Confessions

I haven't listened to 10 new albums that I liked enough to compile into a best-of list this year. In fact, there are only 5 that I can truly endorse from 2007. So with no other fanfare, I present to you my "Top 5 Albums of 2007" list:

Runner-up: Graduation - Kanye West
I really liked this. But couldn't put it in my list because I only listened to it maybe twice. I don't know any of the track titles. I can't even tell you what that song with the Daft Punk beat is called.

#5 OK - Zhang Zheng Yue
This Taiwanese singer/songwriter has eschewed the badboy rock and put out a new album featuring a mix of R&B-infused tracks hearkening back to his days of writing exclusively love ballads.

#4 Ronald Jenkees - Ronald Jenkees
The young gentleman in coke bottle glasses displayed his skill with a keyboard on Youtube. Now you can check out his FL chops on his first album, available on his website and in iTunes.


#3 Ultimate Victory - Chamillionaire
I haven't been listening to much hip-hop in general lately, and it's a testament to this fact that Chamillionaire was the only one all year to sustain my attention long enough for me to listen to an album all the way through. I'm glad, too, because this album was hot.


#2 Seimeiryoku - Chatmonchy
When I had $70 left in my checking account, I spent $38 to special order this album at Kinokuniya. I'm an idiot, but Chatmonchy is J-Pop perfection.


#1 Yours to Keep - Albert Hammond Jr.
You might think that this one isn't from 2007 as it's absent from pretty much every internet-music-blog-year-end-best-of-list... but it is! Lucky for me, because this is one of my favorite albums in recent memory.


And so there you have it. Kind of a small round-up though, innit? So I've prepared a second list. I put the year each album was released in parenthesis, so you know how hard you need to mock me for each individual item... Yup, "Top 10 Albums I Listened to for the First Time in 2007":


#10 Jarvis - Jarvis Cocker (2006)


#9 Classics - Ratatat (2006)


#8 Inhuman Rampage - DragonForce (2006)


#7 American Idiot - Green Day (2004)


#6 Sam's Town - The Killers (2006)


#5 Elements Pt. 1 - Stratovarius (2003)


#4 Fantasia - Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra (2004)


#3 Atmosphere - You Can't Imagine How Much Fun We're Having (2005)


#2 Black Holes & Revelations - Muse (2006)


#1 Miminari - Chatmonchy (2006)

Wu-Tang Clan Ain't Nuthin to Fuck With...

I got Wu-Tang Clan's the 8 Diagrams as my Secret Santa gift. I'll admit. I added it to my Elfster.com Wish List so it wasn't as big of a surprise as the two giant papayas they came with... but I digress.

There isn't a musically invested soul out there who can't admit that Triumph is by far one of the best rap songs ever created in the history of the genre. It's clever. It has a good beat. And that's when I thought, hmm, maybe I should check their other shit out. I now own every single Wu-Tang album including the Killa Beez series and the Wu-Chronicles.

And I have yet to be disappointed.

In the last published Rolling Stones, they list The Heart Gently Weeps off the 8 Diagrams album as one of the top songs of 2007. The Wu rendition of George Harrison's masterpiece is great, especially with Erykah Badu singing the chorus. But to say it's the best song on the album is premature. I'd give that honor to Life Changes.

Most of the album shows respect to Ol' Dirty... since he's dead. And even though most of the members hold a grudge against Rza for holding too much producing power, since his own album (Bobby Digital) is awesome on its own, I'd have to say that keeping him as the ring leader and executive producer might be a good idea.

By the way, why the fuck is Cappadonna not part of the Clan yet?

A Punk Rock Anniversary

30 years ago today, on December 17, in the year 2007 minus 30, Elvis Costello and the Attractions made history by appearing on Saturday Night Live and pissing the crap out of Lorne Michaels.

Interestingly, the host of the episode was an old woman named Miskel Spillman who won SNL's inaugural (and only) "Anyone Can Host" contest. She was gonna get matched up with the Sex Pistols, which probably would've been oddly entertaining, kinda like when Martha Stewart was paired with Busta Rhymes at the MTV Video Music Awards in 1997. Damn, the blog missed that anniversary.

Anyway, because of visa problems, most likely stemming from their numerous run-ins with the law, the Sex Pistols couldn't make the show. Enter: Elvis C.

The guys were asked to play "Less Than Zero," a song about some British fascist that had almost no bearing at all on the American audience, so the band stopped the song and instead played "Radio Radio," a criticism of commercial radio. They were subsequently banned from SNL for 12 years.

If you read the pertaining section in one of the SNL history books, it's been said that once Elvis Costello switched songs, Lorne Michaels stood in the wings and gave him the bird through the duration of the performance.

Now that you're good and prepped, here it is, in all its original glory:

Me Likes Lykke Li

I gotta wife this boo:



Sweden rules.

Get the mp3:
http://www.stereogum.com/mp3/Lykke%20Li%20-%20Little%20Bit.mp3

The Voxtrot Kids

You know, of all the 80's knock-off indie outfits, none have been as entertaining as Voxtrot:

Their first full-length album, released earlier this year, is pretty damn good. The guitar riffs are solid, and the drumming is outstandingly clean. And the previously stated 80's throwback feel ain't too shabby.

However, my favorite track is still "Missing Pieces," from their 2005 ep, Raised By Wolves. That line about keeping away "the beauty from the dirt" just kills me.

Voxtrot - Missing Pieces