Band of Horses - Cease to Begin
Band of Horses had their work cut out for them on their sophomore effort. Their previous release was on my top 10 list last year and there was concern as to whether they would wow me like they did last year. Not only did this album blow away my expectations, seeing them live secured their spot as one of my favorite releases of the year as well as the best concert I saw at First Ave this year. The lead singer kept complaining that he couldn't hear himself and he repeatedly and quite sincerely apologized for, "sounding like shit". His words couldn't have been farther from the truth. I honestly didn't know what to expect of his voice live. It was amazing, moving, filled with emotion, and completely unlike any other voice I've heard live. Best album of 2007. Sunday Football viewers can't escape the Ford Edge commercials featuring a song from last year's album. I still haven't gotten sick of it, despite its appearance in EVERY commercial break. I hope they scored some serious scrilla for use of that song.
Peter Bjorn and John - Writer's Block
Peter Bjorn and John were road warriors this year. There was very heavy worldwide touring support of this album. I saw them twice in Minneapolis and once in Chicago if you count watching them blow their amps on the first song. They are super high energy in concert and I think it comes across in their music as well. Both Minneapolis shows had Peter soaking wet with sweat just a few songs into their set. The biggest surprise for me was that Peter actually performed the whistling live from the indie hit Young Folks. I imagine he had to do some pretty rigorous breathing and cardio exercises in order to sing, whistle, and play the bongos in the same song without keeling over. That is musical multitasking.
Albert Hammond, Jr. - Yours to Keep
Based on this album's individual tracks' play count on my iTunes, one could assume correctly that I am über-obsessed with The Strokes' Albert Hammond, Jr.'s first solo album. It's pure pop rock gold with a hint of classic rock sensibility. I anxiously await his new album being recorded this winter.
Digitalism - Idealism
This album was recommended to me via iTunes. I didn't know what to expect. I downloaded it and was blown away. I like the variety of the songs. The instrumentals bang just as hard as anything with vocals. Its too bad many of the songs, the best ones at that, are featured in commercials (Pontiac). Sigh. Recommended listening for anyone that likes Daft Punk, Justice, or anything else Ed Banger for that matter.
Justice - †
Truth be told, I like D.A.N.C.E., but it is not my favorite song on the album, It introduced me to Justice and the Les Rhythmes Digitales remix is 8 of the best minutes on wax (or what is a hard drive made of? I digress); however, there are far better songs on the album including: Waters of Nazareth, New Jack, and Phantom. Just about anything on this album should make you shake your tushy. The one song that is cringe-worthy is the Uffie rapped "The Party". The song and Uffie for that matter is totally unnecessary and out of place. Have fun finding all 50 billion remixes of D.A.N.C.E released this year.
Kanye West - Graduation
The best rap album of the year destroyed 50 Cent in a sales show down the week of my birfday. Watching 50 eat his words was the icing on my birfday cake. Both 50 and Kanye are egomaniacs but Kanye has the talent to back it up. The album featured THE single of the year, The Good Life feat. T-Pain. As talentless as T-Pain is without his production tools and vocoder, the song wouldn't be the same without him (Let us pray that he doesn't make a mistake re: this years Hip Hop Honors and try singing live sans vocoder again any time soon). The Good Life also features my favorite lyrics of the year, "Haters giving me those salty looks... Lawry's".
Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
I was skeptical of all the blogs and music reviewers. This album was instantly proclaimed the best album of the year. Bloggers declared The Arcade Fire the best band ever. I scoffed. After a few weeks to maybe a month or so I purchased the CD. I was slightly disinterested upon first spin. After subsequent spins I heard new things. I heard all the instrumentation in layer upon layer of sound. I still hesitated to put them on the pedastal that many a blogger has placed them on; however, I now concede that this album is dynamite and deserves a place in my Top 10.
Chromeo - Fancy Footwork
Chromeo brought us one of the year's most remixed albums. Their throwback 80's style synthesizer and vocoder funk is enough to make John Lithgow cut footloose. Nearly every DJ and their mother took a run at it overwhelmingly remixing Fancy Footwork and Tenderoni. Tenderoni was a new word for me, or so I thought. Michael Jackson sends out love to his tenderoni in P.Y.T. and Vanilla Ice told us, "...what it's like {Beat box fill} have'n a roni..." Check and respect wikipedia for it's definition here: tenderoni.
Vicious Vicious - Parade
2007 brought us Erick Applewick's finest creation yet, VV's third studio album, Parade. Erick is most famous for being Tape's 'n Tapes bassist, but let us not forget that he is a the former co-lead singer of The Hopefuls and prior to being in Tapes 'n Tapes, he produced their debut album. This very talented Minneapolis resident knows pop music. He knows how to write a hook and get funky. He channels Beck at his funkiest. His two previous VV efforts were very good, but Parade finds V Squared much more polished in the form of a much cleaner studio album. My favorite live track "Don't Let Me Down" finally finds a home on compact disc and you can find it spinning in my car and bumping out of my iPod.
Klaxons - Myths of the Future
The Klaxons are this year's "new-rave" "disco-punk" darlings. They are the new Arctic Monkey's who were previously the new Bloc Party. Beyond a rock song you can dance to this album has a rock opera-esque quality to it that I attribute to the soaring falsettos and future space talk. I imagine a very similar stage show to anything David Bowie did as Ziggy Stardust or Styx in the late 70's and early 80's. Only I think there would be more lazer beams.
Honorable Mention:
Calvin - Harris - I Created Disco, Cassius - 15 Again, The New Pornographers - Challengers, Simian Mobile Disco - Attack Decay Sustain Release, Radiohead - In Rainbows, Daft Punk - Alive 2007, UGK - Underground Kingz, Timbaland - Presents: Shock Value, Wilco - Sky Blue Sky, Fujiya & Miyagi - Transparent Things, The-Dream - Love-Hate, VHS or Beta - Bring On The Comets
Single of the Year (tie)
Kanye West - The Good Life and The-Dream - Shawty is da Shit
