down the slick-production path Ben's been traveling since 1999's Breathing Tornadoes introduced some synth action along with more musical layers, but it's OK . . . you can't get caught up in the past!





Machine Head - The Blackening / Roadrunner

Machine Head - "Beautiful Mourning" (Roadrunner 2007)

For a band that's gone through so many changes over the course of only six albums, Oakland's Machine Head (now featuring two members of Vio-lence!) has finally hit their stride. I suspect that the title of this record is a nod to Metallica's . . . And Justice for All (first song: Blackened), and although that could be the Justice uber-fan in me speaking, I find it odd that both albums begin with similar intros, to boot. Never heard Justice? For shame. Machine Head's 2007 effort is a sprawling album with all songs topping four minutes, and four of the nine tracks passing the nine-minute mark . . . but it feels like this record whizzes by in about 20 minutes due to the excellent songwriting, catchy hooks, amazing guitar work, and straight-up fucking pissed-offedness of the whole ordeal. Quite possibly the most well-rounded metal album from this year.





Madlib & Talib Kweli - Liberation / Blacksmith

Madlib & Talib Kweli - "Funny Money" (Blacksmith 2007)

I wanted to get some hip hop in here, so this one eked in, having been officially released on January 1, 2007! Available as a free download from the Stones Throw site a few months before that, this hit store shelves with alternate artwork and is Kweli's best work for some time. A great guest, Kweli hasn't been able to hold down an album on his own since the Reflection Eternal record with him on the mic and Hi-Tek on the beats. Similarly, Madlib holds down the production on Liberation, and Kweli kills the mic with seemingly minimal effort. Kweli has lyrics for days, but definitely needs solid beats to back him up, which Madlib provides in spades.





The Red Chord - Prey For Eyes / Metal Blade

The Red Chord - "Send the Death Storm" (Metal Blade 2007)

Yet another long-running band that has released another quality album! Really, the Red Chord haven't released a bad album to date (three for three!), and Prey For Eyes kills from front to back. Unfortunately, this is another band that gets lumped in with this metalcore bullshit, simply because their first record (Fused Together in Revolving Doors) was released on the cusp of metal somehow becoming vaguely popular amongst kids who just couldn't hang with the Insane Clown Posse or Kid Rock anymore. DAMN THEM. Anyway, this album is a great example of how to be flashy without being a moron or a blatant showoff, and how to keep it heavy at the same time. This album, above all else, is interesting to listen to, which is saying a lot in the metal world. The vocals, drums, guitars, and bass are somehow all over the place but work incredibly well together.

Top 12 Albums of 2007, Part I

I’d feel a lot better about this if I had actually listened to every album that came out in 2007. But who has that kind of time and money hard drive space?



Albert Hammond Jr. – Yours to Keep – New Line

It’s always interesting when a member of an established band branches out with a solo effort. The All Music Guide’s review of Yours to Keep compared it to the debut from James Iha of the Smashing Pumpkins, whose Let It Come Down was unfairly panned for being everything that a Pumpkins project wasn’t – an unoffensive pop album. “The lesson here for side musicians with solo aspirations is this: Don't craft melodies and write lyrics unless you really can do both,” is what Rolling Stone reviewer Mark Kemp wrote in reference to Iha’s debut. But “Yours to Keep” works mostly because Strokes guitarist Hammond Jr., the son of an accomplished singer and songwriter, is able to do just that. “Bright Young Thing”




Andrew Bird – Armchair Apocrypha – Fat Possum

There are so many of the right influences in Andrew Bird’s work, that listing them would not only be clichéd and lazy writing, but also pretty redundant. I didn’t know much about Bird prior to hearing Armchair Apocrypha earlier this year, but after listening, I was very impressed at how well-thought out his compositions were, both in lyricism and musicianship. So, as a music nerd to the utmost, I began to do some research and found that Bird is a longtime student of his craft, and as such, approaches his solo work with a sort of informal yet scholarly meticulousness that isn’t often found in your typical rock outfit or coffee shop troubadour. There is an overwhelming subtlety throughout Armchair Apocrypha that pushes just the right effects to the forefront and wastes very little musical “space” (i.e., it’s not the notes he does play, but rather the one he doesn’t) in what clearly has to be some of the year’s best thinking man’s indie pop. And this is from a person who spent their formative years listening to Eazy-E shooting prostitutes on N.W.A interludes. Consider me convinced. “Plasticities”




Beastie Boys – The Mix-Up – Capitol

Many heard The Mix-Up and were put off by it, for reasons that still don’t make sense to me. Honestly, what should we be expecting from the Beastie Boys at this point? Each member is in his early 40s. The days of trim coordinators and raising hell on Raising Hell Tour are over. For a group that’s been together close to thirty years, with a 2007 nomination for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame – which you can take for what it’s worth – the Beastie Boys have earned the right to record the music they see fit, without any adherence to what people have come to expect based on their past work. I’m not saying we should go batty, batty, batty over twelve tracks of the trio farting and burping on wax, but I applaud an effort like The Mix-Up because it’s a snapshot of where the band is today, having survived an industry which has disemboweled many a career over the last three decades. In a lot of ways, the all-instrumental Mix-Up updates formulas drafted on the heralded Check Your Head and Ill Communication, which were loved then. But they’re hated now? What a drag it is getting old. “The Cousin of Death”




Benny Sings – Benny...At Home – Sonar Kollektiv

If there has to be a number one on this list, Benny...At Home is it. It has everything a successful album needs – quality production, accessibility, sensibility, and originality. I try to stay away from comparisons like this, but there is an undeniable Shuggie Otis-ness prevalent that blew me away upon my first full listening. The Dutch-born Benny, also known as Tim Berkestijn, has worn different hats in his work prior to Benny At Home, but here, settles into a cozy little organic nook that runs the gamut from soul, to pop, to lounge, with startling ease. Dusty Groove describes his style as one that “almost takes us back to Stevie Wonder or Donny Hathaway in the 70s.” I don’t think there are enough methamphetamines in the world to ever make me talk that recklessly, but look at it this way – I worship Stevie, I adore Donny, and I really, really like Benny Sings. “Let Me In”




Black Milk – Popular Demand – Fat Beats

Hip-Hop music at its core is two turntables and a microphone. It’s good to push limits within the culture – which is desperately needed in today’s stale radio- and club-driven singles market – but in doing so, rap artists run the risk of attempting to become too progressive. For every Definitive Jux or Stones Throw, there are hordes of producers and MCs reaching for something they simply don’t have the vision to achieve. Black Milk, equally adept at rapping and producing, takes the opposite approach on Popular Demand with just the basics in crisp Detroit flows over lean, soul-heavy production. And to be honest, he isn’t even trying that hard. Just 24, Black has the moxie and swagger of an artist on the brink who knows that his time has yet to come. This is most apparent in the well-enunciated, slightly off-center rhymes on Popular Demand, but eventually, where he will grow the most is with his music. I give Black Milk the nod over many of his peers this year partly based on the merit of his 2007 work, but also because in 2008 and beyond, he has the greatest chance of still being around. “Popular Demand”




Justice – ┼ – Ed Banger

Few genres have benefitted from the early-1980s electronic revolution as much as dance music, which was underground for so long, that advances in technology allowed for radical experimentation that wasn’t happening at a commercial level in pop, rock, jazz, and the like. Justice – Gaspard Augé and Xavier de Rosnay – take these advances, digest them, and pretty much shit all over what many of their peers are doing in a way that makes ┼ a throbbing and disgusting affair. This album is like an aural “Fight Club” – in particular, the scene where Ed Norton mercilessly beats Jordan Catalano into a bloody, bleach-blonde human stain. In a style where it is considered bad taste to “play it safe,” Justice creates with more blunt, abrasive, and head-scratching turns than other EDM acts would even consider. And this includes torchbearers and fellow countrymen, Daft Punk. Where Daft Punk is more mystery, Justice is more middle finger, as Augé tells the New York Times, “We just don’t care about respecting the rules.” “Let There Be Light”




Kanye West – Graduation – Roc-A-Fella

Graduation was the last addition to this list – mostly because I couldn’t justify adding anything else in its place. To me, it is by far one of the best hip-hop albums of 2007, but upon its September 11 release, I had few good things to say on its behalf. While Kanye West is known for putting 110% into his work, for whatever reason, Graduation doesn’t feel like that 10% beyond perfection. But I’m not going to go delve into this project any more than was already done in the weeks leading up to the time both it and 50 Cent’s Curtis hit stores. What a shameless and pitiful display of “marketing” that was. At the end of the day, it proved that Kanye at ¾-speed is still faster than almost all of his contemporaries. And he knows it. There are few albums in any genre that are going to top Graduation this year for that reason alone. “Flashing Lights” featuring Dwele

Kenna – Make Sure They See My Face – Interscope

Much ado has been made over Kenna’s experiences in the music industry, but there comes a time when an artist has to let the music speak for itself. Make Sure They See My Face is his attempt to do so – to prove his ability to take a myriad of influences and form a cohesive package, and then shape that package into something suitable for mass consumption. Or is it mass appreciation? In 2007, it’s a tough call. With an album co-produced by the Neptunes’ Chad Hugo, and assistance from Hugo’s partner Pharrell Williams, it’s safe to assume that Kenna isn’t afraid of carving his own niche in the mainstream. He’s been slighted for a lack of originality, and also for the album’s disjointed feel, but his faults are a lot more interesting than the areas in which other artists excel. Kenna is still a work in progress, and I’m more than content in tagging along for whatever the future holds. I have a feeling it will be worth it. “Say Goodbye to Love” and “Out of Control (State of Emotion)”

Marvin Gaye – Here, My Dear expanded edition – Hip-O Select

Here, My Dear is the story of Marvin Gaye’s tumultuous divorce from his first wife, Anna Gordy Gaye. Released in 1978, the suite was attacked by critics as indulgent and irrelevant, a misstep in a musical career noted for breakthroughs and artistic bravery. Commercially, it failed. Thirty years later, everything has changed. Now fans and writers rank Here, My Dear among Gaye’s finest work. It has achieved a place of honor next to What’s Going On, Let’s Get It On, and I Want You…

During the mid-Seventies divorce proceedings, Marvin pleaded poverty. “I’ve gone through all my money,” he told the judge. “I have nothing to give her.” The judge ordered Gaye to give her the proceeds of his next album. Under the guise of sweetness and generosity, then, Marvin set out to craft a poison pen letter, a portrait of a failed marriage and an unsympathetic wife. But in the course of creating this ode of rebuttal and revenge, something very different happened. Art overwhelmed anger, and healing, the by-product of courageous introspection, was miraculously achived. - From “Great Art,” the liner notes to the Here, My Dear expanded edition, by David Ritz/“I Met a Little Girl”Easy Mo Bee alternate version

M.I.A. – Kala – Interscope

I am admittedly not an M.I.A. fan. Her life story is rather remarkable, as are her endeavors in visual art, but musically, I’m not sure that she isn’t just a more sonically stimulating Fergie. The reason I find Kala so appealing is because it is a marked improvement over her debut, Arular, which I would have voted one of the worst albums of 2005 if given the opportunity. That would have put me in the minority, however, because most critics creamed themselves over something for reasons that, at the time, I chalked up to a matter of people longing for anything of even remote substance. But Kala is a less manic and more focused effort, and sounds as if it were done with better direction and fewer hands in the cookie jar than its predecessor. It’s the kind of album you’d expect from an artist who has had time to grow, as opposed to one who was merely discovered. “Jimmy”

Shawn Lee’s Ping Pong Orchestra – Hits the Hits – Ubiquity

Shawn Lee is isn't as well-known as some of the other artists who released collections of covers in 2007, but his is one of the best. This isn’t to say that a project in a similar vein, such as Mark Ronson’s Version, wasn’t worthwhile, but it lacked the variation from song to song and detailed attention to the intricacies of the originals that Lee provides on Hits the Hits. In turning Missy Elliott’s “Get Ur Freak On” into maniacal surf-groove, twisting Britney Spears’ “Toxic” into a funky paean of the Middle East, and re-working the Gorillaz’ “Clint Eastwood” into something along the lines of Black Ark dub, accomplished multi-instrumentalist Lee is a one-man assault on all things pop. In a show of respect, perhaps, there is a version of Amy Winehouse’s “Rehab” that is just as well-done as the original produced by lead scenster Ronson, while singer Kelis gets two entries – “Trick Me” and “Millionaire” – from her breakthrough 2003 Tasty LP. “By the Way”

Soil & “Pimp” Sessions – Pimpoint – Brownswood

The Japanese have more reverence for some aspects of American culture than we (Americans) do, so it’s no surprise that Pimpoint is one of the best jazz releases of the year. Soil & “Pimp” Sessions attack every selection on this album as if it were the last song they would ever play. In a sense, they have pimped what is one of our country’s oldest art forms, and done so extremely well. I had the great pleasure of talking to George Wein earlier this year, a legend in the world of event production and the man responsible for both the Newport Jazz and the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage festivals. Wein explained how jazz is currently in a transition period with great musicians searching for an identity, searching for a sound, and creating very interesting music, but not much of an image for the public to embrace. In the case of Soil & “Pimp” Sessions, a Japanese sextet playing intensely rhythmic and raucous hard bop, these musicians have found who they are and know exactly what they’re doing. Those that choose to embrace their music are best served to try and hold on for dear life. “We Want More!!!!!”

I’m out for a while. Happy Holidays.

Top 60 of 06, The Albums I Recommend from 2006

It goes without saying that all year-end lists are completely arbitrary, ones with rankings doubly so. Whether music is good or not is complete opinion, so any list of this sort is the result of one person's (or a group of persons) personal choice. It's impossible to hear every one of the 20,000+ albums released in a particular year, and even then, whether you like something or not can depend on the quality of music as much as the state of mind you happened to be in at the time of listening not to mention a million other conscious oddities of the human mind. So why make a year-end list at all you ask; it's a labor of love. It's your chance of announcing to the world what really impacted your life sonically during the last 365 days of your existence. And being the geeks we are (I'm assuming if you've gotten this far, you care enough about music to be considered in the geekdom), we like to share our tastes and, for some odd reason, be judged by them. This is by no means a cohesive list of the music that I dug in 2006; I actually had to whittle down a significant amount even to get this far. But it does reflect what I suggest to be a good starting point to deciphering the year that was 2006 in an independent musical sense, and to some of us that significantly matters. So whether you are here out of curiosity, to judge, in research or even accidentally, this is a list of 60 artists and albums in no particular order that I recommend as completely worth your much coveted earbud time and record store cash. Enjoy, because that's what year-end lists are all about.








Grizzly Bear - Yellow House / WARP