Favorite Songs of 2007, Part Diez

Yesterday after my final exam I treated myself to one of the things I do best: anything but schoolwork. I didn't do anything too crazy, but I enjoyed it more than usual because I didn't have that nagging feeling that I usually do when I write this blog, which is that I should be studying. It was frickin awesome. And then I did like this lil gumper and chillaxed a little.

I uploaded these tunes a few days ago, anticipating some procrastinating digression from studying in the form of blogging, but it never happened. And then I took yesterday off. And I should be cleaning my house right now, because it's turning into Chez de McCormick this weekend as my roommie's family crashes it. But those songs are just sitting out there not being enjoyed, so go enjoy them already.

I'm considering this the 10th and perhaps final Favorite Songs of 2007 post. Some of these are songs I've enjoyed all year, but some are songs I just nabbed off Pitchfork's best of 2007 list last week and I liked immediately. It never ceases to amaze me-- and always bugs me-- that out of the 100 songs they post, there are always at least 30% which I've never ever ever heard of.

Most of the new favorites I pulled from there, however, were from bands like Nick Cave's Grinderman, avant tardesters the Liars, and the Tori Amos-esque Bat for Lashes. I never really felt like giving these bands a chance based on their previous material, hype surrounding them, or just because I don't like the way they look. Well, maybe I should have and maybe I still won't. In any event, before I take another swig of my IPA, I first raise it up and offer a toast for the sake of judging books by their covers [and almost always being right]. Without further..

Daniel Rossen [of Grizzly Bear, Department of Eagles] - "Too Little Too Late" [JoJo cover], from the Grizzly Bear blog
Kelly Clarkson - "Fading", bonus track from import version of My December
Grizzly Bear - "He Hit Me", from Friend
Menomena - "Shirt", unreleased
Liars - "Plaster Casts of Everything", from Liars
White Denim - "All Truckers Roll", from forthcoming Workout Holiday
Bat for Lashes - "Horse and I", from Fur and Gold
Grinderman - "No Pussy Blues", from Grinderman
Deerhunter - "Wash Off", from Flourescent Grey
Gogol Bordello - "Forces of Vistory", from Super Taranta

Check out the rest of my 2007 favorites here.

Gogol Bordello, by the way, is my new obsession. I dismissed them earlier this year as a novelty act, but WOW every song is like a gypsy dance party. I think that if Pale Young Gentlemen started drinking heavily and let themselves go a little, spent some time in a gypsy camp outside Budapesht, they may eventually turn into something like Gogol Bordello.

And holy balls, I just discovered that the lead singer is in fact Alex from Everything is Illuminated. How did I not know this?! I thought of Alex the first time I ever heard Gogol, but never thought they were one in the same. Wicked.

Haven't seen the movie? Go get it now. It's hilarious, touching and just simply all-around amazing.



The band actually appears in the movie in this clip.

Happy holidays to everyone. I truly hope you have a peaceful next few weeks with family and friends. I'll pop in and share stuff when I have the resources and time.

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Favorite Songs of 2007, Part Nueve

I really want to go dancing right now.

Of Montreal - "The Past is a Grotesque Animal", from Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?
LCD Soundsystem - "All My Friends", from Sound of Silver
Gui Boratto - "Beautiful Life", from Chromophobia
Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova - "When Your Mind's Made Up", from Once OST
Andrew Bird - "Plasticities", from Armchair Apocrypha
The Cool Kids - "88", from The Bake Sale [forthcoming?]
White Rabbits - "The Plot", from Fort Nightly

There's a Teiam Player track out there somewhere using "The Plot". Go look for it if you missed it and care.

The rest of the favorites are here.

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Favorite Songs of 2007, Part Ocho

More. 2007 favorites.

Holy SNOWses, man. It was really coming down out there all day here in Madison.

Inadvertent theme: animals. Advertent theme: Beirut.

Caribou - "Niobe", from Andorra
Beirut - "Nantes", from The Flying Club Cup
Beirut - "Forks and Knives [La Fete]", from The Flying Club Cup
Beirut - "Elephant Gun", from Lon Gisland
Grizzly Bear - "He Hit Me", from Friend
Department of Eagles - "No One Does it Like You", from Gold Suits [forthcoming]
Poni Hoax - "Antibodies", from Antibodies
Bodies of Water - "I Heard It Sound", from Ears Will Pop and Eyes Will Blink [forthcoming]
Kanye West feat Young Jeezy - "Can't Tell Me Nothin" [remix], from Graduation

Yeah I totally can't decide on my favorite Beirut song, so you get spoiled. If you haven't latched on yet, the album is totally rad and beautiful and amazing and addicting.

Go see more of my favorites.

Y'all are hereby warned that after Wednesday I will most likely return to my old rambling self. Same amount of music, a lot more words to sift through to get it.

Word.

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Favorite Songs of 2007, Part Siete

Good weekend? Good. Let's get back to the grind. To help your week, some more of my faves.

Why? - "The Hollows", from The Hollows
Cave Singers - "Seeds of the Night", from Invitation Songs
Yeasayer - "2080", from All Hour Cymbals
Venetian Snares - "Integraation", from My Downfall
Jonquil - "Lions", from Lions
Hot Chip - "My Piano", from My Piano
Junior Boys - "Like a Child" [Carl Craig remix], from Dead Horse
Aesop Rock - "None Shall Pass", from None Shall Pass
Arcade Fire - "My Body is a Cage", from Neon Bible

Bonus Teiam Player: Arcade Fire + TV on the Radio =
Teiam Player - "My Body is a Wolf Like Me"

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Favorite Songs of 2007, Part Seis

Happy Snowy Day, Madisonites. I helped shovel the weekend's snow-turned-to-ice from my friend's driveway this afternoon, and by the time we were done my car was totally covered in a beautiful fluffy blanket. And now I want to go snowboarding.

Here's another list of tunes. Faves. From this year. Hence the title.

Kano - "The Layer Cake", from some bootleg mixtape
Menomena - "Evil Bee", from Friend or Foe
St Vincent - "Now Now", from Marry Me
Yeasayer - "Wait for the Summer", from All Hour Cymbals
Kelly Clarkson - "Never Again" [no, seriously; I mean it's no "Since U Been Gone", but let's not kid ourselves, what is?], from My December
Dntel feat Grizzly Bear - "To a Fault", from Dumb Luck
Pase Rock - "Lindsay Lohan's Revenge", from Lindsay Lohan's Revenge 12"
Brazos - "Miss Virginia", A City Just as Tall [I'm buying my copy from iTunes as I type]

Bonus! Teiam Player's keep-the-perversion-going remix of Pase Rock tune, featuring Primus's "Wynona's Big Brown Beaver". You do the math. Ok, I will.

Pase Rock + Primus = "LiLo's Big Brown Beaver"

Buy your new favorite artists here, here, here or here [Insound, Other Music, iTunes Store, or Amazon].

Be sure to check out all the other favorites.

Now go play in the snow.

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Favorite Songs of 2007, Part Cinco

I have a few busy days ahead of me and am in the middle of one right now, so it'll most likely be a week of few words for me, at least until I need to come here for solace and for my own sanity. Lucky for you, I'll keep on yesterday's habit of just producing a few short lists. Today, it's two old Teiam Player tracks and a few other Favorites of 2007 which, at the time of typing this were still undecided.

I'm also skimping on the linkage, because I just can't be bothered to do so. To buy anything below, head over to Insound or Other Music or Amazon, ore simply crack open your iTunes.

Okkervil River - "Our Life is Not a Movie or Maybe"
!!! - "Sweet Life"
Battles - "Atlas"
Digitalism - "Zdarlight"

Teiam Player:
The Islands "Rough Gem" + Outkast "B.O.B" = "R.G.O.B"
Casiotone for the Painfully Alone "Young Shields" + Cadence Weapon "Sharks" = "Young Shark Shields"

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Favorite Songs of 2007, Part Cuatro

An almost wordless post; only the necessary ones [ie, no fun].

Some more of my favorite songs of 2007 and the albums to purchase them from [with links to do just that].

Pela - "Cavalry", from Anytown Graffiti; 88%
Modest Mouse - "Spitting Venom", from We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank; 60%
Jose Gonzalez - "Down the Line", from In Our Nature; 62%
Animal Collective - "Chores", from Strawberry Jam; 90%
M.I.A feat Timbaland - "Come Around", from Kala; 64%
Decibully - "If I Don't Work", unreleased
Ghostface - "Chunky", from J-Love's Street Savior Part 5 [bootleg mixtape]; 23%
Reina Boone - "Beauty of It", from her self-released sampler EP; 24%
White Denim - "Mess Your Hair Up", from Let's Talk About It; 31%

All truckers roll.

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Other news: I kinda can't wait for The Cool.

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Four Tet: Remixer of the Year

That's right, you heard it here first, forks. I'm hereby declaring frentic beatsmith Kieren Hebden, aka Four Tet, the Remixer of the Year. Forget Justice, Soulwax [please pardon me, Oh Wise Brothers], Swizz Beats, MSTRKRFT, Hot Chip, Diplo [again, pardon me, worldly EclectoMash Master*], and all the countless other electro remixers out there who rocked my bedroom this year. Umm.. not to leave out all ye crunksters [kiddies: is crunk still in?]. Oh! And apparently there's another Beirut [no, not the OHWNT-approved band] going around making good remixes. And what about the Silver Album, Grey Album, and Beachles album -inspired/follower/reincarnate, Bullion's Pet Sounds: In the Key of Dee?. Yeah that's pretty blogdopetastic, too. I'll let nialler9 take over and talk about it, though.

*update-slash-tangent! Right-click + open-link-in-new-tab on over to my not-so-anonymous-friend's [that part will make more sense in another paragraph or so] bee-ell-oh-gee to see a same-time-horrible, same-time-rad video of Diplo and Girl Talk spinning a sweet sixteen [which totally beats out Mark Ronson's TomKat gig, by the way].

And you know what? I'm not even going to talk much about Four Tet. No, seriously. Just this:

[1] If you like Caribou/Manitoba, you should like Dan Snaith's friend Kieren.

[2] I keep trying to convince Postal Service fans who are even too afraid to dip their toes into that electronic stuff to give Caribou and Four Tet a try. Do it. Please. Dip your toes.

[yadayadayada] Some people try to put tags like experimental [it's not], psychedelic [it may be], post-rock [I never understood that one], glitch [no], IDM [umm....], or the jahforsaken tag electronica. Ignore all that nonsense. I have an anonymous friend who says the Cold War Kids aren't rock. Wha? That's like saying the Beatles aren't pop. Or that fish isn't meat. That pink shirts are gay.

[blahblahblah] Ok, so maybe they aren't all the same thing, but my point is this: go read Shakespeare. A rose, any other name, blah blah blah. Oh, and don't judge books by their stupid pigeonholes.

Wake up! The music's finally coming.

In my most illegal post yet, here are SIX downloads: four Four Tet remixes from 2007 [all four of which validate this as a FaveSongs2007 post], one classic FT track, and his amazing remix of everyone's favorite tearjerker, Sia's Six Feet Under -ending "Breathe Me".

[if you don't know that the above is in fact what I call keeping this short, then you haven't been coming around these parts long enough]

Sia - "Breathe Me" [Four Tet remix]

Battles - "Tonto" [Four Tet remix]

Caribou - "Melody Day" [Four Tet remix]

Matthew Dear - "Deserter" [Four Tet remix]

Nathan Fake - "You Are Here" [Four Tet remix]

Four Tet - "No More Mosquitoes" [Boom Bip remix]

Go buy Four Tet music:
Insound
Other Music
Turntable Lab
Amazon

If you ever happen to see me walking around, bopping with my earbuds in and I'm drumming imaginary drumsticks in the air, chances are I'm listening to something having to do with Four Tet. Or my iPod's dead and I just don't want to talk to you.

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Favorite Songs of 2007, Part Tres

Subheadings:

Free! Music! Journalism!

and

Band of Horses!

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I finally sat down with my little negrito [I think that's the name I've settled on for my laptop] a while today and was able to do a much-needed activity: listen to some real good music. First I listened to the Yeasayer album [which incidentally has about a 99.75% chance of being on my Top 5 Favorite Albums of 2007 list, yet TBD], and then to the new Band of Horses. I read two good BoH stories over the break which totally inspired me to [a] pack a rucksack and hitchhike to a little shack in the middle of the southern sticks, overlooking a lake and do nothing but write poetry, drink tallboys and eat barbecued pork.. all day.. oh, and [b] listen to more Band of Horses. One little ditty was from November's Paste and a better writeup with short interview was in the latest Fader. If nothing else, there's a killer photo of Ben Bridwell and his pick-up, exposing [but not exhibiting] his tats and beard, both of which are no less than fifty-seven years old. Nope, he ain't no city boy.

In case you haven't heard the old news, Paste is still running a Radiohead-inspired promo-- go name your own price for a full year's worth of Paste goodness. I extended my subscription for the same amount I paid for In Rainbows; four bucks. Fader, still cooler than most in my book, is available for free, every month, in PDF format [have I recently mentioned that?]. Get #49 here. Buy a year of the old-fashioned paperback business here. And since it costs $20 [which is a great deal for this mag], you don't have to feel as guilty as you may for "buying" In Rainbows or Paste by filling in all the boxes with zeros.

ANYWAY.. this was supposed to be a FSo'07 post, and dammit that's what it's still gonna be, at least in part. After cycling through both All Hour Cymbals and then Cease to Begin, I went through some of my favorites of this past year, and these were just a few of the ones that stood out this time.

Spoon - "The Ghost of You Lingers", from Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga; 55%
I'm not gonna lie, by this point, I'm kinda totally over Spoon. Kill the Moonlight was awesome, with one of the best album openers of recent times, but c'mon; since then they've just been trying to repeat that. The 55% I just gave them for Ga Ga is really a lie; they don't have much chance of reaching my [possibly fictitious] Fave Albums of 2007 list. In all honesty, I don't even know if I attentively listened to it once all the way through. I did, however, listen to "The Ghost" and "Underdog" a lot. I hope you already have this song and don't need to download it; it's awesome.

Apostle of Hustle - "National Anthem of Nowhere", from National Anthem of Nowhere; 30%
Again, didn't give this album much chance, although I know I should have. I'm a huge fan of Broken Social Scene [ok, who isn't?], and BSS guitarist Andrew Whiteman's side project AoH does things much like BSS godfather Kevin Drew. This song really reminds me of two other related tunes-- BSS's "7/4 (Shoreline)", which shares the same 7/4 time signature and, although "Anthem" isn't blessed with any beautiful Leslie Feist in the background, it just generally sounds similar. It also reminds me of K-Os's "Valhalla", which features Kevin Drew's vocal cords.

Find all of my FaveSongs2007 posts here.

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And since I talked so much about Ben Bridwell's Horses I feel I must share a tune of theirs, as well. "Is There a Ghost" may land on these pages someday before the end of the year as a favorite, but now I'll share "Ode to LRC" which I thought was a strange ode to the early internet chat system, before I realized it was L RC and not I RC. This song is awesome. It's the second track of the album [right after "Ghost"], which doesn't help the rest of the album's chances at getting much play, as I just keep repeating those two. But "Ode" is almost a perfect BoH tune; it's got a little bit of all of their magics.

You gotta love a dude who is not afraid to wail away [and repeat] the obvious: the world is such a wonderful place. And one can imagine him sitting there, on the steps of his southern porch, flannel shirtsleeves rolled up exposing his ink, smoking a cigarette, taking in this wonderful place. And dammit, if not for the awesome music, that's why I like him.

Wow. This really shoulda been two separate posts.

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Favorite Songs of 2007, Part Dos

Remember, these are in no particular order.

And remember the percentage significance [last hint: it is the chance that this album would make my fave albums list].

Apparat - "Fractales" parts One & Two, from Walls; 88%
I feel like I've talked about Apparat ever since I got the album over the summer. I liked it immediately, and it's only grown on me since. Apparat is now known for being the driving force behind Ellen Allien & his wonderful Orchestra of Bubbles [which is strangely just about the most accurate title for a record that I've seen], and he's currently probably my favorite electro/glitch producers. "Fractales", in two parts, is some of the best work I've heard of his. The comedown which is "Part 2" wouldn't sound out of place on a Sigur Ros record.


Chromeo - "Tenderoni", from Fancy Footwork; 55%
Umm.. this is just funky as all hell, and if you can't get over yourself and dance to it then you need to stop coming to this space.


CRS [Lupe Fiasco, Kanye & Pharrell] - "Us Placers", originally from * NA%, for the mixtape, holmes. 66% for Graduation.
I was originally really hesitant of the Thom Yorke sample, as it's just as obvious as Kanye's Daft Punk sample in "Stronger". But who am I to criticize-- I blatantly sample all sorts of recent crap. I guess I just expect more out of proper producers-with-studios, who should leave the mash-up fodder to us kids-with-computers. Anyway, it's hard to not like a track which is based on a song which you already like so much, and the three boys' flow is smooth like butter. So is Thom's.

Give it up for:
Lupe: "a closet full of clothes and some brand new dangers // and some mexican floral arrangers"
Kanye: "look at all the new beautiful faces // at-home supermodel's MySpaces"
Pharrell: simply for rhyming GlaxoSmithKline.

*Originally appeared on Kanye's pre-Graduation mixtape Can't Tell Me Nothing, but then Kanye decided he had to have it on his album and that's probably ok since he produced it and all; in the end, it's a bonus track or on the export versions of Graduation or something. I also heard it may be coming out on Lupe's new record, The Cool, although it looks like that intel may be inaccurate.

Find all of my FaveSongs2007 posts here.
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Favorite Songs of 2007, Part Uno

Well, there are roughly 40 days left in this wonderful year. And in a good portion of those days I'm going to sort through my various "best of" playlists.. that could be an entirely different post altogether.

Anyword.. I'm going to be randomly be adding anywhere from two to.. five? six? seven? songs each time up until either [a] I get sick of doing it, [b] I get sick of the songs, or [c] the end of the year. So without further..

Oh! Brand new idea: the percentage to the right of each album is the probability that this album would appear on my Favorite Album of 2007 list. Watch out now, kids-- lots of links, lots of stats.

Matthew Dear - "Fleece on Brain", from Asa Breed; 68%
I really need to make a regular "opening tracks" section where I share some of my favorite opening tracks. If I did, this would make the list. "Fleece" is one of the most electronic-sounding tunes on Asa Breed, with its oscillating synthlines and neverending looped bassline and probably not one of the most immediate, so perhaps it's a peculiar choice for opening track of an album that is definitely trying to reach out to indie audiences. But it's that never-quite-reaching-climax aspect of it that I think makes it work as an opening track. Besides that, what does it for me is the fact that he sounds one part [OHWNT favorite guilty pleasure] Clutch lead singer Neil Fallon, and one part [TVotR's] Kyp Malone [as I contest he does elsewhere on the record].

UGK feat Outkast - "Int'l Player's Anthem", from Underground Kingz; 4%
This song does not need any introduction. It's bloody brilliant. Earlier in the year I incorrectly deemed it the summer hip hop anthem. Well, who could have predicted the staying power of what turned into two of the most annoying tunes-- I speak of "The Way I Are" and "Umbrella"-ella-ella. ANYWAY.. you have to see the video if you haven't already, because whereas he hasn't yet totally realized greatness on the big screen [although he's definitely trying], Mr Andre Benjamin steals the show in the opening scene. Fo reezy. Further along, though, big UGK thug Bun B flexes his experience and.. bigness. But then the real Big Boi shows everyone why this tune should have really been an Outkast song, featuring UGK.

Bonus: it just so happens Teiam Player got hold of this and totally had his way with it. The "official" version ["The Int'l Man of Metropolis", one of the better TP tunes if I may say so myself] can be heard over at TeiamSpace. But another [kinda never totally finished] one can be downloaded here [an exclusive, feel special]:
UGK feat Outkast + White Rabbits + Sufjan Stevens =
Teiam Player "The International Player's Plot"

Menomena - "Wet and Rusting", from Friend and Foe; 98%
This was, if not the, then one of the first albums I knew would be my year-end favorite. And this song has it all. Pianos! Strumming guitars! Chaotic drum beating! Dual vocals, quasi-harmonizing! It's killer. And with the props to Kanye, the video for it is alright, too.

Bonus: and guess what? That's right, Teiam Player's version!
Menomena + The Pack = Teiam Player "Wet Candy"

Phew. Was this the most fun-filled OHWNT post yet, or what? And it's a frigging Friday night. I need to leave the house now.

Find all of my FaveSongs2007 posts here.

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