panda bear // person pitch
my favourite record of the year so far didn't come unexpectedly - having had the i'm not/comfy in nautica 7" for about a year now, as well the more recent bros 12" and the carrots split with execpter, I already knew how good most of the tracks on this were going to be, and the album as a whole certainly doesn't disappoint. an awesomly eclectic record, panda takes (in my opinion) some of the best bits from his animal collective sound and some inspired samples and plays them through his brian wilson machine to create a glouriously textured pop sound. the track take pills is probably not quite the best track from the record (i still think that's comfy in nautica), though it's certainly up there, but it does contain one of my favourite samples on the record, from scott walker's always coming back to you so i'm posting that as an excuse to post scott walker too
(follow links to download)
panda bear - take pills
scott walker - always coming back to you
battles // mirrored
this record has been a long time coming too, the previous releases of b ep and ep c were good enough, and showed a lot of a promise, but i always felt they didn't quite live up to their live show which is like an advanced calculus class of math-y electrorock awesomeness. so i was well pleased the first album proper more fulfills the potential of the live show.
battles - atlas
the field // from here we go to sublime
i have to say i've generally been disappointed with the standard of guitar music so far this year, so it's lucky that this dip in form has coincided with an upcurve of great electronic releases - in particular 2007 has been an amazing year for minimal techno, with the kompakt and dial labels putting out some really strong records which have resulted in a crossover to the indie mainstream.
among the best of these is the field's from here we go sublime which exemplifies the current trend of ambient organic washes of sound and crescendo which is drawing comparisons to the shoegaze movement and my bloody valentine-esque noisescapes, which can only be a good thing.
the field - over the ice
gui boratto // chromophobia
another great minimal techno record, quite similar in style to the field album, maybe with even a little bit more snyhty-pop hooks
gui boratto - mr. decay
lcd soundsystem // sound of silver
while DFA is admittedly no longer at the forefront of dance movement currently, james murphy himself conceeding that the likes of ed banger at al are proving to be leading the way at this point in time, lcd have done themselves a major favour by releasing an excellent dance record that probably surpasses their debut.
lcd soundsystem - someone great
soft circle // full bloom
the debut record from the new project of percussionist hisham akira baroocha, previously of lightning bolt and black dice is a densely layered mix of ambient noise, tribal drumming and spiritual vocals that is one of those albums that is both the perfect background soundtrack for some down-time but equally rewards more careful listening - sounding akin to the most chilled out moments of black dice, it's the kind of thing i like to listen really intently to, picking out all manner of amazing sounds hidden in the layers
soft circle - ascend
lusine // podgelism
lusine - drip (apparat remix)
do make say think // you, you're a history in rust
new album from one of my favourite post-rock mainstays. gorgeous cover art too.
do make say think - the universe!
el-p // i'll sleep when you're dead
as a genre, hip-hop is going through a weird spell; the mainstream r.'n.b., p.i.m.p., perpetually rotating hubcap hip-pop philosophy is not something i can really understand at all, but there are still some genuinely sick producers out there lurking beneath the surface making excellent records. el-p has a consisently good track record with everything he touches as a producer, and the second album from his own project is expectedly impressive. even ignoring for a moment his sick beats, signature apocolyptic sounding production and his cathartic diatribe lyrical style, any album which begins with a sample from twin peaks has got to be good. add to the mix unlikely guest spots from the likes of trent reznor and cat power and you can't lose.
el-p - tasmanian pain coaster
alex delivery // star destroyer
alex delivery - komad
i don't really know anything about this. i just know that it's awesome. kind of all over the place, quite gang gang dance in places
kalabrese // rumpelzirkus
a great groovy techno record, rumpelzirkus is actually quite DFA sounding and contains some classic almost comedic sleazy vocals, bordering on cheesy at times, but the beats are infectious and there are some awesome horns as well
kalabrese - auf dem hof
racoo-oo-oon // behold secret kingdom
racoo-oo-oon make a great racket. loud distorted drums and crunching guitars, the best noise record of the year so far.
racoo-oo-oon - mirror blanket
avey tare and kria brekken // pullhair rubeye
ok so this is a really weird one. in this age of the internet meaning album promos can leak to anyone with the right bookmarks to blogs in their browsers before they are even released, many labels deliberately release altered tracks - either at low quality or using repeating loops of small sections of tracks or watermarking them with voiceovers...and so it was that when the new album from the project of animal collective's avey tare and mum's kria brekken was leaked with all the vocals and music clearly reversed, certain people assumed this was not the intended sound and took it upon themselves to reverse the 'reverse' tracks so they were 'forwards' again. and then it turned out that actually after watching the new david lynch film, avey and kria decided to listen to their work backwards, thought it sounded better that way, and decided to release it like that. so it was in fact meant to be reversed, so the forward tracks that everyone had listened to were actually the reverse and the reverse tracks were actually the forw...anyway, what is ultimately means to me personally is that now i have 2 awesome albums instead of just one. although i do have to admit to liking the 'wrong' forward-sounding but actually reversed a bit more...
avey tare & kria brekken - who wellses in my hoff
avey tare & kria brekken - sis around the sandmill
bill callahan // woke on a whaleheart
i'm at risk of over-doing the david lynch thing here, but the best track from the new album from the artist formerly known as smog steals a guitar line from a composition by maddy, donna and james in twin peaks
bill calahan - sycamore
excepter // tank tapes
two tracks clocking in at over 25 minutes long, but that's nothing for the prolific noise experimentalists - check out the 5 hour composition on their website
excepter - side a
gabriel ananda // bambusbeats
a more traditional minimal techno record, this may be a little less accesible for the crossover audience, but believe me it's worth the perceverance. makes me want to pull shapes.
gabriel ananda - sweet decay
deerhunter // cryptograms
i was sold on this record the moment i saw a picture of them. and luckily a lanky singer is not all they share in common with liars - in places this abum sounds pretty similar to drums not dead
deerhunter - lake somerset
frog eyes // tears of the valedictorian
i don't know why frog eyes aren't more popular than they are. actually i guess it's probably because carey mercer's voice is quite strange. but i don't see why that should stop them. anyway, they've released another great album
frog eyes - caravan breakers, they prey on the weak and the old
explosions in the sky // all of a sudden i miss everyone
this record is pretty much post-rock by numbers, eits on autopilot, but the quiet-loud emotional crescendo still delivers aural pleasure.
explosions in the sky - welcome ghosts
dntel // dumb luck
while all the indie kids wait for the new postal service, jimmy tamborello has released a great album of collaborations, essentially postal service but featuring the likes of rilo kiley, bright eyes, grizzly bear on vocals instead of dcfc's ben gibbard.
dntel - breakfast in bed
aidan baker // green & cold
a lovely folk-noise ambient record, i don't really know anything about this guy apart from that he's made a great album.
pole // steingarten
another excellent minimal techno record, sounds quite glitch-hop in places. kind of like if autechre made a pop record.
pole - sylvenstein
eluvium // copia
beautiful ambient piano melancholia, a good album to listen to before going to sleep
eluvium - seeing you off the edges
rhys chatham // a crimson grail – for 400 electric guitars
a really interesting album, this is three orchestral pieces performed by 400 guitars. to describe it simply, it's lots of guitars playing kind of the same note for 20 minutes with subtle changes to make a big ambient drone. but it's way better than i make that sound.
rhys chatham - part 3
kathy diamond // miss diamond to you
this is pretty much just a pop record. but the fact that maurice fulton has lended his techno-funk stylings makes it one of the best. why isn't all pop music this good?
kathy diamond - until the sun goes down
