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[KharBevNor]

See, when you guys were talking about the Batcave, I thought you meant the legendary goth club, and I was rather confused. Then I realised you were just being geeks

I've heard like, three new releases this year. I'm still trying to catch up with 2006. Literally just listened to Laibachs 'Volk' and English Heretics '2006 Annual' like, yesterday.

[est]

Ok ok.  I am no music nerd so I am not even sure I have 10 favourite albums to put into a top, but let's see if I can do this.

10. Busdriver - Roadkillovercoat

This was an ipod staple on the train for me, but then I somehow lost interest in it.  I still play it, but its appeal definitely faded.

09. LCD Soundsystem - The Sound of Silver

I used to put this on on the train and kind of chug along to it.  It's definitely some cool traveling music.  It kind of trails off at the end couple of songs for me, and I usually skip over "Someone great" unless I am relaxing, but other than that it's a pretty decent album.

08. Ratatat - Remixes vol II

The first remixes album underwhelmed me greatly, so I didn't think this would be any good.  After a few listens it hooked me & it's now pretty much my music of choice while cooking.


07. Bonde do Role - Bonde do Role with Lasers

Grabbed this a while ago when my housemate asked me to look for some Brazilian funk.  At first we were disappointed, but I listened to it some more and now I can't stop bopping to it when I put it on.

06. SebastiAn - Ross Ross Ross promo EP

This EP is up and down for me, but goddamnit if the ups aren't good.  Everything by SebastiAn other than Head/Off I enjoy, and of the remixes I really love his Human After All, Walking Machine and Going Nowhere edits.  The rest of the album is pretty average, else it'd be rated higher.

05. Simian Mobile Disco - Attack Decay Sustain Release

I have only just started to listen to this, but it's incredibly infectious.  I had already been hearing a handful of the album's tracks in various anonymous mixes/clubs, so when I heard them on the album it was a nice surprise.

04. Amon Tobin - Foley Room

This is one of those albums I can put on and listen to from start to finish.  It has it's low moments (yes, the end of Killer's Vanilla/start of Kitchen Sink, I am looking at you) but overall it's a great album.

03. The Arcade Fire - Neon Bible

At first I really didn't like this new album all that much.  Then I played it for my housemate and he played it on his pc a few times.  After a few plays on my pc, then a few plays on his pc, then a few plays on my ipod it grew on me.

02. Kavinksy - 1986 EP

Ok.  The year is 1986.  A young dude who dresses like Eddie Murphy in Beverly Hills Cop is driving a red Ferrari Testarossa.  He takes a corner too fast, wrecks his car and winds up in hospital, where he dies.  Somehow he comes back to life as a zombie with a telepathic link to his self-repairing ghost car, busts the car out of the police impound and has been driving really really fast ever since.  This is the (awesome) soundtrack.

01. Justice - †

Jesus

I'd already heard a few of these tracks on Bang Gang/New Sound of Trash podcast mixes but not put 2 and 2 together and thought "hey, let's grab some Justice mp3s!" before the album came out.  This is another one of those albums I can put on and listen to from start to finish, only this time it's usually accompanied by me dancing around like a madman, much to the amusement of my housemate.


Also, there's been a few mixes I've enjoyed this year so far, but I don't think that's the point of this this top 10, right?

* Note that it's taking a while to upload the stuff I've linked to.  It'll get there eventually.

[Jackie Blue]

6 Stars - In Our Bedroom After the War - It's kind of like Set Yourself On Fire Part 2 which is totally fine by me.

This leaked already?

...Can you upload it?

I don't think it has.  I have a friend who has connections to the band.  I don't think they'd want me to upload it, but I guess I can ask next time I talk to her.

[MaSuTa]

This year's been completely ridiculous for stuff I am into to come out and be good, so here goes. I warn in advance that I'm not mega-indy, but just some chubby music major in a military town. That being said, here are some ten albums that I like. The top four were REALLY hard to order, though.

10>Sleepytime Gorilla Museum – “In Glorious Times”
I want to like this album. I first saw SGM open for dredg, and it really takes seeing SGM to understand how mind warpingly spectacular and bizarre they are. It seems, though, that they took a creative process similar to The Doors. See, the self titled and Strange Days were all original material, written and rewritten from a whole lot of gigging and refined to perfection. The third album, “People of the Sun”, was the first with new material. When I saw them with dredg, “Of Natural History” wasn’t out yet, so there was a lot of music that I didn’t have access to from that show. When that album came out, though, it was great to hear songs like “Phthisis” and “The Donkey Headed Adversary etc” again. This is an album of what seems like new material, and…well, I am not sure what I think, even after repeated listens. It’s a really difficult listen, mostly because it lacks the really tight jamming that’s made SGM so great in the past.

9>Ted Leo & the Pharmacists – “Living with the Living”
Again, this was a first exposure event, so I was never really sure what to think as the album went on. It’s a very tightly made post-punk album, though, and that says something with how utterly hit and miss post-punk can be.

8>Maximo Park – “Our Earthly Pleasures”
Maximo Park is totally a guilty pleasure for me, and this is totally more Maximo Park. That’s probably enough to turn some people off, but my response was “Hell yes more Maximo Park!” The essential appeal of MP to me is that it’s very straight forward and easy listening, plus the lyrics can lean towards heartwarming more often than not. The highlight is “Our Velocity” which is uncharacteristically arrogant but it’s hysterical at the same time.

7>Devin Townsend – “Ziltoid The Omniscient”
Metal has always been a little ridiculous to me, from the incessant chest beating and the general content of the music. Every now and again, concept and music style unite into one really, REALLY awesome album. Devin Townsend is usually pretty good at making such albums, but this album is completely amazing. A story about a coffee seeking alien overlord and his attempts to destroy earth over a bad cup of Joe is supplanted by the most annoying kind of metal, but Devin is wonderfully self aware of the odd aspects of most metal, and he uses them to make everything completely hysterical. Really unique, and at least worth a listen just to hear the crazy story. “Indeed, phooey.”

6> Clutch – “From Beale St. To Oblivion”
This is a Clutch album.

5> LCD Soundsystem – “Sound of Silver”
It’s hard to think of a good way to describe the album, barring terms like “infectious”, but that’s exactly what it is. It’s really hard to shake after the first listen, and it just gets better with each time through. It’s not exactly deep, world changing music, but sometimes, a man has to dance, and this is great music to dance to. Really tight album.

4>Queens of the Stone Age – “Era Vulgaris”
A middling Queens album is still so much better than so many rock bands could ever hope to put out. Since Oliveri left, the sound has become much more experimental, and Josh learned his lessons from “Lullabies to Paralyze”, and seems to have streamlined a lot for this album. It’s a solid rock album and it’s never really obtuse like the last half of “Lullabies” was. It’s no “R”, but that’s hardly fair.

3>The Arcade Fire – Neon Bible
I used to totally not get the Arcade Fire. It was over one magical summer that the entire appeal of the music made sense, and since then I hold “Funeral” to be one of the best rock albums ever created. That being said, “Funeral” is a little inaccessable. The way I’ve been going about telling people I know about the album is that “Neon Bible” is the decoder ring to “Funeral”’s secret message. This album feels to me like a realization of the conceptual part of the Arcade Fire, and on top of that, it’s just great songwriting, even if it is a little morbid and depressing. But that seems to be most music nowadays, so, hey.

2>AIR - Pocket Symphony
This was my first exposure to AIR, and to be perfectly honest, it was because of all of those ads all over allmusic. So I caved and got it and, well, now I know why this album had that kind of advertising drive behind it. It's a really great album, with a really great balance of rock and electronica. It’s a lot of really solid grooves with simple hooks that really stick.

1>Neurosis – “Given to the Rising”
I loved “The Eye of Every Storm.” So much. So when I heard Scott Kelly say this was the heaviest album since “Through Silver in Blood”, a total impossibility, I was skeptical. When the song “Water Is Not Enough” hit, I was depressed. I couldn’t really get into it, because it just was not what I wanted from new Neurosis. All this in mind, though, I still bought the new album, and, well, Kelly wasn’t joking around. This is a Neurosis album, and a damn fine one. It seems like the culmination of everything Neurosis has been up to or involved in, and it’s damn awesome.

[ScrambledGregs]

I recommend going out and buying Moon Safari as soon as fucking possible. IMO the rest of their discography is an inferior, slightly different version of it.

[Misereatur]

I recommend going out and buying Moon Safari as soon as fucking possible. IMO the rest of their discography is an inferior, slightly different version of it.

[squawk]

Being an unfortunate user of dial-up it's really hard for me to keep up with new musics very well.  This is especially bad this year, when good bands are coming out with albums left and right! It's insane, but I try. I haven't heard tons of stuff that's already been released yet.

10. Wilco - Sky Blue Sky
9. The Shins - Wincing The Night Away
8. Feist - The Reminder
7. The Apples in Stereo - New Magnetic Wonder
6. The New Pornographers - Challengers
5. The Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
4. LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver
3. Justice - †
2. Deerhoof - Friend Opportunity
1. of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?

[Kai]

That being said, “Funeral” is a little inaccessable.

wait what

[MaSuTa]

That being said, “Funeral” is a little inaccessable.

wait what

From personal experience. You'll have to keep in mind that I went from mainstream rock, to being a metal head (albeit a bad one), to finding indie rock. My experience with Arcade Fire, the first time, was very underwhelming, but as I sunk deeper into the genre (if that really applies) as a whole, it made more and more sense, until it finally clicked for me.

Should've specified.

[Misereatur]

I'm actually pretty bored with Arcade Fire and don't understand what all the fuss is about.

[Kai]

That is pretty much my view Mis.


Also that makes much more sense sir!

[Johnny C]

I recommend going out and buying the soundtrack to The Virgin Suicides as soon as fucking possible. It's incredible.

[Hat]

Beaten to the punch

[StaedlerMars]

I had no idea who or what Justice was before I read this thread, and since it gained so many top five positions i decided to check it out.

Figures I've been making myself look silly (read: dancing) to their music for a while.

EDIT: I also really like their video for D.A.N.C.E. I want a shirt that does that.

[Caspian]

6> Clutch – “From Beale St. To Oblivion”
This is a Clutch album.

I love that description.

Also, I'm pissed that I forgot to put this in my top 10. Oh well. It's a very good album.

[Misereatur]

EDIT: I also really like their video for D.A.N.C.E. I want a shirt that does that.

I'm pretty sure the t shirts they used are up for sale somewhere.

[CmonMiracle]

Sometimes I can't remember when an album came out. If anything is old, let me know, I'll change it. There are links to hear songs!

10) Jason Falkner - I'm OK You're OK
A friend recommended this because he is in love with Jason Falkner. I like it, it's really catchy and supposedly this is not even his best album.
http://www.box.net/shared/qxcj46ev8z

9) The Alarmists - A Detail of Soldiers
These guys come out of Minnesota, I think. I really like them because the singer's voice reminds me of Jeff Tweedy.
http://www.box.net/shared/ydase2jsqe

Irene - Apple Bay
Really great poppy stuff, all sunshine and lemonade!
http://www.box.net/shared/24uy4meug1

7) Blitzen Trapper - Wild Mountain Nation
These guys really confuse me, some songs are country-ish, others are kind of electro-pop. Hmm.
http://www.box.net/shared/49muov5870

6) Lost In The Trees - Time Taunts Me
Dark, moody, instrumental. For some reason I think of Batman when I listen to this album.
http://www.box.net/shared/7b79qmve9e

5) Feist - The Reminder
This album feels a lot more free and inspired than her last album, which just sounded too coffee shop.
http://www.box.net/shared/ft1ixnzo8q

4) Lucky Soul - The Great Unwanted
I got this album off of here, and it's great! Really poppy stuff...the singer's voice is not the best, but I think it's suited really well for this music.
http://www.box.net/shared/fy4e9aohym

3) The Icicles - Arrivals & Departures
If you couldn't tell yet, I love poppy music, especially if it has a female singer. This band pretty much meets both requirements and then some.
http://www.box.net/shared/vhtchky5hg

2) Wilco - Sky Blue Sky
At first, I didn't really this album the first or second listen. However, it just grew on me and now I would rank it maybe even better than Summerteeth (but still below YHF). It's that good. I bet this album would be great to hear live.
http://www.box.net/shared/820z8usirx

1) Arrah And The Ferns
More poppy, female singer stuff! I like this album a lot because for some reason, it feels like a bunch of friends got together and decided to bang out some songs, instead of it seeming like a job, it feels more like a hobby.
http://www.box.net/shared/h1uicgy8xa

[kablaaamo]

I am kinda behind in terms of keeping up with new releases; up until March, I knew what was what, but then exams started, then I lost the power adapter to my laptop, then my wireless card started misbehaving.....so here are a couple of lists:

7 ALBUMS I HAVE SPENT A LOT OF TIME WITH

7. The Besnard Lakes - Are the Dark Horse
Dark and kinda moody; good for working, good for studying, not so hot for just bumming around in summer, hence my love for this has waned a bit; it will probably resume when it's time to get a little more serious again.

6. Young Galaxy - Young Galaxy
Pitchfork kinda dismissed this one off-handedly (I read a lot of P-fork reviews at work....I have a boring job) but it's dreamy and pretty to me nonetheless. Even though it's shoegazy and introspective it's not a headphones record. Good to wake up to.

5. Panda Bear - Person Pitch
Calming in its repetition, but not boring.

4. The Joel Plaskett Emergency - Ashtray Rock
This accompanies me in the car a lot of the time. It has somewhat of a storyline and tries to be a concept album, but it's mostly just anthemic, straightforward pop-rock with atmosphere and heart to spare.

3. Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?
Everyone else talked about this album already....pretty solid. The Past Is A Grotesque Animal is easily my favourite, despite how painful the lyrics clearly are...

2. Menomena - Friend and Foe
I didn't get into this one at first; I liked Muscle'N Flo and Air Aid but otherwise was underwhelmed....and then saw them live on a whim with some friends. After that I gave them the attention they deserved.

1. Patrick Wolf - The Magic Position
Probably not so cool on this forum, but I love the melodrama of this album. I love the overblown arrangements. I love the sheer theatrics and I've listened this thing to death in the first part of this year; we will see how it lasts through the second half but for now it stands where it is.


Both the Arcade Fire and the Shins were albums I liked upon their release but since I'm not really reaching for them anymore, they're not really cut for my 'tops' list.




My problem with making year-end (or mid-year) lists and such is that I really get absorbed when I find a record I like, and as a result I'm always about 6 months behind the curve. It's pretty hard to tell yourself, "hey, you should listen to that new Battles album that is supposedly really good, even though you are flipping shit over Beirut at the moment, y'know, right after everyone moved on".

2006 ALBUMS I WANT TO CALL MY BEST 2007 ALBUMS:
Animal Collective - Feels
Asobi Seksu - Citrus
Beirut - Gulag Orkestar
The Mountain Goats - Get Lonely
Shout Out Out Out Out - Not Saying/Just Saying
Chad VanGaalen - Skelliconnection

[rantinghuman]

Am I the only one who noticed that there are only 9 albums in jeph's "Top 10 everything else" list?

Maybe I should head to the newcomers forum...

[TheFuriousWombat]

 Frog Eyes - Tears of the Valedictorian[/b]. This album is well outside of the realm of things I normally listen to, but it's incredibly catchy and actually opened me up to a lot more atonality in music. The off rythem really grabbed me, and the vocalist is incredibly commanding. To me it sounds like what the Arcade Fire would be if they freaked out, trimmed the fat from their band, and were just generally 100 times better.

I think this is a really good choice and as I constantly rethink my top ten so far this year this album shows up on the list more and more. It's easily the best FE album and 'Bushels' is probably my number one favorite song of the year so far. These guys are great, spazzy indie rock (the way it should be). People who haven't heard this yet would be doing themselves a favor if they checked it out asap.

[valley_parade]

Oh man...uhm...top 7.

7. Whatever the hell the new 3IoB album is. It's gotta be great.

6. Feist - The Reminder

5. Bad Religion - New Maps Of Hell

4. Dungen - Tio Bitar

3. New Pornographers - Challengers

2. Space reserved for the forth-coming Sigur Ros EP and acoustic LP

1. The Rosebuds - Night Of The Furies

[Tago Mago]

1. Times New Viking - Present the Paisley Reich
Lo-fi is a fairly passι philosophy in contemporary indie-rock, which is why it's so refreshing to hear a young band accept a lo-fi aesthetic while bypassing the genre's obvious clichιs. While Guided By Voices cleverly exploited their recording conditions to effectively simulate an idealized intimacy with the listener, TNV's songs become all the more brittle and biting. The essential songs here are "Devo & Wine", "Teenage Lust!", and "Love Your Daighters", though the album is best heard in its messy, bloody, summer-lovin' entirety.

2. Liars - Liars
It's hard for me to talk about Liars without talking about other bands, so here goes: Liars are the latest initiates in a distinguished tradition including the likes of Can, Public Image Ltd., and mid-period Radiohead. Right now, among relatively mainstream indie bands, they stand absolutely without peer. Compared to the conceptually novel (dialectical indie-rock?) Drum's Not Dead, Liars is an album explicitly steeped in its tradition. Influences come up left and right, transfiguring one another in fascinating ways. My absolute favourite: "Pure Unevil", where Joy Division's "Atmosphere" meets the Shaggs' "My Pal Foot Foot" and I giggle madly.

3. Rhys Chatham - A Crimson Grail (For 400 Electric Guitars)
It's actually not that loud. Weirdly, it sounds a lot like those slowed down Beethoven symphonies that play over the course of a day, revealing hidden qualities not evident in the regular compositions. But I find it fascinating, like sitting in an old church while ghosts whisper past in my imagination and every echo sounds strangely solemn.

4. John Zorn - Six Litanies for Heliogabalus
This is the third meeting of the Moonchild band, and on this date the bass/drum/Patton trio is complimented by several decidely more delicate additions, including chorus, synths, and alto-sax. The resulting contrast nicely recalls mid-70s King Crimson, albeit with Zorn's very different manner of composition. The best song here is "Litany II", where violent interplay from the noise contingent opens up into a dreamy keyboard passage with some lovely-sounding female vocal accompaniment before Mike Patton/Heliogabalus decides to be a total jerk and murder his houseguests.

5. Louis Sclavis - L'Imparfait des Langues
An album of beautiful, mysterious jazz-fusion with plenty of unexpected side-passages. "Archιologie" is my favourite, opening with a catchy post-bop melody before locking into a killer motorik groove.

[valley_parade]

Oh man i forgot sundowner and call me lightning. Put em 3 and 9 respectively, and uh..get me another beer. Fuck yer bud light, dad.

[CamusCanDo]

10. Ted Leo and the Pharmacists - Living with the Living

9. Feist - The Reminder

8. Iron & Wine - The Shepherd's Dog

7. Panda Bear - Person Pitch

6. Menomena - Friend and Foe

5. Liars - Liars

4. LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver

3. Justice -  †

2. Dan Deacon - Spiderman of the Rings

1. Marnie mother fuckin' Stern - In Advance of the Broken Arm

The remaining album releases I'm most looking forward to are:

8 Diagrams - Wu-Tang Clan
Swift & Changeable - MF DOOM and Ghostface Killah
Heartland - Final Fantasy

And whatever other pieces of tasty are released/leaked this year. Huzzah for great music!

[valley_parade]

Man i forgot frank turner, too. Replace bad religion with turner.

[Will]

I don't even have a top ten yet. So far, my best of the year list is unordered (except for my top spot) and only goes to eight:

The Pax Cecilia - Blessed Are The Bonds (This is my album of the year, hands down.)
Dalek - Abandoned Language
Explosions In The Sky - All Of A Sudden I Miss Everyone
Sage Francis - Human The Death Dance
Neurosis - Given To The Rising
Pig Destroyer - Phantom Limb

All of the above are albums that I know will make it all the way to my end-of-the-year list. I have a couple albums that are in the Top 10 by default, but may be displaced before the end of the year:
NORA - Save Yourself
Poison The Well - Versions

[Gridgm]

ok so i listened to every album i currently have on my list as well as the new maserati, do make say think, velvet revolver and for some odd reason smashing pumpkins and reordered my list to look like so

1. pax cecelia
2. of montral
=3. nation blue
=3 arcade fire
5. maserati
6. ensiferum
7. explosions in the sky
8. justice
9. NIN
10. Nauthisuruz

it now includes 3 instrumental records...yay

[Johnny C]

Words

Wax Mannequin has a new record out. Just so you know.

[TheFuriousWombat]

I've been listening to a lot more album lately. As such my list has changed. I attempted to put these selections in some sort of order although it's always changing. I also tried to explain my choices a bit more:

10. Okkervil River- The Stage Names
This may not be be their best album but it's damn good anyway. It's certainly shinier and more produced than their earlier work. It has some really great tracks. The rousing and epic ending of the opening track and the rollicking rock stylings of 'Unless it's Kick' are two early standouts from the album and others follow. Of course there's the abysmal 'Savannah Smiles.' OR worst song yet. The album as a whole is really cohesive and has all sorts of infectious rock/folk/pop influences that come together into a really nice, well produced, fun album. The lyrics may not be as strong here on the whole but they're still better than 90% of songs out there.

9. Liars- Liars
A really cool album. 'Sailing to Byzantium' (hooray for Yeats' references) was an initial standout song for me. I've heard people getting all upset that Liars have moved towards the mainstream with this album. While it may be more accessible at times than Drum's Not Dead, I personally don't think this argument holds much water. Liars are a hell of a lot more interesting to listen to than a vast majority of bands in the 'indie-rock' field these days and this album is further proof. Sure it's not as imaginative or as good as Drum's Not Dead but this album has a hell of a lot going for it. It ends on a very pretty note just as DND with wavering organ sounds and floating vocals, Leather Prowler is a noisy, messy, yet very well put together track with it's repetitious waves of drums and hollering, minaret style vocals, and the opening track builds furiously with trilling guitar, pounding drums and wailing vocals. Overall an extremely cool album.

8. The Destruction of Small Ideas- 65daysofstatic
Just plain great post rock. Again their is a reliance on electronics and piano to enhance all the songs but there's some magnificent builds from quiet to loud. 65daysofstatic have their best album here. Strings and piano make for a beautiful accompaniment to the powerful "post rock"ing that's going on here. Enough said. 

7. His/Hers- Zelienople
A sultry, sludgy noise album, His/Hers is unique and masterfully put together. Haunting, nigh indecipherable vocals float over wafting guitars and distorted effects which slowly simmer and shift. Percussions clatter in and out and guitars and effects buzz and hiss and sigh over the course of five superb tracks. This album is pensive and seems filled with different emotions. There's the aggressive pounding clatter of noise which brings the second track to a climactic and terrifying close, the slow meticulous wanderings of the opening track, and the pysch-folk feel of the third track's opening with tambourines and plucked guitars. There are so many genres melting and swirlling together here (free jazz, psych and noise rock, drone, blues, even some metal) that it's amazing that Zelienople, in their best album to date, pulled it off. This is one heck of an album and any fan of noise or drone would be doing themselves a disservice in not listening.

6. The Pirate Ship Quintet- The Pirate Ship Quntet
This 3 track (about 30 minute) ep is the debut piece from The Pirate Ship Quintet. If this album is any indication of their ability, I'm really excited for a full length. These guys really know how to craft excellent "post rock". Sure it's not entirely underivative but there is definitely originality and an abundance of skill in these songs. Strings rise and swell with the slowly building guitars. As is typical with the genre the songs build towards dizzying heights. They do this with great aplomb though as simple piano notes drift over soaring guitars and pounding drums. The three songs are lovely examples of why I love this genre of instrumental rock so much. It's a great ep and has me really excited for more.

5. All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone- Explosions in the Sky
Pretty much every "post rock" band these days gets compared to EitS. Often this is not without good reason. EitS are masters of the genre and have perhaps mastered, if not pioneered, the trilling guitar and 'machine gun' like staccato of drums that build from quiet to loud, crescendoing with epic climaxes. Well EitS have done it again with this album, and better than ever before. This is a really excellent album and certainly EitS best to date. It's the most epic and the songs are the best composed out their whole body of work. This album also is closest to the reverent intensity of their live shows. The absolutely mind blowing opening of the first track, the piano based beauty of So Long, Lonesome, the long, epic build of It's Natural to be Afraid, and the beautiful EitS, perhaps better exemplified here in Catastrophe and the Cure, all make this a very worthy album for any instrumental rock fans collection.

4. Ghetto Beats on the Surface of the Sun (1-4)- Tarentel
Tarentel may be my favorite band. They are certainly the band I have spent the most money on. Tarentel releases tons of very limited stuff, a lot of it on vinyl. Most of this stuff disappears and shows up on the internettubes for crazy prices, most of which I succumb to paying. Anyway I got lucky this time. GBonSofS was a four LP compilation released by Tarentel and soon to be reissued in cd format. The album is a continuation of Tarentel's ever growing collection of 'improvised' albums. Basically, noise/drone/improvised awesomeness doesn't get any better than this.  Tarentel masterfully creates noisy, clattering, ambient, distorted works. Feedback and distortion ripple through tape noises and often tribal sound drums which clatter about in the background. This album may not be their best work to date but it's highly ambitious and superbly crafted and a perfect example of why Tarentel are so original and so revered.

 3. You, You're a History in Rust- Do Make Say Think
I was so excited for this album. DMST have long been one of my all time favorite bands and I was anxious for new material. This didn't disappoint but it did surprise me. There are vocals here, and folksy moments, and all sorts of stuff which I had never heard on a DMST album before. But I loved it. It's definitely not their best album. In fact, disregarding the first, s/t, album and the ep, this may be my least favorite DMST album. Luckily for DMST, their worst album is still brilliant and far better than most album out there. Everything I love about DMST but in an evolved sense. The two drums still pound away behind the French horns and the saxophones and the multiplicity of guitars and basses. Every song on here is great. The vocals were unexpected but they really work. The indie/folk feel of In Mind was unexpected but that really worked. To make it even better, DMST put on the best live show I've had the pleasure of seeing when I saw them for the second night in a row at the First Unitarian Church in Philly. Sitting in the church seeing these guys (and girls) play the entire new album (and a ton of older stuff) live made me appreciate their talent and love this album even more. DMST is one band that is always on my otherwise often changing list of favorite bands and this new album did nothing if not help that.

2. Copia- Eluvium
Ambient composer Matthew Cooper AKA Eluvium is a genius, Plain and simple. This album is a masterpiece of the ambient genre. The heavily distorted solo guitar work of Eluvium's previous albums (aside from the solo piano work) is long gone. In its place are strings and brass instruments. The beauty of Cooper's work has evolved into something wholly new and mesmerizing. Brass instruments and string instruments swell and rise and fall without ever becoming loud or intrusive. Piano keys meld into the background or come out full force on various songs. The signature walls of distortion break through time and again. In all this is one of the finest ambient works I have ever heard. Seeing it performed live, like the DMST album, made me love it even more. Epic and beautiful, this may be my favorite Eluvium album.

1. And Their Refinement of the Decline- Stars of the Lid
Really slow, really quiet, and really beautiful. SofL are one of the best ambient composition projects in the world and the duo makes some of the finest crafted songs I have ever had the pleasure of hearing. This new album is a masterpiece. Brass and strings rise slowly over contemplative effects as the songs create an epic, gorgeous soundscape. The perfect album to plunge into a deep sleep, or drive through a moonlit countryside at midnight too. There is almost nothing wrong with this album and I couldn't have asked for a better follow up to the previous album. SotL really stepped up here. Rathering than repeating the sound they crafted so well previously, they have evolved into a more talented duo than ever before. These songs are slow, yes. Many I've given this album to have accused me of giving them terribly boring music. But you have to let SotL sink in. The music is astoundingly powerful despite its minimal approach. Just listen to this album. It's incredible.

[Inlander]

STOP THE PRESS, GUYS!

I've just found out that British Sea Power are working on a new album.

[TheFuriousWombat]

Wait wait wait, where did you see this? I love BSP. Like....lots. I miss those guys.

[Johnny C]

Awesome. The last Brakes album wasn't as funny and therefore wasn't as good as the first one, so a new BSP album would be phenomenal.

[Inlander]

http://www.britishseapower.co.uk/news.htm

Third story down. Obviously not coming out this year, but still - awesome.

[Inlander]

Something that apparently is coming out this year, though: hell yeah!

[amok]

'The Battle Of Sealand' by Airiel just shot to the top of my 07 albums list, it's the only album I've heard this year that gives The National a run for its money IMO. Really original stuff, great mix of styles - kinda like a shoegazey version of My Vitriol, with the odd Porcupine Treeish solo/instrumental. I can't do it justice with a description so I'm just gonna upload it to the sendspace thread tomorrow. Awesome stuff.

[CardboardBox]

Uhm... I Believe is the best Simian Mobile Disco track off that ADSR album.

And thanks for the Gabriel Ananda recommendation. Finding it now...

[Gridgm]

wow way to revive a dead thread so this is my current listening for this year unordered the first bit is stuff i liked the second bit is stuff i didn't like as much though i must say i havn't listened to anything i really hated this year so in no particular order *EDIT* included a top 20 in stuff i like...the rest of the stuff still isn't, added Die! Die! Die! split (how could i forget )


1.   The Pax Cecelia - Blessed Are The Bonds
2.   Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are you the destroyer
3.   The Nation Blue - Protest Songs
4.   Apples in stereo – New Magnetic Wonder
5.   Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
6.   High on Fire – Death in this Communion
7.   Maserati – Inventions for the new Season
8.   Ensiferum - Victory Songs
9.   Beirut – the flying club cup
10.   Explosions in the Sky - All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone
11.   justice – cross
12.   Nine Inch Nails -  Year Zero
13.   Nauthisuruz - The End of Nauthisuruz
14.   Dream Theater - Systematic Chaos
15.   Shellac – Excellent Italian Grey Hound
16.   Finntroll - Ur Jordens Djup
17.   The National – Boxer
18.   65daysofstatic – the destruction of small ideas
19.   Pelican – City of Echoes
20.   Airiel – The Battle of Sealand

Samael - Solar Soul
Jamie T - Panic Prevention
Grave Digger - Liberty or Death
Devin townsend – ziltoid the omniscient
Die! Die! Die!/High Dependency Unit –Split 7”
Black francis - bluefinger
Baroness - The red album
John 5 – The Devil Knows My Name
Dead letter circus – dead letter circus EP
Get Him Eat Him – Arms Down
Eluvium – Copia
Wilco – sky blue sky
Velvet revolver - Melody and the Tyranny
King Diamond – Gimme your Soul … Please?
Jesu – Sun Down Sun Rise
Gospel of the horns – realm of the damned
Of montreal – icons abstract thee
Jesu/Eluvium – Split 12”
Pig destroyer – phantom limb
Pinback – autumn of the seraphs
Efterklang - parades
Atreyu – lead sails paper anchor
Lost prophets – start something
Fiery furnaces – widow city
Boris with Michio Kurihara - Rainbow
Jesu – conqueror
The Besnard Lakes - the Besnard Lakes Are The Dark Horse
!!! - myth takes
battles – mirrored
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! - Some Loud Thunder
Dark Tranquility - Fiction
Field Music - Tones of Town
Immaculate machine – immaculate machines fables
Graveworm - Collateral Defeat
Grinderman - Grinderman
Lucky Soul - The Great Unwanted
Modest Mouse - We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank
halo of flies – world war zero
Porcupine tree – fear of a blank planet
Velvet revolver – libertad
the smashing pumpkins – Zeitgeist
the comas – spells
the dogma – a good day to die
do make say think - you you’re a history in rust
Lake of Tears - Moons and Mushrooms
Alien vampires – nun’s are preganant
Rilo kiley – under the black light
and finally bit 3 stuff i'm waiting for
time - wintersun (2008)
unknown - the thermals (2008)
blackbird - alter bridge (2007)
unknown - metallica (2008)
unknown - circle takes the square (2007)
nostradamus - judas priest (2007)
night castle - trans-siberian orchestra (2007)
spontaneous combustion - liquid trio experiment (2007)
unknown - queen (2007)

[Johnny C]

10. Wax Mannequin - Orchard & Ire
Such a great record. It suffers from some production issues - namely, overpowering drums and occasionally thin guitar - but beyond those it's full of such wonderful self-reference and consistently great hooks, performed with Mannequin's usual gusto.

9. Justice - †
This album's doing for me what Girl Talk and Shout Out Out Out Out did for me last year - namely, it sends me into spontaneous fits of grinning and dancing. It's honestly just larger than life - a fact that, on occasion, wears slightly and thus prevents this record from being higher on the list. The production is almost as massive as the hooks are, and what that means is you've got a big sweaty party on your hands.

8. Amon Tobin - Foley Room
Here's an interesting record. Tobin has reached a point where he's a master of enigmatic, mysterious electronic music, blended immeasurably with field recordings and live instrumentation. Foley Room is an apt title; the record is, second by second, an atmospheric and fully-realised soundtrack to a movie which doesn't exist yet is more tangible with every eerie string note, every clattering thud of percussive noise.

7. Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
This is a record that gives itself away in layers, rewards listeners with prizes that are unearthed in stages that linger and bleed into the next. At the moment, I'm in the stage where the studio trickery manifests itself on every different listen; pauses and cuts seem magnified, jarring and every bit as the band intended it. Prior to that was the stage where you notice the instrumental flourishes, like the weird drones and the buoyant horns, rubbing up against each other and creating magnificent contrast. Before that, of course, I loved the songs.

6. Joel Plaskett Emergency - Ashtray Rock
You know a concept record is good when it actually incorporates recurring musical themes and you don't have the urge to punch whoever was involved. Plaskett and his crew interwove a melancholy tale with their trademark jittery, electric pop and created an absolute winner. "Drunk Teenagers" is easily one of my favourite tracks of the year.

5. Future Of The Left - Curses
Essentially this is everything that's good about Mclusky, honed to a needle point and blasted from speakers which have no setting besides "eleven." Falkous' caustic voice is just as menacing as it was on The Difference Between Me And You... and Egglestone's drumming us as propulsively brutal as ever. The only difference is the inclusion of Kelson Matthias, of whom a Myspace comment declared was in possession of a "real hymen-breaking bass sound." What I'm trying to convey is that this is a catchy, loud, hyperactive sort of record which can, yes, strip women of their virginity simply via direct exposure to the music.

4. Andrew Bird - Armchair Apocrypha
I have nothing to say about this beyond the fact that it's easily one of the most endearing records I've ever heard. It's idiosyncratic and charming, engaging from the first quiet, gorgeous chords which swiftly move into something that subtly subverts traditional pop in unexpectedly glorious ways.

3. Battles - Mirrored
The Youtube comments under the video for "Atlas" had this notable exchange:

"why does the drummer put the cymbal up so high"
"Because he's a beast."

It's true of the whole band. They're absurdly talented musicians, reaching up high to just try and do shit melodically that nobody's ever tried, not only because they didn't have the ideas first but because they just didn't have the balls. It's a blend of the tribal tendencies present on records like Drum's Not Dead and Sangre Puro and the more primitive works of artists like Stravinsky with remarkable pop instincts. In fact, I've seen people refer to this as a kind of rough blueprint for what pop music could evolve into during our lifetime and, although that sort of statement seems really grandiose, there's more than a grain of truth to it.

2. Okkervil River - The Stage Names
What a phenomenal record. As cohesive thematically and musically as their previous album but ratcheting up the emotional stakes, getting intimately autobiographical and letting loose with their live show's trademark agression more than ever before. I was digging this as soon as I heard "Our Life Is Not A Movie Or Maybe" but by the end of "A Hand To Take Hold Of The Scene" I was utterly enthralled. An excellent and engaging pop record.

1. The Weakerthans - Reunion Tour
In the same way that "My Favourite Chords" laid out the direction for Reconstruction Site, "(Past-Due)" turned out to set up Reunion Tour superbly. Where that song left off is, thematically, where this record begins. A stuttering synthesizer line (or guitar? I honestly can't tell!) leads into the anthemic "Civil Twilight," a song about a bus driver reflecting on a commuter who no longer travels his route. From there, the album launches into a number of songs centred around loss: of jobs, of love, of goaltender Gump Worsley and of Virtue The Cat (insert your own sad emoticon here). The country leanings of the previous record have been largely abandoned for the more straightforward quiet of Left & Leaving, although the arrangements are more intricate and complex this time around, and it suits the album greatly. Oh, and the music is fantastic - "Night Windows," though more lush than I remember it being, justifies by itself this record's position in the top spot, and the rest of the album hovers consistently around the remarkably high bar set by that tune. This is a record which has been four years in the making, and every measure was entirely worth the wait.

[Johnny C]

We're going on records we've bought instead? I guess my list becomes four, tops.

I have to edit that list to include Caribou's record.

[absurdabsurd]

Because someone brought this thread out of obscurity a few days ago, because I'm new, and whatever other reason you might think of ... my 3/4 Year Top 10 a.k.a. 'I'm not as indie as you kids':

10. Blonde Redhead - 23
This album had me from the get-go. It travels through happy and melancholic waves (almost) effortlessly, and tracks like 'The Dress' ... I mean whoa.

9. The Smashing Pumpkins - Zeitgeist
The remains of my inner angsty pumpkin-head teen would throw a massive tantrum if I didn't get over myself and put this in here. So, Billy needs to get over his new electronic toys and love of layering more and more and MORE stuff and echoes because a lot of this would be a lot better if stripped down completely (or maybe it would disappear altogether...) and his lyrics have never been so weak. NONETHELESS... it's Pumpkins, and it's Corgan's voice, and there are some clear highlights such as 'Doomsday Clock'. Not to mention they are still momentous live.

8. Nine Inch Nails - Year Zero
There is nothing new here. It's Trent Reznor doing not-the-best Nine Inch Nails. But it's Trent Reznor doing not-the-best Nine Inch Nails. (I'll admit they also gain points for the possibly best conceptual light show I have ever seen.)

7. Patrick Wolf - The Magic Position
Squeeee happiness! Nothing will ever be another Wind in the Wires, but this is a gem in its own right, and another demonstration of incredible versatility on Wolfie's part. I can also attest to him bringing all of his charm and flashy lights and musical prowess to live performances. I can say nothing more besides "this kid is a geeeeeneneneeeius."

6. Porcupine Tree - Fear Of A Blank Planet
It's hard to describe what these guys' majestic soundscapes do to my head, but this is the sort of record that has me taking hourlong walks just so I can listen to it in peace. Topped off with yet another superb live show as well as an interview with Richard Barbieri, the PT-fangirl in me has had a fantastic year.

5. Bright Eyes - Cassadaga
So, I used to detest Bright Eyes, and nothing would make me want to plunge the next sharp thing into my ears as much as Conor Oberst's whiny 'I'm about to crack up and cry' voice. Of course, I had it coming and sunk into a 2-month Bright Eyes binge during which I literally listened to nothing else. Then Cassadaga came out, and I devoured that too: I love the not-so-subtle touches of Americana, I love the emo lyrics, I love the whine. 'No One Would Riot For Less' is one of the most beautiful things to ever be recorded.

4. Interpol - Our Love To Admire
This is a masterpiece. The songs on this are so tight it almost hurts, every last sound and note placed to perfection, crisply ironed and folded up into tension-ridden beauty that avoids sounding claustrophobic. Also it's nice to see that Interpol's subtle brand of humour isn't missing ('No I in Threesome'? Genius!). The live delivery of it also isn't lacking, though of course a little bit of the polish goes missing. Of course, those who didn't like Interpol to begin with won't find anything new to their liking here, but this is them at their best.

3. Gliss - Love The Virgins
Shoegaze paradise. Fuzzed out guitars, transcendental vocals, lyrics to fall in one-night-stand-love to... this album is a beauty. It's also always a pleasure to see what the press has jumped all over as 'instrumental musical chairs' during their live shows (they switch instruments after every so many songs). It was released in the UK in 2006 but the US release isn't until August of this year, so that counts right?

2. Gogol Bordello - Super Taranta
A punch in the face, a cocktail of unbridled energy and colours, and any other ill-advised metaphor or imagery you could possibly insert here. This is Gogol Bordello faster, more powerful, and more varied than ever before. They move a little more into the 'mainstream' with their influences and there is far less of a gypsy inflection than on Underdog World Strike, but it sounds *good*. Of course, it sounds and feels even better live.

1. 2006's releases that I'm still listening to now: the Dresden Dolls - 'Yes, Virginia' ; The Blood Brothers - 'Young Machetes' ; The Outside - 'Something Urgent' EP ; Dufus - 'The Last Classed Blast' ; ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead - 'So Divided' ; Regina Spektor - 'Begin To Hope' .....and so on and so forth..... and then whichever one of these '07 albums I'm still listening to regularly next year: retrospective top-10s tend to make far more sense.

I would put Battles somewhere in there, but I don't actually own the entire thing. Side question: if you had to choose between seeing Battles and Arcade Fire, where would you go? (Stupid festival lineups.... I picked Arcade Fire and still regret it. Their live shows aren't just overrated, but plain boring.)

It is occurring to me that most of these are releases that I've also seen being performed live this year. Coincidence or subconscious reason?