Album: From Here We Go Sublime
Label: Kompakt
Image: http://images.popmatters.com/music_cover_art/f/fieldthe-fromherewegosublime.jpg
US Release Date: 2007-04-05
UK Release Date: 2007-05-14
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List number: 30
Leave it to a Swede to craft what is perhaps the most absorbing, quietly riveting electronic album of the year (they’ve ruthlessly conquered every other sector of popular music, so why not minimal techno?). Borrowing from sources as diverse as Lionel Ritchie (“A Paw in My Face”) and ’50s doo wop quartet the Flamingos (the brilliant title track), the Field, a.k.a. Axel Willner, sculpts with surgical precision every track down to its marrow, to the point where From Here We Go Sublime almost sounds like an act of breathless obsession. The result is a hypnotic, mystifying album that dares to launch its listener directly into the sh… well you know. Karl Birmelin
Album: The Magic Position
Label: Universal
Label: Loog
Image: http://images.popmatters.com/music_cover_art/w/wolfpatrick-themagicposition.jpg
US Release Date: 2007-05-01
UK Release Date: 2007-02-26
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List number: 29
Before releasing The Magic Position, Wolf was known for crafting records that were brooding and somewhat gothic. His albums were filled with a smoky mysticism, but their poeticism and musical experimentation helped propel Wolf to become a mysterious indie icon. On his third disc, Wolf shed his knack for murky electro-infused tunes and moved into a gutsy pop territory. The shift was unexpected, but the result was altogether gratifying. The Magic Position is a blithe and fleshy body of work that shows just how capable Wolf is of translating his emotions into music. The record shines in both its emotive and melodic versatility, and though many of the tracks differ in their instrumental composition, they are all bound together by Wolf’s cryptic tones and bountiful romanticism. He can easily navigate his melodic terrain, whether it involves melding electronic buzzes, harp glissandos and an ebullient glockenspiel on the anathematic title track or crisp synthesizers and a subtle horn section on “Get Lost”. But the album is much more than just a collection of fiery pop songs. There is outright theatricality and angst in the thumping drums and Wolf’s tenor voice on “Overture”, while the sweeping “Augustine” is painted with a more somber coating. The tracks on this deeply visceral record reveal Wolf’s newfound confidence, and if it is this type of attitude needed to make his music more accessible, then fans can only hope that this sunny streak of joy lasts long enough to enliven the next record. Steven J. Horowitz
Patrick Wolf – The Magic Position
Album: Night Falls Over Kortedala
Label: Secretly Canadian
Image: http://images.popmatters.com/music_cover_art/l/lekmanjens-nightfallsoverkortedala.jpg
US Release Date: 2007-10-09
UK Release Date: 2007-10-08
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List number: 28
Symphonic sampling and unapologetic schmaltz: few do it better than Sweden’s master songsmith Jens Lekman. Night Falls Over Kortedala, his second full-length, weaves tender tales of his hometown through borrowed snippets in his signature sprawling fashion. Unlike other sample-heavy albums, say Girl Talk’s brilliant Night Ripper, Lekman’s latest doesn’t draw particular attention to its appropriated parts. More than just a musical trivia game, though it is that, too, Night Falls Over Kortedala uses recordings from the likes of Enoch Light, Willie Rosario, and The Tough Alliance to flesh out Lekman’s own captivating rhythms and lovesick melodies. The resulting record combines the soul of ’60s Motown, the grandeur of Broadway show tunes, and the intimacy of a two-track folk record into an awe-inspiring package. Even the most unsentimental of listeners should find something to delight in. Nav Purewal
MP3: Friday Night at the Drive-In Bingo
MP3: The Opposite of Hallelujah
Jens Lekman – Sipping on Sweet Nectar
Album: The Scene of the Crime
Label: Anti-
Image: http://images.popmatters.com/music_cover_art/l/lavettebettye-thesceneofthecrime.jpg
US Release Date: 2007-09-25
UK Release Date: 2007-09-24
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List number: 27
Neither Bettye Lavette nor the Drive-by Truckers are ones to mince words, so it’s no surprise that The Scene of the Crime is an aggressive, flinty, open-hearted record where even the ballads show no hint of meekness. Unsurprisingly, Lavette and the Drive-by Truckers reportedly butted heads during these sessions. The nice surprise is how well they meet in the middle: Lavette doesn’t try to rock like the Truckers, and the Truckers don’t try to be a Muscle Shoals session band. Songs like “Before the Money Came (the Battle of Bettye Lavette)” and “I Still Want to Be Your Baby (Take Me As I Am)” find Lavette strutting over thorny, Stonesy guitars, while “You Don’t Know Me at All” does its thing atop a warm bed of keyboards courtesy of secret weapon Spooner Oldham. And Lavette’s cover of Elton John and Bernie Taupin’s “Talking Old Soldiers”? Long before she wails, “how the hell do they know what it’s like to have a graveyard for a friend?”, the song belongs to Lavette and Lavette alone. Scene of the Crime doesn’t prop up a soul legend past her prime. This is a fierce meeting of the minds between vital, strong-willed artists. Andrew Gilstrap
MP3: Talking Old Soldiers
MP3: You Don’t Know Me at All
Album: The Reminder
Label: Cherrytree
Label: Interscope
Image: http://images.popmatters.com/music_cover_art/f/feist-thereminder.jpg
US Release Date: 2007-05-01
UK Release Date: 2007-04-23
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List number: 26
What makes Feist great on this sensual and timely album has nothing to do with innovation, but with the way she synthesizes a number of important archetypes of the past several years: the modern chanteuse (Norah Jones), the indie pop star (New Buffalo), the avant-garde virtuoso (Joanna Newsom). Feist can’t compete with Newsom’s musicianship or Jones’ croon, but through careful songwriting she manages to do them both justice, and that in and of itself makes her a standout among all the one trick ponies in the industry. In a time when FM radio matters less and less every year, there is no honor more fashionable than being the voice of the iPod generation, so the fact that the album’s signature track “1234” accompanies that irresistibly hip Mini commercial certainly says something about how in touch the artist is with her time. Jonathan Levin
Feist – The Reminder EPK
Album: Ghettoblaster
Label: Jdub
Image: http://images.popmatters.com/music_cover_art/s/socalled-ghettoblaster.jpg
US Release Date: 2007-06-12
UK Release Date: 2007-06-12
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List number: 25
“Hey! You’ve got your chocolate klezmer in my hip-hop peanut butter!” What initially seems like a potentially disastrous, overly-kitchy pairing turns out to be a beautiful marriage in the hands of SoCalled (AKA Josh Dolgin). Blending the traditional music of Jewish cantors with streetwise, beat-heavy hip-hop, SoCalled skillfully weaves the two seemingly incongruous genres together, threading in a bevy of guest artists to help him realize his musical vision. Not limited to just klezmer and hip-hop, Ghettoblaster rounds things out with samples of snappy jazz, funk, and 90-year-old men dropping profanities in English and Yiddish. On paper, Ghettoblaster gives off the impression of being a novelty act, however, Dolgin’s love for the music of both his Hebrew heritage and American heritage shines through on each of the disc’s tracks and makes this one such a heavy hitter. That’s not to say that Ghettoblaster maintains a steadfastly solemn approach. Quite the contrary. SoCalled imbues several tracks (“Heart Attack Feeling”, “Baleboste”, and the excellent “You Are Never Alone”) with self-deprecating humor, poking fun at himself while preserving a tremendous respect for every musical genre he throws into the melting pot. The light-hearted humor gracing the disc does so in a gently winking fashion that welcomes anyone, regardless of color or creed, to a world of insanely addictive music. Lana Cooper
Video: You Are Never Alone
Album: Dwight Sings Buck
Label: New West
Image: http://images.popmatters.com/music_cover_art/y/yoakamdwight-dwightsingsbuck.jpg
US Release Date: 2007-10-23
UK Release Date: 2007-10-22
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List number: 24
With his new tribute album, Dwight Yoakam has given us Buck Owens back again, the young Owens, that is, whose music could set hay bales on fire. Yoakam was a fitting heir to Owens’ legacy. After migrating to Los Angeles following an unsuccessful stint in Nashville, Yoakam became a California rabble-rouser who sang country with rock ‘n’ roll in his belly. The Kentucky native grafted himself on to the Bakersfield sound, shaking up the moribund Nashville establishment with a string of chart-toppers in the ’80s and ’90s. Most of the songs on Dwight Sings Buck are faithful recreations of Owens’ originals. Owens’ songs wouldn’t tolerate stiff, note-for-note duplication, however. Yoakam manages to sound like he’s channeling Owens at his peak, while his band eerily summons the spirits of Don Rich and the rest of the Buckaroos with classics like “My Heart Skips a Beat”, “Cryin’ Time”, and “Above and Beyond”. Yet Yoakam’s voice remains his own. And what a voice… it calls to mind the strangest paradoxes. He sings like a silky foghorn, soothing you to sleep at the same time he blasts you awake. He sings the way a chocolate-covered chili pepper might taste. Lester Feder
Dwight Sings Buck EPK
Album: Children Running Through
Label: ATO
Image: http://images.popmatters.com/music_cover_art/g/griffinpatty-childrenrunthrough.jpg
US Release Date: 2007-02-06
UK Release Date: 2007-02-26
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List number: 23
Patty Griffin’s career arc — well, it’s more of a jagged line, if we’re being geometric — is a strange one. One that includes helping make the Dixie Chicks famous, watching as a fantastic record gets abandoned on the shelf by A&M, and putting out records of fairly astonishing consistency, few of which have anything to do with what’s come before. “Children Running Through”, Griffin’s seventh, boasts the usual array of stylistic detours, undertaken with what’s apparently an enviable lack of effort. Opener “You’ll Remember” is basically Griffin versus a stand-up bass, while “Getting Ready” finds her besting the roadhouse version of Sheryl Crow like nothing. But as usual, it’s Griffin’s cut-crystal voice that’s impossible to ignore. When it’s let free to wander on the flight-worthy ballad “Heavenly Day” and the gospel “Up to the Mountain (MLK Song)”, all you can do is listen to it glide. Jeff Vrabel
Patty Griffin – No Bad News
Album: Desire
Label: SRC
Image: http://images.popmatters.com/music_cover_art/p/pharoahemonch-desire.jpg
US Release Date: 2007-06-26
UK Release Date: 2007-06-25
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List number: 22
When future archeologists unearth artifacts from 2007, or when visitors from distant galaxies collect information about us, I want “real hip-hip” to be represented. We should put Pharoahe Monch’s Desire in a time capsule or an intergalactic welcome basket, so generations to come, even if they are light-years away, can witness the skills: Pharoahe’s intricate but facile delivery, his wit and wordplay (“even if you were ashes you couldn’t urn/earn”), and his use of extended metaphor (“Free”, “When the Gun Draws”). Plus, Pharoahe Monch can sing, too! Boasting production from the Alchemist, Black Milk, and Pharoahe himself, Desire heralds a zenith in hip-hop’s longstanding affection for genre-fusion, melding bits of gospel, rock, soul, hip-hop, and jazz. Loosely based on the concept of “freedom”, and its permutations in music ownership, self-concept, and politics, Desire disturbs the universe, breaks the time-space continuum, and delivers one of hip-hop’s favorite statements: We Were Here. Quentin Huff
Pharoahe Monch – When the Gun Draws
Album: Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?
Label: Polyvinyl
Image: http://images.popmatters.com/music_cover_art/o/ofmontreal-hissingfaunaareyouthedestroyer.jpg
US Release Date: 2007-01-23
UK Release Date: 2007-02-12
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List number: 21
Should pop music be confessional and sincere, or flashy, flighty and larger-than-life? Why not all of these things? And throw in the mythological indulgences of ’70s rock, the sexual indulgences of Prince, and a cartoonish carnival vibe, while you’re at it. Hissing Fauna… is the dark, confessional epic of the year, with a 12-minute soul-savaging missive serving as the fulcrum at its center. It’s also the playful identity crisis of the year, a rock-pop-electro-funk-soul creature built of its creator’s neuroses and pleasures. While Of Montreal has become more reflective of its founder Kevin Barnes’ personal idiosyncrasies, it has at the same time grown in stature, standing at the head of a host of cultural waves and conversations: rock versus pop, art versus entertainment, expression versus commerce, the past versus the future. Hissing Fauna… embodies, and thrives off, all of it. It’s an attention-grabbing theatrical extravaganza made from deeply personal source material. Dave Heaton
MP3: Heimdalsgate Like a Promethean Curse
Of Montreal – Heimdalsgate Like a Promethean Curse