2007: Rear-View Mirror

Happy New Year.

And good riddance, 2007.

The year brought an avalanche of music, and the recent holiday week of rumination and CD-sorting etched in my mind the idea that a whole lot of it was ... well ... pretty good. Yeah, pretty good, uttered with my head slightly tilted, as if I never thought once of saying "great" or "really good." If I ever had the radical notion to rate albums on a 10 scale, I would swear that half the records I received this year logged somewhere between 6.5 and 6.7 -- a percentage that's skewed because all six copies of the Magic Numbers album that somehow found their way to my desk would get a 6.2.

Maybe this was the year that trying to keep up with new music, nationally and locally, finally overwhelmed me, what with every baby band in the universe engaging in viral marketing, hiring publicists, working with managers, leaving me polite entreaties on MySpace and generally undermining any belief that a band can merely grow organically. I attended about 185 shows in 2007 too, many to follow up on those advertising blitzes.

But after compiling my humble lists below, I fast-forwarded to December 2009, when all good geeks will be sweating over their seemingly inevitable Best-of-the-Aughts list. And guess what? Not a single album from 2007 has a chance of making mine. All of the bands I consider indie icons -- and I'm sure you can spank me for leaving out people you think are iconic -- released other albums this decade that are superior to their 2007 releases. For the record, that pantheon houses the National, Spoon, Modest Mouse, Arcade Fire, Bright Eyes and Interpol, with other personal faves such as the Shins and Stars living in the backhouse. Those heavyweights each added to their estimable catalogs, yes; it's just that I'm not going to pull "We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank" off the shelf first when I want to hear some Modest Mouse a few years from now.

At least, I don't think.

The lists follow. Thanks to everybody who sends me music -- really -- and a special shout-out to the bands on the L.A. scene who've made my life so much richer over the past 5-plus years.



My Favorite 10 Albums of 2007

1. Blonde Redhead, "23"

2. The National, "Boxer"

3. LCD Soundsystem, "Sound of Silver"

4. Against Me!, "New Wave"

5. Spoon, "Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga"

6. The Cribs, "Men's Needs, Women's Needs, Whatever"

7. Arcade Fire, "Neon Bible"

8. Lupe Fiasco, "Cool"

9. The Shins, "Wincing the Night Away"

10. Softlightes, "Say No to Being Cool -- Say Yes to Being Happy" *

Comments: It's scares me how much this list largely parallels other blogs/music mags. Yes, Fiasco's album just came out, but on first, second and third blush it's a long-range keeper. And that's right, no Radiohead. So sue me. 6.8.

* See final list



Buzz Bands' Top 10 L.A. Albums of 2007

1. Foreign Born, "On the Wing Now"

2. John Doe, "A Year in the Wilderness"

3. Sea Wolf, "Leaves in the River"

4. CoCo B's, "CoCo B's"

5. Eleni Mandell, "Miracle of Five"

6. Earlimart, "Mentor Tormentor"

7. Culver City Dub Collective, "Dos"

8. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, "Baby 81"

9. Rilo Kiley, "Under the Blacklight"

10. Great Northern, "Trading Twilight for Daylight"

Comments: Foreign Born is just plain good. CoCo B's self-released disc is a great surprise. Culver City Dub Collective's genre-mashing is sublime. Eleni Mandell -- who needs Feist? And Rilo Kiley's album just kept growing on me.




Ten L.A. Bands Whose Debuts Made Me Anxious for the Sophomore Album

1. The Deadly Syndrome, "The Ortolan"

2. The Broken West, "I Can't Go On, I'll Go On"

3. Robert Francis, "One by One"

4. The Parson Red Heads, "King Giraffe"

5. Delta Spirit, "Delta Spirit"

6. Frankel, "Lullaby for the Passersby"

7. Year Long Disaster, "Year Long Disaster"

8. Sara Bareilles, "Little Voice"

9. The Minor Canon, "No Good Deed Goes Unpunished"

10. No Age, "Weirdo Rippers"

Ten L.A. Bands Whose 2007 EPs Made Me Want More

Castledoor, the Airborne Toxic Event, the Weather Underground, the Black Kites, Voxhaul Broadcast, Sam Sparro, Manic, Radars to the Sky, Sara Lov, Aushua.



Three Albums From Bands Whom I Loved in the '90s and Still Do

1. Buffalo Tom, "Three Easy Pieces"

2. Dinosaur Jr., "Beyond"

3. Smashing Pumpkins, "Zeitgeist"

Five Hip-Hop Albums I Would Recommend If Anybody Believed I Recommended Hip-Hop Albums

1. Lupe Fiasco, "Cool"

2. Kanye West, "Graduation"

3. Brother Ali, "Undisputed Truth"

4. El-P, "I'll Sleep When You're Dead"

5. Aesop Rock, "None Shall Pass"



Under the Radar: Six Overlooked Albums

1. Softlightes, "Say No to Being Cool -- Say Yes to Being Happy": Cinematic electro-pop that recalls Grandaddy at its finest.

2. The High Strung, "Get the Guests": Catchy and clever, hold the irony, with peripatetic melody lines that do not quit.

3. Minipop, "A New Hope": Gorgeous and beautifully layered shoegaze-pop with rhythms that will drive you right into a dreamlike state.

4. The Blakes, "The Blakes": Soulful garage rock that's good for your summer sweat.

5. The Comas, "Spells": Distortion-heavy power pop arrives in bursts, may leave marks.

6. Young Galaxy, "Young Galaxy": Other Canadian exports (Kevin Drew, Sunset Rubdown, Feist, et. al.) earned more buzz, but this album feel like a warm waking dream.

Comments: Somehow I saw Softlightes play live 10 times in 2007. I left each show in a better mood than when I arrived.

 

Comments

[Raul]

Terrific list, Kevin. Love the Against Me! mention.

[Mouse]

FINALLY somebody else gave The SoftLightes their due on an end of the year list! And yay for 6.8-ing Radiohead. :-D

[jc]

best of 2007 should include "King" by Bernie King....www.myspace.com/bernieking...sounds like a soundtrack without the film...

[john]

yay for foreign born! best LA band!

[Michelle]

This is a great list! I agree with a lot of it! Arcade Fire and the National definitely. Sea wolf is amazing. one of the best bands i've seen and heard would be the Weather Underground hands down. Great list yet again Kevin!

[wayne]

i agree. a truly unremarkable year in music.
i disagree. that radiohead album was one of the year's best.

[supercrass]

would love to hear more of the black kites. good call.

[t.]

i wish i could be snarky, but after citing blonde redhead's album as number one i cannot fault you.

:)