And finally, I come to the most frustrating of all lists - the top 25 albums. I've been really good this year about keeping up with most everything, so selecting a handful and actually ranking them was a feat. Of course, there will be many that sink in or get noticed several months from now, so I'm going to post a revised list in the Spring. Until then, here goes the first annual Coffee with Robots Top 25 Albums of the Year!
#25 Junior Boys - So This Is Goodbye
The first time I listened to this album, I thought it sounded off from Last Exit (which I loved) and was less impressed. The second time it was the middle of a sunny day, and that doesn't seem to go well with Junior Boys' music. The third time I was writing with it on in the background and not paying attention. Finally, after wondering why I wasn't getting into it, I just spent some time listening to it late one night, and it clicked. Sullen songs with smooth electronic beats, it's a great album to unwind to after a long, stressful week.
#24 Xiu Xiu - The Air Force
Xiu Xiu puts an album out almost every year, not a bad one yet but their last one was a bit difficult and less accessible than their work on Fabulous Muscles. The Air Force is reminiscent of some of their poppier songs on their last three albums, as poppy as their experimental electronic sounds and unorthodox instrumentation can stretch the definition of poppy. Keep it up, Jamie Stewart and the band!
#23 Thee More Shallows – Monkey VS Shark EP
Somewhat of a continuation of the sound and themes of More Deep Cuts, but since that was one of my favorites of 2005, that's not a bad thing at all. An appendix to that album, if you will, it went nearly ignored by the mainstream, like More Deep Cuts and like the band, for whatever criminal reason fate has chosen.
#22 Hot Chip - The Warning
Hot Chip has issued a warning and let me spell it out for you - they're going to make some fun music without getting too sloppy or stupid and they defy you to not like some of it. The more I listened to this album, the more I found myself singing along to the songs and enjoying another go around. I'm very much looking forward to their new album for the DFA coming out this year.
#21 The Knife - Silent Shout
A lot of sites gave this album of the year, and while I didn't agree, that doesn't mean I didn't dig it. This album is a lot like stumbling upon goblins at twilight and having them chase you through the frozen North. Afterwards, you're terrified and exhilirated, but at the same time, you kind want to go back and maybe do it again. Some really great tracks on this album and some that don't do anything so groundbreaking that it deserves a spot at the top - but that's my opinion.
#20 Built to Spill - You In Reverse
A very welcome suprise from Built to Spill after a several year album drought. Not only was it one of their best, it became an early contender for album of the year when it was released in the Spring. Consisting of a great many songs over the five minute mark, it suceeds at keeping these long song structures vibrant and engaging without padding them with repetition or noodling. Proves that guitar-driven alt rock is not finished.
#19 Professor Murder - Professor Murder Rides the Subway EP
Professor Murder delivers everything I was expecting from the Rapture's album (but didn't get) and makes me very excited to hear anything these guys might put out in the future. Parts !!!, Lucious Jackson, and Gang of Four, there's plenty of ass-shaking jams, hip hop beats, and frenetic cowbell to go around on their all-too brief but fun debut. Bonus points for taking their name from a Mr. Show sketch.
#18 Neko Case - Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
What can I say about Neko Case's voice that hasn't already been said... RED HONEY. These songs feel less like she's aping her favorites and finds her growing into her own as a songwriter. I think Neko Case could sing the alphabet and it would be haunting. Most importantly, of most of the "divas" out there, Neko Case's national treasure of a voice isn't machine enhanced.
#17 El Perro Del Mar - El Perro Del Mar
There's music that's sad and depressing, as well as plenty that's just histrionic whining, but it's rare to find an album that's sad but uplifting and still somehow poppy. Swede Sarah Assbring's delicate voice resonates bittersweet (heavy on the sweet) fragility as she ressurects the classic sound of 60's sha-la-la girl groups. It's the stuff of tears and smiles.
#16 Gnarls Barkley - St. Elsewhere
Probably one of the most successful albums on this list and well-deserving, Danger Mouse and Cee-Lo team up for an instantly likable eccentric showcase of their respective production and soul-styling. You may have heard a little song called "Crazy", and if that was the only highlight of the album, it might have been a one-hit novelty, but damn if they don't mostly get it that right on every song. I'm definitely looking forward to future team-ups, including the rumored sequel to St. Elsewhere coming out this year.
#15 Jesu - Silver EP
Wow, this came to my attention recently, and I was truly addicted from the first song. On paper, Jesu shouldn't be this great - epic-length songs of blended metal, shoegaze, post-rock, ambient, industrial and experimental, the results could have gone wildly different. But here, Justin Broadrick expertly combines them to form hypnotic, gloomy beauty. Listening to the four songs (clocking in at almost 30 minutes) reveals something new and mesmerizing going on within each layer of dense instrumentation that goes into the lush drone of Jesu's sound each time. Silver has made Jesu's new full-length one of my most anticipated releases of 2007.
Link to Jesu's MySpace
#14 Danielson - Ships
At first, I was hesitant to check out Danielson because someone told me they were a Christian rock band, but it turns out that, like Starflyer 59, they're just Christians who are in a rock band. All it took was a listen to "Did I Step On Your Trumpet" and I had to check out their album, which is full of odd, energetic songs sung in Daniel Smith's unique sideshow announcer-like voice. Fun, polished and weird tracks with plenty of hooks and sing-along moments.
Link to Danielson's MySpace
#13 Matmos - The Rose Has Teeth, In the Mouth of A Beast
This was another recent acquisition and if there's one thing I love, it's eclectic collections of electronic whiz-bangery songs based on the theme of well-known gay artists and icons. Actually, this is the only album I posess like that, but it's damn good, and Matmos creates so many soundscapes with samples, standard beats, and unidentifiable sounds that there's sure to be something on the album that gets your attention. There is not one song that sounds like any of the others. It evokes the works it pays homage to and creates audio paintings of the subject matter. The chops displayed by Matmos on the album should serve as a high-water mark for all electronic and sample based musicians.
#12 Ratatat - Classics
How about we sell a song on a dog's bark - nah, been done. How about a cat's meow - nah, too soft. How about we throw down a beat that would make (old) Daft Punk proud and throw a fucking wildcat on top? Yeah, and that's just one of the great songs on Ratatat's newest album. A blend of electronic synth bleeps reminiscent of videogame music, plus a dance bass beat, and stitched together with effects pedal on guitar riffs, this album always offers up a new favorite song with each replay.
Link to Ratatat's MySpace
#11 The Flaming Lips - At War with the Mystics
It's not Yoshimi or Soft Bulletin, but it seems like most music sites and magazines dislike it for that. I have to admit that I was a bit disappointed at first that the Lips did not remake Yoshimi. However, after many listens, I feel that the songs on their latest album are just as polished and tuneful as their last few albums, a bit different direction, but with some gorgeous, cosmic melodies throughout. Part planetarium show and part Seventies' FM, the songs here are not exactly competing with a lot of similar modern sounds. The fact is, the Lips do what they want - sometimes they go off towards an unpopular inspiration, but there are still very few artists that can match them for consistency, signature sound, and quirkiness. If the Lips only delivered albums as good as At War with the Mystics for the rest of their career, I wouldn't be disappointed at all.
To be completed soon...
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