Once maligned for sounding too much like Joy Division - thanks to Paul Banks' morose vocals - Interpol has truly come into its own with this record, on which the band reveals a maturity in massive, sprawling tracks like Our Love's closer, "The Lighthouse." While the comparison's to Manchester's finest will always dog them, Interpol's newest should mark the beginning of some very interesting (important?) music.
2. Dizzee Rascal - Maths + English - [XL]
Moving away from the grime scene in which he made his name, Maths + English finds Dizzee Rascal, a rapper who describes the dystopia that is East London in all its violent, bloody glory, expanding his musical palette to include the funk and rock samples on which old-school hip-hop was founded. What remains strange, though, is Rascal's ambivalence about the gangster lifestyle - he turns from praising the murderers he knows to later questioning those same people - making it difficult to get an idea of the very young man (he's only 21) behind the microphone. What's important, I suppose, is that he still able to write and produce songs that leaves most of his contemporaries by the wayside. [Thanks to Anne for a copy of this record, which was not released on disc in the States.]
3. Daft Punk - Alive 2007 - [Virgin]
Playing out like a flawless mixtape (featuring songs from their debut, including "Around the World" to the track featured on an iPod commercial), Alive 2007 is the result of Daft Punk's most recent world tour, and it's clear that those who weren't at their shows missed out on the concert event of the year.
While I do not like the idea of live records taking a spot on these kinds of lists, Alive is just too fucking good not to be considered for one.
4. Von Sudenfed - Tromatic Reflexxions - [Domino]
Von Sudenfed includes the German production duo Mouse on Mars and Mark E. Smith of the Fall. On paper, this pairing sounds nothing but strange and unusual; however, on record, the mixture of scattershot electro-beats and Smith's seemingly drugged/drunken, off-the-cuff vocals work to great effect.
5. Bad Religion - New Maps of Hell - [Epitaph]
Once and always a stalwart of California's punk scene, Bad Religion - which for some reason finds it necessary to have not two but three guitarists - has returned with their best record since The Gray Race (not to mention Stranger than Fiction, my favorite punk record of the 90's). While their lyrics remain focused on the anti-establishment, anti-religion themes that they've covered since the early 80's, New Maps of Hell is something of a resurgence: it is loud, brash, and entirely unapologetic. In a word, rad.
Honorable Mentions:
3. Daft Punk - Alive 2007 - [Virgin]
Playing out like a flawless mixtape (featuring songs from their debut, including "Around the World" to the track featured on an iPod commercial), Alive 2007 is the result of Daft Punk's most recent world tour, and it's clear that those who weren't at their shows missed out on the concert event of the year.
While I do not like the idea of live records taking a spot on these kinds of lists, Alive is just too fucking good not to be considered for one.
4. Von Sudenfed - Tromatic Reflexxions - [Domino]
Von Sudenfed includes the German production duo Mouse on Mars and Mark E. Smith of the Fall. On paper, this pairing sounds nothing but strange and unusual; however, on record, the mixture of scattershot electro-beats and Smith's seemingly drugged/drunken, off-the-cuff vocals work to great effect.
5. Bad Religion - New Maps of Hell - [Epitaph]
Once and always a stalwart of California's punk scene, Bad Religion - which for some reason finds it necessary to have not two but three guitarists - has returned with their best record since The Gray Race (not to mention Stranger than Fiction, my favorite punk record of the 90's). While their lyrics remain focused on the anti-establishment, anti-religion themes that they've covered since the early 80's, New Maps of Hell is something of a resurgence: it is loud, brash, and entirely unapologetic. In a word, rad.
Honorable Mentions:
Radiohead - In Rainbows - [TBD]
Battles - Mirrored - [Warp]
Black Dice - Load Blown - [Paw Tracks]
Peter Bjorn and John - Writer's Block - [V2 Scandinavia]
Kylie Minogue - X - [Capitol]
What did you listen to this year? Are there any albums that should be added to this list?
Peter Bjorn and John - Writer's Block - [V2 Scandinavia]
Kylie Minogue - X - [Capitol]
What did you listen to this year? Are there any albums that should be added to this list?
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