I always leave from this trip with a suitcase full of new treasures to discover, but the rest of the year tends to fall into that feast or famine model that can be so vexing. So the ex-blogger and -writer in me (fine, nerd) decided to make a call to the collective here to keep us from starving for quality this coming year. My idea is to capture the assorted email and phone conversations we have over the course of the year and entice you to post them here instead so everyone can benefit. Whether it's songs you can't get out of your head, a ridiculous clip on You Tube, or weightier fare like films, novels, or albums, if it gets stuck in your nerve center or sets its cardiac sibling alight, it's worth taking a moment to write it up here. Write as much or as little as you'd like -- I understand not everyone is as verbally diarrheal (or lame) as me -- but write!
Essentially I'm hoping this site will be a variant of the Music and Movie Review Board, the site I had from high school to grad school, for those of you who had the bad luck to know me back then. Only this time I won't be doing all the work. If you've been invited here for the inaugural post, it means you are a fellow culture hound with a keen, curious ear and an eye to match, gifts I hope you'll share with the group. It also means you are one of my favorite people, which is every bit as distinguished an honor as it sounds like. So embrace your inner dork and scribble away, friends. Anytime something strikes you to the point you want to tell others about it, take five minutes and tell the rest of us! Putting your thoughts down for the rest of humanity to read is incredibly liberating and far cooler than is commonly thought, like streaking the food court at the mall or cussing out an old person. So get on it!
I've created a login and account for each of you, so whenever the mood strikes you, log on and share your infinite wisdoms with the rest of the Sunbeams. Sound reasonable? I've pinned the "best of" list that started this experiment below to get us started, as well as that of my pal Pie (a fellow Sunbeam), but I look forward to seeing what each of you has in store for the group soon!
Baci e abbracci, amici...
Bobby Sunshine
L'Elenco di Robberto:
1. M.I.A. -- Kala: There were three discs I kept coming back to incessantly over the course of the year, in a host of moods and mindsets -- this, Boxer, and Armchair Apocrypha (more on them in a moment) -- but at the end of the day, things started and ended with this one. From the moment the beat drops in at 1:42 of the leader "Bamboo Banger," you're officially done, your ass set on martini mode (shaken, not stirred, dahling) until the final machine gun "da, da da da, da da da's" zing past you in the closing "Come Around." It's a whirlwind tour of the globe -- Indian Bollywood, African tribal music, British grime and techno -- and has beats so nasty they'll make you smack your grandmother. (The tribal drum armada of "Bird Flu" alone will leave the back of your head flapping in the breeze.) It's everything "world" music should be, without the cloying strangeness and aimless meanderings that usually confront us -- fun, unique, and oh-so danceable.
2. The National – Boxer: As good an example of "hauntingly beautiful" as you're likely to find, this is the album I fell in love to, and with, this year. Lead singer Matt Berninger's brooding, basement-dwelling baritone pulls you through songs that sound black as midnight at first blush – his half-hearted mumble and bleak lyrics immediately call to mind restless nights of heartache and misery -- but reveal themselves as warm and inviting the more you listen. The first four tracks are undeniable – the bright piano and horns of "Fake Empire," the thudding percussion of "Mistaken for Strangers" and "Brainy" (to say nothing of the lyrics), all building to the pitch perfect representation of the band's capabilities with "Squalor Victoria." (Bryan Devendorf's drumming on the album is worth the price of admission alone – underrated and wholly unique for a band of this style, it is phenomenal on the latter two examples.) Moping around in a fit of melancholy at 3AM hasn't had this pretty of a soundtrack in awhile.
3. Andrew Bird – Armchair Apocrypha: The final piece of this year's triad of obsession, fellow Chicagoan Bird comes through with the best disc of his career, a precious little jewel that showcases each of his myriad strengths. Sly, quirky lyrics, a masterful melding of guitar, violin, and his vaunted whistle, to say nothing of that voice -- warm as sun in the wintertime on its own, but when paired with that of Nora O'Connor, it's a marriage so perfect it will give you chills. From the irresistible violin plucking in "Imitosis," the biting sarcasm of "Heretic"'s chorus ("Thank God, it's fatal…"), the soothing call of "Dark Matter"'s whistled intro, to the pained beauty of "Armchairs," a song that sounds so much like Jeff Buckley you'll wonder if he's really dead, the disc is a treat. It builds to the masterpiece that is "Spare-ohs," a song so pretty it makes you stop and close your eyes to listen no matter how many times you hear it. Perfect for lazy Sundays in bed with the breeze quietly stirring over you from outside.
4. Band of Horses – Cease to Exist: Thirty-five minutes of pure joy (barring the sole lemon "Marry Song," an out of place song that is too Rush-y for even that band's fans) – big choruses, sweet lyrics, and a voice that will have you trying to sing along time and again as it soars for the heavens. And besides – how do you say no to a band whose lead singer has such a delicious beard and a song as pretty as they have named after former NBA-er Detlef Schrempf? I defy you to try…
5. Arcade Fire – Neon Bible: No other band today so perfectly captures the swell and grandeur of old U2 as this troupe of raging Canucks does. Songs like "Keep the Car Running" and "No Cars Go" will have you running around the room pumping your fist like a band leader, just like "Sunday Bloody Sunday" and "Bad" used to, while "Ocean of Noise" and "Windowsill" will break you with their quiet beauty.
6. LCD Soundsystem – Sound of Silver: An album that proves there are actually two Murphy's Laws – 1) anything that can go wrong, still will, but brother, 2) you WILL dance on the way down. From the inescapable piano ploinking on the lead-in to "All My Friends," the layered buildup of "Get Innocuous," to the speaker-destroying tandem of "Us V Them" and "Watch the Tapes," this is another one that will have you flipping like a jumping bean and loving every second of it.
7. Of Montreal – Oh Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?: One of my favorite finds this year, a perfect album of catchy pop quirkiness that you will return to again and again. "Heimdalsgate Like a Promethean Curse" and "Gronlandic Edit" are gems that will have you singing along like a madman (at the top of your lungs and vocal range, in the case of the latter), but nothing tops "Bunny Ain't No Kind of Rider," a kiss-off song with so many ridiculous, devastating lines ("Eva, I'm sorry, but you will never have me…I need a lover with soul power…and you ain't got no so-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-ul…") you will listen to it on repeat with a grin on your face for weeks.
8. Beirut – The Flying Club Cup: Not as good as last year's debut, but still one of the most unique sounding groups (and with this album, it is more than just the 20-year-old Zach Condon playing everything) playing today. The gonzo indie marching band vibe is still firmly in place – like a weird cross between Neutral Milk Hotel and a band of Bulgarian gypsies – as is Condon's great voice. Love it or hate it, there is nothing else like this out there.
9. Wilco – Sky Blue Sky: Hometown heroes effortlessly add guitar noodler Nils Cline to the mix and deliver their best album in years. Lead singer Jeff Tweedy is reportedly off the hooch and happy pills, and the results show – he's never been sharper, and the disc is pure 70's AM radio: warm, sunny, and inviting. There's less noise and static than in recent efforts, and far less aimless rambling (no 11-minute timewasters like "Spiders" from A Ghost is Born) – this is just straight-forward songwriting, and it's virtually flawless. ("Impossible Germany" is the best thing the band has recorded in years; "Shake it Up" is the only misstep, a plodding, repetitive waste.) The new Tweedy may be happier, but he's still trying to break our hearts ("Sky Blue Sky," "Please Be Patient With Me"), and – to our delight -- succeeding.
10. Modest Mouse – We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank: Isaac Brock and the boys add Smiths guitarist – nay, legend – Johnny Marr to the mix and the results are both better ("They sound nothing like the Smiths") and worse ("They sound nothing like the Smiths!") than you expected. Brock growls and barks his way through 14 sea shanties that change pace, melody, and tone so often that by album's end you feel like you've listened to three times as many songs. It is an almost perfect album – "March into the Sea," "Dashboard," and "Fire it Up" are all fantastic, while the positively insane breakdown at the end of "Parting of the Sensory" will have you bouncing and clapping like a loon. Great stuff from a band that just keeps getting better.
Other albums worth noting that I'm either too sick of sitting at the computer to talk about, or that you all have done smashing jobs with summarizing yourselves:
Daft Punk – Alive 2007: The soundtrack to what was hands down the coolest thing I've ever seen live, a head bomb of a danceparty dropped on the Chicago lakefront this summer where I, and 60,000+ of my closest friends, completely lost our shit.
Radiohead – In Rainbows: One of the best bands out there add a new weapon to the arsenal: sexiness! Who knew Thom and the boys had it in them?
White Stripes – Icky Thump: The only other album that packs more variety, fun, and punch into an album this year is sitting way up at number 1.
The Shins – Wincing the Night Away: Mercer & Co. deliver, yet again. The marimba at the beginning of "Red Rabbits" gives me chills every time – maybe the prettiest thing they've written thus far.
Spoon – Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga: Yet another solid outing from the ever-efficient boys from Austin. Tight, melodic – not a wasted note to be found. "You've Got Yr Cherry Bomb" is pure, pristine Motown and possibly the best pop song of the year. Beautiful.
NIN – Year Zero: Whether Trent's railing against The Great Decider or The Great Creator in "Capital G" (and the rest of the album, for that matter) isn't the point – what IS is that he's delivered the best sheer rock album of the year. ("The Beginning of the End," "The Good Soldier," "Meet Your Master" all destroy.) For those of us who stuck with him long after "Closer"'s wave had crested, it is yet another great reward.
Queens of the Stone Age – Era Vulgaris: Josh Homme and his rotating band of assassins have never sounded grittier, and the result is undeniable. (Topped only by the aforementioned NIN offering for best rock album, and not by much.) "Sick, Sick, Sick," "3's and 7's" and "Misfit Love" all charge forward like juggernauts, a pile of racing guitars, thudding drums, and Homme's hypersexualized crooning. Pure grit and grime here – like licking the barroom floor – but it never felt or sounded so nice.
And one to watch:
The Cool Kids – These guys (some of Chitown's finest up and comers from an already lethal hip hop scene – Kanye, Common, Lupe…have you figured out where most of the really, really good shit comes from yet? Cmon, people!) don't have a proper album yet, just a host of assorted singles and leaked tunes from their upcoming debut, but it's worth trolling the net to find them and cobbling together a playlist for yourself. The boys drop big, BIG old school hip hop beats and verses that'll take you straight back to '88, when Chucks and knee high tube socks were de rigueur. (Think Run DMC rapping about their bicycles instead of their sneakers and you've got it.) Hot, hot heat…
Pie's List
(the rest of our friends' picks can be seen here, at http://thepaulies.blogspot.com/
MUSIC
1. Daft Punk - Alive 2007
I've never been so excited about dance music after seeing this French duo in Chicago this summer. My heart was breakdancing. Can't say any more than that, and this live concert encompassed in "Alive 2007" explains why. As I mentioned to my buddy at the show, I had to kneel down and pat the beer-soaked, butt-strewn grass to find my face...Daft blew it off. There's nothing really "new," per say, about the ditties on Alive 2007, but it is packed with adrenaline in a way that makes you completely oblivious to your aching feet and back ...and spastic dance moves They put an extreme amount of thought into the quality of their sounds, how the entire performance flows, and how they can keep you dancing like your life depended on it for the 50+ minutes it lasts. take a first listen at Prime Time of Your Life and see what you think. These unassuming, low-key Frenchman are perfectionists at a genre on which they have left a permanent fingerprint. In fact, I'm up way past midnight writing this list for Daft alone. It's all for you, Daft! Felicitations!
2. Radiohead - In Rainbows
Shocking that I've placed my favorite band of all time at #2 and not 1 -- particularly as their song-writing was superior to anyone else on this list (Nude, the Reckoner, Videotape, even Bodysnatchers for its edge...just when I thought we'd heard the limits of where this band could go, they surprise us AGAIN. What I loved even more about this album is that the lyrics are clearly coming from a band who have matured, who have learned from their mistakes, and prob have entirely different priorities and other things that consume their heads than when they began as On a Friday...Videotape is soul-arresting for this reason. They seem wiser, in short, and it pours through the music.
My only criticism is that after listening to this bootlegged concert they did (before the release of Rainbows, all the same songs), I realized some of the live versions of the same diddies were far better than what In Rainbows has to offer. This is the second time I felt that formal production somewhat neutered the music -- as if you're hearing the music in an elevator. I felt the same way after Hail to the Thief. Perhaps it's my bad karma for listening to bootlegs in the first place? Regardless, Radiohead remains my favorite band of all time for albums such as this. They still have it in them (and taking the p*ss out of record labels with basically free downloads pre-release. Brilliant!)
3. The White Stripes - Icky Thump
As I've said many times before, if Johnny Depp had a band, it would probably open for the Stripes...then after the show, Jack and Johnny would probably reinvent new story lines involving charming raunchy social outcasts to compliment their music while downing whiskey in Jack's trailer. What I'm trying to say is I LOVED how Jack invented characters on this record and brought them to life -- particularly with Rag and Bones, Little Creme Soda and Conquest. And better yet, how Meg playfully joined in, shy as she is. I think indie rockers forget that music is just like the page -- endless room for storytelling...and to no threat to the rock...too often the same cliche story lines are the focus of indie rock music and it's a darn shame. (Unless you're Interpol and lazily dump random words in a blender, dump them out on the floor, scotch tape them in strings and say "voila, lyrics! how ironic -- and hip!") Lastly, I loved this album because you could hear M&J having the time of their life - and it's infectious. Well done, Stripes!
4. The National - the Boxer
This album had me at the intro of "Mistaken for Strangers." It's Johnny Cash meets Interpol except -- and thank goodness -- they add something of their own to the mixture to make it just gosh darn cool. Makes the nerdy Washingtonian in me feel like a New Yorka.
5. Andrew Bird - Armchair Apocrypha
A truly truly talented artist Andrew is -- esp for his fusion of traditional Asian instruments, accoustics, drums, all topped with a gorgeous voice. Fiery Crash and Cataracts are worthy of the first listens, I promise you'll be sold from there. I'm really not familiar with an artist quite like him -- perfect for a long drive in the car on a sunny day.
Other noteworthy mentions: Rodrigo and Gabriela (incredibly talented performers, jawdropping!); Elliott Smith's "New Moon" - esp for 'Angel in the Snow"; Live performance of "!!!"; Feist.
2007 disappointments: I have traditionally loved these bands but I'd have to say Spoon and Interpol were disappointing this year. The latter's album grew on me to a degree -- esp track 1 and 5 -- but all in all, seemed like the majority of these ditties were underdeveloped.
FILM
"Once" -- This film was just heartbreakingly good...so good, in fact, that I probably will never see it again, but for all positive reasons. And better yet, it has a great backstory: big Hollywood-type backs out of playing the main character at the eleventh hour and the singer of the Frames -- who was doing the music for the movie to begin with -- steps in and NAILS the role. (For those who have seen it, do you recall that first scene when he's playing at night on the street? my jaw dropped then and I pushed it back into place 2 hrs later.)
"Paris Je T'Aime" -- I haven't finished this one in its entirety, but I really loved some of the 8 min stories ...esp those that pull the rug out from under you such as the one about the postal service woman touring Paris for the first time. Any story that exposes you to your own stereotyped mode of thinking --subtly--is worth taking in.
TELEVISION
The HBO series "Flight of the Conchords" is just about the most funniest thing I've ever seen on a screen. Seriously, those two kiwis changed my life. No exaggeration. Simply "ixcellent." Bowie: "On your face, Bret, on your face!" If you don't have it already, get it get it GET it.
That's my two cents from 2007. Now whatchu got, 2008?!
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