Albums of 2007: #5

Manic Street Preachers - "Send Away the Tigers"

I was recently asked where I though the Manics ranked in the great scheme of things ... difficult one as these guys are pretty much taken for granted, or ignored, by the masses ... but this once important band haven't gone away, on the contrary it appears the Manics are back.

The question of where the Manics ranked came seconds before their gig at the Music Hall in Aberdeen in December 2007, this was a gig that was one of the years best (and its one hell of a year gig wise !!!) and portrayed the band in the genius light they belong. Spookily, weeks later, the NME have announced that the band will be awarded the God Like Genius award in early 2008 ... nice to hear they agree with me !!!

Now, the album ...

Tha Manics have been making great music for years but, in my opinion, haven't made a great album since "Everything Must Go" ... "Send Away the Tigers", wait for it, possibly trumps even that and stands as one of the finest bodies of work produced by the band post Ritchie.

The album is full of anthemic rock tracks without a dodgy one in sight ... "Underdog" is a song for the fans " ... this one's for the freaks ... " starts James as he sets out to make the points that being different ain't a bad thing ... ist hasn't done Nikki any harm after all !!

The duet with Nina Persson on "Your Love is Not Enough" evokes memories of the classic "Little Baby Nothing" with Tracey Lords' vocals.

This an album full of potential classics while retaining James' obtuse lyrical edge. This will be number one on many people's list for 2007, and so it should be ... there are days when its mine, I may regret it yet ...

Albums of 2007: #6

Babyshambles - "Shotter's Nation"

The old adage states that Pete Doherty is a Marmite man, you either love him or hate him ... and the majority of people who hate him appear to do so based on the newspaper headlines and his public lifestyle ... two points to make here:

- its not the man that should count, its the music !!!

- what are people basing their opinion on? The drugs? Thank Christ the Beatles and the Stones ain't trying to cut it these days then eh?

In my opinion, the Libertines were never given the recognition and respect they deserved ... Arctic Monkeys et al have a lot to thank them for I suspect.

Lets face it though, Babyshambles' first offering "Down in Albion" was patchy at best ... things didn't look good for post-Libertines Pete.

"Shotters Nation" is a different story all together, this is as good as any off The Libertines' output and appears to have been largely under recognised.

The opening "Carry on up the Morning" is classic, self deprecating Pete ... "its wasn't easy, getting out of my bed ... its too easy, getting out of my head ... " is the "look, I know I'm f**ked up" marker in the sand.

The single, "Delivery" follows and turns out to be one of the weaker tracks here and is followed by the superb Libertinesque "You Talk".

"Unbilotitled" is as deep and personal as things can get for someone who's life is as public as Pete's "... you said that you loved me, why don't you f**k off, anyone would think you were only ripping me off ... " Many of his so called friends are dismantled here, some named, others obvious.

More Libertine stylee tunes follow in the guise of "French Dog Blues" and the storming "Baddie's Boogie" ... in between these is the beautiful "There She Goes".

Things are closed off with the introspective "Lost Art of Murder".

Marmite aside, there can be no argument that this is a brilliant album, not just good, brilliant ... you might not like it (even those who have actually listed to it) but its quality cannot be denied.
I bet if any of these is going to get a comment ... its this one !!!

Albums of 2007: #7

Dinosaur Jr. - "Beyond"

J Mascis, Lou Barlow and Murph back together again ... so is this in my top 10 for nostalgic reasons? No chance! It may be almost 20 years since the original line recorded "Bug" but "Beyond" probably eclipses all previous work by the band.

Kicking off with "Almost Ready" and keeping the pace up through "Crumble" and "Pick Me Up", its clear that this is going to be good ... the play out on "Pick Me Up" will make you want to pick up any guitar shaped object and stand in front of a mirror pulling those grunge faces ..... just me then ????!!!!!!

Things don't lighten up til "Were Not Alone" and then chill out totally on "I Got Lost".

"Lightening Bulb" picks things back up again and the closer "What If I Knew" just makes you want to listen to the whole thing again.

"Beyond" revisits grunge in an intelligent and contemporary way ... the world needs another J. Mascis ... any signs ????

Albums of 2007: #8

Interpol - "Our Love to Admire"

Recommending Interpol to someone is hard ... their dark, monotonic, down beat sound is a difficult sell (like trying to cheer someone up with a Joy division album) ... but this, their third, release is just an incredible body of work that deserves to be heard by everyone who appreciates "serious" music.

Opening "Pioneer to the Falls" is about as bleak as it gets but, in its own way, is as rousing and anthemic a track as they come ....

"No I in Threesome" presents a listening dichotomy, is this a tongue in cheek send up structured to sound dark, or is Paul Banks opening his heart on a struggling relationship? Whatever it is, it works as one of the stand out tracks here.

Things get as upbeat as it comes on "The Heinrich Manoeuvre", the first single release from the album ... and when followed by "Mammoth" suggests that things are looking more cheery ... but "Pace if the Trick" brings things back to the dark side where Interpol are most at home.

Things continue on the dark side for the remainder of the album and conclude with the stunningly bleak "The Lighthouse" which has the same overtones as Radiohead's "Motion Picture Soundtrack" from Kid A.

"Our Love to Admire" is another example of an album that isn't instant, even for Interpol fans, it needs several listens while in the correct frame of mind but, for me, is probably Interpol's finest work to date.

Albums of 2007: #9

Explosions in the Sky - "All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone"

No top 10 is complete without a slice of post-rock genius. Although Mogwai did release a soundtrack album in 2007 for the Zidane film, I didn't class it as a true Mogwai release and its therefore not in this years list ...

So the post-rock release of the year for me is this incredible piece of work by Explosions in the Sky. I still have vivid memories of lying by the pool in Florida this year with this constantly repeating on the iPod. Fans of the post-rock genre will love this from first listen, others may have to work a bit harder to appreciate the genius of the track structures and the lack of vocals.

Track names tend to be largely superfluous with this type of album but stand outs include the opening "The Birth and Death of the Day" (a perfect title for the quiet, quiet, loud, loud, quiet structure) and the eminently chilled "What Do You Go Home To?"

For the Mogwai, Godspeed You Black Emperor and 65daysofstatic fans out there ... this is a must listen to .... just make sure your chilled out with your eyes closed when you do !!!

Albums of 2007: #10

Arctic Monkeys - "Favourite Worst Nightmare"

Coming quick on the heels of the debut "Whatever You Say I Am ... " it was feared that the Arctic Monkeys' had jumped the gun a bit by releasing another album so soon and on the first few listens, this sounded a tad weak.

After letting this grow on you for a while though and its clear that Alex Turners song writing genius continues, supported by a tight band on a mission.

The beauty of "Favourite Worst Nightmare" is that your favourite track never seems to be the same on consecutive listens. Kicking off with the first single "Brianstorm", followed by "Teddy Picker" sets a hell of a pace that doesn't let up until the half-time whistle signalled by "Only One Who Knows".

The second half kicks off with one of the slow burners, and my favourite track on the album "Do Me a Favour" and the whole thing wrapped up with the sublime "505".

I heard many people say that this was a disappointment after the first album but this needs some work and patience like all great albums.

Stick with it, its a blinder !!!

Albums of 2007

Instead of just emailing a dull list of my favourite albums of the year (or trying to remember them while pished like I normally do !!!) I'm going to list my top 10 in reverse order in the next few posts.

I'm aware that the reverse order bit is a bit naff but, hey, if you can't be naff on your own blogsite at crimbo time, just when can you be naff?

I'll list my numerous notable mentions after the number one ... just to add to the general levels of naffness !!!!

Intelligent debate on the relative merits of my choices would be welcomed .... but I won't hold my breath !!!!

Cue the Top of the Pops theme tune ....