Here’s the second half of my top 10 favorite albums of 2007…

5. Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam
I think I’ve listened to “For Reverend Green” more than any other song this year. It’s wonderfully grainy, and the vocals display Animal Collective at the top of their game. Technically, the singing is rather poor; but it manages to be raw and feral with childlike sincerity and spirit, and I just feel that life-affirming tingle when I hear the singer’s ferociously cathartic screams. And this is just one song I’m talking about; many critics have cited the opener, “Peacebone,” or Strawberry Jam’s centerpiece “Fireworks,” as the song of the year. The album may seem like group’s usual sound, but is that really an issue when that sound gets better with every release? After listening to Strawberry Jam, the handle “Animal Collective” seems quite apt for such mastery of that balance between the savage and civilized. I’ll be looking forward to their next LP.

4. The Field - From Here We Go Sublime

Minimalism seems like such a compositional cop-out. One of the difficult things about composing/songwriting is linking together ideas in a manner that sounds effortless, coherent, and intelligent. That’s what’s meant when something sounds “inspired.” There’s not much of a challenge if all you need to do is cook up a musical nugget that can be drawn out for several minutes. That’s why minimalism is often boring. But Swedish artist Axel Willner, with the stage name “The Field,” manages to avoid this pitfall with From Here We Go Sublime, a work of techno-minimalist glacial goodness. Every idea he dreams up does not warrant a change. They’re strong enough to stand alone for quite a while. And not only does Willner seem to know this, but he’s mastered the right timing for the shifts when they do come. They’re subtle, with just enough wit to keep your interest, not only in the development but with their respective foundations. The music isn’t immediately gripping, but it’s certainly not boring. For lack of a better word, it’s just…chill, and this is how The Field avoids both saturating the listener with too much of a good thing, and diluting itself with time and repetition. Extrapolating this over ten tracks, it’s no surprise that this is one of 2007’s most consistent albums.

3. Jens Lekman - Night Falls Over Kortedala

For some reason, Jens Lekman always feels like a guilty pleasure. There’s that crooning baritone, the lush orchestral samples, and the occasionally cringe-worthy lyrics of a hopeless romantic. Blend them together and you get a plate of concentrated cheesecake. And like an image conscious teenage girl (”this will go straight to my thighs!”), you know it tastes great, but after consumption comes regret. On opener, “And I Remember Every Kiss,” Lekman sings “You get a gun and you name it after a girlfriend” as the strings soar to the heavens, and I think “pff, what the hell does that mean???” But I love it. Somehow, Mr. Lekman manages to make all the drawbacks of his music, paradoxically, not drawbacks at all. It’s delightfully cheesy, and has a very classic feel. Lekman’s previous release, Oh You’re So Silent Jens, had some great tracks, but a lot of filler; the 17-track compilation easily could’ve done with 7 or so less. But there is not a poor moment on Night Falls 12 songs. During the course of this semester I must’ve played at least half of them during my DJ shift, and many of those more than once (especially “Shirin”). There’s plenty of cheesecake to go around.

2. Radiohead - In Rainbows

Okay, okay, I know that every music critic ever is on Radiohead’s nuts. And I know In Rainbows is one of their weaker releases…but we’re talking about, arguably, one of the world’s greatest bands. “Mediocre” for Radiohead is still quite good, and relative to everything else, this is one of 2007’s best. One of my friends mentioned that their choose-your-own-price marketing revolution may have distracted people from the quality of the music itself. I think he meant this in a bad way, but I think of it as a challenge. When you buy something, you almost feel pressured to test your product, to scrutinize it and decide if you got your money’s worth. When something is potentially free, any notion of exchange has vanished. You don’t feel the need to justify your investment. In Rainbows must not only deal with this, but it must grab the listener from the your-price-tag novelty and say “Yeah, it’s cool but I’m worth noticing, too.” And I think it meets this challenge. Opener “15 Steps” is nothing special at first, but as soon as York sings “One by one….,” it hooked me immediately. Many of the songs follow the same trend; they don’t immediately catch your ear, but they all have at least one climax, that “moment,” that you’ll want to hear over and over. The middle of Weird Fishes/Arpeggi, and the last minute of “Jigsaw Falling Into Place,” in particular, come to mind.

It’s been said that Radiohead has more or less “played it safe” this time. Compared to Kid A, In Rainbows is not exactly artistically courageous. But in addition to the aforementioned trend, there are a couple things I’ve noticed in the songs that make this LP distinctive in its own right. For one, there’s a much greater focus on rhythm. In the past, I’ve heard people accuse Radiohead of having little of it, and they’re right. Save a few songs, there’s not much on their past six albums you can tap your foot to. But In Rainbows has much more pulse. Not only does this become obvious on the opening two tracks, but even the slower tracks (i.e. Nude, All I Need) have a prominent cadence. Furthermore, melody is subdued for a greater focus on mood. The songs here don’t have a sing-along quality; in fact it’s difficult to recall the vocal melodies. While Yorke still sings, he steps down from center stage to blend as an instrument with the rest of the band, allowing an atmosphere to envelope the listener. This effect is enhanced by thicker textures. Weird Fishes/Arpeggi, for example, is probably their most polyphonic song to date, and there’s a surprising amount of strings in the latter half of the album. None of these changes are bad things; they’re just different. What’s interesting is that the third track, “Nude,” is nearly a decade old. Radiohead have played that song live since the OK Computer era, when it was also known as “Big Ideas.” And it doesn’t sound out of place at all. To be fair, they’ve changed the song a lot since then, but I think that’s a testament to both the brilliance of music and Radiohead’s creative skill; the song has been vastly modified stylistically to fit the overall delivery of the album, but it has still maintained it’s compositional core. I confess I do like the older version better, but it’s still intriguing to think how something can sound so familiar and yet so alien. And that’s kind of how In Rainbows is. It’s a more accessible Radiohead, but it’s certainly not a throwback; they’ve still got some tricks up their sleeves.

1. The Twilight Sad - Fourteen Autumns and Fifteen Winters

I don’t get people. This album got solid reviews during it’s release (8.6 from Pitchfork, 4/5 from AllMusic, B+ from Stylus), and I haven’t seen it on any of the end-of-year lists I’ve read. Does the album not age well? Are they too Scottish? Or am I just retarded?

Anyway…despite my frustration, I think The Twilight Sad are the best new artist of the year, with the best album of the year. They’ve created their own sound with shoegaze and folk, weaved with pent-up frustration and the vast, beautiful night sky. Their instrumentation, with the shimmering guitars and yearning accordion on “That Summer, at Home I had Become the Invisible Boy,” is demonstrably gorgeous. The song titles are long-winded, but it’s clear The Twilight Sad wants to evoke visceral images, for they execute it remarkably for such a young band. On “Last Year’s Rain Didn’t Fall Quite So Hard,” not only does the music sound like rain, but downright oppressive rain, beating down the vocals, which can only emerge cross-faded in the isolated distance. Like the band name itself, everything on Fourteen Autumns and Fifteen Winters is melancholic but radiant, executed with both grace and aggression, capturing the emotional range of anyone who’s…well, human. “Mapped By What Surrounded Them” and ” I’m Taking the Train Home” pack a one-two punch as the album’s zenith, but there’s not a bad song on here. One of my few complaints, however, is that the album is only 9 tracks long. And I know The Twilight Sad has more to offer. Their 5-track, eponymous 2006 EP contains two songs that were not included on Fourteen Autumns and Fifteen Winters, which is a shame because they’re both phenomenal. If you like Fourteen Autumns and Fifteen Winters, be sure to get those two songs.

Ironically, the lyrical content primarily revolves around the troubles of being a kid and growing up. But this isn’t anything I relate to at all; my childhood kicked ass. But then again, I didn’t grow up in a broken home, which I would assume is a primary conflict in this album (just look at the cover art). So obviously, the reason I love this album is not because it resonates with me thematically. The music is stunning enough in its own right. So maybe those who can relate will like The Twilight Sad even more…..or maybe not if it hits too close to home. I say you take the risk. This one should not be overlooked.

Counting down from ten, here are the first five of my ten favorite albums from 2007. Rankings are always difficult after the top five, so the following feel a bit indefinite to me…but I tried:

10. Burial - Untrue
I’ve just started listening to this, so there’s not much I know about dub-step artist Burial. But with an impressive net score of 91 on metacritic.com, and a good first impression, I feel Untrue deserves to be included on this list. By just the artist, album, and cover art, you have an idea of what it sounds like. It’s a bit like Massive Attack, but with the eerie darkness of Black Heart Procession and a hint of that Daft Punk flair (some tracks more than others). Untrue evokes a range of enigmatic moods that warrants repeated listens.

9. Robert Gomez - Brand New Towns

Upon hearing Robert Gomez, the Elliott Smith influence is immediately obvious. While it’s possible he may just have the unfortunate circumstance of having an eerily similar voice, Gomez is by no means a rip-off artist. While the songs have the beautifully vulnerable, melancholic feel and whispered vocals of Elliott Smith, all the ideas on Brand New Towns sound compositionally fresh. One never feels he’s trying to fill the loss of Smith with himself. His music’s more of a tribute than an ape-ing, for he creates his own agency. The songs have a bit more harmonic daring, and some are actually optimistic! Gomez is clearly talented, for Brand New Towns is remarkably consistent. There’s nothing drastically innovative going on here in terms of style/genre, but Brand New Towns is a songwriter doing what he does best, and that’s good enough for me.

8. Frog Eyes- Tears of the Valedictorian
Frog Eyes is hit or miss for a lot of people. With their penchant for manic vocals, volatile harmonic movement, and raucous instrumentation, many find them difficult to listen to. Frog Eyes offers no relief for such individuals, as they continue to explode with unruly charm on Tears of the Valedictorian, which becomes obvious from the start on the ironically titled opener, “Idle Songs.” What intrigues me about Frog Eyes is how they manage to create such brilliant, inspired motifs and lace them within a circus-like maelstrom of sound. It sounds spontaneous yet preconceived, primal but cultivated. It’s intoxicating, and they champion this approach with “Caravan Breakers, They Prey On the Weak On the Old,” one of my favorite songs of the year. While the album could be described as “more of the same,” one does notice that many of the tracks are longer than usual. Whereas 8 of the 13 tracks on 2004’s The Folded Palm were under 2.5 minutes, the 9 tracks of Tears of the Valedictorian run for an average of about 4 minutes. They feel more like movements then songs, as seemingly unrelated ideas are connected within the same song. That said, the style still sounds very Frog Eyes, but there are few bands out there pulling off songs of jarring grace so well.

7. Band of Horses - Cease to Begin
It would seem that the positive response of Band of Horses’ debut album, Everything All the Time, gave them the confidence to polish their craft, for Cease to Begin sounds more cohesive and mature. While the debut album had plenty of engaging themes, they were undermined by mediocre song structure. They would be approached too quickly, left undeveloped, or overshadowed by too much other, less interesting material. But on Cease to Begin, the core delight of the songs are carried through their entirety; you love them from start to finish. The best examples of this are the phenomenal “Island on the Coast” and “Cigarettes Wedding Bands.” Cease to Begin has some down-tempo numbers, and while they are warm and professional, I would say they are the album’s weakness, as they damage its consistency. Nevertheless, the album’s highlights more than outweigh its setbacks. This album was surprisingly good, and I feel like an eye should be kept on Band of Horses’ future output.

6. The Tough Alliance - A New Chance
Another pleasant surprise from Sweden. The Tough Alliance sounds like Röyksopp and Junior Boys teaming up with Jim Henson. It’s primarily vocals and synths/electronics, all wrapped in tangible fun. It’s frisky, giddy, and high-spirited, but it avoids drowning you in sunshine and the obnoxiously saccharine, cloying nature of twee-pop groups like The Polyphonic Spree (sorry TPS fans) with variations in ambience and mood. “Miami,” for example, is in minor, but still creates an energizing texture. Just listen to “Something Special,” “First Class Riot,” or “The Last Dance,” they should put a smile on anyone’s face.

Vampire Weekend came to the Echo last night and they killed. These witty preps from NY played a great live set, effectively translating their unique sound onto a live stage with a ton of energy. Long live danceable bass lines, airy island guitars, and diverse rhythms. Oh! and that keyboard! The boys got some chops. Did I mention the wonderful lyrics? Hold on, I think I’m drooling.

Indeed, there’s a lot of buzz surrounding this band of four Columbia grads - so much that even MTV got an interview with Ezra, Rostam, Christopher, and Chris. The best part about all of this? Vampire Weekend doesn’t even release their debut self-titled until January 29th. Granted, their notorious “Blue-CDR” of recorded full length promos was leaked and has been floating around the internet for awhile. But, that’s a lot of hype for a band with no official LP. So, why all the buzz?

Answer: Gloriously catchy tunes, excellent live shows, and a fresh sound.

Say all you want about Paul Simon’s Graceland, early Talking Heads, and African tribal music/drums. These kids can play fantastically well, and desearve the attention. Here’s a video of “Mansard Roof”:

Pick of the set: “Oxford Comma.” Vampire Weekend is out 1/29/08 on XL.

Some of my favorite concerts are those by new bands who are still truly humble and grateful to their audiences, Los Campesinos!’s show at the Echoplex on Nov. 27 was just that. Their set was short (but not too short), energetic, and…well as fun as you’d expect a band named Los Campesinos! to be. It was really refreshing to see how truly excited they were to play on the West Coast “in Hollywood” as they kept repeating to the audience in between their songs, and it showed in the energy they put into each of their songs. Some songs I’d recommend would be “We throw parties, you throw knives”, “Don’t tell me to do the math(s)”, and “You!Me!Dancing!”.

Their opening band was The Most Serene Republic who were excellent despite their slightly creepy lead singer…

Yea so this electronica artist from Montreal keeps coming out with consistently good tracks on his myspace page. From Kanye remixes to straight-up orginals, CFCF brings a sound that is instantly familiar. Maybe not as technically impressive as Daft Punk, but certainly as original. The sounds this guy makes with his computer are superb. Enough said. Check it out. And if you don’t trust me, trust PITCHFORK WHO HAS NAME-DROPPED HIM MULTIPLE TIMES !!!!!

I never thought I would dislike having almost an entire month off from term papers, exams, useless discussion periods, and extreme amounts of reading. Then, I learned about Concrete Frequency.
Concrete Frequency is a multimedia concert being presented at the Walt Disney Concert Hall this January (all on dates when I will be shivering with cold in the Midwest instead of basking in the glow of incredible music and the golden rays that shine from the Walt Disney Concert Hall). The performance features classical music, film footage of the city, and raw performances from people such as Zooey Deschanel, Sean Lennon, and Daniel Rossen (of the really cool indie band Grizzly Bear). The music in this concert is supposed to be a ripped-down-to-the-core expose of music about the artists’ feelings, experiences, and attitudes towards the city. It is in several parts, Concrete Frequency I, II and III, that are spaced out over the first few weekends of January. This concert would be an experience unlike any other- fusing together media, 8mm film, the philharmonic orchestra, incredible composers, and ethereal vocalists. As William Miller in Almost Famous would say, this concert is going to be “incendiary.” For real.
So, basically, I need 300 dollars to fly back to Los Angeles for the weekend. and a place to stay. It would be totally worth it.

Anyone who’s from Arizona, like myself, will most likely have the following reaction when they hear anything about Tucson: “Booooring….”

Normally I would agree. Is there really more to Tucson than U of A? And yet, this listless city is the birthplace of one of the most underrated post-rock groups I know of, Friends of Dean Martinez. Now, the indie community has plenty of post-rock/instrumental artists to wade through…Mogwai, Explosions in the Sky, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Do Make Say Think, The Album Leaf, Dirty Three, etc. And many of these groups have done very well, despite writing music completely antithetical to songcraft: prolonged, restrained, lyric-less and inaccessible opuses. For instance, Mogwai worked with Clint Mansell in scoring Darren Aronofsky’s The Fountain, Explosions in the Sky composed the soundtrack for Friday Night Lights, Godspeed You! Black Emperor’s “East Hastings” was featured in 28 days later. I guess there’s this trend of post-rock music being integrated into films. And it works very well.

That said, does Friends of Dean Martinez bring anything to the table in the face of these instrumental juggernauts? Absolutely. I wouldn’t claim outright that they are better artists than the aforementioned groups, but Friends of Dean Martinez are by no means derivative or lackluster. And after 13 years and 9 LPs, they maintain that difficult balance of being innovative without compromising artistic identity. But they’re still nameless, even within the underground circles of music enthusiasts. I don’t really know why. Perhaps it’s the cumbersome stage name they carry, which probably incites a “Who’s on First?” scenario every time it’s brought up:

“Hey, have you heard of friends of Dean Martinez?”
“Who? I don’t know who that is. Does he have no friends or something? How sad.”
“No, they’re a band”
“Oh, what are they called?”
“Friends of Dean Martinez”
“No…like, what do they call themselves as a band?”
*slap*

But a lot of (in fact, most of them) post-rock bands have longwinded names. It might just be the misleading surname “Martinez,” which initially made me think of a mariachi band (certainly not the case). Or it could be the fact that “Friends of Dean Martinez” sounds like one of those temporary support groups that play at local bars to raise money for a buddy in chemo therapy. Or it could be that Tucson stigma.

Maybe everyone else just thinks FODM sucks. But I’m still going to try.

Now, FODM does not have the operatic orchestration of Godspeed, the vicious dynamics of Mogwai, or Explosion’s angelic guitar riffs, but they are champions of mood and sonic scenery. Their music is frequently described as evoking desert landscapes, but not in a pejorative sense. Some tracks may feel forlorn and desolate, but they carry an allure of tragic grace. Some songs are markedly sinister, while others are downright gorgeous. The group also has interest in hispanic culture, as evidenced by some of their more rhythmic songs and occasional, Spanish song titles. In addition, they clearly enjoy the retro feel (they have a whole album titled “Retrograde”), and as a whole, FODM can come off as ironic, but it’s never destructive. Stylistically, FODM is pretty consistent. The tempo for most songs is pretty gradual; in fact, while some are rather sluggish and boring, the grave movement often contributes to an endearingly barren atmosphere. Instrumentally, acoustic and/or steel guitars are very common. Above all, a yearning slide guitar is usually center stage, stringing out a melody to tie a song together. In essence, most of FODM is pretty western sounding. Pianos and string sections are occasionally used, and FODM’s later recordings feature more synth-work. On rare occasions, Friends of Dean Martinez demonstrate their versatility with a surprisingly disparate number, being either jarringly experimental or just mind-blowing.

However, as with most post-rock groups, they require patience from the listener. But they may not be for you if you don’t like subtlety. Unlike Godspeed, Mogwai, or Explosions, abrupt changes and extremes in rhythm or dynamics are rare. Their stability in is more like The Album Leaf.

Anyway, if you have a hunger for more instrumental artists, or just feel adventurous/curious, give Friends of Dean Martinez a shot. Their latest album from 2005, Lost Horizon, which is on KSCR’s new wall, was my gateway to their music. The latter half of the opener, “Landfall,” is particularly phenomenal, but, like most of the album, is quite unlike the rest of their music. As of right now, their 2000 release, “A Place In The Sun,” might be my favorite FODM album. It has good variety and some gripping, haunting tracks, although 2004’s “Random Harvest” might be their most endearingly dark LP. I would suggest any of those three to start with.

I’ve never been that big of a Thrice fan (not that I didn’t like them, I just never got into their music - except for their song Deadbolt). Surprisingly I found myself looking up the band on Wikipedia then seeing that they have a new two-disk album out. Titled The Alchemy Index Vols. I & II, the CD released on October 16 is part of a four-volume series (Volumes III & IV will be arriving in April 2008) with a theme following the four elements: fire, water, earth, and air, respectively. Most of the song names (and seemingly the song styles as well) directly reflect the theme that the disk is following. The track listing for these two volumes is as follows:

Fire

1. Firebreather - 4:42
2. The Messenger - 2:09
3. Backdraft - 4:08
4. The Arsonist - 4:13
5. Burn the Fleet - 3:47
6. The Flame Deluge - 3:28

Water

1. Digital Sea - 3:44
2. Open Water - 3:47
3. Lost Continent - 4:30
4. Night Diving - 6:02
5. The Whaler - 4:09
6. Kings Upon the Main - 4:56

As you may have guessed, the disk titled “Fire” is a little harder than “Water.” Full of loud vocals and heavy guitar, Fire was definitely the disk that I enjoyed the most. Neither of the disks, however, sounded exactly like the Thrice that I knew. The band’s guitarist Teppei Teranishi had this to say about the album:

“We’re kind of doing something that’s the opposite of what a producer is supposed to do on a record–which is make everything make sense and kind of fit together–whereas this project is all about taking things apart and pushing them one way. We really wanted to try doing things our way this time around, and make this record sound the way we want it to sound, not the way it’s “supposed” to sound.”

While Fire is most comparable to Thrice’s sound in their last album Vheissu, the songs on Water are completely different, and they made me feel like I was listening to a Radiohead album. These tracks are very slow and contain a lot of electronic/synthesized sounds, which I wasn’t really expecting to hear. It’s good to see that they are trying something new, though, rather than repeating their old, successful style. Although The Illusion of Safety is still my favorite album, I’ll probably be listening to more of The Alchemy Index (and Thrice in general as a result) in the weeks to come - hopefully Volumes III and IV in April will be of the same, or even better, quality.

Link: Listen to samples or buy it from Amazon

	Thrice
	Deadbolt