the music end-year review

[rone]

This is all the music that i bought this year, so it is, by default, what i considered the best this year.

Released in 2007:

• Battles, Mirrored  Noisy in a good way, top-quality creative musicianship anchored by a drumming god, a well-constructed album. Best of the year.
• Kristin Hersh, Learn to Sing Like a Star + In Shock (single)  Hersh just gets better with every release.
• The Arcade Fire, Neon Bible  Didn't have the highs or the lows that Funeral did.  The track arrangement is suspect; it should definitely kick off with "Intervention" so the pipe organ opens and closes the album.  "Ocean of Noise" is one of the best songs of the year.
• The Polyphonic Spree, The Fragile Army  Their best release.  Fun, happy, joyous... you get the picture.
• Annie Lennox, Songs of Mass Destruction  Birthday gift from amywithani and palecur, thanks guys!  Much better than Bare, and despite being a Glen Ballard production, does not suffer from an overabundance of Studio Magic.
• The McCarricks, [untitled] (EP)  Saw them open for Kristin Hersh in Santa Cruz.  Violin and cello plus electronics and visual aids == good music.
• EveryLasThing, Burning Garden (EP)  Caught "Psycles" on XM.  Grungy.

Released in 2006:

• Rodrigo y Gabriela, [untitled]  Superb.  Shredding acoustic guitars.
• Wolfmother, [untitled]  Three young Australians listened well to the rock of the `60s and `70s and show off their influences and chops.  Some of the songs are a little callow, but that's a minor complaint.
• Gustavo Cerati, Ahí Vamos Soda Stereo's frontman's latest solo effort.  Solid.
• Burden Brothers, Mercy  Uneven.  I've fallen off the bandwagon.
• Battles, EP C/B EP  A lot of sketches on two EPs that led to the much more rounded and fulfilling Mirrored.
• The Polyphonic Spree, Wait  Appetizer for The Fragile Army.  Nothing special.

Released before 2006:

• Cirque du Soleil, O  Kim and i saw the "O" show during our latest trip to Vegas.  Awesome show, great music.
• Rodrigo y Gabriela, Re-Foc  Their first album, with guest musicians.
• Rodrigo y Gabriela, Live Manchester and Dublin  Not bad for a completely improvised collection of live tracks.
• Fiona Apple, Extraordinary Machine  Need to give this more of a listen, but i liked what i heard a lot.
• Los Toreros Muertos, 30 Años de Éxitos  I had to get this for "Mi Agüita Amarilla", a tale about the journey that the vocalist imagines his pee taking after it exits his body.  Ah, the `80s.
• The Arcade Fire, Arcade Fire  It shows some early promise, but also a lot of musical wankery.

Lastly, via thequietquiet, a video of the Boredoms playing the opening of "77Boadrum", if you're into a lot of people drumming at the same time.

Comments

Oh!

[notr.livejournal.com]

That actually was the only bridge I could think of with stone supports that huge, but I looked at Google's aerial images and didn't think I saw a park that big there.