My favorite albums of the year. To me at least, they are saying something, not simply running through the already established course of modern music. They are a collection of twelve records that made me say “What the fuck? How am I supposed to write about this?” It is music that denied simple classification, and in turn, inspired me to up my game and do my best to reach them halfway. Did I succeed? Mostly no, but I feel like a more well rounded person for exposing myself and at least giving it a go. These are twelve albums, in no particular order, that made me think, and that’s all I ever wanted to do. Thanks.
(p.s. There are a few other albums that deserve recognition as well. Patrick already covered Rainbow by Boris with Michio Kurihara, which would have easily made my list otherwise. Wu-Tang Clan’s 8 Diagrams makes a very strong case for inclusion, and probably would be listed if I had a few more weeks of digestion before posting this. And finally, Kode9 & the Spaceape’s Memories of the Future came out in 2006, but I didn’t hear it until 2007. It doesn't technically fit on this list because of its release date, but if it had, you can be damn sure it would be.)
Woods - At Rear House / Shrimper
Woods - "Keep It On" (Shrimper 2007)
The rustic, bittersweet tunes of Woods have become my escape from the toll of cement-laden city life. Poppy campfire songwriting, warm analog production, snickering outcast experimentation, At Rear House is the album you put on to unwind from a day of urban chaos. Light a candle, stare at that single tree outside your third story window and lose yourself in the tape hiss and rural psychedelia. Jeremy Earl and Christian DeRoeck, both of the Brooklyn indie-pop band Meneguar and masterminds behind Fuck-It Tapes, are to thank for these musical excursions. Their songwriting though never straying too far from the classic verse-chorus-verse structure is quirky, memorable and idiosyncratic. Melodies creep into your brain and set up camp for the weekend. Lo-fi but warm, creepy and cute, haunting yet cozy, At Rear House is a must for all fans of quirky folk, oddball pop and clever music in general.
Zelienople - His/Hers / Type
Zelienople - "Parts are Lost" (Type 2007)
Chicago trio Zelienople exist in a very odd cross-section of styles, an atypical angle that sees Low, Boris, Jackie-O Motherfucker and Flying Saucer Attack all overlapping characteristics. Released on stellar U.K. label Type (which could easily get my award for Label of the Year if I had such a competition), His/Hers is psychedelic in the mind-bending definition of the term, but not necessarily with the typical style associated with bright colors, flowers and free love. It is folk in spirit and instrumentation, but not afraid to wile out when necessary. It is noise where the source material plays just as strong a role as the distraught byproduct. And it is free jazz in the strategic placement of atonality and liberated structure, but existing in a folksy, almost warm realm that the genre rarely explores. It’s decomposed folk where the gangrene is made up of noise, psych, metal and free jazz. Zelienople craft a sound that is not necessarily meant for being the center of your attention; it is more about being a catalyst to exploring the sometimes dismal and sometimes delicate aspects of your mind.
Yesterdays Universe - Prepare for a New Yesterday, Vol. 1 / Stones Throw
The Last Electro-Acoustic Space Jazz & Percussion Ensemble - "Cold Nights and Rainy Days" (Stones Throw 2007)
Buried waist-high in monikers, split personalities and influences, Prepare for a New Yesterday, Vol. 1 is the fulfillment of Otis Jackson Jr.’s vast potential. Handling nearly all of the instrumentation and production himself (drummers Karriem Riggins and Azymuth’s Mamão contribute their services from time to time), Jackson, who you may know better as Madlib, built a jazzy fusion-funk record that crosses the path of nearly every substantial jazz, soul, funk and world artist from the 60s and 70s. It’s almost as if he tried to deconstruct his entire record collection into a brief fifteen songs. Groove after groove after groove slinks out of your speakers, each concocted with a different stylistic approach. Free jazz skronks, Brazilian rhythms, thick soul bass lines, funky guitar chops, hip-hop beats, post-bop piano, sitar drone, synthesizer solos, you can expect it all, and sometimes at the same time. I’ve been grooving along to Jackson for some time now and nothing quite satisfies and impresses as Prepare for a New Yesterday, Vol. 1.
Mannequin Men - Fresh Rot / Flameshovel
Mannequin Men - "22nd Century" (Flameshovel 2007)
At first listen, Mannequin Men simply sound like a hell of a good time. With a style primed for your week ending booze fest, the Chicago quartet snarl, sleaze, sass and suck the stress away from your 9-5 work day with their near-anthemic rock ‘n’ roll. There are choruses that cause the whole band to sing along, riffs that will fill the entire club with chiming jubilance, backbeats that will have you tapping your beer along unnoticeably and a lead singer that sneers his way through the amplifiers. But what is most impressive with the band’s Flameshovel debut, Fresh Rot, is the long line of influences that reveals itself when you spend some intimate time studying the music. Though they began as the love-child of Wire, The Wipers and Gary Numan, Mannequin Men now name-check nearly every substantial proto-punk band that ever disguised their musical talent and ambitions into head bangin’, devil-horn throwin’, drink along until you fall on the floor 3-minute rock songs with their sophomore release. Easily my favorite straight-up rock album of the year.
Paul Duncan - Above the Trees / Hometapes
Paul Duncan - "The Fire" (Hometapes 2007)
Elaborating on the folksy, electronically-tinged bedroom pop of his debut album, Brooklynite Paul Duncan teamed up with the cream of Chicago’s indie session players at Soma Studios for a rich, consoling album of autumnal guitar-twang. Duncan’s aching tenor, now forefront in the mix rather than weaving through the instrumental textures, is as relatable as ever, and the music, while more straightforward than the predecessor, is still garnished with an immense amount of subtle peculiarities. The album politely pulses with deep breaths of slide guitar and string flourishes; it’s Texas twang at heart but created with Chicago’s obsession of texture. Though Duncan has been pulled out of his bedroom and in turn some of the intimate idiosyncrasies have been lost along the way, Above the Trees is no less personal and exponentially more confident. It drifts caringly with complex pastoral tones, meandering along country roads seemingly towards nothing in particular, but certainly with an unmistakable fervor.
His Name is Alive - Sweet Earth Flower: A Tribute to Marion Brown / High Two
His Name is Alive - "Sweet Earth Flying" (High Two 2007)
After the success of a one-off concert at the University of Michigan Art Museum to pay tribute to Marion Brown, Warn Defeavor and his experimental pop band His Name is Alive (whose line-up includes members of NOMO and Antibalas for this outing) looked to elaborate on the idea with an album’s worth of material. Including three tracks from the original concert, Sweet Earth Flower is a moving and eye-opening tribute to the overlooked vanguard saxophonist. The music, though rooted in free jazz, is patient, hypnotic and warm, much like the playing of Brown in the mid-60s for ESP. Their recreation of his sound is that of reflection and exploration, or in other words, more spiritually influenced than technique-wise. It shimmers and drones, rouses and soothes. It is meditative music you can get lost in without ever actually feeling lost, and avant-garde jazz where the soulfulness is not lost in the intention to explore the outside. Sweet Earth Flower may be one of the most sorely overlooked releases of 2007, which I suppose is fitting in the context of the music. How frustratingly poignant.
Vieux Farka Touré - Vieux Farka Touré / World Village
Vieux Farka Touré - "Ana" (World Village 2007)
With ten songs just under fifty minutes, Vieux Farka Touré’s eponymous debut is a patient album that not only pays rightful respect to his culture, but also acts as a passing of the torch to the young guitarist from his renowned father, the recently deceased Ali Farka Touré. As expected, there are quite a few similarities between Ali and Vieux’s guitar playing. The sweet-toned, intensely meticulous and pastoral vibe of Ali’s Saharan blues is passed down to Vieux, who seems bent on not only perfecting his father’s earthy style but also pushing it in directions never before explored (and some of Ali’s last recorded material is present here in duet form with his son). There are elements of reggae, rock, funk and R&B creeping into the traditional sound, and in turn giving way to completely new hybrids of music. The production and recording is pristine (though maybe slightly too much at times), never opting for augmenting studio techniques but masterfully capturing the individual tones of each of the players. One of my favorite “world” records of the year, and maybe the strongest debut I came across.
Chris Connelly - The Episodes / Durto Jnana
Chris Connelly - "The Son of Empty Sam" (Durto Jnana 2007)
The most striking aspect of The Episodes is its incredibly dense, acoustic atmosphere. The one time industrial stalwart Chris Connelly and his talented cast of supporting characters fill each track to the brim with consciously monochromatic yet sprawling arrangements and opt for patiently developing, wholly organic songs. On paper, it is an odd collection of characteristics: Connelly’s creaking, Bowie-like croon emoting over an almost tribal circle of plodding toms, single-chord acoustic guitar strums, twinkling vibraphones, Ben Vida’s teasing electric guitar noodles, occasional synth base lines, free jazz-leaning drum kits, sparse electronic tinges and mandolin. Yes, when they all play together it is chaotic, but in the strategically sloppy manner Midwest indie-rock has been perfecting for years and under Connelly’s elegant direction. All of the manic instrumentation combines into one throbbing, hypnotic background with passionate narratives leading the way. It’s urgent, enigmatic and intense music that takes multiple spins to even begin to unveil.
Fog - Ditherer / Lex
Fog - "Inflatable Ape pt. 3" (Lex 2007)
The obvious difference between Ditherer and previous Fog releases is its surprisingly rocking sound… you could almost say Andrew Broder and company have completely left the bedroom for the garage. But this is Fog of course, so even if the amps are turned up, you can expect your fair share of absurd lyrical tropes and avant-pop arrangements. Ditherer is a hook-heavy and downright anthemic pop-rock album that excels greatly in its ability to tiptoe the line between accessibility and quirk. The number of collaborators may also be thanks for the more fleshed-out sound, Dosh, Pedestrian, Why?, Phil Elverum, Andrew Bird and Low all contribute to the oddball-pop party. Broder does an excellent job of balancing his increasingly confident vocals, oddly syncopated and typically multi-layered rhythms, accessible pop-rock guitar hooks, omnipresent background noise and seemingly spontaneous arrangements. I can’t claim to be the biggest Fog fan, but Ditherer is as infectious as they come with the number of knotty twists and turns matching the number of inescapable hooks.
Fred Anderson & Hamid Drake - From the River to the Ocean / Thrill Jockey
Fred Anderson & Hamid Drake - "Planet E" (Thrill Jockey 2007)
Despite saxophonist Fred Anderson’s age and commitment to running The Velvet Lounge and percussionist Hamid Drake’s dedication to a ridiculous amount of ensembles worldwide, they have found time to release at least one album a year working together since 1995. And even more remarkable, there has not been one lackluster or forgettable disc among them. 2007’s installment, From the River to the Ocean, is certainly not going to dispel this long-running tradition, and in fact is going to place itself near the top of the must-have list of Anderson-Drake partnerships. Recorded in Soma Studios and featuring the instrumental prowess of fellow Chicagoans Harrison Bankhead, Jeff Parker, and Josh Abrams, these five songs resonate emotionally in honestly the same way A Love Supreme does (at least personally). While it may be a clichéd parallel, it is nearly impossible not to have the thought at least briefly cross your mind with this mix of accessible free jazz, African instrumentation and spiritual timbre. Anderson, hunched over his tenor, utilizing every ounce of breath in his nearly 80-year-old lungs creates a thick, transcendent tone; and behind him, nearly hidden behind his array of percussive knicks and ringing knacks, Drake somehow finds an even, conclusive rhythm despite never relying on one drum or percussive toy for more than a minute or two. Modal and heavily meditative, the quartet rings through blues, swing, bop, free, avant-garde and modern creative, all meshing into one undeniably spiritual sound. If I had ranked my albums, I wouldn’t give a second thought to proclaiming this my favorite record of 2007.
Group Doueh - Guitar Music from the Western Sahara / Sublime Frequencies
Group Doueh - "Cheyla La Haiuune" (Sublime Frequencies 2007)
From the opening moments of Guitar Music from the Western Sahara you know you are in for a treat. Doueh's electric guitar blasts out of the raw recording with an odd combination of styles that has a sort of bluesy wah-wah deal going on while an exuberant chorus, care of two ladies singing at the top of their lungs, easily overmodulates within the tiny frequency bandwidth. If crisp production is your thing though, I seriously doubt you would have headed in Sublime Frequencies' direction in the first place. This is for us audiophiles that listen to music just to be baffled and awestruck. On the far west side of the Sahara, somewhere between the fuzzy borders of Mauritania and the Morroco-annexed territory known as Western Sahara, Baamar Salmou aka Doueh, his wife, son and friend jam under the name Goup Droueh. Their style is one in its own led by the unpredictable and intricate fingers of Salmou on his unrelenting electric guitar. While based in the local Mauritanian modal structure, Salmou relies as much on the psychedelic stylings of Hendrix and the energetic funk of James Brown as the hypnotic, trance-like Gnawan music from Morocco and other regional styles. You can understand where he's coming from, but it's nearly impossible to predict where he is heading next, which makes Guitar Music from the Western Sahara so much jaw-dropping fun.
Fred Lonberg-Holm Trio - Terminal Valentines / Atavistic
Fred Lonberg-Holm Trio - "There Never Was a Reason" (Atavistic 2007)
For the third album with his trio, including bassist Jason Roebke and drummer Frank Rosaly, Chicago-based cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm continues to perfect his balance between accessible and challenging avant-garde jazz. More demanding than his work with Terminal 4 and his previous two Atavistic releases, Terminal Valentine finds the cellist perhaps testing his love of intimacy and warmth by adding a little bit of grit to the relationship. He is still very much grounded in his attraction to lulling lyrical melodies, but frequently counteracts them with explorations into the outer edges of chaos. The intimacy of this recording sucks you in completely. Lonberg-Holm’s cello intricately weaves between Rosaly’s spry drumming and Roebke supple bass plucks. They sound very much tuned-in with each other (despite a few recording woes), painting with the same autumnal hues without ever muddling the individual colors. The album utilizes melody with great efficiency, drawing the listener in with longing affection and then demanding they work for such intimacy by jumping in and out of the framework of the song. This is late night music for those who refuse to give into the spoon-fed melodrama of 95% of the music out there.
