The Best Records Of 2007, Part II
I know, I’m a day later than my initial goal of the end of June for this, but fuck it. Here’s what I’ve got:
Britney Spears-Blackout: considering that Britney probably wasn’t even conscious during the recording of this album, the emergence of “Blackout” as the best dance pop album since Kylie Minogue’s stellar “Fever” puts the producers up for the Nobel Prize, if you ask me. They managed to make a great dance record and encapsulate a nervous breakdown, which is nothing to sneeze at, trust me. There really isn’t a slow point on this record, which really should have borrowed the title “Music For Titty Bars” from Trent Reznor (who joked that he was going to call the follow-up to “The Downward Spiral” that after “Closer” became a titty bar staple). If you haven’t heard this yet, even if you’re not a fan, give it a listen. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs-Is Is EP: a really nice return to form here, as Karen, Nick and the other guy (heh) re-record some of their older unreleased pre-”Fever To Tell” songs with great results. If you liked the first record and the 2 EPs preceding it, but were left a little flat by “Show Your Bones” like I was, rejoice, as this is way more in line with what I (and a lot of people) liked about the Yeah Yeah Yeahs in the first place.
Melt-Banana-Bambi’s Dilemma: having lost track of Melt-Banana for a while (they do release records pretty often, but they get lost in my library sometimes), this one kept my iPod busy for most of last summer. They’ve evolved some from the Melt-Banana I last remember hearing, as there’s some more mainstream rock, punk rock and melody in what they do now (contrasted with earlier M-B, which elicited a lot of “How the hell are human beings doing that, and how the hell did they think of doing it in the first place?”), but they’ve lost absolutely none of their speed, power and energy in the process. Really cool album.
Robert Hazard-Troubadour: it’s been a long, long road for Philadelphia singer-songwriter Robert Hazard, who you’d probably best know as the writer of Cyndi Lauper’s hit “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun”, or from his own new wave classic “Escalator Of Life”, but on “Troubadour”, Hazard’s Rykodisc debut, Hazard continues a return to his folk roots that he started with 2004’s “The Seventh Lake” and “Blue Mountain” and hinted at on 1998’s superb “Howl”. This is an excellent, rich sounding, beautifully played roots rock record, evoking his idol Bob Dylan, John Fogerty’s solo material and interestingly (and perhaps in a nod to his past life in new wave), I hear a lot of Bryan Ferry in the vocals here, too. It’s great to hear a local hero like Hazard finding his voice and experiencing an artistic renaissance before our eyes as he has here.
Shriekback-Glory Bumps: if you’re aware that Shriekback are still releasing records, the appearance of this album on this list shouldn’t surprise you in the least, as I loved their last album, “Cormorant”, but if you’re not, get on the bus, man! Barry Andrews (who I’m beginning to think is a rhyming demon along the same lines of DC Comics’ Etrigan) and co. return with an even stronger showing here, just as lush, edgy and interesting a listen as “Cormorant”, but more accessible at the same time. The opening track, “Hooray For Everything”, is probably the best pop song from the past year or so that you haven’t heard, and other standouts include the Leonard Cohen-ish “Bittersweet”, the gorgeous “Amaryllis In The Sprawl” and the title track, with its Wolfgang Press-ish funk. Shriekback are another act on this list (and as you all know, I’m a sucker for this) who are on their second career, and I think I may like this one even more than I liked the first one.
The Lost Patrol-Launch And Landing: on this record, which turned out to be the swan song for vocalist Danielle Kimak Stauss (who’s moved onto…something or other…Danielle, give me a holler, it’s been ages!), atmospheric surf noir act The Lost Patrol really hit their stride, perfectly capturing the presence and mood of their live shows (one of which, I had the pleasure of co-headlining). Personal favorites from this record are “Venus Burlesque” and the opening “Sirens”. The Lost Patrol are carrying on with new singer Mollie Israel, and have begun recording with her already. Best of luck to them and to Danielle as well.
Celebration-The Modern Tribe: this is an awesome second outing from Baltimore’s innovative Celebration, featuring Katrina Ford, one of the most powerful, unique-sounding vocalists on the planet, and Sean Antanaitis, who’s one of the most amazing multi-instrumentalists I’ve ever seen perform (bass pedals, organ and guitar at the same time, people). Slightly more melodic than their self-titled debut (which may be a blessing to some of you, as I’ve heard people say that they had trouble connecting with the first album until they saw them live; eh, fuck ‘em, I loved the record), “The Modern Tribe” is nonetheless every bit as evocative and soulful, and the trademark tribalism of drummer Dave Bergander propels the entire recording. Highly recommended, and an even higher recommendation for seeing them live. If you get a chance, do it. They’re tremendous.
The Wildhearts-The Wildhearts: the Bay City Rollers go thermonuclear, get really pissed off, do a bunch of drugs and steal a bunch of Ramones, Cheap Trick and Motorhead records. That’s The Wildhearts in a nutshell, and this album’s no exception. The opening “Rooting For The Bad Guy” is an album in and of itself (I can’t remember the last time I’ve heard a band jam quite this hard and build tension so effectively by doing so on a record), and it just goes from there. I fucking hate myself for missing the show they did on the Rocks Off boat last year, but it’s probably just as well, as the boat probably would’ve capsized if there was one more person on it. This is a band who, when I saw them, blew out the PA’s power at Tribeca Rock Club 3 times, didn’t stop playing as it happened, and didn’t lose much volume in the process. If that gives you some idea of what you’re in for, and it sounds like a good time, get this record, because the record’s pretty representative of what they’re like live at this point. Fucking epic.
Honorable mention, because it’s “only” a single:
The Schema-Those Rules You Made: Rhodri fuckin’ Marsden, ladies and gentlemen. Rhodri fuckin’ Marsden. Our man at The Independent had a mission: to record, distribute and promote a single from his bedroom in a 30-day timeframe. To do this, he gave us the future yacht rock classic that is the title track, and the XTC-ish B-side “On Wheels”, and then to top it off, he made this brilliant video with Alex de Campi:
The video received over 276,000 views as of this writing, and Rhodri has made about £132 of his costs back from sales of the single, which means he’s about £735 in the hole still. However, there is hope! If you’re familiar with the concept of The Long Tail, here’s where you can become a part of it! “Those Rules You Made” is still available from iTunes, and directly from Rhodri himself. Go get you some!
July 1st, 2008 at 1:50 pm
Good list. I’ll check most of these out soon, though I gotta say, it’s hard for me to wrap my head around actively listening to a Britney Spears song, let alone a whole album, without my head exploding in some kind of logic feedback loop.
Another couple of albums worth a listen this year that I’d include with any top 10 lists are:
1. Gnarls Barkley - The Odd Couple While a lot of people might draw on some obvious Outkast musical parallels (especially after hearing the CD’s unnervingly booty-shake compelling single “Move On”), this CD might be even more solid stuff than Outkast’s Speakerboxxx/Love Below, but the infectious nature of the word-of-mouth hype around it is certainly a fair comparison. Once in a while, there’s an album that is so damn good it doesn’t just live up to the hype, it damn near defies the hype to say enough good things about it. This is such an album. Cee-Lo Green’s voice is heartrendingly good, and Dangermouse is someone to watch in coming years to rise to the ranks of minor impressario in his own right. This was my favorite discovery of 2008, hands down.
2. Firewater - The Golden Hour Todd A is back, and he’s pissed. And happy. And pensive. And feeling, in his words, weird to be home. And, true to form, he is eager to share it all, in as complex a mixed bag as possible. This album, the fifth since the band’s inception (no, I don’t count Songs We Should Have Written, and neither should you; that album is the Highlander II of music and the sooner it’s forgotten the sooner mankind can live in joyous peace and harmony) is easily the most consistent, musically and artistically solid effort from Firewater since 1998’s The Ponzi Scheme. As always, another Firewater album means another smattering of musical influences; rhythms and progressions are borrowed here from as far-flung musical influences as bhangra, Turkish pop, Sufi Arab drumming, Manu Chao, second wave ska - all mixed up with angsty New York barroom punk and the “wedding band gone wrong” attitude that’s always been the band’s central guiding artistic principle. Seriously, this is the first Firewater album in over 10 years that I would feel fine about recommending to someone who wasn’t already a Firewater fan… damn well worth buying.
P.S. - Scott: I did notice at the end of writing this that you’re actually listing 2007 albums, so please disregard this reply ’till 12/31 :)
~Fe
July 2nd, 2008 at 5:12 am
I still need to spend more time with the Gnarls record (loved the first one, despite the world’s best efforts to make me sick of it), and I’ve yet to spend any with the Firewater, though I probably will soon.