five records i'm pretty sure are gonna be on my year-end

christ.

year's about half over. whatcha got?

1. the arcade fire - neon bible

no surprise. officially better than funeral, and a lot less easy to get sick of (i tried). i don't think it's going to be my album of the year, but peoples better step their game up if they don't wanna be squashed by a pitchfork group from three years ago.

2. they might be giants - the else

while the fountains of wayne album wasn't as shitty as everyone's making it out to be, the lyrics really were name-droppy and embarassing in that uncool-dad-trying-to-reference-pop-culture kinda way. no problem here. way more consistent, catchy, back up to their a-game, when's the last time these dudes streamlined a record this filler-free, like factory showroom, in 1997? took some of the novelty off, fine with me. this is going to be in my top 15 and i'll bet a sack of nuts pitchfork doesn't give it higher than a 5.8 when it's officially released.

3. maroon 5 - it won't be soon before long

i dare you haters to say a fucking thing after actually PLAYING the record. this is straight up 100% unbiased. i hated that "this love" shit. i had not a cent of care for these pop tarts until i heard "makes me wonder." then i got curious. now i think they topped futuresex/lovesounds on its prince game. i'll be bold and call top 20 of 2007 even though i may get sick of it (they are still pop tarts).

4. coconut records - nighttiming

even if scarjo's tom waits album really does fall through or flat-out blow, we always have jason schwartzmann to be our Token Hollywood Musician Who Succeeds. recalls ben kweller's sha sha if that album was as perfect for you guys as it was for me as a modest pop tour de force. only ben didn't pull off disco. bonus points: kirsten dunst guests and doesn't embarass herself either! the maroon 5's more exciting but will flame out easier, this is more comforting to return to, so i'll say top 15.

5. battles - mirrored

even more suprising than the maroon 5 record, since i don't really like arty or pretentious music. most people describe this kind of stuff as way more exciting and eventful than it actually is, only this time it is. the interplay with the drummer (remember, post-rockers? DRUMMER) is tight as hell and rocks it up, and they trump deerhoof or olivia tremor control by keeping oddball consistency rather than random-noise copout annoyance. the one thing that could seriously knock this down to a B+ for me is if the chipmunk vocal bullshit really starts to get on my nerves (why the fuck do non-kanyes feel the need??). this really would've been great as an instrumental thing. nonetheless, the first "post-rock" record since tortoise's standards (and even that, really, with it's lounge-dub bullshit) that balances the rock with the post. gonna be at the bottom of my a-list if it survives.

others:
lcd soundsystem - sound of silver
bright eyes - cassadaga (this is a big year for people whose hype used to disgust me)
spoon - ga ga ga ga ga
hyphy hitz
art brut - it's a bit complicated
lil' wayne - da drought 3

songs:
lcd soundsystem - all my friends
arcade fire - black wave (just black wave)
mistah fab - ghost ride it
ted leo/pharmacists - bomb.repeat.bomb
the shins - australia
shop boyz - party like a rockstar
rihanna - umbrella
the white stripes - icky thump
maroon 5 - makes me wonder
travis morrison - snacktime
swizz beatz - it's me, snitches!
amy winehouse - you know i'm no good