best of 2007
PATRICK WATSON -CLOSE TO PARADISE - This record spans experimental noise, cabaret guitar / piano pop, stripped down gospel, new orleans jazz, walls of noise and Beatles-like melodies.with a voice that sounds like the lovechild of Jeff Buckley and Nina Simone and instrumentation like a Balkans funeral waltz through Gotham City - as played by a 36 piece chamber orchestra it heralds the arrival of a major new talent.
PANDA BEAR - PERSONPITCH - A firm favourite in both Rough Trade Shops, that crosses all musical boundaries, when asked what this record sounds like Chris replied simple. take The Beatles 'White Album' and The Beach boys 'Pet Sounds' and it would sound like this...with owls.
WEST COAST - STUDIO - Two Scandinavians took elements of disco, krautrock , madchester, Lindstrom and The Cure and threw them back wrapped in a huge cosmic psychedelic masterpiece of a record. No.we didn't think it would work either.but it does. in spades.
MIRACLE FORTRESS - FIVE ROSES - The debutalbum from Miracle Fortress is an album that you will fall in love with instantly. If Arcade Fire's Win Butler didn't have the weight of the world on his shoulders, loved The Beach Boys, sang beautiful harmonies and let Brian Eno produce, he might be capable of something as graceful and uplifting as Miracle Fortress's debut.
BURIAL - UNTRUE - Burialreturns with 'Untrue', a new record of weird soul music, which lovingly processes spectral female voices into vaporised r&b. It continues with the debut's crackle-drenched yearning and bustling syncopations, haunted by the ghosts of rave, but also reveals a new upbeat energy. Huge crossover potential here ala Portishead or Massive Attack. A record to truely immerse yourself in.
LCD SOUNDSYSTEM -SOUND OF SILVER - After the dancefloor destruction of the first LCD set, James Murphy returns with Kraftwerk, Joy Division and Carl Craig all exploding out of these NYC built grooves, features some of his finest songwriting and production yet.
WOODEN SHJIPS -WOODEN SHJIPS - Weed may have had something to do with the making of this record. juggernaut riffs, magic, smoke, psychedelia, repetition, volume and warmth, with a sound that evokes suicide, Loop, Spacemen 3, Guru Guru, The Velvet Underground and The Doors. Astonishing.
BATTLES - MIRRORED -This band features ex members of Don Cab and Helmet and offer post rock electronics from the future for you to enjoy now. These guys are musical mathematicians. You have never heard anything so complicated be so soulful and so much fun.
M.I.A - KALA - Who eversaid 'difficult second album' didn't bank on Mia's skills. Sliced up cuts of world funk all pressed into perfect pop music. From club bangers to Bollywood disco jams it's all here. Perfect.
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