Top Albums of 2007: #01 Panda Bear - Person Pitch

#01. Panda Bear - Person Pitch

(I have reached the end of the countdown. I don't feel like writing much. I hope you understand.)

Person Pitch has occupied this spot since the first time I heard it. It's top ten of all time material for me. May surpass Sung Tongs in my estimation kinda good. That's a lot coming from me.

But, to use less extreme words: it's an endlessly listenable album. Some have argued that its basically musical hypnosis, but I feel like that could be applied to almost any low key electronica, so I ain't buyin.

It's just perfect. Every second of it. Oh my sweet Jesus, I love this album.

I'm gonna listen to it right now.

(download it here [momentarily])

Nathaniel Tyson

PS:

For the Hell of it, the entire rest of the list, with ALL the runners-up (ie, albums that I thought about possibly including with any seriousness, roughly kinda ranked)...

02. of Montreal – Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?
03. Radical Face – Ghost
04. Les Savy Fav – Let’s Stay Friends
05. Dan Deacon – Spider-Man of the Rings
06. Black Moth Super Rainbow – Dandelion Gum
07. No Age – Weirdo Rippers
08. Studio – Yearbook 1
09. The Field – From Here We Go Sublime
10. Spoon – Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
11. Marissa Nadler – Songs III: Bird on the Wire
12. Animal Collective – Strawberry Jam
13. Gui Boratto – Chromophobia
14. Burial – Untrue
15. Lil Wayne – Da Drought 3

16. Iron & Wine – The Shepard’s Dog
17. Feist – The Reminder
18. LCD Soundsystem – Sound of Silver
19. Kanye West – Graduation
20. The Fiery Furnaces – Widow City
21. Stars of the Lid – And Their Refinement of the Decline
22. Menomena – Friend & Foe
23. Lil Wayne – The Carter III
24. Caribou – Andorra
25. M.I.A. – Kala
26. The Dirty Projectors – Rise Above
27. Frog Eyes – Tears of the Valedictorian
28. Liars – Liars
29. Radiohead – In Rainbows
30. The Besnard Lakes – The Besnard Lakes Are the Dark Horse

31. Wolves in the Throne Room – Two Hunters
32. Sally Shapiro – Disco Romance
33. Modest Mouse – We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank
34. Yeasayer – All Hour Cymbals
35. A Sunny Day in Glasgow – Scribble Mural Comic Journal
36. Glasscandy – B/E/A/T/B/O/X
37. Ghostface Killah – The Big Doe Rehab
38. Those Dancing Days – Those Dancing Days EP
39. The Tough Alliance – A New Chance
40. Battles – Mirrored
41. Deerhoof – Friend Opportunity
42. Paramore – RIOT!
43. Sunset Rubdown – Random Spirit Lover
44. The Arcade Fire – Neon Bible
45. Justice – (cross)
46. Handsome Furs – Plague Park
47. Joanna Newsom - Joanna Newsom and the Ys Street Band EP

Top Albums of 2007: #02. of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?

#02. of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?

When I was younger, I adopted the glam rock of the 70's as my personal pet niche in musical history. Let's ignore what this might imply about anyone's sexuality and focus on just how wonderful it is that Kevin Barnes has submitted his masterpiece to the glam Parthenon.

David Bowie would be proud of Barnes' lyrics: all catty observation and surreal theatricality, a good chunk of the album's lyrics read like journal entries written during a nervous breakdown. Barnes adorns the album's manic, disco and punk flavored songs with his own suicidal prose, and the result is an autobiographical glam rock concept album that none can fuck with.

When I saw of Montreal live in Philly last year, I saw Barnes playing the role of a 70's glam god; switching between kimonos, dresses, stilts, thongs, and his birthday suit in the span of an hour and a half. His exaggerated androgyny has become as present in his stage show as it has in his music.

Perhaps this album is truly the work of a transitive time in Barnes life, and it's exact blend of mad genius and crippling doubt will never be recreated.

Even if that's so...even if this will forever stand as the peak of Barnes' songwriting...we have to remind ourselves that he has an extensive, amazing back catalog, and this album is the work of years of creative output.

Right. Yeah. Perspective.

(download it here [momentarily])

Nathaniel Tyson

Top Albums of 2007: #03. Radical Face - Ghost

#03. Radical Face - Ghost

This album was a nice little discovery for me. One day, I just came across it on some message board, and the rest is history.

The album is the work of one guy (who is also involved with Electric President [I don't care what his name is, frankly]), and it is evidently something of a concept album about haunted houses, or at least songs that sound like they could be about a haunted house.

It's a fantastic winter and fall record, but it has moments of momentous pop bombast that keep the album from a strictly downer status.

But honestly, bullcrap aside, the music is just really beautiful and sad and haunting. And it's kind of funny that I choose the word 'haunting', but it's not a joke. It's one of those albums that becomes especially personal the more you listen to it.

Ironically, I know relatively very little about the production or history of the album, and I know less about the guy behind the music. This would usually bug me, but I'm not really worried about it.

It's the kind of album that could make me want to buy a record without access to a turntable. I wanna go buy it for $20 in Northampton, but I rarely get out there. It's probably gone by now. I saw it out there about two months ago.

PS: As I am listening to the album right now, I feel compelled to mention just how wonderfully the music accompanies a late night at the computer.

(download it here)

Nathaniel Tyson

Top Albums of 2007: #04. Les Savy Fav - Let's Stay Friends

#04. Les Savy Fav - Let's Stay Friends

I need to make sure I clear up one thing about this album: it is the best pure rock and roll I've heard in a long time.

It rules, unchallenged, in the modern lands of great rock music.

Now, I will leave you with the lyrics to the opening track of Let's Stay Friends, "Pots & Pans". This song is incredible, and it plainly states Les Savy Fav's claim to the unoccupied throne of ultimate rock gods:

There was a band
Called the Pots and Pans
And they made this moise
That people couldn't stand
And when they toured
All across the land
The people said:
"No, no, no!"
But the drummer said:
"Yes, yes, yes!
This tour is a test!"

Has your skin grown thick from bands that make you sick?
Has your skin grown thick from a thousand stinging pricks?
Have you been made dense standing upon the fence?
Have you been made dense from polish and pretense?

Well, this is where it stops.
This is where it ends.
Let's tear this whole place down and build it up again.
This band's a beating heart and it's nowhere near its end.

They're name is Les Savy Fav, ladies and gentlemen, and they're gonna save Rock & Roll

(download it here)

Nathaniel Tyson

Top Albums of 2007: #05. Dan Deacon - Spider-Man of the Rings

#05. Dan Deacon - Spider-Man of the Rings

Alright, I'm gonna start this with my second stupid, somewhat awkward Joanna Newsom comparison of the countdown:

Mr. Dan Deacon is something like the Joanna Newsom of American nerdy white kid electronica. Like Newsom's love-'em or hate-'em pipes, Deacon's polarizing "voice" veers from juvenile to mature, from whimsical to dark, from danceable to puzzling all within the length of one song.

Deacon's umpteenth album, Spider-Man of the Rings is insane, but this is pretty much in line with Deacon himself. If his music sounds like it should be the soundtrack to some bizarre experimental film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, that's because sometimes, it is. Deacon isn't just a DJ, he's something of a performance artist, using his shows to get his audience to hug each other and participate in organized dance numbers.

Deacon is making his music for the kids, no question; the crowds at Deacon's shows are age-specific, with most attendees between their freshman year high school and last years of college. On Spider-Man of the Rings, Deacon's work is childlike, delving into the same simple musical joy that Animal Collective infuses their music with. In some ways, Deacon seems to be aiming to get his crowds to dance as a simple, geeky catharsis. Deacon genuinely seems to cre for the insecure, uptight, intellectual collegiate and post-collegiate kids that pepper his audience.

Deacon's not the first nerdy white dj to tell the indoor kids that dancin' is okay, but he's exactly the bespectacled, balding, overweight messenger this generation needs.

PS: "Deacon" is the beginning of every paragraph because Dan Deacon is blessed with literally the best name in show business. Congrats and razzmatazz to you, Master Deacon.

(download it here)

Nathaniel Tyson

Top Albums of 2007: #06. Black Moth Super Rainbow - Dandelion Gum

#06. Black Moth Super Rainbow - Dandelion Gum

I know that there are plenty of electronic jam bands out there. I have been to Bonnaroo after all. But there are few electronica acts that can manage to actually remind me of the greatest 70's jam bands. Black Moth Super Rainbow is like Battles' cooler little brother, who smokes pot and isn't quite as nerdy about drums and math rock.

It's a suspect claim for sure, but I would say that Dandelion Gum's first track, "Forever Heavy" is as rockin as any old school Allman Bros jam.

Dandelion Gum is like the classic rock of the Jetsons. I don't care if it's the work of a band or a dj, or a mind-controlled python. It sounds damned good.

Much like rap and rock came together for a shining, golden moment in the late 90's with nu metal, rock and electronica are having illigitimate babies all over the music scene these days. Evidently these guys are much more well known over in California, which is where they're from. Over yonder, there's an entire musical scene just like this.

Fuck those Cali kids. They get jeeps, sex, sun, AND the best electronica? Fuck them.

Anyways, Dandelion Gum is hopefully just the beginning of these guys careers. Last I heard, they were touring with Aesop, which seems to indicate a strong following. People up here really dig 'em, and you tend to hear the album blasting out of pot smoke filled dorm rooms.

I wouldn't be surprised if this album ends up becoming more and more famous. Considering its broad appeal, it might end up being considered a classic of our time.

(download it here)

Nathaniel Tyson

Top Albums of 2007: #07. No Age - Weirdo Rippers

#07. No Age - Weirdo Rippers

I have to admit that while I might not buy into it entirely, the whole "noise as beauty" musical aesthetic can produce some pretty god damned wonderful stuff.

Weirdo Rippers belongs up there with Daydream Nation in my estimation. It produces the same organic musical atmosphere as DN, at times all brooding, churning guitars with sudden loud and rapid punctures of the sonic ceiling, at times the album even resembles simple, melodic, fuzzy rock.

Like many greats of the indie canon (Yo la Tengo and Godspeed especially), No Age is 100% an album band. The songs on Weirdo Rippers are all very good, but their collection together is genius.

Like most muddy production, the mixing of Weirdo Rippers is probably frustrating to many. But the albums obscuring of the musical details really enhances the potency of the songs, especially in the album's quite moments, like the first minute or so of "I Wanna Sleep".

Weirdo Rippers rocks and squeals and thrashes, but it is all done with the same control and precision as fellow art rock bands Liars, Deerhoof, and Times New Viking. The noise may be challenging, but it is not pointless.

But this may be under appreciating Weirdo Ripper's palatability. Afterall, it is ultimately just a great rock & roll album.

(download it here)

Nathaniel Tyson

Top Albums of 2007: #08. Studio - Yearbook 1

#08. Studio - Yearbook 1

Yearbook 1 is a tricky album to pin down. It is a poppy piece of electronica for sure, but it also seems to be a somewhat proggy indie album. Oh those Swedes. They're great synthesizers.

It is easy to pass by Yearbook 1 on first glance or listen. If you don't have an ear for electronica, it may seem to be unextraordinary. But, even though the album starts with the catchy, strangely childish, keyboard melodies of "No Comply", by the time it gets to the half-way mark of "Out There", Studio have revealed themselves to be masters of their complex style of electro indie.

Even with Yearbook 1's consistency, the clear highlight of the album is clearly the penultimate track, the 13 minute "Life's a Beach!". The song plays like a jammed out track from a lost Smiths album for about half of its length, and then dissolves into tropical, shimmery goodness.

(download it here)

Nathaniel Tyson

Top Albums of 2007: #09. The Field - From Here We Go Sublime

#09. The Field - From Here We Go Sublime

There is truthfully little I can say about this album. It's songs are addictive and smooth, and the record as a whole seems flawless. Basically, it boils down to this:

This album is my definition of good electronica.

What makes the album so good? It is familiar without ever being redundant; the mood and pace of the music are in a constant flux, so even returning samples are given new life through the ever-changing context of the music.

But the most perfect thing about this album is the sample of "I Only Have Eyes for You" in the last track. It is indescribably beautiful.

(download it here)

Nathaniel Tyson

Top Albums of 2007: #10. Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga

#10. Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga

Why Spoon isn't the biggest rock band in America is something of a mystery.

With 2005's Gimme Fiction, Spoon proved just how consistently well-oiled a rock n' roll machine they were. Over the course of four albums, Spoon has written some of the most definitive rock anthems of the American indie scene. Their previous albums' singles "Everything Hits at Once", "The Way We Get By", and "I Turn My Camera On" have proven mass appeal and staying power, and the band itself has become a staple at the SXSW festival.

Considering the mainstream acceptance the band has earned, there's no real reason for Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga to sound as fresh and invigorated as it does, but Brit Daniels appears to have plenty of gas for the next decade or so. Let's look at the big tracks of the album. The album's first single, the Jon Brion produced "The Underdog", was miles ahead of any of the band's past singles. The album's second single, "You Got Yr Cherry Bomb", was miles ahead of "The Underdog".

By now, in the twilight of the 00's indie scene, we've seen the rise and fall of dozens of fash-in-the-pan rock bands. The number of these bands that have proven any creative or commercial staying power is minuscule. But alongside acts like The New Pornographers, Animal Collective, and The Arcade Fire, Spoon appears to have cemented a steady place in the American rock canon; and if they're still producing material this good for the next ten years, we could see Spoon increase even further in cultural and artistic influence.

(download it here)

Nathaniel Tyson

Top Albums of 2007: #11. Marissa Nadler - Songs III: Bird on the Water

#11. Marissa Nadler - Songs III: Bird on the Water

Marissa Nadler's voice could place her as Joanna Newsom's sheltered, lovesick Aunt. Her style of lyrics also places her in Ms. Newsom's lovely company: they are undeniably modern, but simultaneously refer back to the symbol-rich nursery rhymes of Western Europe.

The nautical theme of the album further pushes Ms. Nadler's voice into the past, casting her as the bittersweet balladeer of a world made up of distant loves and seemingly empty promises of colonies across the sea. Her voice may not be as polarizing as Ms. Newsom, but she is certainly her spiritual and musical cousin. In fact, one can imagine Joanna's girlish trills surrounding "Sylvia", rather than Ms. Nadler's cold, low croon.

Songs III: Bird on the Water is an excellent, if not perfect, collection of songs, each of which Marissa manages to transform into a haunting, unforgettable testament of an ancient culture and people.

(download it here)

Nathaniel Tyson

Top Albums of 2007: #12. Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam

#12. Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam

The only reservations I still have about SJ as the next album in Animal Collective's discography is the seemingly complete move into audible and recognizable vocals and lyrics. This seems like an odd bone to pick, but it's my main contention with the album.

On the whole, Strawberry Jam is nowhere near as good as Sung Tongs. But I can honestly say this about 99.999% of albums I've ever heard, so it's not that much of a put-down. Luckily, I also think that SJ is stronger full album than Feels.

Where Feels' filler ("Daffy Duck" and "Bees" especially) really dragged the pace of the album downward, Strawberry Jam is free of spacey clunkers. In fact, the most obvious criticsm of SJ is that it seems to reject a lot of Panda Bear's more subtle sonic influences. This can definitely be attributed to Panda Bear's focus on his own solo material, but it's still an unnerving development.

In the end, the album's best songs "Fireworks", "Derek", and "Winter Wonderland" far outweigh anything negative I have to say about the album. It settles quite nicely into Animal Collective's "maturing" discography.

(download it here)

Nathaniel Tyson

Top Albums of 2007: #13. Gui Boratto - Chromophobia

#13. Gui Boratto - Chromophobia

All glittery, shimmery, and blissed out, Chromophobia is the rare electronica lp to affirm the organic nature of its musicality while simultaneously examining the inherent artifice of computer-based sound.

The title of the album gives name to the prejudice against the shiny, polished quality of electronic music. In many ways, the album is an expression against the critical diminishing of electronica as heartless, droning machinery.

Much like Grandaddy and Daft Punk are fascinated with the search for humanity in circuitboards, Gui Boratto is intent on crafting an electronic homage to pure organic human creativity.

The Chromophobia of the title refers to the inability of some listeners to acknowledge electronic music as "genuine" artistic expression, and the album that follows is Mr. Boratto's glittery, shimmery, sincere response to that.

As an afterthought: if you hate electronica, check out "Beautiful Life" off of this album. It's perfection...you might be converted.

(download it here)

Nathaniel Tyson

Top Albums of 2007: #14. Burial - Untrue

#14. Burial - Untrue

Dubstep, despite its aura of elite trendy mystery, is a relatively straight-forward style of British electronica in which typical old soul or r&b samples are mixed with syncopated beats to make sonic compositions with intensely dark and lonely atmospheres. The very idea of a club dedicated to the genre is somewhat absurd.

But even with its dark musical trappings, dubstep has become a dominant genre in the historically crowded UK club scene. So it was only a matter of time before American music snobs caught on to the whole thing.

The anonymous British DJ Burial has become, so far, the biggest crossover artist in the genre. His sophomore album Untrue, has proven to be his major breakthrough into the American music media. Scanning reviews, Untrue has recieved deserved praise as a dense, challenging work, with most critics acknowledging their previous ignorance of Dubstep.

Of course, this doesn't tell you what I think of the album.

Whenever I listen to Untrue, I imagine myself on a lonely walk home from a German club circa 1980, travelling past the Berlin Wall, into an uncertain decade of European history.

Burial's music sounds like the music of ghost DJs trying to warn humanity of an impending apocalypse. As an artistic experience, Untrue is ultimately dark, brooding, and unsettling. Of course, it is also hypnotic and comforting in unexplainable dimensions. The strange syncopations and mournful samples become instantly familiar, making you wonder how you'd lived without it your entire life, or possibly who Burial is ripping off.

(download it here)

Nathaniel Tyson

The Top Albums of 2007: #15. Lil Wayne - Da Drought 3

#15. Lil' Wayne - Da Drought 3

While The Carter 3 may be a bit away (wait, is it? I'm confused about this still), Lil Wayne still dominated the shit out of internet geeks in 2007 with this incredible double length mixtape. You see, through his winning personality, and insane Southern milkshake he calls a voice, Lil' Wayne has revolutionized the way most rock critics see hip-hop mixtapes. Suddenly, every pretentious white-boy-music-nerd site is talking about the latest underground mixtape with a passion usually reserved for the latest Canadian post rock band. Indeed, music snobs have managed to co-opt another fine emcee into the critically acceptable canon of college-kid appproved rap.

But Da Drought 3 is undeniably great, so we can ignore this and my status as a college kid for the time being.

To put this all simply, the basic root of Da Drought 3's genius is Lil' Wayne's ability to improvise abstract, hilarious one-liners and complex conceptual metaphors with seemingly little effort.

When he observes that "bitches want to fuck like they're me and I'm them", he isn't just casually daydreaming about how much sex he has, he's playing around with the traditional power and gender roles that rap fame can bring. "N.O. Nigga", the song the quote is from, explores the duality of Lil Wayne's fame. While his fame and money are impressive, the song makes clear that LW is under constant pressure, meanwhile the (borrowed) churning, escalating beat pushes the emcee closer and closer to some sonic edge with no escape in sight.

This kind of throwaway genius is the core of the two CDs making up Da Drought 3, and it stands as a clear monument to Lil Wayne's lyrical creativity in an age of beat-heavy fluff.

Ha. It's so easy to make a Lil Wayne review unnecessarily intellectual, isn't it?

(download it here)

Nathaniel Tyson

Best Albums of 2007: Announcement and Honorable Mentions

Ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to announce my plans tonight to unveil...

The First Hollow Chatter Countdown Ever!

As a small writing exercise, I'm going to write capsule reviews of my fifteen favorite albums from last year. I figure I may as well turn this into my first set of serial posts ever. I'll start tonight and hopefully wrap up Wednesday or Thursday.

Anyone who knows me knows I love lists, but I have imposed some limits on the amount I'm gonna post on the blog. This will be my first real one.

Entry #15 should be arriving later tonight, but here's a sneak-peek of the almost-made-its:

The Unchosen Finalists for My Top 15 Albums of 2007 (ie, #s 16-30)

16. Iron & Wine - The Shepard's Dog
17. Feist – The Reminder
18. LCD Soundsystem – Sound of Silver
19. Kanye West – Graduation
20. The Fiery Furnaces – Widow City
21. Stars of the Lid – And Their Refinement of the Decline
22. Menomena – Friend & Foe
23. Lil Wayne – The Carter III
24. Caribou – Andorra
25. M.I.A. – Kala
26. The Dirty Projectors – Rise Above
27. Frog Eyes – Tears of the Valedictorian
28. Liars – Liars
29. Radiohead – In Rainbows
30. The Besnard Lakes – The Besnard Lakes Are the Dark Horse

If the runners-up are that good, you know the list will be worth reading...right?

Nathaniel Tyson