Music highlights of 2007

[gek-opel]

Best sound moment of 2007 tho?

The sound design on Lynch's "Inland Empire"-- absolutely stunning terrifying and beautiful in equal measure. For all the anti-cinematics of the post you-tube DV visual stylings and the almost aleatoric method of writing/construction, musically/sound wise this was a staggering use/vindication of the technology of the cinema...

 

[Gavin]

 

[straight]

-dan deacon last week. the most perfect distillation of fun and silliness and why music is amazing at bringng strangers together in a sweaty mass of euphoria at 10pm on a wednesday. no-ones mentioned him here cos he's silly but i think but spiderman of the rings is a lovely fun piece of pop and he's one of the most wonderful self-help coach/master of electroacostic composition/sassy dance comp host/party monster with an ipod shuffle and a glowing skull strobe on a pole ive ever had the pleasure of witnessing

-Danny Krivit at electric chair last week reminding me what it would feel like on a floor at studio 54 in 1977 would be like. (all the chairs are sold out forever now but if you can make it to one of them, tear the arms off the people with the tickets, best party you'll ever go to) ie a million times better than any club ive been to.

-Pulling off a massive day of sound art and weirdness in a victorian bathhouse and not bankrupting myself in the process and especially the sets by serfs and colin potter that day, (i must post them soon).

-wandering away from the chaos of the dance arena at exit in serbia and finding a bashment stage with a load of geezers from peckham toasting in a castle as the sun came up.

 

[straight]

and finally seeing the wutang

 

[Benny Bunter]

Been disillusioned with indie guitar music for a while now, but 2007 has been a complete nadir. the only vaguely indie/guitar 'song' based stuff I've enjoyed this year has been Bill Callahan's album and the Panda Bear/Animal Collective stuff.

Whereas in the past this would have perturbed me, I'm actually glad because its made me broaden my horizons a lot this year. Only just discovered the brilliance of Boy in Da Corner six months ago! (around the same time I joined dissensus actually). I'd been completely dismissing Grime/Garage/Dubstep before then (silly me...) So since then, this is my pick of the year's best...

GRIME

Trim - Soulfood vol 1 (and parts of vol 2)
Wiley - Best of Tunnel Vision comp.
Young Dot - This is the beginning
What I've heard of Chipmunk, JME, Dirty Goodz...

DUBSTEP

Skull Disco - Sound boy punishments (esp. Shackleton's 'Hamas rule' and 'Blood on my hands')
Dusk and Blackdown - ALL their four releases, esp. The bits/Northside Cheng dub
Roots of Dubstep comp. on Tempa (was that this year?)
Mary Anne Hobbs' 'Warrior Dubz' comp.
Burial - Untrue (obviously...)

MISC.
Panda Bear - Person Pitch
Boris - Pink (went through a heavy Boris obsession this year)
Sunn O)))/BORIS - Altar
Earth - Hibernaculum
Beatles - Love
Bill Callahan - 'Woke on a whale heart' (reliably good)
Einsturzende Neubauten - Alles Weider Offen/Jewels (but mainly for their amazing set at All tomorrow's parties)

errr...(getting desperate now..)

Young Marble Giants reissue!

 

[Gavin]

No one feeling the Italians Do It Better stuff? Glass Candy, Chromatics... I've been playing that stuff like crazy.

 

[john eden]

This lot: http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/feature/47232-the-month-in-reggae-dancehall

And:

Rules and Regulations
Greatest Hits
Are You Dumb 2
Down
Axiom
Poison Dart / Jah War
Naphta - Long Time Burning
Last couple of Sprengstoff releases.

Mixes:
Answer riddim clash - me
Anger is a Gift - Prancehall
Toddla T first one
Dot Alt Blogariddims
Dubstep Sufferah 3 - Paul Meme
Fuck Radio 5


Out:
Dirty Canvas
JME's birthday at FWD
House Party x2
Benga at D>O>T>S
Abysinnians and Black Uhuru
Jerry Dammers and his orchestra at the Big Chill

And:
The birth of Woofah

 

[Leo]

2007 highlights, not all new but new to me:

- Larry Heard/Fingers Inc. reissues (“Sun Can’t Compare,” “I’m Strong”)

- Black Dice and related (“Load Blown,” Eric Copeland “Hermaphrodite,” Soft Circle “Full Bloom”)

- Boredoms 77 Boadrum event

- Josef van Wissem – A Rose By Any Other Name

- Terje Rypdal – s/t (HUGE thanks to francesco for his post in the "ecm" thread for turning me on to this)

- Fucked Up – Year of the Pig 12” (not much to say besides...epic)

- The Good, The Bad and the Queen – s/t

- Dubstep related: Shackleton (“Next to Nothing,” Pole/SMD remixes, Skull Disco singles/comp.), Bass Clef, 2562, Burial.

- Italians Do It Better (Glass Candy “B/E/A/T/B/O/X,” Chromatics “In Shining Violence”/”IV Night Drive,” “After Dark” comp., singles by Professor Genius and Farah Holly)

- Cadenza (next-level double-pack 12s” from Luciano, Petre Inspirescu, Argenis Brito, Digitaline, Villalobos; singles by Pikaya, Rhadoo, Andomat3000 & Jan)

- Dial (electro-glide house LPs from Pantha Du Prince and Efdemin)

 

[childrentalking]

edit: i should read!

 

[Chris]

Wolves in the Throne Room - Two Hunters... I'm really liking this more atmospheric, nature-worship side of Black Metal

Xasthur - Defective Epitaph

Om - Pilgrimage... the boys have a very simple formula but it rules face.

The Valerie Project... soundtrack project for hauntingly beautiful early 70s Czech vampire film "Valerie and Her Week of Wonders" involving members of Philedelphia Psychfolk heads from Espers/Fursaxa/Grass/Fern Knight. Seeing this performed live to the film was probably the year's live highlight for me.

Tomutonttu - Tomutonttu... one of the better things to come out of that dithery, electronic, nature-drone end of Psychfolk, this project by an on/off Kemialliset Ystavat member Jan Anderson (if ya ain't familiar with Kemialliset Ystavat, it's kind of like experimental noise music if it were more about Paganism than Modernism, dreamscapes that sound like they were played by post-societal scavengers on any wind/string instruments and electronic gadgets they could find, easily the most interesting thing to come out of the genre).

Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam... I was a little put off by the "good" production on this at first, always liked how Animal Collective's sound seemed to emanate through a haze, but the hi-definition actually highlights and intensifies the weirdness. Seeing them live again this year was a treat, especially seeing their music make a bunch of indie kids dance like it was a Grateful Dead show.

The Fiery Furnaces - Widow City... wasn't expecting them to top Blueberry Boat...

Black Moth Super Rainbow - Dandelion Gum

Panda Bear - Person Pitch and Caribou - Andorra... good year for sunshine-pop albums I guess.

Burial - Untrue... I like. I would have liked to keep up more with the going ons in Dubstep but I'm in California and too tapped with other genres right now so, hey. But I like what I hear of Bassline, nice to have some X chromosomes back in the Nuum genepool.

The Field - From Here We Go Sublime
Stephan Bodzin - Liebe Ist
Efdemin - Efdemin
Thomas Fehlman - Hongpumpe
Pantha du Prince - This Bliss.... Minimal's been suiting my tastes for a while now, what with the escapism and dreaminess and pilled-out-ness (TM), but I've really been finding myself drawn more and more lately to the Balearic/Cosmic sounds... Todd Terje and the like.... sexiness.

Good year for escapism I guess, if that's your bag (mmm hmm). Techno was wistful and introspective, the Metal was borderline psychedelic, stoner rock/buttrock/elfrock still jamming out into oblivion (weird to see stuff like Blue Cheer being referenced in the last few years), and Psychfolk's still one of the more interesting sources of inspiration. Excellent year for Psych reissues (well, as usual), and the Psych underground has just been VIBRANT lately, seeing Ya Ho Wa 13's reunion in L.A. recently... it was the first time I felt real subcultural energy since, shit, rave? Nice meeting both Sky Saxon (the Seeds) and Roky Erikson (13th Floor Elevators) within a week out there too (not that they're anything new but the current scene's been creating an environment for them to get more acknowledgement). Whichever subculture it is though, there doesn't seem to be any interest in going big ('cept maybe in Grime, good luck guys), which just might be a good thing... what with all the co-opting and whatnot.

And I've been ignoring Hip Hop for a little while until just recently again, but I'm hearing a little potential for new evolutions.

oh yeah, and Peter, Bjorn and & John's 'Young Folks' = teh hotness

 

[DannyL]

A non-definitive few from me:

OLD

Dave’s Godin’s Deep Soul compilations
Amon Duul 2 – Yeti
John Fahey – Red Cross, Legend of Blind Joe Death, Voice of the Turtle
The Very Best of Ethoiopiques

NEW

Rinse FM Volume: Geenus
Durty Goodz – Axiom
UGK – Underground Kingz
Clipse – Hell hath No Fury
Marnie Stern – In Advance of the Broken Arm
El-P – I’ll Sleep When Your Dead
Dubstep Sufferah Volume 3

 

[turtles]

What i was into two thousand seven, or at least a close approximation, by genre, because i feel like it:

house/techno:

pan-pot - best in coal-dark minimal. Pan-o-rama was unsung minimal LP of the year for me.
marco resmann - 1/3 of pan-pot. 12" for mobilee was great
guillaume & the coutu dumonts - nice intricate house lp
the field - especially for "The Little Heart Beats So Fast" and "Everyday"
thomas melchior - no disco futures!! and his soul capsule 12" with baby ford was also tops
david guetta - finest commercial electro-house. Seriously "pop life" is a remarkably strong and consistent LP
pantha du prince - saturn strobe!!!
rhadoo - rose rouge remix, plus various random mp3s floating about. I love his drums.
redshape - deeeetroit. even though he isn't from there.
ricardo villalobos - overhyped as always, but still putting out next-level shit
stephan bodzin - LP was great, as were numerous singles. Prolific
gregor treshor - mmmm nu-trance
aril brikha - winter/berghain 12" on kompakt was nu-trance heaven
booka shade - finally saw them live. mandarin girl!!!!!


dubstep:

burial - as good as everyone says it is
shackleton - had all the good tracks on the skull disco comp


indie/postrock:

low - still putting out interesting music after all these years
stars of the lid - bliiiisssssss


balearic:

studio - west coast was album of the year for me, fer sure, but their recent remixes have also been great. artists of the year, hands down.
aeroplane - two brilliant 12"s for eskimo plus more goddamn great remixes
a mountain of one - soooo dad rock
rune lindbaek - toto cover, other remixes
petre visti - dolly, other remixes
beyond the wizards sleeve - more remixes!


pop:

rihanna - duh. umbrella pwnd.
avril lavigne - her whole album was pretty good too
britney spears - same with brit, crazy though she may be
timbaland - w/ kerri hilson, & most definitely with fiddy/JT


plus lots and lots of krautrock. the synthier the better. and world music! more of that too.

 

[turtles]

No one feeling the Italians Do It Better stuff? Glass Candy, Chromatics... I've been playing that stuff like crazy.

For some reason I haven't heard anything from these folks that has really caught my attention, even though it sounds like it should be right up my alley. i love italodisco! what's best? should I start with the comp?

 

[noel emits]

Conrad Schnitzler's Cassette Con-Cert performed by Wolfgang Siedel @ Colour Out Of Space Festival.

Kode 9 & Flying Lotus on Rinse.

Records by Dave Huismans.

 

[DJ PIMP]

Fukkk Offf - I'm A Freak
Smoking hot electro-house zipper-bass work-out.

Roman Salzger - Sunday Night Shuffle
I'm a bit awed by the ultimate pleasure-synths in this insane peak-time cum track.

Marc Romboy & Blake Baxter - Undergroung Thang
Driving, chugging, rushy analog riff-texture anthem following up The Club from last year. Same formula but thicker and yet more streamlined.

Acid Jacks - Disco Shoes
Great electro glam, funny from the opening line: "You ran away to join a travelling freak show, start a riot, and end up at a rave"...

Miss Kittin - Hometown
Dreamy comedown anthem. Also nice: Kittin is High - Jojo de Freq remix.

Max Berlin - Elle et Moi - Joakim remix
Impossibly elegant rework. Gloss, depth, restraint... the slow disco track that destroyed me more than any other.

Midnight Juggernauts - Dystopia
Surprised and amazed by this hugely fun, very fresh feeling LP with genuine range and nods in all directions... psych glam disco space rock album of the year. From Australia.

Bass Kleph - Coup d'etat
Generally can't stand Breaks but this is huge wonky-pitch electro crossover.

TJ Kong & Nuno Dos Santos feat. Robert Owens - Merging
Magic deep house with Owens trademark soul-yodelling a trippy ode to spiritual dancefloor transformation.

Punx Soundcheck - In The Dark - Jor-El remix
Still can't get enough of anything along these post-electroclash lines... dark, downer synths, stiff white-disco 4/4, gloom vox. Any recommendations?

Xenia Beliayeva
I LOVE HER. The Queen of gloom-house (gothno?). Grinding glacial textures and frosty abrasion. Tracks like Hellraiser, Chocolate, Music, her guest-vox with Da Fresh or her massive take on Anthony Rother's "Don't Worry"... it's the coldest business (see also: Anthony Rother - So Good).

Escort - A bright new life, Starlight, All through the night
Hot live disco that for me highlights that sadly a lot of the beardo stuff errs towards the dull, chinstroking end of things.

Also: Eric Prydz, Woolfy, Woolfy vs Projections, D.Ramirez, Bart B More, Anthony Rother, Chaim, Guy Gerber, Shlomi Aber, John Dalhback, Hugg & Pepp, Ilya Santana, Lindstrom, Chromatics, New Young Pony Club, Paul Woolford, Spektrum, Hatiras, Daso, Q-force, SMD, Bodzin, Glass Candy, Studio, Slam, Armand van Helden, Lifelike etc.

 

[Eric]

Things I liked that spring to mind RIGHT NOW:

Amerie
UGK
seeing OOIOO for the first time in 10 years or so: they are much much better now
Sizzla, as usual (some random things eg Hear Dem Talking)
Dizzee `Where da Gs'
returning to the Infamous

 

[Immryr]

oh yeah i listened to quite a bit of folkloric afro-cuban music this year too.... Los Papines, Yoruba Andabo, Irosso Obba, Clave Y Guaguanco, Grupo Afro-Cuba etc

 

[lamp post]

most of my top albums would just be repeating what others have said (Pinch, Burial, Robert Wyatt, Pantha Du Prince, Durtty Goodz etc etc) but what about Beach House's debut, A Hawk and a Hacksaws collaboration with the Hun Gar Ensemble and Swod's new album?

 

[lamp post]

oh and disrupt's 'foundation bit' Soul Jazz's 'Brazil 70, optimo's 'walkabout'

 

[labrat]

OFF THE TOP OF ME HEAD...
Mark Wastell –come crimson waves
Davinche –phase (t2 remix)
T2 – heartbroken
Daphne oram –oramics
Panda bear –person pitch (does anyone NOT like this?)
Broken Flag boxset
shackleton-you bring me down