Top 25 Records of 2007 pt.2

15. John Wiese- Soft Punk
One of the things I have always liked quite a bit about John Wiese is his ability to perform harsh noise, a genre that has always carried a very aggressive, dark, and twisted image, without any of these trappings attached. All of the violent bursts of sound, all of the abusive sounds, and all of chaos, feel refreshingly clean and almost sterile in his hands. This record follows suit, blending harsh sound collages, drones and glitching samples into a sound that is at the same time abrasive, painful, and beautiful.

14. Celebration- Modern Tribe
This is an album that will make minimalists cry. Celebration take a more is more approach, filling every moment with at least one sound, and often many layered on top of each other, and Katrina Ford’s vocals on top, which are anything but simple, often leaping in pitch at a moments notice. All of this works to their advantage, as all of the members (plus Nick Zimmer, and all of TV on the Radio in guest spots) prove more then capable to fill each song to the brim with intricate and challenging arrangements, while still letting Ford’s vocal prowess shine. Sure, during Modern Tribe the room may feel a little too full at times, but given what it’s full of, that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

13. Deerhunter- Cryptograms
12. Of Montreal- Hissing Fauna You are the Destroyer
It’s interesting after ordering this list that these two would end up book-ended. Both put out earlier in the year, overly hyped, and over-shadowed by non-musical aspects. Both front men used their songs as grounds to explore and vent some of the darkest places of their psyche, and the audience garnered the reward. In the Deerhunter it was dense, arresting and bleak world, punctuated alternately by sudden urgency, and stretches of aimlessness, almost emptiness. Of Montreal, on the other had, turned his breakdowns into a pop carnival, twisting and turning, and while tight, it seemed on constant danger of imploding in on it self. Often madness leads to great art, but rarely this directly.

10. U.G.K.- Underground Kings
There is no way to write about this record and not acknowledge the elephant in the room of Pimp C’s death just months ago. Much has rightfully made of the tragic irony of him passing so quickly after gaining his freedom, and then releasing what is not just U.G.K.’s return, but also a return to the roots of southern rap. While the album may be a little too expansive, the double disc allows ample space journey across the south, from the bass and synth two punch of “Grind Hard”, to the spacey bass guitar and nervous percussion on” Cocaine”, to the almost new wave bass line and synth for “Like That”. And on all of these styles Pimp and Bun seem right at home, deftly handling the nuances of each song like the weathered professionals they are.

9. Black Lips- Good, Bad, Not Evil
Easily the most fun record on this list, and one of the most fun this year. Unlike revivalists, the Black Lips seem truly of a different, simpler era, like the house band in club somewhere that time has just forgotten. I think they do this not by trying to replicate the feel and style of the past, but by finding it in the present, or even better, remaining blissfully unaware anything has changed at all. Sure the drugs are different, and it’s easier to book gigs now, but when you’re on the tour driving across the county, drinking, pissing and playing every night, it’s still just rock and roll.

8. Kanye West- Graduations
Kane was never one for an understatement, and on Graduation he’s even louder. The diamonds are brighter, the beats are bigger, the brags are grander and the wordplay is even more self-indulgent. It makes for a hell of an album. From start to finish you are immersed in Kanye, and for anyone with less talent this would be overwhelming at best, and potentially annoying, downright obnoxious even. And it is obnoxious, but in the best possible way, like the hundreds of monogrammed LV’s on his precious luggage. It’s obnoxious done right, so that it’s glorious, and even awe-inspiring. When you’re making this grand of a statement, (or in this case many statements) subtlety isn’t really an option.

7. Lil Wayne- Draught 3
This double-disc mixtape is the equivalent of an MC obstacle course. Weezy ducks and dodges through track after track of other rappers songs, time after time making them his. It’s no secret that he is very hot and cold, and lately has been veering more and more towards the frosty end of the spectrum, but here he’s fire the entire disc, Using the different beats to show off his huge stylistic range, and killing it about everything you could think of, and plenty you never would think of at all. And it’s that that makes this record genius. No other MC can jump from reference to reference, barely holding on to sanity, and still make something this engaging. He may be high, may slur his words, but when you’re the best rapper alive, that only helps.

6. Liars- Liars
The biggest surprise, from a band known for surprising, is how straightforward this record actually is. Sounding like a stripped down, rock amalgamation of their sound until this point, the deftly pound through each track, in a tense barrage, sounding chaotic, yet tightly restrained. Straightforward however thankfully doesn’t mean easy to digest, and this record is no less noisy or ugly then it’s predecessors, just more focused in it’s attack.

5. Wu Tang Clan- 8 Diagrams
This album is mess. All over the place really, soaked with bizarre lyrics (even for Wu standards), out of place loops, and a drugged out psych feel at times that feels more 90’s Bristol then 90’s Brooklyn. So why number 5? Because even at it’s most strange, it’s eight MC’s and one ghost all on fire, spitting like it’s their last verse the entire time, and for most of them, it’s been far too long since the sounded half this good. (Method Man I’m talking to you.) Every one is straight killing it the verse after verse, and though it may sound like it’s built around beats from another planet, we probably just haven’t caught up. Give us another 6 years too see.

4. L.C.D. Soundsystem- Sound of Silver
This is what happens when dance grows up. Only his second record, and it sounds like more of a definitive statement that most could produce in their entire career. Both the single tracks, and the whole record are painstakingly crafted and sequenced, letting each moment breathe, and lead into the next from beginning to end. James Murphy has long positioned himself above his peers, both in technical and aesthetic proficiency, and with this record he maximizes yet another trait that most artists don’t even know to have- Patience.

3. Prodigy- Return of The Mac
This record is the opposite of patient. Immediate, urgent, and sudden, it’s an explosion of gunshots, blood spatter, and dirty wads of cash forced at you track after track. Prodigy never sounds comfortable, though often sure, he’s still dripping with paranoid energy, which is expressed more often then not with an itchy trigger finger. The New York of this record is painted so gritty that it nearly leaves dust on your eardrums. This is a pretty joyless record from an MC that has always been at his best when he’s at his most serious, and though he never feels celebratory as a result the album feels satisfying. It’s not easy to listen to someone frankly lament that it’s hard to kill these days, but the uneasiness is part of the attraction.

2. Burial- Untrue
To the casual listen this may come across as straightforward beat oriented garage, but it’s anything but. As the song progresses the vocals waver and quiver, and the music pops and hiss. This is your pleasant dream gradually falling apart, lulling you into something much darker. Nothing seems solid or even stable, everything constantly sounds ready to fall apart at any moment, or even disappear completely. The music, while progressing forward moves in every direction at the same time, ending up with the listener awash in sound, rather then focused on a single track.

1. M.I.A.-Kala
Unlike any other “best of” list I’ve ever made, I know which record would occupy number one right from the start. In fact, I’ve known for many months now. No other artist wears so many different influences and sound openly on their sleeve, and for good reason, it’s near genius to make it all work. Sounding like millions of things at once and still completely original, Kala takes the blueprint of Arular and makes it a day-glo manifesto, proclaiming itself with every beat. Most amazingly it manages to truly encompass our present culture and our future, and stay timeless while doing it.