In Which The First Part Of Our Best Albums Countdown Impresses Itself On The Inner Ear

In Which The First Part Of Our Best Albums Countdown Impresses Itself On The Inner Ear by alexcarnevale

January 2, 2008, 11:30 pm
Filed under: Uncategorized

The Top 20 Albums of 2007

Part One: Bad Good Evil

by Danish Aziz & Alex Carnevale

It’s that time of year.

This year was all about realizing big albums didn’t deliver, pretending to like them anyway, and finding something else to put on. If In Rainbows was so great, why aren’t you listening to it? We liked Thom Yorke’s solo album better. Hell, I liked In Rainbows, but some artists were doing more than conducting marketing experiments. For the DJs that will head this countdown, it was about finding something real to hold onto after dance music needed them. For rap auteurs going against the grain of what had been done before them, it was about engaging with worlds other than their own. And for the indie rockers, god bless you all. It’s amazing that you’re able to exist when there are so many exactly like you.

20. Handsome Furs, Plague Park

We hand it over to Spin:

While his Wolf Parade co-leader, Spencer Krug, floods the market with side projects, Dan Boeckner only needs the one — a homegrown affair that finds his wife Alexei backing his rich, vaguely Elvisy vocals and fuzzed out guitars with sequencers and drum loops. But lest that description evoke cold, tossed-off self-indulgence, songs like “Cannot Get, Started” and “Sing! Captain” are every bit as earthy and exultant as the ones Boeckner churns out in his day job, if not more so. He doesn’t just invite you into his basement, he hands you a pillow and a big mug of tea.

When I saw Handsome Furs this year at the Rickshaw Stop in San Francisco, they were playing the same night as Animal Collective and The New Pornographers. The fact that these two bigger acts probably sucked away a lot of the people who would’ve paid to see Handsome Furs didn’t stop the husband & wife duo from putting on a spectacular show. It was all the more impressive when Dan revealed he was recovering from rolling on E the previous day (he was also pretty upset that Neko Case is more famous than Dan Bejar). Considering all the impressive acts pouring out of Montreal, the city should consider adopting a legendary name a la Wu Tang’s Staten Island and “Shaolin” – I suggest “Agincourt.”

- D.A.

More Handsome Furs here.

Handsome Furs on hype machine.

“What We Had” – Handsome Furs (mp3)

Why I Oughta’s Top Ten Albums.

19. Cilvaringz, I

This dude has a funny story in that he relentlessly tried to get his tape to RZA, and when he finally succeeded RZA signed him to his label and he became a Wu-Tang guy. From the press kit:

In 1999, after numerous letters and CDs, Cilvaringz, now on his fifth trip to New York, decided to camp in front of the Razor Sharp Records office during office hours and wait until RZA or any of his close associates came by.

Cilvaringz relates: “I knew he was in town from talking to Clan associates whom I met during my previous visits to New York. It was only a matter of time before RZA would stop by the office, so the best thing was really to just wait. I didn’t trust anyone with my demo but him.”

Cilvaringz is of Moroccan descent, and this album, if a little bit for kids, was one of our favorite rap albums of the year probably because of that.

- A.C.

“Jewels” – Cilvaringz feat. GZA/Genius (mp3)

18. The Black Lips, Good Bad Not Evil

On the first listen, they sound like the music your new son (damn him!) is playing from his garage and you’re like, “Dude, you have been listening to too much Nirvana, grunge ended many moons ago.” The Lips don’t care, they are having too much fun. When I saw them live this year they didn’t set anything on fire or pee in anyone’s mouth, but they sure came close. Doing shows in the Palestinian Territories only helped to cement their gangster status. In a time where the most popular indie rock is the perfect marketing music to accompany shampoo sales, the Black Lips are a breath of fresh rock.

-D.A.

 ”Good Bad Not Evil” – The Black Lips (mp3)

Spot the Monster had GBNE No. 1.

17. Tegan and Sara, The Con

Meditative, at times even borderline scary, thematically interesting, catchy. It all applies to The Con which comes with the most fun booklet of the year. Originally called Sugar, Spell It Out, no better album has almost been made with such a bad name.

The making of DVD is fun stuff.

“I War Married” – Tegan and Sara (mp3)

“Soil, Soil” – Tegan and Sara (mp3)

“Call It Off” – Tegan and Sara (mp3)

“Like O, Like H” – Tegan and Sara (mp3)

“Are You Ten Years Ago” – Tegan and Sara (mp3)

These illustrations remind me of the music-not spare but giving, while keeping in mind a philosophy of restraint.

-A.C.

16. Caribou, Andorra

If Elephant 6 decided to go back into business and relocate to Canada, Andorra would be their first release. The production on this album far surpasses any of Caribou/Manitoba’s previous work and is full of infectious pop gems that will inevitably have “psych” attached inserted into their descriptions. Think Beach Boys and Of Montreal laying down tracks while whacked out on Dramamine.

Caribou myspace

Caryn Ganz review.

“Desiree” – Caribou (mp3)

Dan Snaife on his favorite recent concert:

I went to Glastonbury last week. That was a lot of fun. And it was great, but I didn’t get to see a lot of music. In fact, the best concert wasn’t that at all. The week before, I went to Paris to see Daft Punk play in this weird electro-futurist looking venue, and inside is this inverted pyramid, so they’re inside this pyramid-shaped building, or whatever. And all these French people went totally fucking crazy for it; it was totally fucking amazing. I’ve been dying to see them, especially since that Coachella show everyone was freaking out about. So I was like, fuck, I got to see them play, you know. I’m a big fan. I’m a firm believer in the them being sort of the pop band of our time. They have so many amazing songs.

Pitchfork review if you want to fall asleep.

- D.A.

Danish Aziz is the senior contributor to This Recording. Alex Carnevale is the editor of This Recording. You’ll want to continue on to Part Two of our countdown here.

PREVIOUSLY ON THIS RECORDING

A phoenix of indie love.

Tess is old but smug.

Links gave us the proverbial golden shower. Take the links in your hand and look within.

Molly versus Ryan Adams.

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