That record to me feels like one half-decent idea, never fully baked, repeated over and over and over again.
yes! sometimes this half-decent idea works -- there are parts of the album i enjoy -- but most of the time it gets pretty stale quite quickly. the half-bakedness of it all really shows, i think.
― Mark Clemente, Friday, 21 December 2007 20:58 (sixteen years ago) link
I actually really like it -- got on my Idolator ballot because I kept listening to it, the basic rule of thumb -- but no question it's simpler in comparison to something like, say, P***a B**r. Yet I also retain a belief than 'simpler' != 'worse.'
― Ned Raggett, Friday, 21 December 2007 21:04 (sixteen years ago) link
no question it's simpler in comparison to something like, say, P***a B**r.
Arrgh.
― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Friday, 21 December 2007 21:09 (sixteen years ago) link
Of all people to have that touch a nerve with!
― Ned Raggett, Friday, 21 December 2007 21:11 (sixteen years ago) link
Prada Boar?
― The Reverend, Friday, 21 December 2007 21:11 (sixteen years ago) link
They're out there, you know.
― Ned Raggett, Friday, 21 December 2007 21:12 (sixteen years ago) link
No, I don't think that simpler != worse either. But I don't think that the Field is quite "simple" (to use a reductive shorthand term) enough. I'd rather listen to purer drone music (Rosy Parlane, say). I don't think the Field's sound design is terribly good, either -- those hi-hats are pure meh. Rhythmically, it's also snoozeville; I'd rather he'd left out the kick and hi-hats altogether, since all they're really doing is keeping metronomic time.
― pshrbrn, Friday, 21 December 2007 21:27 (sixteen years ago) link
Rosy Parlane, say
Mmm, Rosy Parlane. I should dig those discs out, thanks for the inadvertant reminder! :-)
― Ned Raggett, Friday, 21 December 2007 21:29 (sixteen years ago) link
What's annoying with The Field is that he clearly put a lot of effort into "Over The Ice" and "Things Keep Falling Down" (both of which sound really smartly constructed and effective to boot - esp. the former) but most of the new tracks on the album simply take the underlying formula to those tracks and deploy them without any extra ideas. I suppose you could say he was moving towards some idea of sonic purity, but it's not like a Basic Channel story where the simpler the grooves the more eternal and natural they sound - The Field is far too herky-jerky for that.
― Tim F, Friday, 21 December 2007 21:43 (sixteen years ago) link
ned, you heard the new one on touch, right? it's luscious.
― pshrbrn, Friday, 21 December 2007 21:52 (sixteen years ago) link
Yup. I think I reviewed it for the AMG, not sure.
― Ned Raggett, Friday, 21 December 2007 21:52 (sixteen years ago) link
term out: arpeggiator term in: herky-jerkiator!
― blueski, Friday, 21 December 2007 22:02 (sixteen years ago) link
That Skull Disco free mix linked to above was pleasant enough but it's not making me jump up and down or smile broadly--it's just standard dub meets art disco...
― curmudgeon, Saturday, 22 December 2007 00:02 (sixteen years ago) link
I reckon Skull Disco tracks work better in the mix with other stuff rather than as one big conglomerate.
― Tim F, Saturday, 22 December 2007 00:04 (sixteen years ago) link
Philip/Tim OTM re: The Field. I was actually just discussing this recently in an email. It's kind of frustrating when he hits a really great initial groove (e.g. "Everyday") and then the lack of development in drum programming/sound design really start to hinder things midway through.
― Michael F Gill, Saturday, 22 December 2007 00:15 (sixteen years ago) link
Gosh, I think Everyday really kicks into gear at around the 2:00 mark, just after the chopped up female vocals. I actually thought one of The Field's strengths was how he shift gears so well during a song.
― Daniel, Esq., Saturday, 22 December 2007 00:21 (sixteen years ago) link
Whenever someone mentions P*7*$ B$@&* I get itchy.
― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Saturday, 22 December 2007 01:33 (sixteen years ago) link
Comin' down to the wire for my ballot OMG, four candidates for one spot. Or maybe two spots. Ugh.
― Dimension 5ive, Saturday, 22 December 2007 03:33 (sixteen years ago) link
http://sayhey.files.wordpress.com/2007/03/bwin.jpg
― The Reverend, Saturday, 22 December 2007 03:42 (sixteen years ago) link
Haha I caved on Fefe Dobson after all!
― Dimension 5ive, Saturday, 22 December 2007 04:42 (sixteen years ago) link
http://pages.prodigy.net/davidson.fam/in.jpg
― The Reverend, Saturday, 22 December 2007 04:55 (sixteen years ago) link
hey rev are you ready for THE BIG TAKEOVER?
― Dimension 5ive, Saturday, 22 December 2007 05:04 (sixteen years ago) link
http://cache.viewimages.com/xc/73131532.jpg?v=1&c=ViewImages&k=2&d=0A988CE895E095AA14B36490B36BBCB6A40A659CEC4C8CB6
― The Reverend, Saturday, 22 December 2007 05:19 (sixteen years ago) link
i missed the jackin pop deadline. should i still submit
― deej, Saturday, 22 December 2007 05:22 (sixteen years ago) link
Yes (if you still can).
― The Reverend, Saturday, 22 December 2007 05:22 (sixteen years ago) link
If not, email your ballot in.
― The Reverend, Saturday, 22 December 2007 05:23 (sixteen years ago) link
(and comments)
emailed
― deej, Saturday, 22 December 2007 05:53 (sixteen years ago) link
Dude?!? I just heard it for the first time yesterday--it's great!
― Ioannis, Saturday, 22 December 2007 14:24 (sixteen years ago) link
In partial response to chuck's question above, Of Montreal wasn't on my list, but I was also surprised it wasn't making many lists given how much critical love I'd seen for it. Apparently that love was limited! It seemed like a whole bunch of people went "holy shit, Kevin Barnes" this year, but I guess it was all just people I knew.
― Eppy, Saturday, 22 December 2007 15:08 (sixteen years ago) link
I talked about Fefe's album plenty in my comments -- not that anyone reads them, but then again I figured it wasn't like anyone else was going to vote for that album, and the five or so poor sad souls who actually care about my list will read the comments anyway so it's all good.
Of Montreal was a last-minute addition to my list; sure it's indie and fey and precious and all that, but it's pretty astounding nonetheless. I was shocked at how much a lot of those songs stuck with me. I've got emotional problems but NOT THAT BAD, DUDE. Made me feel better.
In general this year I went with shiny surfaces over tasteful tuneage. That's just the way I feel right now.
― Dimension 5ive, Saturday, 22 December 2007 16:13 (sixteen years ago) link
Acts on zero out of four critics' Top 10 album lists in the NY Times: M.I.A., Miranda Lambert.
Act on four out of four critics' Top 10 album lists in the NY Times: Feist.
I wouldn't have predicted that.
― xhuxk, Saturday, 22 December 2007 17:28 (sixteen years ago) link
Whoa, that's pretty freaky. What have they done with Jon Pareles?
― Dimension 5ive, Saturday, 22 December 2007 20:16 (sixteen years ago) link
I'm surprised (more disappointed, I guess) that A Place To Bury Strangers self-titled debut disc didn't make anyone's Best-Of lists. I had no idea I was going to like that nu-industrial sound so much, but I was hooked as soon as those undulating guitars roared into To Fix A Gash In Your Head.
― Daniel, Esq., Sunday, 23 December 2007 04:14 (sixteen years ago) link
<a href=http://www.musicomh.com/music/features/albums_review-2007_1207.htm><b>musicOMH</b></a>
01. LCD Soundsystem - Sound Of Silver 02. M.I.A. - Kala 03. Arctic Monkeys - Favourite Worst Nightmare 04. Radiohead - In Rainbows 05. !!! - Myth Takes 06. Arcade Fire - Neon Bible 07. Asobi Seksu - Citrus 08. The Good The Bad & The Queen - The Good The Bad & The Queen 09. Simian Mobile Disco - Attack Decay Sustain Release 10. The White Stripes - Icky Thump 11. Interpol - Our Love To Admire 12. Björk - Volta 13. Holy Fuck - LP 14. Edwyn Collins - Home Again 15. The National - Boxer 16. Justice - + 17. Rufus Wainwright - Release The Stars 18. Klaxons - Myths Of The Near Future 19. The Cribs - Men's Needs, Women's Needs, Whatever 20. Kings Of Leon - Because Of The Times
― Fastnbulbous, Sunday, 23 December 2007 08:24 (sixteen years ago) link
musicOMH
― Fastnbulbous, Sunday, 23 December 2007 08:25 (sixteen years ago) link
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/23/arts/music/23sann.html?ref=music
As Chuck noted, the NY Times critics lists are available. Here's a link to Kelefa Sanneh's. His album list includes rappers Turk Talk (from Vallejo, California; Whiney praised him over on the Snap Thread), UGK, and Project Pat; country singer Joe Nichols (the only country album listed by NY Times writers), RnR's The-Dream, plus Feist, Panda Bear, Marie Stern, and Jens Lekman.
Ben Ratliff includes Gilberto Gil's nice, mostly all acoustic effort "Gil Luminoso" that was just released in the US this year, but was actually recorded (and available elsewhere?) in 1999. Both he and Nate Chinen list Joshua Redman's "Back East." Ratliff and Pareles both list Robert Plant/Alison Krauss. Ratliff's top 5 song list includes Jesu, Spanish Harlem Orchestra, Von Sudenfed, Cafe Tacuba, and Rihanna.
Over at slate.com Fred Kaplan listed the following on his best jazz list:
Charles Mingus Sextet with Eric Dolphy, Cornell 1964 (Blue Note). Maria Schneider Orchestra, Sky Blue (ArtistShare). Erik Friedlander, Block Ice & Propane (SkipStone). Anat Cohen, Poetica (Anzic). Carla Bley, The Lost Chords Find Paolo Fresu (ECM). Paul Bley, Solo in Mondsee (ECM). Herbie Hancock, River: The Joni Letters (Verve). Paul Motian, Bill Frisell, Joe Lovano, Time and Time Again (ECM). Joe Lovano & Hank Jones, Kids: Live at Dizzy’s Coca-Cola (Blue Note). Kendra Shank, A Spirit Free: Abbey Lincoln Songbook (Challenge
― curmudgeon, Sunday, 23 December 2007 18:25 (sixteen years ago) link
That should read "R'n'b's The-Dream"
― curmudgeon, Sunday, 23 December 2007 18:26 (sixteen years ago) link
I'm always mystified by the dash in The-Dream's name.
― The Reverend, Sunday, 23 December 2007 23:51 (sixteen years ago) link
Me too. So Entertainment Weekly which usually lists 2 music critics top 10s just went with Chris Willman's this year. I think Chris posts some on the Rolling Country thread, although his top 10 just included one country cd--Miranda Lambert. He's got Springsteen at No. 1.
His list is excerpted on EW's website in a not easy to read fashion... http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20166853_9,00.html
― curmudgeon, Monday, 24 December 2007 00:44 (sixteen years ago) link
Terius "The-Dash" Nash
― The Reverend, Monday, 24 December 2007 00:45 (sixteen years ago) link
Jim DeRogatis’ Best of 2007 list
1. Grinderman, Grinderman 2. Glenn Mercer, Wheels in Motion 3. Tim Fite, Over the Counter Culture 4. Modest Mouse, We Were Dead before the Ship Even Sank 5. Kanye West, Graduation 6. LCD Soundsystem, Sound of Silver 7. Spoon, Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga 8. The Apples in Stereo, New Magnetic Wonder 9. Radiohead, In Rainbows 10. Air, Pocket Symphony
― stephen, Monday, 24 December 2007 05:44 (sixteen years ago) link
There was alot of love for the Grinderman thing in that slate.com discussion too. I've only seen the youtube videos. Awesome guitar and Cave still doing his melodramatic vocal schtick. Ah, I still remember seeing the Birthday Party and the Fall on successive nights at the small old 930 Club in DC. Good times.
― curmudgeon, Monday, 24 December 2007 16:09 (sixteen years ago) link
National Public Rado station KEXP's best hiphop 2007 list has MIA at number 1 followed by: Wu-Tang Clan; Kanye;Jay-Z; Dyme Def (Seattle trio); Ghostface Killa; Pharoahe Monch; Blue Scholars (Seattle duo); LifeSavas (Portland); and Ratatat. Hmmmmm, 3 Northwest acts...
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=17519166
― curmudgeon, Monday, 24 December 2007 20:23 (sixteen years ago) link
nothing wrong with local/regional favoritism, especially in radio where it's a dying phenomenon.
― Alex in Baltimore, Monday, 24 December 2007 20:24 (sixteen years ago) link
I'm not sure KEXP is an NPR station, per se--maybe it is, but I've never known of any explicit connection. At any rate, it's a Seattle station that plays a lot of local/regional stuff, so a lot of PNW stuff making it onto a list (even a rap list) isn't surprising at all.
― Matos W.K., Monday, 24 December 2007 20:32 (sixteen years ago) link
Ok
― curmudgeon, Monday, 24 December 2007 20:39 (sixteen years ago) link
http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/display.php?id=34287
Washington City Paper lists
― curmudgeon, Monday, 24 December 2007 20:40 (sixteen years ago) link
SOMB Top 100 Albums of 2007 - Results Thread - Sound Opinions Message Board
1 LCD Soundsystem - Sound Of Silver 2 Radiohead - In Rainbows 3 National, The - Boxer 4 Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga 5 Arcade Fire - Neon Bible 6 Panda Bear - Person Pitch 7 Jens Lekman - Night Falls Over Kortedala 8 Kanye West - Graduation 9 Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam 10 Burial - Untrue 11 M.I.A. - Kala 12 Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer 13 Battles - Mirrored 14 Vampire Weekend - Blue CD-R 15 Feist - The Reminder 16 Caribou - Andorra 17 White Stripes, The - Icky Thump 18 Wilco - Sky Blue Sky 19 Dinosaur Jr. - Beyond 20 Field, The - From Here We Go Sublime 21 New Pornographers, The - Challengers 22 Akron/Family - Love Is Simple 23 Deerhunter - Crptograms 24 Modest Mouse - We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank 25 Stars Of The Lid - And Their Refinement Of The Decline 26 Josh Ritter - The Historical Consequences of Josh Ritter 27 Andrew Bird - Armchair Apocrypha 28 King Khan and the Shrines - What Is?! 29 Good, The Bad & The Queen, The - The Good, The Bad & The Queen 30 Iron & Wine - The Shepard's Dog 31 Liars - Liars 32 Les Savy Fav - Let's Stay Friends 33 Sunset Rubdown - Random Spirit Lover 34 Klaxons - Myths of The Near Future 35 Bright Eyes - Cassadaga 36 Besnard Lakes, The - The Besnard Lakes Are The Dark Horses 37 Okkervil River - The Stage Names 38 Alcest - Souvenirs d'un Autre Monde 39 Arctic Monkeys - Favourite Worst Nightmare 40 Shins, The - Wincing The Night Away 41 Kevin Drew - Spirit If… 42 Apples In Stereo - New Magnetic Wonder 43 Yeasayer - All Hour Cymbals 44 Blonde Redhead - 23 45 Menomena - Friend Or Foe 46 Justice - † 47 Deerhoof - Friend Opportunity 48 Super Furry Animals - Hey Venus! 49 Art Brut - It's A Bit Complicated 50 Explosions In The Sky - All Of A Sudden, I Miss Everyone 51 Beirut - The Flying Cup 52 High On Fire - Death Is This Communion 53 Witchcraft - The Alchemist 54 Field Music - Tones Of Town 55 Baroness - The Red Album 56 Wolves In The Throne Room - Two Hunters 57 Ted Leo & The Pharmacists - Living With The Living 58 Ween - La Cucaracha 59 Kings Of Leon - Because Of The Times 60 Jay-Z - American Gangster 61 Earthless - Rhythms From A Cosmic Sky 62 Studio - Yearbook 1 63 Patrick Wolf - The Magic Position 64 Sally Shapiro - Disco Romance 65 Pig Destroyer - Phantom Limb 66 Ryan Adams - Easy Tiger 67 Jesu - Conqueror 68 White Rainbow - Prism of Enternal Now 69 Thurston Moore - Trees Outside The Academy 70 Boxcutter - Glyphic 71 Band Of Horses - Cease To Begin 72 Eluvium - Copia 73 Clientele, The - God Save The Clientele 74 Blitzen Trapper - Wild Mountain 75 Fiery Furnaces, The - Window City 76 PJ Harvey - White Chalk 77 Neurosis - Given To The Rising 78 Twilight Sad, The - 14 Autumns & 15 Winters 79 Pantha Du Prince - This Bliss 80 Black Moth Super Rainbow - Dandelion Gum 81 Om - Pilgrimage 82 Queens Of The Stone Age - Era Vulgaris 83 Bill Callahan - Woke On A Whaleheart 84 Bloc Party - A Weekend In The City 85 Radical Face - Ghost 86 Durrty Goodz - Axiom EP 87 Dillinger Escape Plan - Ire Works 88 !!! - Myth Takes 89 Neil Young - Chrome Dreams II 90 Cloud Cult - The Meaning of 8 91 Stars - In Our Bedroom, After The War 92 Between The Buried And Me - Colors 93 Bruce Springsteen - Magic 94 Grinderman - Grinderman 95 Freeway - Free At Last 96 Mark Sultan - The Sultanic Verses 97 Melt-Banana - Bambi's Dilemma 98 UGK - Underground Kingz 99 Aliens, The - Astronomy For Dogs 100 Dungen - Tio Bitar
― djmartian, Monday, 24 December 2007 20:51 (sixteen years ago) link
Ann Powers from that slate.com discussion with Christgau and Jody Rosen:
What Beam is chasing is pleasure—the blood rush that comes when some new wonder unfolds, whether it's a love thing, a previously unexplored backroad, or (this is pop, after all) a new commodity. Pleasure became a problem for indie rock in the 1990s; blame Kurt, blame heroin, blame political correctness, whatever, never mind. But it's totally back, from the silk-purse neo-hippiesms of freak folk (dudes, hippies get laid), to the roving house parties of CSS and Girl Talk (Paris Hilton jumped onstage during their Coachella sets—that's hot!), to the superstoner subcult that produced Pitchfork's 2007 No. 1, Panda Bear's "Person Pitch," an album that literally puts me to sleep.
And what values are expressed by the natty retro-soul scene that championed Amy Winehouse, if not the nightlife creed of boundaries crossed in the name of fun? At Winehouse producer/It Boy Mark Ronson's El Rey show last fall, Christina Aguilera and Nicole Richie hung in the VIP lounge as Ronson's interracial troupe laid down their rock-soul hybrids.
Let me get this straight. Ann wants us to believe that indie-rock in the '90s was never about "pleasure" and that now in 2007 "pleasure" is suddenly back thanks to bearded folk-rocker Iron & Wine, CSS, and Mark Ronson, and that Christina Aguilera and Nicole Richie hanging out at a Ronson gig makes a big political statement. I don't buy that overview.
― curmudgeon, Monday, 24 December 2007 20:56 (sixteen years ago) link