Mid-year Best Albums of 2007
I'll upload whatever for anyone that wants. Most of these are unconventional, to say the least, so I'm not going to waste my time trying to convince anyone the genius of Maroon 5 or Avril Lavigne unless someone requests. Around Icky Thump these turn into B+ rather than A-. Only the first two are A+, and Mirrored is the first A-. Who wants what?
1. Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
2. Apples in Stereo - New Magnetic Wonder
3. Travis Morrison Hellfighters - All Y'All* (I don't have this yet, is there a promo or anything? I just stream it on his website about 3 times a day)
4. Miranda Lambert - Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
5. Maroon 5 - It Won't Be Soon Before Long
6. Against Me! - New Wave
7. Justice - †
8. Imperial Teen - The Hair, The TV, The Baby and the Band
9. Feist - The Reminder
10. Battles - Mirrored
11. LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver
12. Avril Lavigne - The Best Damn Thing
13. Drug Rug - Drug Rug*
14. They Might Be Giants - The Else
15. Brakes - The Beatific Visions
16. Magik Markers - BOSS*
17. Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
18. VHS Or Beta - Bring on the Comets*
19. Dizzee Rascal - Maths & English
20. Bright Eyes - Cassadaga
21. Los Campesinos - Sticking Fingers Into Sockets
22. Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam*
23. M.I.A. - Kala*
24. Prodigy - Return of the Mac
25. Gogol Bordello - Super Taranta!
26. The White Stripes - Icky Thump
27. Jason Holstrom - The Thieves of Kailua*
28. Lifesavas - Gutterfly
29. The Cribs - Men's Needs, Women's Needs, Whatever
30. The Shins - Wincing the Night Away
31. Amy Winehouse - Back to Black
32. Aesop Rock - None Shall Pass*
33. Get Him Eat Him - Arms Down
34. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Some Loud Thunder
35. Art Brut - It's A Bit Complicated
36. Andrew Bird - Armchair Apocrypha
37. Kanye West - Can't Tell Me Nothin'
38. Care Bears on Fire - I Stole Your Animal*
39. I'm From Barcelona - Let Us Introduce Ourselves
40. Hyphy Hitz
41. Fountains of Wayne - Traffic & Weather
*Not yet officially released
Subject to revision later in the year, as Be Your Own Pet, Rilo Kiley, PJ Harvey, Jens Lekman, the real Kanye record, The Hives, Wu-Tang, Ghostface/MF Doom, Nellie McKay, Hot Hot Heat, and Beirut all haven't leaked or come out yet.
1. Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
2. Apples in Stereo - New Magnetic Wonder
3. Travis Morrison Hellfighters - All Y'All* (I don't have this yet, is there a promo or anything? I just stream it on his website about 3 times a day)
4. Miranda Lambert - Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
5. Maroon 5 - It Won't Be Soon Before Long
6. Against Me! - New Wave
7. Justice - †
8. Imperial Teen - The Hair, The TV, The Baby and the Band
9. Feist - The Reminder
10. Battles - Mirrored
11. LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver
12. Avril Lavigne - The Best Damn Thing
13. Drug Rug - Drug Rug*
14. They Might Be Giants - The Else
15. Brakes - The Beatific Visions
16. Magik Markers - BOSS*
17. Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
18. VHS Or Beta - Bring on the Comets*
19. Dizzee Rascal - Maths & English
20. Bright Eyes - Cassadaga
21. Los Campesinos - Sticking Fingers Into Sockets
22. Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam*
23. M.I.A. - Kala*
24. Prodigy - Return of the Mac
25. Gogol Bordello - Super Taranta!
26. The White Stripes - Icky Thump
27. Jason Holstrom - The Thieves of Kailua*
28. Lifesavas - Gutterfly
29. The Cribs - Men's Needs, Women's Needs, Whatever
30. The Shins - Wincing the Night Away
31. Amy Winehouse - Back to Black
32. Aesop Rock - None Shall Pass*
33. Get Him Eat Him - Arms Down
34. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Some Loud Thunder
35. Art Brut - It's A Bit Complicated
36. Andrew Bird - Armchair Apocrypha
37. Kanye West - Can't Tell Me Nothin'
38. Care Bears on Fire - I Stole Your Animal*
39. I'm From Barcelona - Let Us Introduce Ourselves
40. Hyphy Hitz
41. Fountains of Wayne - Traffic & Weather
*Not yet officially released
Subject to revision later in the year, as Be Your Own Pet, Rilo Kiley, PJ Harvey, Jens Lekman, the real Kanye record, The Hives, Wu-Tang, Ghostface/MF Doom, Nellie McKay, Hot Hot Heat, and Beirut all haven't leaked or come out yet.
posted by kiss out the jams at 7:55 AM
45 Comments:
Pretty good list.
I'm not so sure Neon Bible is #1, but it is hard for me to find an obvious replacement. I also think I would but Imperial Teen in top 3 (that disc is the "out of nowhere" suprise of the season) and Spoon in top 10.
Bright Eyes has had unmerited attention over the last couple releases. So I am glad to see him and White stripes out of top 10.
also...feist is extremely overhyped. That CD is incredibly boring except for 1-2 stand outs. It is no match for Neon Bible, New Magnetic Wonder, and The Hair the TV the baby and band.
Well, there's a reason those three are higher. But also, I actively resisted Feist and Broken Social Scene for a long time. I resent boring music, especially singer-songwriters, despite what my 2006 list might have one think, and the Feist album was a pleasant surprise that didn't take much growing. I've been reevaluating her music all month and I used to find her plenty overhyped, but there's a lot more tune and rhythm in her breathy torch songs than I was originally willing to give credit for. If it's any comfort, her and Battles are like to get pushed out of my Top 10 this year when certain other releases come out.
Spoon kind of grinds my gears lately...I was reluctant to even put them on my list, tunes or no tunes, because they really do just make the same album over and over these days. But it's a great album.
Bright Eyes and White Stripes' last albums were justly in my top 10 and these justly aren't. It's very easy to hate Conor. I think he's been simply on fire since Desaparecidos. Jack White's one of the biggest talents of the decade. Every iota of his hype is justified, and if anything, there's too much unwarranted hunger for a backlash right now. A small step back like Icky Thump still has burners like "Conquest."
It's a shame you're anonymous, because most people I know are ignoring New Magnetic Wonder and Imperial Teen entirely, much less agreeing that they're the year's best, so it would be fun to converse with a like-minded fan of good tunes.
Who knows what makes some bands well known, while bands that seem to have a better product, remain unknown. Apples might be on too small of a label, but Imperial Teen is on Merge, which seems to be putting out quite a few succesfful indie bands. Also the Imperial Teen record isn't even out yet, and I haven't heard any radio play for it yet, but I don't see how it can go under the mainstream radar let alone the indie radar. To be fair I have only heard it "cover to cover" twice via a friend with an advance copy, but I was blown away by what I heard. The songs that are out for streaming (shim sham, everyone wants you to know, do it better) , I have heard many times. When I hear Shim Sham I think "OMG, this is the song of the year". That disc is packed full of singles.
If both of these go under the radar, i'll need to re-evaluate my own ear for music.
here's the imperial teen record if you want it for yourself. coincidentally uploaded it for a colleague earlier today.
http://www.sendspace.com/file/ltzq2d
Thanks, but I already pre-ordered the record. I try to only buy records from small bands. They are the ones that need it.
You could always enjoy it on loan while you wait, though. That's kind of how I view downloading albums at this point. I can't not, I have to hear everything as both a critic and a ravenous consumer beast, but I try to go back and buy my favorite bands' stuff as much as possible when I have the $$$ to support them. Right now I'm $$$less, but I rationalize it that writing a positive review of a band might lead to indirect support: one or two other people purchasing the thing in my stead. So, hey, there you are!
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