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THE 40 BEST ALBUMS OF 2007: ARCTIC MONKEYS AND HARD FI (#s 20, 28) 2007-12-09 04:40:07 20. The Arctic Monkeys-Favourite Worst Nightmare. 28. Hard Fi-Once Upon a Time in the West Is there a better modern postpunk pop album than Hard Fi’s “Stars of CCTV?” Maybe not. Although the band’s follow-up isn’t quite as good (it smacks a little too much of money and production), it’s nevertheless a great, fun release. Is there a rawer, more earnest modern postpunk album than Arctic Monkeys, “Whatever They Say I Am I’m Not?” Maybe not. Although the band’s follow-up isn’t quite as good (it smacks a little too much of money and production), it’s nevertheless a great, fun release. I’m ranking AM above HF here because AM have more wit, more range, and, clearly, more fun. There’s a sense of danger in Favourite Worst Nightmare that is noticeably absent from Once Upon a Time in the West. If the band’s ska/reggae influences were to be labeled, Arctic Monkeys would be the Peter Tosh to Hard Fi’s Bob Marley. Hard Fi clearly wants to be liked and wants ...

YEA BIG + KID STATIC-“S/T” 2007-12-08 12:32:23 Yea Big + Kid Static are an experimental turntable crew who make dance not drama—their stuff sound more like mash ups/collages than original projects (and often it is). So, if you’re looking for hot lyrics, this ain’t the place for you. But if you wanna get your groove on, it just might be. Plus, Rhymefest is letting the duo open for him in Chicago, so there’s gotta be something there, right? One more thing: Yea Big seems to think it’s a big deal that you pronounce his first name “Yay” not “Yeah”. Far as I know, Kid Static is pronounced like it looks. For fans of Kool Keith, X-Ecutioners, and Professor Murder. Run to the Facts (Mae Shi Mash up) The Basement / Enfant Terrible The Life Here Duck, Mother Fuckers! ...

THE 40 BEST ALBUMS OF 2007: OF MONTREAL (#30) 2007-12-08 04:15:27 30. OF MONTREAL-Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer? Of all the albums in my top 40, this one was the hardest for me to like. I first heard the title and decided, “No thanks.” Later, a blogger I respected threw up the title track. I listened and found it impenetrable. Then another blogger offered Of Montreal’s live cover of “Don’t Stop Believin’,” I listened, and thought I heard something. Something cool. Something different. Something I can’t put my finger on or label. I went back to the album, listened, listened harder, and began to see. Sometimes, I have to work at it. Suffer For Fashion (from the album) Live covers: Tropical Iceland (The Fiery Furnaces Cover) Moonage Daydream (David Bowie cover) More Than a Feeling (Boston) Trouble (Lindsey Buckingham cover) Need You Tonight (INXS) The Kids Are Alright (The Who cover) ...

10 REASONS TO TAKE A BREAK FROM THE BEST OF 2007 2007-12-07 19:54:37 1. Cartoons! 2. A free Happy Animals EP (Go here!) 3. My favorite Hip Hop blog, Passion of the Weiss, has begun its top 25 songs of the year countdown (scroll around). Many of his picks are surprising. 4. And it is important, in this holiday season, to remember the dangers of overindulging on food. I love this song. Anybody remember it? The Sexual Politics of Meat-Consolidated 5. While we’re on the subject of nostalgia, and asking questions, does anybody remember laughter? It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry-Paul Westerberg I think this song kicks the ass of 90% of the songs on that overbloated “I’m Not There” soundtrack. 6. Much as I hate to give Heather publicity (I don’t think she likes my blog–she’s refused to blogroll me and stuff–I must be too street), she did do a great interview with Travis and offers a zip file of a bunch of cool T songs. Didn’t include this one, though. Go figure. Hit Me Baby One Mo ...

HOW RIGHT WERE WE? THE TOP 25 INDIE ALBUMS EVER, REVISITED 2007-12-07 15:28:31 Remember a little while back, when we ran the top 25 Indie Albums survey? Neutral Milk Hotel came in first, and Pavement and Arcade Fire were right behind them. Well, Blender Magazine just ran a cover story on the Top 100 Indie Albums Ever, outdoing me by 75 records. Funny thing is, as much shit as readers have given me over my post, which, incidentally, was all reader-selected, not my own picks, it looks like Blender agreed with us in many cases. Our top tens share three titles in common, and our top 25 share nine bands. Their list actually looks a lot like my own would have looked, too. Check it out: 100 The Shaggs - Philosophy Of The World 99 Dream Syndicate - The Days Of Wine And Roses 98 Palace Music - Viva Last Blues 97 The Mekons - Rock ‘N’ Roll 96 TV On The Radio - Return To Cookie Mountain 95 The Dismemberment Plan - Emergency & I 94 Half Japanese - Greatest Hits 93 Big Black - Atomizer 92 Dead Kennedys - Fresh Fruit F ...

THE BEST 40 ALBUMS OF 2007: JASON ISBELL (#37) 2007-12-07 03:52:16 37. Jason Isbell-Sirens of the Ditch (review). This young refugee from the Drive-By Truckers dropped a great country-rock album. Here’s some great live cuts, which of course is what the DBTs are best at. American Girl (Tom Petty cover)-Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit Jailbreak (Thin Lizzy)-Jason Isbell Only Daddy That’ll Walk the Line (Waylon Jennings cover)-Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit’s Mike Dillon on vocals Psycho Killer (Talking Heads)-Jason Isbell. Whipping Post (Allmans)-Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit’s Mike Dillon on vocals. Moonlight Mile (Rolling Stones cover)-Jason Isbell (live) Mighty Midshipman-Jason Isbell and Centro-Matic ...

BEST 40 ALBUMS OF 2007: JOHNETTE NAPOLITANO, STEPHEN MARLEY, AND SOULSAVERS (#s 25, 27, 29) 2007-12-06 16:37:32 25. Johnette Napolitano-Scarred 27. Stephen Marley-Mind Control 29. Soulsavers-It’s Not How Far You Fall, It’s How You Land (review) Three major label albums that seem disparate, but actually make for a nice shuffle playlist. Or, to say it another way: Three great tastes that go great together. First, Johnette Napolitano’s new album is as dark and depressing as you’d expect from the former frontwoman of L.A.’s semi-underground alt-rock cult “Concrete Blonde.” I saw CB in concert three times back in the day, and few bands could get a crowd as whipped up as them (at least without having a mosh pit). Napolitano has mellowed a bit, eschewing some of the rancor of her older material (see: God is a Bullet, Still In Hollywood) for a softer dark vision of the world, offering a phenomenal cover of Velvet Underground’s “All Tomorrow’s Parties.” But she can still kick it up on tunes like, “Save Me” and “Scarred.” And her cover of Coldplay’s “The Scienti ...

THE BEST OF 2007: BEST REISSUES/REMIXES 2007-12-06 04:15:51 FOR BEST OF 2007 PAGE: 10. Metric-Grow Up and Blow Away. There’s been lots of rumors, some in comments on this blog, that Grow Up and Blow Away, the 2001 album by indie darlings Metric, was never officially released. That may or may not be true (perhaps it was just illegal leaks that had circulated for years), but we can all be grateful that Last Gang Records released it this year. I’m calling it a reissue. If I’m wrong, then change this list to the top 9 reissue/remix albums. (For those who don’t recall, Emily Haines, the lead singer of Metric, is your fifth favorite indie gal in history.) The Twist-Metric (From Grow Up and Blow Away) Bonus tracks: Expecting to Fly-Emily Haines (Neil Young cover) Between the Bars (Elliot Smith cover)-Emily Haines Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright (Bob Dylan) (acoustic)-Metric 9. E.S.G.-Come Away with ESG. This South Bronx band formed by the three Scroggins sisters was hugely influential on hip hop and post punk bands ...

THE 40 BEST ALBUMS OF 2007: ROBBERS ON HIGH STREET, BRAD SWEITZER, TRIPWIRES, YEASAYER (#s 32, 33, 35, 36) 2007-12-05 03:18:48 32. Robbers on High Street-Grand Animals. This year, ROHS got a record deal, but they can hardly be called sell-outs. They still make rock and roll with a very indie sound, and they still offer free music, too! Crown Victoria “Seasons Greetings” 33. Brad Sweitzer-Stove and Taker. (review) Wit from up North–Canada’s answer to Jonathan Coulton. Your Sister 35. Tripwires-Makes You Look Around. (Review). I just reviewed this last week, but it knocked my socks off, so it made the list. 36. Yeasayer-All Hour Cymbals. A reader urged this like-Clap-Your-Hands-Say-Yeah-only-better band on me, and I gave it a try and, yeah, I’m hooked. They got much blog love this year, and they deserve every kiss and hug. 2080 Sunrise Red Cave ...

THE 40 BEST ALBUMS OF 2007: OKKERVIL RIVER (#18), RYAN ADAMS (#23), THE BROKEN WEST (#34) 2007-12-04 03:51:26 18. Okkervil River-The Stage Names. 23. Ryan Adams-Easy Tiger. 34. The Broken West-I Can’t Go On I’ll Go On (review). What a fantastic year for Americana. Okkervil releases what I think is the best album of their career, The Stage Names, which ends with a brilliant coda saluting Brian Wilson (an artist often cited as being the most influential on indie rockers). Ryan finally gets back to the art of songwriting, after many self-indulgent stops along the way. Not to mention his winking foray into hip hop. And The Broken West arrive on the scene, bringing all their own tightly written, wonderful songs. I recently posted live versions of nearly every track off Easy Tiger. Check it out here. As for other samples of these great bands . . . I’m kicking off some mp3s with three Okkervil tunes from 2003, performed with Mendoza Line. Kansas City-Okkervil River with Mendoza Line Roll Another Number for the Road (Neil Young Cover)-Okkervil River with Mendoza Line A Damn Good Dis ...

JC PENNY 1977 2007-12-03 18:34:45 Holy crap this is funny. A very talented blogger writes about the 1977 JC Penny catalog. ...

PALE YOUNG GENTLEMEN-“Self Titled” AND MARK RONSON-Version 2007-12-03 17:46:14 MARK RONSON-Version If you haven’t heard of this collection, you probably have been under a rock. So I won’t bother telling you that it collects many blogosphere nuggets on one CD, with great production value and sound quality, such as Phantom Planet’s cover of Radiohead’s “Just,” Amy Winehouse’s cover of the Zutons’ “Valerie,” Lily Allen’s take on the Kaiser Chiefs’, “Oh My God,” etc. etc. It’s even got Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s version of Britney Spears “Toxic.” Who’dve thought this song would ever be performed by someone who made more of a mess of his personal life than Britney? When I first heard an import of it, I thought only about half the album was something I’d listen to more than once. But after getting my own hands on my own copy, I stand corrected. It’s more like two-thirds of it. There are a few instrumental bits that basically act as filler, and I can live happy without ever hearing K ...

THE 40 BEST ALBUMS OF 2007: DEEP DARK WOODS, THE PARKAS, BLITZEN TRAPPER (#s 38-40) 2007-12-03 04:22:16 The bottom three: One I know you’ve heard of, another you may have, and a third you probably haven’t. But that one, Deep Dark Woods, is my favorite of the three. Chalk it down to the Deadhead in me, but the wonderful combination of jamming, extended guitar solos, and old-fashioned traditional songs makes me nod my head and shout for more. As for Parkas–it’s just plain great indie rock. And Blitzen Trapper, well, they’ve gotten tons of blog hype. If you haven’t heard of them by now, you probably just haven’t read enough blog best-of lists yet. Hang Me Oh Hang Me-Deep Dark Woods Redwood Forest-Deep Dark Woods Change of Heart-The Parkas Raggedy Ann-The Parkas Futures and Folly-Blitzen Trapper ...

AND SO IT BEGINS: THE BEST OF 2007-TOP 10 POLITICAL SONGS OF 2007 2007-12-02 04:24:21 I like to make a best albums list, but there’s so many folks who deserve mentions as well, so I give out a few lesser awards, too. Today, I’m beginning a month-long block party celebrating the best of 2007 with a list of . . . The Top Ten Political Songs of 2007 A happy byproduct of an unhappy war is a return to musical activism. Nothing like life during wartime to inspire rabble rousing and griping . . . The list from 10 to 1. 10. Gunships-Bedouin Soundclash (link). Ostensibly about Vietnam, the song weaves that war with the current conflict, and mixes in an analogy to a broken relationship with a torn nation. 9. Black Republican-NaS and Jay-Z. Uniting after their long-running feud, the first thing these guys agree on: The Republican party is awash with money, doing everything for their own version of bling. Brilliant. I don’t know if Lil’ Weezy’s effort to take the song back to a basic bling tune is brilliant, but I do know it’s funny. And Game&rs ...

STANDFAST-Beneath and Beyond 2007-12-01 06:25:02 “The Devil’s in my bed, and now he’s beggin’ me to spread my legs . . .” Knowing that this is the opening couplet of the new Standfast record, “Beneath and Beyond,” you would be forgiven for thinking it was hardcore or metal. But it isn’t. This duo occupy a space somewhere between the breathy voice of Liz Phair and the borderline shoegaze folk of Metric, on Cheap Lullaby Records. This is a contemplative, quiet album that is perfect for a Sunday afternoon with the paper. Terrific vocals, music that is light but not dull, excellent lyrical content . . . What more can I say? Just one thing. Check it out. Devil Love For Life ...