Sunday, December 2, 2007

Top 10 Albums 2007 - According to Dane

As 2007 is coming to a close I thought it appropriate to reflect on the best music that was released this year-- and trust me this was a difficult list to narrow down.

10. Jose Gonzalez - In Our Nature
The Swedish singer-songwriter plucks a near perfect acoustic guitar album.












9. Arthur & Yu - In Camera

This male/female duo take turns singing over languid guitars and gently chiming tambourines. They come off at first sounding like a Velvet Underground tribute band but frankly I don't care because listening to this album on a hot summer afternoon while stuck in traffic will melt you more than the sun.












8. The Ponys - Turn the Lights Out

Dual guitars, re verb and a thumping baseline scratch and claw from the speakers while listening to this album, you almost feel dirty for listening, but as soon as Jered Gummere changes vocal tone and a single guitar takes center stage the band knocks the dirt off with their power.













7. Okkervil River - The Stage Names

Okkervil River and its front man Will Sheff are veterans of the indie music scene. They have been on the road for years and as the old adage goes "Write What You Know", Sheff does just that singing of the woes of an aging rocker on the road. Not like the topic hasn't been amply explored, but Sheff does it in such a sincere and believable way singing about his girlfriend, "You look your age, which is 37 by the way, and not 28".













6. Shout Out Louds - Our Ill Wills

The second Swedish group on this list, Shout Out Louds enlisted the help of fellow Swedes, Peter Bjorn and John to help produce this celebration of an album. The music so soaked in beat at times that it could fit in at a disco tech is balanced with slower tunes that enlist less violin, bongo drums and thumping bass, and let the female vocals drift along snare drum, keys and a subdued guitar. This album has it all.













5. The Arcade Fire - Neon Bible

Although not as good as their first effort, The Funeral, this is still a remarkable album and does nothing to tarnish the band's legacy. Win Butter sounds more like Bruce Springsteen than ever on the tracks that motor through headphones like a muscle car with the pedal welded to the floor, and with the horns on the song Keep the Car Running it seems that he has his version of the E-Street Band as well. But when the car decides to veer off the highway Butler distinguishes himself from Springsteen, and all of the blurring sound flying by turns into intricately layered strumming, drumming, singing, yelling, beating, and blowing, each element comes into glorious focus.












4. Feist - The Reminder

I would try to describe Leslie Feist's voice but there is really no point. She has unlimited range and like a great running back she can change directions on a dime and take you to a different emotion, one second ready to cry the next second ready to jump up and take on the world. It is her voice that is the star of this album, but the instrumentals do their part to make this great. It has molasses slow songs, songs so beautiful and delicate that you don't want to whisper and miss something, and sprawling singalongs - a song for every day.










3. Sunset Rubdown - Random Spirit Lover
Spencer Krug can sing to me with whatever band he wants to. A side project for the Wolf Parade co-front man, Sunset Rubdown is almost as epic a band. This is the band's second album, and unlike the first which has its moments, but struggles to lift itself out of its avant-garde hole, RSL just rocks from the get-go. The Mending of the Gown is now one of my favorite songs, ever.Krug's alien voice bursts over a relentless thrashing piano, organ, and screaming guitar. Not to say that the band isn't still less than mainstream, because this album does take several listens to get used to, but once everything clicks, you will listen over and over again.












2. The Avett Brothers - Emotionalism
Call them bluegrass, alt-country, country, punk country, whatever, I just call them good. The brothers Avett take turns singing about their struggles with revolving door relationships. One would guess from their all-too-to-cool voices rather than their bearded mountain man appearance and old school acoustic instruments that the pair were womanisers. From simple breakup songs with plucking guitar to victorious tunes flush with bass, banjo and acoustic guitar played like axes, the band has incredible range for being so limited by technology.




1. Field Music - Tones of Town
Like a great Beatles album Tones of Town has great songs, but is best when taken as in as a whole. The best song on the album In Context eludes to the idea of what it is to be a great song and what it is to be a great album; the song is good on its own, but when taken "in context" it fits like a wonderful puzzle piece amongst the other songs. Around In Context the songs are all a little disjointed with jerky guitar, sudden stops and irregular drums, but when the song crescendos, all seems to come together and the album suddenly makes sense. The more I listen to this album the more I love it.













Watch this video all the way through. Its a great song and really cool video.


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