albums of the year

[samir]

Have you heard any of his pre-Solo Piano stuff?  I haven't but have surmised that it's totally different.  He sounds kind of like a provocateur.

"I got an extra testicle / But you're skeptical about spectacle / These days bad taste is so delectable"

His song 'Take Me to Broadway' was a staple in my DJ sets in my previous life.

[paul]

I can't believe it took so long for someone to list Of Montreal. It's so catchy.

i've talked about this one on the air (after which, tom made me apologize to matthew fluxblog, who has said that this is probably his favorite album of the decade). i've been into this band longer than anyone i know (except my old friend i never talk to anymore, who turned me onto them) and i've had to defend them countless times to people who thought they sounded stupid and wouldn't believe me that kevin barnes was a genius. well, now they're famous and critically acclaimed, and i think the last 2 OM albums are mind-numbingly boring and annoying. not to mention DEPRESSING. have you heard that "icons abstract thee" ep"? my god, it made me want to slit my wrists...

[God Stewart]

i've talked about this one on the air (after which, tom made me apologize to matthew fluxblog, who has said that this is probably his favorite album of the decade). i've been into this band longer than anyone i know (except my old friend i never talk to anymore, who turned me onto them) and i've had to defend them countless times to people who thought they sounded stupid and wouldn't believe me that kevin barnes was a genius. well, now they're famous and critically acclaimed, and i think the last 2 OM albums are mind-numbingly boring and annoying. not to mention DEPRESSING.

Whoops! Sorry. I accidentally liked that album a lot.

Seriously though, I know what you mean. It hurts when your bands don't come through or fall flat or however you want to say it.

[redmedicine]

1. Ted Leo and the Pharmacists - Living With the Living
2. Son Volt - The Search
3. Dinosaur Jr - Beyond
4. The Good, The Bad, and The Queen
5. The New Pornographers - Challengers
6. The Mekons - Natural
7. Band of Horses - Cease to Begin
8. Yo La Tengo - I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass
9. Neil Young - Chrome Dreams II
10. Against Me - New Wave
11. Ween - La Cucaracha

Honorable Mentions
--------------------
Grinderman
Radiohead - In Rainbows
The Thrills - Teenager
Menomena - Friend or Foe

Reissues/Old Stuff
--------------------
Echo and The Bunnymen - Crystal Days
Roky Erickson - I Have Always Been Here Before
Roxy Music - The Thrill of It All
Sufjan Stevens - Illinois
Brian Jonestown Massacre - Tepid Peppermint Wonderland
Gram Parsons - Anthology

[Forrest]

Was the Good, the Bad, and the Queen really from this year?! Seems like ages ago.

[Gilly]

I think it came out on the same day as The Shins and Of Montreal. I remember being amazed how three contenders for album of the year came out on the same day. None of those albums are even in my top 25. I don't know if that means it was a great year for music or that I was drinking a little too much one Tuesday last January. A little bit of both I think.

[Forrest]

That's why album of the year lists should come with a asterisk*.





*They generally only include records from February through mid-November.

[Omar]

1. Scharpling & Wurster - The Art of the Slap

The next 29 (not necessarily in any order):

The King of Rock - Living with the Living + Mo' Living EP + Whirlyball on 8/8/07

The National - Boxer

Witchcraft - The Alchemist

Jay Reatard - Night of Broken Glass EP / In The Dark 7", I Know A
Place 7" / Miscellaneous stuff posted on his Myspace/weblog

Shocking Pinks - s/t

Major Stars - Mirror/Messenger

Georgie James - Places

Dinosaur Jr - Beyond

Pinback - Autumn of the Seraphs

Jesu - Conqueror

Robert Pollard - Coast to Coast Carpet of Love /  Standard Gargoyle
Decisions / Ruptured Calf Society 7"

Baroness - Red Album

Birds of Avalon - Bazaar Bazaar

Bottomless Pit - Hammer of the Gods

M.I.A. - Kala

Radiohead - In Rainbows

The Ugly Beats - Take A Stand With The Ugly Beats

Imperial Teen - The Hair the TV the Baby and the Band

Big Business - Here Come the Waterworks

The New Pornographers - Challengers

Les Savy Fav - Let's Stay Friends

Githead - Art Pop

Tegan and Sara - The Con

The Cynics - Here We Are

Miss Alex White & The Red Orchestra - Space & Time

Thurston Moore - Trees Outside the Academy

The Golden Boys - Whiskey Flower

The Tough & Lovely - Teardrops

The Mary Timony Band - The Shapes We Make

I have yet to fully explore several notable "hip-hop" releases, such as the Dennis Coles record, Mr. Wu's 8 Diagrams For Gutting Pigs, Loop Fresca, etc.

[Gagneaux]

That Wu-Tang mixtape from Loud.com

agreed!

[Gilly]

well, after a hard day at work, I like to go home, crack open a Bud and jam a little Xenakis.  Kraanerg is a real hoot.  Hahaha, I'm kidding.  This stuff is usually considered "challenging" music although I must say, I've been listening to things by Xenakis for years and it just seems like really normal music to me.  He is my go-to-guy if I want to totally immerse myself in a pleasurable listening experience. 

Another personal favorite is Penderecki, check out Theronody to the Victims of Hiroshims. Tristan Murail is an artist I've been interested in.  He's considered a spectralist, whatever that is - don't ask me to explain it.  Ones that you may have heard of include Stockhausen, Momente and John Cage (people, I can see you rolling your eyes, stop it) Concerto For Prepared Piano and Orchestra. 

A good starting point with all this is probably Varese Ionisation.  He's kind of a gateway guy, and influenced a lot of stuff that came after him.  Other starting points could be the Serialists, like Stockhausen started out as a Serialist but he's not really in line with Varese and Cage who was a student of Shoenberg but more into the Henry Cowell thing.  It gets kind of tangled when you're talking about gateways.  Everything crosses over.  Well, hope that was helpful.

I kept checking back to see if you'd posted and I just realized now that you did awhile ago. I'm going on Rhapsody right now to see if any of that is available. Thank you!

Edit: That's not really what I was looking for. I'm looking for stuff a little more classical but original kind of like Max Richter's The Blue Notebooks that came out a couple years ago.

[buffcoat]

The Gene Simmons solo album is my album of the year... 1978.

Seriously, it is.

The Paul Stanley one's not that bad.  Ace Frehley's is a rocker.

Do not listen to the Peter Criss one.  It was the inspiration for much of the "The Cougar from Pout" call.

[Gilly]

OK, Chuck Klosterman....

For all I know you might actually be Chuck Klosterman. Good book!

[jane]

I kept checking back to see if you'd posted and I just realized now that you did awhile ago. I'm going on Rhapsody right now to see if any of that is available. Thank you!

Edit: That's not really what I was looking for. I'm looking for stuff a little more classical but original kind of like Max Richter's The Blue Notebooks that came out a couple years ago.

I kept checking back to see if you'd posted and I just realized now that you did awhile ago. I'm going on Rhapsody right now to see if any of that is available. Thank you!

Edit: That's not really what I was looking for. I'm looking for stuff a little more classical but original kind of like Max Richter's The Blue Notebooks that came out a couple years ago.

offtopic/
Ha, ha, so John from Minneapolis is you, Gilly.  I read your post in a sleepy state late last night and went to bed wondering who John from Minneapolis was. 
I guess I was thrown off by your use of the terms "classical", which, to my understanding, refers to music from hundreds of years ago, and "mouldy" "modern", which, I believe, is generally the 20th century up to the 1960's.

I listened to some Max Richter you referred to, and it sounds a little, uh, cinematic to me.  Ha, ha.  It seems to be some sort of post modern, new age music that plays at classical.  It's pretty, though, and looks like it's Pitchfork approved.

ontopic/
I've been listening to tape music from the 50's and 60's by artists such as Pierre Schaeffer, Bernard Parmegiani, Luc Ferrari, etc. and this translates to Fergie's album, Dutchess for me.  I loved the use of ancient musique concrete techniques on this album.  It really kicks A-S-S.  Album of the year, people?

[ughwhy]

I can't believe it took so long for someone to list Of Montreal. It's so catchy.

i've talked about this one on the air (after which, tom made me apologize to matthew fluxblog, who has said that this is probably his favorite album of the decade). i've been into this band longer than anyone i know (except my old friend i never talk to anymore, who turned me onto them) and i've had to defend them countless times to people who thought they sounded stupid and wouldn't believe me that kevin barnes was a genius. well, now they're famous and critically acclaimed, and i think the last 2 OM albums are mind-numbingly boring and annoying. not to mention DEPRESSING. have you heard that "icons abstract thee" ep"? my god, it made me want to slit my wrists...

I kinda think Of Montreal has always been depressing, except now instead of naming fake places and singing about looking for the Marshmellow Coast they're all up and singing about Sinking the Seine. Actually the only thing that really ever got me through those early Of Montreal albums was the sense of great foreboding that anchored all the twee. Otherwise is was just fluff and butter--for instance, none of those other Kindercore bands ever did it for me. Plus how about that old cover of "I  Felt Like Smashing My Face Through A Plate Glass Window"?

I think Hissing Fauna might be one of my favorite post-breakup albums ever. So many post-breakup albums are just cry, cry, cry; I loved all the anger on this one, all the wanting to punch folks and break stuff and then get mad about how all you want to do is be in love again.

[Pride of Staten Island]

I'm aware I'm more than a little late in entering this discussion but here's my 2007 playlist:

Tvyek "Air Conditioner"
Love of Diagrams "Pace or the Patience"
The Laureates "Witching Boots"
Spoon "You Got Yr Cherry Bomb"
Bottomless Pit "Dead Man's Blues"
New Pornographers "Myriad Harbor"
The Ponys "1209 Seminary"
Black Lips "O Katrina"
The Intelligence "The Outer Echelon"
Times New Viking "Devo and Wine"
Residual Echoes "Fresh Eyes"
Shellac "Be Prepared"
Blonde Redhead "Spring and By Summer Fall"
LCD Soundsystem "Someone Great"
M.I.A. "Paper Planes"
Wooden Shjips "We Ask You to Ride"
White Hills "Spirit of Exile"
The Magik Markers "Taste"
Lamps "Now that I'm Dead"
Jay Reatard "I Know a Place"
Pissed Jeans "I Still Got You (Ice Cream)"
Dinosaur Jr "Back to Your Heart"
Ted Leo and the Pharmacists "C.I.A."
The Marked Men "It's Not a Crime"

There's a lot more on my blog (http://theunblinkingear.blogspot.com/) if anyone is interested.

Happy December Wishes!!