What...just...happened?
Thats the first thing I'll say when I wake up on Jan. 1st.
What...the fuck...just...happened?
2007 was a year that, at least for me, went by incredibly fast and I could barely keep up. My best of disk is so eclectic that I don't really know what to make of it. So honestly. What happened?
Winter 2007.
To start off this little year end thing we're gonna kick back to January 1977; the year that Gordon Sumner (a.k.a Sting a.k.a douchbag mcdoucherton) and drummer Stewart Copeland formed a little three piece and became one of the most popular bands in the history of Rock n' Roll: The Police. 30 years after they come back. No more fighting, no more greed, no more of Stings ego. The police come back, play a few sold out arenas all of the planet and bask in their glory. But not only do old classics rise from the dead...But in 2007, the new music starts start away. The Shins release their third LP Wincing the Night Away. The Good, the Bad and the Queen release their debut album The Good, the Bad and the Queen. The band is Damion Albarn's newest project after the break up of (and I might cry) the Gorillaz. I guess the break up is somewhat ok though...because they did leave us with the memory of Demon Days. The album carries alot of the ideas and sounds that the Gorillaz were also exploring.Best Albums
Menomena also released one of the best albums of the year Friend and Foe on the 23rd. Unfortunately I didn't give it a serious spin until the end of spring. The album flows with such an intriguing sound. Parts of it are epic but move into beautiful soundscapes and melodies that blend together so perfectly. On this album the band such us on this album that their not friend to rock out a little (which they do more often then implied.)Menomena - Wet and Rusting
Menomena - Weird
Depending on how you look it at the next big album that came out was Of Montreal's ecstasy trip: Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destoryer? The first time you listen to it it may be the happiest album you've ever heard. On first listen Kevin Barnes couldn't be happier. It's that first listen that gets you. It's the second that scares. Hissing Fauna is the post-breakup album of all post-breakup albums. Behind the veil of the happy go lucky (but no less phenomenal) music Kevin is a torn and broken man. He was actually prescribed antidepressants during the making of this album. He also spent a few months in Norway. The best part of the album is that after the beautiful "The Past is a Grotesque Animal" Kevin turns into his "glam-rock" alter ego Georgie Fruit.Georgie Fruit.
Right. Just keep writing them Kevin...we'll keep listening.
Of Montreal - Labyrinthain Pomp
Of Montreal - Heimdalsgate Like a Promethean Curse
In February the kings of the indie scene, Bloc Party, released the follow up to their unreal 2003 debut album Silent Alarm. Silent Alarm being an debut album which probably inspired thousands of people to feel conviction towards the music they listen to. Silent Alarm was almost impossible to follow up and Bloc Party's A Weekend in the City does indeed falls short. But it really was to be expected. What I didn't expect though was how good the album actually would be. Weekend was definitely were we start to see drummer Matt Tong experiment with a computer double. This is one of the problems with the album, where Silent Alarm had furious and passionate drumming, Weekend tends to feel most detached. Alas though, the songs are still written with that Bloc Party magic.Bloc Party - Hunting for Witches
Bloc Party - The Prayer
No one will deny the power of the Arcade Fire after the turn of the Century. Their debut album Funeral marked the beginning of Canada's domination of the indie airways. Like Bloc Party their second disk was almost set to fail. Again, how could it live up to expectations? And again, it faltered...but only slightly. Neon Bible takes what Funeral started and runs with it. It's not anything fresh or exciting. But it is the Arcade Fire writing Arcade Fire songs. Whats all we wanted and thats all we got. They changed their sound only slightly enough to make the album interesting enough to listen to once and detailed enough to spin it over and over again.Arcade Fire - No Cars Go
Arcade Fire - My Body is a Cage
The Kings of Leon's third album happens to be their first pop record. And what a bloody record. Listen to it. Pitchfork still hates them but I think that they mature and grow with every record they put out. Their first two disks had a much more southern rock influence but this third one Because of the Times seeks to out grab the mainstream. I can think of no one better to bring "real" rock back to the masses.Kings of Leon - McFearless
Kings of Leon - My Party/span>
