Matt Kagler - Runs an independent record label, y’know, Half-arsed teetotaler, The “bear” in any man-on-man relationship, Schmooze-meister general, Most likely to go to a gig and not watch any of the bands but tell you what other people think of them, Knows all the words to ‘Help On the Way’, Once punched Gregg Vossler in the back of the head for not “listening” enough to an acoustic Lonely China Day set while completely hammered and dressed as Santa w/ a broken arm (true story), Did we mention that Kagler runs Tag Team…oh wait, we don’t need too, he’ll be sure and tell you at least 6 times during the course of a 5 minute conversation.
1. Panda Bear – Person Pitch (Paw Tracks)
Okay, I’ll be honest, I’ve never really listened this record, but I’m gonna throw it up as #1 on my list anyway cuz I’m enamored with panda bears in general. I mean, I live in China and shit guys, pandas are so god-damn cute and Discovery Channel says they are a borderline endangered species + can’t fuck in captivity properly and I saw that Al Gore movie and though it’s not really about pandas I sorta thought it kinda was and they really are pretty much the national animal of China and I saw one at the zoo the other day and it was definitely real and I bought a panda themed t-shirt that has something written in Chinese characters on it that probably says something heavy but I can’t read it cuz I don’t read characters but have lived in China for 7 years and am now somewhat unmotivated and…
2. Of Montreal – Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? (Polyvinyl)
Everyone I know in Athens (besides the dudes in Venice is Sinking) are completely pissed that Kevin Barns gave a tune or two away to JC Penny or Outback Steakhouse or some such shit and then stood up for himself because he likes to eat cheeseburgers and shop at Hot Topic for a white belt and some blue hair-dye every now and again or whatever. Listen up indie-rockers of the world!? I’d fuck all your moms sideways in order to fund my label/ Battlestar Galactica fetish with the kind of money KB made by ‘selling out’ to all the places you closet Pitchfork reading Philistines w/ Daniel Hicks tattoos all over your bodies drive across town to shop/ eat at cuz you’re afraid that your helmet haired-hipster-wannabe-human ‘friends’ will see you and not want to shake a tambourine in your next bullshit side project. Sheesh!
3. Love as Laughter – Trademark of Quality Ep (self released)
In 1998 I went home with a girl after a Built to Spill show in Seattle simply because I knew there was an extremely good chance that the following morning I would be able to steal the hand silk-screened Love as Laughter t-shirt she was wearing. So yeah, I’m sort of a longtime LAL fan and a bad, bad person with questionable moral character. Anyhoo, On Trademark, Sam Jayne and Co. continue on where Laughter’s Fifth leaves off, which is a good thing if you dig faux classic rock w/ a liberal sprinkling of Northwest indie on top. And just in case you’re wondering, the shirt was a little to small, but I did manage to snake half a leftover vegan club sandwich out of the girl’s fridge before stumbling out to the bus stop at 6am, cuz that’s just how I roll…erm, rolled. Whatever.
4. COCO – Play Drums + Bass (K)
Before Kyle met Kendra, he’d have definitely tried to coax Chris Sutton and Olivia Ness into a three-way. Whatever, I’m always a sucker for this type of kindergarten sounding lo-fi soul/ funk that only a couple of Oly kids who bro-up with Calvin Johnson over at Dub Narcotic/ K could pull off…it’s just a part of my musical DNA at this point. What am I supposed to do? Please feel free to email suggestions to matthewk@tagteamrecords.com. Thanks!
5. Boris and Michio Kurihara – Rainbow (Drag City/Pedal)
If you listen to this record and think that it’s ‘a little heavy’ for your taste, then you my friend are a full-on pussy and can feel free to take all those Belle and Sebastian CDs you own and stick them in your purse next to your tampons, along with your copy of that new Radiohead cry for attention. This shit blows minds and takes names…end of story.
Best Single of ’07:
LCD Soundsystem – Someone Great (DFA/ Capitol)
Yes, it sounds like Human League. Yes, James Murphy lives in Williamsburg (easily the most retardedly fucked neighborhood I know of this side of Wudaokou). Yes, I feel like I contract a top-notch venereal disease every time I visit New York City. Yes, I dj’d this tune bi-weekly for the whole of 2007. Yes, LCD Soundsystem give me a serious boner. No, Sound of Silver doesn’t make my top 5 list.
Most Overrated Record of the Year:
Arcade Fire – Neon Bible (Merge)
Seriously people, I know these guys put on a shit-hot live show and all, but if I wanna listen to a Bruce Springsteen record, I’ll get in my underwear, open up a bottle of rye and throw on Born to Run. Oh, and that single with the pipe organ or whatever is so gay that it should be called ‘Reach-around: The Ballad of Tom Cruise’. Hey, Win Butler?! You and that man you’re married too should move back to Texas with that fucking posse of un-photogenic nerds you call a band and start ripping off New Order again. That shit actually works for me.
Ian Sherman - "ERRM…ERRM…ERRM…ERRM", Definitely knows he’s not gay ‘cuz he fucked a dude one time and tells us about it weekly, Grand Wizard of listings arcana over at the highly lauded-cutting edge- avant garde-critically acclaimed Time Out Magazine (Beijing), Told us once after 15 gin-tonics that, “Fat girls need love too, but they gotta pay…unless they’re fuckin’ me!”, The only English dude we know with an American passport, 1987 Köln Hair design Competition Runner Up, Constantly teetering on the brink of…errm, fabulousness?!
It's been a weird year, music-wise. A quick check on iTunes reveals that the thing s i've most listened to this year weren't released this year and in many cases, even this decade. However, tempted as I am to drone on at length about erm... Neil Young or Hector Berlioz, Kagler's head would explode 'cos, y'know, he's got rules and that. Sheesh, like anyone gives a shit...
p.s. If you're anal enough to care about labels, you can look 'em up yourself.
(THESE ARE NOT IN ANY PARTICULAR ORDER. NUMBERS ARE FOR GIRLS)
Strange Death Of Liberal England - Forward March (Eight Traditional Marching Songs) (Fantastic Plastic)
Unwieldy band and album names, incessant, haranguing lyrics, layer on layer of huge, clanging musical bombast; sheer fucking genius Brit band reminding us that not everything begins and ends with Radiohead or Libertines. The aural equivalent of a socialist pamphlet being hammered over and over again on the anvil of music. Ace. Fratellis can fuck right off.
Besnard Lakes - Are The Dark Horse (Jagjaguwar)
Everyone'll put this on their list, no doubt. If they don't, then their musical opinions aren't worth canvassing. Never was much for the Beach Boys, but meld those 'god only knows' harmonies with a shrieky, weird and, above all, slowburning version of Spectre's wall of sound and I'm a happy camper.
Blind Melon - Soup Deluxe (Capitol)
Rock and roll deaths are funny, arbitrary things. Bite down on a twelve-guage and redecorate the parlour in tasteful shades of grey and you're no longer an overrated smackhead off his meds... no, now you're a hero to millions, a messiah of your generation, destined to replace Che as the hackneyed t-shirt/poster of choice for decades to come. Jim Morrison; fat, washed up, married to a self-proclaimed witch, for fuck's sake! One 'is that a turd floating in the bathtub? No, it's Jim' moment later and he's the last of the Romantics, a twentieth century Shelley with nastier VD. Idiots from around the world flock daily to Paris to visit his grave, each of them involved in an unconscious 'Who's Dad made the biggest mistake by not pulling out' competition with the other. Jimi Hendrix - Pretty decent pop tunes, can't argue with 'Watchtower', discovered the blues, snore. Lennon; C'mon, get a fucking grip! Lennon's musical death notice was side three of 'Sometime In New York', released a good 8 years before Chapman. The fact that nobody noticed at the time doesn't make it any less apparent now. 'Watching the wheels go round' is the sound of the male menopause. Deal with it.
The point, which has taken quite enough hammering from me, is that they all died in interesting ways and, hence, attained their immortality. Not such posthumous luck for poor, fucked up Shannon Hoon, who deserves a place in the same sentence as many of the above mentioned corpses, but will never have it. Soup is an extra-ordinary, brilliant album of displacement, failed redemption, regret, guilt and self-loathing. Above all, though, it is a drug album; every song drips with Hoon's self-hatred and a resignation that he's never going to get clear of the junk. One could view the self-hatred as feigned; a druggy acknowledging a problem publicly so he doesn’t have to deal with it privately. However, Hoon doesn't make any promises, simply letting it all hang out there - maybe a cry for help or maybe an argument he's vainly having with himself.
Blind Melon, formed in LA but from disparate backgrounds (Hoon from Indiana) had initial success in the early nineties with fairly infectious all-chorus-no-verse single 'No Rain' but after one completely forgettable eponymous album and a couple of tours supporting chums Guns 'n' Roses, they sank below the radar. Which worked very well indeed for them, freed from commercial expectations (or as much as that is possible when signed to a major), they got down to the slow task of making Soup, quite possibly one of the best albums of the decade. About as 'indie' as an Elton John AIDS gala, Soup is a rock album. But a Rock album from another planet; influences ARE there - Zeppelin certainly, touches of grunge perhaps, hell even a soupcon of krautrock everynow and then, but still, it sounds like nothing else released by an ostensibly mainstream band that decade. Notwithstanding the constant dread, fear and loathing underlying the lyrics, Soup is not a musically depressing album, there's nary a slow song among the fourteen. Reznor or Gore would not be at home to Blind Melon. Songs veer all over the place; this minute a jug band, the next a foxtrot, oh... shit here come's some epic fucking guitars and... now its back to jazz. And that voice, ahh.... that fucking voice.
Hoon died after one speed ball too many in 1995. Very few people remember is name. None of you hipster fascists will. Fuck you and buy this record.
Beirut - The Flying Club Cup (Ba Da Bing!)
I like accordions and trumpets, so should you.
Black Moth Super Rainbow - Dandelion Gum (Graveface)
While we're waiting for the next M83 record.
Akron/Family - Love Is Simple (Young God)
These guys are almost as productive as the Fiery Furnaces - one has the feeling that every time either band feels like letting loose with a fart they make damn sure to record it - the difference being that Fiery Furnaces' music makes me want to hunt down every single band member and beat them to bloody pulps with my dick, since, let's face it, that shit is music for the dickless. Akron/Family, on the other hand, make wonderful, joyous music that makes me want to bang tambourines, possibly even with my dick. Sure, they're hippies, but they're hippies its okay to like. I'll finish with four words - 'Ed Is A Portal'.
Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam (Domino)
The ultimate divisive record. Many people thought it was unlistenable; do not listen to those people; those people are the retarded idiots responsible for the continued existence of Bright Eyes. Construction site folk songs as relayed through the minds of deaf astronauts.
The Austerity Programme - Black Madonna (Hydra Head)
Heavy, maaan, heavy!
The Bad Plus - Prog (Heads Up)
Cool jazz isn't dead; it's at home, propped up in bed surrounded by spent joints and half-empty cans of Red Bull, watching Donnie Darko on an endless loop. Occasionally math-rock comes 'round and they fuck; its a 'friends with benefits' kind of deal.
The Swamp - Lost Dream (Lalaso Records)
Kagler thought this record was a joke, but then what the fuck does he know - he likes that new Band Of Horses album, instantly rendering his opinion value-less in all sane, right-thinking circles. Guangzhou band release jaw-dropping debut album of staggering ambition and literally awesome scope. Like locking Funkadelic at their trippiest in a cupboard with Flying Saucer Attack at their noisiest. You bastards are all going to be sleeping with this under your pillow next year, you just don't know it yet. Fuck you, I was there first.
Honourable mentions: Grinderman, Elvis Perkins, Frog Eyes, Future Of The Left, Black Lips, Caribou, Hedgehog, Carsick Cars, Citay, Of Montreal, Figurines, Iron and Wine, Jens Lenkman, John Murphy (28 Weeks Later Soundtrack), Les Savy Fav, Old Time Relijun, Place To Bury Strangers, Pteradactyl, Sondre Lerche, Pelle Carlberg, Two Gallants, LLonely China DaySoundsystem, White Rabbits.
Kyle Page - Wears women’s clothing (no joke), Full-on hipster douchebag who would casually sport a Member’s Only jacket with the sleeves rolled up Miami Vice style on a Tuesday night after work and tell you without a hint of irony that spandex is too loose, Names all his head-lice after characters from Terry Brook's masterwork Elfstones of Shannara, Failed to get his athlete’s foot nominated as the official State Fungus of Ohio, Constitutes one half of the Kylendra construct (in the future we will all be like that), Remembers his Dexterity score from ten years ago, Has an extremely professorical/ borderline condescending take on everything from dub-step to dildos, Trucker cap Mr. Hyde and should not be trusted with a mobile phone.
1. AttacksUnicorns - Misuses of the Wish Spell (B:/Evil)
I always assumed I would use my three wishes for A) The ability to win any game of chance I so desired B) An HIV-like virus that would confer perfect health and an immunity to disease and disaster I could spread to my friends and loved ones through sexual contact and C) Complete reflex-like control over the relationship of objects relative to the time stream so that as soon as I finished smoking a joint I could rewind it back to an unsmoked state and start again. What I didn’t know was that I should have been wishing for a 28 minute EP of D&D themed menacing sturm and drang soundscapes. Oh, wait… Now I guess, I don’t have to.
2. Fist Pig - Blood Splattered Bones –Live in Anaheim (War Thrust)
I usually hate live albums. I find the desultory cheers between tracks depressing and the feed coming through the mixer looses all the hammering urgency that makes standing upright for 4 hours with a warm beer moderately bearable. I’m not saying this CD needs to be on the syllabus of EVERY two year audio engineering tech school in America, I’m just saying its so fucking visceral I thought it was trying to eat its way through my body.
3. The Prone Position - Melt Your Toy Soldiers (D6)
Trans Am hasn’t put out an album for awhile (or if they did I didn’t notice – please don’t write me about it) but this little gem fills that gap as nicely as a gold tooth made out of tortured synthesizers and drummer that has crashed on Earth to herald the coming of Galactus, Destroyer of Worlds. I danced so hard my dick hurt.
4. Sudden Infant Sex Syndrome - My Heart is Half Empty (Barren Mind)
The eternal path to my heart is a simple formula really. One part wan and well-read beauty, one hot, skinny indie boy with a mustache, one part sparse mechanical architecture periodically shattered by febrile squalls of synthetic noise. Chill until absolutely frigid and sprinkle liberally with literary lyrics ripped straight from an English Primer for Boys and Girls and confessional scribbling in the margins. Viola: Coldwave perfection.
5. The Boyfriends of Nancy Drew - The Case of Chairman Meow (George the Girl)
Okay, Okay, I KNOW an indie-folk album about a mystery involving a missing kitten with delusions of grandeur sounds as gay as unicorn-scented “magic” spell candles, but I haven’t been this absolutely… ah-ha… enchanted since I saw the AT-ATs loom onto the big screen in the summer of 1980 (I was three). Seriously, this album is better than a rainbow machine and WAY more difficult to break.
Andrew Hustad - Desperately seeking Jesus to the detriment of His friends and colleges, Proud father to be (i.e. his jizz works), Retired male model, Is to nice what Krakatoa is to volcanoes, Prolly has 24.6 inch penis, definitely has unrealistic cheek bones/ jawline…had ‘work’ done.
(in no particular order)
Marsen Jules - Golden (Genesungwerk)
Excellent noise for forty-four minute walks to nowhere. Although Golden isn't coming out of City Centre Offices, these 7 tracks would still feel very much at home there.
Arcade Fire - Neon Bible (Merge)
Not sure what will happen after my funeral, but if it sounds anything like this I won't complain.
Manu Chao - La Radiolina (Because)
Lacks the originality that still keeps Proxima Estacion: Esperanza in rotation today (at least at my house), however anything that sounds like I'm sitting on top of a bus somewhere in Latin America, slowly crawling across country X towards country Y, takes a bit of the edge off the soul-numbing weather of the Beijing winter.
The Field - From Here We Go Sublime (Kompakt)
Solid, intelligent electronic beats. At first it doesn't seem all that original, but I keep coming back to it... not really sure why. Ask your Ayi to come over and flip the lights on and off for an hour while you sit on the couch and listen to this.
Band of Horses - Cease to Begin (Sub Pop)
'Is there a ghost' quite possibly holds the record for play counts on my powerbook.
Marcus Kagler - Newly en-mellowed poster child for nepotism and record label freebies, Still doesn’t know his arse from his elbow when it comes to the work of Frank Black (dude, the self titled record completely slays over Teenager Of the Year), Has an unhealthy/ passive-aggressive relationship with the U.S. Postal Service he refuses to discuss with his analyst, Parties like it’s 1999 because in his mind, it is! Staff writer for Under the Radar but can’t get Tag Team discount rates on print adds or featured puff-pieces, Should fuck more.
1. Radiohead - In Rainbows (Self Released)
Still awesome. Still changing the face of music. All you lo-fi hipster douche bags should just quit because these guys make you look even more terrible than you already are. And they’re old now too, with kids. Dads are making you look like assholes.
2. Arcade Fire - Neon Bible (Merge)
When it comes to organized religions and George W. Bush this album is like a big beautiful fuck you.
3. Richard Hawley - Lady's Bridge (Mute)
Since Scott Walker has officially jumped the shark, the couch, and reality to become the music industry's version of JD Salinger a replacement was in desperate need. Aside from a horrible rockabilly track, Richard Hawley fills Walkers shoes admirably often beating the original crooner at his own game.
4. Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings - 100 Days, 100 Nights (Daptone Records)
I saw this chick play Amoeba in Hollywood and she literally was taking small white dudes in tight jeans with faggy haircuts and biting their heads off before spewing their blood all over the girls with lip piercings and tramp stamps. Deep southern soul music was alive and well in 2007. I'm pretty sure Sharon Jones killed Ike Turner.
5. The Shins - Wincing the Night Away (Sub Pop)
I know what you're thinking. "But they got so mainstream. They totally sold out. They were on a soundtrack to a popular movie. My pussy hurts." Face facts assholes: when it comes to pristine pop music made by white dudes with guitars The Shins are second to none. They haven't changed a bit, the world just caught on to how GOOD they are. Now that Eric Johnson from the Fruit Bats is a full time member they'll probably take over the rest of world, playing sold out shows in Russia and all sorts of superstar shit. And I bet their next album will still be better than the latest Devendra Banhart turd. Yeah, sure you've never heard T-Rex, Banheart. What an asshole.
Tianxi - She’s hot, she’s single, she’s Chinese, and she "works hard",
eligible bachelors should send head shot and vital stats to www.mailorderbride.com/tianxi, Constantly stealth flirting with Sherman.
1. 65 Days of Static - The Destruction of Small Ideals (Monotreme Records)
2 explosive
2. Spokane - Little Hours (Jagjaguwar)
3 explosive + 1 tear gas
3. Kawabata Makoto - Hosanna.Mantra (Important Records)
5 explosive
4. Badgerlore - We Are All Hopeful Farmers, We Are All Scared Rabbits (Table of the Elements)
10 explosive
5. Kammerflimmer Kollektief – Jinx (Staubgold)
one ton explosive + countless tear gas
Editor's Note: Tianxi is a champ when it comes to her job as publicist/ tour manager/ booking agent for TTR China, but this is the list she gave us?! I refuse to alter this in any way. Please keep in mind that Tianxi also does a lot of direct translation for the label…maybe that’s why our bands keep winding up in magazines with Slayer on the cover.
Heike Kagler - After last year’s lists, Heike wouldn’t speak to Kyle, Ian or Matt for like two solid weeks and is WAY too German to be made fun of in a forum such as this, ‘The Heike’ is an evolved species of flightless angel and can do no wrong whatsoever (period).
Seriously guys, this is such a huge fucking waste of time. You should all be doing things which benefit the label in a more practical fashion (i.e. publicity, A&R, graphic design, web maintenance, booking, etc) rather than drinking rot-gut vodka all night while listening to David Lynch soundtracks and putting together inconsequential ‘lists’…ridiculous.
P.S. I’m definitely NOT writing descriptions!
1. LCD Soundsystem – Sound of Silver (DFA/Capitol)
2. Bjork - Volta (Elektra/Atlantic)
3. Band of Horses – Cease to Begin (Sub Pop)
4. Jeremy Jay – We Were There (K)
5. Stereo Total – Paris/ Berlin (Kill Rock Stars)
Jim Walsh - Exactly half of the Mexican soap opera that is EVERYBODY, Constantly tampering with the ’07-’08 Tag Team release schedule, Professional unicorn stylist/ zombie infestation removal specialist, Hugs his shadow but is surprised it has a beard, Sings/ plays guitar/ keyboards/ drums/ skin flute + fists homeless dudes with his slick bald head (Jimbo, we know you weren’t really dropping a deuce at that Motel 6 in Little Rock at 3am), Wishes Genesis would get back together, but may not know it yet.
1. Deerhoof - Friend Opportunity (Kill Rock Stars)
Friends and Opportunities--quite possibly the two best things in life. Deerhoof, yet again, reminded me of the endless possibilities of pop music at a time when I desperately needed
2. Caribou – Andorra (Merge)
I'm so sick of listening to this album I could listen to it again.
3. Panda Bear - Person Pitch (Paw Tracks)
Person Pitch is a party in a cathedral-sized cave where my insecurities DJ. During "Comfy in Nautica" I simply must throw my arms in the air conductor-style in rhythm with the pulsing vocals... oh wait, I'm the only one in the cave... oh wait, I don't give a damn.
4. LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver (DFA/ Capitol)
An album that will forever encapsulate 7,000 miles of memories with Kagler, Kyle, and the Chinese bands.
5. Blitzen Trapper - Wild Mountain Nation (self released)/ Feist -The Reminder (Cherry Tree/ Interscope)
It was hard to pick number 5. Blitzen had me dancing in my computer chair; Feist had me wishing for a summer girlfriend. I listened to both these albums on my porch as I cleaned the rust off of a '78 Schwinn bike I acquired--both seemed to fit such a summertime activity perfectly. Music for walking to the coke machine/ice cream stand down the street covered in rust cleaning chemicals.
DuYun - Definitely NOT from Beijing (Kyle could probably have done a little more homework before going into the BBC Studios to represent the label), If asked in the right context, DuYun would gladly, ok probably swallow a laxative, don a school-girl uniform and shit on your chest, Continually turns in demos to us that are completely at odds with her parent’s post upper east side New York City apartment and sound nothing like the last batch of demos, Better educated than the whole of the entire Tag Team staff combined including Ian Sherman.
1. He Xuntian - iMages in sOUND (Wind Music International Corporation)
2. Radiohead - In Rainbows (self released)
I paid so little... sorry Matt! But they have discontinued such service on the site.
3. PJ Harvey - White Chalk (Island)
4. Persian Electronic Music Yesterday and Today 1966-2006 (Sub Rosa)
Hard core electronic arty music that DuYun fancies, and those Persians are rather hot.
5. Bjork - Volta (Elektra/Atlantic)
Say whatever you may, but these fabulous brass arrangements sold me on the spot.
6. Anna Netrebko - Russian Album [with Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theatre, conducted by Valery Gergiev] ( Deutsche Grammophon)
With Pavarotti having bid farewell to us, this is what a golden voice in 2007 should sound like…Out goes Callas, in with Anna.
Joewi Verhoeven - Arrows Made of Desire’s cursedly talented front model/ sacrificial pinup, Scored a girlfriend at the worst possible moment of his entire life (dude, when you’re on the cover of every magazine in town, you work that shit like there’s no tomorrow and then start boning their sisters down in Guangdong…we hear they eat everything down there), Mississippi John Hurt’s (half) Dutch Candy, Looks more and more like a lower east side Puerto Rican smack-dealer circa 1974 every time we see him.
1. Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam (Domino)
To me, any record containing a song like 'Fireworks' is list-worthy. The great thing about this record is that the other tunes are similar in quality. A steady number one.
2. Silverchair - Young Modern (EMI)
First of all, the record sounds too slick and clean, I was also heavily disappointed after seeing them live in Amsterdam last summer, but still, after all those flaws its still John's quirky imagination as a songwriter that shines through. I do dig the string arrangements. Great record.
3. Interpol - Our Love to Admire (Capitol)
Although slightly disappointed after the first listen, this album still managed to catch me, maybe not as much as their previous 2 albums could but still good enough for a number 3. Interpol used to be one of my favourite contemporary artists, and this album was my most anticipated album of the year so I guess third place is kind of a bummer. By the way, some bonus points for the awesome album art.
4. The White Stripes - Icky Thump (Warner Bros)
What I dig most about this record is the way it’s produced, works as inspiration as I'm in the studio myself at the moment. Oh and I can't get 'Conquest' out of my head...
5. Les Savy Fav - Let's Stay Friends (Frenchkiss)
Catchy songs from a band I really like. Maybe not as edgy as their earlier stuff but still a solid sounding indie rock record. Favourite song at the moment: 'Brace Yourself'.
Most Disappointing Release of ‘07: Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Baby 81 (RCA)
Rutger Brouwer - Emperor of the Poon-T’ang Dynasty, Nails more chicks in a single weekend than the whole tag team staff have over the last 22 years...and that’s how dude scored 'the drip' (whoa, seriously folks, just kidding Rutger’s a really nice guy + disease free as far as we know, but he does pound a lot of high end tail and we just can’t let that go), Spreads a lot of joy, but none of it our way…bastard. Oh yeah, dude also plays bass for Arrows!
1. Arcade Fire – Neon Bible (Merge)
Not as brilliant as Funeral, but still as magical and inspiring as music can get.
2. Andrew Bird – Armchair Apocrypha (Fargo)
Charming album with beautiful and subtle arrangements/ orchestrations.
3. Wir Sind Helden – Soundso (Virigin)
Strong and uplifting songs and they somehow manage to make German sound sweet.
4. Bjork – Volta (Atlantic)
Lively…and reminiscent of her early albums, but with enough new elements to keep it refreshing.
5. Kate Havnevik - Melankton (Continentica)
Brilliant voice and mystical music
Yuli Chen - Sweet Factory Studio Wonderboy/ Engineer, Has no problem with wearing a scarf indoors…in summer (fucking French people!), Hot chocolate enthusiast, Way too nice to the people at Tag Team for his own good, Has good taste in magazines we sometimes contemplate stealing when ‘visiting’ his studio, Let’s us smoke in his kitchen next to the bass amp as long as we open the window, Spends a lot of ‘alone time’ w/ Joewi behind closed doors…again, fucking French people!
1. Rufus Wainwright - Release the Stars (Geffen)
If ever there was an artist that embodied both the urbane popular songwriting of Cole Porter and the epic winged-grandeur of Richard Wagner it is Rufus Wainwright!
2. Elliott Smith - New Moon (Domino)
While what was lost with Smith is immeasurable, what he left was amazing, and New Moon is an appropriately spectacular monument.
3. Radiohead - In Rainbows (Self-Released)
Sonically, this is staggering!
4. John Powell - The Bourne Ultimatum (OST) (Decca)
John Powell knows how to do his job, and there’s no one in Hollywood right now who writes action music better, who keeps the pace going so relentlessly, without mercy or letup, track after hard-rocking track.
5. Charlotte Gainsbourg - 5:55 (Vice-Atlantic)
Nigel Godrich produced this second album for the daughter of the legendary Serge Gainsbourg, with Air, Jarvis Cocker and Neil Hannon also lending a hand. How does such a rich soup of chromosomes and hired help come together in a tinkly, whispery trinket that deserves a place on the stereo of every right-thinking human being!
Steve Barker - Legendary BBC DJ, Wears more bling than Jay-Z, Is older than most of our dads, but WAY cooler than us, Knuckles Larger than Kilimanjaro, Would be tidy in a fight but would probably talk everybody out of it first, The only man we know who’s met Ian Curtis, Joe Strummer, Lemmy, and Lee Perry and will talk to us about it at length (while drinking) and not embarrass himself in any way, shape or form, We seriously think Barker made at least 3 items on his list up ‘cuz we can’t find that shit ANYWHERE!
1. Disrupt - Foundation Bit (Werk)
Downright dirty 8-bit dubbing straight outta Leipzig! Check out www.jahtari.org for freebie dubwise excursions into the increasingly clagged sonic ionosphere.
2. Flower-Corsano Duo – Radiant Mirror (No-Fi)
Rocked-out dronage from mentalist drummer boy Chris Corsano and on string things Vibracathedral Orchestra's Mick Flower.
3. Geir Jensen - Cho Oyu 8201m (Ash International)
I will never climb an 8,000 metre mountain so this is the nearest I will get to frost bite, Geir Jensen's (aka Norwegian Biosphere) documentary record of his ascent of the Tibetan peak Cho Oyu is a lot more fun than it sounds.
4. Rhys Chatham – A crimson grail (Table of the Elements)
One to track the sources: Rhys Chatham begat Glenn Branca begat Sonic Youth begat CarSickCars blah blah. This symphony was 400 electric guitars was debuted at Sacre Couer in Paris last year, I would have died to have been there and get as near heaven as this Cd gives an ecstatic glimpse of...
5. Peter Cusack - Favourite Beijing Sounds (Kwanyin Records)
From the British Council sponsored Sound and the City project a couple of years ago (book now available with CDs!) this is Peter's Cusack's sonic love poem to Beijing ably assisted by students from the music conservatory and the irrepressible Yan Jun. Street recording of the sounds we tend to take for granted but assume whole new dimensions when out of context.
Kendra Wiseman - Means ‘wise woman wise man’, Shits HTML and pisses CSS but fears PHP, Is an Armadillo (hard on the outside, soft on the inside, with…erm…the occasional crunchy bit), Let’s her man wear her clothes, Should never leave home without a mushroom hat, Loves to talk about early krautrock and neo-wavecore, Has an otterpocket.
Editor's Note: I sent Kendra a couple of emails regarding these list things and she responded once with a blank email and again with a mail that simply said, “LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE KAGLER”…I can take a hint, but I’m still gonna try and get ‘The Slayer’ to submit again next year. Maybe next time I’ll try and bribe her with a pack of Magic cards or a new pair of nun-chucks...whatever. Peace.
Berwin Song - 'Why Hip Hop Sucks In'07', Twat’s Beijing Music Fuhrer, Gnarls Barkley’s Babysitter, Quiet guy in the corner who bears watching…dude, we’ve always got at least one eye on you…always.
1. Kanye West – Graduation (Roc-a-fella)/ Common – Finding Forever (G.O.O.D. Music/Geffen)
C’mon, this is totally like one album – it’s Kanye and more Kanye. And yeah, I eat that shit up. Take the best tracks from each and it’s good enough to fill my Tribe fix.
2. Talib Kweli/Madlib – Liberation (Blacksmith Music)
Forget In Rainbows, Stones Throw posted this for free without even trying to guilt you out of one or two bucks, liberating Talib from all that Beautiful Struggle shit (not to mention paving the way for the also excellent Eardrum). Too bad he’s such a dick, though.
3. Pharoahe Monch – Desire (Street Records/Universal Motown)
"Slave to a label but I own my masters" – what we’ve been waiting to hear for damn near a decade. Welcome back, Monch.
4. Lifesavas – Gutterfly (Quannum Records)
Quannum can do no wrong – at least, when it comes to hip-hop (that other stuff they’ve started to branch out into ain’t really my bag).
5. Amy Winehouse – Back to Black (Island)
You know you dug it when you first heard it (so what if America was like half a year behind …)
Liu Miao - Gregarious 2Kolegas owner, Will totally chat up a Russian chick like there’s no tomorrow, Gives Ian, Kagler and Kyle WAY too many free drinks...stop it dude! Has no idea that the Foo Fighters are an unacceptable form of evil that no mortal man should be forced to endure during his brief, albeit meaningful stay on the planet earth…seriously dude, if we’re reading your list right, those guys just made an album called Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace…nuff said!
1. Hedgehog – Noise Hit World (Modern Sky)
2. Queen Sea Big Shark – demos (Modern Sky)
3. Rebuilding the Rights of Statues – Cut Off! (Tag Team Records)
4. PK14 – White Paper (Modern Sky)
5. Foo Fighters – Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace (RCA)
Blake Stone-Banks - Weirdest dude we know in Beijing (hands down), Shitty Weekend man about town yet totally useless in most every social situation, They call him The Alienator, Crazy Rachel’s dance partner of choice, Runner up in the All-Beijing-Dancing-On-the-Spot-Like-a-Crackhead-Waiting-In Line-At-His-Dealer’s-Whilst-the-Music-In-His-Head-Plays-On Competition, We’ve heard the music in his head; it’s Marillion.
1. Mekons – Natural (Quarterstick)
Is this the Mekons? No. It's not. It can't be. The Mekon's sound nothing like this. This is a work of tortured-genius Keebler elves who escaped the Keebler tree, burrowed into the Mekons' skulls and took over their bodies. As John Darnielle observed in Last Plane to Jakarta, "the new Mekons record is kind of a masterpiece without any weak points." That's exactly how tortured genius Keebler elves roll, motherfucker.
2. Robert Wyatt - Comicopera (Domino)
Comicopera morphs into a new beast every time I put it on with more tastes and colors than an everlasting gobstopper.
3. Abraham Levitan - 52 Teeth (Lujo Records)
52 Teeth isn't an album in the traditional, download-this-zip-file sense of the word, but a blog of compositions by Baby Teeth frontman, Abraham Levitan, who is with a keyboard what Stephen Hawking is with to a blink switch: Freaking brilliant.
4. Beirut - The Flying Club Cup (Ba Da Bing!)
With Beirut's sophomore effort, Condon incorporates such a vast range of influences and instruments that it's astounding anything holds together at all. That the album seizes its listener with magical pop hooks nested in such an amalgam of musical traditions is a testament to Condon's singular vision and brilliance.
5. Cornelius: Senuous (WEA/ Warner)
Nearly as brilliant as Cornelius' previous effort, Point, Senuous picks up where the Cornelius left off: Amazing amalgamations of live recordings synched up through the power of the best digital production on the planet.
Charlie Comenos - aka Chuck, aka Constantine, aka Gold Medal Winner Strokes Look Alike Contest: Williamsburg, Brooklyn, Most sought after MIDI School guest lecturer three year’s running, Sharply Dressed Pedophile, Gay Uncle Albert, Once punched Kagler in the face for being Kagler, Dirka-Dirka-Dirka Mohammed Jihad.
1. Devendra Bandheart - Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Mountain (XL)
2. Jay-Z – American Gangster (Roc-A-Fella)
3. Ghost Story – Standing Nudes (Sonic Boom)
4. Battles – Mirrored (Warp)
5. Cross – Justice (Common Ground)
Jenn Wong - World’s tallest midget we’d like to get into a hot and heavy game of ‘Spin the Bottle’ with, D22 groupie de jour, Outspoken forum rights advocate, Official Beijing Pornographer/ ‘key grip’, City Weekend lackey who writes the longest record reviews in the history of rock journalism that don’t actually pertain to the album in question.
(in no particular order)
The Arcade Fire - Neon Bible (Merge)
Everyone I know will probably put this on their list, so I will too. No, but seriously, how can you hate this album? How do you not love it? Sometimes hype is hyped because shit is good.
Frog Eyes - Tears of the Valedictorian (Absolutely Kosher)
One of the best things to come out of West Coast Canada is Carey Mercer. That's all.
Klaxons - Myths of the Near Future (Geffen/Polydor)
This is one of those albums that's kind of embarassing to listen to whilst at home, sober and clear-headed, but is also one of those albums that are totally awesome when you're really really drunk and don't give a shit anymore. Dancing! Lots of exclamation points!! I hate the term new rave but I'll let someone else complain about it.
The Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam (Domino)
I couldn't decide between this and Panda Bear's 'Person Pitch', but this won out because it's so ecastic and makes you wanna jump around and so on. Also, it makes me think of the lush greenery of Vancouver and how we used to spend summers roaming around parks and empty streets high on mushrooms, blown away by how amazing everything was. (When we did this, we did it in the non-creepy, not annoying, non hippie-ish love mother nature way.)
Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga (Merge)
Did anyone read Pitchfork's review of this album? It made me want to puke.
Ed Peto - Red T Music honcho/ Head Teller at the Ian Sherman Wank Bank, Recently scored himself a full time girlfriend to the chagrin of every man, woman and...erm, child in Beijing, A man shrouded in glamour and mystery/ has many (whisper it) "seeecrets", Only serious-business industry type in Beijing who doesn’t make us feel like we need a 40 minute shower after meeting for a drink, Oh, while we’re at it, check out www.edpeto.com!
Editor’s Note: Fuck, I just looked in the mirror and somehow my nose has some kind of pungent, brown gunk all over it. Yuck! This Sucks! What the fuck?!
1. Radiohead - In Rainbows (Self Release)
Is it now uncool to like these guys? I've lost track. Quite simply a brilliant album, when you remove it from the Radiohead circus. Jigsaw Falling Into Place is my favourite track of the year.
2. Carsick Cars – Panda Noise (Maybe Mars)
Who cares if you are ripping off another band when it sounds this good. This album has given me hope for recorded music in China. Production still ropey but it works just fine.
3. James Yorkston - Year Of The Leopard (Domino)
Just a bunch of beautiful songs. I love beauty. I'm very sensitive really....but I can be strong. Like a tiger. But a sensitive and giving tiger....who is also strong.
4. Laura Veirs - Saltbreakers (Nonesuch)
Good songs with quirky production and some genuinely engaging storytelling.
5. Joan As Police Woman - Real Life (PIAS)
Anthony and The Johnsons backing singer and Jeff Buckley's ex-squeeze gone solo. A great range of emotions, all delivered with raspy authenticity and cool instrumentation.
Ingela Pelomaki - Former Submissionary/ handsome woman we’d go dancing with any night of the week at any ramshackle venue this side of Gothenburg provided she bought us copious amounts of drinks and promised to NOT force us to listen to anything whatsoever from the Chemical Brothers the next morning when we woke up with gnarley hangovers and tried to put our last threads of dignity back together, tearing through her bathroom cabinets looking for birth control pills and a willful sense of being.
1. M.I.A. - Kala (Interscope Records)
This album is perfect. I've loved M.I.A. from the start and with this album she has made her way into my heart forever. Track 11, Paper Planes, is the best song this year - if not ever.
2. Justice - † (Ed Banger Records)
Has been on my iPod all year and will stay there during next year as well. I have listened to the album at least a gazillion times and I am not sick of it. Nuf said.
3. Familjen - Det snurrar i min skalle (Adrian Records/Hybris)
This is an awesome Swedish little gem, the video for the single "Det snurrar i min skalle" has also inspired a new type of dancing known as the Baptist.
4. New Young Pony Club - Fantastic Playroom (Modular Recordings)
Fun, pink and synthie - Ingela and the New Young Pony Club in a nutshell.
5. Chemical Brothers - We are the Night (Freestyle Dust)
I loved the Chemicals 1999-2000 but it kind of stopped there. Out of boredom and desperation at not having any new music around I downloaded we are the night and prepared myself for nostalgia at best. I was, however, shocked at how current and brilliant the album was. Touché Chemicals, I shall never diss you again.
Fred Lindell – Former Submissionaries/ Arrows drummer extraordinaire, Definitely Clan Toreador/ Knows that the TMNT role playing game has nothing to do with Leonardo, Once had a super-secret love child with Kyle in February, 2003 and named it something that only 50 people in a Danish online community can pronounce properly, 2007 try out drummer of the year (thanks dude!)
Records coming out in 2007? Erm...maybe. Kind of sort of. These were the records that I bought in 2007 that moved me the most. Some probably aren’t from this year…ok most.
1. Kongh - Counting Heartbeats (Trust No One Records)
Awe-fucking-some doom/sludge from my mom’s old stomping ground Småland. Really a fantastic record, reeking of southern sludge and Swedish purification. 8 minute “Megaprimatus” is the best track.
2. The Thermals - The Body, The Blood, The Machine (Sub Pop)
I saw this trio at Roskilde and their hard yet completely gloriously enthusiastic set finally brought me back to what I truly believe is great music. “Power doesn’t run on nothing, it runs on blood, and blood is easy to obtain, if you have no shame” ´+ three chords no effects.
3. 20 Minute Loop - Yawn + House = Explosion (Artemis Records)
This is by far the best harmony and twisted pop I’ve heard in years. I just can’t stop listening to Greg and Kelly voices and find myself hopelessly incorrectly trying to sing along. Great drums as well!
4. Enslaved - ISA (Candlelight)
If you want a 2007 release then go for Runa. Norwegian black metal 10 years after many other bands started to sound boring. Enslaved craft records that remind me of a dead cold Tool playing with At the Gates and Carcass. Yummy, yummy.
5. Shared between Margot and the Nuclear, Mastodon, Tori Amos’s new and Silverchair’s Young Modern. Making my own rules in this listingonanza. Oh, and the Heroes TV series. And pen and paper RPG. There.
Gregg Vossler - Tag Team’s secret weapon, Catcher of Foxes, Blew out his eardrum "clapping too hard", Kelso’s only friend, Wannabe father to several black kids who currently reside in his mind, Orphan wrangler, Converted Ted Nugent to vegetarianism after one tofu-taco, Reluctant to get naked with Kagler at the gym.
1. Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? (Polyvinyl)
Don't really know what to say- this blew me away. I like everything about it. The past is a grotesque animal.
2. The National - Boxer (Beggars Banquet)
Really fell in love with this. It's kinda all the things I like, together in one thing. Great production- me like.
3. Deerhoof - Friend Opportunity (Kill Rock Stars)
You're damn right it strikes my fancy!
4. Marnie Stern - In Advance of a Broken Arm (Kill Rock Stars)
This got shit-loads of play in my house. She rocks really hard. And so does the silly drummer.
5. Band of Horses - Cease to Begin (Sub Pop)
To be honest, I didn't get a chance to really listen closely to this one before I broke my ear. But it seems real good, so what the heck. My ear is healing up nicely, thanks for asking.
Becca Baker - Prayed to God and THIS is the list He gave her + a pair of HUGE titties, Since Becca moved out to rural Beijing “The Pole” at Indie Night is lonesome/ forlorn (pole says: call me!), Future reluctant baby machine/ thorazine addict (‘Ouch’!)
1. Of Montreal: Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? (Polyvinyl)
This album gives me orgasms unlike anything my husband can manage.
2. The White Stripes: Icky Thump (Warner)
3. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah: Some Loud Thunder, Clap Your Hands Say (self released)
4. Deerhoof: Friend Opportunity (Kill Rock Stars)
5. Rihanna: Good Girl Gone Bad (Island/ Def-Jam)
Was a toss-up between this and The National.
Jonney Leijonhufvud - Drums one bar and calls it a set + gets paid, Voted ‘Most Likely To Be the FM4th’, Once had a three-way in Sweden which included a German Sheppard (ask him!), PK14’s ‘Token white guy’, We Sincerely Hope His Cock is as Long as His Surname.
1. Tinariwen - Aman Iman (Harmonia Mundi)
Roots of all electric guitars. Heavy saharan blues from Mali by a collective of Tuareg nomads.
2. Robert Plant and Alison Krauss - Raising Sand (Rounder)
Hypnotic vibrating ménage á trois. Discreetly sensational.
3. Jonas Kullhammar Quartet - November 5th (Renmin University)
Four sick cats. Copiously good. Gig of the year.
4. Thurston Moore - Trees Outside the Academy (Ecstatic Peace)
Melodies, monotony, sharpness, straight songs and acoustic guitars. A guitar wizard can be convincing without his band. Wonderful and cathartic.
5. Feist -The Reminder (Polydor)
Miss Leslie Feist is bright.
Lonely China Day - aka The Rainbow Kidz, aka The Happy Family Uptown Jamboree Band, Masters of the longest set-up/ sound checks in the history of yaoguan, Still chill with Cui Jian but don’t ever invite us along any more, Think Leonard Cohen/ Nick Cave should wipe those stupid fucking grins off their faces and stop making music for kids.
Deng Pei
1. Nine Inch nails - Year Zero, (Nothing Records)
2. Kammerflimmer Kollektief – Jinx (Staubgold)
3. 65 Days of Static - The Destruction Of Small Ideals (Monotreme Records)
4. This Will Destroy You - Young Mountain (Magic Bullet Records)
5. Moving Mountains - Pneuma (self release)
Wang Dongtao
1. Amon Tobin - Foley Room (Ninja Tunes)
A familiar sound from several years ago, newly invigorated the same kind of familial vibe intact.
2. Dntel - Dumb Luck (Sub Pop)
Sentimental ambient music supported by irrational technology. A mix of music elements which sounds angsty/ brilliant to my ears.
3. Helios – Ayres (Type)
Light in tone and color, very natural sounding. Sometimes exposing one’s feelings musically can be a real ordeal for the soul to endure.
4. Sigur Ros – Hvarf/Heim (EMI)
Unique, ethereal, beautiful, haunting…very Sigur Ros.
5. Nine Inch Nails – Year Zero (Interscope/Universal)
Delicate and shocking live, incredible production, a true document of self discovery from a very well established band.
Wang Yingjie
1. Radiohead - In Rainbows (self-release)
Ten years ago,everybody was listening Radiohead. Over the last ten years, everybody are still listening Radiohead, Ten years from now, I’ll still be listening Radiohead.
2. Múm - Go Go Smear The Poison Ivy (Fat Cat)
Last year I found my favorite/ lost from childhood stored away at my parents house and was indescribably happy. Poisen Ivy music makes me feel like that every time I put it into my stereo.
3. Ringo Shena - DVD (EMI)
Although I didn’t expect this from Ringo Shena, after watching, I have to admire how they work with the themes of faith, obscurity and disphoria.
4. El Ten Eleven - Every Direction Is North (Bar/None Records)
Not really a revolutionary style of music or anything, but interesting none the less.
5. Tarwater - Spider Smile (Morr Music)
This record is really popular, but I’m goning to throw it up on my list anyway. The ears like what the ears like.
Venice Is Sinking - Helping “Undecided” Chinese consumers choose between snake-head fish flavored potato chips and the “natural” variety, Dudes we seriously wanna sit down for a patty melt with…maybe a little mustard-based BBQ as well, Really level headed, non-mentally challenged people who actually believe that there are edible fish tacos in the heron-haunted, wooded wilds of North Carolina, Still need to tell us what “AZAR” means?!
Daniel Lawson
Albums I liked in 2007 (in no particular order)
Phosphorescent – Pride (Dead Oceans)
I have always enjoyed Matthew's records, but I always wanted something more from each of them. He's finally made the record I always thought he was capable of but never thought he'd make. Beautiful, meditative, out of tune, sparse and full simultaneously, it's wonderful. The first track reminds me of the things i love about Fleetwood Mac's 'Tusk'.
The Ginger Envelope - Edible Orchids (One Percent Press)
This is the debut album from my favorite band in Athens. Patrick's simple songs are fascinating and powerful and his backing band plays with the kind of precision and energy that can only come from years of performing together and/or shared genetics. We've been friends with these guys since we started out as a band four years ago and we even share a member (Steve Miller). The song 'Dirty Penny' is nearly perfect to my ears, and I have to admit I've been jealous of it ever since I first heard it. Music is rarely this genuine and sincere.
The Magnetic Fields – Distortion (Merge)
I am not supposed to have a copy of this record since it's not scheduled to be released until January – but I do and I can't stop listening to it. It's full of distortions of all kinds (obviously) some of which have nothing to do with the actual sounds being produced. The girl (I've never know her name) sings a lot on this one, and for the first time I don't find her to be annoying in the least. 'Too Drunk to Dream' is classic magnetic fields brilliance – pop music full of country wit and comfortable depression.
El Perro Del Mar - El Perro Del Mar (Memphis Industries)
This album came out in late 2006, but I didn't pick up on it until a few months back so I'm going to break the rules and include it in my list. Lucas put this on my ipod without my knowledge and her cover of 'Here Comes That Feeling' happened to come on during one of the rare occasions I have used the shuffle feature on that thing. Anyway, I was instantly taken with her voice, the saxophone and the production.
Lucas Jenson
Some records I liked this year (by no means a top five):
Panda Bear - Person Pitch (Paw Tracks)
This album hits upon all of my current obsessions: loops, repetition, underwater sounds, and the Beach Boys. I think this is the record Brian Wilson might be making now if Dr. Landy hadn't gotten his tenterhooks into him. I mean, everybody knows the Beach Boys can sing, but no one ever talks about how their voices could create marvelous, almost bizarre, drones when applied in the right way (see "'Til I Die"). Panda Bear gets it and uses it to great effect on this, my favorite record of the year.
Phosphorescent – Pride (Dead Oceans)
Matthew Houck has long been a favorite songwriter (and a fellow Alabamian), and he continues his winning streak here with his best-sounding record to date. This record is his most sonically inventive and consistent; there are less "hits" than before. Nothing here, not even the exquisite "Cocaine Lights", matches the power of previous goose-bumpers like "Salt and Blues" or "Joe Tex...", but Pride is the most fully realized work, the moment where Matthew fully steps out of the shadows of Mr. Oldham and Mr. Callahan and really defines what Phosphorescent. Plus, he's the second person on this list (see Panda Bear) to recognize the power of the Beach Boys' layered vocals to create atmosphere.
Slaraffenland - Private Cinema (Hometapes)
The Danish music scene produced two of my favorite pieces of music of the year, this album and Kirsten Ketsjer The Rock Band's "The Bridge" (my favorite song of the year). Slaraffenland is a horn-heavy, jazz-inflected, art-rock band that's way more accessible than that sounds. If anything, I hear a lot of Peter Gabriel solo in their work (think albums 3-5) what with the tribal rhythms and off-kilter instrumentation. I'm not talking "Sledgehammer"...more "We Do What We're Told (Milgram's 37)" or "San Jacinto". Anyway, the thing I hear most in this music is the band's vast potential. They haven't boxed themselves in yet; when you listen to it, you're just as excited for their future as you are about their present.
Ham1 - The Captain's Table (Orange Twin)
Two albums in and band scion Jim Willingham's dusty, broken-radio, surf guitar meets Southern Gothic version of America is so concrete that the band could almost become a musical reference point unto themselves. By that, I mean that they sound like a lot of things a little bit, but no one thing too much. This statement is embarrassingly tautological but totally true: Ham1 sounds like Ham1. Jim is probably the most unique songwriter in a town of pretty unique people. His is the sound of Athens itself: porch beers, bleary-eyed jam sessions on out-of-tune pianos, Salvation Army horns, railroad track stumbling, and found sounds. People are slowly catching on to this, but not fast enough.
The Mabuses – Mabused (Magpie Records)
I don't know who told me this (I may have read this in a Pitchfork review...gulp), but the Mabuses are psychedelic without being psychedelic. I think that description is amazingly apt. They share the same sonic abandon that a lot of psych bands have, but they re-voiced the swirling guitars, the fuzz bass, and dopey lyrics with other better things. You hear the thing and can't call it anything but psych, but I'll be damned if it sounds like anything from the psychedelic era. The closest analogues I can come up with are the Beta Band, The Olivia Tremor Control, and the Super Furry Animals, and those bands are notorious sonic journeymen as well. This might be the most inventive record of the year in regards to its kitchen sink attitude to pop (the rock version, not the top 40 version). The Super Furries lost that kind of wanderlust a few records ago, so it's nice to see the Mabuses picking up the baton.
Johnneytwentythree - Definitely NOT from Kentucky (again, Kyle and the BEEB…fucker!), In competition with Lonely China Day for the ‘Most Gratuitous Use Of a Cinematographer’ award, Accommodating instrumentalists who let Tag Team bands/ label goons sleep on their floors, smoke their herb, drink all their Pabst and spill White Castle condiments all over the carpet while watching Cartoon Network at 4:30 in the morning.
Michael Maier
1. Menomena - Friend and Foe (Barsuk)
2. Blonde Redhead – 23 (4AD)
3. Radiohead - In Rainbows (self released)
4. Grinderman – Grinderman (Anti)
5. 3:10 to Yuma - OST - Marco Beltrami (Columbia)
Joseph Maier
1. The National - Boxer (Beggars Banquet)
Great follow up to Alligator and just as fun to sing along too.
2. Jesu - Conqueror (Hydrahead)
Sweet heavy goodness.
3. Panda Bear - Person Pitch (Paw Tracks)
Beach Boys meet the 21st century.
4. Interpol - Our Love to Admire (Capitol)
Tracks 1 and 6.
5. Liars - Liars (Mute)
fuck.
Stephen Imwalle
1. The National – Boxer (Beggars Banquet)
2. Menomena - Friend and Foe (Barsuk)
3. Beirut - The Flying Club Cup (Ba Da Bing!)
4. Sole and The Sky Rider Band – Sole and The Sky Rider Band (Anticon)
5. Blonde Redhead – 23 (4AD)
Brian Tyree
1. Jesu – Conqueror (Hydra Head)
Not only is this the best album of 2007, it's one of the best albums I own, period. It's not as heavy as Jesu's earlier work, but each song carries an emotional weight that I don't think Justin had touched upon until this point. With every listen, I find something new to love about it. I really can't recommend it enough.
2. Papercuts - Can't Go Back (Gnomonsong)
Heartbreaking, uplifting, and triumphant (sometimes all at once). This is the perfect summer album.
3. Sigur Ros - Hvarf/Heim (EMI)
It's Sigur Ros. I don't think I need to say anything else.
4. Panda Bear - Person Pitch (Paw Tracks)
The production quality makes this album. It sounds like it would have been right at home alongside The Beach Boys and The Mamas and The Papas in the 60's, but it still manages to break the rules of today's music.
5. Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova - Once OST (Columbia)
Brilliant songwriting, plain and simple. Those two really know how to harmonize together.
Sugar Jar Records - The best record store in the whole of China that you can’t fucking find…They gave us a list, but they should have given us a map.
1. Dajuin Yao – Cinnabar Red Drizzle (Post-Concrete)
2. FM3 – Buddha Machine (FM3)
3. Wang Fan – Five Primary Elements (Kwan Yin/Adopin)
4. Tie Guan Yin Duo (Wu Quan/Yan Jun)
5. D!O!D!O!D! - Ghost Temple (2pi)
6. Torturing Nurse – Living Scum Torturing (Shasha)
7. Zbigniew Karkowski + Li Chin Sung – Revenge of Ying And Yang (Noise Asia)
8. Wang Changcun – Parallel Universe (Post-Concrete)
9. Shenggy – Torture Me Please, I Don’t Care (Little Sound)
10. Lin Zhiyin – II (21st Floor)
11. Huanqing – Fire (Tu’ao)
12. 718 – an (Kwan Yin)
13. OSCI-VIBRA-TOR - OSCI-VIBRA-TOR (Doufu)
14. Various – Huanqing: Southwest China Ethnic Music Field Recording From Yunnan, Sichuan And Tibet (Tu’ao)
15. Peter Cusack – Favourite Beijing Sounds (Kwan Yin)