Top 10 Albums of 2007

Better late than never, eh?
[1/21/08 Update - OK, since I'm completely inept at running this thing, here's how this will work: If you are reading this, and would like any of these albums uploaded, just shoot a comment and I will reply back with your request as soon as possible. It's too much of a pain to upload all of these, especially if no one is going to end up downloading. So, if you're reading, feel free to ask, and I will be happy to share! Thanks.]

1. Panda Bear - Person Pitch
I suppose picking this as #1 isn’t much of a surprise after my verbal-ejaculation over Person Pitch centerpiece “Bros,” but it is nonetheless exceptionally deserving. Even picking “Bros” as my #1 favorite song was difficult, as it could have easily also been either of its predecessors on the album, “Comfy In Nautica” and “Take Pills.” The former opens the album, utilizing little else besides echoed handclaps and a repeated sung syllable as a background for Panda Bear’s (Noah Lennox) emotional lyrics. “Take Pills” is also emotional lyrically, an autobiographical song of Lennox’s struggle with antidepressants, but its backing track shifts from a wavey-psychadelia to bouncy pop, echoing the hopefulness of his words. These two songs are prime examples of how strong the album actually is lyrically, even if sometimes you don’t catch every word. Of course, his vocals, and especially the music, are also excellent. Lennox compiled various samples, from songs by The Tornados and Cat Stevens to sound effects of varying types, and completely morphed them into something completely his. From stuttering piano beat of “Carrots,” and the abstract collage of “Searching for Delicious,” to the hypnotic chants of “Im Not” and the simplistic, feel-good pop of “Ponytail,” the album is quite simply flawless. And this flawless album certainly garnered my constant attention since its release, always there through various times of good and bad, making it well deserving of my Album of the Year.

2. Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam
I feel very fanboyish for putting these two albums back-to-back at the top of my list, but the fact of the matter is, it has certainly been one hell of a year for Noah Lennox and his Animal compatriots Avey Tare (David Portner), Geologist ( Brian Weitz), and Deacon (Josh Gibb). Hopes were certainly high for the album after the release of Person Pitch in March. Diehard fans knew of many of the songs that would appear on the album, as Animal Collective tend to play out new songs extensively on tour before they are released. However, they do often undergo change in the studio recording phase, so when Strawberry Jam began to leak online starting in July, many were surprised at what they heard. Vocals. Loud and clear. I myself was surprised. I remember listening to opener “Peacebone” for the first time, enjoying the opening groove of garbled electronics before suddenly Portner’s voice enters the mix, upfront, without the effects of previous album Feels, and alone, unlike the harmony happy Sung Tongs. It was an interesting turn for the Collective, but in the end a very welcome one. Revisiting the song, its hard to imagine the vocals with Feels-type processing. The vocals shine throughout the album, from the range-pushing “For Reverend Green” to Lennox’s trademark takes on “Chores” and “Derek.” Musically, the album begins to moves away from the very guitar oriented Feels to a more sample-incorporated approach (I say “begins to,” as this album is a sort of gateway to their very sample-based approach they currently use on their newest songs debuting on tour now). In “Fireworks,” a shuffling, choppy electronic beat collides with Lennox’s drum hits, while “#1” repeats a simple synth-arpeggio as its base. There are some down moments, such as the forgettable “Winter Wonder Land” and “Unsolved Mysteries” (which has a great chorus but lags during the verses), but overall the album is fantastic and only makes me more excited for their next effort.

3. Liars - Liars
Liars are known for their style shifts. On their first album, they got thrown into the NYC dance-punk scene. On their second, they got thrown into the dumpster by most critics for their noisier witch-themed second album. Then they became critical darlings again by releasing the experimental and tribal Drum’s Not Dead. So it only makes sense that they went full on rock and roll for their latest album, the self-titled Liars. Of course, many cried “pop album,” but that’s not to say its a bad thing. From the opening headbanger “Plaster Casts of Everything,” Liars are able to hone in different elements of their sound from all their previous albums and use this to explore songs that are extremely digestible and catchy. In fact, the song in which Liars most try to resemble the Liars of Drum’s Not Dead, “Leather Prowler,” is the worst song of the album. Its on the less overtly experimental tracks like the Beck-reminescent “Houseclouds” to the garage rock-meets-shoegaze of “Freak Out” that Liars sound most in tune with themselves. They do echo Drum’s Not Dead’s sentimental closer “The Other Side of Mt. Heart Attack,” with “Protection,” which combines “Sailing to Byzantium”’s trip-hop style beats with wheezing synthesizer to effectively sum up the album. I would say I’d love to see more of this from Liars, but I know they’ll pull another turn with their next album. I just hope its as good.

4. Radiohead - In Rainbows
Ah, the album even your mom has heard about. Unless you were in hibernation for the fall/winter (in which I suppose you won’t be reading this until March or April. In case you missed it, the Red Sox also won the World Series), you’ve heard about Radiohead’s decision to bypass the recording industry and release their latest album on 10 days notice, where you could pay whatever your heart desired for it (or buy a crazy $80 discbox, or wait a few months until they actually DO go through the recording industry and release it normally). Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood and company are certainly no slouches, as their plan got them media hype out the metaphorical wazoo. Of course, this was good and bad. Many were let down by the album when it came out, I however, realize that these people just want to hear “Paranoid Android Part Duex,” and that this is never going to happen. Instead, Radiohead continue past the great (in my opinion, although it was also slaughtered by many) Hail To The Thief with this stellar album. “15 Step” continues in the tradition of fantastic album-openers for Radiohead, its glitched beat matching with clear guitar and the usual fantastic vocals from Yorke, which are of course a given throughout the album (with the only possible exception of the over-reverbed “House of Cards”). Other highlights include the percussion heavy “Reckoner,” the sublime “All I Need,” and throwback rockers “Jigsaws Falling Into Place” and “Bodysnatchers.” Overall, this album is really just Radiohead being Radiohead - arguably the greatest band of their generation.

5. Dirty Projectors - Rise Above
To me, the Dirty Projectors are a challenging band. They took a bit of getting used to for me as, for a while, I personally just didn’t “get it.” I even passed up two opportunities to see them live, one on my own campus for free. Then, I heard the concept for their new album - a reimagining of sorts of Black Flag’s classic album Damaged. Now they had me interested. I finally started to “get it” when I saw their episode on video podcast La Blogotheque. Seeing them walk around New York City, a really weird dude with a guitar and a voice like glissando on crack and two pretty girls who sing like angels, playing songs that were written by a hardcore punk rock band in the 80s, it seemed to make way too much sense to pass up. I finally got the album and was not disappointed. I don’t mean to stress the novelty of it, as the record is quite good. Novelty does play some parts, as the rubber-band vocals of “Police Story” give the lyrics such a strangely twisted edge, but songs like “Depression” and “Spray Paint the Walls” have a different sense of innocent honesty in them under Dave Longstreth’s control. Rollins and Ginn would at least have to give these guys credit, as such a transformation is almost unthinkable by anyone else.

6. VietNam - VietNam
Why these guys aren’t über rock stars yet is beyond me. In fact, I’m even ashamed of how little press this album got, as its easily one of the best classic rock/southern rock-tinged throwback albums released in the past few years, certainly as an album miles away from Kings of Leon’s Because of the Times, also from this year. I first encountered these guys in October of 2006, when I saw them open for Jenny Lewis and The Watson Twins. Now, if you’re unfamiliar with Lewis, her solo album consisted of mostly light country and folk songs. Appropriately, there seemed to be a lot of women, and older women, in the crowd for the show. That was, of course, until four guys with long hair and beards came on stage and proceeded to rip it up, blasting through a short set with cold efficiency. I saw an entire row of people get up and leave their seats during their set, which I thought was amazing. I went to their merch table to buy their album immediately after the show, but it turned out it wasn’t even released yet, and all they had were t-shirts (I still regret not buying one...). After the album finally came out, my first impression of them still holds fairly true - “They sound like Bob Dylan fronting Kings of Leon playing CCR covers.” Certainly at least, lead singer/guitarist Michael Gerner (and even sometimes singer/lead guitarist Joshua Grubb) has a bit of the Dylan nasally voice, and some of his lyrical imagery echoes Dylan’s. The amazing one-two punch of “Priest, Poet, and the Pig” and “The Apocalypse” is the pinnacle of the album, as well as the emotional slow-ride of “Toby.” There are missteps along the way, mainly “Mr. Goldfinger” and “Gabe,” but the album goes out strongly, its last four songs excellent, closing with my previously gushed-over “Too Tired.” At the least, this album shows incredible promise for this band, and in itself is a wonderful listen.

7. Devendra Banhart - Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon
Freak-folk guru/generally freaky guy Devendra Banhart’s latest album seemed to be met very lukewarmly. Most of the arguments are valid, but I believe only to a degree. Many said the album was too long, or that the songwriting wasn’t up to par. Well, while I agree the album is a bit too long with some filler that could be dropped, its actually shorter with fewer songs than his previous album, Cripple Crow. Banhart’s songwriting continues in the vein of that album as well. While Crow does have some better individual tracks, Smokey is, from brittle Spanish-language opener “Cristobal” through heartfelt closer “My Dearest Friend,” for the most part consistently decent-and-above. Many have also chided Banhart for so called “genre exercises,” crying for the return of the simple folk of his earlier albums. Again, I agree that the folkier songs on the album tend to be the better sounding, like “Freely,” which evokes Pink Floyd’s soaring acoustic number “Fearless.” However, I believe many of these “genre exercises” are extremely rewarding, including the hilarious Hebrew doo-wop of “Shabop Shalom” and the gospel of “Saved.” The former clearly shows Banhart is having some fun making his music, and it makes it all the more enjoyable. There is no reason why fans should be divided between haunting ballads like “Remember” and rockers like “Tonada Yanomaninista,” as Banhart continues to show his versatility as a musician, something that should only improve with each new album.

8. Bullion - Pet Sounds: In the Key of Dee
Do you call it a mash-up or a remix? Are these really Jay Dilla samples or not? Whatever the answers to these questions and others that have been asked about Bullion’s free download* via MySpace, it certainly is a great listen. For the unfamiliar, Key of Dee remixes samples from The Beach Boy’s seminal album Pet Sounds together with Dilla-style (at least) drum breaks and the like. The result is smoother, funkier, and overall more enjoyable than that mash-up that everyone freaked for and started this craze, DJ Danger Mouse’s Grey Album, which famously pitted Jay-Z and The Beatles. The album may not be as technically proficient as the Grey Album, but it is more consistent and digestible. Key of Dee also does not simply lift a cappella tracks from Pet Sounds and throw them over breaks, instead everything is cut up, snippets of control room dialog mixing with Brian Wilson’s vocals here and there. If you have a passing interest in The Beach Boys, Jay Dilla, or mash-ups, I definitely recommend you download this, as after all, it’s free. Heck, I’m not even really a Beach Boys fan and I’ve enjoyed the hell out of this.
* I just checked his page and the download is down. I'll be upping it soon.

9. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Some Loud Thunder
Much like Banhart’s Smokey, indie-darlings Clap Your Hands Say Yeah’s sophomore effort, well, slightly took them off the indie-darlings list. Admittedly, after their self-titled debut, which for clarification happens to probably be one of my Top 3 albums of all time, almost anything would be considered a disappointment. Which is why I think Some Loud Thunder is a great album. CYHSY probably could’ve cut another record exactly like their first album, and it would’ve likely also fallen flat. Instead, they chose to move forward and explore new territory. The first big difference between the two, and one that they have been called out on several times, is the production. Thunder is far less polished then their debut, with the possible exception of live favorite “Satan Said Dance.” The grittier sound suits the selection of songs well however, the drum crashes of “Emily Jean Stock” to the overdriven piano waltz of “Love Song No. 7” showing off how the band have matured. Selections like “Underwater (You and Me)” and “Yankee Go Home” show that the band still have their pop chops, and all signs point to their debut not being a fluke.

10. The Budos Band - The Budos Band II
This record probably would’ve gone completely unnoticed by me had a friend of mine not asked me one day, “Hey, you wanna hear an awesome record?” That record turned out to be a fresh vinyl pressing of DapTone band The Budos Band, who share members with both Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings and yes, Amy Winehouse’s backing band. Emerging from the turntable was a blast of heavy funk, afro-beat, and soul. 12 members strong, including horns, organ, and congas, the most startling aspect of the Budos Band is their efficiency. Normally, you’d probably expect an afro-funk band to launch into endless jams with no direction, but The Budos Band keep things concise, with not a single track on that album over 5 minutes. This keeps their jams fresh, allowing just enough time to settle into grooves, hit the solos (even a yazz-flute one in “Adeniji”!), groove some more, and finish. The only let down is a reworking of the classic “My Girl,” entitled “His Girl.” Beyond that, pretty much every track is a jam. Perhaps even more impressive is the album’s production, which is as close to flawless as it gets. It’s got some of the best drums sounds I’ve ever heard (check the drum breakdown at the end of “Ride or Die,” GODDAMN), the horns are dripping in echo, the bass nice and full, and the organ and guitar are always exactly placed in the mix. This album is a definite party in a box for those at all into the funkier stuff, and though I don’t drive, I imagine this would make a great record to blast with the windows down on the open road.