2007 was a spiffing good year for British imports. Whilst returns to psychedelic rock and post-punk were most impressive, shoegaze and space rock were (are?) also on the rise. Here I've selected the top 10 albums and top 30 songs of the year. Neither the albums, nor songs were given rankings within their respective groups. It's largely irrelevant, since on any given day, any given mood might shift #30 to #1 and vice versa.
Year end lists will always be sketchy, if only for the fact that there is always something out there the compiler has yet to hear. Consumer-driven publications will dumb down their content enough to attempt to quantify an art form using rational standards, which actually does fill a niche, offering the easily digestible information which most people seem to crave.
For more serious music-devourers, who ingest compulsively, selectively, because it soothes, drives and haunts them: I offer my lists. Unlike most year-end lists, they are not meant to force feed information or spark some 15 second trend, but rather to share experiences, to spark ideas and feeling and, ultimately, to get you closer to God. Alright, maybe not the God thing, but then again you never know . . .
Year end lists will always be sketchy, if only for the fact that there is always something out there the compiler has yet to hear. Consumer-driven publications will dumb down their content enough to attempt to quantify an art form using rational standards, which actually does fill a niche, offering the easily digestible information which most people seem to crave.
For more serious music-devourers, who ingest compulsively, selectively, because it soothes, drives and haunts them: I offer my lists. Unlike most year-end lists, they are not meant to force feed information or spark some 15 second trend, but rather to share experiences, to spark ideas and feeling and, ultimately, to get you closer to God. Alright, maybe not the God thing, but then again you never know . . .
Top 10 Albums
The National: Boxer - Subtly gorgeous orchestration, angsty idealist lyrics in Matt Berninger's seductive baritone. Oh yes, I'll have that.
Mystery Jets: Zootime - Nearly the same album released in the UK last year; this US release still makes the cut.
iLiKETRAiNS: Elegies to Lessons Learnt - You know that sound when noir and Expressionist films melt together and form into massive icebergs whose pieces crack thunderously and crumble in a rush of white foam into the frigid black sea? No? Well, this is that sound.
Beirut: The Flying Club Cup - The best Balkan minstrel rock you'll hear this year. But seriously, it brings to mind Tom Waits' Black Rider masterpiece, which, in my experience, is never a bad thing.
The Horrors: Strange House - Manic, spastic, grisly freak-beat to have an epileptic seizure to . . .
Okkervil River: The Stage Names - Just when you thought Will Sheff had nowhere to go but down . . .
Electricity in Our Homes: The Shareholder’s Meeting EP - Phenomenal debut EP from this stripped-down, stacattoed post-punk band out of southeast London's robust music scene.
Animal Collective: Strawberry Jam - Quirky noises and songs with funny names are usually transparent ruses musicians use to hide their horribly dull and cliched indie rock. This, however, is a smashing success.
Klaxons: Myths of the Near Future - Space Rock, Rave Pop -- who really cares when it's this good?
Dragons of Zynth: Coronation Thieves - Afro-Psych with intelligent lyrics and sounds ranging from delicate melodies to rocked-out fuzzy bliss.
Top 30 Songs
Hatcham Social - 'Til the Dawn http://youtube.com/watch?v=_DUXSHnpkeM
The National - Mistaken For Strangers http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgRsYkKb1eI
The Black Lips - Cold Hands http://youtube.com/watch?v=rJojRf6Kf8o
Patrick Wolf (feat. Marianne Faithfull) - Magpie
http://media.putfile.com/Magpie---Patrick-Wolf
Ulrich Schnauss - Medusa http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZ0P7nEh3c0
The Horrors - She Is the New Thing http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTgOe9Uda54
Animal Collective - Peacebone http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxvGHQHiY70
Battles - Atlas
http://youtube.com/watch?v=IpGp-22t0lU
Deerhunter - Cryptograms
http://media.putfile.com/Cryptograms---Deerhunter
Blood Red Shoes - I Wish I Were Someone Else http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQ3HV0lRMOo
Editors - Bones
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Vu33zq-HWAE
Maps - It Will Find You
http://youtube.com/watch?v=nEpkouuK6n4
Lightspeed Champion - Midnight Surprise http://youtube.com/watch?v=3rMwc10uNOg
The Draytones - Keep Lovin’ Me http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XQzEM38YEs
Dragons of Zynth - Breaker
www.myspace.com/dragonsofzynth
Klaxons - Golden Skans http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiq_0vEDAbE
iLiKETRAiNS - The Deception http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TwvBsoWpQ8
Interpol - Pioneer to the Falls http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZmLdBOS2aI
Bloc Party - Hunting for Witches http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2EkcT9q28Q
Neils Children - You Didn’t Care http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=df_3ca31IZg
Beirut - Nantes
http://media.putfile.com/Nantes---Beirut
Nervous Cabaret - Sleepwalkers http://media.putfile.com/Sleepwalkers---Nervous-Cabaret
Sea Wolf - You’re a Wolf http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBE8gB5JSzU
Spider and the Flies - Metallurge www.myspace.com/spiderandtheflies
Sunset Rubdown - Up On Your Leopard, Upon the End of Your Feral Days
http://media.putfile.com/Up-On-Your-Leopard---Sunset-Rubdown
Andrew Bird - Imitosis http://youtube.com/watch?v=hnXCzFnkxtY
Electricity in Our Homes - We Don’t Need Honesty http://media.putfile.com/Electricity-in-Our-Homes---We-Dont-Need-Honesty
SHITDISCO - Emanator
http://media.putfile.com/Emanator---SHITDISCO
Artefacts for Space Travel - Recoop www.myspace.com/artefactsforspacetravel
Time.Space.Repeat - The End of the World http://media.putfile.com/The-End-of-the-World---TimeSpaceRepeat
