And tonight, continuing the end/beginning of the year roundup, we turn to music. Music top ten lists are a different matter than films. While I could never see all the films in a given year, even all the films I ought to see - I usually have a pretty good idea what I have missed. My favorites of the year bear some resemblance to what was actually there to see. But music? I can't even begin to crack what's available. And that's assuming I get around to listening to everything I buy... The iPod (for all its benefits) has made that even worse - I put everything on there and hope for the best - I barely play CDs at all anymore. So what it means? this is a really tentative list, and while I'll stand by the quality of what I like, this is very explicitly a list of favorites. Any resemblance to the best of the year is pure coincidence. But will that stop me? will it even slow me down? What do you think?
1. Boris & Kurihara - Rainbow: Boris' usual thundering din, married to songs, and Kurihara, the world's best guitarist right now, in a setting that lets him rip. Probably a contender for the best of the decade.
2. Grinderman - Grinderman: Nick Cave's stripped down outfit - howling and throbbing and thrashing. The older I get the more I like Nick Cave and everything he does.
3. Sigur Rus - Hvarf/Heim: This is one of the main beneficiaries of my project to listen to only 2007 music over the last month or so. Every time one of the songs from this record comes up on the iPod, it surprises and delights me. Beautiful soaring melodies, fine musicianship, and I have grown to love Jonsi's vocals. They've been around a while, I've half accepted them over the years, but not quite. This record, for some reason, has convinced me.
4. White Stripes - Icky Thump: What can you say? For all the hype and rock nonsense around them, they never seem to disappoint. This is another great record - probably their best since White Blood Cells (which is a contender for best of the decade.) This may not be a contender for best of the decade, but it's first rate anyway. Never gets old. If records you plan to listen to in the future are a criteria of value - this is a given.
5. Six Organs of Admittance - Shelter from the Ash: Just got this, so I'm not sure how well it will really turn out to be - but so far, it seems to be a fine piece of work by one of my favorite artists. Coming soon to a club near me! I might see my second concert in less than 3 months (instead of the usual 3 years.)
6. Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are you the Destroyer?: This came out early, and I have been listening to it almost all year. At first, trying to figure out how much I liked it, but now, I think I know - the more I hear it, the more impressed I have been, by more of the songs on it than I imagined at first. I don't know if featuring a 12 minute song that name drops Bataille is a recommendation or not, but it's damned impressive.
7. Son Volt - The Search: Another major beneficiary of the all 2007 program on the iPod. I didn't listen to it much at all before that - lately I have, and have been impressed. Jay Farrar makes an odd comparison with Jeff Tweedy: Tweedy has continuously changed, styles, sounds, personnel - while Farrar has basically worked the same style for the last 18, 20 years. Yet everything Tweedy does sounds old and worn out - been there, done that - while everything Farrar does sounds fresh. Originality is overrated sometimes - better to do something right than to do a bunch of things less than right.
8. M.I.A. - Kala: I don't know if I like the whole record or just a handful of songs from it - but some of the songs from it (Bamboo Banga, Paper Planes, Mango Pickle Down the River) I can't get enough of. Maybe not as much as from her first record (a near classic) but still, really good.
9. PJ Harvey - White Chalk: This one will grow on you - ethereal songs, vocals and pianos, stripped down and haunting, PJ's voice strange and keening. I suspect, though, this will suffer a bit from the iPod - if I were ever to get back to listening to whole records, I think this might be served better. You need to immerse yourself into records like this, to really get them.
10. Ghost - In Stormy Nights: I am always happy to have a new Ghost record to listen to. This one has a couple really great rave ups - Caledonia, notably - and some long form freakouts. Not as good as their previous record, but still working at a high level.
And - using, Will I ever listen to this again, as a criteria: most records have a song or two, promoted in iTunes (3, 4 5 stars) - the following (plus the ones above) are records I'm likely to listen to whole, down through the years...
Devendra Banhart - Smokey Rolls Down the Thunder Canyon [hit or miss, but great when it's on]
Bishop Allen - Broken String [the 2007 shuffle has sold me on this, even if Atrios keeps promoting it]
Dungen - Tio Batar [not far off the top 10]
Earth - Hibernaculum [very reliable at what they do]
The Fall - Reformation Post TLC [still quite fine - I haven't followed them regularly through the years, but maybe I should]
Iron and Wine - the Shepherd's Dog
New Pornographers - Challengers [pretty close tot he top 10, probably]
Interpol - Our Love to Admire [I still haven't done this justice, though when songs come up I like them...]
Boris & Merzbow - Rock Dreams [fulfilling the noise requirements for the year]
Wilco - Sky Blue Sky [though I'll probably fast forward to the guitar solos]
Linda Thompson - Versatile Heart [still in marvelous voice]
Damon & Naomi - Within These Walls [that's three Kurihara records in the top 20 - no accident...]
Spoon - Ga ga ga ga ga [I can't entirely buy them, but they are pretty reliably interesting]
That's not all - I like the Thurston Moore record, Einsturzende Neubauten - the only thing wrong with the Liars, Melt Banana, Deerhoof, Richard Thompson records is that their other stuff is better, and I have plenty of it...
Anyway - there's no point denying the power of the iPod and its effects: songs make more impression than albums these days - so here are 10 songs, one per artist, that I will keep in rotation in the coming years...
1. Rainbow - Boris & Kurihara
2. Bamboo Banga - MIA
3. Grinderman - Grinderman
4. Hafsol - Sigur Ros
5. Caledonia - Ghost
6. Prickly Thorn but Sweetly Worn - White Stripes (it's not all guitar wanking on this list - sometimes, it's bagpipe wanking)
7. Mon Amour - Dungen (but there is a lot of guitar wanking)
8. Systematic Abuse - The Fall
9. Parting of the Sensory - Modest Mouse (about the only thing worth repeating - not a bad record, but a huge disappointment - what's the point?)
10. Tonado Yanomaninista - Devendra Banhart
Leaving out Mutiny, I promised You (New Pornographers), A Plague of Angels (Earth), Dad's Gonna Kill me (Richard Thompson), The Past is a Grotesque Animal (of Montreal), Keep the Car Running (Arcade Fire), Coming to Get You (6 Organs), Circadian Rhythm (Son Volt), Impossible Germany (Wilco), Mexican Guy (the Stooges), This Song (Meat Puppets), and quite a few more... But that's enough for now.
The video choice is obvious: Rainbow, live:
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6 comments:
weepingsam -- I greatly enjoyed reading this post. Some of this music just missed my radar, mainly because (as you note) in any given year, there's just so much stinkin' music out there -- a good thing in that it never dries up, but it presents difficulties even for the enthusiast. While the White Stripes' album didn't quite make the cut for me, I really like some of the tracks, including the one you single out. Also, after a conversation with a friend about Interpol, I think I might pick up their latest. All in all, your list gives me some additional albums and songs to look out for. Thanks for posting.
I agree, Sam.... my Ipod purchase severely limited my purchase of new music this year. I spent the first of the year loading all my cd's onto the damn thing, and the other half of the year listening to them. I bought probably a third of the amount of new music I normally buy. Maybe I'll re-vamp my new year's resolution to buy more music.
Michael - there's so much music released - even just sticking to rock and its close cousins, it's impossible to keep up. The last issue of Mojo reviewed 63 new records - and that's just stuff Mojo covers. Not much hip hop, no country, jazz, heavy metal, etc... Making lists is almost completely random.
And - I have to listen to that Interpol record myself more. People I trust insist it is very good - I like it, and can hear it growing on me...
Joseph - I tried to cut down on what I bought this year - spend it somewhere else. I don't know if I succeeded - I got about the same number of new records I have recently. I stopped buying up the back catalogs of every band that catches my attention though...
Have you checked out any of the vintage recordings of The Blue Hearts in the wake of "Linda Linda Linda"? And we rather like some of the songs of the LLL bass player's real band (Base Ball Bear).
I've looked for Blue Hearts a couple times, though I haven't found them, at least not at Newbury Comics... I suppose with iTunes, there's not much excuse....
We broke down and ordered CDs from Japan. Last time people checked, only a couple of Blue Hearts songs were on iTunes. Have you listened to any songs by Number Girl (another defunct band -- who had a song that had a prominent position in Shiota's Gaichu -- probably can be heard if there's a trailer on youtube).
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