the best of 2007... part 1

I can't believe we're 3 months into the "new" year already. And even more, I can't believe the abundance of amazing stuff that the music gods have bestowed upon us in those 3 months. I thought I'd put together a little tracklist of some of the best new music that 2007 has given us so far... well, OK, maybe not so "little". It's about 90 minutes of pure awesomeness that goes something like this:

01 - The Apples In Stereo - Can You Feel It?
02 - Deerhoof - +81
03 - LCD Soundsystem - Someone Great
04 - The Broken West - Down In The Valley
05 - Apostle Of Hustle - Chances Are
06 - Of Montreal - A Sentence Of Sorts In Kongsvinger
07 - Menomena - Air Aid
08 - CYHSY - Mama, Won't You Keep Them Castles In The Air...
09 - Illinois - Nosebleed
10 - Modest Mouse - Spitting Venom
11 - The Arcade Fire - Keep The Car Running
12 - The Besnard Lakes - Devastation
13 - Panda Bear - Take Pills
14 - Beirut - Scenic World (Version)
15 - Andrew Bird - Dark Matter
16 - Jamie T - Calm Down Dearest
17 - Dr. Dog - Worst Trip
18 - The Shins - Girl Sailor
19 - Papercuts - Take The 227th Exit
20 - A Sunny Day In Glasgow - 5:15 Train
21 - Do Make Say Think - A Tender History In Rust

download it! (download will only be good for a couple of weeks... if you have trouble let me know).

And because I like lists (who doesn't?!?) here are the top 10 albums of my year so far... based almost solely on the amount of times I've listened to them (no ranking order here, rather alphabetical by album title):

The Besnard Lakes - Are The Dark Horse:
Canadian indie rock, I love you. Seeing these guys (and gal) live recently cemented this one in the first quarter's Top Ten.

Favorite tracks: Disaster; Devastation; Cedric's War











Andrew Bird - Armchair Apocrypha:
Andrew has achieved the impossible and topped The Mysterious Production Of Eggs. Beautiful album.

Favorite tracks: Fiery Crash; Plasticities; Dark Matter












Menomena - Friend And Foe:
Very original, very fresh sound from these crazy guys. Buy the CD, the artwork is insane.

Favorite tracks: Muscle'n Flo; Air Aid; Boyscoutin'












Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?:
If, or rather, when you buy this one, I highly recommend getting the vinyl version, as it includes 4 incredible bonus songs. Insound has it. You need it.

Favorite tracks: Heimdalsgate Like A Promethean Curse; A Sentence Of Sorts In Kongsvinger; The Past Is A Grotesque Animal; Du Og Meg (lp bonus track)








The Arcade Fire - Neon Bible:
Anthemic sophomore effort from yet another amazing Canadian band. I love love love this album.

Favorite tracks: Keep The Car Running; Intervention; (Antichrist Television Blues)











Jamie T - Panic Prevention:
I just can't get enough of this young Londoner's debut album. I'm not really sure why, but every time I listen to it I'm overcome with the feeling that this is the album the Arctic Monkeys should have made... Brilliant.

Favorite tracks: Calm Down Dearest; Back In The Game; Sheila; Dry Off Your Cheeks; Alicia Quays

Yeah, I love it.







Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Some Loud Thunder:
So far SLT wins the 2007 award for most polarizing album of the year. From what I've read and heard, people either love it or hate it. Fuck those haters, this album is a masterpiece.

Favorite tracks (if I have to pick just a few...): Some Loud Thunder*; Mama, Won't You Keep Them Castles In The Air And Burning?; Yankee Go Home; Underwater (You And Me); Five Easy Pieces (and, if you can get your hands on the bonus track The Sword Song, do it - it's beautiful)

*I chose the title track as a favorite because (a) I fucking love the song but perhaps even more because (b) it seems to be the most polarizing track on this already polarizing album. If I had a nickel for every time I heard/read someone ask "is is supposed to sound like that?"... well, I'd probably have enough nickels for a mortgage payment. I firmly believe that Alec Ounsworth doesn't do anything without oodles of forethought, and I most definitely count myself among his biggest fans. I admire CYHSY for making the music they want to make, and for not giving a shit about what people think of them. CYHSY is not for everyone, I know. But they should be. Think about it.

LCD Soundsystem - Sound Of Silver:
I've never been hugely into the whole electronica-dance-rock thing, but I love this album. A marvelous follow-up to the eponymous debut.

Favorite tracks: North American Scum; Someone Great; All My Friends; Watch The Tapes










Dr. Dog - We All Belong:
Hearing this album for the first time sent me into a Dr. Dog phase where I listened to nothing else for a few days. We All Belong is their best effort yet. Try it, you'll like it. Oh - and another amazing live band by the way.

Favorite tracks: Old News; My Old Ways; Ain't It Strange; Worst Trip










The Shins - Wincing The Night Away:
There are a couple of clunkers on here, but the indie pop brilliance of the rest of the album more than makes up for them. I don't care what anyone says, Wincing is just as good as Oh, Inverted World and Chutes Too Narrow. Fantastic.

Favorite tracks: Australia; Phantom Limb; Turn On Me; Girl Sailor









Some more albums that are certainly worth a listen:

!!! - Myth Takes
A Sunny Day In Glasgow - Scribble Mural Comic Journal
Apostle Of Hustle - National Anthem Of Nowhere
The Apples In Stereo - New Magnetic Wonder
The Bees - Octopus
Beirut - Lon Gisland EP
The Bird And The Bee - The Bird And The Bee
Bracken - We Know About The Need
Bright Eyes - Four Winds EP
The Broken West - I Can't Go On, I'll Go On
David Vandervelde - The Moonstation House Band
Deerhoof - Friend Opportunity
Deerhunter - Cryptograms
Do Make Say Think - You, You're A History In Rust
The Earlies - The Enemy Chorus
The Early Years - The Early Years
El-P - I'll Sleep When You're Dead
Explosions In Sky - All Of A Sudden I Miss Everyone
Field Music - Tones Of Town
Foreign Islands - Restart Now!
The Good, The Bad & The Queen - The Good, The Bad & The Queen
Gruff Rhys - Candylion
Illinois - What The Hell Do I Know?
Jesse Malin - Glitter In The Gutter
Jesu - Conqueror
Lifetime - Lifetime
Loney, Dear - Loney, Noir
Low - Drums And Guns
Maria Taylor - Lynn Teeter Flower
Marnie Stern - In Advance Of The Broken Arm
Modest Mouse - We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank
The Original Mark Edwards - The Doom Loop
Panda Bear - Person Pitch
Papercuts - Can't Go Back
Patrick Wolf - The Magic Position
The Ponys - Turn The Lights Out
Pop Levi - The Return To Form Black Magick Party
The Postmarks - The Postmarks
The Rakes - Ten New Messages
Richmond Fontaine - Thirteen Cities
Shining - Grindstone
Softlightes - Say No! To Being Cool; Say Yes! To Being Happy
Sophia - Technology Won't Save Us
Ted Leo + Pharmacists - Living With The Living
VietNam - VietNam
Warm In The Wake - Gold Dust Trail EP

Quite a list, eh? And those are only the albums released by 3/31/2007. There are some upcoming albums that I've been enjoying that'll probably make it on part 2's tops list (Blonde Redhead, Bright Eyes, Cloud Cult, The National, Voxtrot, Wilco - I'm looking at you!). Yay 2007!