2007 Top 30: 15-11

15. The Tough Alliance – New Chance
Kyle made the most rabid campaign for this album that he's made in a while, at least since Burial/Skream (last year), or maybe since Deadly Snakes (a while ago now). Anyway, anytime Kyle goes this apeshit over a band, it always turns out to be a nice surprise, which is good, since I have little choice but to absorb the album. Anyway, what I'm not used to is recommending albums that are pure pop bliss—that's usually my side of the spectrum. And yeah, I had heard “First Class Riot” before, and liked it, but I shudder at the thought of not having this album this year. It's the perfect combination of Swedish pop (it is Swedish pop) and late-80s/early-90s inspired production, a la Stone Roses or Primal Scream. And on a side note, it really sounds to me like that yelp in “Miami” was sampled from Donkey Kong Country, from when Diddy Kong gets hurt and runs off stage. Does anyone else hold this suspicion?

14. Justice – Cross
OK, there was no way that Justice were going to live up to the hype they had built up for themselves. And yes, the group is totally influenced by/successful because of image and hype. But I love it, and, unlike their hype equals the Klaxons, they made a really impressive try at delivering that mind-boggling album this summer. They could have just shit out some more brutally loud sunth-based bangers and placed them around “Waters of Nazereth,” and I would have listened to the album, enjoyed it, and set it aside for the next SCHOLARTRON. But instead they made a real album, with rises, falls, and (maybe) depth. It's not just bangers. And I know that Justice knew that EVERYONE wanted just bangers, so big ups to them for that self control. And like Dan, I think that this album is comparable to my boi Boys Noize. I actually think that Cross works better as an album, though, while Boys Noize delivers the single jams. So, if you're keeping track, that's Remixes: Justice (close); Singles: Boys Noize; Album: Justice.


13. VA – After Dark
Including this album is totally cheating, since it's a way of praising so many of the singles that I already had gotten from “the blogs” (discobelle, risky bizness, fluokids, palmsout, etc) in the months before this compilation. But you have to admit that Italians Do It Better do a really good job of using their artists to create a really singular sound that really helps define the year's fads in dance music: 80's sounding fake-disco-soul. I made such a mix for Chuck for Mixster (Easter Mix Exchange), consisting only of 2007 songs that could be used in a re-filming of Miami Vice, washed out early-80s kitsch. In April there were already too many such songs to make the mix; I know that at least 2 songs from After Dark were in the running (“Running Down the Hill” and “Last Night A DJ Saved My Life”). I love this shit, and this album is like the readymade disco-complement to Miami Vice: Charleston. Only possible improvement: Kavinsky on the list.

12 The Field – From Here We Go Sublime
It took me a lot longer to get into this album than everyone else. This sounds like my dad, but at first the album sounded a little too similar to a record skipping for my tastes. Eventually, though, I totally fell for the album; “Paw in My Face” and a reliance on headphones this fall helped. Still, though, in a year when I listened to quite a bit more electronic music than rock, the Field remains an outsider. Nothing else that I listen to sounds like it. I know that lots of people say this is a good background album; i disagree. This isn't Michael Mayer or Villalobos, nor is it drone-y in the least. From Here We Go Sublime requires attention to be appreciated. When it comes on, it now has my undivided attention.



11.Caribou – Andorra
Caribou/Manitoba's weirdest album yet? You bet; no longer spectacular electronic pop experiments, this album goes all out at trying to find that lost 60's sound by combining electronic music with psych electric guitars. Snaith's best record? I think so. Andorra shows a real sense of nostalgia and historicity, shows a feeling of longing for something that none of us really know except in old movies and Nuggets: 1960s garage psychedelia. In their live show this month, the group projected fluorescent images of flowers blooming, etc, onto the stage while everyone went apeshit on the drums. This is Andorra in a nutshell to me: 60s kitsch projected onto proggy electronic music. The emotions that I feel about the album, I think, stem from the contrast of the two. The album at once sounds so powerful and so delicate.