In case you missed the first half of this list (numbers 1-35), you can find that here.
NOTE: it helps to read most of these reviews -- especially the ones that are overly snarky or fawning -- in Comic Book Store Guy voice.
2007: The Year in Albums, part two
36.) Tomahawk - Untitled -- Nobody, not even the most devoted Mike Patton fan, could have seen this one coming. Untitled is a set of traditional Native American songs, some sung seemingly faithfully, but in most others Patton and Tomahawk work in all kinds of modern flourishes: metal, hip-hop, straight-ahead rock, simple balladry. This sounds absolutely nothing like the self-titled debut or Mit Gas. Taking it a step further, it's pretty safe to assume that you have nothing in your record collection that resembles this.
37.) No Age - Weirdo Ripper -- A very lo-fi and exuberantly noisy collection of tracks from this West Coast garage-punk duo. Listening to this album I feel like a dirty old man leering at young girls in the park: youth is beautiful, and listening to this album (and seeing their live show) I realize that getting old sucks. The who-gives-a-royal-fuck production values remind me of something that was once said by Scat label head Robert Griffin about an early GbV album: "this has a refreshing 'non product' quality to it." Indeed.
38.) Scout Niblett - This Fool Can Die Now -- This one... vexes me. At various times throughout the course of this album, Niblett produces sounds harrowing, comforting, earpiercingly shrill, defiant and hopelessly romantic. It's on the outstanding "Kiss," a duet with Will Oldham -- when she somehow manages to effectively combine each of these elements -- that the album works best. There are other good tracks, to be sure, as Steve Albini's stark production occasionally even manages to evoke In Utero-era Nirvana (!), but many of the songs sound too one-dimensional and tossed off. This Fool would have benefited from a more judicious track selection, but self-editing has never been among Niblett's strong points.
39.) Coliseum - No Salvation -- Explosively intense white hot fury from this Kentucky (I think) hardcore trio. While plenty of doom vocalists are accused of leaning too heavily on vocals reminiscent of Cookie Monster, this guy does a fairly faithful approximation of the Tasmanian Devil -- there's such a strong amount of conviction in his delivery that I wish I had some idea what the fuck he was saying.
40.) Birds of Avalon - Bazaar Bazaar -- Throwback album with a lot of '70s rock influences shining through. Got turned on to these guys during their live set opening for the Fucking Champs back in June and as someone who grew up on AOR, I have to say it's cool to hear an amalgam of all things '70s coming out of my on this one. Part early Rush, part Thin Lizzy, with lots of psych thrown in, and the singer sounds almost exactly like Cheap Trick's Robin Zander.
41.) Maserati - New Inventions for the Season -- sleek, tight, restrained post-rock instrumentals -- in fact, a little too tight and restrained for my tastes. Main complaint: fades into the background just too easily. But any record with Gerald Fuchs, former drummer with the criminally underrated Turing Machine, as well as a song entitled "Synchronicity IV," has to be worth a few listens.
42.) Fucking Champs - VI -- gratuitous, dazzling thrash wizardry which (unfortunately) gets a bit samey after awhile. Good, even great, taken in small doses however.
43.) Okkervil River - The Stage Names -- I feel like a dick even putting this on the list considering that it's clearly an album that requires more than the handful of listens that I've afforded it thus far(I only got it a few weeks ago). In other words, if I were to make this list a year from now, I'd bet The Stage Names would find itself at least twenty places higher. "Unless It's Kicks" is one of my favorite songs of the year and the closing track is especially moving when understanding the significance of the backstory. New Year's resolution #1: put this one into heavier rotation.
44.) Pig Destroyer - Phantom Limb -- Well, I like what I've heard, but I rent a basement apartment from a family with one year-old kid. In other words, not too many opportunities to blast this shit so loud that the rafters shake without having to deal with the possibility of coming back "home" and finding the locks changed and all my shit kicked to the curb.
45.) 3 Inches of Blood - Fire Up the Blades -- great drum sound, thanks to signing Slipknot's Joey Jordison as producer. Decidedly heavier than Advance and Vanquish, and these guys really take advantage of the two lead-singer thing well. But, bottom line, the guitars just simply aren't pushed forward enough in the mix for me to get too into it.
46.) Blues Control - Blues Control -- Live, these guys are able to successfully combine wanky arena rock, well-placed funky backing tracks and spacey atmospherics into a big ball of awesome. Which is why I don't necessarily understand the seemingly universal praise this album has received -- the actual music making is too often back-burnered, hidden behind drum machines and other sound effects.
47.) Serj Tankian - Elect the Dead -- Basically this is a heavily diluted System of a Down album, which is to be expected. If nothing else, Elect the Dead proves that Daron Malakian's unique brand of itchy/crunchy riffage is just as important to System's sound as Serj's versatile, plaintive vocals -- without Malakian's innovative musical bedding, Serj is left singing over what sounds like a bunch of overproduced, boring-as-hell Linkin Park-ish backing tracks. Even this album's crazy gypsy breakdowns (check out the middle section of "Sky is Over") seem played out, and too many choruses are just plain clunky ("Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition! Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition!") Also, can we once and for all dispense with the half-assed quasi political bent? Is the vague, middlebrow philosophizing of half-baked phrases like "we are the cause of a world gone wrong" supposed to actually be provocative?
48.) Art Brut - It's a Bit Complicated -- Face it, when you make a record as brilliantly retarded as Bang Bang Rock and Roll, you're gonna find yourself painted into a corner. Continue in the same vein as the first record's peppy, catchy sloganeering and folks will say you're stuck in a rut. But tighten up the band, improve your chops, and make it a point to mature a bit lyrically, and, well, then you've got this record, which unfortunately just ain't all that good or memorable. In all fairness, it's hard to tell what's more responsible for prematurely de-railing this album's ascent towards the top of any reviewer's list, though: simply succumbing to the sophomore slump, or unrealistlically high expectations.
49.) Titan - A Raining Sun of Light and Love for You and You and You -- You can probably tell what this one sounds like by just reading the title: 9+ minute proggy jams, kind of in the vein of a crunchier Yes (complete with Wakeman-esque keyboard runs). I bought this record at Panthers' record release party back in April. For a while there, reaching back into early/mid '06, it seemed that any time I'd see a "heavy music"-themed show in Brooklyn these guys would be somewhere on the bill as openers, and since I really liked one of their songs ("Annals of the Former World") I said what the heck and ponied up the ten bucks. Your enjoyment of this record will depend entirely upon your patience for '70s prog.
50.) Grinderman - Grinderman -- I bet if you were to make a Venn diagram of Jim Morrison and Nick Cave fans, you'd have something that looks like this:
On the left you have the hipper Cave fans, who think Morrison's ninth grade badpoetry is played out. In the center you have the group that celebrates the catalog of both. Most likely, these people also have a lot of Morrissey posters. And on the right you have Doors fans who have never heard of Nick Cave. Not sure what this proves, other than that I'm pretty obviously getting pretty burned out from compiling this list. Best song: "No Pussy Blues," by a country mile.
51.) Eyvind Kang - Athlantis -- Long on the "haunting" and "terrifying," short on the "beautiful." At least you get to have Mike Patton yell at you in Latin.
52.) Beastie Boys - The Mix-Up -- not sure why anyone would bother with this -- a collection of mostly mediocre Phish-esque instrumentals -- when the vastly superior In Sound from Way Out is still available. Best song: "Off the Grid."
53.) Battles - Mirrored -- Man, I wanted to like this record, but count me as one of the few who just don't get it. Odd, I know, especially since I loved "Atlas" from the moment I heard it. Mirrored sounds to me like a slightly more glossed up version of Ian Willams' former band, Don Caballero, a band I was "supposed" to like, never actually finding any reason to go back to their stuff. I'll save the hyperbole for the others who've gone abso-fucking-lutely goo goo ga ga over this one.
54.) Menomena - Friend and Foe -- Doesn't grab me, except "Weird." Meh-nomena.
55.) Down - Over the Under -- Better than Bustle but nowhere near as good as NOLA. Uninspiring, unambitious, generic stoner fodder.
56.) Queens of the Stone Age - Era Vulgaris -- Truly one of the most disappointing records of the last several years, possibly even rivaling The Futureheads' godawful News and Tributes in the category of Jesus-Christ-who-knew-these-guys-could-put-out-a- sausage-shaped-but-lumpy-like-this-one. And think about it: it came pretty much out of nowhere: before Era Vulgaris, QoTSA was a band that had pumped out good records with amazing consistency -- never spectacular, but always fun and listenable. This one's neither: for the most part you get heaping portions of tuneless, dreary and uninteresting.
57.) Hollerado - Demo in a Bag -- I caught these Canadian kids opening up for (and at least in my mind overshadowing) the Black Lips at Bowery Ballroom in September. Unfortunately, this 3-song EP/demo doesn't capture the affable self-deprecation and energetic humor of their live set. But I'll be looking forward to whatever these guys put out next.
58.) Shellac - Excellent Italian Greyhound -- ...And by now you know what yer getting into with Shellac: dorky witticisms, genuine oddness, caustic humor and crush-a-walnut-between-yer-buttcheeks-tight musicianship. Extra points for the nod to The Who Sell Out ("Hold ya groove together... with RotoSound Strings!") but I can't find any reason to go back to this record.
59.) Jesu - Lifeline -- What am I missing here? Everything I read about this had me thinking Jesu would be right up my alley, but with all the great post-rock/post-metal stuff available these days, this doesn't really measure up (let alone stand out). Bland music and weak vocals.
60.) Puscifer - V is for Vagina -- undoubtedly the wtf record of the year. Who knew that uber metal god Maynard Keenan had an album of slick-as-snails, creepy-yet-superboring R&B up his sleeve? To quote Gilbert Gottfried, "not good."
61.) Hella - There's No 666 in Outer Space -- A friend who's usually good for musical recommendations suggested that I finally get into Hella, but I have the feeling I'd be
more into their instrumental era, which, to my understanding, does not include the Claypool-soundalike singer on this record. A very,
very busy album, jampacked and overloaded with migraine-inducing clatter.
62. and 63.) Robert Pollard - Coast to Coast Carpet of Love and Silverfish Trivia -- Hey kids! Do you like rock? Because, to paraphrase the introduction to Guided by Voices' landmark Propeller LP, "these albums do NOT rock." To be sure, Uncle Bob used to know how to rock, but replacing "the rawk" with the "the maturity" that's infiltrated his recent recordings is not a welcome trend. For as long as I can remember, Bob's served as one of indie rock's elder statesmen, drunkenly preaching to the converted about the importance of preserving "the rawk," but on these outings he just sounds old, like a bitter codger telling the nieces and nephews to "turn that godawful noise down" rather than making his own joyous racket in the first place. As much as it pains me to piss on the work of an artist that's meant so much to me for so long (Blues and Boogie Shoes, Normal Happiness, From a Compound Eye and Moon were all firmly within last year's top 20), I have to wonder whether Bob's initially symbiotic relationship with producer/multi-instrumentalist Todd Tobias has finally turned the man's music to complete crap.
64.) The Takeovers - Bad Football -- Another underwhelming Pollard release, this time as The Takeovers with former GbV bassist Chris Slusarenko and a bevy of guests. Last year's Turn to Red contained some of the best music of Bob's career ("Insane/Cool It" and "Be it Not for the Serpentine Rain Dodger" rank up there with anything, GbV or otherwise, from the past decade-plus) but Bad Football is dull and mediocre.
65.) The White Stripes - Icky Thump -- Not wasting another minute on this band.
66.) M.I.A. - Kala -- Don't believe the hype! How is this any different than, say, a new Spice Girls joint? If you actually like this album, you probably think "kewl mizzpellingz" are, well, "kewl," and you've probably spent too much money on sunglasses in the last year.
67.) Nine Inch Nails - Year Zero -- If you were eagerly anticipating Trent Reznor's first foray into "politically charged" songwriting, well, may I invite you to sink your teeth into this shitburger. Yup, this is what Trent's unmitigated hatred of a certain Dubya sounds like: uninspired sludge married to unbearable lyrics.
68.) Robert Pollard - Standard Gargoyle Decisions -- If you can spot a single decent hook on this record, please let me know where. FUCK!
69.) Marnie Stern - In Advance of the Broken Arm -- Sorry, not sold on this one. Someone told me this sounded like Lightning Bolt (who I like) meets Deerhoof (who are terrible), but to me it's more of a Hella meets Deerhoof type deal. Plus, the vocals are really really super grating.
70.) Oneida - Seeds of Contemplation -- On this retrospective (of sorts), the listener is treated to lots of wacky genre hopping, with heaping portions of electronic, krautrock, garage, etc. Some genuinely intriguing ideas and a nice, crunchy synth sound, even if there are few (if any) truly good songs here.
71.) Rush - Snakes and Arrows -- I know, I know, what did I expect. But as a card-carrying member of the High School Pariah Alumnus Club (there are no meetings, because we've all finally realized that we prefer being alone), Rush's lyrics really spoke to me during the early to mid-90s, and the technical wizardry so eagerly displayed by Geddy, Alex and Neil served as a measuring stick of chops against which other bands could rarely match up. At this point however, Rush can be expected to pinch off another album-length turd every couple years just so they can have an excuse to fire up the umpteenthousandth Greatest Hits tour -- tuned down a couple of steps, of course, allowing Geddy to pretend he can still hit the high notes. Their worst album, ever.
72.) The Nightwatchman - One Man Revolution -- Really, what's more inessential: Rush's ten billionth studio album, or this, Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello's collection of acoustic protest songs? Having Brendan O'Brien produce this is like using a jackhammer to build a gingerbread house: O'Brien likely spent untold dumpsters full of cash trying to make this record sound like it was recorded on a boombox instead of, you know, just recording it on a boombox in the first place.
73.) Bloc Party - A Weekend in the City -- it's pretty rare that terrible lyrics can render an otherwise moderately hook-laden record completely unlistenable, but oy vey, these are some bad, bad lyrics. Like a petulant, spoiled teenager who has just put down the baseball cards and picked up vague activism ("yeah! Save the Vote! Rock the Whales!") under the guise of appearing "responsible," or "independent," this album is highly bitchslappable. Even includes the obligatory "let's scare mommy and daddy that I might be gay" track. If this album were a TV character, it would be AJ from the Sopranos a few years ago, berating family members for "not caring" about hybrid automobile technology, and then moments later asking his comatose father for a gas guzzler after all the hypocritical bluster.
------------------
*Whew* glad that's finally over. 70+ albums and hundreds of scatalogical references later, I can finally start digging into the huge pile of CDs that I haven't listened to yet that sits on the lower shelves of my wall unit. There were several new albums that I regret not having heard in '07, among them:
John Fogerty
Black Moth Superwhatever
Holy Fuck
Blonde Redhead
St. Vincent
Kinski
Mono
Dan Deacon
Hellyeah
Circus Devils
Method of Defiance
Thanks in particular to go eMusic, the now-defunct North Shore Sound (R.I.P.) and my associates "Jake" and "loud and fat" for actually taking the time to read (and comment on) this blog. As for me, I'm'a smoke a bowl and go lay down. Tuddd out.
