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.

2007 Top 30: 20-16

20. Ratatat – Mixtape 2
Back in 2004, the first Ratatat mixtape was one of my most listened-to albums of the year, but I didn't include it on my year-end list because I didn't think of it as a legitimate release, a simple album of remixes. In this year of mixes, mixtapes, and compilations, I no longer believe that a mixtape is excluded from “real” releases. In my eyes Ratatat's remixes far outweigh their original tracks; they have a way of restructuring the rhythms of mainstream rap songs to make them sound new if they're old, fresh if they're dull. And if the song in question is Biggie, well, anything can happen. As I see it, the boys in Ratatat can give Siegel, Bun B, etc the guitar-powered fuel they need, and, perhaps more importantly, rap gives Ratatat the edge they need to keep from sounding like video game music.


19. Ryan Adams – Easy Tiger
Seriously, this is a very good Ryan Adams album. I know I have no credibility when it comes to Mr. Adams, and by this time I should be past my Ry-ry phase, but he keeps bringing me back. “Two” is a great pop single, and “Yeah, Whatever, etc” is really well thought-out, unlike its title. And I don't see how critics can keep pissing themselves over the self-knowing irony in Jay-Z's “Ignorant Shit” and not at least smile during “Halloween Head.”



18. Animal Collective – Strawberry Jam
It took me quite a while to get into this AC album. Like Dan Deacon (not on this list), the Collective's new sonic palette started out too thumpingly abrasive for me to listen to for more than a few songs at a time. Which was a shame, since, like all AC albums, this one is best heard as such, with all the melofies rising and falling over the record's course. It took a live show for me to really warm up to the album, and now I can say I am emotionally and aesthetically ready for the rewarding experience of Strawberry Jam. Still, I can't help but wish that Animal Collective would have stayed a little more mellow and make it easier for me to enjoy the record more often.



17. & 16. Handsome Furs – Plague Park
Sunset Rubdown – Random Spirit Lover
I thought it would be cute to put these albums together, but I actually do think that the two Wolf Parade solo records complement each other well. On the one hand, Spencer Krug's album (that's Sunset Rubdown) is so willfully obscure and full of bizarre imagery, but still manages to sound totally tragic (probably because of Krug's voice). On the other hand, Dan Boeckner's album is straightforward, nostalgic, and absolutely heartbreaking. Boeckner's lyrics verge on melodrama, Krug's on willfull obscurity. But they are both hugely affecting for me, and they go well together, kind of like this band I used to listen to... Musically, I find the simple synth/drums of Handsome Furs more easily digestible if less ambitious than the clanging symphonies of Random Spirit Lover. If I had to pick a favorite of the two, I might just pick Handsome Furs, maybe to be ornery, maybe because I saw a fantastic show by Boeckner et al here in Berlin, with all of maybe 20 people in attendance. But nevertheless both albums stand well on their own and together, and make me drool at the thought of a new Wolf Parade album (next year!).

2007 Top 30: 30-21

30. Earth – Hibernaculum

Full disclosure: I only got this album last week. Something about December always draws me to groaning melancholy minimal rock, with few or no vocals. This almost always happens to be some form of post-rock, or, recently, drone metal. This year, though, I hadn't found anything, and so had to resort to last year's Altar and old Godspeed records to go to sleep at night or during the day (it's always dark here anyway). Then I got Hibernaculum from Jordan, and fell in love: brooding and haunting melodies, but with rock-sounding guitars. These few songs really are small little symphonies of drone, and they have totally scratched that December itch. I will be listening to this in winters to come. #30 because it's so brand new to me.

29. King Khan and the Shrines- What Is?!

One of the taste questions of the year: King Khan or Black Lips? I'm actually the only person I know who prefers King Khan. Sure, the Shrines aren't nearly as cool as the Lips, and King Khan sometimes crosses the border into kitsch. But isn't that part of the fun of a garage rock band? I mean, no one takes this seriously; it's only rock and roll (but I like it). I saw King Khan my first week here in Berlin; He came through the audience with a robe, cane, and steer skull over his head. Needless to say, they rocked the house, soul-style. The show kind of felt like Jack Black's band's concert at the end of High Fidelity: silly but convincing fun. That's how this album feels for me as well.

28.Muscles – Guns Babes Lemonade

So I love dance music, and I love pop music; if you know me that should be pretty clear. One thing those genres don't really have much of, though, is lyrics. So when someone does make an album of catchy dance music, and actually says something too, it means more to me. And Muscles, like personal favs Hot Chip before them, have their wits about them in the lyrics category. With emphasis on the “wit”: Muscles manages not only to rock the party, but also describe what hipster party culture is like in the 21^st century. From talk about sweaty club-hugs and entry lines (now a problem in Berlin) to lines like “We're dancing to ringtones in the street / Nobody's going home for dinner tonight,” Muscles can really capture the feeling of being young and drunk and dancey. These self-knowing lyrics might get old after a while, but right now it's the perfect combination of fun and clever for my tastes.

27. Ghostface Killa – Big Doe Rehab
Ghostface is the best musical storyteller of our generation. I said it; the dude is outspoken and charismatic, and whether he is talking about getting spanked by his Mama or running from the narcs, I want to hear more. Big Doe Rehab is no exception, and while it's too recent for me to place among the ranks of Ghostface records, it definitely hangs with the rest of them for me. In a year that brought a hugely disappointing Wu Tang record (am I the only one?), Starks just kept on doing his thang.

26. Place to Bury Strangers – Place to Bury Strangers

It's funny, how a silly review by p4k changes my attitude about writing this blurb. Normally, an album like this would get a mediocre review, I would single it out because of key words “distortion” and “Jesus and Mary Chain,” discover that the album is TOTALLY derivative of early JMC/My Bloody Valentine, and fall in love with it, telling everyone I know to listen to it. Instead, someone wrote a glowing review of the album, there are tour updates and news blurbs all the time, etc. That's great, but I don't know if this album is life-altering or masterfully crafted or anything: it just has really great distortion and hummable, quiet vocals. In other words, everything I love in a rock song no matter what.
25. Chromeo – Fancy Footwork

This album=instant dance party. Actually, there are so many albums like that in this breakout year for crossover synth-dance. I mean, this has been my thing for a few years now in year-end album lists (Hot Chip, Junior Senior, Muscles, etc); the goofier/wittier the better. So what does Chromeo have that's new? Those synths, maybe: damn. And unlike most of these other bands, there is (almost) new hint of self-conscious irony—Chromeo just make synth pop like they always wanted to make synth pop, not like they're an indie band being cute (I love the Chip, but...)
24. Battles – Mirrored
When I first heard this album, I thought it was going to be solid top-10 year-end material: it blew away the impressive Eps, I thought, it was interesting, different, catchy, technically brilliant. Now 8 months later, though, I discover that Mirrored hasn't aged as well as I thought. I don't listen to it as often anymore. But when I do, I still love those drums, those DRUMS, and all the funny electronic noises they make too. Maybe like the prog rock it emulates, Battles will soon sound dated, but my guess is they will sound dated and fun.
23. Spoon – Gagagagaga
Right before I left for Berlin in August, I bought the new records of two of my favorite rock bands—Spoon and Okkervil River—to listen to on the plane ride over. Both were well-loved by both critics and friends; needless to say I was excited. At first I was heartbreakingly disappointed with both albums. I began to listen to Spoon more and more, though, and before I knew it I had really fallen for the record (I remain heartbreakingly disappointed with Okkervil River). “Black Like Me” is one of the best songs of the year, and “The Underdog” sounds timeless to me now. Again Spoon's strength is in their production. Unlike other Spoon records, this one was a grower for me, and even at this coveted spot on my year end list it only makes it to the halfway point of Spoon albums on a good day. But that's Spoon for you.

22. Yelle – Pop Up
Of course I have no clue what she is saying, and I don't care. This album is pure retro-euro-synth-dance-fun. And French. And cool. When I hear this album I just want to wear a neon sweatsuit and breakdance.

21. M.I.A. - Kala

Everyone loves M.I.A. I love M.I.A. This is a great album. M.I.A. has great samples. etc.

19-11

19. Cocteau Twins-Heaven or Las Vegas (1990)
If shoegaze is the cool kid of all subgenres, then dream pop is his hot-as-hell girlfriend. And this album is it for dream pop (the next few would all be lush albums). One of the sexiest sounding albums ever, if I ever shoot a sex scene for a movie it will be to "Cherry Colored Funk"
18. Portishead-Dummy (1994)
Speaking of movie soundtracks: every spy movie should have a portishead song. Massive attack may have the other 3 of the top 4 trip-hop albums, but this one takes the cake. Seriously, do you not feel so much cooler when listening to this album?
17. Mogwai-Young Team (1997)
MOGGGGGWAAAAAIIIIIIIII FEEEEAAAARRRR SAAAATTTTTAAAANNNNN
16. Slint-Spiderland (1991)
Wow, it seems like all of these albums are the best of their respective subgenres. That's probably because the 1990s are the deacde of subgenres. And post-rock is a badass subgenre, now that I think of it, although it lacks any sort of unity that trip-hop or shoegaze have. I mean, Mogwai is post-rock too, and they sound nothing like this. Well, ok, maybe nothing else does. Sublime.
15. Belle and Sebastian-If You're Feeling Sinister (1996)
I spent a long time kicking myself for not including the great 1992 Beat Happening album . How could I include my B&S without including the Happening? The fact is, though, B&S do twee better than Calvin Johnson did, and while he has a very different kind of charm, I listen to this album a heck of a lot more. The melodies are transcendent, the lyrics are just melodramatic enough, and Stuart Murdoch is one charming motherfucking man.
14. A Tribe Calle Quest-Low End Theory (1991)
QTip has the best combination of flow/lyrics of any MC out there. And his taste in jazz is impeccable. I know it's pussy rap, but the Tribe stand by themselves.
13. Elliott Smith-Either/Or (1997)
I hardly ever listen to singer/songwriter music these days. As much as I dug this shit senior year of high school, nowadays all the voices seem to run together, even if I know damn well who sings what. Not so with Elliott, who has the most beautiful voice of any rock singer (besides mayyybe Tim Buckley). And those lyrics, man, they put Elliott in a league of his own. With Nick Drake. This is one of my favorite sad albums ever (with Sea Change, Blood on the Tracks, Pink Moon).
12. Wu Tang Clan-Enter the Wu (1993)
Wu Tang Clan ain't nothin to fuck with. (This is as high as the rap albums get, which shows my silly white rockist bias. If I had another 10 albums on my list though, Pharcyde II, Ironman, and maybe The Chronic would make my list)
11. Weezer-Blue (1994)
Token nostalgia add: maybe. But is that why I keep listening to it to this day?

Top 90s Albums 20-30

Ok I'm a sucker for all lists, so I couldn't help myself, I had to respond to Nick's challenge. But 25 for the full decade that I know best? Please; I would kill myself over picking 100. So this entire enterprise is compromised from the beginning; selecting these albums is such an impossible task that I haven't pulled hairs as much as I would for, say, my top 25 for a single year. So basically I will list 30 albums that I looooove from the 90s, in a general order. But there are LOTS that I have forgotten and ignored that deserve this honor equally. So for today I will simply list 26-30, and give a BRIEF description of 21-25.

30. Sebadoh-Bakesale (1994)
I Know, not the seminally-listed III, but Bakesale is my favorite Sebadoh album. Meanwhile Dinosaur Jr released the amazing Green Mind and How Ya Been, but Lou Barlow is in my top 3 lyricists of the 1990s (with Malkmus and Tweedy). They make the top 30 fo sho.
29. Sonic Youth-Washing Machine (1994)
My favorite 1990s Yoof album, with one of my top 5 SONGS EVER looming on the last side of the LP (which I own). If you don't know it, get "The Diamond Sea" immediately. The longversion, released on the new B sides collection, is preferable.
28. Inspectah Deck-Uncontrolled Substance (1999)
My favorite WuTang solo outing. Jesus Deck has mad flow on this one, and Masta Killa sounds better than he does anywhere else. Rap is pretty criminally underrated on this list, but I had to put this one on.
27. Smashing Pumpkins-Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (1995)
Billy Corgan is just enough of a dick to release this sprawling masterpiece, so ambitious and so successful. You all know it.
26. The Chemical Brothers-Dig Your Own Hole (1997)
The best breakbeat album ever (not that great of an accomplishment) beautifully combines e-based rave culture and LSD-based psychedelic culture (that great of an accomplishment). Seriously, listen to "Private Psychedellc Reel" and tell me the Bros. sound dated.
25. Silver Jews-American Water (1998)
"Blue Arrangements" is one of my favorite songs of the 90s, and it's barely my favorite song on the album.
24. Wilco-Summerteeth (1999)
Do I have to say something about Wilco, really? My fav album of theirs, though. I'm a sucker for alt-country, and also when alt-country folks go off and do better things.
23. Blur-Modern Life is Rubbish (1993)
My favorite Blur album has two of my favorite love songs ever: "Blue Jeans" and "Miss America." I loved Brit-pop through highschool, and now, going back through my oasis and supergrass records, I can't believe I did. My only solace is Blur, the band that stands the test of time and proves that even super-dated subgenre fads can produce transcendent talent.
22. Ryan Adams-Heartbreaker
Ry-Ry is so fake and melodramatic, and I LOVE it. I do not apologize for loving it either; I am sorry to people who got too caught up in this album and hate everything else he has done. His talent, after all, is faking everything so well, with such talent, that we all buy it. And we shouldn't feel hurt by that, but instead enjoy it; this is one of the best sad albums ever, whether Ryan was actually sad or not.
21. Ride-Nowhere
Best guitars on an album in the 1990s (My Bloody Valentine doesn't count). Third-best shoegaze album (best subgenre ever). And: "Albatross"
20. The Lemonheads-It's a Shame about Ray
It's a shame about the Lemonheads after this album. Talk about a breakdown. But if I were to release an album that ruined my career/life, I would want it to be akin to the sublime alterno-daze pop of this album.

Top 5

5. Yo La Tengo-I am not afraid of you and I will beat your ass

OK, so at this point just about everyone has had something to say about this album, and everyone has said something different. In fact, everything on this top 5 is somewhere else on someone’s list, but that’s beside the point. My experience with Yo La Tengo, at least is long but intermittent, following my entire experience with indie rock music in general. Back when I first got into bands like Pavement and early REM, during freshman year of high school, I totally got into Yo La’s I can hear the heart beating as one; a few months later, typical for high-school me, I pretty much started ignoring the album as well as the band and the genre of college rock in general, moving on to third-wave emo or something. A year and a half later, while I was digging Elliott Smith and Nick Drake, I absolutely adored And then nothing turned itself inside out, only to discard it in favor of neo-psych like the flaming lips and sparklehorse. When I go back through the band’s catalogue, then, I feel really nostalgic and sentimental; the sound reminds me, at the same time, of multiple and influential parts of my life that the band led me through. The new album, I am not afraid of you and I will beat your ass, is the perfect album for this different-at-once sound, sampling all the best moments of the band’s career, including the old albums that I haven’t yet fully appreciated. It has long distortion-y epics like “Pass me the Hatchet” and “The Story of Yo La Tengo,” it has rocky pop gems like “Beanbag Chair,” it has lilting pop gems like “I Feel Like Going Home” and “Black Flowers.” Everything I want, and still unified-sounding, a complete album and vision (I disagree with you here, Austin). I wrote a review for The Depauw that said that this was one of the best albums Yo La Tengo has released; I stand by that. In a year that left me feeling absolutely disenfranchised with contemporary rock, a few veteran groups (Sonic Youth, Sparklehorse, Jarvis Cocker) reminded me that indie rock can still speak to me and be relevant, if not in its most current form (fuck you Decemberists!). Yo La Tengo did the best job of that for me.

4. Belle and Sebastian-The Life Pursuit

Marathonpacks says that this is undeniably the best Belle and Sebastian album. I don’t agree, but I can see why someone (maybe lots of people) could say so; this album marks the end of Belle and Sebastian’s evolution from the relatively limited sonics of melancholy twee-pop to the anything goes complex aesthetic of complex pop epics. While the emotional content of If You’re Feeling Sinister still strikes me as more genuine and affecting, The Life Pursuit is unquestionably a more complex, mature, and superior album musically. Just listen to “Another Sunny Day,” “Sukie in the Graveyard,” or “Funny Little Frog;” these songs sound just as beautifully catchy and melodically rich as the 70s psych pop that seems to be the model. Like the groups from the 70s, too, B&S combine elements of T Rex, the Zombies, and, yes, the Beatles and melds them all together to make an album, and sometimes songs, that show elements of all the influences while not sounding redundant. Really, mixing elements of those three bands is enough to keep me busy for a lifetime. And Belle and Sebastian do it soooo well. I am unapologetic for how much I like this album; like quite a few albums on my list (Mogwai, Rapture, my #1 album), this album has been called a sell-out venture by die-hard fans; well, it is more accessible and poppy than older albums, but Stuart Murdoch’s songwriting genius is more mature and sophisticated than it has ever been. Plus, as I believe now more than I ever have, what is so bad about releasing a poppy album?

3. Herbert-Scale

As Jordan mentioned, Herbert has been around for so long and put out so much, but it took last year’s Roisin Murphy album for me to even learn about him. That’s a shame; I like the old albums of his I have listened to since then. I discovered him just in time, though; I don’t know what I would have done without Scales this year. Last year, I thought that Jamie Lidell had perfected the subtle art of white-boy soul meets glitchy electronica; I had no idea. The songs on Scale are perfect soulful dance gems; the melodies are catchy, the lyrics are interesting, the production is perfect. There have been several analyses of the political implications of Herbert’s songs on Scale; what I love most about this is how much work and thought a political interpretation requires, how subtle it is. I don’t want to go into that now, but look it up if you’re interested; here’s a starting point. What really keeps me coming back, though, is how catchy this album is without being overbearing. I have a feeling I will be grooving to this album for years to come.

2. Hot Chip-The Warning

I think this is the only album on everyone’s list; am I right? I win, though, since I have it highest. Actually, from what I have read, I get the feeling that if all of you had had more time with this (and if Jordan would stop liking his brooding shit), it might be in everyone’s top 5 for the year. I have had the luck of getting this album right when it came out, back in Berlin; as you know from last year’s list, I was already in love with the group. I didn’t really take them seriously, though; it was hard to with all of the white-boy goofiness of Coming on Strong. I had no idea, therefore, of just how mature The Warning was going to be. Not that it isn’t goofy and fun; it certainly is that. As opposed to the last album, though, the new one has all kinds of songs, slow ones with sad ones, serious ones with goofy ones sometimes with elements of both in the same song (see the title track). Like the old effort, though, the band’s lyrics are clever and poignant. I never thought that an album could be at once dancey and profound; this album certainly does that.

1. Cat Power-The Greatest

How could I resist this album’s title? Seriously, though, I have considered this album my favorite of the year since April or so, and nothing has been able to topple it since then. For a couple weeks I though the Rapture might, but it didn’t have the lasting power that this album does. I don’t really have that much to say about it; everyone already knows it, everyone already likes it. Maybe I should start with why I love it, then. As you can see if you look through the archives, back in January or whenever, I reviewed this and gave it a measly 8.1. The haunting melodies, though, don’t just give up after a few weeks of listens; they bring you back, make you think about the songs in different ways. The best part of the album, though, is how Chan Marshall ends all the songs. Why does “Living proof” end there, couldn’t it keep going? I want to hear more of “Could We”! This album is a clinic in how to keep your melodies but cutting them off; too many indie artists like to play song structures out until they die. Of course, the fact that I’m talking about catchy melodies and not introspective lyrics is certainly offensive to lots of Cat Power fans; that’s why they love Moon Pix while I love this album. Not that The Greatest is shallow or empty; on the contrary, I think the lyrics are just as poignant as any other Cat Power album, which is saying a lot. The moods of the songs are more varied than those in other Cat Power albums, though, which is another reason I love this album. It takes you through highs and lows; this is probably what Jordan meant when he talked about the lack of sad songs on The Greatest. For me, though, The Greatest can be the saddest of all her whole catalogue, because of this very diversity; the highs of “Could We” and “Islands” make the drops of “Hate” and “Empty Shell” all the more dramatic. Anyway, I haven’t said anything about the warm Memphis sound, but you know all about that already. It’s my favorite album; there, I said it.

10-6

Yeah, Yeah, I'm a day late. As jordan mentioned, though, I didn't sleep last night, busy applying to grad school and writing a Milton paper. Today I took a Sununu final on no sleep; it was interesting. I have gotten extensions for two other research papers, so I assume I can have an extension on this. I should be able to post my top 5 later tonight, though.

10. Sonic Youth-Rather Ripped

I don’t know how well you, the reader, know me, but I am a pretty rabid Yoof fan. This might seem contrary to my heavy emphasis on pop melodies and production, and I think it is; I’m not sure what made me start to love the masters of distortion, but I do, and they are a definite contender for the coveted all-time top 5 list. Anyway, on some level, I think that everything avant-garde and noise-y that I like stems from its similarities to Sonic Youth. Which is why this album, the band’s best work in years (like since 1000 leaves at least, maybe even [gasp] Washing Machine), is so ironic; this song is not avant-garde or distorted at all. It is a great rock record, full of melodies, singing, normal guitar solos—rock stuff. Not to say that there is no distortion on this record, but it is used as an addition to the song structure, as opposed to vice versa. Like Jordan (or someone) said, the guitars are really restrained. And Christ, songs like “Jams Run Free” and “Incinerate” are so catchy, anthemic, and beautiful. I’m pretty sure that the last two Youth releases have also made my Top 10 lists, and, as said before, this one outshines them; let’s just hope everyone’s favorite aging hipsters can keep this streak going.

9. Spank Rock-Yoyoyoyoyo

I have never heard an album have so many remixes so quickly. Seriously, I have a folder on my desktop called “Spank Rock remixes” that has over 30 songs in it. A lot of this popularity, of course, comes from the fact that Spank Rock posted the a capella versions of all of his songs online and free for download; the remixers went at it. More than that, though, the dj/dance community recognizes in Spank Rock that they/I see in tragically few MCs; a distinct and funky rhythm that is dominated by beats, a flow that plays against instead of with a given drum loop or sample. Spank Rock is aware of this, and uses genius but simple little beats behind his tracks on his own versions of his songs, just like his great remixes of other artists (CSS etc). In a year dominated by groove tracks for me, Spank Rock was reigning MC, showing up everywhere I looked. At SCHOLARTRON 1.6USTER, the latest Scholartron party, Miguel (DJ Rockwell) alternated sets with the scholartron; our main point of overlap came in the form of Spank Rock, who made multiple appearances with both man and machine. The dancers loved it of course, grooving all night to at least 3 different versions of “bump.”

8. Peter Bjorn and John-Writer’s Block

So I had the luck of hearing the new Peter, Bjorn and John album early. And I mean early; my friend brought back a ’45 from the record label he worked at back before the album was released in Europe, which was way before it was released in the US. It was “Young Folks,” and we had just seen the Concretes that week; we ate the single up. Pitchfork didn’t like it so much, though, giving it a 3 or something on their singles review. I got to see the group in Berlin a few weeks later, on a mis-scheduled tour; they didn’t have any releases in Germany at the time, and had to play to a crowd of almost no one in a restaurant that charged 1 euro cover. It was great for me, who got to see an engaging if short live performance sitting right in front of what most probably thought was a local band; the show was really enjoyable. The album was also stellar, and quickly became my late spring sound of choice; I loved the catchy pop melodies and elegant production; songs like “Paris 2004” and “Amsterdam” haunted me for days on end. Pitchfork did not like the album very much, though, giving it a 6.something, I think (this is going somewhere, I promise). Ok, flash forward to this fall, with the trio taking the blagosphere by storm; everyone loved “Young Folks,” everyone loved “Amsterdam,” etc. Which they should. How does pitchfork respond? They add “Young Folks” to their infinite mixtape, and re-review Writer’s Block, this time giving it recommended or best new music or something. Those fucking two-faced revisionists! I was outraged, I am outraged, and no one knows/cares. Of course, I shouldn’t care about that website any more, but they didn’t do justice to one of the best albums of the year, and then they try to act like they did once it becomes popular.

7. The Rapture-Pieces of the People we Love

I like Pieces of the People We Love more than Echoes.

6. Clipse-Hell Hath No Fury

For me this is a cop-out position for the new Clipse album; 3 months from now, this album will either have risen to my top 5 or dropped out of my top 10, I’m sure. It’s just too unrelenting not too; the verses are demanding, the beats are violent, the production is in-your-face. Pusha T and Malice are much less lovable than they were on the first Clipse album. And this is why I love Hell Hath No Fury; it is unforgiving and dark while progressive and forward-thinking. Back in the day, I used to be all about “intelligent” rap music, you know the kind, Roots/Tribe/Talib, rapping about more abstract (no pun intended) subjects like politics and philosophy, groups that didn’t promote violence or drugs, instead opting for more “positive” lyrics. These days I think: fuck that. Intelligent rap music, intentionally or not, is the cultural appropriation of hip-hop culture by white people, who don’t want to deal with the unseemly aspects of the class struggle that permeate hip-hop culture. Well, as far as I can tell, it’s there, and it seems much more real to spit verses about slinging crack than to observing the problems from the outside like tamer hip-hop acts do. It’s the difference between talking about the culture and showing the culture by being a part of it. And of course I hate the term “intelligent rap;” it’s not only culturally classist, but also just wrong; Pusha T and Malice make some of the most clever and fresh wordplay that I have heard in rap music since, well, maybe forever.

15-11

11. Califone-Roots and Crowns

I really ought to be angry at Califone. It isn’t fair. They could shit out an album (which they have, with their improvisational noisescape-y Deceleration series) and I would love it. They have the perfect formula for a Michael Roberts late-summer album: heavily affected acoustic guitar, lilting alt-country melodies, heavy distortion that somehow sounds organic and acoustic, and Tim Rutti‘s enchanting, muttered vocals. Quicksand/Cradlesnakes was a monster of an album, and the Heron King Blues EP still finds its way into my car CD player all the time (it’s there now, in fact). But Roots and Crowns is by no means the group taking a break; in fact, it sounds like Califone’s most concentrated, dedicated effort yet. The songs are much more tight, and the album flow sounds more like a thought-out progression than in previous (possibly more organic) releases. This album hops Americana-genres like previous releases, but to a greater extent: just listen to the bongos of the country funk in “Pink and Sour” or the chugging guitars in “A Chinese Actor.” Today I was in Bloomington for lunch after picking up the new issues of a MWR, and found myself in TD’s record store; I saw a vinyl copy of Roots and Crowns and had to buy it. Califone is one of those bands you want on vinyl for summer nights drinking whiskey, and this is maybe their best album yet. Listen to “The Orchids”

12. Espers-II

I won’t say too much about Espers, because Jordan is much more knowledgeable and passionate than I am, and he will talk about this later. Anyway, I didn’t get into this album, nay this band, until this fall. I immediately fell in love with the whole catalog, though, particularly this album. Just listen to “Widow’s Weed” at night and try not to feel a rush of emotion that you can’t identify. This album is filled with haunting-spine tingling psychedelic anthems that are much darker than the melancholy of Sparklehorse. That’s all I have to say; listen for yourselves.

13. Sparklehorse-Dreamt for Light Years in the Belly of a Mountain

I was in love with Sparklehorse late in high school, but I didn’t really understand just what I was in love with. I didn’t pick up on the subtle psychedelia , or at least I didn’t put the group in the same basket as the Flaming Lips or Mercury Rev. Now I can see that they are, and after such a long break (6 years!), they return as full, sad, and beautifully psychedelic as ever. I already wrote a review for the paper trying to get everyone to buy it, so I don’t feel like trying again; I am just worried that because of the band’s “older” status that they won’t get enough attention as they should. Just listen to opener “Don’t Take My Sunshine Away.” It sounds like I wish The Flaming Lips’ “Do You Realize” should have; the bittersweet love/death is much more subtle, moving, and profound in this one. This album was just what I needed, a soothing and melancholy assortment of psychedelic gems to take me through the fall.

14. Mogwai-Mr. Beast

So Mogwai is one of my favorite contemporary bands. I love them; they put the energy of rock and roll into one of my favorite sub-genres, post-rock. And when I heard that this album was going to come out, and that it was getting good reviews, I almost wet myself. The I heard that all of the songs were pretty short, not expansive like on previous outings. That got me worried; that was part of what I loved about Mogwai. After hearing the album, though, my fears were assuaged; the songs are not epic, but they are beautiful and compact, forming the most accessible Mogwai album yet, while not giving up artistic vision. Some hardcore fans might call this a bit of a sell-out record, but I am a hardcore fan, and I do not. I saw Mogwai in Berlin in April, and it was the best concert I have ever seen in my life. If anyone knows me, they know how hyper-sensitive I am about my use of the superlative; the concert was amazing. By far the loudest show I have ever seen, the group had a strobe light show behind them, and the beautiful noise combined with the lights induced some kind of transcendent euphoria/trance/mania that I would pay lots of money to experience again. And through all of the ruckus that probably aged my ears years, I could still hear the delicate xylophone melody that drove a song, showing the true colors of the group: monstrosity + beauty = Mogwai. Listen to Folk Death 95

15. Mylo-Destroy Rock and Roll

So last year had that epic disappointment of an album, Daft Punk’s all-too-aptly-titled Human After All; fortunately, Vitalic released a more contemporary, more aggressive version of French House to replace it. This year, British genius-remixer Mylo has gone in the opposite direction for my album-long House fix. These songs are distilled melody and catchiness, taking the most accessible moments of Homework and running with them. In fact, parts of Destroy Rock and Roll sound so much like late-1990s accessible techno (think Fatboy Slim’s Better Living through Chemistry too), that I had to develop a theory for it. Everyone knows the party line of Homework; it shows a modern techno nostalgia for late 70s synth garage and dance music (early early techno, not disco, mind you). Well, I think that Destroy Rock and Roll does the same, but one step removed; Mylo shows nostalgia for Daft Punk’s nostalgia. How else could songs like “Drop the Pressure” sound, nay feel so much like contemporary versions of “Da Funk”? In general, though, what a fun album. It might be too catchy to stick with people to the year-end lists, and it certainly isn’t as progressive as Vitalic’s album last year, but as you can tell, I’m a sucker for pop and fun.

20-16

20. I Love You But I’ve Chosen Darkness-Fear is on our side

Yes, this Austin group has a clumsy moniker, but it actually describes their sound pretty well: their first full-length is full of swelling guitars, new wave distortion and haunting lyrics. I didn’t like the EP as much, which seems to be contrary to most opinions in the rock world. This album sounds less contemporary to me, and more classic, or timeless. Well, maybe not timeless; maybe more Crocodiles-era Echo and the Bunnymen, or Disintegration-era Cure. I am such a sucker for that kind of music, and ILYBICD does it so so well on this album. I saw them in a tiny record store with shitty acoustics this semester; they did what they had to do in such a situation, which is blast the shit out of their speakers. Overall it was a good show, with “The Ghost” and “According to Plan” giving me front-row chills; no wonder, since both songs are among my favorite rock singles of the year.

19. Phoenix-It’s Never Been Like That

Man, I can just feel my hipster cred plummet with this album in this spot. Parisian garage-pop band (emphasis on the pop) releases their 3^rd and by far best album this summer. And what a summer album; these songs are catchy, cute, and fun. On this release the popsters try to make their songs more aggressive, adding all kinds of Strokes-y guitars and pounding drums. Phoenix is all about slick, glossy production, though, and the band can’t help but refine every would be crasher to a sugary pulp, perfect for daytime consumption. Just listen to the details of these songs: the hi-low guitar volume that goes by almost unnoticeable, the impeccable bass. Sure, these songs aren’t serious or anything, but intense listening does offer rewards. Plus, the album features one of the best creepy-crush lyrics I have heard in ages: “I’m going to read every novel you read.” The album, like the feeling of these lyrics, may not be the most mature or sophisticated, but it is a welcome retreat to the silly and pop that I love here; after all, isn’t that how Rock and Roll started?

Check Out "Long Distance Call"

18. Justice EP/Van She EP/Klaxons EP

If there is any genre of music from 2006 that I feel comfortable recommending, it is this new genre of electro house or indie disco/paisley dayglo. The only problem, though, is that almost no one from this emerging scene released an album this year. Ed Banger’s DJ Mehdi did, and there have been a few Kitsune Maison collections like Jordan mentioned, but the majority of the buzz for indie disco has come in the form of leaks, singles, and EPs. So…. I just put three of the best electro-house and indie disco EPs together and gave them one spot. Sue me. Justice released what will almost certainly be my favorite song of the year, “Waters of Nazareth” (check Jordan’s blog for the mp3 link). Every other song and remix on this EP, though, is solid gold: heavy heavy heavy French house music, requiring fist-pumping and dancing. The Van She is a little different, although their DJ sets sound so much like a cross between Justice and Daft Punk. On their EP, though, they sound more like 80s synth-disco; “Kelly” is an amazing track that has been remixed by everyone, including house power-team Alan Braxe and Fred Falke. And finally, the most rock-like band here, come the Klaxons. Oh my god have they been hyped in the blogs. I have never seen a band without an album be so remixed this year (well, maybe New Young Pony club). They have releases at least three singles that exploded everywhere, highlighting their rave-y garage-y sound, and I hope for more whenever they release a real album. Check out creepy single “Magick.” For more music like this, see my year-end singles list, or the links to the side, or just email me; I have so many of these singles—you have no idea.

17. The Knife-Silent Shout

I assume that everyone else is going to write about this album, and I don’t really have anything new to say. Yes, I didn’t get into Deep Cuts until this year, when I heard the drop-dead single “Heartbeats” at a club, and fell in love. Yes, the new album is creepier, darker, but still has the sublime melodies buried within it. Yes, there is a multitude of amazing remixes of songs from this album, including a cute one from Ratatat. Yes, I regret not seeing the Knife live in Berlin, on what was their 3^rd live appearance ever. Yes, this album is not as high as might be expected; I just wasn’t in a Silent Shout mood for enough of this year for the album to be Top 10 material. Deep Cuts would be, though, had it come out this year.

16. Girl Talk-Night Ripper

When I was first introduced to Girl Talk this summer, I had the same sentiments that Austin does; it was super-fun to pick out all the samples and enjoy the clever mashings, but at the end of the day Night Ripper was just a fun exercise, like all of those lesser mash-ups we hear on blogs. After months and months of repeat listens, though, I argue for Girl Talk’s album as not only a real music album, but a really good album in its own right. This might have something to do with all the postmodern theory and adaptation theory I have been reading for my thesis this semester; Gillis uses the postmodern idea of pastiche to juxtapose lots of different sounds from the past and undermine them, creating new ideas. Now Night Ripper is by no means directly political or anything, but I think that putting “My Humps” over Annie says something about what music is acceptable or unacceptable for some people to listen to, and why people like the music they hear. Did you not like “My Humps”? Or Julez Santana? Are they improved with samples from Neutral Milk Hotel, or just placed in a new context, so you can appreciate them now? “Tiny Dancer” and “Juicy” are both on opposite borders of indie-kid acceptability; what happens when you put them together? Everything is catchy; the album is pure, unrestrained joy in music. I think that’s the point of Night Ripper, a point that makes this Girl Talk album a much more successful music album than most attempts by groups recording their own sounds. Oh, and I am going to see Girl Talk on New Year’s. Rawk!

Best of 2006, 25-21

OK, so here I am again with my Year-End List of 2006. Overall 2006 didn't have as many albums that I lovedlovedloved like 2005, but it actually had more very good albums that would compete for the 25-10 spots. So take that for what you will. In fact, I will just list the next 5 that I cut from my list here, in no particular order. What would be 26-30:
TV on the Radio-Return to Cookie Mountain
Destroyer-Destroyer's Rubies
Lupe Fiasco-Food and Liquor
Wizardzz-Hidden City of Taurmond
Ratatat-Classics
Some of these might be surprising in how low they are, considering some of them are popular top 5 choices for the year, but that's how it goes. All of these were very good as well. Anyway, for the REAL list, I will be posting 5 a day, every day this week. Starting with the bottom, of course. Then, sometime next week or the week after, I will be posting my top singles, which will be much more difficult. Because of my newfound love of electro-house and indie rave, this year has very much been the year of the single for me. I also posted some links to some songs from some albums, in mp3 form, from zshare; enjoy. Anyway, on to the albums:

25. Beirut-Gulag Orkestar

I first heard this album back whenever it first came out, but it didn’t really stick with me. Sure, the eastern European rhythms were enchanting, and Zach Condon has a beautiful voice that sounds more than a little like my boy Jens Lekman, but somehow a 19 year old American making these songs didn’t make sense to me. Maybe I was just jealous that someone younger than me could be so immediately successful in the indie music scene. Anyway, as the fall semester wore on, I found myself listening to Gulag Orkestar more and more; the melodies were haunting, and the eastern European tinge made each song sound different from everything else I was listening to (mostly dance music). It might also have something to do with the fact that a standout rack on the album, “Prenzlauer Berg,” is named after the neighborhood I lived in while in Berlin earlier this year. In fact, while visiting a friend from Berlin in Minneapolis, I went to see a Beirut show, and was happily surprised. It was a great show, and combined with my company and my drunkenness, I almost felt like I was back in Europe for a little while. Check out: Postcards from Italy

24. Jack and Jeffrey Lewis-City and Eastern Songs

This is one of the few albums on my list that I expect will not be on almost any other year-end list. In fact, it wouldn’t be on mine if I hadn’t decided one day to open this album at the radio station. It just looked like some low-end folk album, but it was on Rough Trade, so I gave it a whirl; man am I glad I did. It was full of touching anti-folk ditties (note: not freak folk) that contain sweet melodies and some of the most honest, open, and heartbreaking lyrics I have heard this year. This isn’t poetic Elliott Smith schtick by any means; Jeffrey Lewis sounds more like a nice but depressed aging hipster, sad-drunk and telling you about all the concerns he is having in his relationship, his career, his life. Everyone needs to check out “Williamsburg Will Oldham Horror” for an entertaining and sad story song about Jeffrey Lewis’s career and a possible Bonnie Prince Billy sighting.

23. Junior Boys-So This is Goodbye

A couple years ago I was really in love with Junior Boys’ first album, Last Exit, so it would make sense that I was excited for this one. What doesn’t make sense is just how different this album sounds, and how I like it just the same. Gone are the crazy glitchy rhythms and complex song structures; this album is all about simple, straightforward electro-soul songs. This is probably because drummer, one of the Junior Boys himself, is now no longer a Junior Boy. I'm all about these neo-electro soul ballads, though. I might have been a little hesitant, but the first leaked song and possible single-of –the year-contender “In the Morning” let me know right away what a great album this was going to be.

22. Ghostface-Fishscale

Ghostface is my favorite member of the Wu Tang Clan. These days he seems to be everyone’s. For me his angry and high voice combines perfectly with his violent, angular flow to making some of the best verses in all of rap music. Now that he is working with Doom and the pitchfork staff loses it every time he is featured on a song, indie kids everywhere have made the switch from GZA or Meth or whoever to Ghostface. I like that, and I like that so many people made such a big deal about this album. It deserves it. Fishscale was one of the few albums that I actively sought from Berlin; in most cases I had given up listening to every new album until I returned to the states, but I demanded that someone download and burn me a copy of this one (I didn’t have access to the internet at home). I was glad I did, and enjoyed Tony Starks’s anger and wisdom throughout the spring semester. As I will mention later in this list, I was pretty consistently disappointed with hip-hop (and most anticipated music in general) in 2006; I am glad that Ghostface didn’t let me down.

21. Liars-Drum’s not Dead

This album is one of those that I feel requires an essay to fully review/describe, and I don’t have the time or energy for that; I still have 50 or so pages to write this week. So instead, I will describe my response to this album in anecdote form. The day I got to Berlin in early March, I immediately began looking for concerts in the area. Much to my joy, I found out that Liars and Wilderness were playing that weekend, some 3 days away. I quickly found out where the venue was, only a few blocks from my house, and on Friday night, still knowing no one in the city, I walked over by myself. Liars recorded this mind-fuck of an album in Berlin, so they had quite a few friends/fans there, and everyone was totally into the music (as I would discover later, this is very unusual for Berlin concert-goers). Wilderness were inspired, but Liars were captivating and, well, scary. The club was dark and sweaty, looking kind of like that underground club in that late Smashing Pumpkins video (I forget which one). Anyway, I was sober (the last time I made this Berlin concert mistake) and just in awe of the music, the venue, the city. In short, this album, this band, as intelligent and as deep as they may be, they are the perfect atmospheric group, providing the perfect soundtrack to anything dark, heavy, and cool. I listened to this album over and over, just letting it kind of drone in my head while walking around, reading, whatever. I suggest you do the same.

Favorite Song for Musical Chairs

Daft Punk, "Oh Yeah." Think about it.

10/05/06: Architecture in Helsinki at Maria am Ufer, Berlin

After being surprised at most of the concerts I had seen since my last post (blown away by Mogwai, trampled by the Black Mountain Army, disappointed by Erlend Oye's Whitest Boy alive, etc, etc...), I thought that I was entering into familiar territory when going to see Architecture in Helsinki. After all, I saw the band less than a year ago in a similar sized venue (Southgate House in Cinnci), and the band hasn't released anything new since then. Last time they were fun and charming, rotating instruments and playing squeaky toys at the appropriate times, miraculously performing their complex songs with only 8 members. I expected another simlarly enjoyable if tame experience.

I was wrong, wrong, wrong. Not at all the cute indie pop group of summer 2005, the new AiH was the cute, wild, fun, and crazy indie pop group of 2006. Opener "Nevereverdid" turned into more of a schizophrenic medley, with new distortion solos. The band rocked on It'5! like I would have never thought they could. They did a Kraftwerk cover that had the germans dancing (remember, germans don't dance). I could go on, but overall, every song was transformed into something a little edgier, a lot more experimental, and much more interesting for the AiH concert-going fan. Think Belle and Sebastian meets Sonic Youth. Well, at least Deerhoof.

This new development showed itself even more in the new AiH songs the band played. The songs were more electronic and dancy, but also experimental, and showed what the band has really gained with gorwing popularity and extensive touring: confidence. Before, it was enough for the band to pull off the extensive orchestrations of their pop-tunes, which was certainly no easy feat; now, the band is comfortable and confident on stage, and can have more fun. Cameron Bird led the group through improvised sections with his distortion/guitar solos; before the band had no clear live stage leader. The band was also more lively on stage, chatting with the audience and joking each other´. At the beginning of the show, the band commented on the heat of the small river-side club, and the male members of the band promptly took off their pants, having running shorts underneath. At the end of the show, the group also invited a couple of friends onstage to play the encore (Maybe You Can Owe me and Do the Whirlwind) with them. Then, seeing the crowd get excited, they invited the fans to rush the stage too, to play the heaps of percussion. Of course I did. Then, seemingly not wanting the show to end, the band played a new song, asking two finnish fans on stage to sing the finnish national anthem over it. After that, one more: everyon was invited to sing and play along with AiH on the Australian national anthem. Although the show can't match up to the Mogwai show in terms of religious experience, it was one of the most fun concerts I have been to, largely because the band was having so much fun.

04/02/06 at Magnet Club, Berlin: Deerhoof

My friend Reed and I went to Club Magnet early for this Sunday-night show, having been too late to the Futureheads a couple weeks ago to get tickets. On non-concert nights, Magnet also acts as a dance club, playing a mix of really fun club-worthy indie rock songs (Banquet Disco Edit) and totally undanceable, uncool rock songs (Coldplay's Trouble). Anyway, the smaller dancefloor was the one used for the Deerhoof show, and was cozy and intimate. The beer was also relatively cheap, which was nice, since it was 45 minutes before the opener took the stage.

When we first got there, the club was virtually deserted. I thought that the concert would pretty much stay that way, as it had the sunday before at the (amazing) Bell Orchestre concert. Mayber Berliners just don't like to go to concerts on Sunday nights. Well, I was wrong; by the time the opening act began, the place had filled with active listeners. The opener was one guy, and I am sorry I forget his name, but this guy pretty much just did free jazz improv on vibes while keeping a steady heavy metal beat on the drumset. That was all, for like 30 minutes. I consider myself a relatively open-minded semi avant-garde rock fan, but this shit pushed my limits. The always eager Berlin fans ate it up though; I couldn't believe it. This guy would almost certainly get booed at a midwestern rock show, even a deerhoof show. Just another difference at the rock shows over here.

After the set and a couple more Beck's, Deerhoof came on. I had seen them from a distance at Intonation festival last year, but I still wasn't prepared for the depth and tightness of their sound. They opened their set with 4 or 5 songs in a row from The Runners Four, and it blew me away. Their sound-hopping moves are even more convincing live than they are on the record. Greg was absolutely fabulous on drums, and Johna nd Satomi tore it apart on guitar. Satomi, of course, acted like an adorable 5 year old hopping aroung the stage and make hand gestures to go with the music. This behavior made it more bizzare/memorable late in the set, when she climbed on top of some amps and wailed down a crashing distortion solo. Overall, the band was tight and fun, even to a nonenthusiastic Deerhoof fan like myself. The crowd's entusiasm helped too, bringing out the best in longer, older songs like "The Last Trumpeter Swan." After a cutesy encore of "Bunny Bunny Bunny," the crowd called the band out for yet another encore, even though it was Sunday and the House lights were on. After a few minutes, the applause worked, and the band came out again. Maybe these germans are on to something.

3/10/06 at Wite Trash Fast Food, Berlin: Liars with Wilderness

After having extreme difficulty finding out how to buy tickets (it's difficult all over Europe, it seems), I finally made it to a little bar called White Trash Fast Food, which is all of 3 blocks from my apartment in Prenzlauerberg, East Berlin. When I entered the slimy basement (think Creepy Crawl in St Louis), I joined a group of obvious American ex-pats and incredibly attractive East-German hipsters. Wilderness soon began, and sounded, like before, wonderful, dark, brooding, and prohphetic. The effect in an actual club was not as intense as that at a house party in Indy, but the Germans, obviously unfamiliar to the music, warmed to it. I also very much enjoyed the songs from the new album, which I bought from the band after the set. I told them that I saw them (actually, met them) in Bloomington and Indy last year. "Small fucking world" was the only appropriate reply. I hope they feel a little creeped out when my friend sees them in Paris.

If Wilderness were the prohpets, though, then Liars were the armageddon, the living death of rock and roll. Their soundsystem was wonderful and pounding, maxing out the little club setting. I think it took a while for the crowd to get into the music, probably because Liars refused to open with anything from their new album, Drums Not Dead, which was recorded in Berlin. Instead they rocked out to quite a few songs from the debut, They Threw us in a ditch and Stuck a Monument on Top, and their underappreciated follow-up, They Were Wrong, so We drowned. The songs from the second album were overall the surprise hit of the concert with me; I could never fully appreciate the post-punk dub of the album until it was pounded into my chest. Yes, the concert reminded me (along with everyone else) of Wire (or, more precisely, Wir), but there were also touches of Joy Division; Liars' live show reminded me more of the cult icons' live sets (or the bootlegs I've heard) than the more glossy Interpol or Editors ever could. Around 4 or 5 songs into the set, once Liars finally broke out the new stuff, the Berliners were excitedly bobbing along with the screams. After a solid hour or so of non-stop rocking, with minimal chatting, Angus announced to the crowd: "now we#re going to go off stage for a couple of minutes, get something to drink, and then come back, if you're polite." The Germans and ex-pats were eerily silent, and I wondered if the band would return. Thankfully they did, for a rendition of "Broken Witch" that made my blood chill; the red lighting cast on the thick cloud of European smoke really did look like a red haze of blood, and Liars could easily be described as horse-men. The shreiks of the band, wonderful distortion, and of course drums drums drums did seem to be a cry from hell made by rock and roll. Fittingly, the band closed with a Nirvana cover, Territorial Pissings, devoting it to the only admitting teenager in the crowd: Gotta Find a Way a Better Way.... The crowd, recognizing the cover, called the band out for more, a second encore. The band told the crowd that they would make them regret that, and did, coming back with a distortion-ridden song that no one recognized (myself included). Maybe it was an Einstürzende Neubauten cover.

Cat Power-The Greatest

8.1 out of 10

There are some bands that have such an emotional effect on many of their fans that it becomes a disadvantage for a reviewer to be a fan of the group. The rabid reviewer not only cannot describe why he/she likes the new album, but can also even be at a lack of words as to what the new album sounds like. Cat Power is one of these dangerously powerful artists. Björk is another. So are the Fiery Furnaces, if you’re Rob Mitchum.

To my advantage or disadvantage, I am not one of those madly in love with Chan Marshall, aka Cat Power. I have grown up around friends who adore her, but her songs always seemed too slow and lacking melody, marking the music for me what Barry from High Fidelity would call “sad bastard music.” I did like, though not love, Moon Pix, What Would the Community Think was pretty good, and I really like her cover of “I’ve found a Reason” on The Covers Record. After familiarity with 4 or 5 records over several years, though, as of a month ago I still had Chan on my “I like them but I still think they’re overrated” list.

Cat Power, overrated no more. Her new album, The Greatest (no, not a hits collection), grounds whatever aloofness may have been present in earlier releases, gives weight to the airiness of previous records. Beginning with the first single and opening track “The Greatest,” you can tell that something is different. The lyrics are still great and bittersweet, but the instrumentation is all different, taking on the Memphis sound that sounds more like a 60s Dusty Springfield or 90s Bob Dylan backing band. Chan’s vocals are still dark and sweet, but on “The Greatest,” they take on a more rugged, almost husky quality (is husky the right word for a singer so delicate?).

As the album keeps going, though, the songs get even deeper, more melodic, and generally more appealing. “Living Proof” would make a great follow-up single to “The Greatest,” and the love ballad “Could We” is marvelous in its delicacy. Amy Phillips from pitchfork was just wrong about “Where is My Love,” which sounds more like a beautiful modern standard than the bore she made it out to be. That song is followed by what may be the best song on the album, the lilting “The Moon,” which wafts lyrically through love and heartbreak in such subtle, uncommon ways.

This album of pop gems isn’t completely removed from earlier suicide-whisperings though; songs like “After it All” and “Hate” sound like earlier Cat Power songs with different instrumentation. Taken on this album of southern country-pop (not pop-country), though, the songs seem to fit more rather than sound more out of place. If anything, The Greatest has shown me the value of earlier Cat Power through the contrast of this new, Michael-friendly stuff.

Overall, maybe Heather Phares from allmusic is right; this is a Cat Power album for music fans who aren’t particularly Cat Power fans. I love it, and I’m not one. I think, though, that after repeat listens the fan club can learn to appreciate this album for its new take on Chan’s already established singer-songwriter sound. Meanwhile, The Greatest can serve as an excellent introduction to Cat Power’s catalogue, and can also stand as a welcome respite for those of us depressed by the fizzling of alt-country, those who want a little more classicism in the indie-rock scene.