The Post-Rockist

TODD’s TOP 15 SONGS OF 2007

At the risk of sounding like a rock snob (which, after all, is the very antithesis of what being a post-rockist is all about), I can’t honestly say there were very many albums this year that grabbed my attention and drew me in obsessively from start to finish like in past years. Maybe it was because some of my favorite musicians released new records this year and my expectations were too impossibly high to meet, or maybe really good just isn’t good enough sometimes. But maybe it’s just been a result of my changing listening habits — weekly album downloads causing me to cycle through new releases at such a fast clip that if an album doesn’t catch my attention after one or two listens it’s automatically consigned to the digital dustbin. It’s a shame, really, but I’m not making any excuses for it.

In any case, there has been a slew of really fantastic songs, and the following is a list of some of my favorites in an only slightly meaningful order:

15. Wilco - “Either Way“ (buy)
(from Sky Blue Sky)

A hope-filled lullaby for the depressively predisposed. “Maybe you still love me, maybe you don’t, either you will or you won’t,” Jeff Tweedy sings with perfect complacency. Rarely do you hear such patience, restraint, and beauty in a song, but the opening track on Sky Blue Sky strolls along like a cautious optimist for those too old and tired to beleaguer the weight of pessimism. This isn’t soft rock, this is Zoloft rock.

14. Paul McCartney - “Ever Present Past“ (buy)
(from Memory Almost Full)

Upon first listen, you might think Macca’s “Ever Present Past” was released around the same time George had a hit with “I Got My Mind Set On You,” but despite the song’s sharp, youthful chorus it actually reveals to us a remarkably candid and far older Paul who is exposing his concerns of finding true happiness in the later years of his life and the fleeting permanence of his youthful exploits. It’s an honest, personal, and incredibly catchy song from one of pop music’s greatest songwriters.

13. Apples in Stereo - “Skyway“ (buy)
(from New Magnetic Wonder)

This is what rock ‘n’ roll sounds like to kids: electric riffs, banging pianos, ecstatic one-note solos, hand claps, and choruses where everybody chimes in with a “do-doo-doo-doo-do-doo!” All music should be this joyous.

12. The Pink Mountaintops - “Single Life“ (buy)
(from Single Life)

Good God this song rocks. Every single second kicks my ass and bleaches my bones. Take the two-chord punk energy of early Spacemen 3, the blasts of blistering white noise from The Jesus & Mary Chain, and add surrealistic, druggy vocals reminiscent of Bobby Gillespie and you’ve got a close approximation of The Pink Mountaintops’ “Single Life.” It’s a gritty, fuzz-rock gem and the closest thing to an endorsement of down and dirty hedonism you’re going to find on this list.

11. The White Stipes - “Icky Thump“ (buy)
(from Icky Thump)

As much as I love Jack’s anthemic Detroit kiss-off number “You Don’t Know What Love Is (You Just Do As You’re Told),” I love him most when he’s bordering on batshit crazy and punishing his amplifiers with a deafening eleven. This song is mean and nasty; it’s a wicked, snarling beast that coughs up churlish, non sequitur one-liners at every clomping step. Sure, Jack could have spent a little more time polishing up the rough edges on “Icky Thump,” but who wants their snarling beasts to be refined?

10. M.I.A. - “Paper Planes“ (buy)
(from Kala)

When I wrote about “Paper Planes” before I said, “The gunshots sound so musical and joyous that it occurs to me that this is the first time I’ve thought of the phrase ‘Happiness is a warm gun’ and it didn’t have to be a metaphor for heroin.” I still feel that way. This song is dangerous, and gleefully so. The thrill is like going from riding a bicycle with training wheels and reflective helmet one day, to cruising along with the Hell’s Angels on a stolen Harley a day later. I don’t know if any Hell’s Angels listen to M.I.A., but they should.

9. Amy Winehouse - “Me & Mr. Jones“ (buy)
(from Back to Black)

Soul music enjoyed a healthy revival in 2007, but nobody adapted the bumping rhythms and sensual overtones of classic soul to the beating heart of the naughts as successfully as the incredible Ms. Amy Winehouse. In “Me & Mr. Jones” Amy is tauntingly sexual and fiercely loyal in this modern tale of infidelity. “I might let you make it up to me,” she sneers, brazenly flouting her womanly authority before coyly cooing, “Who’s playing Saturday?” Ms. Winehouse may have had her fair shake of tabloid troubles this year, but her voice on this recording is so powerful that it’s easy to look past the headlines and see her as one of the most talented singers out there today.

8. Wu-Tang Clan - “Wolves” (feat. George Clinton) (buy)
(from The 8 Diagrams)

Little Red Riding Hood. Ennio Morricone. P-Funk. Method Man. What more could you want? The RZA takes all these elements and transforms them into a mysterious, delirious landscape so fully realized it makes me think that if Luis Buñuel was alive today he’d be working with turntables instead of cameras.

7. Caribou - “Melody Day“ (buy)
(from Andorra)

Every time I got the itch for some experimental pop music this year, I reached right past the deaf-in-both-ears Brian Wilson impersonators Animal Collective and Panda Bear and put on Caribou’s Andorra. From the opening notes of “Melody Day” it’s straight lift-off: soaring guitars, thunderous waves of percussion, and showers of reverberated vocals. It’s perfect for those cloudy moments where you’re not sure if you’re awake or lucid dreaming, floating weightlessly over a precariously beautiful world below. Plus, it’s a great reminder that pursuing experimental noise in pop music doesn’t have to forfeit musical structure and skill. The video is well worth checking out, too — it’s like Ingmar Bergman directing the scenes with Death from Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey.

6. Feist - “I Feel it All” (buy)
(from The Reminder)

I don’t know why I love this song as much as I do. Maybe it’s the sound of the scratchy, percussive guitar against the beautiful fingerpaintings of celeste and piano. Maybe it’s the way her thin voice conveys so much hopeful energy and simple honesty that makes me really, truly believe every single word she utters. This song just makes me happy to be alive.

5. Of Montreal - “Gronlandic Edit“ (buy)
(from Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?)

My favorite song off my favorite album of the year. Hissing Fauna is the 21st Century’s hyper-rational heir to paranoid funk-soul classics Station To Station and There’s A Riot Goin’ On; and “Gronlandic Edit” is a three-and-a-half minute proof that Kevin Barnes’ plastic soul vocals can sigh and soar on par with Bowie, and that Of Montreal’s rhythm section can out-funk Sly & The Family Stone.

4. Spoon - “Underdog“ (buy)
(from Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga)

I don’t even consider myself a Spoon fan, even though common knowledge seems to dictate that anyone remotely in the position of “music critic” unequivocally adore anything Spoon releases as if they were from the same astral plane as Yo La Tengo. But “Underdog” really is an unequivocally great song. No misleading intros, no burdensome outros or unnecessary bridges, just straightforward, terse verses and triumphant, memorable choruses. Every ounce of songwriting here becomes a pound. Every instrument comes in at just the right time to make the biggest impact - syncopated handclaps and spoons and swelling Motown horns over standard fare driving acoustic rock. If The Clash was an American band, they would have sounded like this.

3. Radiohead - “Reckoner“ (buy)
(from In Rainbows)

Radiohead was arguably the most important band in the world for my high school self, but after Kid A they slowly started to slip off my radar. They continued to release music that was, well, “interesting” but not interesting in any way that was meaningful to me anymore. Looking back, I think the years of deadened expectations really helped with my experience of In Rainbows, because this album has captivated me like no other. Unlike their past few albums, In Rainbows doesn’t sound like it’s out to prove anything; instead, it shows us a band that can confidently take very simple song elements and transform them into breathtaking arrangements. There’s not much to a song like “Reckoner” — clipped drumming in the right channel; tambourine and clean guitar in the left — and yet I’m stunned at how refreshingly original and unusual it sounds. The slow and dreamy build up of the strings and Thom Yorke’s free-floating vocals (he’s actually singing!) all come together to make “Reckoner” the most organic the band has ever sounded.

2. Jens Lekman - “A Postcard to Nina“ (buy)
(from Night Falls Over Kortedala)

After the indie breakthrough success of Oh You’re So Silent Jens, it seemed logical to assume that Jens Lekman was positioning himself to be the Swedish Jonathan Richman. With the release of Night Falls Over Kortedala; however, we begin to see his celebrity in a different light: Mr. Lekman as the Swedish Neil Sedaka. Or maybe the Swedish Paul Anka. In any case, the easy Jonathan Richman references need to be overhauled because Jens Lekman has really come into his own on Kortedala. “A Postcard to Nina” finds him swooning and crooning and cracking wise with the best of the 1960’s male pop vocalists. Whether he’s dabbling in lounge, Motown, or romantic comedy movie pitches that could plausibly star Ben Stiller, this song encapsulates everything fun and charming about Sweden’s favorite son. The “out-of-office auto-reply” line is just the cherry on top.

1. LCD Soundsystem - “All My Friends“ (buy)
(from Sound of Silver)

It starts out so basic. Repetitive piano, incessant dance beat, Bernard Sumner-inspired bass riff. That’s how it starts. But stretched out over 7 minutes and 37 seconds, “All My Friends” swells to a deafening glory of two-chord punk guitars and high-pitched squeals and James Murphy’s centered, melancholic vocals that cherish the “foolish decisions” of our head-on, lust-loving youth better than just about anything I’ve heard for our generation. “We set controls for the heart of the sun,” he sings, “One of the ways that we show our age.” There was no question “All My Friends” would be my song of the year. It’s possibly the greatest song of the decade.

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KIM’s LUCKY 7: TOP INDIE POP ALBUMS OF 2007

So far this year I got married, spent five weeks at teacher boot camp, moved to Missouri, and became a first-year 3rd grade teacher. To say that I have not had as much time to enjoy music is an understatement. Honestly, the last few CD’s I physically bought were the Multiplication Rap and Putamayo’s New Orleans Playground. So, when I was approached to write a 2007 review I laughed and thought of how funny it would be to review my new Multiplication Rap CD. (In case you are wondering, it is completely lame. Not even my 3rd graders found it amusing. What a waste!) I didn’t plan to write a best of 2007 article at all, but I really wanted to share my love of a few bands…

7. Scotland Yard Gospel Choir – Scotland Yard Gospel Choir (buy)
“Then and Not a Moment Before”

At times this album can sound bipolar. Some of the songs are so energetic and high-powered, full of heavy guitar riffs and upbeat melodies, and then the very next song can slow things down to a whisper with the most painfully honest and tragically sad lyrics you’ll hear. “In Hospital” is the slowest and saddest song of all, with depressing verses like “It’s been four years now/I still choke up at TV families/Sometimes I still feel/Like jumping in front of a bus.” The album is so varied, jumping from folky or country to songs that sounds like modern indie pop. Other songs call to mind 1990s alternative rock. For instance, in “Then and Not a Moment Before,” the singer channels the spirit of Everclear’s Art Alexis when he complains about his parents’ divorce and his dad’s lack of paying for child support. Yet, unlike Everclear, the song does not come across as whiney but quite matter of fact and empowering. This is an impressively varied album

6. Au Revoir Simone – The Bird of Music (buy)
“Dark Halls”

This is the most electronic of the pop albums on my list. The vocals are thin and minimalist with lyrics much more poetic than I usually enjoy. The main instrument sounds like an old Casio keyboard, but it is charming in its simplicity and retro feel.

5. Junior Senior – Hey Hey My My Yo Yo (buy)
“Can I Get Get Get”

Like Dan, I know that listing this is kind of cheating. I’ve known that it has been out for years and despite trying to track it down I have been unable to do so in the USA. When I finally got this album in November I listened to it on CD in my car for about a month straight. This is the perfect upbeat poppy dance album to give energy to a 3rd grade teacher about to spend nine hours with 25 eight-year-olds. Also the perfect album to listen to while rejoicing about being finished with a nine hour day stuck in a room with 25 eight-year-olds.

4. Feist - The Reminder (buy)
“I Feel It All”

I am a sucker for songs with hand claps in them. For that reason, my favorite song on this album is “Sea Lion Woman,” complete with an abundance of real hand claps. I honestly did not even know that the song was called “Sea Lion Woman” until just now. Let’s just say that enunciation is not Feist’s strong area. In general, the album is mellow and autumnal, with difficult to understand lyrics (gotta work on that enunciation) but beautiful variety and melodies. In general, the album is not good for a dance party, but a wonderful choice for background music.

3. The 1900s – Cold & Kind (buy)
“When I Say Go”

I find the whole album similar to the sound of The Essex Green, with one song, “City Water,” that bears an uncanny resemblance to 1970’s John Denver. It’s nothing groundbreaking, earth shattering, or new. It’s just good. It’s pleasant. It’s well done.

2. Jens Lekman – Night Falls Over Kortedala (buy)
“A Postcard to Nina”

What can I say about Jens that hasn’t already been said? As I compiled my list he began in the number 4 slot…then moved up to 3, and finally number 2. As I listened to the album over and over this past week I gained a better appreciation of it. Motown melodies with Magnetic Fields lyrics make this album yet another winner from Mr. Lekman. (And he’s much dreamier than crotchety old Stephin Merrit, which helps as well.)

1. Billie the Vision & The Dancers – Where the Ocean Meets My Hand (Download for free!)
“I Saw You on TV”

In my stupor to find anything Swedish I made some foolish mistakes in musical purchases this year. Let it be known that not ALL Swedish music is good, but every now and then you’ll find a Scandinavian band that’s good, really good. I found out about Billie the Vision & the Dancers from Last.fm, which included it on a list of recommended artists. Best of all, they offer all three of their albums for free download on Last.fm. No strings attached. Billie the Vision & The Dancers are a sextuplet from someplace is Sweden that sing about a guy name Pablo (seriously, who IS PABLO?) and playing horrible shows, being on the road, and getting drunk in Oslo. They perform in Swedish prisons and high schools and have toured with another one of my favorite bands – The Pipettes (alas, not Swedish). This album features “Overdosing With You,” a duet with another of my favorite Swedes, Hello Saferide, singing a song about watching American TV shows on DVD, one of my favorite pastimes. The songs are beyond infectiously catchy. The lyrics are humorous and have a stream of consciousness feel to them. Each song contains all the necessary elements to a phenomenal pop album; I think that you will agree that it is impossible to not like BTV&TD.