Top 10

OK, sorry i missed last night, but here is my entire top 10, without pictures (I'm pressed for time here). Also, note: *Radiohead – In Rainbows
I'm not including Radiohead in my Top 10 list, because 1. I don't know where I'd put it (somewhere between 4-10?) and 2. I don't have anything remotely interesting to say about it/them, other than I've got tickets for the Berlin show in July!!

OK....
10. Grinderman – Grinderman
As aging hero of independent music, I think that Nick Cave is totally underrated. While other old rock badasses Tom Waits and Thurston Moore get superstar treatment with us rock kids (they should), Nick Cave often goes relatively overlooked. Why is that? I have no theories. What I do know, though, is that the Birthday boy himself is at least as reliable as those other two to turn out albums that show up on my year-end list. Abbatoir Blues from a couple years ago was fantastic, taking Mr. Cave down paths he had never been down before, namely nice-sounding music. With Grinderman, he's back to mean Mr. Devil, and I love him all the more for it. And the restraint on this album helps Nick to sound as nasty and powerful as he has since Let Love In. That's saying something.
9. VA – Kompakt Total 8
I'm not sure why this album from the always-reliable Kompakt label flew under the radar in a year that saw techno's coming-out party for the indie rock crowd. Maybe because the mix isn't as “pure” techno as the previous Totals? Certainly, Kompakt did branch out more into pop and house this year, for better (“Beautiful Life”) or worse (the Supermayer album). This album covers that gamut too, ranging from standards Superpitcher and Jorg Burger to Berlin hometown heavy-house fave Rex the Dog. The genius of this album, though, is that Kompakt makes all of these elements work together, making a mix that is both cool and fun, embodying the best of the Berlin party scene that is so omnipresent in my life right now. In 20 years, when I want to look back and remember what my time in Berlin was like, I will probably put this mix on, and be transported to so many parties.
8. Lil Wayne – Carter 3
One of the perks of the slow demise of the album as a concept is the rise of the mixtape. Who cares where music first appears anymore? No more primacy placed on the “original,” as if that every existed in the first place (the original song, not the primacy). So here we have Weezy, releasing a (good) studio album (Da Drought 3) consisting of mostly covers and remixes, and a fantastic mixtape sampling everything in sight. And man this mix is joyous! Wayne spits rhyme after rhyme at me so fast, he sounds out of breath, and soon so do I too. Weezy is the coyote of the rap world right now; he can sound as angry, sad, dangerous, or sexual as anyone out there, sometimes on the same album. Of course, he also has the maturity and patience of a child, which explains the stupid jokes, as well as his inability to finish one song before starting the next one. Of course, these “flaws” just add to Weezy's charm, and also help me feel childlike and giddy while listening to this mix.
7. Daft Punk – Alive 2007
The most important music group of our generation (I said it) further secures its legacy by combining the best aspects of rock and roll (the live show) and electronic music (the remix). They deftly address both their own music and their live environment and audience in groundbreaking ways. They totally redeem the disappointing Human After All. They rock out to “Music Sounds Better With You.” What more could you ask from everyone's favorite sexy-robot music duo? Answer: another album, another tour.
6. Studio – Yearbook 1
It's hard for me to explain just why I like this album as much as I do. I mean, it's Swedish, and beautifully produced, and a mix between electronic music and pop, and has subtly funky beats. And it varies between the tiny pop of “No Comply” to the grandiose dub of “Out There.” And I can listen to it on repeat for hours on end without getting bored or sick of it. Yeah, that's why I love this album.
5. Jay Z – American Gangster
I always wondered how long it would be before some ambitious rapper would take the 1970s brassy soul that has littered some of the most critically successful rap songs of the past few years and decide to use it as an entire sonic palette. Never in my wildest dreams did I hope that the one and only Hova would be the one to step up to the plate. In my mind it is this big-band/soul sound itself that is the “concept” in this pseudo-autobigraphical concept album.
4. LCD Soundsystem – Sound of Silver
As much as I loves James Murphy's early singles, I wasn't blown away by the first LCD album; it seemed too thrown together, lacking cohesion or other album-qualities. Boy, he fixed that problem for his sophomore release. Sound of Silver flows from beginning to end, maintaining a consistent sound that never gets old. Of course this album also contains some of the most socially relevant songs for our zeitgeist, from everyone's favorite “All My Friends” (mine too) to the subtle “Get Innocuous.” And “North American Scum” can lead me to do embarrassing things on a European dancefloor.
3. Burial – Untrue
I recently read Derrida's Spectres of Marx, and I'm not sure how much “sonic hauntology” actually applies to this album. I understand that Untrue shows lots of “traces;” I'm just not sure how much different it is from, say, a Lil Wayne album with billions of samples, or the Go! Team. I fear that people just get excited because no one knows who Burial is and the album sounds spooky. Still, though, this is an album worthy of serious attempts at interpretation; it achieves feelings of loneliness and creepiness that I want to think more about, and the mood is one that makes me think of important questions of identity. I never could get into Burial's first album very much, but Untrue has blown me away; I've listened to this album more than any other in the past two months.
2. Panda Bear – Person Pitch
These days there are three different artists that a group can sound like to earn my love, no matter how poorly executed: the Jesus and Mary Chain, Al Green, and Brian Wilson. I think you can all guess which one applies to Panda Bear. Seriously, I see this album as the anti-SMiLE; while SMiLE was a “kid's” album that had the ache of an old man, Person Pitch is a man's album with the wonder of a little kid. Plus Mr. Bear sounds an awful lot like Brian. This album and my number 1 have actually been bouncing back and forth from the top spot for the latter half of the year, so it's really a toss-up in terms of winner. and everyone has already talked about Panda Bear's samples, etc. so thankfully I don't have to.
1. Jens Lekman – Night Falls Over Kortedala
Do you remember when it took a few listens to warm up to Jens Lekman albums? I would tell a friend about I Want to Be Your Dog: “It sounds like boring mopey lo-fi music, but he actually writes profoundly affecting songs; just give it a try.” With Night Falls Over Kortedala, all you need is one listen and you're hooked. The arrangements are grandiose, the samples are over-the-top fun, and it has killer beats—seriously. And yeah, the lyrics are really simple and straightforward, but that Lekman's schtick; he has an album persona straight from a Capra film, one which is to me the most moving of modern rock persona's, only matched by the overwhelming personalities of Weezy or Ghost. And even though he's being really genuine and all that, Lekman tells great stories, and can make me as emotionally involved in his dilemmas as he apparently is. I think that Lekman's development as a producer and arranger (he could always write songs) has been one of the best pop/rock stories of the past few years, and Lekman has become quite possibly my favorite singer/songwriter of this generation.