2007 Albums: 11-15

15. Kanye West - Graduation

Thank God, he's learning that skits aren't fun or cool! In their place, we get Kanye's most cohesive collection to date, both accessible and smart enough to have staying power (as always) and, if it were even possible, tighter in production and sampling. Even if there aren't the all-out wow moments that made our mouths drop the first time through Late Registration, i.e. Gold Digger, there is a more rounded, compact quality to this one, that's more consistent and cohesive. Minus the Mos Def song. And he's working on that recurring criticism, his flow--I think it's getting better. I like the synths stuff on "Flashing Lights" and that he explores new territory constantly (well, musical territory, anyway). I'll always listen to Kanye because he's relentlessly creative and has fun at the same time, an unusual quality.

14. Andrew Bird - Armchair Apocrypha

As you all know, Andrew Bird's last album floored me completely and was second only to Sufjan in 2005's list. His highly intelligent writing style, personal aesthetic, and overall ear for melody and harmony has always impressed me. This time around all these gifts are present, and he seems also to be aiming persistently for accessibility. You get a sense that these songs are more radio-friendly, a little more traditional in structure, and, for that reason, only just slightly less personally authentic. I listened to this album over and over, waiting for the spell that overcame me listening to Mysterious Production of Eggs; it never came. This record has some unbelievable highlights. Scythian Empires is a gorgeous, quietly political song with a repeating one-handed piano piece and plucking violins; his gentle philosophizing lyrics in Dark Matter are still here ("Do you wonder where the self resides / Is it in the head or between your sides / And who would be the one who will decide / Its true location?"). So liked this album very, very much, but never passed over to love. There's still no one doing anything like Andrew Bird.


13. The Tough Alliance - A New Chance

A mix of unpredictable beatscapes and youthful vocals made this album irresistible the first time I heard it; its appeal has only increased. The unusual vocal sampling and instrumentation have yielded more unexpected surprises with every listen. There's something about dancepop that's impossible for me to dislike. This is a Swedish duo of childhood friends, who are Jens Lekman's favorite band, which is good enough for me. They're also famous for their somewhat confrontational personalities and aggressive, supposedly Situationist politics. That all seems to be lost on me, and perhaps lost in the carefree music--Situationist ideas were always a pose anyway. They've also been accused of promoting anarchy and violence, which just seems absurd. Perhaps this line from "Neo Violence" is apt: "Truly sorry thought you'd get the wink, it's in our nature to be out of sync."

12. No Age - Weirdo Rippers

It takes about almost two and a half minutes into the first song for this L.A. punk band to do much of anything but create fuzz. There are two sheets of guitar sound swaying back and forth, one calming and watery, the other persistent and melodic. A symbol gets agitated here and there, and the stray drumbeat enters (the band has no bass player). It sounds shoegaze, but there's a potent jaggedness to things. Then out of the blue they rip into this guitar-and-drum thing and yell some stuff using processed vocals, and quit a minute later.

It sounds like an indulgent, stupid project, but instead it's really good. Throughout the rest of their 32 minute album, the tidal guitars of shoegaze are crunched up and juxtaposed with punk drumming, and the results are strangely brilliant. Their big sprawling epic, Dead Planes, clocks in at a long-winded 4:12, and the first 2/3 of the song is spent creating a formless mess of guitars and disconnected drums. But it's the perfect example of their long-drone-short-burst aesthetic that works so well, and when the song comes together, it all seems inevitable.

11. Feist - The Reminder

It’s always hard figuring out where to put your long-haul favorites from the year, those albums that you got into early on and which, though they might lack the shiny appeal of bands you’ve discovered in the last month in the all-out listening-sprint that is required for writing a top 25 list, are nonetheless great. I’ve loved Feist since Let It Die showed up at WGRE in 2004, to when I saw her with like 50 people in 2005, to when I saw her with 5000 people in Williamsburg this year. She makes totally delightful yet lasting music that goes down easy but has enough charm to stick around. And that voice. Airy, heady, weathered and surprisingly expressive, especially on cuts like Intuition and So Sorry, the more low-key minimal-production tracks. But who could deny that 1,2,3,4 isn’t one of the most fun songs of 2007? Clean fun! She’s all over my top 25 most played of 2007, and for good reason.