Pretentious Music 2007

I remember reading this Robert Christgau article where he talks about how ridiculous it is that music critics are expected to do year-end "best" lists in the middle of December, because inevitably there's always something that comes out too late in the year or you don't hear until early the next year and ends up in this critical no-man's-land because of an arbitrary time stipulation. Malajube's Tromp L'Oleil was easily one of my favorite albums of last year, but it actually came out in 2006. The album I listened to the most last year was probably DeVotchKa's How It Ends, which came out in 2004. But if I let myself put any album from any time period that I happened to listen to a lot in the past year, that would just set a bad precedent. So, while it seems a little anti-climactic to be doing a best of '07 list in mid-January of 2008, I felt it best to at least give myself a chance to digest as much of the music of 2007 as possible before making any final decisions (and, let's be honest, poach from other people's "best of" lists to see if there's anything I missed). In tribute to Nick Hornby and my own short attention span, I've decided to limit this to the top 5 albums and top 5 singles. Enjoy.



ALBUMS. . .

I'd first like to point out that, contrary to belief of much of the music press, Radiohead did not put out the best album of 2007. For the zero pounds sterling I paid for In Rainbows, it is probably the best bargain of an album in 2007, and I would say they definitely put out the best albums of 1997 and 2000 respectively. But I've been paying nothing for CDs for years, and I'm not about to pat Radiohead on the back for being the first to realize that the current record company business model is a crock of shit and belongs on a shelf with my VHS collection, and I'm not gonna give them a plug for putting out an album of material that, at best, just sounds like better-than-average B-sides off OK Computer and Hail to the Theif. So I appreciate your efforts guys, but I'm not gonna give you top marks for second-rate work, especially when bands like the Arcade Fire and the Shins are all still bringing their A-game. (On a related note, I saw There Will Be Blood the other night, and Johnny Greenwood's score for that film is nothing short of amazing).

The Arcade Fire - Neon Bible

In the world of independent music, the Arcade Fire are the closest equivalent we have to the New England Patriots. They're ridiculously overhyped and ambitious to the point of hubris. So you really want to hate them. The problem is, at the end of the day, if the Patriots can get that perfect season and win the Superbowl, everybody just has to sit down and accept that they really are just that fucking good. And when the Arcade Fire put out an album of material this well-produced and fully-realized, you just have to shut up and enjoy it.



The Shins - Wincing The Night Away

After the whole Garden State thing I was ready to just write the Shins off as just another quirky indie pop band that hipster guys use to put on mix CDs and prove how sensitive and tasteful they are. But even if the Shins won't change my life, I have to give it up to them with this one. "Turn On Me" is about as good a psychedelic pop song as anyone has ever written, and they still prove to me that music can be catchy and accessible, while still being intelligent and experimental. Plus I have to give any band from the Q the benefit of the doubt.



Jens Lekman - Night Falls Over Kortedala

Nordic countries seem to have all found different ways of musically coping with the blistering cold and months without sunlight. The Norwegians have channeled their frustration into extremely dark, yet melodic death metal; the nation of Iceland seems to have found some way of communicating with aliens; and the Swedes find comfort in simply making the catchiest, most saccharine pop music the world has ever known. Jens Lekman is no exception. His combination of overproduced string arrangements, embarrassingly earnest lyrics, and Stephen Merritt-style crooning, is like a big bowl of ice cream for my jaded, cynical hipster soul.



Lucky Soul - The Great Unwanted

The Pipettes might be more fun, and Bat For Lashes might be artier, but as British 1960s girl-group revival bands go, Lucky Soul is definitely the best. Between the lush production, sultry vocals, and botched English grammar, my only complaint is that Ali Howard isn't singing any of these songs about me.



Beirut - The Flying Cup Club

Maybe it's because Zach Condon and I both used to share a 505 area code (this is clearly not the first instance of this sort of bias on this list) or maybe it's because he succeeded in finding a way to make Balkan folk music seem cool in a way that my mother has tried and failed for years, so I'm willing to forgive Beirut their lazy, meandering song structures, because basically they're music makes me feel like I'm home.




SONGS. . .


Black Lips - "Cold Hands"

Despite always looking like one huge ad for Urban Outfitters (where you can, not surprisingly, also buy their CD), this is as close as I've heard anyone come to a perfect late-seventies pop-punk (or is it mid-sixties garage rock?) song as I've heard in a long time.



Kanye West - "Can't Tell Me Nothing"

I have to admit that it took Zach Galifianakis's over-the-top, yet strangely poingnant Bubba Sparxxx-esque video tribute to this song to properly appreciate it's greatness (in contrast to the overpriced snooze-fest of an "official" video that Hype Williams made for the song). I've always respected Kanye's ability to stay above the thuggish fray of mainstream hip-hop while still being unapologetically arrogant, so I was glad to hear him putting out a chest-pumping song where he's literally laughing at his critics. With that said, I still wish he would quit whining like a bitch every time a journalist puts a microphone in front of his face.



MGMT - "Time To Pretend"

Speaking of obnoxious self-involvement, it's easy to hate MGMT for indulging so readily in this whimsical rock star fantasy, but it's important to acknowledge that it's not just a song about getting rich, doing drugs, and marrying supermodels. It's really about the tragedy of the children left behind when you knock up the models, divorce them to find more models, and leave you children fatherless after choking on your own vomit. Did I mention that the guys from Ween love this band? Shocker.



Grinderman - "No Pussy Blues"

Nick Cave is one of the few musicians, like Tom Waits or Johnny Cash, that actually becomes cooler the older and more haggard he becomes. He also somehow manages to sound like a huge badass while singing about his total dearth of a sex life and comparing himself to celebrity French mimes.



Electrelane - "To The East"

This is one of those songs where the whole time you're listening to this girl sing about being sad and brokenhearted in a beautifully haunting voice that makes you just want find the guy who made her feel like this and kick him square in the balls for being such an idiot.