Album of the year : 2007 : #1

Via Audio – Say Something

The Facts
Label: Sidecho
Released: September 25
First Mention: Featured Post
Why you care: Rave reviews from Chris Walla, Pitchfork, & Alternative Press.

When I sat down to think of what my favorite record of 2007 was I was faced with a dillema. Do I pick an album that will be on every one’s list (like In Rainbows) or the album that I loved and listened to more than anything this year (a big feat. considering I got it in September)? I decided on the latter, and I’m glad I did.

Say Something, the debut LP from NYC-based band Via Audio, is without doubt my favorite Indie Pop record of the last five years. Maybe you think that’s a bold statement. That’s fine, but I suggest you give it a listen before you do so. Over the course of eleven tracks your ears are treated to 40 minutes of pop perfection, only the songs are filled with far more serious subject matter, and written in a far more articulate manner than folks which the band have been garnering comparisons to (Postal Service, Stars, etc). A factoid which is thrown around in nearly every mention of the band is that they graduated from Berklee, mecca of musical talent in the northeast. While even I have grown sick of seeing it in their reviews, it’s worth mentioning because the arrangements, harmonies, and general musical diversity which make up the album are clearly not the work of amateurs.

There is synth-pop, there is indie rock, there is a touch of jazz at places, there is a touch of grunge at places, there is Dinosaur jr, there are sing alongs, there is Spoon, there are handclaps, there are danceable numbers, there is mournful acoustic balladry. It’s the quintessential “something for everyone” record….only there’s not a bad spot in it.

I’m beginning to realize that this is without doubt the most unprofessional “review” of a record I have ever written, but let that only speak to how infatuated I am with it. I mean, seriously, I still listen to this thing daily and it’s been in my possession for nearly three months. Just go get it, my children. Oh, and of course, if you have not you should go buy our little charity holiday album which features a fantasmgorically good original from the band.

Buy Say Something
See a Via Audio show (On a west coast tour!)
Listen to a live set on NPR

[mp3] Via Audio – Modern Day Saint

Seriously! Buy it! Now! Right Now! Do it!

Album of the year : 2007 : #2

Dr. Dog – We All Belong

The Facts:
Label: Park The Van
Released: February 27
First mention on HTFAF: Song of the Month

Few albums (only one to be exact) made more of an impact on my ipod, turntable, cd player, & subconscious as much as Dr. Dog’s fantastic sophomore effort We All Belong. In all of it’s dusty glory the Philadelphia band does the 60’s better than most people did it in the 60’s. Fuzz-basses, old rickety organs, 4 part harmonies, tambourines, wonderfully destroyed upright pianos, and several hollow-body guitars later you’re left with such a wonderfully familiar taste in your mouth it’s as if you’ve been hearing the record since birth.

[mp3] Dr. Dog – The Girl

Buy We All Belong

Album of the year : 2007 : #3

Menomena – Friend & Foe

The Facts
Label: Barsuk
Released: January 23
First mention on HTFAF: Song of the Month

Barely sliding in the 2007 category with a January 23 release date is Menomena’s wonderful third effort Friend & Foe. The band’s first for my favorite label (Barsuk) is a wonderful train wreck of genre-bending, scale defying, start/stop blend of melodic and tonal madness. Somehow through it all the record manages to feel like….a record. Also responsible for one of my favorite shows of the year, and capturing my attention in January as my song of the month the Portland group has been firmly on my radar throughout the entirety of this year, and that’s saying something considering how much music I consume on a daily basis.

[mp3] Menomena – Wet & Rusting

Buy Friend & Foe

Album of the year : 2007 : #4

#3 & #2 will come tomorrow. The dramatic unveiling of Hard to Find a Friend’s album of the year for 2007 will come Friday!

Fionn Regan – The End of History

The Facts:
Label: Lost Highway
Released: July 10
First Mention on HTFAF: Featured Post

Going into 2007 I didn’t know a whole lot about Irish singer/songwriter Fionn Regan. I had heard the track Put a Penny in The Slot, a talk-along folk number which somehow was also strong in melody, and that was enough to hold my attention. Fast forward to this summer when Nashville based Lost Highway made the good decision to release Fionn’s album in the US. Instant love ensued as I listened to that record on the way home from the record store, and it would be a staple in my playlists straight through the summer into the fall. Fionn’s lived-in classical guitar playing is intimate and impressive, while his songwriting and vocal delivery keep things from ever growing tedious like some of his colleagues (Jose Gonzalez, Sam Beam) fall prey to.

[mp3] Fionn Regan – Black Water Child

Buy The End of History

Album of the year : 2007 : #5

Radiohead – In Rainbows

The Facts
Label: Self Released / ATO (Physical Release on 1/1/08)
Released: October 10
First mention on HTFAF: Featured Post

Even if the gods of modern Brit-Rock didn’t deliver on their long-awaited follow up to Hail To The Thief it would be hard not to include them on the best-of list. Their hyper-publicized “pay what you want” methodology has been hailed as everything from the saving grace of the music industry to the death of record labels to the dumbest thing they’ve ever done (I’ll side with the former two). But luckily for us they do deliver, and they do it quite well. Over the course of two discs (the latter more of an EP in length) Yorke and co. re-state exactly why they are who they are with enough of a re-invention to keep things interesting. Unfortunately, the album does fall flat in a few spots such as the meandering Faust Arp which leads me to place it at number five.

[mp3] Radiohead – Go Slowly

Buy In Rainbows