2007
TOP
TEN
As promised, my favorite albums of the year. We encourage all our blog contributors to post their reflections on the year 2007 in any way they see fit. Check back for mp3 or YouTube links, coming as soon as my internet works better!
[1] The Arcade Fire, Neon Bible
Arena rock meets post-punk for headphones. How grand.
[2] A Sunny Day in Glasgow, Scribble Mural Comic Journal
Not the first band to push toward the edges of shoegazing and dream pop, but there's something very new about this album. All the more beautiful for being corrupted by moments of ugliness.
[3] Idlewild, Make Another World
Aiming for a bigger, fuller sound and pulling it off masterfully. It may seem initially bombastic and all on the surface, but they're still this generation's R.E.M. and there's so much to unravel in these songs.
[4] Radiohead, In Rainbows
Doesn't so much expand the boundaries of rock music as simply remind how great they are as a band, which only makes sense two decades in.
[5] Bill Callahan, Woke on a Whaleheart
Gone is the Smog moniker, resulting in Callahan's most clear-eyed expression of his wayward pop sensibility: just a good old-fashioned singer songwriter album that comfortably inhabits any dark room.
[6] Patrick Wolf, The Magic Position
Wolf is equal parts Bowie, Jarvis, Bryan Ferry and Matt Johnson, and his Magic Position is an elegant, sophisticated pop album in the style of The Lexicon of Love and Different Class.
[7] Marnie Stern, In Advance of the Broken Arm
I haven't heard such beautifully controlled chaos since...well, ever.
[8] The Twilight Sad, Fourteen Autumns and Fifteen Winters
Hitting those same big moments of heartbreak a la U2, but unlike U2, they're not pompous and overblown, and unlike fellow Scots with big guitars Idlewild, these guys are truly humble and sad.
[9] Emma Pollock, Watch the Fireworks
Just a good, solid album that rocks real hard and is super catchy, and with as many good tunes as Pollock ever contributed to her wonderful former band The Delgados.
[10] Kristin Hersh, Learn to Sing Like a Star
Decades after the heyday of Throwing Muses, Hersh is still a walking definition of college rock, and this would almost be a normal singer songwriter album if not for all the raspy vocals and unsettling arrangements.
TOP
TEN
As promised, my favorite albums of the year. We encourage all our blog contributors to post their reflections on the year 2007 in any way they see fit. Check back for mp3 or YouTube links, coming as soon as my internet works better!
[1] The Arcade Fire, Neon Bible
Arena rock meets post-punk for headphones. How grand.
[2] A Sunny Day in Glasgow, Scribble Mural Comic Journal
Not the first band to push toward the edges of shoegazing and dream pop, but there's something very new about this album. All the more beautiful for being corrupted by moments of ugliness.
[3] Idlewild, Make Another World
Aiming for a bigger, fuller sound and pulling it off masterfully. It may seem initially bombastic and all on the surface, but they're still this generation's R.E.M. and there's so much to unravel in these songs.
[4] Radiohead, In Rainbows
Doesn't so much expand the boundaries of rock music as simply remind how great they are as a band, which only makes sense two decades in.
[5] Bill Callahan, Woke on a Whaleheart
Gone is the Smog moniker, resulting in Callahan's most clear-eyed expression of his wayward pop sensibility: just a good old-fashioned singer songwriter album that comfortably inhabits any dark room.
[6] Patrick Wolf, The Magic Position
Wolf is equal parts Bowie, Jarvis, Bryan Ferry and Matt Johnson, and his Magic Position is an elegant, sophisticated pop album in the style of The Lexicon of Love and Different Class.
[7] Marnie Stern, In Advance of the Broken Arm
I haven't heard such beautifully controlled chaos since...well, ever.
[8] The Twilight Sad, Fourteen Autumns and Fifteen Winters
Hitting those same big moments of heartbreak a la U2, but unlike U2, they're not pompous and overblown, and unlike fellow Scots with big guitars Idlewild, these guys are truly humble and sad.
[9] Emma Pollock, Watch the Fireworks
Just a good, solid album that rocks real hard and is super catchy, and with as many good tunes as Pollock ever contributed to her wonderful former band The Delgados.
[10] Kristin Hersh, Learn to Sing Like a Star
Decades after the heyday of Throwing Muses, Hersh is still a walking definition of college rock, and this would almost be a normal singer songwriter album if not for all the raspy vocals and unsettling arrangements.
posted by Geoff at
4:00 PM
3 Comments:
excellent list, i need to hear that emma pollock album. how did you make that graphic?
great list. I definitely like the fact that you have Idlewild's album on that list. it was, as you said, masterful, better than i was expecting.
Emma Pollock's on the play mpe thingy on the office computer, fyi. The graphic involved a careful arrangement of smaller pictures on my desktop and the use of image capture. Tedious...
The critics have become increasingly indifferent to Idlewild, to my great disappointment. The new one's definitely a grower in the best possible way. Glad to hear they still have at least one other fan!
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home