The best of 2007 - expanded
I figured I should add a few words to my favourites from the past year. And I suddenly remembered two more albums I feel needed mentioning. They are in no particular order (ranked or alphabetical).
PJ HARVEY - WHITE CHALK
Oh, I love her guitarplaying, so why do I dig this so much? Well, she's really going out on a limb here. I always respect artists who dare to challenge themselves. Like allowing themselves to present their virtuoso shortcomings from taking on a new instrument - in this case the piano. And actually also pushing her voice to where it hasn't been before.I guess Brian Eno said it really well in an interview back in 1990:"If you've been doing a certain type of work for a while, you're familiar with it, you're quite accomplished at it, it's no longer clumsy. But when you start something new it is very clumsy, and it has all sorts of failures built into it; it's ugly, actually, at the beginning. But I've learned to believe, to trust that that's where interesting things come from -- from something that is somewhat cumbersome and unshapely, but strong."
Listen
PANDA BEAR - PERSON PITCH
A bit of a hyped album this year. But deservedly so. If you don't like reverb on your vocals you better avoid this. It's all over it. But with loops, sampled beats and superb vocal harmonies Panda Bear manages to transfer some Beach Boys-qualities to the current musical flavour of 2007. And he does it damn well.
Listen
SHIT & SHINE - LADYBIRD
A limited pressing LP by a very noisy bunch of people. What really amazes me here is that this is basically ONE song for the entire album (which fades now and up again when you change from side A to B). The same guitar riff and heavy drum beat for the whole duration and various vocals and effects added along the way. Yes, I'm a sucker for cool beats. A very powerful piece of music that is best when played looouud.
Listen
BUSDRIVER - ROADKILL OVERCOAT
I've really been enjoying his previous albums and his latest was no disappointment. A bit smoother than usual, but still has a lot of edge. We need some people to push rap and hip-hop to new places. He is one of them.
Listen
BLEUBIRD - RIP U$A
Bleubird is the other rapper who I think is doing great things with hip-hop these days. His previous album, the debut "Sloppy Doctor", got me into the whole genre again after many years away from it (being turned off by way too much bling and a general status quo in the genre - not counting the Anticon label). Bleubird is really an adventurous fellow not shy of bringing in influences from other genres to his very personal style. And on top of that his lyrics are damn great. Lots of personality... and not much gangsta, thank goodness.
Listen
BONNIE 'PRINCE' BILLY - THE LETTING GO
Once I got used to Mr. Oldham doing much of this album as duets with Dawn McCarthy and smoothing things up with strings to his stripped down guitar arrangements I really started to dig it. He's got the knack for great melodies and lyrics too, and of course his voice is one of a kind.
Listen
DEERHOOF - FRIEND OPPORTUNITY
Despite one band member leaving Deerhoof are still going strong. They have their "trademark sound", but manage to be playful enough to apply some new angles to it. The first single "The Perfect Me" is a melodic beatfest and the minimalistic "Kidz Are So Small" is hugely enjoyable electronic diddy with severely funny lyrics. Once again the band makes an album that's a blast from start to finish.
Listen
VARIOUS/FOCUS JAZZ - MORE MODERN JAZZ FROM THE WEWERJA ARCHIVE 1966-1969
A bit of an odd release among all the others mentioned here. It's only a 12-inch with three tracks on it. And I mostly just dig one of them. The one by Erich Ferstl. It's so amazing. I can believe that something like this was made so long ago. The beat, the vocals and the whole slooow feeling of it is mesmerizing. Get it before it's gone!
Listen
TENNISCOATS - TOTEMA AIMASHO
I had the pleasure of seeing this Japanese duo live in 2007 at the Roskilde Festival. Naivistic melodies, not very Japanese flavoured as such, but of course they can't escape the asian origin - especially in the vocals and lyrics department. An album you can really crawl into and feel the warmth.
Listen
MURCOF - COSMOS
Norman Records of the UK called this "The best thing to come out of Mexico since Mescal." I can't say I would know, but I certainly enjoy this album. Moving from beatless free-floating soundscapes over "orchestral" arrangements to minimalistic electronic beats Murcof has made an incredible journey - which especially with headphones sooths and pokes in the right places.
Listen
PAPER - AS AS
Hm, maybe minimalism is a bit of a theme for me this year? The arrangements of Paper do not wave their arms about in a big way, but their half acoustic, half electronic tunes is an experience that surely pleases a lot.Released on the great Portland label States Rights Records.
Listen
And then I had the pleasure of releasing some music on my own label, SOPA, this year. And they have obviously meant a lot to me. It was a severe pleasure to put together a selection of super songs by MARZIPAN MARZIPAN. I can't get enough of her lo-fi pop with sensual voice and lyrics.
She also features - alongside 43 other artists - on the SOPA DELICIOSA compilation.
Listen to MARZIPAN MARZIPAN
Listen to SOPA DELICIOSA
That's it for now!
Lars
PJ HARVEY - WHITE CHALK
Oh, I love her guitarplaying, so why do I dig this so much? Well, she's really going out on a limb here. I always respect artists who dare to challenge themselves. Like allowing themselves to present their virtuoso shortcomings from taking on a new instrument - in this case the piano. And actually also pushing her voice to where it hasn't been before.I guess Brian Eno said it really well in an interview back in 1990:"If you've been doing a certain type of work for a while, you're familiar with it, you're quite accomplished at it, it's no longer clumsy. But when you start something new it is very clumsy, and it has all sorts of failures built into it; it's ugly, actually, at the beginning. But I've learned to believe, to trust that that's where interesting things come from -- from something that is somewhat cumbersome and unshapely, but strong."
Listen
PANDA BEAR - PERSON PITCH
A bit of a hyped album this year. But deservedly so. If you don't like reverb on your vocals you better avoid this. It's all over it. But with loops, sampled beats and superb vocal harmonies Panda Bear manages to transfer some Beach Boys-qualities to the current musical flavour of 2007. And he does it damn well.
Listen
SHIT & SHINE - LADYBIRD
A limited pressing LP by a very noisy bunch of people. What really amazes me here is that this is basically ONE song for the entire album (which fades now and up again when you change from side A to B). The same guitar riff and heavy drum beat for the whole duration and various vocals and effects added along the way. Yes, I'm a sucker for cool beats. A very powerful piece of music that is best when played looouud.
Listen
BUSDRIVER - ROADKILL OVERCOAT
I've really been enjoying his previous albums and his latest was no disappointment. A bit smoother than usual, but still has a lot of edge. We need some people to push rap and hip-hop to new places. He is one of them.
Listen
BLEUBIRD - RIP U$A
Bleubird is the other rapper who I think is doing great things with hip-hop these days. His previous album, the debut "Sloppy Doctor", got me into the whole genre again after many years away from it (being turned off by way too much bling and a general status quo in the genre - not counting the Anticon label). Bleubird is really an adventurous fellow not shy of bringing in influences from other genres to his very personal style. And on top of that his lyrics are damn great. Lots of personality... and not much gangsta, thank goodness.
Listen
BONNIE 'PRINCE' BILLY - THE LETTING GO
Once I got used to Mr. Oldham doing much of this album as duets with Dawn McCarthy and smoothing things up with strings to his stripped down guitar arrangements I really started to dig it. He's got the knack for great melodies and lyrics too, and of course his voice is one of a kind.
Listen
DEERHOOF - FRIEND OPPORTUNITY
Despite one band member leaving Deerhoof are still going strong. They have their "trademark sound", but manage to be playful enough to apply some new angles to it. The first single "The Perfect Me" is a melodic beatfest and the minimalistic "Kidz Are So Small" is hugely enjoyable electronic diddy with severely funny lyrics. Once again the band makes an album that's a blast from start to finish.
Listen
VARIOUS/FOCUS JAZZ - MORE MODERN JAZZ FROM THE WEWERJA ARCHIVE 1966-1969
A bit of an odd release among all the others mentioned here. It's only a 12-inch with three tracks on it. And I mostly just dig one of them. The one by Erich Ferstl. It's so amazing. I can believe that something like this was made so long ago. The beat, the vocals and the whole slooow feeling of it is mesmerizing. Get it before it's gone!
Listen
TENNISCOATS - TOTEMA AIMASHO
I had the pleasure of seeing this Japanese duo live in 2007 at the Roskilde Festival. Naivistic melodies, not very Japanese flavoured as such, but of course they can't escape the asian origin - especially in the vocals and lyrics department. An album you can really crawl into and feel the warmth.
Listen
MURCOF - COSMOS
Norman Records of the UK called this "The best thing to come out of Mexico since Mescal." I can't say I would know, but I certainly enjoy this album. Moving from beatless free-floating soundscapes over "orchestral" arrangements to minimalistic electronic beats Murcof has made an incredible journey - which especially with headphones sooths and pokes in the right places.
Listen
PAPER - AS AS
Hm, maybe minimalism is a bit of a theme for me this year? The arrangements of Paper do not wave their arms about in a big way, but their half acoustic, half electronic tunes is an experience that surely pleases a lot.Released on the great Portland label States Rights Records.
Listen
And then I had the pleasure of releasing some music on my own label, SOPA, this year. And they have obviously meant a lot to me. It was a severe pleasure to put together a selection of super songs by MARZIPAN MARZIPAN. I can't get enough of her lo-fi pop with sensual voice and lyrics.
She also features - alongside 43 other artists - on the SOPA DELICIOSA compilation.
Listen to MARZIPAN MARZIPAN
Listen to SOPA DELICIOSA
That's it for now!
Lars
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