Media Review

Honorable Mentions: (in no particular order)

The White Stripes – Icky Thump
The Fratellis – Costello Music
Justice – Cross
Bayside – The Walking Wounded
Bad Religion – New Maps of Hell
Dropkick Murphys – The Meanest of Times
The Weakerthans – Reunion Tour
A Place to Bury Strangers – S/T
Babyshambles – Shotter’s Nation

Top Ten:


10. Explosions in the Sky – All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone
Simply the best instrumental band out there, offering music that breathes with life and commands your attention for every second of it, proving that lyrics aren’t always a necessity.


9. Daft Punk – Alive 2007
After seeing them live I became convinced that Daft Punk is the best live band on the planet, and after hearing this CD, it just confirms it. This is hands down the best live album of the year, showing that listening to Daft’s songs track by track kind of does them an injustice.


8. Klaxons – Myths of the Near Future
Disregard any talk about Klaxon’s being the new London rave saviors. The band simply makes some of the best dance-punk out there today, sounding like a mating between Arctic Monkeys and LCD Soundsystem. Just try and listen to “Gravity’s Rainbow” and not be impressed by the range of sound.


7. Radiohead – In Rainbows
Sure, it was free, but Radiohead didn’t skimp on the music one bit. A return to the sound that brought them into the limelight on The Bends, yet it stays true to the revelations that they made on Kid A and Hail to the Theif. Even if you missed the free download, this is still worth checking out.


6. Modest Mouse – We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank
One of the most disappointing things to me this year was hearing the Modest Mouse fans lament that We Were Dead wasn’t as good as Moon and Antarctica or The Lonesome Crowded West. In trying to compare it to the other works they missed one of the most intricate and thematically pleasing albums of the year. With the help of Johnny Marr, Modest Mouse bring the sea to life with some of their best songs to date.


5. Spoon – Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
Spoon is an interesting band in that they can make the most exciting low key, indie music around. Never a band to speed things up, or look like they give a damn about the pace of their songs, they let them sink in and develop, and the music is better for it.


4. Against Me! – New Wave
Unfortunately the controversy surrounding Against Me’s move to a major label prevented a lot of people from hearing the record. Don’t fear though: the band hasn’t sold out one bit, keeping every ounce of vehemence they had on previous records, channeling it and making the most focused, solid punk record of the year.


3. Arctic Monkeys- Favourite Worst Nightmare
The Monkeys grow up, but not in a way that leans toward pretension or in a way that diminishes the fun and nuance of their first album. Favourite Worst Nightmare strikes deeper than the debut and is better for it, taking the narratives outside of the bar and back to the apartment, letting the listener see what happens next.


2. Arcade Fire – Neon Bible
Dark, angry, and most of all cohesive and beautiful, Neon Bible may be less personal than Funeral, but its power to move isn’t lost. For instance, when Win Butler answers his own question (Who hear among us still believes in choice?) by saying in the most desolate voice possible: “Not I”: chills everytime.


1. LCD Soundsystem – Sound of Silver
James Murphy solidified his status as the dance-punk god by putting out a record that takes things off the dance floor, letting music that never seemed to be about anything more than 20somethings being 20something forever and letting them confront it. The most affecting song being “All My Friends” where Murphy croons, “You spent the first five years trying to get with the plan/ And the next five years trying to be with your friends again,” sums it all up.

reviewed by Dave Giumara