:::YI's 100 Best Albums Of 2007:::

[YI]

BOOSH!! It will finish. I guarantee on my penis.

In the meantime...30 artists there who feature on the list at one time or another...guess the artists...whoever gets the most might win a prize or something......fuck knows.

Edited March 29, 2008 by YI

[New Damage]

I can't wait to find out how many artists I haven't heard of are on this list. >_<

Anyway, the last guy is Kanye West , and the dude underneath Wet Her Box looks like Tim whatshisname from Rise Against.

[IAceI]

Joey Cape from Playing Faves, Jenny Lewis, that rapper - C-Rayz Walz, Okere or whatever from Bloc Party, black guy from Pour Habit, Aaron Scott? from Attica! Attica!, Inme, Epic 45, Ian from Maximo, Goldenhorse, Erik Mongrain, Isaac Brock of MM, WEATHERBOX / WET HER BOX, JC?, Trambello of DnTel, AJJ, Pete Doherty, Kanye

...I think.

A pint says it doesnt finish.

Fallon and Weakerthans in there too. Weakerthans is the beardy bloke i spent ages looking at knowing i knew that person. Fallon is bottom middle.

Edited March 15, 2008 by IAceI

[Max.]

Bloc Party had one of the 100 best albums of the year?

[ROC]

Bloc Party had one of the 100 best albums of the year?

[Max.]

Bloc Party had one of the 100 best albums of the year?

A Weekend in the City was a decent disc for what its worth, so I'd support it.

[IAceI]

A Weekend In The City is fucking awesome. Bloc Party are immense, end of story.

[YI]

From last year...a quick winamp search, including my external hard drive, brings up 232 albums from last year...still surviving on my computer....I've lost 2 external hard drives in that time, and had to reformat my computer, so some stuff, which I didn't "LOVE" has done...so yeah, I think I've heard enough.

Plus, some wont be 'tagged' properly and not brought up.

Edited March 18, 2008 by YI

[Gazz]

That's an awful lot of money to spend on albums YI.

[YI]

That's an awful lot of money to spend on albums YI.

[Fire Storm]

I'd hope to see Avenged Sevenfold featured but its unlikely my wishes would be granted.

Just thought I'd mention them anyway, its a good album and props goes to them for deciding to self produce it when Warner Bros. asked them to sell-out. Not as good as City of Evil but they didn't have as much backing from Warner this time I'd think. Anyways, I'll be anticipating this and hoping its a good read. (Y)

[YI]

100-96

100. "Proudly Present A Guide To Love, Loss & Desperation" by The Wombats

GENRE:

Indie-Rock

RELATED BANDS:

n/a

SOUNDS LIKE:

The Pigeon Detectives, Arctic Monkeys, Milburn and all that jazz

NOTES:

My first contact with The Wombats came from the video to "Kill The Director". I caught the end of it, had no idea who it was or what song it was for a long time afterwards, but the sheer 'randomness' "THIS IS NO BRIDGET JONES...THIS IS NO BRIDGET, BRIDGET" was engraved in my skull for a long time. To be honest, they seemed very much like one of those bands I hate. The ones who think they're the Arctic Monkeys, their 'real life' lyrics. But for some reason, I fell in love with The Wombats. However, they do seem to have one thing they tend to abuse. The after chorus bridge with the shouty vocals things, where they repeat a line. They do it as previously mentioned in "Kill The Director" and in "School Uniforms" ("Short skirts, long hair, my hormones flying everywhere"), but I think they're the best two tracks on the album, so I guess it works. Okay, as I said, I normally hate these kinds of bands. The Wombats however seem to have a bit more variation in them though. The downright dodgy sounding electronics, I mean seriously, they sound like shite, but that kind of gives it a bit of an extra charm.

CHECK THEM OUT:

www.myspace.com/thewombatsuk

BEST SONGS:

"School Unfiroms", "Kill The Director", "Let's Dance To Joy Division", "Moving To New York" and "Backfire At The Disco".

99. "I-Empire" by Angels & Airwaves

GENRE:

Pop-Rock/Stadium Rock

RELATED BANDS:

Blink 182, Box Car Racer

SOUNDS LIKE:

U2, Jimmy Eat World, Plus 44

NOTES:

Tom Delonge. I feel obliged to say something nice about this, but I'd rather piss in a bowl and lick it out like a cat. Tom Delonge...actually, I fucking love Tom Delonge. The guy's totally off his rocker, he's amazing. I think everyone should have a little Tom Delonge they carry around with them. In 28 years he promises to change the world. By that time he might have passable facial hair too. The guy is so deluded and full of himself, it's so fucking hilarious. I guess his stance must be that with Bono out saving black people, he'll rehash circa millenium, U2 hits and save the music industry. If only he could grow a moustache, he could very well pull it off. The debut album was generally a laid back affair, still steeped in a ridiculous amount of epicness, but really shone out with the closing 4 tracks, where a lot of that epicness was stripped away, and you just had some beautiful melodies. "I-Empire" on the other hand is a totally different kettle of fish. What the fuck does that mean anyway? It's actually the big, epic anthems that are the stand out tracks. The pulsating opener, "Call To Arms" is straight in your face, with a big chorus. You've got the anthematic "Secret Crowds", with the crunching riff that gives me flashbacks to Box Car Racer. The flat out beautiful, "Sirens", which is my favourite track on the album. I refuse to be corrected that the line, "The world is like a night fire" in the bridge is not actually "Oh, it's a monkey knife fight". It's these big tracks where the band actually shines. Yes you occasionally feel as though you've heard some of this before, with flashbacks to the previous record, only the tunes have been sped up. And there is the cardinal sin of rehashing the "Anthem Pt.2" riff into lead single, "Everything's Magic", but if I were to be perfectly honest, the dodgy scratching annoys me more. There are some good tunes on here, and Tom Delonge is just too fucking funny. At least he didn't rip off "Wonderful Christmas Time" on this album. Oh man, did anyone else see the 'trailer' for this, where Tom was wearing a leather jacket and driving around the desert on a motorbike for like no fucking reason. Sheer gold!

CHECK THEM OUT:

www.myspace.com/angelsandairwaves

BEST SONGS:

"Sirens", "Call To Arms", "Breathe", "Heaven" and "Secret Crowds".

98. "The Improvised Killing of Uncle Faustus and Other Mythologies" by David A Jaycock

GENRE:

Experimental/Folk/Instrumental

RELATED BANDS:

Big Eyes Family Players

SOUNDS LIKE:

James Green, John Fahey, Ben Chasny, Big Eyes Family Players

NOTES:

From Manchester, England comes David A Jaycock, with one of the weirdest, but still most beautifully haunting albums of the year. Centred mostly around acoustic guitar work, he blends in sinister backdrops of; piano, organ, electronics, choirs and a vintage synth to give depth to his compositions. Whilst to a certain extent you could argue the album doesn't get out of second gear, there's still a tapestry of beautiful melodies woven throughout the record. Perfect for a listen in headphones, in a dark room, letting yourself sink into it.

CHECK THEM OUT:

http://www.myspace.com/davidajaycockmusic

BEST SONGS:

"Tremelo Study", "Es Cortinas Para Usted", "Basking", "Reeleel" and "56-57".

97. "Wild Hope" by Mandy Moore

GENRE:

Pop

RELATED BANDS:

n/a

SOUNDS LIKE:

Lucie Silvas, Kelly Clarkson, Feist

NOTES:

Okay, I'll flat out say, this list is biased. Well, of course it is. It's based on one person's opinion. And just because I think Mandy Moore is quite possibly the hottest woman on the planet, that hasn't swayed my decision at all, because this is actually a good release. If I'm to be perfectly honest, I heard none of Mandy Moore's teeny-bopper shit, or if I did, I can't particuarly remember any of it. So I picked this up on the strength of the lead-in single, "Extraordinary", which was a catchy, somewhat sophisticated, but still simple pop-song. And that's what this album is full of. She's built herself, well, someone else has built her a bit of a niche in that she's still got the pop-sensibilities and style of the mainstream popular acts like; Natasha Bedingfield, Kelly Clarkson and Pink, but at the same time has the style and feeling of the likes of Norah Jones, Regina Spektor and St Vincent. She's basically in what I like to call the Lucie Silvas position...which in my head is her on top. She's somewhere between the two sides. However, her only slight problem is that, she's not as talented as these women. She doesn't do pop like Natasha Bedingfield. She can't do the anthematic 'rock-y' numbers like Pink and Kelly Clarkson. She's damn nowhere near as talented vocally as Norah Jones, and she can't draw in the indie-whores with the quirky tracks like St Vincent and Regina Spektor can. So she will be overlooked, often mocked, but I don't care, as from this album alone she has artistic integrity, as she's a solid vocalist, with some great tracks. She's fucking gorgeous.

CHECK THEM OUT:

http://www.myspace.com/mandymoore

BEST SONGS:

"Most Of Me", "Extraordinary", "Ladies Choise", "Gardenia" and "Few Days Down".

96. "The Brothers Martin" by The Brothers Martin

GENRE:

Electro-Rock

RELATED BANDS:

Joy Electric, Starflyer 59

SOUNDS LIKE:

New Order, Depeche Mode, Joy Electric

NOTES:

I'm really not entirely sure how I came across The Brothers Martin, but I stumbled across their myspace page one day and was absolutely blown away by one single song, "The Harsh Effects Of Time". It literally did sound like a New Order cover band. The incredibly catchy guitar riff, the big chorus, it was just an absolutely amazing song. So from there, after much searching, I eventually stumbled across the album. And it was great. It was a bit of a grower, as I expected more like "The Harsh Effects Of Time", but there's a lot of versatility in here. There's the dark and dirty "The Missionary", there's the cool indie-pop vibed "The Plot That Weaves" and 80's Kylie style "Fears To Remember". The start of the album inparticular is absolutely amazing, once it gets past track 6/7 I feel as though it begins to slip a little, it's not that the final few tracks are bad, it's just you've kind of got the 'heard it before' vibe to it, as the band whilst taking influences from many different places, never really carve a niche for themselves. But then again, I'm a sucker for this kind of music, and the first 7 or so songs are fucking great.

CHECK THEM OUT:

http://www.myspace.com/brosmartin

BEST SONGS:

"The Harsh Effects Of Time", "Communication", "The Deaf, They Will Hear", "The Missionary" and "Fears To Remember".

[ROC]

Great, now you're reposting everything you had in the topic before.

Actually no, fuck it, I'm wrong on that. This means Andrew Bird's album better be higher.

Edited March 29, 2008 by ROC

[YI]

Great, now you're reposting everything you had in the topic before.

Sod off. A&A and Brothers Martin are new...I'm not going to re-write reviews to be fair. of the 10 I originally posted, about 6/7 are in again, so of course I'm going to regurgitate the reviews.

And yes, Bird's higher...as is LCD Soundsystem...Spoon have fucked off though...as after further listens I have decided the album is a pile of shite.

Edited March 29, 2008 by YI

[YI]

Yes...I'm regurgitating 'reviews' again...but you'll be happy to know, the next block features 5 completely new 'reviews'.

95-91

95. "CexCells" by Blaqk Audio

GENRE:

Electro-Pop/Alternative-Pop

RELATED BANDS:

The two gay ones from AFI

SOUNDS LIKE:

The Faint, Depeche Mode, The Birthday Massacre, Orgy

NOTES:

I really wanted to hate this record. It's the two pre-op transexual looking ones from AFI doing music to apparently emulate the bands that inspired them, like New Order and The Cure. And I fucking love New Order...and The Cure...I was just waiting to hate this. In fact. I only downloaded it so I could hate it. As judging from the electrical aspects on the last AFI album (And I never liked AFI to begin with), this was going to be shocking. But...it wasn't. In fact, there was basically no elitism surrounding this record at all. Throughout it literally did seem like two guys having fun, penning some tunes in a different style. And best of all, they seemed to carve their 'own' sound. Yes, it's the same sound The Faint and various others before them have been throwing around for years, but still, they sounded like their own band, not just two guys trying to emulate bands they could barely touch talent wise. I like how it starts a bit dark and depressing, but as it goes on, the tunes get poppier and catchier with the likes of "Semiotic Love" and the amazing "Again, Again and Again". Both the band name and album name are fucking drizzling shits.

CHECK THEM OUT:

www.myspace.com/blaqkaudio

BEST SONGS:

"Again, Again and Again", "Semiotic Love", "Bitter For Sweet", "On A Friday" and "The Love Letter".

94. "Fantasia Pop" by Belanova

GENRE:

Electro-Pop/Solid Cheese

RELATED BANDS:

n/a

SOUNDS LIKE:

Freezepop, RBD, CSS

NOTES:

This album is proof that good music can span countries and continents. Yes, sometimes a song is made great by lyrics, sometimes it's made great by amazing instrumentals, or sometimes it's made great by being a whole load of fun. And this is where the Mexican Electro-Pop bands really shine. I have no idea what it is, but bands like Belanova seem to be insanely popular in Mexico, yet seem to not exist elsewhere in the world. Yes, stuff like Cansei de Ser Sexy have made a bit of popularity over here, but they're still not as 'fresh' and 'fun' as Belanova and the like. Music these days often seems to have too much of a 'sinister' or 'serious' tone, a lot of the time, so it's incredibly refreshing to hear light-hearted, cheesy as fuck, tracks. All the songs are sun in Spanish, which may in fact be a good thing. As one can only presume the lyrics are late 90's pop, shite. But, man...I love this stuff. You've got a good 80's dance vibe from a lot of it, but it's got a modern twist to it. You just can't help but tap your feet and smile as the song's blast out. Seriously, why the fuck aren't there bands like this who sing in English? And the bird's FIIIIIIT!!! I'd shag.

CHECK THEM OUT:

http://www.myspace.com/belanovasuperstars

BEST SONGS:

"Rockstar", "Baila Mi Corazon", "Por Esta Vez", "Bye Bye" and "Cada Que".

93. "Hell Is For Heroes" by Hell Is For Heroes

GENRE:

Post-Hardcore/Alt-Rock

RELATED BANDS:

n/a

SOUNDS LIKE:

Thursday, (2nd album) Reuben, Taking Back Sunday, Bayside

NOTES:

Hell Is For Heroes are a funny one. It's difficult to decide whether their steep shunt in popularity is due to unfortunate circumstances out of or in their control. Their first album, "Neon Handshake" dropped in 2003, released on the big EMI label. And it was killer. Charted well in the UK, and they had a number of top 40 singles, which for a band like this, especially at that time, was impressive. Then, they just seemed to fall off the face of the planet. They were dropped/left EMI, and had to put out their second album independently, very little publicity. You could argue that this was out of their control, but another reason for their decline in popularity could arguably be the poor quality of the second release. "Transmit Disrupt", it was piss poor in short. Now this brings us to the self-titled, third release. And this, this had even less coverage that "Transmit Disrupt", if that was at all possible. Seriously, I tend to be tuned into stuff, especially with bands I really like (Which HIFH are, even if the 2nd album was shite), and even if I don't check the album out for a while, it's on my radar. I stumbled across this, totally by accident, whilst aquiring the debut album again after my external hard drive got fucked. A good many months after it was released. To give you some idea, of the torrent sites and private trackers I'm on, I haven't seen it. On Soulseek, I occasionally search it, and I've only ever seen one guy with it. It seems so random, that a band can just collapse off the face of the earth so much. And the sad thing is, this is a really good record. It's a lot more laid back than the previous stuff, less emo-y screaming and distortion for the sake of it. It makes it seem a little dull at times, but there's still epic tracks like "My Protector", "Only The Ridiculous Will Survive" and "Between Us". It lacks some of the style and killer tunes of "Neon Handshake", like "You Drove Me To It", "I Can Climb Mountains", "Night Vision" and "Sick-Happy", but it's still a solid, more mature record, in its own right. It has a pointless instrumental again, which knocks it down a peg or two. ps....the singer has an awesome, really recognisable voice.

CHECK THEM OUT:

http://www.myspace.com/hellisforheroes

BEST SONGS:

"My Protector", "Only The Ridiculous Will Survive", "Between Us", "Arcade" and "Stranger In You".

92. "The Electrical Morning" by Marlango

GENRE:

Pop/Soul/Indie

RELATED BANDS:

n/a

SOUNDS LIKE:

The Postmarks, Norah Jones, Katie Mellua

NOTES:

Marlango is a Spanish indie-pop band, who sing in English, fronted by Spanish actress Leonor Watling. Most famous, as ROC tells me, for getting her tits out in made for TV movies. Excellent. Already they're off to an amazing start. Watling has a good voice, it's husky, somewhat of a dim-lit room, lounge singer style of voice, which goes with the occasional slight jazz twinge the music has. It is a little 'harsh' for the style of music she sings, but it's far from an awful voice. The songs are generally very soft and quiet, and most of the attention seems to be on the vocals, with little in the way of fancy instrumentation, although what is there is effective. There's some varied instrumentation in the background, and one 'gimmick' I do enjoy is the somewhat, 'music box' like sounds used in a number of tracks like "Shiny Fish" and "Never Trust Me". Whilst it's all laid back and chilled out, there are some tunes that are somewhat upbeat, but still contained, like the opener "Shout", which has a Amy Winehouse feel to it. Some sweet, stylistic pop songs here.

CHECK THEM OUT:

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=e...%3D9ZC%26sa%3DG

BEST SONGS:

"Hold Me Tight", "Walkin' In Soho", "I Do", "Shout" and "Not Without You".

91. "All Of A Sudden I Miss Everyone" by Explosions In The Sky

GENRE:

Post-Rock

RELATED BANDS:

n/a

SOUNDS LIKE:

From The Sky, God Is An Astronaut, The Shadow Project

NOTES:

It's gotten to the stage where there are hundreds upon hundreds and post-rock bands. I mean, it's cool, as a lot of them are very good, but it's a 'genre' where there's really not a 'room to manoeuvre', which leads to hundreds upon hundreds of bands that sound suspiciously similar. Explosions In The Sky are hands down quite possibly the best known band in the genre, mostly due to their extensive back catalogue which includes the soundtrack to the film, "Friday Night Lights". Again, it's similar sounding stuff, so if you're a fan, it's good news. There's the inclusion of the piano into the mix on this album, which helps add something new to proceedings and provide depth to certain songs. The piano is used to its best in the track "What Do You Go Home To?", which is my favourite on the album. The piano rides over the rest of the instrumental work with a beautiful, sweeping, moving pattern. Simply gorgeous stuff. Since their first releases Explosions In The Sky have continued to mellow more and more, with their previous releases "The Rescue" and "Friday Night Lights" soundtracks being their most laid back yet. Here they show more of their recklessness, with some frantic, louder parts, but it still seems like a much more laid back affair than previous albums. As always, Explosions In The Sky set themselves head and shoulders above most other post-rock outfits with their musical storytelling and emotions entangled up in their music. However, the reason why it's 'so low' is that you really cannot shrug off the fact you've heard it so many times before.

CHECK THEM OUT:

http://www.myspace.com/explosionsinthesky

BEST SONGS:

"What Do You Go Home To?"...there's only 6-tracks, do I really have to do this?

QUICK LIST:

Spoiler: Click here to view

100-96

100. "Proudly Present A Guide To Love, Loss & Desperation" by The Wombats

99. "I-Empire" by Angels & Airwaves

98. "The Improvised Killing of Uncle Faustus and Other Mythologies" by David A Jaycock

97. "Wild Hope" by Mandy Moore

96. "The Brothers Martin" by The Brothers Martin

[ROC]

Watling's still hot (never listened to Marlango), that chick from Belanova is pretty hot...and #91 sounds about right for the EITS record. It was fine, but not really great.

Edited April 1, 2008 by ROC