Favorite Albums - 2007

STATEMENT OF PURPOSE:

My two passions in life are music and cinema, so each year, I compile lists of my favorite things from these two realms. I do this out of a desire to create dialogue about the pieces of art and culture that I’ve appreciated most. This dialogue can serve both as a means of letting people know about music and films that they may not be familiar with, and also to encourage myself to further engage in critical, philosophical, and introspective thought about the things to which I’ve given my endorsement, and that have affected me the deepest.

In order to better serve this purpose, I’ve made a few changes to the format from last year. First, I decided to cut the number of lists down from a staggering SEVEN to a more succinct and manageable two: favorite albums and favorite films (the films list will come soon). Second, I didn’t limit the lists to ten albums or films; instead I decided that I would include however many I liked enough to consider a “favorite” from the past year. And the biggest change you’ll find is that instead of simple ranked lists, there is a brief paragraph for each album or film explaining my thoughts about it.

So in the spirit of dialogue, I would love for you to engage this note and share your thoughts with me. Yes, I know it’s a lot to read. If you don’t have the time, I won’t be offended if you skip the explanations and just look at the ranking. I promise. Or, just look at what I wrote about the albums that you know. But either way… tell me what you think!


FAVORITE ALBUMS OF 2007

15. Jeremy Enigk – The Missing Link
Finding himself in a world where the “emo” genre he helped pioneer fifteen years ago as the frontman for Sunny Day Real Estate has become fodder for top 40 radio and Myspace, Jeremy Enigk was left with no choice but to transcend it. The result is this collection of ethereal alt-rock ballads that sound like nothing you’ve heard before. The album weaves between delicate, haunting, and grandiose moments, with Enigk’s instantly recognizable vocals floating airily above it all. It is at once arresting and invigorating, proving that he doesn’t need to rely on the overly earnest whine that defined early SDRE – and the mainstream “emo” of today – to inspire powerful emotion.

14. Romantica – America
Take one part Iron & Wine, one part Margot & The Nuclear So and So’s, mix in some southern alt-country flair, and you’ll get Romantica – an Irish-bred band hailing from my home city of Minneapolis. America rejuvenates the fading “Americana” scene with an indie edge, and it is a welcome direction. I haven’t felt this simultaneously happy and mellow while listenting to an album since Guster’s Keep It Together.

13. Paramore – Riot!
Originally, Riot wasn’t going to make the cut for this list. Yeah, it had catchy hooks and the draw of Hayley Williams power vocals, but there wasn’t quite enough substance for it to really stick with me. That all changed when I saw them perform live in concert this fall. They rocked the stage harder and with more self-assurance than most bands who have been touring for years – yet all but one of the members are still in their teens. Easily one of the biggest breakouts of the year (they even got Grammy’s attention), Paramore completely deserve every ounce of their success.

12. Iron & Wine – The Shepherd’s Dog
Though the transition from solo acoustic to full band is relatively standard, Iron & Wine’s culmination on this path with The Shepherd’s Dog is anything but. They’ve embraced the studio in exciting ways, using both a variety of instruments and layered vocal techniques to add a rich texture to their music. Indie-folk troubador Sam Beam has already proven his songwriting skills and lyrical depth with just a guitar and his voice, so it’s a joy to see what he can do when surrounded by a talented group of musicians like this.

11. Radiohead – In Rainbows
Their best album ever? No. Better than the last two? Yes. But no matter where you rank this album in the Radiohead canon, let’s get one thing straight – it definitely belongs exactly where it sits chronologically. There’s been a lot of talk about this being the most “accessible” and “straightforward” Radiohead album since The Bends, as if the experimental path they began on with OK Computer has finally ended. I strongly disagree. Yes, there is no question that they’ve returned to a more melodic form than on Hail to the Thief, but to say that these songs are straightforward in the vein of The Bends is a gross misstatement. One need only listen to songs such as “High and Dry” and “Fake Plastic Trees” after listening to In Rainbows to realize the ridiculousness of this claim. Indeed, the new songs are accessible without being straightforward, and that is why they are so groundbreaking. Radiohead have applied ten years’ worth of musical experimentation to their original Britpop sound to produce the most unconventional and abstract melodic rock album ever heard by a mainstream audience. With In Rainbows, they have proven once again why they are the most critically revered and publicly hallowed band in existence today.

10. The Shins – Wincing the Night Away
Thrust into the public eye and declared the quintissential “indie” band (thanks to a little Zack Braff film you may have heard of) James Mercer and company had more than just a little pressure on them with the release of their next album. They handled it gracefully, introducing just enough innovation into their music to make it interesting, without straying too far from their familiar quirk-pop sound.

9. Anberlin – Cities
Though this album easily stands on its own, it can only be truly appreciated in the context of Anberlin’s previous releases. That is to say, it blows them away. After awkwardly riding the tension between carefree pop and more mature rock on their first two albums, the members of Anberlin finally united around a sound that just plain rocks. From the thrashing opening riff of “Godspeed” to the nine-minute epic “Fin,” there isn’t a single moment that feels out of place.

8. Lovedrug – Everything Starts Where It Ends
Vocalist Michael Shepard has one of the more unusual voices in rock (think a more nasally, less breathy Billy Corgan crossed with, um… Gollum), but he’s found a perfect home for it in the sonic landscape of Lovedrug’s Everything Starts Where It Ends. An ambitious progressive rock album, ESWIE is a perfect example of a band pushing past inhibitions and fully embracing their musical identity. Though that can sometimes be a disastrous move (I’m looking at you, Midtown), in this case the results are brilliant. Lovedrug is not a band I would expect to like. The fact that I’ve found myself so compelled by this album is a testament to their musicianship.

7. Jimmy Eat World – Chase This Light
The opening track (and lead single) is a little stale, but the rest of this album finds Jimmy doing what they do best – writing damn catchy songs. Their instantly singable melodies, huge and/or poppy choruses, and Jim Adkins’ iconic voice all combine to create one of the most enjoyable listens of the year. With Chase This Light, the elder statesmen of the emo scene show us they’ve still got the spark, even if it’s not quite the flame that produced Clarity and Bleed American.

6. The Starting Line – Direction
The Starting Line are, in my opinion, the most misunderstood band currently making music. Written off by most as washed-up holdovers from the Drive-Thru pop punk era of the early 2000s, Direction actually finds TSL at their most creative and enjoyable. Singer/bassist Kenny Vasoli is one of the most original songwriters of his generation, and tracks such as “Are You Alone,” “Something Left To Give,” and “Birds” exemplify this. Having stripped away most of the elements that negatively identified them with the emo scene, TSL is left with a sound that I like to call “feel-good rock” – great musicianship with an optimistic outlook.

5. Fall Out Boy – Infinity On High
I know I’m going to get crap for this one. Okay? I know that. So you don’t need to tell me. Now that that’s out of the way, here are my thoughts on the album. First of all, it is immeasurably better than their last. Just needed to get that out there. Secondly, yes, Fall Out Boy has embraced their rockstardom in a few ways that I disagree with (I cringe every time I see Pete on the cover of Seventeen). But they’ve also embraced it in ways that I love. Namely by going all-out-big on this follow-up to their multi-platinum breakout album and blowing past the conventions of the their own scene. This is bravado at its best – totally self-aware, irreverently tongue-in-cheek, and a whole lot of fun. But there’s more to this bombast than just rap star intros and bodacious dance-tracks. In fact, the broad ambition of this album reminds me of another genre-defining/breaking band you may have heard of – The Beatles. Yes, Infinity On High is the Revolver of the emo era. It’s just a shame that nobody can see past Pete’s eyeliner to realize it.

4. Rufus Wainwright – Release the Stars
No other album caught me more by surprise this year than Release the Stars. I have never been a fan of Rufus Wainwright, but after listening to lead single “Going to a Town” on a whim, I found myself inescapably hooked. He has a knack for infusing both charm and class into songs that would come off as ostentatious in the hands of less capable artists. Though his orchestral tendencies frequently lean toward grandeur, they also produced the exquisite “Nobody’s off the Hook,” with its elegant string arrangement and an effervescent bridge that practically floats away before gently returning to the ground with a great sigh. There are also more low-key moments, such as the achingly beautiful “Not Ready To Love” and the wintry “Leaving for Paris No. 2,” which Rufus performs with delicate restraint. The cover artwork for this album features classic Greek sculpture, and it’s a remarkably fitting choice – like no other musician working today, Wainwright elevates the pop form to high art.

3. Loney, Dear – Loney, Noir
Listen to this album, and you will like it. It’s not just that Loney, Dear (aka Emil Svanängen) has crafted the most infectious acoustic pop you’ll likely ever hear; it’s that when you listen to the album, you feel as if you don’t have a care in the world. Something about the earnestly optimistic tone of the music and Svanängen’s almost child-like voice practically lifts you up into the clouds. That’s not to say it’s all fluff, though. On the contrary, Loney, Dear’s arrangements are richly layered with an eclectic selection of wood-windy instruments and percussion, and the songwriting is undeniably innovative. Some have said that the Internet age marked the decline of excellence and variety in music. Loney, Dear (who got his start recording in his living room and distributing CD-Rs) makes a pretty strong case that the opposite is true.

2. Motion City Soundtrack – Even If It Kills Me
On their major label debut, Commit This To Memory, MCS enlisted Blink-182’s Mark Hoppus as their producer. But though his pop sensibilities certainly helped catalyze their transition into the mainstream, there was a sense that some of their unique character was lost in the process. This time around, however, they turned to Fountains of Wayne’s Adam Sleshinger, and the results are quite the opposite. Polishing Motion’s trademark quirky synth-pop with an 80’s new-wave sheen, Sleshinger’s production turns out to be a perfect fit for their sound. By far the best album of their career, Even If It Kills Me is the most varied – yet also the most cohesive – set of songs MCS has written. They’re not necessarily making huge strides musically; they’re simply doing everything better than before. And Justin Pierre’s endearingly oddball lyrics are so rife with charm that he can be forgiven for his relatively few missteps (that’s right, all you “pizza of my eye” haters). Start to finish, Even If It Kills Me is the most solid effort by any band this year.

1. Daphne Loves Derby – Good Night, Witness Light
I will be the first to admit, this album is not perfect. Lead singer Kenny Choi’s lyrics stumble awkwardly over themselves at times, there isn’t a single “instant-hit” chorus like they’ve had in the past (“Hammers and Hearts,” “Closing Down the Pattern Department”), and overall the production leaves something to be desired, especially on first listen. BUT. Something about the album caught hold of me. It happened slowly at first, but gradually picked up speed as I discovered more and more intricacies hidden beneath the surface. This passion culminated with the best live show I’ve seen in as long as I can remember. They didn’t rock as hard as, say, Foo Fighters, or entertain as much as maybe Motion City Soundtrack; they just made beautiful, moving music. It was the type of show that made me love songs I didn’t even like before. Everything they played sounded better than the recorded version. It was more than a show; it was an experience.

I could write pages about Good Night, Witness Light, but obviously this isn’t the forum in which to do that (to be fair, I should mention that I could do the same with Even If It Kills Me, which narrowly missed the number one slot). So, I will try my best to sum up my thoughts in a few sentences. This is my favorite album of 2007. In spite of its flaws, I found it to be the most genuine musical effort put out by a band since, well, my favorite album from 2006 – Copeland’s Eat, Sleep, Repeat. In fact, there are a lot of parallels with that album. Both showed surprising musical growth, both were somewhat drastic departures from their previous efforts, and both resonated with me in a way that no other albums did. There is a subtle innovation in Daphne’s music, a quiet pursuit of something intangible, and I can’t help but feel that this album is a big step for them. It saddens me a little to know that most people won’t ever give them the chance they deserve. To say that Daphne is an underrated band would be something of a mischaracterization; for the most part they simply aren’t rated at all. Here’s hoping they won’t be overlooked forever.


HONORABLE MENTIONS

Best EP
The Blue Northern – Sweaty Fresno Nights
Many critics deride “emo” music as homogenous and lacking in substance, and the truth is in most cases they’re fully justified. The embarrassment of having bands like Boys Like Girls and The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus representing the genre is not a feeling I revel in. Every once in a while, however, a group comes along that reminds me why I even bother with it in the first place. With blazing guitars, crisp vocals, and huge choruses, The Blue Northern have crafted perhaps the perfect emo record (if only there was more of it!). They should be the envy of every band from Acceptance to Taking Back Sunday, yet for now they are unsigned and struggling to break a mere 100,000 plays on their MySpace profile. Don’t expect it to stay that way for long.


Sentimental Favorite
Dashboard Confessional – In The Shade of Poison Trees
Not much needs to be said about this album that hasn’t already been said. After becoming too “rock” for his own good, Chris Carrabba stripped his act back down to the acoustic pop sound that first made him famous. The album isn’t amazing, but it feels good to have the old Dashboard back. Apparently, though, with age comes emotional stability, as most of the songs stay away from the heart-on-sleeve angst of his first two albums. It’s a refreshingly light turn for a band that had become too weighed down by its own self-importance.


Guilty Pleasure
Sherwood – A Different Light
The most sugary-sweet pop rock album of the year, hands down. Admittedly it’s a little over the top at times, but I’ve always been a sucker for romantic optimism in music, so I’m willing to let it slide. I’m also a sucker for recurring lyrical themes, which Sherwood deftly employ to capture the helpless feeling of seeing a lover get “carried away” with (and by) someone else. Much like the bright-eyed Bryce Avery of The Rocket Summer, Sherwood’s optimism works because they’ve got the most important element: sincerity.