THE BEST ALBUMS OF 2007 : Part 1

Exactly what the title says. In no particular order. Well, in alphabetical order in fact, but no value judgements intended. Ok with that? Good!

No new Mountain Goats or Oneida or Comet Gain or Dead Meadow this year either, so things are pretty wide open to some extent… let’s go!


ANIMAL COLLECTIVE – STRAWBERRY JAM (Domino)

In the past, Animal Collective have always left me enthralled and frustrated in equal measure. That they are one of the most forward thinking (or at least sideways thinking) musical outfits around is undeniable, and their attempts to reconnect the machinery of modern day noise and improv with personal/emotional songcraft and pop structures represents a potentially earth-shattering well of possibility, but I’ve always found myself wishing they could keep their chaotic, introspective tendencies on a tighter leash and focus their talents toward making more deliberate music, songs that hit the listener with a BANG. And that’s exactly what they’ve done on Strawberry Jam. Thanks guys. Finally we can hear the vocals clearly and, as I always suspected, Avey Tare is a brilliant lyricist, howling through the particulars of lust, love and life via a labyrinth of mythic-vs-mundane dream imagery as seven shades of overpowering melodic noise explode all around, the terrestrial origin of the sounds the Collective compress, twist and pulverise into a churning heap of hallucinatory beats, rhythmic patterns and melodies remaining gloriously unguessable throughout. To my mind, ‘Strawberry Jam’ confirms Animal Collective as prime movers in dragging the legacy of genuine psychedelic music-making into the 21st century and, perhaps, one of the greatest weirdo pop bands of our age.

Mp3 > Peacebone


DAVID THOMAS BROUGHTON vs. 7 HERTZ (Acuarela)

A writer’s nightmare, David Thomas Broughton is a powerful and unique performer, hilarious and heartbreaking in equal measure, whose genius defies easy verbal explanation. The spontaneity and physicality of his performances would seem to make translating his musical vision to record an equally troublesome task, and so this album wisely takes a slightly different approach. Recorded live over a single afternoon in a church in Leeds, it finds Broughton in a more stately mood than that engendered by his gigs at rock venues and festivals, as, backed by improvisations from avant-classical ensemble 7 Hertz, he expands four of his saddest songs into sprawling, free-flowing testaments to loss, regret and hope. If just about any other songwriter stretched four songs on the theme of SAD over the course of an hour, with gaps to fool with looping pedals, clanging kettles and malfunctioning amplifiers whilst an unrehearsed string quartet sawed away behind him, the result would likely be an insufferable piece of self-indulgence, but as I keep saying, DTB is extraordinary, and as such the results are captivating and beautiful. The contributions of 7 Hertz are excellent in their own right, starting out subtle, scrabbling for ground and eventually sprawling into chaotic collapse. Combined with the sound of DTB’s unmistakable voice, somewhat akin to a North of England Tim Buckley, given full reign to echo through the church rafters, this is the best expression of Broughton’s muse yet committed to tape. I only bought this album about a month ago, but I have listened to it many times and will likely listen to it a lot more in future.

Mp3 > The Weight Of My Love


THE DETROIT COBRAS – TIED & TRUE (Rough Trade)

‘Tied & True’ sees The Detroit Cobras bouncing back from the misstep of 2005s sub-par ‘Baby’, coke ad ubiquity and the bursting of the early ‘00s Detroit hype bubble with their best album since the peerless ‘Life, Love and Leaving’. Now bolstered by the presence of Greg Cartwright (of The Oblivians / Reigning Sound) on second guitar and piano, this album works a welcome and indeed pretty awesome step forward for the band. Instead of merely blasting through more vintage soul / r’n’b cuts in ‘garage rock’ style, they’re taking the time to really compete with the majesty of the music that inspired them, treating the slower soul numbers to exquisite Phil Spector / Memphis soul influenced arrangements, whilst still retaining the core feeling and big sound of a kick-ass rock n’ roll band. Those who think any less of the Cobras due to their status as a covers band are really missing the point; as they say themselves, why the hell should they bother writing yet more crappy rock songs when so many amazing compositions from the ‘50s and ‘60s remain undiscovered by a wider audience? Whether or not we’d be better off tracking down the originals on compilations is a moot point but, taken on it’s own musical merits, ‘Tied & True’ is pretty much perfect. Rachel Nagy is still one of the best vocalists around, matching powerhouse blues fervour with rare subtlety, Mary Restrepo’s guitar sounds EXACTLY the way I want guitars to sound, and with the rest of the band swinging out like wrecking crew pros, what can do but submit to classic songs, blasted out with genuine feeling, sweet production and punk rock energy? ‘Try Love’ and ‘Hurt’s All Gone’ bring on a swoon like the best broken-hearted ‘60s soul, and ‘Nothing But A Heartache’ and ‘What’s Going On?’ could get Kafka downing a double and hitting the dancefloor. Maybe I’m just turning into a pop classicist in my old age, but GODDAMN, this is Good Music, with capital letters.

Mp3 > Try Love


DINOSAUR JR – BEYOND (Pias / Fat Possum)

Arriving around the same time as the regrettable fiasco that was the new Stooges album, It took a while to sink in, but damn, this new Dinosaur Jr effort is WAY better than a comeback album by a band who hate each other reuniting for cash has any right to be. I could never really get on with the last album these three guys made together, 1988’s ‘Bug’, largely because Mascis seemed intent on burying the rhythm section beneath gratuitous guitar overdubs, leading to a record that sounded muddy and distant, lacking the drive that made the band’s earliest material so great. And now, a lifetime later, for the first time since ‘..Livin’ All Over Me’, Dinosaur miraculously sound like a band again. J still gets to play with about a dozen exquisitely fucked up guitar tracks, but Lou’s muscleman bass and Murph’s continuing attempts to create a drum style consisting entirely of fills come through loud and clear too, leading to a real best-of-both-worlds scenario. Some reviewers complained that ‘Beyond’ sounds exactly like generic Dinosaur Jr, and yeah, it does, what of it? Mission accomplished! The formula – ragged Crazy Horse glory with a punk rock rocket up it’s arse – has remained intact, and sounds better than ever. Without geeking out too much, let’s simply say that the production here is superb. It’s like a masterclass in how to make a really GREAT sounding modern rock record. J’s songs are, well, more or less the same as they’ve ever been; he still sounds as yearning and confused and vague as he did when he was a teenager, still content to let his guitar do the bulk of the talking, and it’s a joy to hear him shredding on Lou’s “Back To Your Heart”, which is… a really excellent Lou Barlow song. So basically, against all the odds, this is some of the best Dino ever committed to tape, the kind of record liable to win an immediate, pre-conscious “YES!” vote within the first ten seconds from anyone who still harbours a love for noisy, melodic rock music.

Mp3 > Almost Ready

Labels: album reviews, Animal Collective, best of 2007, David Thomas Broughton, Dinosaur Jr, The Detroit Cobras