Year-End Critics' Polls '07

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.

AND MOVE YR F*CKN HIPS

Do not stroke chin.

The first Calle 13 album is a total mess. It has, erm, potential. "Atrevete-te-te" and "La Jirafa" are probably still the two best songs they've done, but the rest is very much a mixed bag.

Resident Advisor Top 30 Tracks

30. Ambivalent - R U OK? (M_nus)
29. Pan-Pot - Charly (Mobilee)
28. T2 - Heartbroken (NMB)
27. Jichael Mackson - The Grass Is Always Greener (Musique Risquee)
26. Supermayer - Two Of Us (Kompakt)
25. False - Fed on Youth (M_nus)
24. Lucio Aquilina - Magic M (Cocoon)
23. Samim - Heater (Get Physical)
22. Kerri Chandler -The Invaders (The Panic) (Deeply Rooted House)
21. Len Faki - Rainbow Delta (Ostgut Ton)
20. Luciano - Fourges et Sabres (Perlon)
19. Martin Buttrich - Hunter (Cocoon)
18. Matthew Dear - Don & Sherri (Ghostly International)
17. Ben Westbeech - Hang Around (Wahoo Main Mix) (Brownswood)
16. Henrik Schwarz - Walk Music (Moodmusic)
15. Justice - D.A.N.C.E. (Ed Banger)
14. Samuel L. Session featuring Paris The Black Fu - Can U Relate? (Klap Klap)
13. Efdemin - Just a Track (Dial)
12. Roland Appel - Dark Soldier (Sonar Kollektiv)
11. Cobblestone Jazz - W (Cocoon)
10. Pigon - Promises (Dial)
9. Anja Schneider - Belize (Mobilee)
8. DJ Koze – All The Time (Philpot)
7. Andy Stott - Massacre (Modern Love)
6. Stefan Goldman - Lunatic Fringe (macro)
5. Tiger Stripes - Hooked (Liebe*Detail)
4. Simon Baker – Plastik (Playhouse]
3. Ricardo Villalobos - Primer Encuentro Latino-Americano (Fabric)
2. Radio Slave - Bell Clap Dance (Rekids]
1. Kabale und Liebe & Daniel Sanchez - Mumbling Yeah (Area remote]

Nice to see 'Bell Clap Dance' at #2. Great record

The first Calle 13 isn't so great, but it's good tracks are better than anything on Reisdente o Visitante, which is also a mess. I have trouble listening to more than two tracks in a row on the second album, without hitting skip.

AND MOVE YR F*CKN HIPS

Probably bad advice, since if you try to move your hips, it usually looks bad. Women tend to be the worse about trying to hard in that department, however.

If I'm not mistaken, the movement in salsa dancing is supposed to come more from the rib cage than the hips, but RS probably knows more about that than me.

Reisdente o Visitante, which is also a mess. I have trouble listening to more than two tracks in a row on the second album, without hitting skip.

RONG 2

Philadlphia City Paper, Top 21 Albums of 2007: "The best Rock/Pop/Hip-Hop CDs of 2007 according to the City Paper's annual critics' poll." Good for them for defining their scope, so I can't say: "what about the burgeoning Albanian free improv scene?" and the like. I was going to say "no suprises," but actually there are a couple choices that are surprises to me (or simply new to me):

M.I.A. - Kala
The Shins - Wincing the Night Away
Feist - The Reminder
Tegan and Sara - The Con
Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver
Amy Winehouse - Back to Black
Radiohead - In Rainbows
Battles - Mirrored
The Weakerthans - Reunion Tour
Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?
Okkervil River - The Stage Names
Deerhoof - Friend Opportunity
Jens Lekman - Night Falls Over Kortedala
Grinderman - Grinderman
Bruce Springsteen - Magic
Wilco - Sky Blue Sky
Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings - 100 Days, 100 Nights
Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová - Once Original Soundtrack
Times New Viking - Present the Paisley Reich

The rest (labels included now because it's easier to cut and paste this without a lot of reformating):

Rounding Out the Top 50
Albums 22 through 50 in the City Paper critics' poll.

22. The National Boxer (Beggars Banquet)

23. Band of Horses Cease to Begin (Sub Pop)

24. PJ Harvey White Chalk (Island)

25. Illinois What the Hell Do I Know (Ace Fu)

26. Celebration The Modern Tribe (4AD)

27. The New Pornographers Challengers (Matador)

28. Laura Veirs Saltbreakers (Nonesuch)

29. Refrigerator Bottles of Make Up (Shrimper)

30. Devendra Banhart Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon (Beggars Xl)

31. Panda Bear Person Pitch (FatCat)

32. Thurston Moore Trees Outside the Academy (Ecstatic Peace)

33. Kanye West Graduation (Def Jam)

34. Electrelane No Shouts, No Calls (Too Pure)

35. Meg Baird Dear Companion (Drag City)

36. Ted Leo and the Pharmacists Living With the Living (Touch & Go)

37. Andrew Bird Armchair Apocrypha (Fat Possum)

38. Dan Deacon Spiderman of the Rings (Carpark)

39. Mark Ronson Version (Columbia)

40. Beirut The Flying Club Cup (Ba Da Bing!)

41. Amy Winehouse Frank (Universal/Island)

42. Apollo Heights White Music for Black People (Manimal Vinyl)

43. Iron and Wine The Shepherd's Dog (Sub Pop)

44. The A-Sides Silver Storms (Vagrant)

45. Stars In Our Bedroom After the War (Arts and Crafts)

46. Sean Price Jesus Price Supastar (Duck Down)

47. Bitter, Bitter Weeks Peace is Burning Like a River (High Two)

48. The Swimmers Fighting Trees (self-released)

49. Ryan Adams and the Cardinals Follow the Lights EP (Lost Highway)

50. The Good, the Bad, & the Queen The Good, the Bad, & the Queen (Virgin)

I have trouble listening to more than two tracks in a row on the second album, without hitting skip.

RONG 2

I don't have trouble listening to more than two tracks in a row on the second album, without hitting skip? (I didn't click on the link, so maybe that will clear things up.)

the movement in salsa dancing is supposed to come more from the rib cage than the hips, but RS probably knows more about that than me.

I wasn't even thinking of that, but people look really awkward when they are learning salsa (or merengue or bachata) and try to move their hips in isolation, so to speak. Most of the teachers I've run into will say that the hip movement comes naturally if you are stepping a certain way (pressing down with the balls of your feet). That may be incomplete as well, but the results look a lot better than the typical newb's attempt to move the hips. A lot of Latino guys don't really dance with much "Cuban motion" (what we are talking about) anyway, but I kind of like the way it feels, and I think most women like it when guys dance with Cuban motion.

Sorry, I kind of forgot this was not the salsa thread.

maybe that will clear things up

RONG.

I don't have trouble listening to more than two tracks in a row on the second album, without hitting skip? (I didn't click on the link, so maybe that will clear things up.)

My fault there, that was aimed at the first part I quoted and the second part came incidentally attached. I'm not trying to imply that you don't actually skip around the album.

What is "Cuban motion"? (I only know the bare basics of salsa dancing.)

n/m, Wikipedia knows.

I have heard of one of these acts:

Top 21 Local CDs 2007
categories | Music, Philly BandsWednesday, December 26th, 2007 at 12:23 pm
posted by m.j. fine

One critic’s opinion? Definitive list forever?

Devin Greenwood, champion
1. Devin Greenwood Devin Greenwood (Treasure)
2. East Hundred Copper Street Performer (self-released)
3. GANG Guess What You’ll Find … (Hot Dog City)
4. Cynthia G. Mason Quitter’s Claim (High Two)
5. Birdie Busch Penny Arcade (Bar/None)
6. The Bee Team Hot Times USA (Our Neighborhood)
7. Amy Pickard & The Cradlers Cut from the Hopeless (self-released)
8. Gillian Grassie Serpentine (self-released)
9. Pony Pants Fives (Badmaster)
10. The Trolleyvox Your Secret Safe/Luzerne (Transit of Venus)
11. Illuminea Out of Our Mouths (High Two)
12. Zolof the Rock & Roll Destroyer Schematics (Reignition)
13. Fern Knight Music for Witches and Alchemists (VHF)
14. Grey Reverend A Startled Wish (Sugarcut)
15. Bitter Bitter Weeks Peace Is Burning Like a River (High Two)
16. Rarebirds Buried at Sea (self-released)
17. Milton & The Devils Party How Wicked We’ve Become (Transit of Venus)
18. Umlaut Umlaut (Space Hooker)
19. Fursaxa Alone in the Dark Wood (ATP)
20. Cheese on Bread The Search for Colonel Mustard (self-released)
21. Jill Scott The Real Thing: Words and Sounds, Vol. 3 (Hidden Beach)

http://criticalmass.blogs.citypaper.net/blogs/mu/2007/12/26/top-21-local-lps-2007/

I can't help but notice how the Philly City Paper claims to list the best "Rock/Pop/Hip-hop CDs" and neglects to include any hip-hop until #33.

Has Jill Scott gotten any less boring in the meantime?

I can't help but notice how the Philly City Paper claims to list the best "Rock/Pop/Hip-hop CDs" and neglects to include any hip-hop until #33.

Even I was a little surprised by the absence of hip-hop. (Is anything after Kanye West hip-hop? I don't recognize all the names, but it doesn't look like it.

Sean Price, but that's it.

Usually ILM rap types complain about there being 1-2 consensus rap albums that show up in every year-end list, but it turns out to be better than the alternative.

In the battle of psychedelia circa 2007: Caribou's Andorra and of Montreal's Hissing Fauna... are sooooo >>>>>> Animal Collective's Strawberry Jam and/or (especially) P***a B**r's Person Pitch. Or is that the less the latter two sound like music (i.e., their aural opacity), the better they're received critically (cf. the often mind-numbingly consistent/constant sonic signature of The Field's From Here We Go Sublime)?

I picked up Animal Collective, Panda Bear, and Of Montreal all based on the many year-end list appearances - been meaning to buy OM and PB for most the year but just never did. Turns out the AC album is my favorite of the three, and based on only a couple listens I find that Of Montreal album to be mostly repellent. I want to put it on again to try and figure out why it's being hailed as so wonderful, but the idea of putting it back on makes me groan.

From WFMU

DJ/Rupture Top 10 2007
DJ/Rupture checks in with his Top 10 (all Listen links are real audio):

1. Superstar Ralph & Sandman - Cumbia Caliente (mix cd) Listen

2. Fnaire - Yed El Henna (album) Listen

3. Eyvind Kang & Jessika Kenney (live performance for viola and voice)

4. Swizz Beats (producer) Listen

5. Calle 13 - Residente o Visitante (album) Listen

6. Skepta (production) Listen

7. Transes (music documentary about Moroccan band Nass el Ghiwane) Listen

8. Sweat X (band) Listen via myspace

9. Dirty Projectors - No More (song) Listen | Download MP3 (via Dead Oceans label)

10. Lil Wayne (MC) Listen

Also, Sonido Martines did a mix of cumbias rebajadas for my show, and came into the studio for a bilingual chat about the cumbia rebajada scene (see playlist | listen to archive). You can download Sonido Martines' entire 30 min mix here (MP3). The music is all South American & Mexican, older records (pre-70s mostly), sloooowed down.

http://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2007/12/djrupture-top-2.html

more dj top 10s from WFMU

http://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/wfmus_top_ten_of_2007_lists/index.html

why it's being hailed as so wonderful

Few of my friends have warmed to this album, or of Montreal, in general, either. For me it's Hissing Fauna's (and by that I mean, Kevin Barnes') songcraft, its/his embrace and interweaving and juxtaposition of technology and classic (rock) instrumentation, the personality and intimacy of its/his lyrics and themes.

By contrast, those selfsame friends can't get enough Strawberry Jam; needless to say, we're no longer on speaking terms.

Of course I wouldn't be surprised if the reasons I think Hissing Fauna's the cat's PJs are the selfsame reasons you find it to be mostly repellent.