The Pelican’s Perch Top 50 Albums of 2007: 25-1
“Bah — 25 to 11 — you’re killin’ me” – Reid
“I want top 10 NOW!” – Chris
I didn’t mean to leave the top 10 off, I just looked at the clock and realized I had to be at soundcheck for our show in like 30 minutes, and I conveniently happened to have all but the top 10 done. So, Reid, Chris and everyone else going crazy to see my top 10, well, it’s up! Now, scroll the heck done and get to reading the rest of my list!
25. Pinback – Autumn of the Seraphs
Pinback has a love/hate relationship with most music fans. You either love everything they make and admire their calculated precision in each album, or you just fail to see what the big deal is with such bleh music. I’ve heard both and fall in the love category. Their 2007 release wasn’t their best, but just when I’d convinced myself that it wasn’t one of the year’s best and that I seem to remember it being only so so compared to their past stuff, I gave it another few spins and as every song passed I’d think, oh yeah I did like that song after all until the whole album was done and I realized that I did, in fact, love this album after all.
RIYL: calculated rock, not quite math rock but precise, well thought out rock
Good to Sea
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24. Sondre Lerche – Dan in Real Life Sountrack
Definitely didn’t see this one coming. Only after I watched this movie did I even know that Lerche did the soundtrack. It was such a pleasant surprise considering I was disappointed for the most part with Phantom Punch. There are the usual Lerche style songs, most with great collaborators like Regina Spektor, but I almost like the instrumental tracks the best. Much like Badly Drawn Boy’s About a Boy soundtrack, this work by Lerche is one I’ll be listening to for years to come.
RIYL: feel good music, slightly jazzy stuff all about love
Hell No (w/Regina Spektor)
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23. Sigur Ros – Hvarf/Heim
What can you say about Sigur Ros that hasn’t been said before. The minute I found out they were releasing a DVD, I waited in eager anticipation for its release and was not let down in the least. One of the best music documentaries in recent memory. The accompanying two disc soundtrack brought back old live favorites and gave a studio shine to them. There were familiar songs from past albums and even a few new ones. I hoped this was a completely new Sigur Ros release, but even with only a few new songs and new studio versions, that’s enough for me to call this a satisfying release from one of my favorite bands of all time. Now go get your hands on that DVD and go watch it already.
RIYL: the only music on this list that actually warrants my excessive use of the word “epic” in describing music
Hafssol
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22. Laura Veirs – Saltbreakers
From the first moment I checked out this Laura Veirs character Dylan recommended so fondly I knew I’d found an album I wasn’t going to soon forget. This album feels very much like a female version of Sufjan, with her ability to mix the grand with the sparse and beautiful, and as much as that comparison may be thrown around these days, I think this time it’s actually backed up. The title track’s chanted chorus is one of the year’s highlights for me and you can’t go wrong with the gentle finger-picked gem, and most Sufjan feeling song of all, “To the Country”.
RIYL: Sufjan Stevens long lost sister
To the Country
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21. White Rabbits – Fort Nightly
Most of my readers have heard about these guys, but others of you might not, and that’s a shame because when it comes to bass chugging, drum led bands, you can’t get much better than White Rabbits. They were blog darlings for a very short period, but I was disappointed when they kind of disappeared from bloggers’ minds out of nowhere. Well, here I am to resurrect your interest in Fort Nightly again. It’s one of those albums I put on when I’m in need of some energy or some pick-up in general. You can get much better than songs like “The Plot” and “While We Go Dancing” to get your tired self up dancing and ready to get the day going.
RIYL: drum heavy danceable rock
The Plot (video of this song on Letterman)
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20. Animal Collective – Strawberry Jam
Before all the hooplah starts about this pick, I did ask myself with all 19 albums ahead of this one, do I like this one better than Strawberry Jam, and the answer was yes every time. This was easily one of the year’s best and most unique albums for sure. And I completely agree with the guys over at I Guess I’m Floating that this album will be looked back upon as something revolutionary that took music in a direction no one had imagined before, but it’s still an Animal Collective album and, for me, that means there’s some amazing hits, and some misses as well. This album is by far their most accessible to date and there really wasn’t any one glaring song I skipped every time, but overall I just enjoyed the albums ahead of it more. “Peacebone” though…one of the top 5 songs of the year easily.
RIYL: experimental rock, Beach Boys on acid
Peacebone
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19. Beirut – The Flying Club Cup
Formula for instant success and one heck of an album:
Zach Condon + more money and instruments + Owen Pallett
When I read an interview with Owen Pallett of Final Fantasy where I mentioned really wanting to work with Beirut and that they had just met and agreed to work together on Beirut’s new album, I just about peed myself. The wait was far too long, but the second I was listening to this fabled collaboration I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face. “Forks and Knives (la Fete)” is the glaring example of Pallett’s contribution to the band, but he’s found subtly throughout this wonderful album. Although there aren’t as many stand-out individual tracks on this new release, the album as a whole is much better than Gulag Orkestar both in production and overall instrumentation. If you even got to this point without just seeing Zach Condon and Owen Pallett’s names in the same sentence and jumping down to the song immediately, well, then I applaud you my friend. That, or you just have no clue who either one of them are, and if that’s the case, you better be well on your way to listening to both of their amazing discographies.
RIYL: Final Fantasy strings, Baltic music (?), music that sounds foreign but really isn’t
Forks and Knives (la Fete)
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18. The National – Boxer
This is the album of the year for a lot of people. I loved it, but not that much. The smooth baritone vocals of Matt Berninger are undeniably unique and make this album, but add in the simple, yet great backing instrumentation and you have one great album on your hands. It’s my favorite National album to date, and they deserve all the critical success they’re receiving. I’m curious to see if their follow-up can come even close to this one.
RIYL: Baritone vocals, cool background music, and something you can put on to swoon a girl over
Green Gloves
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17. Spoon – Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
Spoon is one of my favorite bands of all time. No doubt about that. GaX5 is more straight forward than some of their previous releases, finding the band going the Radiohead route of just making music that they want to make without any pressure to write any certain way. I’ll still take Kill the Moonlight over this one, but you can’t really go wrong with Spoon. Britt Daniel and the gang just keep pumping out quality songs and GaX5 finds them in a nice groove I hope they don’t stray from any time soon.
RIYL: rock songs that don’t take crap from no one
The Underdog
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16. Fionn Regan – The End of History
Fionn Regan is hands down my favorite new singer/songwriter of the year. I received his album in the mail and threw it in my “need to listen to” pile, never getting around to actually listening to it. Then, by mistake I was sent another copy from the same promo company, so I took that as a sign maybe I should listen to this album and am I ever glad I did. Fionn is Irish and his accent adds a little charm to each of his songs that’s hard to describe without hearing yourself. I read some comparisons to him being the next Damien Rice, but I can put those to rest right now. He’s not. He’s way too happy sounding to ever be the next Damien Rice, but as a guitar player myself, I’ll admit his finger picking skills put me to shame. It’s not an album to be missed, but since I know the majority of you probably did miss him last year, I’d recommend checking into The End of History. I’m sure you’ll be happy with what you find.
RIYL: Nick Drake, Damien Rice, you know, really good singer/songwriters
The Underwood Typewriter
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15. Lonely, Dear – Lonely, Noir
Lonely, Dear is such a strange band. It’s mainly the music of one man, Emil Svanängen, and the range of Emil’s vocals are ridiculous. Most of you may have heard “I am John”, and his ability to go from slightly high pitched vocals to through the roof falsetto still astounds me. I remember my sister trying to describe this band to me because she had forgotten who it was that sang that song, by saying “you know, it’s that band that’s super happy, has horns and stuff, and the guy sings so high out of nowhere you just laugh”. Which immediately made me laugh, put on “I am John” and her face lit up and she started dancing carefree around her dorm room. It’s reasons like that very story that make me love Lonely, Dear. Emil and his troop are just so dang happy you can’t help but dance, and if you’re brave, try to sing along with his insanely high falsetto vocals.
RIYL: laughing at the most ridiculously poppy song you’ve probably ever heard but can’t help but love
Saturday Waits video (hilarious dogs as people video)
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14. Andrew Bird – Armchair Apocrypha
Andrew Bird can do no wrong in my book. His live show is among the best around, showcasing his looping skills with the help of Dosh. His latest album, while it had a little too much guitar over violin for me, was still vintage, laid back Andrew Bird. Even the album cover picture was perfect for the music contained within. So why isn’t this in the top 10 then? Well, I guess wanted another classic like Mysterious Production of Eggs and this wasn’t quite it. That’s asking a lot I know, but it’s honestly not when it comes to Andrew Bird. He’s just that good.
RIYL: violins, cool vocals, and looping
Heretics
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13. Lost in the Trees – Time Taunts Me
I believe I touted this as my album of the year a while back. The fact that there were 12 albums that came in and took that top spot sometime in the year over this one makes me happy, but this new album from Ari Picker wins best orchestral album of the year. And it’s just an EP, seven songs long at that, but still an EP. I guess Andrew Bird and Final Fantasy would be the only true candidates in this category, but I think this is better orchestrally than Bird’s latest, and Final Fantasy didn’t release an album this year, so that’s that. There’s one artist that could fall in this category higher in the list, but he doesn’t have the full orchestra presence that Picker’s album does. Honestly though, besides the slightly creepy androgynous vocals from Picker, this album is a treat to listen to, and coming from me, who’s favorite genre has long been orchestral rock, this is among one of the best in that genre I’ve heard in years.
RIYL: orchestral rock, Belle & Sebastian accompanied by an orchestra
If You’re Afraid of the Dark
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12. Windmill – Puddle City Racing Lights
Besides having perhaps my favorite album art of the year, Windmill is also one of the more beautiful albums of the year as well. Beautiful in a very cheesy, operatic kind of way. You listen to Matthew Dillon’s piano led epics and can’t help but smile thinking this is borderline over the top, with the strings, horns, background oohs and aahs, and the works, but you also can’t help but smile thinking who cares, this is great. Dillon’s vocals are the only thing that I’ve noticed turned some of my friends off, but they don’t stand out enough in my mind to overshadow the music pouring out of the speakers with each song. One of the most exciting new bands I’ve heard in a long while.
RIYL: Piano led, epic, rock songs that could very well be the soundtrack to a movie or broadway show
Tokyo Moon
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11. Patrick Wolf – The Magic Position
I’m writing this list one album at a time, pulling up the list after each one is done to remember which is next, so I almost want to take back what I said about Windmill being cheesy and epic because Patrick Wolf really takes the prize for that. I mean, look at that cover art. The kid is a ball of emotion contained within a violin virtuoso’s body. The Magic Position is the first album of the three or so he’s released that I feel is truly accessible. Gone are the three or four song stretches with french horns, old Irish instruments, and Wolf’s sad laments, and in their place are some of the year’s best pop songs. Orchestral pop to the extreme. That’s Patrick Wolf. Of course, not all the sad songs are gone, but the good news is they’re heartbreakingly beautiful this time around and I feel no need to skip any songs on this album.
RIYL: Over the top orchestral pop music from a violin virtuoso, Andrew Bird on speed
The Magic Position
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10. The Arcade Fire – Neon Bible
The very first listen I had of this album was of “Intervention”, and I honestly hated that song. What a shame I thought, wondering where this church organ sound came from and if the rest of the album was going to even come close to Funeral. Well, it’s been nearly 10 months since it’s release and I’m still listening to it. “Intervention” has grown on me, but the rest of the album, “Keep the Car Running”, “Ocean of Noise”, “(AntiChrist Television Blues)” and nearly every other song just shine in the only way Arcade Fire’s songs can. I don’t really even compare it to Funeral anymore because it’s really a completely different beast in itself. Most people have somewhat forgotten about this release, since it was released forever ago, and I almost didn’t remember it for the list, but there’s no denying it’s one of the year’s best. And how can you go wrong when they played with Springsteen this year?
RIYL: intense orchestral rock
Keep the Car Running
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9. The Deadly Syndrome – The Ortolan
Ah, the Deadly Syndrome. The winner of the “received their promo randomly, fell in love with it” category for the year. From the first toy box intro in “Eucalyptus” to the last synth line in the title track ending the album, I’d found one of the most complete albums through and through of the year in a time when I was in a serious music drought. That’s how things seem to always work with me, and luckily I’ve always got bands like The Deadly Syndrome to thank for swooping in and ending my drought with some truly amazing tunes. My love for them was only solidified when I found videos of their live shows. You have to love that live energy.
RIYL: Folk, pop, and rock fused together with handclaps, piano, and multiple singers
The Ship That Shot Its Selef
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8. Decomposure – Vertical Lines A
I’m not going to lie, if I would’ve found out about this album earlier in the year, it may have battled easily for the top spot of the year. Caleb Mueller has been making music as Decomposure for a while now, with his last album At Home and Unaffected making my year end list last year as well. This new one was released back in May, somehow escaping my radar, and not until the very end of the year did I find out about it. Caleb’s music is impossible to describe, and is unlike anything you’ve ever heard. I can guarantee that. It’s chaotic, industrial sounding beats under pop melodies and sing/speak verses. His music is very polarizing, as I’ve yet to have success in recruiting many people when playing his albums for friends, but when it clicks for you, man does it click. I think I like this album mainly because of the insane complexity and attention paid in the creation of these songs. Add to that the actual packaging that has a 30 or so page booklet with drawings, and a bonus dvd with more stuff than you could even watch in one sitting. I really could talk about this album all day, and while there are still a few songs that draw on Caleb’s old instrumental, pure beat driven style, he’s finally embraced his pop side with this album and the majority of the album ends up being some amazingly unique sounding pop songs. Did I mention he creates most his beats by recording stuff like the sound of a book hitting the floor, among hundreds, maybe thousands of other common sounds, to make those glitchy beats? That fact alone astounds me.
RIYL: The epitome of a great headphone album. Pop songs hidden among glitchy beat madness.
Hour 9
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7. Maia Hirasawa – Though, I’m Just Me
If you like pop music in the least bit, there really is no reason this album should not be in your collection. I was hooked from the first time I heard “And I Found This Boy” and couldn’t stop listening to it all summer. I pulled it back out again recently as I was compiling this list and fell in love all over again with Maia and her pop gems. While her pop songs are admittedly among the best out there, it was the more serious songs I took the most enjoyment out of in the end. Songs like “Parking Lot” and “You Me and Everyone We Know” showcased Maia’s songwriting and really showed she had songwriting range well beyond happy pop songs. I’d listen to these songs on repeat sometimes and turn to one of the horn filled poppy songs for a break every now and then. As a whole though, Maia’s album has something for everyone. It makes you dance when you’re happy and cheers you up when you’re sad with songs that range from super poppy to beautifully epic.
RIYL: Bjork/Regina Spektor vocals over horn and string filled pop gems
Parking Lot
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6. Radiohead – In Rainbows
This should be my #1 album for the simple fact that they took our “pay what you want” model that LemonDrop Records is going to be based on and proved that it can work. The album itself, which I paid $6.50 for, finds Radiohead sounding as relaxed and comfortable as they have been in years. No pressure from record labels let them just write whatever they wanted to write and take as long as they wanted in writing the album. This led to In Rainbows being much more casual and laid back than some of their recent releases, but I ended up liking that fact a lot. I still remember the first time I heard Johnny’s smooth guitar riff enter at the beginning of “15 Step” at 7:30 in the morning as I eagerly listened to my new download that was almost five years in the making. “Bodysnatchers” brought Radiohead gloriously back to the OK Computer days with their closest song to “Electioneering” yet. The rest of the album kind of says, well there’s your couple of rocking songs, we’re just going to chill out the rest of the album if you don’t mind. Which, oddly enough, I didn’t at all. So, while it’s not the life changing album some people may have thought, it’s still another solid release from one of my favorite bands of all time.
RIYL: Radiohead making music in their living room, just relaxing without a care in the world
Faust Arp
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5. Rogue Wave – Asleep at Heaven’s Gate
I laughed when someone first told me Rogue Wave’s new album was going to be terrible because they signed to Jack Johnson’s label Brushfire Records. You can’t be serious, I asked them, to which they replied, you just wait and see. It’ll be all acoustic guitar surf music. And nothing made me happier to bring my new copy of Asleep at Heaven’s Gate to their house showing them how great it ended up being. Rogue Wave aren’t going to change anytime soon. All that has changed is they’re starting to truly become and band and write songs that way instead of Zach Rogue being the main songwriter and they just put parts to his songs. This new release is a bit darker than their stuff, which completely refutes that Brushfire argument because it should be even poppier because of that, right? I can’t decide if they’ve taken a step forward with this album, or just sidestepped to a slightly darker sound. I could care less about that honestly. It’s new Rogue Wave and it’s right up there with anything they’ve released thusfar. That’s all that really needs to be said.
RIYL: The Beatles, Beach Boys, and any other melodic, summer feeling band if they added a bit more distortion and dark intensity to their songs
Lake Michigan
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4. Radical Face – Ghost
What more can I say about Ben Cooper. He’s my favorite songwriter that no one has heard of. He made my list last year with his Postal Service-esque duo Electric President, and has made my list again with his solo effort under the name Radical Face. While this release is considerably less electronic than Electric President, it’s no less good because of that. This was released in March and I looked into it solely because I loved Electric President and I think I fell in love with this album three or four times since that release date, which is saying something. Cooper’s vocals have always been very reserved, and that has become somewhat of his trademark sound, but his songwriting is just great. Listen to the two songs below to hear for yourself. He has a few side projects well on their way to getting done recording, including Iron Orchestra with his brother, and Biowulf with a couple other musicians, so this is far from the last we’ve heard from him.
RIYL: Electric President, a non-electronic Postal Service
Wrapped in Piano Strings
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3. Manchester Orchestra – I’m Like a Virgin Losing a Child
Thanks to my high school listening habits and rooming with my best friend who listens to basically nothing but 311, Incubus, Muse, and Red Hot Chili Peppers, I still have a soft spot in my heart for mainstream sounding rock if it’s done right. You may remember last year’s list having Brand New’s latest album all the way at #2. They were amazing live and if you actually give that album a chance, there’s emotion flowing from every seam of that album and the songs are just epic in every way. This probably makes the majority of you roll your eyes, but that’s never bothered me. So, enter Manchester Orchestra into my collection and considering they often had the lead singer of Brand New come out and sing with them on tour, it was no surprise that I’d like them. I just didn’t think I’d like them as much as I did. Where Brand New win me over with pure intensity, Manchester Orchestra take that formula, add strings, more melody, and lyrics that rival anything Brand New have written. Songs like “Sleeper 1972″, about the lead singer’s family dealing with their father’s death is one of the most powerful songs I’d heard in a long time, and all it is is a synth line droning behind his morose lyrics. If you like Brand New’s ability to go from 0-60 throughout the course of a song, Manchester Orchestra pull that off with ease. But where Manchester Orchestra nearly overtake Brand New in my book is with their completely different intensity. A more melodic, beautiful explosion of guitars, singing, strings, and horns that Brand New would be lucky to pull off.
RIYL: Brand New, The Format
Sleeper 1972
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2. Cloud Cult – The Meaning of 8
I’ll admit two things right off the bat. One, I listened to this album more than any album in 2007. Hand down. Two, there’s no doubt I burned myself out of this album as even now I listen to some songs, but often switch to something else by the end of it. So, if you read my blog, those facts alone should have you scrambling to find this album if it’s something I listened to that much. I absolutely loved their previous release Advice from the Happy Hippopotamus, and somehow they pulled off a follow-up that I loved even more. When it comes to bands using electronic elements subtly to add to their songs, no one does it quite like Cloud Cult. I’ve always liked their music because of that. Chris Minowa, the man behind Cloud Cult, has always been an artist I followed beyond his music. He lost his son eight years ago, hence this album’s title, and each album has been one heartbreaking concept after another, usually about the loss of his son. This stems from him holing himself up in his barn for months just writing songs to get over the loss. The Meaning of 8 is even more uplifting once you know this back story, as Minowa sings lines like “Who could say goodbye with a yodal-ay-hee-hoo? You did, with the promise that the dead are now magicians” in the song “Your 8th Birthday”. Minowa examines all sorts of other topics thoughout this album beyond his song like chemical reactions in the brain, abuse of medicinal drugs, and even the second coming and the ridiculous cultures surrounding it that often commercialize it in the song “Alien Christ”. The music is great as usual with this new release, with cellos and horns and toyboxes abound, but it’s the lyrics that really won me over with Cloud Cult’s newest release. I can’t remember the last time I sat and read through all the lyrics from an album. It’s truly a special album and one I hope everyone that reads my blog gets a chance to hear before all is said and done. It’d be a shame to miss it.
RIYL: great pop/rock songs with subtle electronic elements, strings, horns, and great lyrics
Alien Christ
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1. Once Sountrack
While this may be a surprise pick for some people randomly stopping by the Perch to check out my list, this shouldn’t be too big a surprise to any of my frequent readers. From the minute I saw the trailer for this movie and listened to its soundtrack almost three months before the movie was released, I posted about it left and right. I can’t remember pouring praise and being such a fanboy of an album since, well, my Sufjan obsession back in the day. Any news I would find out about this movie and it’s soundtrack, I’d post on the site until before long I took a step back and thought, man, I think they get the point. Then, I finally saw the movie and it was all over from there. I had officially been won over and knew no matter what albums were going to be released the rest of the year, this would almost undoubtedly be my #1. And that’s exactly what ended up happening. Sure, there may be some complaints from those of you out there that really know their stuff that most of these songs are reworking of old songs from Glen Hansard’s band The Frames’ latest release The Cost, and on top of that, most of these songs are from Glen and Marketa’s collaboration album The Swell Season, which was released in 2006, but I took all these arguments into account with my ultimate #1 placement. Even listening to these songs on their collaboration album, you’ll notice they stripped most the strings from the Swell Season tracks for the soundtrack and there’s plenty of new ones.
But I doubt you would have even known those tidbits of info had I not just brought them up. So, if you’ve been living under a rock this past year and haven’t seen Once, need I say more to get you to rent that DVD as soon as you’re done reading this. Then, head over to your local record store and pick up the soundtrack, which conveniently enough, comes with it’s own behind the scenes DVD. I honestly can’t sing my praises more for this wonderful movie and it’s equally wonderful soundtrack and it’s pretty exciting that there was a movie and soundtrack released that year that affected me so much it made the top of my year end list. That’s something special right there.
RIYL: The Frames, a modern day musical unlike any you may have seen
[youtube CoSL_qayMCc]
Well, hope you liked the list! No time to waste thinking about the past. 2008 has begun! Let’s hope it’s just as good as 2007 proved to be.
Bah — 25 to 11 — you’re killin’ me
Totally agree about Strawberry Jam. I thought Feels was crazy better. Some good music on this list, I highly agree with Loney, Dear! YAY for your sister. Will give a good listen to your other pics and hope to push out the rest of my lists too!