Our resident picture taking superstar Jason Bergman is up next with his picks for the ‘07
1. LCD Soundsystem - Sound Of Silver (DFA)
From the opening space-age drum blips to the final piano part featuring James Murphy crooning about New York City, Sound of Silver is simply perfect. My favorite track seems to change each week, but whether its political and cultural criticism (“North American Scum”) or the revelation that your life and everything in it may not be what you thought it was (“All My Friends”), Murphy and the DFA crew get it right. Memorable lyrics, unbelievably understated funky music, an emotional weight not seen in any other music in this genre, and even a few sing-alongs here and there were more enough to keep me coming back week after week to this album.
2. Crime in Stereo Is Dead (Bridge 9)
Punk rock with sincere emotion. No silly song titles or lyrics that sound like a joke. Crime In Stereo have finally made the album where all their talent finally comes together with songs that just ooze pure, raw passion, even if they left the break-neck guitar solos at home on this effort. Although a track like “Unfortunate Tourist” doesn’t musically fit on the album, I can’t help but listen to the lyrics and think, “Yeah, that sounds about right.” Sure, it sounds like the hung out in a basement, did lots of drugs and rocked out to Deja Entendu a lot, but hey, they’re from Long Island, what else is there to do?
Keep reading for more of Jason’s picks.
3. Radiohead In Rainbows
Sure the whole downloading shtick was a cool effort, but it actually has the tracks to back it up. “Videotapes” still gives me the chills whenever I hear it and although the group’s heavy experimentation phase was nice, its nice to see them combining their old styles with the new.
4. The Weakerthans Reunion Tour (Anti-/Epitaph)
John K. Samson could write an entire album in Mandarin and I would spend hours agonizing over translating it, just to hear what he has to say. He remains one of the best lyricists in modern rock with a knack for telling a story with enough weight and depth to have it stand out from the rest. It doesn’t hurt that this album also features some killer tracks as well (“Civil Twilight” and “Sun In An Empty Room”).
5. Menomena Friend and Foe (Barsuk)
It’s quirky and definitely has that “indie rock” sound, but strong melodies and catchy lyrics had me singing along whenever I put it on.
6. Smoke or Fire This Shinking Ship (Fat Wreck)
Ship definitely has some weak songs and lyrics (see “Irish Handcuffs” and “Little Bohemia”), but the songs that do work pack so much passion and pure energy into them that you learn to deal. Plus, “Cars” is probably the best song I have heard this entire year. I can be in the worst mood and put this track on and instantly be singing along and air drumming to my hearts content. I hope their third full length has more hits and less misses.
7. Battles Mirrored (Warp)
This is what robots from the year 2027 will listen to while they build space stations. There are so many times that I have listened to this album and thought, “HOW THE HELL DID THEY DO THAT?!”
8. Arcade Fire Neon Bible (Merge)
Neon Bible is more consistently enjoyable than Funeral. The second full-length focuses more on the melodramatic songwriting, which certainly enhances every song.
9. 108 A New Beat From A Dead Heart (Deathwish)
Heavy, crushing, and brutal. One of the few hardcore albums of this year that I thoroughly enjoyed. Plus, they absolutely destroy live.
10. Minus the Bear Planet Of Ice (Suicide Squeeze)
Ice sounds exactly like a Minus the Bear record but that’s totally fine. It’s not a huge departure from their last album, Menos El Oso, but there is enough here to keep you coming back to visit again and again. The one thing these boys in Minus the Bear do well is establish a theme and a place in your head while you listen along. With Menos, I always got the vibe of summertime and sitting on a beach somewhere in Europe, where as with Ice, I imagine a desolate Arctic setting with penguins rocking out.
11. The National Boxer (Beggers Banquet)
This is what it sounds like when you stumble home at 3 A.M. on a Saturday morning when it is raining and you just had one of those nights. Perfectly moody and overly dramatic, with enough downtrodden piano and baritone vocals that will put you in a funk, or somehow get you out of one.
12. M.I.A. Kala (Interscope)
Eccentric and sonically off the wall. Crazy beats (utilizing everything from beatboxing to bird sounds to gunshots) with politically charged lyrics make this one of the best rap albums of the year.
13. Simian Mobile Disco Attack Decay Sustain Release (Wichita)
Although Justice may have gotten all the fame for remixing the track “Never Be Alone” from this British duo’s previous band, their latest effort is up there, if not better than Cross. Jampacked with beats that set the roof on fire with creative rhythms and catchy choruses.
14.The Field From Here We Go Sublime (Kompakt)
Mesmerizing, repetitive beats that make you feel like you’re in a lucid state. Makes you want to listen to it on a pair of nice headphones while sitting in a comfortable chair and watch everything around you sit perfectly still.
15. Panda Bear Person Pitch (Paw Tracks)
I don’t really know how to describe this one, but all I know is that this thing just sounds gorgeous. Overlapping samples and weird effects create a sonic landscape that you can see and feel (especially if you’ve got headphones on). Layer upon layer of textured sound that envelopes you in the world that Noah Lennox has created for a brief 40 minutes.
Honorable Mentions:
Okkervil River – The Stage Names – It’s certainly no Black Sheep Boy, but their latest effort still proves that Will Sheff is one of the best lyricists around today. With tracks like “A Hand To Take Hold of the Scene” giving off a soulful bounce, you can’t help but listen to this album and be content at the state of modern rock and roll.
Cloak/Dagger – We Are – Fast, pissed, and awesome.
The Go! Team – Proof Of Youth – Any album that uses handclaps this much gets an A-OK from me.
Justice –Cross- I LOVED this thing when it came out. Heavy beats, crunchy and distorted bass that turned into my favorite album of the summer. After basically hearing it for two months non-stop and at every party I went to, I wore it thin. After revisiting it a couple of weeks ago, it just doesn’t hold up. I’m totally fine with going another year without ever hearing “D.A.N.C.E.” or any of its remixes ever again.
Octopus Project – Hello, Avalanche – I don’t understand why this group isn’t bigger than they are. “Mmaj” is one of my favorite tracks of the year and this whole album features solid tracks from start to finish.
Arctic Monkeys – Your Favourite Worst Nightmare
For Science – Way Out Of Control – New Jersey pop punk at it’s finest. Just try listening to “Soledad” without singing your heart out and air drumming furiously. Hot damn I love this band.
Lifetime – S/T - Good, but obviously not great. After getting over the initial phase of being psyched on any new Lifetime material, I found I just wanted to go back to listen to Jersey’s Best Dancers even more.
Top shows
1. Daft Punk @ Keyspan Park – Brooklyn, NY – 8/9/07
I don’t know anyone who hasn’t been dying to see the robot duo since at least 7th grade. I knew I was in for a special show, but even all the YouTube videos I consumed the week prior to didn’t properly prepare me for the spectacle I witnessed that night at Coney Island. Combine an unreal light and video setup that NEVER REPEATED A PATTERN, the best DJs in the world, and the most fun crowd I’ve ever seen at a show in New York City and you have a fantastic night. I still considered the mix of “Aerodynamic” with “One More Time” the moment that I achieved musical ecstasy. Bass vibrated throughout my body leaving my numb as an unknown vocalist repeated “Music makes me feelin’ so free, gonna celebrate” over and over while the most incredible bass drum hit kicks in and guitars seemingly swirled around me. I get an immense moment of nostalgia just thinking about it.
2. Lifetime/Pisschrist/Seasick @ 331 Somerset Street – New Brunswick, NJ – 5/28/07
Seeing Lifetime finally play a New Brunswick basement show basically makes my life complete. A bunch of people packed into a small, sweaty basement on Memorial Day singing there hearts out while Katz and crew huddled into a corner and tried not to get buried underneath a pile of sweating hardcore kids. Perfect.
3. The Wrens @ Chums Coffeehouse – Brandeis University – Waltham, MA – 2/3/07
The Wrens’ Meadowlands is one of those albums that has really helped define my college experience, so seeing them play in a tiny, 150 person capacity coffeehouse on a freezing cold night just makes everything come full circle. Who cares if these guys are all in their 40s with kids and mortgages? They still put more heart and passion into their performance that most other shows I saw this year.
4. Boredoms @ Empire Fulton State Park – Brooklyn, NY – 7/7/07
Japanese experimental psych-group Boredoms played with 77 drummers on 7/7/07 in a spiral formation underneath the Brooklyn bridge as the sun set. The two hour performance had some heavily improvised parts matched up with the best syncopated drumming one can imagine. Unfortunately, lots of people were turned away, but if you were there you know how special it was.
5. Converge/108/Pulling Teeth/Trash Talk/New Lows/Wasteland @ Cambridge Elks Lodge – Cambridge, MA – 11/23/07
Any hometown Converge show is one that you don’t want to miss. When you, however, combine this insane lineup with the fact that it was a benefit show for the East Boston skatepark, you would honestly be out of your mind to have skipped this. Although it is a bummer that the show got shut down early and Converge couldn’t finish out their set, the camaraderie among everyone there was enough to remind me why I started going to punk shows in the first place.
6. Girl Talk/Simian Mobile Disco/Dan deacon/white Williams @ Avalon –Boston, MA
Greg Gillis’ laptop mash-ups are always enjoyable live, but the true highlight of the show was Simian Mobile Disco’s performance. Synchronized lights placed in a circular ring around the stage illuminated the British duo as they hit keys and sequenced beats, leaving the entire place wondering: A) who the hell are these guys, and b) why can I not stop dancing?
7. Will Sheff (lead singer of Okkervil River solo) @ Soundfix Records –Brooklyn, NY – 8/18/07
8. The Hold Steady/Art Brut @ Terminal Five – NYC – 11/21/07
9. Clipse @ Middle East Downstairs –Cambridge, MA – 2/27/07
10. 65daysofstatic @ Club Europa –Brooklyn, NY – 7/20/07
