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Drew Danburry's Top Albums

Radiohead and Deertick rank high, but what else did Drew like?

Initially I was very excited about the proposition of writing about this year's top albums, but once the actual project dawned on me, I felt completely unprepared. Perhaps it was because with such egocentric fervor I had been chasing my own dreams of finishing up a new album within the year, and making a musician's life work for me that I found myself completely unaware to the year's released albums. Maybe it was just because this year completely sucked in music and that I couldn't even find ten albums that had come out this year that I even cared for or paid full attention to. To be frank, I will tell you the most honest answer - I'm selfish and focused on my own dreams and endeavors. Which brought me to the recently past predicament of figuring out what albums were the best in 2007. I actually did quite a bit of research amongst friends, while looking through all the lists I could find on the internet which mostly were clouded with lists of a lot of people I haven't listened to, let alone heard of, in which case I did my duty and I got listening as best as I could.

I'm not counting down from ten to one; let's take it from the top. I'll be honest, I completely fought for a way to get out of this one, because it seems so cliché to put Radiohead's In Rainbows as number one, but seriously you guys, I sat down and finally listened to it all the way through and it's indisputably the best album of the year (in my opinion). I, initially, had somewhat of an aversion to the idea of putting it up in the top because everyone else is saying how it's the best album of the year and Radiohead's most accessible album and everything, and I wanted to make sure I wasn't putting it up as number one because everyone else was saying it, and also just because it's Radiohead and they're essentially the closest thing we have to our generation's form of the Beatles. Of course they're going to be everyone's favorite, but sheesh, the cards are in, there's a reason why they're so notoriously revered and I have to say, despite all my inhibitions, the album In Raibows is freaking amazing. How do they do it? How DO they DO it?

The second choice I wanted to include was Deertick's War Elephant, and I'm proud to say that I didn't find this one on anyone else's top albums of 2007 list anywhere, which completely blows my mind and makes me wonder how our well informed independent press can have avoided this complete gem. If you haven't heard of Deertick, this is me telling you now that you need to go listen to him if you like music at all, because War Elephant is essentially an album you need to own. I've tried the album out on nearly everyone that's entered my car from all sorts of walks of life and nearly every single time they ask who it is, and then when I see them a week later, they tell me that they went and bought it and they're so excited about it. John McCauley's voice has the eccentric quality of being both tough and somewhat nasally. It's like a young Bob Dylan who is pissed instead of pondering. But the songwriting is cleverly crafted country-esque rock with a pop structuring. Go buy it.

Common's new album, Finding Forever, maybe number three on my list, but let's give the guy a break shall we? It's his seventh album! Seventh! It's about time you and I jumped on the bandwagon. Not only has he put in more than a respectable amount of work towards making music, but let's talk about this album. It's strong, it's solid, it's accessible, it's smart and it's good! Sometimes I play it at my office job (yeah, I have one of those for now) and the 40-year-old secretaries start bopping their heads to it. I know on my part I'm really biased and really picky about hip-hop. I'm really picky about lyrics and I generally won't listen to people unless they have something positive or intelligent to say. So me mentioning Common's album is saying a lot. The lyrics are quite clever and positive, and though they don't really blow my mind, but on tracks like "Black Maybe," you feel like a more intelligent and edified person. That’s generally what I look for in music. It's always been more than entertainment to me, so the fact that I mention Common's new album Finding Forever should be indication enough that this album is worth supporting and/or checking out.

The Innocence Mission's We Walked in Song is my number four. I haven't actually listened to this album at all really. But I've listened to every other album they've put out, and unless Karen lost her voice, or started singing in any remotely different way which I doubt would happen because she hasn't changed her voice over the many years with the countless other albums they've put out, then I'm pretty safe stating that this is the fourth best album of the year. Generally speaking, the music they put out is really laid back, bedtime music. Really plodding lovely folk pop music. Slow but still strong enough to just take you to another place where you can dream safely. If I had a chance to listen to it this year (my excuse can be found in the first paragraph of this entry and I completely take responsibility for my selfishness) I'm pretty sure it would be at the number two or three spot. But since I haven't listened to it, it wouldn’t be very fair to the other musicans I have heard. But what we're dealing with here is very slow sleepytime music that makes early Sam Beam recordings seem rough around the edges (sorry Sam).

While I was researching blogs that already posted top albums of 2007 lists, I came across a blog where someone was making fun of Jessica Simpson and her top ten albums of the year. I perused through it and thought "ha ha" yeah let's make fun of Jessica Simpson for liking Sigur Ros because it's wierd to us snobby indie kids when underground things we like become popular. Well, newsflash people, it's called the Internet and since its inception things becomes popular overnight. A good example is when the "Lazy Sunday" (Chronic of Narnia) video from SNL had more hits than any other video on the Internet the entire year of 2005 despite the fact that it hit the wonderful world of web in mid-December. It had over five million hits in less than three months! So the fact that it takes years for bands like Sigur Ros to get popular is a bit astounding. But that's the nature of trends I suppose. Either way, what I'm talking about is on Jessica Simpson's top 2007 list she had Justin Timberlake's FutureSex/LoveSounds in the top ten. And even if Jessica Simpson has "bad" taste in music warranting to be made fun of by us "more intelligent/less successful" types, (can you sense my sarcasm here? Please don't think for a second that I subscribe to any form of elitism, I'm sure Jessica Simpson has a lot to teach me and share about things I wouldn't even comprehend, and I'm being serious here, that's why it's not in "quotations" because that would suggest "sarcasm"). The point is, Justin Timberlake and Timbaland are geniuses. The fact that Justin can make a successful solo career after being in a group like N'Sync is astounding, and if we really can just be honest with ourselves for a second and not be so "hip" I think we'll all agree that FutureSex/LoveSounds is a pretty piece of pop that we all probably like to dance to. Genius. By the way Jessica, FutureSex/LoveSounds was released in 2006, not 2007. But I'm pretty sure you were talking about the "deluxe" edition that was released in 2007 when you said that, right? Yeah, me too.

Speaking of genius production, M.I.A. Kala. Number six. It may deserve to be in a higher spot. But I don’t know, though the sampling and music production is the work of a complete pop erudite (is that even possible?), it’s the silliness of it, the fun of it all that makes me feel less inclined to give it number one over Radiohead or something. Maybe I think it's silly because I'm not from an island offshore of mainland Europe where everyone seems to take reggae music completely serious, especially this new wave of reggae that's so hip hop influenced, but whether it's silly or whether I'm silly for saying it's silly is irregardless, because it's good. It's really good. Whether it’s number six or number one, it's still in the top ten and that means its pretty dang important and when you hear "Paper Planes" you'll never feel the same about life. It makes anybody and everybody want to do sideways gun motions without thinking twice, because it's fun to make sideways gun motions and giggle and say "take your money." I think whether or not M.I.A.'s Kala is in six spot or not. I need to stop doing "quotations" in my writing. Done.

The seventh album I decided needed to be included on my top ten best albums of the year 2007 was Arcade Fire's Neon Bible. I think of all the albums that came out this year, I was the most anxious, excited and interested with hearing this album more than any other. What other band in the last few years has had to deal with such immense pressure to put out something equaling their last release, which if you were around, it kind of felt like it took the music world by storm. To be honest, I've had so many conversations with people about this album; it seems ridiculous to bring up all the things that were discussed. But it's safe for me to say that I don't think the album as a whole was as good as the last album they released, but that some of the songs on Neon Bible are the Arcade Fire's best ever and that it's still really good. For example, "Ocean Of Noise" and "My Body Is A Cage" completely blew me away the first time I heard them. But because the last album was so extremely successful it seemed pretty much impossible for it to be received well. I'm sorry guys, but hey, who cares right? Just call it a Pinkerton and do us a favor and not release a "Green" album. We'd prefer something more like an Ok Computer followed by a Kid A and then an Amnesiac and then a Hail To The Thief and then an In Rainbows.

The number eight album should be The Polyphonic Spree's The Fragile Army. I've heard the first half of the album. In between downtime in the studio, the guy I was working with starting playing it on his Itunes while he was bouncing out a mix from the computer and it caught me totally by the heartstrings. It's majestic. Magical. Fun. Actually, more like FUN-tastic! Okay, anyways, sorry, I think I'm getting tired, but seriously, it's really good. It's really huge sounding pop rock that just picks you right up and takes you to another place. It caught me so completely off guard I found myself asking about it. It's been a while since I've heard anything about them and I didn't realize till very recently that The Fragile Army came out this year. Though I never got very far in the album. I guess there just aren't too many albums that I can listen to all the way through in the first place. This short listening didn't leave me hanging. It left me hungry, hungry for more. But since I'm broke, I didn't buy it. But you should. It's my number eight. And I never thought I would be this bad at reviewing albums ever. But now I am aware. And I apologize to you the reader. Keep reading, we are almost done.

Number nine is Aesop Rock’s None Shall Pass. I've only heard the song "None Shall Pass," but Aesop Rock happens to be one of my favorite lyricists of the day. I really wanted to give something to Atmosphere this year since he had four releases and happens to be one of my biggest influences, for real, but I didn't really like much of the new stuff I've heard on his myspace and sadly, haven't had a chance to listen more. Aesop Rock's song "None Shall Pass" is the jam and he pretty much rules. It rules so much that even though I haven't heard anything else on the album this song is good enough to repeat for an album's length and it would still be number nine on my list. I can't even imagine how great the actual album is.

Last, and arguably least is The Future of The Ghost's Freak Out. This Salt Lake City based band is making good music. You might want to check out front man Will Sartain's solo album being released in early 2008. It has a lot of crossover. For anyone from Utah, or even not from Utah, Will Sartain has been involved heavily in the music scene there for a long time. He even recently bought the infamous Kilby Court to try and keep it alive and running. In the Future of the Ghost's Freak Out they blend a punk aesthetic with boldly honest lyrics, my personal favorite is, "two men holding hands walking down a street in a small town Texas creates a fucking riot" Try and take the time to give it a listen, because the Future of the Ghost is definitely a diamond in the rough. This paragraph sounds so amazingly like a college freshman's attempt at writing critically and analytically that I feel embarrassed. Please forgive me. I promise even though I've lost all ability to write decently that The Future of the Ghost hasn't. They write music wonderfully.

Now that I have properly embarrassed myself with my nonsensical opinionated ramblings, please take note that I've included beneath me a list of some of the albums I found to be mentioned continuously throughout the many OTHER lists I came across of top albums and stuff people liked this year. Keep on rocking and rolling, Bowling Green. Rocking and Rolling. Green Bowling.

Jason Anderson - Tonight

Saul Williams - The Inevitable Rise & Liberation of Niggy Tardust

Big Quarters - Cost of Living

Brother Ali - The Undisputed Truth

Blu & Exile - Below the Heavens

St. Vincent - Marry Me

Feist - The Reminder

Pharoahe Monch - Desire

Ha Ha Tonka - Buckle In the Bible Belt

The Fratellis -

Costello Music

Amy Winehouse - Back to Black

The National - Boxer

Miranda Lambert - Crazy Ex-Girlfriend

Lyle Lovett and His Large Band - It's Not Big, It's Large

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Posted by Drew Danburry on Jan 14, 2008 @ 12:00 am