Top Albums of 2007

25)浜崎あゆみ - Secret
check out:
BLUE BIRD
JEWEL
Beautiful Fighters

Dai Nagao (of Do As Infinity fame) really works his magic with「BLUE BIRD」, a song that would have cracked my best of 07 list had it not actually been released during the summer of 06. I tend be a tad fickle when it comes to ranking my favorite Ayu tracks because she's this otherworldly walking hit-machine, but I can't help but feel that「BLUE BIRD」is the best single she's put out since「Endless Sorrow」way back in 2001. The album as a whole is actually a little underwhelming, but Ayu's at the point in her career where she can get away with coasting through a record or two. Gems like「JEWEL」(no pun) and「BLUE BIRD」are enough the put the set over the top.


24)Patton Oswalt - Werewolves and Lollipops
check out:
The Dukes Of Hazard
At Midnight I Will Kill George Lucas With A Shovel
Cirque Du Soleil

With my collection of comedy albums growing exponentially over the past few years, I felt it apt to include what I felt was the best release of 07. It's considerably harder to illustrate what makes a particular comedy record so great without dissecting segues, or being meticulous about delivery and crowd reaction, so I won't even try. But take my word for it, Patton is one seriously funny, funny dude.

Patton:

Cirque Du Soleil, if you haven't seen it, is what a gay French dude sees in his head when he's tired and horny. There's a naked guy on a trapeze with his dick flapping around, there's a hedgehog with a boner on a tricycle, and 3 clowns are jerking off on a ghost...I don't know what the fuck is going on down there. Everything in Cirque Du Soleil is wet and French and gay and on fire at the same time.

It's funny because it's true.


23)Feist - The Reminder
check out:
My Moon, My Man
1 2 3 4
Brandy Alexander

I kind of slept on Feist's The Reminder for most of the year and sort of ended up offhandedly giving it a listen a few months back. Let It Die was really one of my favorite albums from 2005, and though there's nothing that comes close to the unmitigated brilliance of "Inside and Out" on this year's set, The Reminder is a subtly stronger album in the sense that there's more motion and a quiet zeal to it. Let It Die was somewhat more stoic, but I guess that's why I loved it so much. There's no question that it was a huge year for Feist though, as we were treated to the strange phenomenon of watching her metamorphose from Broken Social Scene member/indie darling to Verizon Chocolate/iPod Nano commercial star.


Should we be mad? Nah. She deserves the recognition. Besides, I've never understood people who turn on their favorite artists/bands for "going mainstream." I mean, if all the supposed fans actually bought albums and supported, maybe big labels and big contracts wouldn't be a part of the equation. Give it a rest. And besides, with that incredible voice? She was gonna be huge sooner or later.


22)The Pillows - Wake Up! Wake Up! Wake Up!
check out:
YOUNGSTER (Kent Arrow)
スケアクロウ
プレジャーソング

I like to think of The Pillows as a "comfort band," because they're just so consistently good and possess one of those instantly distinguishable sounds. People stateside recognize them almost exclusively as the band that contributed to the FLCL soundtrack, but The Pillows have been putting out records as one of Japan's best underappreciated bands since 1989. Wake Up! Wake Up! Wake Up! is the group's first release on Avex Trax, and is an excellent follow-up to last year's My Foot. It's likely that no song that they put out will ever come close to touching 1997's incredible「ハイブリッド レインボウ」, but「YOUNGSTER (Kent Arrow)」and 「スケアクロウ」are certainly valiant efforts. I've always been a sucker for cover art, and though I'm not particularly fond of this one, it's quite definitive of The Pillows' sound: quirky, retro, breezy, comfortable, cool. If there's one band out there that deserves to be more popular than they are, The Pillows are it.


21)モーニング娘。- Sexy 8 Beat
check out:
シャニムニパラダイス
笑顔YESヌード
SEXY BOY～そよ風に寄り添って～

In terms of talent, I'd say that the Sexy 8 roster was one of the strongest since the conception of the group, with Takahashi and Fujimoto consistently killing it and Tanaka and Gaki really starting to come into their own as pop starlets. The singles are great - particularly the breathy「笑顔YESヌード」- and the often unbearably sugary tracks such as「未来の太陽」and「シャニムニパラダイス」give the album a decisive summertime feel. It's all pop fluff from start to finish, but you don't find too many of us モー娘。fans raising grievances about lack of innovation and sub-spectacular songwriting. It's not in our nature.


20)Stars - In Our Bedroom After The War
check out:
Window Bird
Bitches In Tokyo
Today Will Be Better, I Swear!

The somewhat strange coming-out party for indie music continued in 2007. Feist moved Apple products while songs by the New Pornographers played during Sugar Bowl highlight montages. I'd actually been listening to less college radio-type music on the whole, but not because I was disgusted or appalled by any stretch of the imagination. A small part of me actually wants to get up and do a little jig when I hear a song by one of our melancholic indie bands during prime time television, because I know some snarky Xiu Xiu or Death Cab fan is crying somewhere because so-and-so "sold out." Now I love indie music, I just wish their fans would let these bands have a modicum of success from time to time. It's really kind of sad. Anyway, I've been listening to Stars a lot recently. The duo of Torquil Campbell and Amy Millian make like a lusher, more lavish Ben Gibbard and Jenny Lewis, churning out one earnest pop treat after another. When Millian sings, "Today, today is going to be a better one, There's nothing more to take in that's going wrong," we're compelled to stop and consider, even though we know that she can't possibly be right.


19)伴都美子 - Voice～cover you with love～
check out:
はじまりはいつも雨
夜に傷ついて
TRUTH '94

I'd probably have this one much higher on the list if it weren't a cover album. It's a shame that Ban-chan's solo stuff doesn't sell well, because everything she's put out since going solo has been absolute gold. Even as a shameless Do As Infinity fan, I might go as far as to say that Ban-chan's sophisticated delivery is better suited to the jazzy stuff that she's been doing post-DAI. Like last year's Farewell, Voice～cover you with love～ always goes down easy, exuding an almost cordial sense of warmth. Ban-chan seems to have lost her penchant for dipping into falsetto sequences, but this steady, controlled approach to singing better fits the decisively mature persona that she seems to have seamlessly grown into. Hey, I'm still praying that Do As Infinity will get back together someday, but I'm more than content to listen to 伴都美子 sing「少女」forever if that's what she elects to do.


18)RIP SLYME - FUNFAIR
check out:
Speed King
熱帯夜
StroboX

For the most part, I make it a point to try and stay away from Japanese hip-hop. RIP SLYME is the exception because they're the one group - Japan or stateside - to successfully borrow from the Beastie Boys and Jurassic 5, effectively incorporating the qualities I loved about those guys into their own neo-futuristic style. The Beasties are a little too old school for their own good sometimes, and Jurassic 5 kind of lost me when they seemed to decide that "old school" was a theme, not a style. Putting together a group with talented MCs and a full-time DJ is a rarity with all the glory in solo projects these days, so it does make a certain degree of sense that the few good hip-hop groups that are left have an outdated 80s aura about them. I like to think of RIP SLYME as a Jurassic 5 with their heads where they should be - in the present, and looking to the future (and no, I'm not just using the J5 comparison because Su sounds like a Japanese Chali 2na). DJ Fumiya's video game beats seem to be getting progressively better, and「SPEED KING」and「熱帯夜」are the latest in a series of uber-catchy singles from the group.


17)Fall Out Boy - Infinity On High
check out:
Hum Hallelujah
The Carpal Tunnel of Love
You're Crashing, But You're No Wave




And check the review.


16)安室奈美恵 - PLAY
check out:
Baby Don't Cry
Hello
Violet Sauce

The thing that I love about Amuro's latest two records is that they actually feel like cohesive albums. The trend with J-pop's reigning top divas seems to revolve around quasi-eclectic, mock progressive sets (Ayu, Koda Kumi). I'm much more fond of the artists that discover a signature style and stick with it (Amuro, Otsuka Ai), effectively putting out records that don't sound like they were thrown together by 20 different producers. I've already gushed about how much I loved「Baby Don't Cry」, but much like Queen of Hip-Pop before it, Play is stacked from top to bottom with heavy & hooky tracks. I'll spare you the fine wine analogy, but we can only hope that 安室奈美恵 continues to improve as she ventures into her 30's.


15)Ryan Adams - Easy Tiger
Check out:
Oh My God, Whatever, Etc.
Halloweenhead
Everybody Knows

Well, it's alt-country, but it's still technically country, which gives Ryan Adams and Patton Oswalt the distinction of being the list's sole representatives in their respective genres. Adams is somewhat of a devout workaholic, having put out a whopping 9 full-length albums since 2000. I really gave Easy Tiger a whirl on the basis of a recommendation, but I was honestly surprised as to how much I enjoyed the album. The solitary, self-questioning "Halloweenhead" was the first track to really jump out at me.

Here comes that shit again,
I've got a Halloweenhead,
Head full of tricks and treats,
It leads me thru the nighttime streets,
Black cats and falling trees,
Under ladders always walking,
Salt shaker spills just throw it over your shoulder, babe,
I've got a bad idea again,
I've got a Halloweenhead, Halloweenhead

The song evokes the image of an inebriated Adams roaming dark alleys and corners that he thought he had long since outgrown. It's more of a snapshot than an actual character study, but it's powerful stuff, so much so that you'll barely chuckle when the melancholic Adams booms "GUITAR SOLO!" halfway through the song. Sheryl Crow assists on the velvety, forlorn "Two," but it's the despondent glide of "Oh My God, Whatever, Etc." that sticks with me. I try not to use the term too loosely, but it's really a beautiful little ditty.


14)Ghostface Killah - The Big Doe Rehab
Check out:
Yolanda's House feat. Raekwon & Method Man
Yapp City feat. Trife Da God & Sun God
Slow Down feat. Chrisette Michele

It says a lot about Ghost when a new Wu-Tang record drops - a rarity these days - and I'm running off to buy Ghostface Killah's new joint instead. Not quite on par with last year's Fishscale, but a big, big record in its own right. Ghost just continues to cement his status as Wu's premier MC, trumping Meth's marketability with his fierce mic skills and combining the creativity of RZA with a touch of ODB's enigmatic energy. Starks always gets left out of the mix for one reason or another, but there's no question that Ghostface Killah deserves to have his name mentioned whenever the topic of "greatest MC alive" comes up.


13)The New Pornographers - Challengers
Check out:
Challengers
Go Places
Mutiny, I Promise You

There's really not much left to say about the nearly universally loved New Pornographers. The ensemble unit's credibility with indie fans and critics alike is matched only by the Arcade Fire these days, and rightfully so, with Challengers being their 4th consecutive strong set to date. Like anyone else, the New Pornographers' newer material will forever be subjected to comparison to their earlier, more splashy work, but it's just something that comes with the territory. For what it's worth, I liked the title track just as much as anything else they've put out to date.


I'll always love the vibrant, mercurial approach to their upbeat songs, but Neko Case is clearly in her element with the more poignant stuff. Speaking of Neko, how awesome is it that she still rocks Converse on her feet?


12)Talib Kweli - Ear Drum
Check out:
Hot Thing feat. will.i.am
Hostile Gospile Pt. 1 (Deliver Us)
In The Mood feat. Kanye West & Roy Ayers

Kweli:

Really, these cats sweeter than mangoes, Mr Bojangles-ass dudes,
Dancin' around the club, doin' the tango,
Go hard like Iverson playin' with hurt ankles,
Plus I wrestle the topic from a different Kurt Angle!

Dropping an AI line and a Kurt Angle line back to back? Reason #748 why Kweli is the man. In all seriousness though, Eardrum was hands down Kweli's best effort since Quality way back in 2002. Fans literally waited through a year of delays while Kweli tweaked with Eardrum, but he certainly made it worth our while.


11)Nellie McKay - Obligatory Villagers
Check out:
Identity Theft
Zombie
Mother Of Pearl

What can I say, I'm a sucker for eccentricity. I initially became a fan of Nellie McKay when she released her first album, Get Away From Me in 2004, the title being a somewhat less than subtle shot at Norah Jones' Come Away With Me. A good three years later, McKay has thankfully lost none of her quirk, but Obligatory Villagers does feel a bit thin at a mere 9 tracks. The good news? 8 of those 9 are solid ones (excluding only the 23 second "Livin") and McKay remains an enigma as the stylistic self-contradiction that she's always been; an outwardly classy cabaret singer who turns out to be a fierce leftist with a penchant for depositing bars of rap between jazzy verses. Some are saying that McKay has lost some of the bite that she had on Get Away From Me and Pretty Little Head, but one listen to "Identity Theft" quickly proves otherwise.

Because I'm tired of being sweet and nice,
Fuck you once and fuck you twice,
Show your passport, get that stamp,
"Funny" like a Nazi camp,
Hold 'em up, hell yeah, I'll confess,
We're dealing with identity theft!

Having an agenda clearly fuels creativity, and McKay definitely has both in spades. Another double-disc, 60 minute affair would have been nice, but any McKay release is worthy of our undivided attention.


10)YUI - Can't Buy My Love
Check out:
CHE.R.RY
Rolling Star
Good-bye Days

YUI has been busy becoming a huge star over in Japan, and deservedly so. She's an incredible talent, savvy with both the pen and the pick, and gifted with a truly unique, one of a kind voice. Logic might suggest that YUI has yet to grow into her varied skill set as a musician, but if it weren't for the almost baby-like tone of her voice, you'd think that she'd been bouncing around the music biz for years now. Phenom standing aside, YUI's Can't Buy My Love is a steady stream of hits and untapped singles, the cream being the wonderful「CHE.R.RY」and「Good-bye Days」. Hell, I even find myself listening to the somewhat goofy「Happy Birthday to you you」over and over. YUI's gift is her ability to make anything she touches sound incredibly eloquent or cool, and given that she's still just 20 and writing all of her music, it's a little scary to think how good she'll be as a seasoned vet.


9)Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
Check out:
You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb
My Little Japanese Cigarette Case
Rhythm & Soul

Speaking of seasoned vets, Spoon again releases one of the year's best with Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga. The album's peculiar title was apparently the original name of the song "The Ghost of You Lingers" (thanks Wiki), not an effort to make snarky music critics write silly things. Spoon needn't have worried anyway, as Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga is really too solid of a record to garner anything but praise. More so than Gimme Fiction from a couple years back, Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga immediately strikes you as an incredibly focused and polished set. There's little wasted motion anywhere, and though the production is slick, you get the feeling that all the songs were lovingly crafted through jam sessions. Nothing glamorous here, just good ol' no-frills, Jack Daniels-fueled rock & roll.


8)Mr. Children - HOME
Check out:
あんまり覚えてないや
しるし
やわらかい風

Japan's album of the year? Hard to argue with the nearly 1.2 million units they moved this year. Of course, by that philosophy, Josh Groban's Noel and the High School Musical 2 soundtrack would be the two best albums stateside. The truth? While I do think that Japanese people are creatures of habit who will abidingly flock to anything that Mr. Children puts out, fact is that HOME is still a really, really good record. I couldn't stand「フエィク」at first, but the song is actually starting to grow on me a little. The real standout tracks are the aptly airy「やわらかい風」and the somewhat typical, TV montage-ready「しるし」. I think that maybe I've never been a really big Mr. Children fan because I've had difficulty connecting to their songs on a personal level, but「あんまり覚えてないや」, the awkwardly romantic, bittersweet ballad about growing old and reminiscing about better times hits home (again, no pun) for me on several levels.


7)Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?
Check out:
A Sentence Of Sorts In Kongsvinger
Bunny Ain't No Kind Of Rider
Gronlandic Edit

The night before I graduated, I put Of Montreal's "A Sentence Of Sorts In Kongsvinger" on loop and thought about nothing for a while. I wouldn't call it meditating, since I have neither the discipline nor the capacity to do anything of the sort, but the song does have definite enrapturing qualities. "Gronlandic Edit" is similarly great, and features a music video that is sort of reminiscent of the Beatles' Yellow Submarine with incredibly lazy, half-assed animation. It's great.


Overall, Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer? isn't a huge musical step away from anything Of Montreal has already done, but given how unique their brand of chromatic pop is, more of the same is truly a gift. Their kaleidoscope w/ a soundtrack approach will never get old.


6)Kanye West - Graduation
Check out:
Stronger
Everything I Am
Flashing Lights feat. Dwele

Would it be too presumptuous to say that Kanye's albums will always land somewhere among the year's best? I actually liked Kanye circa 2004 better, when he was still in the underdog role and had a legitimate chip on his shoulder, but you have to credit the man for continually finding ways to stay motivated and creative, regardless of how silly his "me against the world" outbursts may often seem. I wouldn't go as far as to call Graduation his best work, but it's definitely his most streamlined set, devoid of the unnecessary body fat that were the skits on his first two records (to be fair, those skits were hilarious). "Stronger" and "Good Life" ensured the album commercial success, but the edgy, darker tracks like "Barry Bonds" and "Drunk And Hot Girls" leave the lasting impressions. Graduation is every bit as fun to listen to as West's last two efforts, but it's too bad that Ye has seemingly outgrown his position as the people's rapper. Gone are the gritty, true to life stories about West's near-fatal car accident and Grandma's stay in the hospital, and in their place is "Big Brother," a heartfelt ode to mentor/friend Jay-Z. Though the song loses none of the honesty or intimacy that "Roses" or "Through the Wire" had, the multimillionaire love-fest isn't exactly something that the average listener will be able to relate to. Graduation is far from perfect, but Kanye's greatest strength is that he's never afraid to be wrong or off the mark.


5)木村カエラ - Scratch
Check out:
TREE CLIMBERS
Snowdome
ワニと小鳥

I briefly toyed with the idea of giving Kaela's Scratch the top spot on the list, more or less because it's the record that I enjoyed most all year. I took a brief hiatus from J-pop/rock when Do As Infinity disbanded in 05, but I mostly credit Kaela and モー娘。for rekindling my interest in the scene. Scratch, Kalea's third album to date, is more of a varied pop set than Kaela and Circle, the record's comparatively riffy predecessors. Offerings range from the serene, shimmering「Snowdome」to the clearly Queen-influenced「SWINGING LONDON」, complete with huge, sweeping arena-rock hook. The rest of the tracks aren't quite as grandiose, but Kaela has the talent to churn out both the catchy pop anthems like「Magic Music」and the rock ones like「TREE CLIMBERS」, an ability that ensures her a place among J-pop's most versatile artists. The highlight?「ワニと小鳥」, an obscure ballad about an alligator who gives in to his nature and eats the tiny bird that perches on his head...only to be immediately stricken by the grief of losing the one soul in the world who gave him company. It's probably the album's most quiet, quaint moment, but it's the one that I find myself revisiting the most.


The song doubles as a metaphor of regret for losing any of life's important relationships - friendship, love, etc. - but perhaps works best when taken at face value as the simple yet museful children's story that it is.


4)Radiohead - In Rainbows
Check out:
15 Step
Nude
House of Cards

Probably the biggest music news item of the year was Radiohead's decision to release In Rainbows as a digital download for which customers chose their own price. It was the type of bizarre commercial risk that would have doomed a lesser band, but coming from Radiohead, the consensus was that the move was (much like anything else they do) ingenious and progressive. Unfortunately, the buzz surrounding the method of the record's release largely overshadowed the album itself, but In Rainbows showcases Thom Yorke and co. as their typically brilliant selves. The tracks tend to quietly run into one another, but not to a redundant effect - there's a thick cohesiveness about the album that truly has to be heard to believed. Overall, Radiohead's In Rainbows is wonderfully displaced; a lush, tranquil venture that never strays far from its Sunday sunset tempo.


3)Rilo Kiley - Under The Blacklight
Check out:
The Moneymaker
15
Breakin' Up

I've always liked Rilo Kiley to a certain degree - enough to buy Jenny Lewis' semi-solo disc anyway - but I'd have to say that Under The Blacklight is the first Rilo Kiley album that I've really loved. It's such a great record; just dark and murky and sassy and full of bad, bad sex and weed and more bad sex. It's a bit of a jump from Rilo Kiley's previous work, at least stylistically, but I can't help but feel that Under The Blacklight is the band at their creative best. The reception towards the album has been decidedly mixed, but I think that we can attribute much of that to the fact that it's Rilo Kiley's debut on a major label. The change in style will inevitably be interpreted by fans as the latest indie queen jumping to the dark side, but you'd have to be deaf to misconstrue Lewis' brilliance on the record. The whole album is a like a stroll through dark bars, barns, and porn shoots, with the high (or low) points being the ridiculously catchy "The Moneymaker," and the brassy, ballsy "15."

She was bruised like a cherry,
Ripe as a peach,
How could he have known,
That she was oh-oh-oh-oh-only fifteen?

Yikes. The cheesy 80's R&B intro on "Give A Little Love," is probably the lone weak point on the album, but even that song turns into a head-nodder before things are over. Honing her craft at "white-soul" certainly pays dividends for Lewis, especially on "Breakin' Up," as she absolutely soars through the "Ohhhhh, it, feels good to be free!" chorus. The happy breakup song is nothing new, but rarely have they been quite this exultant, this resounding.


2)東京事変 - バラエティ
Check out:
メトロ
OSCA
キラーチューン

Honors for top record out of Japan goes to Tokyo Jihen's バラエティ. Though I've always respected and admired Shiina Ringo a great deal, it wasn't until I listened to Tokyo Jihen's stuff that I was really blown away. バラエティ is one hell of an eclectic romp, led by Ringo's sometimes screechy/fierce, sometimes seasoned/reflective, always incredible vocals. But バラエティ is far from a one-woman show, with Jihen bandmates providing dynamic basslines and piano forays that dauntlessly bound to the forefront of songs. From the sinister prowl of「月極姫」to the almost cute bubble->pop effect that bolsters「メトロ」, バラエティ possesses a raw energy that was unmatched by virtually anything else I've listened to all year. The aptly entitled「キラーチューン」is just that, one heck of a killer tune.


These guys are so, so good. From where I sit, the anatomy of バラエティ is definitive of what the perfect pop record should be. The album was certainly deserving of the #1 spot, but that distinction goes to...


1)M.I.A. - Kala
Check out:
Bamboo Banga
$20
Paper Planes

Duh. I was merely praying for something up to par with 2005's Arular, but M.I.A. totally brought it with Kala, effectively blowing her debut record out of the water. Kala is just so antithetical of anything you'd catch on the airwaves today; full of cash registers, breakneck speedsters, and guns, yet totally devoid of the bling, the whips, and the faux club thuggery. The album plays like a documentary housing some crazy bass, with the often irreverent M.I.A. dropping fierce bombshells left and right. "Do you know the cost of AKs up in Africa? 20 dollars ain't shit to you, but that's how much they are. Of course they gonna use it to kill a little da" ("$20"). The methodical, tribal "Bamboo Banga" is almost self-explanatory, and tracks like the raucous "XR2" could move any dance floor. In the end, Kala is still an electronica record at the core, but it's an extraordinary, anomalous one that possesses a multifaceted relevancy. I'm a fan, but I like to think that I'm not blinded by my status as a devotee. I mean, if it's good enough to top Rolling Stone's 07 list, it's certainly good enough to top mine right?

M.I.A.:

When I went to the Carribean, they had this thing called Prang. Because the islands didn't have television or newspapers, once a year they had a Prang festival, so the musicians of each island would get together, and they'd sing songs about what happened in the year on the island, and all the songs were real direct human stuff: "Joseph be shagging his sheep, and so-and-so's having an affair with so-and-so, and this happened, and that old woman said this, and she ripped this person off." I found that so funny and interesting. There's something about music when it's on a street level. It's the only way you can build up subcultures and have manifestos to believe in and lifestyles and ideologies...the reality is that I don't see (music) as a business. I'm still one of those people that see music as art, and maybe it's really naive, but maybe I'm the future...