Year-End Critics' Polls '07

I'm always mystified by the dash in The-Dream's name.

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

Terius "The-Dash" Nash

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

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.

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

nothing wrong with local/regional favoritism, especially in radio where it's a dying phenomenon.

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.

Ok

http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/display.php?id=34287

Washington City Paper lists

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

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.

I like the Dyme Def album.

It's better than the Wu & Ghost albums and maybe the Jay-Z, too.

DeRogatis and Kot both placed that Tim Fite album, which I downloaded at their behest and HATED. At least it was free!

Geoff Himes listed Skip James style bluesman Jimmy Duck Holmes (whom I had never previously heard of) and I see Holmes also made the top 10 blues list of WXPN along with Bobby Rush, James Blood Ulmer, Marie Knight (a gospel tribute to Rev. Gary Davis), Sugar Blue, Koko Taylor, T. Williams & Wesley Jefferson (from Clarksdale, MS), Harrison Kennedy, Franklin & Baytop, and Mem Shannon. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=17095982

Do people really like Residente o Residente that much? There has to have been a better reggaeton (or "reggaeton") album from this year, although I'm not saying I've heard it. (Maybe Tego's or Voltio's or Casa de Leones' or Nejo & Dalmata's.)

I shouldn't complain because I'm happy that people are noticing something coming from that general direction, but I'm sure not convinced it was one of the best albums of the year.

I still think it's amazing. The Casa de Leones album might well be better, but both are great albums, and it's kind of splitting hairs at that point. (fwiw, I put Calle 13 at #2 on my Idolator ballot and CdL at #9) The Voltio album sounds great, but I only just heard it a couple days ago. The Tego album isn't as good as it seems it is, if that makes sense. Right now, I'm listening to Fusssion Musik's unreleased Transfusssion, which is kind of disappointing me because I already heard all the best songs on Danny Fornaris' myspace. But the songs I was already familiar with are killer. This is kind of a weird thing to say, but Fornaris totally has the best sound design in reggaeton.

If you google "Transfusssion", a link to dl it is the first hit, btw. In spite of my disappointment, it's definitely worth hearing.

Actually, the Calle 13 album was very much a grower, I think a lot of which might have to do with the slow process of picking up on the lyrics, although there were songs which came together for me musically that I didn't like at first ("El Avion Se Cae", "Uiyi Guiye").

The Calle 13 cd has its share of cuts that don't work, but I really like the ones that do work. I continue to think that the ones that do work could appeal to folks who like electronic dance, or who like indie-rock in the LCD Soundsystem vein or even Battles math rockers.

x-post re Chicago reviewer's fave---
I don't hate Tim Fite's songs on his myspace site but they don't wow me. He's got an affected vocal style in his rapping--part alt-country Southern accent, part Springsteen trying to sound like a rapper trying to sound like Woodie Guthrie--that doesn't always work.

The only song that doesn't work for me at this point is the aggro one toward the end, mostly because Residente tends to ignore the beat on such songs. But your right, you could say it doesn't really work on the level of a reggaeton album per se (only three songs have dembows!), but that doesn't matter because they're pulling most of what they try off so well and it's a bit of a moot point because most reggaeton albums have their diversions, anyway.

I think the problem with Contra-Ataca is that it's the first time that Tego sounds like he's trying. Sure Calle 13 and Fusssion Musik sound like they're trying, but that's part of they're appeal, it's what they do. Tego on the other hand, is at his best when he sounds effortless. He can't reach out, he has to bring everything to him, if that makes sense. When he does that, he shines.

It's a decent/good album, but I don't like it as much as El Abayarde or The Underdog. (I still need to hear El Enemy de los Guasibiri.)

I am really surprised (and amused, as I'm not a fan) that the Modest Mouse album hasn't gotten more love in these year-end lists. It was their big album with "OMG Johnny Marr with Modest Mouse!!!!!!1" which certainly generated a lot of talk, if nothing else. But the album was, well...it was dead before the ship even sank, har har.

The highest I've seen Modest Mouse place was, like, #6-7-8 or something on the NPR listeners' poll. Which serves them right, they are dreadful on this record, and previously.

I've only heard No Te Veo on the Casa album. Is it worth checking the rest of the thing out?

YES YES YES

The whole album is that bright and sunny and joyous.

, and hooky.

kkk. Guess I'll go hunt it down. The best thing about living in WaHeights? Reggaeton albums sold two blocks down!

Bastard. I live in suburban Seattle. I've only been able to find one store with a half-decent latin selection and it recently became an FYE. We'll see how that goes.

Actually, my location is more a problem as to seeing any live reggaeton than anything else. The only show I've ever noticed is Don Omar a couple months back, but tickets were $80, and there's no way in hell I'm paying that much to see Don Omar.

The FYE in Philadelphia generally had/has a better Latin selection than Tower used to (not that Tower's was particularly good).

Sadie Dingfelder

This list is two albums short. Bands known for experimentation (such as Wilco and Radiohead) released predictable, if lovely, albums this year. As far as I know, no other artist filled that void with a startlingly original recording. So I settled for a shorter list of albums heavy on songcraft, if a little short on innovation.

That's gotta be one of the most depressing things I've read in all the year-end wrap-ups. I'm not saying anyone is required to seek out experimentalism in music. But if that's ostensibly one of the things that moves you, and you're finding it missing from your usual sources, it's really not too terribly effing hard to seek out. Christ, Thom Yorke is always going on about the acts he borrows from, and that's just for starters. Read some blogs. Subscribe to eMusic. But to play the ostrich is just... sad.

Yeah I see read those kinds of comments every year. The arts editor of Washington City Paper should fire her lazy ass. If she can't be bothered to find ten measly albums, then she's a pretty worthless music critic. There really is no excuse anymore.

I like the Dyme Def album. It's better than the Wu & Ghost albums and maybe the Jay-Z, too.

very much noted, thanks

Me? Liking local rap? Who knew?

Anyway, it's slightly hyphy-leaning middle-ground rap. The songs that are fun are great. The songs that aren't fun do stupid shit like sample "Let It Be".

I ended up placing Calle 13 on my top ten album list because it was one of the ten best albums I heard this year.

My list of records that almost made my list: Fefe Dobson, Ike Reilly Assassination, Hiromi's Sonicbloom, Os Mutantes, Aleks Syntek, The Federation, Vusi Mahlasela, Tibebu Workye, Everybody on Dance Floor 4.0, Macy Gray, Kat DeLuna, Kelly Clarkson, Kenna.

I thought you loved that Ike Reilly one. Vusi's cds take awhile to grow on me. He first seems like Putumayo's ideal African artist--quiet, folky guitar strummer but then the melodies start to stick, his voice begins to demonstrate character and the rhythms appear.

I did, and do, love Ike Reilly. But I got a wild hair right at the end of the year and decided to go a different way. Consistency is a fuckin' hobgoblin, y'all.

And Vusi -- yeah, just suddenly realized that I didn't want anything on my list that bored me, even for a track or two. His beautiful stuff is so beautiful it hurts, and he is surprisingly peppy and uptempo most of the time, but some of those ballads weighed him down, and I wanted the Jenni Rivera and Chingo Bling albums on the list, so presto chango.

I'm finally getting around to listening to PTW's year-end mixtape. It's like getting a singing telegram that says, 'Remember how much you loved this song three months ago?'

afropop.org published this list of Top 10 Latin Dance from Louis Head, Ceiba Productions Southwest/KUNM-FM

AGUA DE LUNA • Mi Tiempo • Agua (original import)
The Venezuelan salsa scene is exploding. Oscar D'León has moved back home, and over ten orchestras released CDs this year on the international market. Agua de Luna’s “Agua” is exemplary and a must have.

THE SPANISH HARLEM ORCHESTRA • United We Swing • Six Degrees
Oscar Hernández took his Spanish Harlem Orchestra to new heights in 2007. My favorites are the cha-cha En El Tiempo del Palladium and “Plena con Sabor.”

HAVANA POWER BAND • Timba Y Corazón • Envidia (original import)
Just because we do not hear much Cuban music these days, don’t think for a second that the scene on the island stopped happening. Havana Power Band is the new thing in timba, and this CD kills.

RICARDO LEMVO & MAKINA LOCA • Isabela • Mopiato Music
Ricardo Lemvo plays very comfortable tempo salsa, with a groove that dancers love. I think that Isabela is his best yet.

PANCHO AMAT • Llegó El Tresero • Egrem (original import)
Another superior CD from Pancho Amat, arguably the greatest tres player in business. This is typical Cuban son at its best.

AZUQUITA • Pura Salsa: Azuquita Y Su Orquesta Melao – Limited Edition • Emusica
2007 will be remembered as the year that hundreds of remastered Fania label CDs were released by Emusica, most with great sound and all with extensive liner notes. “Pura Salsa” is a little heard gem from 1975 by the great Panamanian singer Camilo “Azuquita” Argumedes.

ALFREDO VALDES, JR. • De La Habana A New York • Envidia
Alfredito Valdés brings together a collection of some of the best of New York and Havana for one of the most exciting outings of the year.

LOS MUÑEQUITOS DE MATANZAS • Tambor De Fuego • BIS (original import)
OK, this is not club music, but Los Muñequitos are all about dancing and this is yet another chapter from their prolific, evolving history, produced by our friend Cary Diez.

CALLE 13 • Residente O Visitante • Sony Norte
Don’t call this “reggaeton” but rather, “brilliant.” René “Residente” Pérez Joglar and Eduardo José “Visitante” Cabra Martínez make the rest of the “dem bow” beat fare sound like so much cliché. Some of the smartest music you will ever hear, and THE Latin dance music CD of 2007, period.

NILS FISCHER & TIMBAZO • ¡Gracias Joe Cuba! • Walboomers (original import)
Who says the Dutch don’t play good salsa? This is arguably the best salsa CD of 2007, with inspired performances by Cuban bassist Alain Perez, trumpet great Brian Lynch, Venezuelan percussionist Gerardo Rosales and others. Timba-fied old school that is memorable.

Seeing blurbs like that totally makes me understand why RS gets pissed off about Calle 13.

I don't get pissed off about them, do I? I'm just disappointed with the direction of their second album. The production is many steps up from their debut, but I don't think their musical ideas are such a big deal.

hey dudes some girls are dragging me 'latin dancing' in ten mins, any advice??

x/p I'm so glad I never heard the first album, so I didn't have to be disappointed in the direction of the second one! All I do is enjoy it.

Uh, not really. Be open to try new things. Learn to imitate/ imitate to learn.