2007 Music Year in Review: Vol. 1 – The Albums

Probably the biggest thing which happened for music in 2007 (as the media would have you believe) is Radiohead’s download only release of In Rainbows. Unfortunately, this only has to do with the industry and not the actual art. Various other pundits can debate what the “effects” of this will be for major labels, downloading music, distribution, etc etc etc. To me, the only thing which should be considered is whether or not the album was good and I’ll get to that later.

Hunkered down in my hole, I have no idea what really “happened” in music this year in terms of the bigger bands, important releases, trends, styles, or revolutions. None of it really matters to me since we can not tell at this point in time if any of it mattered for music qua music.

BEST ALBUMS OF 2007

A misnomer: the title should be “Albums I Have Purchased That Were Issued in 2007.” I can count them on my fingers. Here they are in alphabetical order:

Climax Golden Twins – 5 Cents a Piece (Abduction – 500 only, vinyl release)

For fans of weird collages and amalgamations of influences from wherever they care to pull them all whipped up into one weird-ass stew of whatever, this is a great record for you. Opening with attack free jazz drumming complimented by pulses and stabs of skronking guitar, the first half of the LP is the more difficult listen. But it contains some wonderful moments, especially when they start zipping along like electric Love. The second half contains the more listenable side full of moments which sound like the drummer, Dave Abramson of Diminshed Men, pulled Jeffrey Taylor and Rob Mills into his whacked out klezmer-Morricone-surf-rock world. That is before the last two tracks: the first of which sounds like some glorious Butthole Surfers fuck you from the ’80s and the final moment which is a gloriously stoned out, spooky and reflective Crazy Horse-styled meditation.

Dinosaur Jr. – Beyond (Fat Possum)

When the original Dinsoaur Jr trio reformed a few years back to begin performing live shows together again, I rolled my eyes. Bands reforming 20 years after their peak years should always be viewed with some caution. Dino’s first incarnation was never a very big band and their historical reputation increased primarily among music nerds since J Mascis’ ’90s incarnation had it’s share of radio hits. They were never name dropped as relentlessly as the Pixies (or featured at the end of Brad Pitt) movies and their entire sound seems so derivative now after 20 years of poseurs making more money than they imagined off of their sound.

As a huge fan of their first three albums, I bought the new one only after I read many promising reviews. This record will not blow anyone’s mind. The impact of what Dinosaur Jr. was trying to do wore off years ago and has been watered down countless times since. But this is the original. J. Mascis and Lou Barlow never quit writing great songs and they throw down a collection of entertaining, loud, hard-hitting rock & roll full of melancholy, catchy melodies, walls of storming guitars, and possibly the most guitar noodling this side of an Allman Brothers show.

It’s a good listen in spurts. The first two cuts, “Almost Ready” and “Crumble,” rank with the best Dino songs of yesteryear. Throughout the rest of the album, there’s hooks galore but overall it’s easier to listen to in spurts since there are no moments like the truly awesome guitar apocalpyses of “Sludgefeast” (from 1987s essential You’re Living All Over Me) or “They Always Comes” awe-inspiring coda (from 1988’s also essential Bug). No treats as great as insane-o rock covers of the Cure. Fun for fans of Dinosaur Jr. or rock & roll, but check out the aforementioned albums if you want to know why these guys were absolutely one of the greatest.

Earth – Hibernaculum (Southern Lord)

Long-standing drone masters rerecord three old tracks and officially release a hard to come by epic. For fans or glacially paced, repeating and intertwining licks’n'riffs, all played clean as Hell and augmented by warm keyboards and trombones. This is actually a really wonderful listen. Especially “Miami Morning Coming Down.” The entire second side of the LP is the monstrous peak of “A Plague of Angels” which builds and roars and slides and sways to a climax that may not even be there.

Mammatus – The Coast Explodes (Holy Mountain)I saw these Santa Cruz psychers open for Acid Mothers Temple earlier this year at the Chop Suey and they dominated. Clothed in layers of psychedelic robes, shrouded in fog, and entering the stage holding ritualistic looking staffs in the air, they threw down a set of gloriously heavy modern psychedelia. Kind of like a happy doom metal band or a California equivalent to our own Lesbian. The album is significantly less “metal” than the live show, a four track collection of pulsing riffs, strung out acoustic chanting, and solos solos solos solos solos. If Green Milk from the Planet Orange remains in hiatus seeking a bass player forever, we’ve still got Mammatus. (Their label Holy Mountain is one of the best independent labels in this country. They’ve released discs by Om, Six Organs of Admittance, Lesbian, and a host of other wonderful, eclectic, soulful acts roaming the new American landscape).

Radiohead – In Rainbows (Themselves)

Fuck the download-only hype. They’ve already singed a deal with a new American major (ATO, a subsidiary of MCA I believe and the label which My Morning Jacket is currently on, and thus the people responsible for the spyware/crashware on Z. So for people who think they’ve transcended some ethical bounds, think again). How was the music? Well dammit — it’s good. For the first time since OK Computer, the Oxford boys have decided to sit down and write an entire album’s worth of songs. Hail to the Thief was probably their low point — an obscenely produced piece of propaganda whose hooks were buried in too much detail and the weight of being, well, Radiohead. It’s almost their “pop” album. Nine concise songs presented in a quick running order. They have not been this direct since The Bends. “House of Cards” is practically they’re version of pop-R&B number.

Sapat – Mortise and Tenon (Slitbreeze)

Everyone is wringing their hands and singing the praises of the acid-folk scene, whatever it may be. It’s almost impossible to find information about these guys. Not as intentionally obscure as Valley of Ashes (who I think they might have something to do with) or the No Neck Blues Band, this is one of the better albums in the genre (outside of the astonishing run of Six Organs of Admittance). Opening with a two minute electronic ambient piece which could’ve been an outtake from the Kid A sessions and then veering to the nearly ten minute build of “Maat Fount” where simple drums, guitars, violin and bass increase at a glacial rate to nowhere, but a nowhere oh so moody and pleasant. “Dark Silver” is the necessary “song.” If you consider tribal drums and bass, a chant of “We’re all dark silver” and some weird little hook thrown in as a pop song. “Root Bulb” and “Lovely & Free” groove along like garage band Can. “Who U With?” is the longest track — a weird spinning mass of beeps’n'blips and barely there drums which still works. “Fante” is one of the only times that it might be said that a modern band actually sounds like The Velvet Underground & Nico. If you’re curious about freak-folk, acid-folk, psych-folk or whatever people want to call it, I’d say skip Wooden Wand and proceed directly to Sapat.

Sir Richard Bishop – Polytheistic Fragments (Drag City)

Hands down, my favorite album of the year. Beautiful solo guitar picking which draws form styles all over the world. Strung out, ten-minute long piano meditations, weird Sun City Girls drum vibes, country picking, and more. All wrapping up in the beautiful flutes, electric guitars, and acoustics of “Ecstasies in the Open Air.” But it now.

Thurston Moore – Trees Outside the Academy (Ecstatic Peace)

What would Rather Ripped sound like on acoustic guitars with a violin and J. Mascis soloing? This. Which means, it’s good. Not mind-blowing, but a pleasant listen.

Valley of Ashes – Cavedweller’s Attrition

$50 and a month of waiting to receive this massive three LP set in the mail. That’s about the story. Six sides of go nowhere, ultra lo-fi songs which sound like me and my high school friends jamming on djembes, guitars, and flutes. If Sapat is one of the best “freak-folk” albums, this is one of my most disappointing forays into the realm.

Neil Young – Chrome Dreams II (Reprise)

Dear Mr. Young,

You are the greatest American solo troubadour I’ve known. I’ll take you over Bob Dylan anyday. Please go back to being absolutely insane. Somehow I saw this coming.

Your fan