2007'S BEST ROCK ALBUMS

ANIMAL COLLECTIVE "Strawberry Jam" (Domino)
Real Audio: "Chores"
Pop iconoclasts Animal Collective brought across their clearest distillation of sound and structure to date with Strawberry Jam, in which their attempts to shed their sounds of old met with thunderous, gleeful success. While many elements of their sound on Strawberry Jam leaned towards indie rock, the group's shared influences of tribal drumming, tropicalia and psychedelia, as well as nods to electronic composers like Kraftwerk and Brian Eno, are all strikingly present, with unexpected clarity. Adding a more purposeful use of rhythms and textures to the atmosphere of their songs, the group proved that a push towards new and more widely accepted songs didn't have to come at the cost of their rampant streaks of experimentation, all adding up to their best record to date.
Buy CD $14.99
Buy mp3 $9.99

ARCADE FIRE "Neon Bible" (Merge)
RealAudio: "Intervention"
Montreal's runaway indie success story, the Arcade Fire published the second chapter of their ongoing tale this year, followed by a surge of media attention and a string of sold-out shows all around the world. Neon Bible lived up to all the attention paid them, showering listeners with a sweeping and anthemic collection of songs, evoking the works of U2, Bruce Springsteen, and David Bowie -- surely no mean feat, and every moment of it well-deserved. Critics and a legion of fans have ensured that 2007 was the Year of the Arcade Fire, and this stirring, beautiful album provided no less fitting a monument to such praise.
Buy CD $13.99
Buy mp3 $9.99

A BAND OF HORSES "Cease to Begin" (Sub Pop)
RealAudio: "Ode to LRC"
A Band of Horses' second effort plays as hopeful as it is downtrodden, and perhaps that's why their musical landscapes wear the promise of nostalgia so well. Whether or not you were one of the believers drawn in by 2006's Everything All the Time, you'll no doubt be won over by the stirring, vibrantly layered epics of Cease to Begin. Frontman Ben Bridell and his bandmates once again layer desperation across songs so poetic and charged, you'll feel hope swell within you, despite the fact that many of the songs here are about people who have no such thing.
Buy CD $14.99

BATTLES "Mirrored" (Warp)
RealAudio: "Atlas"
An electronic-progressive rock supergroup of no small stature -- its membership includes former Helmet drummer John Stanier, ex-Don Caballero/Storm&Stress guitarist Ian Williams, and Tyondai Braxton, the son of avant-garde jazz composer Anthony Braxton -- Battles dominated the mindset this year of all those wondering where rock-based music could go next. The eleven songs gathered herein race along frantic drum thwaps, terra-forming finely nuanced vistas that the group's previous EPs only hinted at. Balancing processed vocals, hammered loops of guitar and percussion, and stern rhythmic structures against a playfulness lost on many of their predecessors, Mirrored proved its worth as a fully realized, confidently propulsive debut album.
Buy CD $14.99

BEIRUT "Flying Cup Club" (Ba Da Bing!)
RealAudio: "Nantes"
World/indie crossover wunderkind Zach Condon returned in 2007 with his second album as Beirut, and it came off as the type of record he and his group (featuring string arrangements by Final Fantasy's Owen Pallett and A Hawk and a Hacksaw's Heather Trost) needed to make this year, one that not only marks a significant maturing, but also shows a band, and not just Condon, having fine-tuned their craft a little closer to perfection. The Flying Cup Club found Beirut's take on traditional Eastern European music tempered with the winsome, romantic strains of French chanson music, owing a debt to artists like Jacques Brel. The Flying Cup Club provides a cinematic, vintage listening experience, the aural equivalent of floating in and out of a daydream while staring at an old Parisian carnival postcard in your grandparents' scrapbook.
Buy CD $13.99
Buy mp3 $9.99

BLACK DICE "Load Blown" (Paw Tracks)
RealAudio: "Kokomo"
An unbelievable focus overtook Black Dice for Load Blown, one that drew together their concerns over unique, individual sound particles on their past few sprawling efforts, and applied them to the most natural, most interesting, and accessible rhythms of their ten year career. Collecting three vinyl-only EPs released across this year and last, Load Blown embraced an overall approach in love with electric Miles, Brainticket, Cabaret Voltaire and island music, making for their most psychedelic and engaging release since Beaches and Canyons.
Buy CD $13.99
Buy mp3 $9.99

BLACK LIPS "Good Bad Not Evil" (Vice)
RealAudio: "Cold Hands"
Black Lips, Atlanta's notoriously rambunctious garage rockers, continued their ascent up through the ranks with Good Bad Not Evil, their fourth studio album. Following the evergreen template of noise, hooks, bluesy undercurrents and primal psychedelia that powered all the bands on the legendary Nuggets collections, Black Lips skillfully managed to improve and further their stereophonic excesses with this go around, as evidenced by the frenetic guitar basher "Cold Hands," the boozy "Lock and Key," and the surprising slow gem, "Veni Vidi Vici." Their edges were a little less rough this time, but their sound remained exciting and raw.
Buy CD $13.99
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BLONDE REDHEAD "23" (4AD)
RealAudio: "23"
Blonde Redhead's 23 marked a natural progression from previous efforts, with production far better suited for their fragile, minor-keyed melodies. There's an openness in the writing that's more reminiscent of 2000's Melody of Certain Damaged Lemons, but it's far from retread, finding the trio furthering their experiments with electronica, and breezy '80s pop, even coming up with a song ("The Dress") that could have been the product of an impossible pairing between Radiohead and storied arranger Jean-Claude Vannier. The spirit of musical reinvention still powers Blonde Redhead's existence as much as it haunts, and 23 documented their efforts to ascend pop's fragile ladders with a dramatic flair.
Buy CD $12.99
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BORIS WITH MICHIO KURIHARA "Rainbow" (Drag City)
RealAudio: "Rafflesia"
Boris continued to release albums and collaborations at a steady pace in 2007, but perhaps the most accessible and varied pieces in recent years could be found on Rainbow, a collaboration with Ghost's and White Heaven's guitar deity Michio Kurihara. Previously only available as a Japanese import, Rainbow packed in shoegaze, heavy psych, crushing metal, experimental passages, unreal guitar gymnastics by Kurihara, even guitar pop besotted with lush vocals by bassist Wata. Another classic release by this trio, one which develops, transforms, and tempers extreme music to increasingly fulfilling ends.
Buy CD $13.99
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BILL CALLAHAN "Woke on a Whaleheart" (Drag City)
RealAudio: "A Man Needs a Woman or a Man to Be a Man"
After twelve albums and nearly two decades worth of work, singer-songwriter Bill Callahan dropped his long-running Smog moniker and released his first album under his given name. It's fitting, too, for though Smog records have always been consistently enjoyable, Woke on a Whaleheart heralded the arrival of a newly transformed Callahan, one more obviously indebted to classic country and occasional gospel moves and with a lighter, almost carefree touch, and was easily Callahan's most jubilant and accomplished recording to date. Though that unmistakable, near-baritone drawl is still very much intact, Callahan sounds rejuvenated here, leading his band through a series of tracks that replace leaden weight with a laid back groove that's every bit as surprising as it is approachable.
Buy CD $13.99
Buy mp3 $9.99

THE CAVE SINGERS "Invitation Songs" (Matador)
RealAudio: "Dancing on Our Graves"
Formed from the ashes of Seattle's Pretty Girls Make Graves and Hint Hint, the Cave Singers' debut album is one of those rare records that words can't really do justice to. Haunting, thrilling, often chilling, Invitation Songs is just that, an irresistible invitation to join them in the dark and dreamy world that their music inhabits. Built around finger-picked acoustic guitars, brushed drums and intimate, emotional vocals, the trio transcended folk music, blues, bluegrass and country, with a singular focus that belied its members' punk rock backgrounds.
Buy CD $12.99
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ERIC COPELAND "Hermaphrodite" (Paw Tracks)
Real Audio: "Green Burrito"
The first solo album from Eric Copeland, a member of Black Dice and Terrestrial Tones, delivered heavily rhythmic electronic pastiche, unafraid to wander into more abstract territory; the 12 songs gathered herein find Copeland reflecting on his past work while exploring wholly new ideas, sonics, and textures. More than just a simple side project created in the gaps of his main band's recording schedule, Hermaphrodite is an assured and thoroughly bizarre debut, one that showcases Eric Copeland's ability to transform strange and oft-indescribable sounds into compelling, original, and endlessly listenable pieces.
Buy CD $13.99
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DAN DEACON "Spiderman of the Rings" (Carpark)
Real Audio: "The Crystal Cat"
The assault of Dan Deacon on the cerebral cortexes of the youth of America was something that none of us saw coming, but now feels like inevitability. The Baltimore one-man party machine blew us all out with rambunctious, yet adeptly-crafted electronic party music, somewhere between chunky '80s home computer blurps, Paper Rad-informed dayglo futurism, and a sheet of neon blotter acid. Deacon's degree in electro-acoustic musical composition infuses his manic, strobing, freakazoid jams with musically sound methodology, one which has supported such a crazed outpouring of ideas with the structure required for maximum listenability. As evidenced by his string of sold-out shows all over the world, Deacon inspires his fans to get as crazy as they feel, and then joins in with them, ramping up the chaos into an indescribable mélange of exuberant chaos. One of the biggest surprises of 2007, and the touchstone release of teenage neo-hippiedom.
Buy CD $13.99
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DEERHUNTER "Cryptograms" (Kranky)
Real Audio: "Spring Hall Convert"
Atlanta's Deerhunter made a significant splash this year, both onstage and off, with its second album Cryptograms, a swirling and inspired continuation of hazy, drugged shoegaze pop and lucid psychedelic excess. While their first album and batch of EPs varied wildly as the band searched for its sound, Cryptograms triumphed with a love of full-throttle chords and thick, driving other-worldly tones, referencing a cornucopia of artists, from Pink Floyd to the Jesus and Mary Chain to Animal Collective, but maintaining a strong, individual presence throughout.
Buy CD $13.99

DR. DOG "We All Belong" (Park the Van)
Real Audio: "My Old Ways"
Philly's Dr. Dog proved once again this year that they know how to craft immaculately psychedelic, Beatles-esque retro-pop jams with a stylized, laidback sensibility, which is funny, considering just how lush their second album, We All Belong, comes across. Every track here sounds stately and full, walled by kitchen-ware percussion, gooey vocal harmonies, fuzzy guitars, double-time McCartney pianos and ... well, you get the idea. We All Belong belies an understanding of the '70s pop demographic, in line with other modern groups like Midlake, that inspires awe and mellow wonder across the board.
Buy CD $13.99

GRIZZLY BEAR "Friend EP " (Warp)
Real Audio: "He Hit Me"
In 2006, it seemed as if there wasn't anything that NYC's Grizzly Bear couldn't do, in terms of their redefined sound from their revelatory second album Yellow House and their ceaseless touring around the globe. While the group takes time to recharge, fans have Friend, a ten-song EP, to tide them over. Featuring guest appearances from members of Beirut, Dirty Projectors, CSS, Band of Horses, and Deerhunter, Grizzly Bear fills this release with covers and re-recorded versions of earlier songs, highlighted by the harmonies of "Shift," new teeth cut on "Alligator," and a stunning version of Carole King's "He Hit Me."
Buy CD-EP $7.99

PJ HARVEY "White Chalk" (Island)
Real Audio: "To Talk to You"
Whether raucous and bluesy, hot with the sodium vapor lights of a city at night, or subtle and nuanced, Polly Jean Harvey's career of musical shapeshifting has never deterred her fans -- moreover, it's expected with each release. But 2007's White Chalk shocked even her most steadfast followers into rapture with its stark, skeletal compositions, made even more striking by her choice of piano instead of guitar. Her whispered, icy vocals cemented in this transformation, which brought her musical storytelling to a new plateau, an incendiary and emotional achievement on the artist's own terms.
Buy CD $13.99

JESU "Conqueror" (Hydra Head)
Real Audio: "Conquer"
Jesu's second full-length brought a sincere, pristine sense of balladry to the work of ex-Napalm Death/Godflesh mastermind Justin Broadrick, showing us how to apply heavy music tropes to emotional and melodic heights. Borrowing heavily from shoegaze's stunned charms, the central conceits of these eight mammoth tracks pick up where 2005's brilliant Silver EP left us, and continue on through the group's other works released this year (among them the Lifeline EP and a split release with the drone outfit Eluvium).
Buy CD $13.99

KING KHAN & THE SHRINES "What Is?!" (Hazelwood)
Real Audio: "Take a Little Bit"
King Khan, thee baddest French-Canadian Indian exiled in Germany, at least that we know of, returned in 2007 with yet another new album, here backed by an incredible eight-piece band, with a full brass section. On What Is?!, Khan channels Paul Revere & the Raiders, the Stones, the Stooges, Jacques Dutronc, Johnny Thunders, Dylan, and Sun Ra (no, wait til you hear "Cosmic Serenade") all in the space of one album, rooted in an authentic '60s style recording and gut-shot production values. Khan howls, preaches, and confesses like James Brown raised on Nuggets and Pebbles compilations, making for a totally irresistible. If you don't love this record, you are sick of rock 'n' roll.
Buy CD $13.99

KIRSTEN KETSJER THE ROCK BAND "ffffoo k tsscch" (Yoyo Oyoy)
Real Audio: "The Bridge"
Kirsten Ketsjer the Rock Band is a three-piece from Denmark who combine the good-hearted melodic chime of the Feelies, the easy-going moments of the Minutemen, as well as the jazziness of Sea and Cake and a little of the bombast of Polvo or even Thinking Fellers Union Local 282. All of that is wrapped up in a smart, fresh-faced, noise-friendly open-endedness that keeps you on your smiling and on your toes. It's great to hear such familiar sounds done in a new, effective, unforced manner, and in doing so the group maintains an ownership of their sound that transcends influence.
Buy CD $18.99
Buy mp3 $9.99

LCD SOUNDSYSTEM "Sound of Silver" (Capitol)
Real Audio: "Someone Great"
LCD SOUNDSYSTEM "45:33" (DFA)
Real Audio: "45:33"
James Murphy's second LCD Soundsystem full-length, Sound of Silver, repeats the formula of his past releases, but makes it all seem effortlessly fresh and vibrant, like it's 2002 all over again, back when his DFA production team was making its first big impressions on dance music. The big difference between then and now, of course, is that Murphy's mastered the art of adding the personal to music that you can dance to, something which just about everyone before him has unilaterally failed at achieving. The emotions that run through tracks like "All My Friends" and "Someone Great" are two of the most moving songs of 2007, and the rest of the record supports these high points with energy, style, and pointed humor. Earlier versions of some of the tracks on Silver found their way to 45:33, a 2006 "exercise mix" commissioned by Nike that saw an official release on DFA this year, including several bonus tracks. Both of these releases will remind you why you got on board with LCD and the rest of the DFA roster in the first place.
Buy "Sound of Silver" CD $12.99
Buy "45:33" CD $13.99
Buy "45:33" mp3 $9.99

MAGIK MARKERS "BOSS" (Ecstatic Peace!)
Real Audio: "Last of the Lemach Line"
If this New England noise/improv group's chaotic, occasionally unstable live shows and countless tales of free-form scrape scattered across over two dozen albums, CD-Rs, and cassettes had scared you away in the past, then 2007 found Magik Markers doing a complete 180 turn and crafting a song-based work that's as affecting as it is solitary. Not that anyone was expecting the group to produce such a mature album, but BOSS proved that the group could fuse emotional volatility across a new and completely accessible approach. It's a POP album, and it will undoubtedly make you see the Markers in a different light.
Buy CD $9.99
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MENOMENA "Friend and Foe" (Barsuk)
Real Audio: "Wet and Rusting"
Post-post-indie-rockers Menomena created a work of sheer virtuosic complexity with Friend and Foe, their second full-length, and it's everything their debut I Am the Fun Blame Monster was and more: note-dense, playful, modern, completely ridiculous, epic, and undeniably compelling. The Portland, OR trio builds their jams off of a computer program written by member Brent Knopf that loops their instrumental passages into ascending, complex spirals of panoramic organs, triple-tracked drums, trombones, Glockenspiels, careening guitars, armies of keyboards, and hyper-melodramatic vocals. Bloggers went ape over Menomena this year, and here's your chance to find out why.
Buy CD $11.99

MODEST MOUSE "We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank" (Epic)
Real Audio: "Dashboard"
Modest Mouse singer/guitarist Isaac Brock described We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank as a "nautical balalaika carnival romp," and in the case of the group's latest album, he pretty much nailed it. A hybrid of the pop kick of 2004's smash Good News for People Who Love Bad News, and the more dissonant raucousness that was so characteristic of earlier efforts, the clamorous We Were Dead feels like the logical, or perhaps illogical, evolution of Modest Mouse's wayward, strung-out pop varietals. But while the album leans toward faster, jarring rhythms, there are still a couple solid slow burners to balance things out. And then there's the much talked about addition of Johnny Marr, the former Smiths guitarist seamlessly integrating his bright jangle into the songwriting process. With Modest Mouse's distinctive sound and playful lyrics still present, the album lives up to Brock's "romp" description with plenty of guitars and his sea-themed biting, energetic, exasperated vocals.
Buy CD $17.99

NEW PORNOGRAPHERS "Challengers" (Matador)
Real Audio: "Go Places"
Sadly, in rock and roll it's too seldom true that maturity is really a good thing, but for the New Pornographers -- who are coasting down the road of middle age with their fourth full-length and entering their tenth year -- the unhurried ease that comes only with time is a treat. Maybe it's just the excellent, diverse batch of songs and the singers' distinct styles that gives this album so much depth: Carl Newman's workmanlike '60s pop nuggets, Neko Case's oh-so-sweet-and-melancholy drawl, and Dan Bejar's gnarled glam theatrics. Maybe it's the way the group seems to be playing with each other and playing off each other with newfound comfort, with subtle instrumental flourishes and soaring harmonies that are positively infectious; surely this is the New Pornographers best sounding album yet.
Buy CD $12.99
Buy mp3 $9.99

1990S "Cookies" (Rough Trade)
Real Audio: "Cult Status"
Anybody who doesn't like fun, keep moving along, because this brilliant, energetic power pop/punk debut by Glasgow's 1990s offers nothing but. It's the first project to see release from the Yummy Fur's frontman John McKeown since his former bandmates moved on to a little project called Franz Ferdinand. Cookies offers nothing but casual brilliance; wound-up, jagged guitar pop and cheeky lyrics aside, there hasn't been a record this dedicated to good times in years, punched up by a bright and powerful production job by Suede's Bernard Butler. Highly recommended!
Buy CD $14.99

NO AGE "Weirdo Rippers" (Fat Cat)
Real Audio: "Boy Void"
Dean Spunt and Randy Randall were two-thirds of the insanely great (and ridiculously unheralded) Los Angeles art-punk band Wives. Emerging from the same all ages scene that also brought us folks like the Mae Shi, 400 Blows, and Mika Miko, their new project No Age retains that same unbridled spirit fully intact, only now the two have opened up their sound equally to noisier passages and to melodic songcraft. Now signed to Sub Pop with a debut album set for 2008, Weirdo Rippers collects tracks from the group's five vinyl-only singles and EPs, showcasing the band's sometimes-taut, often loose punk thrash and heady dream pop into wholly cohesive bursts of manic grandeur, recalling a more easygoing Lightning Bolt or a melody-driven take on Black Dice.
Buy CD $12.99
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OKKERVIL RIVER "The Stage Names" (Jagjaguwar)
Real Audio: "Unless It's Kicks"
Okkervil River's Will Sheff arguably usurped the Decemberists' Colin Meloy in 2007 as this generation's most literary-minded singer-songwriter, spinning deep and complex yarns from the fabric of his world, finding meaning in the very lack of meaning that stitches together a day in the life. The Stage Names, while far from upbeat, brings a loose, freewheeling joy to the equation that is both uplifting and infectious. The band is playing their hearts out, not looking for the perfect take, just the perfect emotion, and Sheff's voice rises from a whisper to a howl, perfectly in tune with his protagonist's rising temperature. With subtle allusions to the classics of American music -- rock and roll, rhythm and blues, country, and of course our beloved indie-rock -- this might be Okkervil River's masterpiece.
Buy CD $14.99
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PANDA BEAR "Person Pitch" (Paw Tracks)
Real Audio: "Bros"
Though many anticipated the new Animal Collective album this year, one could make the argument that a good bit of its thunder was stolen from founding member/drummer/guitarist/vocalist Panda Bear (a/k/a Noah Lennox). His third solo outing, Person Pitch, bridged the mellifluous atmosphere of Arthur Russell with the unflagging pop structures of Brian Wilson, crafted over dozens of samples and an ocean full of reverb, creating hazy, ethereal, fragile and childlike songs tracks that wash irresistibly over the the ears, body, mind, and even the soul of its listener. If you only listen to one new record this year, make it Person Pitch.
Buy CD $13.99
Buy mp3 $9.99

JAY REATARD "Blood Visions" (In the Red)
Real Audio: "My Shadow"
Commanding major label attention while watching his audience grow tenfold, this was certainly Jay Reatard's year. This Memphis denizen has been banging away at the hallowed halls of garage punk (and its corollary of goth-tinged synth punk) for well over a decade with the Reatards, Lost Sounds, Bad Times, Terror Visions and several other outfits, but his recent forays into solo territory unleashed a knack for relentlessly catchy, songwriting that few but the faithful could have anticipated. Ricocheting between the fast and the faster, Blood Visions channeled Adam Ant through the Futureheads and vintage Sparks, showing a personal side to the genre that few are able to successfully harness.
Buy CD $13.99
Buy mp3 $9.99

THE SHINS "Wincing the Night Away" (Sub Pop)
Real Audio: "Sea Legs"
Chalk it up to a sagging marketplace, but the Shins' strong showing in the Billboard Top 10 early in 2007 set the pace for the Arcade Fire to follow, and moreover, the steady gathering of independent labels to make a claim for relevance in a marketplace almost unilaterally dominated by the majors. On their long-awaited third album Wincing the Night Away, frontman and principal songwriter James Mercer never sounded more liberal, successfully rewriting his group's style in myriad ways, as quickly and as carefree as possible. As a result, the Shins have never been more exuberant, as sonic references abounded, only to be discarded, its representative songs careening off in every direction possible, without compromising the group's trademark sound.
Buy CD $14.99

SPOON "Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga" (Merge)
Real Audio: "Don't You Evah"
Spoon's sixth full-length was one of the most talked-about releases of the year, and for good reason. The showman-like façade put up by frontman Britt Daniel is once again tight and incredibly detailed, an inspired take on new-wave singer songwriting (think Elvis Costello and Joe Jackson) and their Top 40 corollaries, a la Billy Joel and Van Morrison. Daniel's out to keep this set brief, striking, and loaded with screeching samples and aural excitement, his coy vignettes coming across greasy, shocking, and slick with intent.
Buy CD $14.99
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ST. VINCENT "Marry Me" (Beggars Banquet)
Real Audio: "Marry Me"
This was the year that was for one Annie Clark, a 23-year-old from Dallas who has seen the world while slinging axe for the Polyphonic Spree and Sufjan Stevens. Yet her association with those two overachieving entities scarcely prepares one for the sheer ambition and accomplishment of Clark's Marry Me album, a gorgeous, precocious and often stunning debut released under the name St. Vincent. Like Bjork, Clark is clearly an intense, iconoclastic, fiercely independent and hugely talented artist, whose vision and drive makes her music almost unclassifiable.
Buy CD $14.99
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A SUNNY DAY IN GLASGOW "Scribble Mural Comic Journal" (Notenuf)
Real Audio: "C'mon"
This twin sister and brother trio hails from Philadelphia, though, as their name suggests, one could imagine the band making music in some damp, European city. A Sunny Day in Glasgow come as close as anyone to re-imagining the term shoegaze since the descriptor first appeared. Trading in Britpop jangle, washes of orchestrated noise, and shimmering, minimalist melodic loops, Scribble Music Comic Journal's real ace in the hole lies in its angelic vocal stylings, as if the Cocteau Twins recorded for Kompakt. It's one of the most surprising albums of the year, never too "difficult" for anyone that's willing to let go of their imagination and allow a band take control of their senses.
Buy CD $12.99
Buy mp3 $9.99

VAMPIRE WEEKEND "EP" (Self-Released)
Real Audio: "A-Punk"
VAMPIRE WEEKEND "Mansard Roof " (XL)
Latest in a line of NYC buzz bands, Vampire Weekend scored a contract with XL Recordings this year, managed to sell out some of the city's most influential venues, and toured the U.S. all on their own. The group of four Columbia grads traffics in African Paul Simonisms as they pertain to the indie rock that many of us live and die by, with all of the quirks and nuances you'd anticipate from a band that drew well-earned comparisons to the best material of the Police, the Teardrop Explodes, Orange Juice, and the Talking Heads. The self-released three song EP which we premiered this past summer on our download store is no longer available, but the group recently released the "Mansard Roof" 45 which should ably tide us over as the group preps their 2008 debut LP.
SELF-TITLED EP IS UNAVAILABLE
Buy "Mansard Roof" 45 $3.99
Buy "Mansard Roof" mp3 $1.99

DAVID VANDERVELDE "The Moonstation House Band" (Secretly Canadian)
Real Audio: "Jacket"
Chicago pop prodigy David Vandervelde's barely into his twenties, yet performs with the musical depth of someone twice his age, channeling sturdy, retro-sparkled pop songs in a style reminiscent of Fleetwood Mac, Little Feat, Bowie, T. Rex, or Plush. His debut showcases his glam-racketed lupine howl, all barroom eyes and feigned innocence, the wild yet earnest conflation of Matthew Sweet with the Brian Jonestown Massacre. If longing for rock's gossamer past is what you're into, this record will make your year complete.
Buy CD $14.99

WHITE WILLIAMS "Smoke" (Tigerbeat6)
Real Audio: "Headlines"
Having cut his teeth first on the mean streets of Cleveland, then Brooklyn, and finally on stages all over the country this summer (where he warmed up for Girl Talk and Dan Deacon), Joe "White" Williams nailed down a formula for electro-glam pop success. Smoke smolders with joyful abandon and soulful melancholy, amidst lazy, hypnotic grooves, detuned analog synths, and a lovely, laidback vocal delivery. He's got crossover potential in spades, and once you get turned onto Smoke, you'll understand just why.
Buy CD $14.99
Buy mp3 $9.99

YEASAYER "All Hour Cymbals" (We Are Free)
Real Audio: "Sunrise"
Brooklyn's Yeasayer backed up two years of increasingly impressive live appearances with one of the great debuts of 2007. All Hour Cymbals contains eleven progressive-influenced, choral Eastern-flavored psych-pop gems, spiced with various forms of percussion, mandolins, perfect four-part harmonies, and a vocal delivery that recalls both Peter Gabriel, Lindsay Buckingham and the singers of NYC's own Akron/Family. Fusing an almost jam band mentality with mesmerizing guitar lines and ultra-catchy choruses, Yeasayer drenched their album with layer upon layer of instrumentation and studio effects, yet the end result sounds free and natural, showcasing unbelievable chemistry between its four members.
Buy CD $14.99
Buy mp3 $9.99

BACK TO TOP


2007'S BEST ELECTRONIC MUSIC

ARP "In Light" (Smalltown Supersound)
Real Audio: "St. Tropez"
Imagine early B. Fleischmann jamming with Schlammpeitziger in a Cluster tribute competition versus Delia & Gavin. Arp gets the formula dead on and then some by tempering the psychedelic loops with a melancholic atmosphere and melody. Droning, phasing, climbing, and pulsating analog keys are layered and then grow at their own pace. It's a really nice mix of the old earthy Krautrock vibe and a new, more song-oriented quality, with a few starker, slightly more experimental tracks thrown in at the end for good measure.
Buy CD $16.99

GUI BORATTO "Chromophobia" (Kompakt)
Real Audio: "Chromophobia"
Right when everyone was ready to pigeonhole their signature sound as boilerplate minimal techno with pop leanings, Kompakt released Chromophobia from Brazilian producer Gui Boratto. He's got an irresistible way with a groove that's firmly based in house and smartly avoids the trappings of trance, not too dissimilar from Villalobos but with a tendency to elevate rather than dig deep, with friendly, soft drum textures.
Buy CD $14.99
Buy mp3 $12.99

BURIAL "Untrue" (Hyperdub)
Real Audio: "Untrue"
Last year, mystery dubstep revolutionary Burial knocked us all out with his self-titled debut. In 2007, his second album, Untrue, repeated that knockout twice over. Burial's overall palette and scope move far beyond his peers, allowing him to craft full albums that are more about the overall journey than the stops along the way; a deep, mysterious and dark world of mood music, of cold city streets and streetlight burn, of endless drives through vacant urban overpasses at 4 A.M. Burial's melodies are still steeped in the two-step/garage formulas that birthed dubstep, but carry a distinct Detroit techno feel that makes his works sound expansive, open, and wondrous.
Buy CD $15.99
Buy mp3 $9.99

CHROMATICS "Night Drive" (Italians Do It Better)
Real Audio: "Night Drive"
Chromatics' transformation from seditious no-wave punk bash to warm, pulsating Italo disco finally peaked in 2007 with Night Drive, an imaginary soundtrack helped out by Glass Candy's mastermind Johnny Jewel, contributing a battery of bleak but glimmering keyboard melodies and eerie drones. The group's icy version of Kate Bush's "Running Up That Hill" really pushes this effort over the top.
Buy CD $12.99
Buy mp3 $9.99

EFDEMIN "Efdemin" (Dial)
Real Audio: "April Fools"
Even if we told you that Efdemin made some of this year's most non-retro-nostalgic Detroit, efficient, deep, on-point electronic jams, all full of warmth and slowly-rising energy, it still wouldn't really do this brilliant album justice. The nom de techno of one P. Sollman, Efdemin's tracks are strangely blissful (in a "house" way) and muscle-y (in a "Detroit" way) and sophisticated in a way very specific to the Dial label, on which Sollman has previously released some gorgeous ambient installation soundtracks.
Buy CD $15.99

THE FIELD "From Here We Go Sublime" (Kompakt)
Real Audio: "A Paw in My Face"
Imagine the ideal combination of Michael Mayer covering Wolfgang Voigt's Gas and you'll get a sense of what the Field had to offer us this year soft, pulsing and vibrating ambient techno with a pronounced, softly pummeling beat. From Here We Go Sublime enjoyed a well-deserved breakout success in 2007, possessing both the rare quality of listenability from beginning to end, plus a high amount of tracks that you'll wanna add to your DJ sets.
Buy CD $14.99
Buy mp3 $12.99

GLASS CANDY "B/E/A/T/B/O/X" (Italians Do It Better)
Real Audio: "Beatific"
Glass Candy have taken up the Italo-disco revival torch and are running with it, offering six shimmering original tracks on B/E/A/T/B/O/X in addition to the two tracks previously released on the After Dark compilaton, plus a feel-good bonus intro track channeling Glass Candy's wholesome work-out buddy Anna Oxygen. While the album is packed with simplistic, retro disco-noir, synth swinger Johnny Jewel skillfully brings what sometimes seems like an ancient genre up-to-date; the backing trumpets of stand-out track "Candy Castle" evoke less a catwalk for flares and platform shoes than a slow-mo boxing ring where Kanye is pitted against Soulja Boy.
Buy CD $12.99
Buy mp3 $9.99

JUSTICE "Cross" (Vice)
Real Audio: "D.A.N.C.E"
Parisian duo Justice have been heralded by everyone from the NY Times to Pitchforkmedia, and every place else in between as both this year's European arbiters of cool, and the current reigning heirs to the dance floor throne. They've remixed everyone from Britney Spears and Madonna to their idols and main musical influence, Daft Punk. If you set foot in a dance club anytime this year, you were likely assaulted by their single "D.A.N.C.E.," with its catchy-as-hell kids' chorus, and infectious disco beat. High-powered electrocuted party music from front to back, it's no surprise that "Cross," their debut full-length, was one of the most popular electronic records of 2007.
Buy CD $13.99
Buy mp3 $9.99

LUKID "Onandon" (Werkdiscs)
Real Audio: "Onandon"
It's rare that an album can attract the attention of everyone in our NYC store within its first 15 minutes, Lukid's Onandon did just that the first time we played it on our shop stereo. Its cut-up, sample-driven madness, pieced together like an eloquent mosaic with a slight hint of MPC production, with minimal "loop-finding" wizardry, bubbling basslines, and a warmth that is both undeniable and inviting. Prefuse 73 and Jan Jelinek are obvious waystations in Lukid's journey, but the bulk of its charms belong solely to the artist, and everyone who joins him.
Buy CD $14.99

MURCOF "Cosmos" (Leaf)
Real Audio: "Cielo"
Over the years, Murcof's epic soundscapes have grown more and more subtle; and even though a seamless blend of acoustic, electronic, and orchestral music is still the palette on this, his third album, the tones and colors have grown darker. With Cosmos, Murcof moved even further into the area of imaginary soundtracks, yet his imagination feels quite real. It's an ambient record with weight and a pulse, and one of the most moving, beautifully rich albums to grace the genre in a while.
Buy CD $14.99

PAN SONIC "Katodivaihe / Cathodephase" (Blast First)
Real Audio: "Lahetyst / Transmission"
Pan Sonic have a deep and impressive catalog but in its earliest years, they won over the avant-classical, Wire-reading set by instinctually exploring the cool underbelly of electronica that was as far removed from Eno's hazy ambiance as it was from the dance floor. In this sense, the Finnish group had no trouble crafting melodic, musical, rhythmic and compelling pieces from the tiniest and most meticulously assembled bleeps and pops. With Katodivaihe, a thrilling and sometimes startling progression took place, as Pan Sonic broadened their palette, if not their focus, with dense sheets of metallic noise, swampy and propulsive bass tones, and even cello weaving in and out of its pieces. Consider the album a powerful, time-freezing and lasting statement from true modern innovators.
Buy CD $14.99

PANTHA DU PRINCE "This Bliss" (Dial)
Real Audio: "Eisbacken"
2007 saw the highly-anticipated, much-lauded sophomore album from Pantha Du Prince hit our shelves. While his first album, Diamond Daze, turned heads with its uniquely manicured textures, This Bliss followed suit with an even more pronounced feel, at times slightly edgier production, and characteristically unique atmosphere, all united by an overall, undeniable "personality" that is sorely lacking in recent techno releases. Gripping, evocative tracks unfold with unexpected gravity and fragile beauty, placing his works in a class truly on its own. Only Pantha's labelmate Efdemin came through with a comparable release this year.
Buy CD $15.99

POLE "Steingarten" (~scape)
Real Audio: "Dusseldorf"
Stefan Betke and his Pole project all but invented the style known as "clicks & cuts" back in the '90s, paving the way for the minimal, dub-infected sludge of rhythms and sounds from a new generation of electronic producers at the start of the millennium. But 2007's Steingarten saw Betke reinventing his sound, and in turn created the tightest collection of upbeat rhythms he's ever produced. Gone are the slow burning, crackling dub meltdowns from his classic works; he's now focused on the brighter side of life and seems rejuvenated and energized.
Buy CD $15.99

PROFESSOR GENIUS "Professor Genius" (Tropical Computer Systems)
Real Audio: "Kisses"
Local hot prospect Professor Genius isn't the type to borrow the kitschy tropes of synth-disco and coast out on secondhand style with it. Rather, his tracks are filled with the wild, unfettered spirit of the Italo/synth-disco of yore, and showcase an effortless ability to apply it to catchy and original songs and sounds. It's so refreshing to hear someone doing something new with the old. Combining the drive of Black Devil Disco Club, the motorik rhythms of Detroit, and the Blade Runner-esque dystopian sprawl of Vangelis, his debut album also unites the cosmic, roller-boogie funk of Peter Brown and the propulsive bounce of Alexander Robotnick.
Buy CD $9.99

SIMIAN MOBILE DISCO "Attack Decay Sustain Release" (Interscope)
Real Audio: "It's the Beat"
If you wondered what the British hype over "nu-rave" was all about, then you won't find a better place to start than Simian Mobile Disco's debut album. Following singles and mixes that have all but defined the sensibilities of indie dance parties for years, ADSR offers up an unabashedly single-minded take on electronic grooves, one that's almost strictly for dancing. And while there are moments where you just might be reaching for that glow-stick, there are equal doses of acid, big beat, electro-pop and house to keep you from grinding your teeth for too long.
Buy CD $10.99

STUDIO "West Coast" (Information)
Real Audio: "Out There"
Originally released last year as a super-limited LP, West Coast, by Swedish duo Studio, quickly became a DJ favorite, even finding DJs like Prins Thomas and Todd Terje remixing the album's "Life's a Beach." Though their connections to the Scandinavian bent for neo-space-disco are evident, Studio sticks closer to the cosmic blueprint of Italian DJ Daniel Baldelli's legendary sets, with their slo-mo tempos and an assimilation of diverse and often disparate styles, one which will also appeal to Krautrock aficionados.
Buy CD $15.99

PRINS THOMAS "Cosmo Galactic Prism" (Eskimo)
Real Audio: "Soul Machine"
The spaced-out four-on-the-floor masterpieces that Prins Thomas and his Norwegian brethren (Lindstrom, Todd Terje, etc.) have been producing have been wreaking havoc on discerning dancefloors worldwide. We don't expect that to change, as evident from this awesome double-disc mix CD that Thomas unleashed on us in 2007. This painstakingly sequenced collection manages to be leftfield, deep and eclectic, like a mix from a guy who's been buying records for years and knows these tunes inside and out, and who knows how to work them. Holger Czukay, Hawkwind, Boards of Canada, Zombi, Lindstrom and dozens more flow in and out of each other in breathable fashion, each new track adding to the overall vibe, as if it's all part of one long extended piece with 10 or 12 movements.
Buy CD $20.99

AMON TOBIN "Foley Room" (Ninja Tune)
Real Audio: "Ever Falling"
Moving on from sampling vinyl to recording and looping the world around him, Foley Room saw Amon Tobin collaborating with scientists, zoologists, musicians, and a cast of thousands, tracking audio sources from bugs and ants to wolves and tigers to trains and motorcycles to the Kronos Quartet to (literally) the kitchen sink (there was an extensive underwater strings and percussion recording session). Tobin managed to find a new direction yet seamlessly builds on his past explorations, and as the accompanying DVD shows, he clearly had a ball along the way.
Buy CD w/DVD $14.99

UUSITALO "Karhunainen" (Huume)
Real Audio: "Satumaa"
Uusitalo is by far the most straight-ahead techno guise of Finland's Sasu Ripatti (also known as Vladislav Delay and Luomo), but even that says little about Karhunainen. Eschewing digital processing entirely, this latest was entirely analog and drum-focused, intent on making the bass kick sound ridiculously large. About as floor-friendly as we've ever heard the trickster, it's a strong effort from start to finish, and one of his best releases out of his wildly diverse and prolific career.
Buy CD $15.99

RICARDO VILLALOBOS "Fabric 36" (Fabric)
Real Audio: "Won't You Tell Me"
Not one to be outdone, techno producer extraordinaire Ricardo Villalobos eliminates the middle man and cuts right to the chase with his unbelievable mix for Fabric, composed entirely of his own new and otherwise unavailable tracks. Divided into three thematic/rhythmic "suites" if you will, so there's often no telling where one piece ends and another begins. There's no easy payoff, and the mix deserves (and requires) repeated listens on both the biggest sound system you can manage, and the best pair of headphones with which you can curl up and get lost. One of the best records of the year -- Villalobos is in a class of his own.
Buy CD $16.99

[V.A.] "After Dark" (Italians Do It Better)
Real Audio: "Rolling Down the Hill"
The After Dark compilation was originally compiled and pressed in an edition of 200 copies as a label sampler/promo for a Glass Candy tour, but an unexpectedly massive response to the sounds contained herein has brought it out of limited edition limbo and into wider availability for the general public. It's an oft-stunning mix of airy, synth-soaked dance glee and low-slung grooves that samples key 12" singles and demo tracks from a whole host of different Giorgio Moroder-loving bands, such as Glass Candy, Professor Genius, Chromatics, Farah and Mirage.
Buy CD $12.99
Buy mp3 $9.99

[V.A.] "Dirty Space Disco: Selected by the Dirty Space Sound System" (Tigersushi)
Real Audio: "I Need Somebody to Love"
This languorous mix compiled by the Dirty Sound System is a slow-roasting pleasure of ancient synth arpeggiations and bubbling hand percussion. Kicking off with the Beach Boys-esque falsetto of John Forde, the mix is streamlined and silvery throughout its duration, encompassing the likes of Krautrock demi-urges like Roedelius and Conrad Schnitzler as well as Sylvester, Fern Kinney and the Undisputed Truth, all coherent and wilded out.
Buy CD $15.99

[V.A.] "Elaste: Slow Motion Disco" (Compost)
Real Audio: "Logic System"
DJ Mooner's Slow Motion Disco mix is a compilation of tunes that were popular amongst the Afro-Cosmic disco scene of the late '70s and early '80s, an immensely popular underground scene in Germany and Italy, and represented in bits and pieces all over Europe. The Cosmic sound would be best described as slower psychedelic electro meets Italo disco, and DJ Mooner provides a fine reintroduction this trippy style, where Heaven 17, Chris & Cosey and Eloy(!) were dance floor fillers. Those who bought the Lindstrom, Prins Thomas and Confuzed Disco albums will probably be quite into this, as well as of proggy Krautrock, screwed & chopped hip-hop mixtapes and Section 25 could get with this aesthetic quite easily.
Buy CD $15.99

[V.A.] "Soundboy Punishments " (Skull Disco)
Real Audio: "Gold and Silver"
The heavier-than-heavy dubstep label Skull Disco brings us Soundboy Punishments, compiling the label's first five 12-inch singles. Culled primarily from the work of Shackleton, as well as a few selections from Appleblim and Gatekeeper, this is a mysterious yet engaging collection of deep, dark and danceable dub. As the title suggests, this is punishment for any sound boy expecting the same ol' thing, and worth it to everyone from the curious to the aficionado, especially for the now-legendary 18-minute Ricardo Villalobos remix of Shackelton's "Blood On My Hands."
Buy CD $20.99
Buy mp3 $9.99

BACK TO TOP


2007'S BEST "THEN" ALBUMS

AFFLICTED MAN "The Complete Recordings" (Senseless Whale)
Real Audio: "I'm Afflicted"
An eye-opening overview of a little-known punk rocker steeped both in the blues and heavy psych, this public service reissue of Afflicted Man's discography. Steve Hall spent most of his career on the furthest edge of the DIY fringe, but The Complete Recordings does a bang-up job in chronicling the work of a musician who managed to connect the dots between skinhead punk, the Messthetics compilations, Billy Childish and High Rise, the latter of which (High Speed and the Afflicted Man's Get Stoned 'Ezy LP from 1982) make this a mandatory purchase.
Buy CD $20.99

ED ASKEW "Little Eyes" (De Stijl)
Real Audio: "Little Eyes"
Ed Askew was a unique folk singer in NYC back in the '60s who cut a legendary album, Ask the Unicorn, for ESP-Disk. Now available to the public after over three decades in mothballs, Little Eyes surfaced in 2007, the follow-up album long thought to be lost forever. Askew waltzes through ten songs of triumphant sorrow, an album more confident and assured than his debut, and one that could have legitimately catapulted him beyond cult status had it been released in its own time.
Buy CD $13.99
Buy mp3 $9.99

VASHTI BUNYAN "Some Things Just Stick in Your Mind" (DiCristina)
Real Audio: "Some Things Just Stick in Your Mind"
British folk chanteuse Vashti Bunyan's unprecedented return to the realms of outsider music began a few years back, with the rediscovery of her lone album, the beautiful and delicate Just Another Diamond Day. Yet the music world she had left behind so completely back in the '60s has flooded back to her, with a comeback album, collaborations with Animal Collective and Devendra Barnhart, and now this fantastic double-disc reissue of her first two singles, demos for Andrew Loog Oldham's Immediate label, and other home recordings, all dating from 1964-1967. Varied in scope but never in quality, Some Things Just Stick in Your Mind is another fine glimpse of one of the most honest and direct female voices to be rediscovered in recent years.
Buy CD $14.99
Buy mp3 $9.99

GENE CLARK "With the Gosdin Brothers" (Sundazed)
Real Audio: "Tried So Hard"
Gene Clark made quite a few incredible albums -- including the first three albums by the Byrds -- and his oft-reissued 1967 solo debut is among the best of them. Gene Clark with the Gosdin Brothers came out almost simultaneously with Younger Than Yesterday, the first post-Clark Byrds LP. Clark's album was a commercial failure at the time of its release, but over the years it's become known as one of the great California country-rock albums, the first of many Clark would helm. It's a stone cold classic.
Buy CD $16.99

STUD COLE "Burn Baby Burn" (Norton)
Real Audio: "Burn Baby Burn"
The Stud Cole story is a familiar one: despite his utmost dedication to singing and songwriting, only a limited amount of the Buffalo native's material ever made it to record, and likewise never with much success. That being said, what appears on Burn Baby Burn is a treasure trove full of off-kilter doo-wop, loose rockabilly and sultry, blues-inspired rock tunes. If you're a fan of the Cramps, Screaming Jay Hawkins, Hasil Adkins, Ronnie Dawson, Charlie Feathers, etc., you can't go wrong with Stud.
Buy CD $14.99

KAREN DALTON "Cotton Eyed Joe" (Megaphone/Delmore)
Real Audio: "Down and Out"
A never before heard two-CD live set of one of the most-revered and under-documented female folk singers, Karen Dalton, rescued from the crumbling remains of an ancient pair of reel-to-reel tapes ... seriously, this is a big, big deal, essentially doubling her recorded output, and prefacing those works by seven full years. Recorded in Boulder, Colorado, the repertoire she covers here spans the gamut from Jelly Roll Morton to Fred Neil, to key tunes from Harry Smith's Anthology of American Folk Music. While the sound isn't one hundred percent pristine, it's more than enough to capture even the most subtle nuances and heretofore unseen ferocity of her performance.
Buy CDx2 w/DVD $26.99

DINOSAUR L "24 24 Music" (Sleeping Bag)
Real Audio: "#1 (You're Gonna Be Clean On Your Bean)"
Along with his World of Echo, Dinosaur L's 24 24 Music is quite possibly THE Arthur Russell jam most talked about, coveted and, in 2007, the one that finally became available once again. Arthur's concept for this record was actually more in line with downtown/avant composition concepts than simple disco jams -- every piece here revolves around the concept of initiating subtle changes in the music every 24 bars (hence the title) funky as hell, but much more loose and freewheeling than you might expect. It's one of the most essential downtown/disco (not disco)/punkin & funkin New York records ever recorded.
Buy CD $15.99

THE DRAGONS "BFI" (Ninja Tune)
Real Audio: "Food for My Soul"
These lost studio reels by esteemed session musicians, Beach Boys' live backing band, and brothers Dragon -- Dennis, Doug, and Daryl, who you might recognize as the Captain (of The Captain & Tennille!) -- were recorded in 1970 to the sound of slamming record company doors. 35 years later, Strictly Kev/DJ Food picks up a bootleg of a surf soundtrack called A Sea for Yourself which features the Dragons' "Food for My Soul," and has his mind slightly blown. Long story short, here's their album BFI, at long last: part studio wizardry, part futuristic space age effects, part lightly hippie/psychedelic touches, part Millennium/Sagittarius-esque soft rock, part laidback jazzy beach vibes. If you're fed up with the barrage of lost reissue hyperbole, and just wanna chill out for a while, this might be the one for you.
Buy CD $14.99
Buy mp3 $9.99

FIRE ENGINES "Hungry Beat " (Acute)
Real Audio: "Candyskin"
The relentless skronk and sweetened melodies of the Edinburgh, Scotland quartet the Fire Engines were perhaps the most successful representation of no-wave chicanery as applied to the pop single template, from the brutal bashing of "Get Up and Use Me" to the catchy and near-perfect pop of "Candyskin" are just a few of the highlights of Hungry Beat, the first legit domestic reissue of the group's discography. Though they existed only for a brief while, their music rattled the nerves of future generations of no-wavers and post-punkers.
Buy CD $13.99
Buy mp3 $9.99

JIM FORD "The Sounds of Our Time" (Bear Family)
Real Audio: "Harlan County"
Hands down the best rock and roll reissue of the year, Jim Ford's The Sounds of Our Time will be absolutely essential for anyone who has ever dug Exile on Main Street, Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham, Dr. John, Link Wray's three track shack recordings, gritty southern soul, driving with the windows down etc., etc. It is THAT GOOD! Including his classic Harlan County album in its entirety as well as 15 more tracks that are just as good, if not better, this collection was culled from some 300 hundred hours of reel-to-reel tapes found under the Ford's bed in a trailer park in Northern California. And his story is every bit as incredible as his music. Sadly, Ford passed away last month.
Buy CD $21.99

FRASER & DEBOLT "Fraser & DeBolt" (Fallout)
Real Audio: "Them Dance Hall Girls"
Highly regarded by those in the know as a homespun masterpiece and somewhat improbable entry in Columbia Records' 1971 release schedule, Fraser & DeBolt combined subtly brilliant and slightly surreal songwriting with a bare-boned and rough-edged delivery, succeeding mainly on the strength of the duo's incredibly heartfelt delivery. These songs are all funk and flash and as well worn as your grandma's homemade quilt.
Buy CD $15.99

LEE HAZLEWOOD "The Very Speical World of Lee Hazlewood" (Water)
Real Audio: "So Long Babe"
LEE HAZLEWOOD "Lee Hazlewoodism: Its Cause and Cure" (Water)
Real Audio: "The Girls in Paris"
LEE HAZLEWOOD "Something Special" (Water)
Real Audio: "Stone Cold Blues"
In memory of Lee Hazlewood's passing this calendar year, San Francisco reissue label Water came through with three of the artist's albums from his short tenure with MGM Records in the '60s. Each lovingly arranged by Billy Strange, these titles feature Hazlewood's own solitary take on studio pop as well as many of the classic songs of his that were made famous by the chart-topping artists he produced. With a long and storied career, opinions vary on which of Lee's many great records were his best, but these three are all clearly amongst his finest, blending his smart, sharp-as-a-tack songwriting with that laconic drawl and off-beat production style to great effect.
Buy "The Very Special World of..." CD $15.99
Buy "Lee Hazlewoodism" CD $15.99
Buy "Something Special " CD $15.99

JOY DIVISION "Unknown Pleasures" (Rhino)
Real Audio: "Candidate" (Live at the Factory 1979)
JOY DIVISION "Closer" (Rhino)
Real Audio: "Glass" (Live at University of London 1980)
JOY DIVISION "Still" (Rhino)
Real Audio: "Ice Age" (Live at Town Hall Soundcheck 1980)
This year's major motion picture Control reopened the tragic legacy of Joy Division's Ian Curtis to audiences all over the world, so it seems fitting that his group's two albums and posthumous compilation would once again see reissue in 2007. These editions have been remastered, trading in their vintage Martin Hannett productions for a newer, more modern clarity. Each title is coupled with a bonus disc of awe-inspiring live concert recordings, which showcase the punked-out guitar grind their studio sides never captured.
Buy "Unknown Pleasures" CDx2 $23.99
Buy "Closer" CDx2 $23.99
Buy "Still" CDx2 $23.99

NICO "Frozen Borderline" (Rhino UK)
Real Audio: "The Falconer"
Nico's signature solo efforts, the 1968 release The Marble Index and 1970's Desertshore, showcased the haunting singer's most experimental, true-to-nature recordings. They're both collected on Frozen Borderline, with previously unreleased outtakes, alternate versions and demos. Startling and starkly impassioned, it's a must-have for Nico fans as well as a good primer for those that only know her through Velvet Underground and Chelsea Girl.
Buy CDx2 $24.99

GRAM PARSONS & THE FLYING BURRITO BROTHERS "Archives Volume 1: Live at the Avalon Ballroom 1969" (Amoeba)
Real Audio: "Hot Burrito #2"
Esteemed West Coast record retailer Amoeba Records made the jump to starting an in-house label in 2007, and what a title to kick things off: long-missing live tapes of Gram Parsons and the Flying Burrito Brothers, recorded by legendary Grateful Dead roadie Owsley "Bear" Stanley, which had been hiding in the Dead's infamous tape vaults for years.The band was killing it on these two nights in early April, 1969, Gram mic'ed close up, Chris Hillman reacting to the heat of Jerry Garcia's nightly shredding, and the very breath of clarity allowing these tracks to ache and burn in all the right places. If this artifact doesn't put to rest the rumors that the Burritos were slouches live, then nothing will.
Buy CDx2 $18.99

PYLON "Gyrate Plus" (DFA)
Real Audio: "Feast on My Heart"
Formed in the late 1970s around a core of University of Georgia students, Pylon were instrumental in establishing Athens, GA as a hotbed of bizarre punk rock activity. Supported by new wave darlings the B-52s, Pylon stayed active until 1983, acting as a fundamental influence to a then nascent R.E.M., who championed the band during their rise to mainstream success. It's fitting that the DFA found time to reissue the band's debut album, Gyrate, with a host of singles and unreleased tracks in 2007 as Gyrate Plus. Pylon's slash-and-burn dance-punk is in retrospect a prime influence on that label's main activities, and a fitting tribute to an essential band, all but lost to time and history.
Buy CD $14.99
Buy mp3 $9.99

SAICOS "Saicos" (Repsychled)
Real Audio: "Demolicion"
Saicos, from Lima, Peru, are remembered for recording one of the most insane '60s punk songs of all time, and if you've never heard "Demolicion" before, it will stop you in your tracks and implant its amazing refrain of "tatatata tatatata yayayaya" in your brain for days to come. You can find it here on this top-flight reissue, which includes all six of the band's singles, as well as unreleased alternate mixes of two songs. Chock full of cool fuzz-rockers and brooding ballads all delivered with gravel-throated authority, this is essential stuff.
Buy CD $16.99

SEEFEEL "Quique - Redux Edition" (Too Pure)
Real Audio: "Climatic Phase #3"
One of the most subversively influential records of the early-'90s has to be Seefeel's Quique, from 1993. Building off of the ideas behind My Bloody Valentine's techno-shoegaze crossover track "Soon," Seefeel blew minds in 1993 with Quique, opening up possibilities for miscegenation of the two musical forms that are still being explored to this day. This stellar reissue tacks on b-sides, rarities and unreleased material; this is required listening for fans of Ulrich Schnauss, the Field, Boards of Canada, and the like.
Buy CDx2 $12.99
Buy mp3 $9.99

SMOKEY AND HIS SISTER "Smokey and His Sister" (Sundazed)
Real Audio: "Ever Losin' Lover"
Although 40 years have passed since the brother and sister Larry "Smokey" and Vicki Mims' album almost came out, their breezy, baroque folk-pop songs still sound fresh. There's virtually no imitation of '60s trends here; just lovely little tunes that are as timeless as they are precious.
Buy CD $13.99

AL STEWART "Love Chronicles" (Collector's Choice)
Real Audio: "In Brooklyn"
You likely remember Al Stewart for his soft-rock hits like "Year of the Cat," but before having been permanently ensconced in the AOR hall of fame in the mid-seventies, the Scottish troubadour cut a handful of warmly regarded but rarely heard folk/pop albums. Love Chronicles dates back to 1969, and found Stewart backed by the original and best incarnation of Fairport Convention, as well as a pre-Led Zeppelin Jimmy Page. A concept album about the author's love life, Stewart managed to pull off the impossible feat of sounding sincere and conversational without once inducing a cringe from the listener. Absolutely essential purchase for fans of Roy Harper, Incredible String Band, Donovan, etc.
Buy CD $12.99

VAL STOECKLEIN "Grey Life" (Fallout)
Real Audio: "Color Her Blue"
Val Stoecklein had been the leader of the Blue Things, the Kansan answer to the Byrds, back in the '60s. Grey Life was his lone solo album, written in the process of putting his life back following a mental breakdown, the collapse of a relationship, and a case of bi-polar disorder exacerbated by alcohol and LSD abuse. Despite it all, the record holds its own with the best of Scott Walker or Gene Clark, a riveting and personal singer-songwriter statement from the edge.
Buy CD $15.99

ROBERT WYATT "Comicopera" (Domino)
Real Audio: "Tower of Meaning, Track One"
At age 62, Robert Wyatt continues to be a refreshing voice in music, and there's no doubt that avant-pop's elder statesman is as much of an adventurist and pioneer today as he has ever been. This man belongs in the same pantheon of innovation as Arthur Russell, Tom Waits and of course, Brian Eno. His latest, Comicopera, unfolds over three acts, its tales of "human foibles" spelled out with contributions from Eno, Anne Whitehead, Paul Weller, Karen Mantler, Yaron Stavi, Orphy Robinson, and Monica Vasconcelos. It's a fresh take on Wyatt's classic sound, his latest ranking right up there with other great releases like Rock Bottom, Shleep, and, of course, his work with Soft Machine and Matching Mole.
Buy CD $14.99
Buy mp3 $9.99

YOUNG MARBLE GIANTS "Colossal Youth" (Domino)
Real Audio: "Searching for Mister Right"
In just a couple of short years at the end of the 1970s, Welsh trio Young Marble Giants burned a bright post-punk flame that still casts a huge shadow some decades later. Sweetly melodic and yet still hauntingly ethereal, the Moxham brothers (principal songwriter Stuart and bassist Philip) and Alison Statton took punk's simplicity and imbued it with hints of reggae, funk, simple electronics, and folk, creating a beautiful and timeless sound. Domino's Colossal Youth collection pulls together every last track the band cut, including their lone LP, a handful of singles, and a couple of tracks recorded for John Peel's radio show.
Buy CDx3 $18.99
Buy mp3 - Expanded Edition $17.99
Buy mp3 - Album Only (No Bonus Tracks) $9.99

[V.A.] "D-I-Y: The Rise of the Music Industry After Punk" (Soul Jazz)
Real Audio: "Let's Build a Car"
The folks at Soul Jazz bring their typically thorough, rewarding compilation formula to a realm previously only occupied by Chuck Warner's Messthetics series, with the sort of results you've come to expect. D-I-Y Do It Yourself covers the UK post-punk scene from 1978 up through 1986, across artist- and collectively-run labels like New Hormones, Rough Trade, Industrial, Cherry Red, Fast Product, Factory, Rather, and many others. Packaged with a thick booklet describing the ins and outs of the history behind the music, and the individuals who made it happen.
Buy CDx2 $18.99

[V.A.] "Tales from the Australian Underground Vol. 1: Singles 1976-1989" (Feel Presents)
Real Audio: "Ocean Liner"
[V.A.] "Tales from the Australian Underground Vol. 2: 1977-1990" (Feel Presents)
Real Audio: "Things Will Be Different"
Take cover! Tales from the Australian Underground is essentially the Nuggets of that country's rock, punk, pop and experimental music scenes, covering a wide but cohesive amount of territory across two double-CD sets. Incredible collections here, featuring one or more tracks by all the heavy hitters (Radio Birdman, the Saints, the Triffids, Scientists), plenty of lesser-known bruisers (like the Psycho Surgeons' "Horizontal Action"), even subhuman grot a la SPK and Thug as it sidles up to bands like the Hoodoo Gurus. Punk rock never left the Australian populace alone there the way it did it in America, and their people replied in kind with hundreds of remarkable releases. If you've already been through Murder Punk, Can't Stop It! and Where Birdmen Flew, you might have already heard a good portion of what's included here, but these are by far the most panoramic and complete views of the Aussie scene to date.
Buy "Volume 1" CD $15.99
Buy "Volume 2" CD $15.99

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2007'S BEST PSYCHEDELIC (NEW & REISSUE)

BABY GRANDMOTHERS "Baby Grandmothers" (Subliminal Sounds)
RealAudio: "Being Is More Than Life"
Sweden's Baby Grandmothers released a single in Finland during the late 1960s that has since become something of a holy grail for Scandinavian psych aficionados. Subliminal Sounds' double-length collection bundles that fabled single together with a cross-section of live recordings -- it's psych at its primal and wooly best, with roaming guitar lines, dizzying, diving bass runs and prodigious, rolling drums that push the whole organism on toward the Northern Lights and beyond.
Buy CD $15.99
Buy mp3 $9.99

CHICO MAGNETIC BAND "Chico Magnetic Band" (Lizard)
RealAudio: "We All Come and Go"
Mentalist heavy rock freakouts from a Parisian outfit circa 1970, back for the attack in 2007. This one looks. sounds, and smells like drugs, the kind of mad record with internal logic dictating all sorts of crude vocal sputum and intensely monged delivery, like it being chill to play an entire track backwards, one which fuses an understanding of wild, untempered psych and proto-metal in a way that bridges Funkadelic with Amon Duul II, or the Jimi Hendrix Experience as fronted by Themroc, by way of the Edgar Broughton Band. It's the sound of student revolt, full penetration, and hive minds; thoroughly unrestrained, yet highly conceptual and pretty together, accomplishing more in one 30-minute album than most can in a whole career.
Buy CD $17.99

HOLGER CZUKAY "Canaxis" (Revisited)
Real Audio: "Canaxis"
In 1969, shortly after the formation of German super group CAN, Holger Czukay and cohort Rolf Dammers made this tape music tour de force by combining and manipulating recordings of everything from Pierre de la Rue and Medieval choral music to Vietnamese singers, Japanese Koto, Tibetan Oboes, and Australian Aboriginal music. Most of the material here was taped off of shortwave radio broadcasts, then manipulated via an illicit visit to Stockhausen's professional recording studio. Canaxis is at once a deeply meditative and disorienting listening experience that somehow manages to coax the earthy spirituality of ethnic field recordings and the mechanical experimentation of musique concrete into a kind of radical musical symbiosis.
Buy CD $16.99

DINO "Montevideo Blues " (Lion Productions)
RealAudio: "19 de Octobre"
Uruguay's Gaston "Dino" Ciarlo was the foil to Eduardo Mateo's wildly eccentric streak. Both were blessed with a superb pop sense and a keen desire to wed it with their national folkloric heritage, but with Dino's tunes you can feel a real purposefulness, a poetic seriousness even, that reinforces his scathing political wit. Compulsively listenable, Montevideo Blues easily ranks up there with the best of all the South American reissues we've been fortunate to discover in the last few years.
Buy CD $15.99

EL KINTO "s/t" (Lion Productions)
RealAudio: "Estoy Sin Ti"
EDUARDO MATEO "Mateo Solo Bien Se Lame" (Lion Productions)
RealAudio: "Yulele"
The esteemed Lion Productions imprint presents the incredible career of one of South America's greatest creative geniuses, Eduardo Mateo, through two elaborately packaged and immaculately researched albums. He first gained notoriety as the principle force in El Kinto, a groundbreaking Uruguayan act that was enormously influential for their times, taking rhythmic inspiration from Uruguayan candombe and their melodic sensibility from British and American rock acts. Their reissue is a revelation, better even than likeminded South American rock bands We All Together and Traffic Sound. El Kinto collapsed in 1970, largely due to Mateo himself, but in late '71 he was coaxed into traveling to Argentina to record his first solo album, Mateo Solo Bien Se Lame, a work of rare and astonishing beauty; subdued without being explicitly melancholy, filled with syncopated rhythms, unusual phrasing, and poetic idiosyncrasies. If you love the mellow side of Caetano, Pep Laguarda, Gilberto Gil, or even contemporary artists like Juana Molina, you will absolutely be freaking out over this.
Buy El Kinto CD $17.99
Buy Eduardo Mateo CD $17.99

NIAGARA "Afire" (Performance)
RealAudio: "City Walk"
Legit reissue of the third and final Niagara album. Adding bass to the mix on this '72 go-round, this German ensemble, led by Klaus Weiss, lays it down with five drummers and percussionists in one of the tightest, most groovin' records ever made. The entire thing is one giant break, intense polyrhythms from stem to stern. Imagine five copies of Brian Auger's "Listen Here" battling it out with the Incredible Bongo Band's "Apache" as a marching band raids a Guitar Center and cleans them out of claves, wood blocks, shakers, and cowbells, and you're close to what's going on here.
Buy CD $22.99

OPHIUCUS "s/t" (Lion Productions)
RealAudio: "Darbouka"
Ophiucus (the band) cut one stellar album for Barclay back in 1972, a singularly ambitious affair that nevertheless orbits a similar artistic territory to that covered by the Pretty Things' Parachute, the Beatles' White Album, early Pink Floyd, and Faust IV. There's a heavy use of pastiche, often within a single track, with references to musique concrete, pastoral folk, French chanson, and the multi-part harmonies of the Beach Boys, not to mention heavy rock. Whether you favor the Decadanse or the Psych section here at Other Music, this is one for you.
Buy CD $15.99

TARKUS "s/t" (Repsychled)
RealAudio: "Rio Tonto"
Colossal, heavy psychedelic hard rock from this Peruvian band, which lasted long enough to cut an album in 1972 (original copies of which trade for ridiculous sums