2007年 Feb 16日 Friday, 17:44

22. Cansei De Ser Sexy - s/t
Let's Make Love and Listen to Death From Above is a killer track. Absolutely killer. Alala is pleasant as well. I can only take CSS in doses. Some of their tracks leave you unsettled, but when they nail it (as in Let's Make Love), boy, do they nail it.
21. Ben Harper - Both Sides of the Gun
His songs are expertly composed, minimal but very pretty. He splits it really well between the slower, delicate songs and the rockers with the two discs - but even between tracks, he demonstrates his fantastic range.
20. The Streets - The Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living
The problem with this record is that it couldn't be nearly as good as A Grand Don't Come For Free. Which was a pretty high bar to tackle. While his last record ended up sounding sort of like Guy Ritchie meets Shaun of the Dead, this one highlights, more than any of his other records, his nation of origin. I'm not a Anglophile, I'm sort of the opposite, but his take on fame gives me a good image in my head - that there must be some sort of Beverly Hills equivalent in Britain.
19. Cex - Actual Fucking
Probably one of the more peculiar picks on the list. The songs are almost all different, but that just lends to the idea that he's being so deliberate. In one song, he's yowling like Thom Yorke, in another, he's screeching like… I don't know, fucking Sigur Ros or something. And then there's the anxious pulses of "Los Angeles," the penultimate track, that almost sounds like something out of a Depeche Mode album but… just completely indescribable. The album booklet is adorned with a plaid couple, the man having just pulled out of the woman, and the interior is full of stories of anonymous sexual experiences. It's a weird experiment. It suffers because this overly serious ambient plodding music that he's being so deliberate in almost parodying is inherently annoying and he really can't escape that Catch-22, but in the high moments of the album, remembering the absurdity of those are half the fun.
18. Clipse - Hell Hath No Fury
I only got into this one recently, and haven't had time to digest it yet. That works against it. These aren't the Neptunes' catchiest beats, so I wasn't hooked immediately, though that may lend itself better to deeper listening. What I was impressed with, though, was the flow. That's what might bring me back a few more times.
17. Heligoats - The Sapling Sessions
It's B-sides. But oh, boy. The rough cuts of some early TH songs, a few experiments here and there. It's not coherent. That's what his next album is for. But the demo of "Phones" demands an extension that the quintuple on the first album can't match.
16. Hello Radio: The Songs of They Might Be Giants
There are some disasters here. Don't Let's Start was mangled, and Doctor Worm is obnoxious. But the reinventions of Dead, Ana Ng, and They'll Need a Crane carry it through. It's a testament to TMBG's songwriting ability that so many of these translate so well. It let me have the experience of experiencing some of my favorite songs all over again. Except for Don't Let's Start. Come on, This Radiant Boy.
15. Ben Folds & Rupert Gregson-Williams - Over the Hedge
Rupert's stuff sounds ripped straight from a Maxis catalogue, jazzy and movie-efficient. My real joy is the Ben Folds tracks - Family of Me is clearly inspired by the movie, but it has a bit of his aged, more pointed irony. The reinterpretation of Rockin' the Suburbs means I can enjoy my favorite song, circa 2001, as a much more clever satire. His cover of Lost in the Supermarket is faithful, and Still has great narration that works even better standing alone.
14. Ghostface - Fishscale
I had to delay my list for this one. Dogs of War has an inescapable beat, and R.A.G.U. has one of my new favorite candid hip hop lyrics (I'm in the crib, watchin' Larry King Live). I haven't had a lot of time to dwell on it but it's been an instant favorite. Ghostface is 36 now, and he really shows promise for this generation of aging rappers that should be starting to settle down.
13. dj BC - Let It Beast
To tell you the truth, I liked this a lot better than the Grey Album. He said that it was mostly just practice, nothing intended to be a big project. I loved To The Five Boroughs when I got it, but it lacks a substance to keep me listening to it in the long term. This adds that substance.
12. The Changes - Today is Tonight
They brought back most of their EP, except for "You Want It," which I still think is a glaring omission. The whole record doesn't derive much from their established style, which can only be described as jangly, but don't fix what ain't broke. When they take three minutes to wrap up a song, the fun is only starting.
11. Built to Spill - You in Reverse
The main fault with this album is the length of the songs. Goin Against Your Mind is absolutely epic, Conventional Wisdom is fantastic, you can listen through the whole song, through countless guitar solos and not get sick of it. The problem is that when you're done with one song, you're reminded of how good it was, and want to listen again. It's hard to get through an album that way.
10. Barenaked Ladies - Barenaked Ladies Are Me/Barenaked Ladies Are Men
BNL delivered a LOT of music this time around, so it was rougher to get the cohesive flow, to bond with all the songs. It took a lot more time. But they're getting older and better. Maybe You're Right gets bigger and bigger as time goes on, Easy has a great riff, and I Can I Will I Do finally made the cut in a well polished, jazzy version. The discs are different, sure, but the amount of time it takes to get into it with its simultaneous promise manages to make it a worthwhile long-term investment.
9. Gnarls Barkley - St. Elsewhere
It was no surprise that Crazy wasn't the only good song off this. The song had a solid quality that suggested a band that thinks things out, not just craps them out. And the album was quality. Overhyped? A little. But their initial reception was lukewarm and they only gradually caught on in the states until it was the song of the summer. Crazy is a classic, the album is solid, but the band's mystique (or, for the cynically-inclined, ability to hype) is what will make them legends. The whole album is a weird introspective self-portrait. Transformer is a standout. Kudos to DM and Cee-Lo.
8. Shawn Lee - Bully (soundtrack)
This has something for everything, and does everything right. It's like Tim Burton and Danny Elfman did their thing, but with a little more edge to it. A little bit of funk mixed in there. The entire score is excellent and the quality of the game makes it that much more recommendable. Great riffs, excessively catchy and even listenable outside the game.
7. Lupe Fiasco - Food & Liquor
Solid spot, but a disappointing placement nonetheless. After Intonation, my anticipation for Lupe's album was unrivaled - it was the only thing I've tried to get on release day in several years. Don't get me wrong, it's a solid album. The beats are great, the focus is on Lupe, his messages are from the heart. It's real, true, passionate rap, which we don't have enough of. But this was an album from the heart, and the problem with that is that there aren't enough catchy hooks. Sure, there's the singles - Kick Push, I Gotcha, and Daydreamin'. But there's the bizarre back to back pairing of The Instrumental and He Say She Say, in both of which he repeats a verse nearly word for word, just changing a pronoun here or there. Look, Lupe, it's a great trick, but don't put those tracks back to back, it looks sloppy. This isn't to say he hasn't made a great album. He has. But I expected it to be my number one of the year for so long that there was bound to be disappointment.
6. The Decemberists - The Crane Wife
I'll be frank. I like the Decemberists. They are fun live, I like their style, and they've got good singles. But their album cuts often tend on the annoying side for me, and I can't always get all the way behind their 18th century chic (it seems a bit too overexposed as of late. Might just be me). Here, though, they really wrote a full album of catchy, listenable songs. It's a shame I got into it late as I did, but I think I've given it a few fair listens, and they've made an album with the potential for a series of re-listens, new favorite tracks every time.
5. Weird Al Yankovic - Straight Outta Lynwood
My expectations were sky-high, and every one of them were met. I still think the whole album is solid. The style parodies are all spot on, funny, well-written, and expertly composed - Pancreas does for instrumental composition what Hardware Store did for layered vocals. The Polka is effortlessly satisfying on multiple listens, Trapped in the Drive Thru is consistently hysterical, and I'm forever fond of Confessions Pt. III. This is his best album yet, by such a longshot. The funniest song, I think, must be You're Pitiful, but thank god it was left off the album - or else we wouldn't have the wonderful that comes from White & Nerdy or Do I Creep You Out. Thanks, Al.
4. Thunderbirds Are Now! - Make History
Their sound just keeps on getting better as they figure it out more and more - you definitely get the sense they know exactly what they're doing on this one. (The Making Of…) Make History is one of my favorites - I find myself humming an alternate version of it all the time - and when something is inspiring enough to make you want to write your own music, well, it's a great album.
3. Justin Timberlake - FutureSex/LoveSounds
Boy did something incredible. Fucking incredible. I got hooked on SexyBack, but I've moved deeper into the album, and I contend that LoveStoned/I Think That She Knows Interlude is the best song of the year. He's the fucking king. He's got the best beats, the whole way through, and lends an adorable vulnerability that just wraps it all up. Add his effortless suave and sense of humor, and you've gotcha self a winner.
2. Girl Talk - Night Ripper
The first time I heard this, I was giggling my dick off. This is a total hugsfest for every music lover - every time I heard a song I recognized, I just hummed to myself a bit. He manages to make irritating songs great, and catchy songs doubly catchy. I find myself wanting to scream the chorus to Hollaback Girl or Galang out car windows, wanting to dance whenever I have two odd songs stuck in my head. He's multiplied catchy by itself.
1. Rhymefest - Blue Collar
Going into Intonation, I expected Rhymefest to be some sort of rap collective, like a Jon Brion for the rap crowd. I wasn't the biggest fan of Jesus Walks, but I checked him out anyway. I was instantly a fan. Fest has made the year's best rap album, something that feels more viable, more relatable, more real than anything I've heard come out of the rap world. And I'm in no way Blue Collar - I'm entitled, supported, well-endowed and off to ultimate success with a few emotional problems. But Fest just made an album that's just full of things that everyone goes through, a world that you walk through in Chicago, something everyone knows. In Fest's world, things aren't good, but the way he presents it, there's nothing but promise. There's always something positive around the corner. There's always a bright spin that can be put on things. And if there's a better rap song about being in love than "Build Me Up," I'd be surprised. It's not a perfect album - there are a few songs I don't love, but the album as a whole shines through. It's the biggest hitting album of 2006, and I can't wait for El Che in March. Thanks, 'Fest, for painting a perfect portrait of the part of the city I love that isn't in the travel books. Upped Sufjan, even.