Benny the Brute's Top 10 Albums of 2007

1. Do Make Say Think – You, You’re a History in Rust
2. Say Anything – In Defense of the Genre
3. Animal Collective – Strawberry Jam
4. Panda Bear – Person Pitch
5. Eluvium – Copia
6. The Weakerthans – Reunion Tour
7. LCD Soundsystem – The Sound of Silver
8. Battles – Mirrored
9. Arcade Fire – Neon Bible
10. The National - Boxer
    

Laura's Top 10 Albums of 2007

1. Menomena- friend and foe
2. the shins- wincing the night away
3. Okkervil river- stage names
4. Blonde Redhead- 23
5. Tapes n' Tapes- the loon
6. The Rapture- pieces of the people we love
7. the chemical brothers- we are the night
8. Tegan and Sara- the con
9. Illinois- what the hell do i know?
10. Deerhoof- friend opportunity


it's been a great year, musically speaking! i hope 2008 will have as many promising bands!

p.s. if you dig on hearing some awesome new music...check out antsy pants...if you have seen Juno...you will know this beautiful, heartwarming, weird music.

M.I.A. Paper Planes Vid

So hey, M.I.A. was a little peeved over the weekend because there was an "official censored" version of Paper Planes floating about the web. Apparently the gunshots, which are what make the song great, are absent from the censored video, which is not even sort of official.

Don't forget, you can totally hear Paper Planes, complete, with all of its gunshots on The Blaze 1260 AM.

Andy’s Top Ten Albums of 2007

Andy’s Top Ten Albums of 2007
1) Wilco Sky Blue Sky: This one’s pretty obvious. If you aren’t completely satisfied, destroyed and optimistic by the end of this record, you clearly missed the point.
2) Jimmy Eat World Chase This Light: This is the record that was supposed to come out after Bleed American. Now that Futures is in the past, JEW fans have something to cheer about again.

3) Radiohead In Rainbows: As much as I didn’t think this was that great of a record, it undisputedly had a huge impact in the music community.
4) Between the Buried and Me Colors: Between the Buried and Me shows their stranglehold on the genre by releasing Colors as a complete symphony of metal/prog rock, rather than just another metal album.
5) Rocky Votolato The Bragg and Cuss: Rocky again shows his prowess as the best singer/songwriter of 2007.
6) Explosions in the Sky All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone: Explosions proves again that vocals are no necessity for a top ten finish.
7) Comeback Kid Broadcasting: This album shows all the scene kids hardcore at it’s roots and that hardcore with substance is always better than a whiny, but polished breakdown.
8) The Good Life Help Wanted Nights: Saddle Creek does it again. Go buy this album.
9) Saves the Day Under the Boards: Chris Conley proves that through lists of labels, members and some harsh criticism, the music will stay honest, singy and always worth the listen.
10) Dustin Kensrue Please Come Home: Kensrue (of Thrice) gets to explore this Americana and singer/songwriter side as he takes a step away from his heavier roots, and does it with style. Honorable Mention:
1997 A Better View of the Rising Moon: Once again, Victory succeeds in helping to break a band that might not have been discovered. Here’s to the Midwest.
Deas Vail All the Houses Look the Same: Brave New World Records takes the initiative to start the career of possibly the most authentic and appealing Christian band out there right now.

Kanye West Graduation: An alright album, but here’s to the end of 50 Cent!

Becky's Top 10 Albums of 2007

These are in no particular order, because I love all of them too much!

1. M.I.A Kala
   
2. The Little Bicycles Broken Hearts And Tired Legs
   
3. Battles Mirrored
   
4. Feist The Reminder
   
5. Broken Social Scene Presents Kevin Drew Spirit If...
   
6. Baby Guts Gasoline
   
7. Albert Hammond, Jr. Yours To Keep
   
8. Blonde Redhead 23
   
9. Radiohead In Rainbows
   
10. Tegan & Sara The Con
    

CHAD'S TOP 10 of 2007!!!

My name is Chad, and although it has been some time since I have posted anything...here is my top 10 for 2007:

1.) Caribou, "Andorra"

 I'm a huge Caribou fan, and this album is the perfect follow up to 2005's "The Milk of Human Kindness" If you like ambient, warm, poppy goodness...check it out.

2.)Interpol "Our Love to Admire"

 Another band that I am a huge fan of. Some say that this album is to similar to the band's first two albums. On the one hand, yes, the sound is very similar. On the other, it is more brilliant music from one of the greatest bands playing today (my opinion of course). Say what you will, but at least give it a listen.

3.) Spoon "Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga" 

 More Indie rock greatness from this Texas based band. If you happened to buy the vinyl you also received over 10 bonus tracks, sure they're short, but it's pretty cool too!

4.) The Chemical Brothers "We are the Night"

 The Chemical Brothers are always a good call, and this album is certainly up to par.  'Saturate' 'The Salmon Dance' and 'The Pills Won't Help You Now' are some of my favorites. 

5.)Battles "Mirrored"

 When I picked up this album for the first time I didn't quite get it. There is so much to listen for. Rhythms layered on top of more rhythms with synth and drums scattered everywhere. Its really whacky, but its also really cool. I'd describe it something like the sound of chaos. 

6.)Radiohead "In Rainbows"

 A new Radiohead album? Awesome. A new Radiohead album where you can name your own price? Even more awesome. My most played Radiohead album since OK Computer and equally as good. Most of the album is pretty depressing  but that's okay. 'All I need' and '15 Step' are my two favorites. 

7.) Modest Mouse "We were dead before the Ship Even Sank"

Modest Mouse+ Johnny Mar= Awesome. It's no "Lonesome Crowded West" or "The Moon and Antarctica" but its great, and certainly worth a purchase. 

8.)The Shins "Wincing the Night Away"

I love it, I love it, I love it. Enough said. 

9.) As I Lay Dying "An Ocean Between Us"

As I Lay Dying has changed its sound completely, and it is even better than before.  The intro to 'Separation' is amazing. Certainly worth a purchase, even for non-metal fans. 

10.) The Good, The Bad & The Queen - Self Titled

One of the first albums of 2007 was probably one of the best. Its the super band of all super bands: Damon Albarn, Paul Simonon, Tony Allen and Simon Tong. All hail from historic bands (ie: The Verve, The Clash, Blur, etc.) For some most of the music may be too soft and too slow. I like the sound, and Albarn has a great voice. Check it out.

There they are. My top 10 of 2007. 

0W3N'5 T0PPP Tr@XXX of ZOO7!!

It's times like this that I realize how narrow my taste is (Panda Bear is in two of these bands) and how few new (as in made in 2007) albums I really bought. But here's my top 5:

1. Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam
Music this good yet also completely ridiculous is very rare.
2. Akron/Family - Love is Simple
The Family turned jam band on everyone, but the songs are still beautiful.
3. Pinback - Autumn of the Seraphs
Track 5 - 1:53
4. Handsome Furs - Plague Park
This one's on here for personal reasons.
5. Panda Bear - Person Pitch
See #1.

Top songs of the year, annihilating my previously top-played song with 71 complete plays:

"Snare Hangar" off Mirrored by Battles.

About 2 minutes long (that means I've spent a full two hours and 20 minutes listening to this song); sounds like it was made completely by accident; forgoes the silly voice effects that, frankly, kept the album off my top 5 list (I'm a luddite); the last half of the song is like a bunch of robots in communal orgasm (I wish there was a more elegant way to put it).

In Rainbows News

As of December 10, Radiohead lovers will no longer be able to name their own price for In Rainbows! So either snap it up asap, or be at the mercy of iTunes... most likely. Additionally, once the discboxes run out, Thom and co. will refrain from making more! Order or die! Or just wait to buy a physical copy when it's released on January 10. But seriously, how could you miss out on naming your own price?! How?!

Motion City Soundtrack/Mae/Anberlin/Metro Station @ The Marquee

Metro Station was an alright band. We missed the first couple songs due to the (usual) gigantic line outside the Marquee, but still caught over half the songs. In that portion of the set though, there was only one song that really stood out to me, and one song that was pretty good, and the rest were all rather average. The band has the nice stereotypical modern Pop Punk image (aka "emo") and the songs certainly fit the image. I wish I had more to say about the band but the band didn't really stand out to me much. I might listen to a few of the recorded songs to see if they work better on CD, there did seem to be some potential.

As much as I like Mae, Anberlin really should have been after them for several reasons. One, Mae is a lighter, more atmospheric band and playing after such a dynamic band as Anberlin, they seem to fall flat at first. Secondly, there was not a more energetic cry of "one more song" after any of the other bands finished tonight, including Motion City Soundtrack. Anberlin was definitely a hit with the crowd. They played two pretty mediocre songs from Cities early on in the set, but the latter half of the set was all amazing. This band has great energy and is a blast to see.

Mae ended up playing for a pretty long time, which was good because initially they were pretty flat and I was wishing I had a chair, becuase Mae is a good band, but they're also a sit back and relax band more than they are a stand up band. By the end I was re-evaluating though, as they continued to pick up energy and by the end they were definitely rocking the crowd well. They weren't the best fit for this lineup still, and I'd like to see them with a more fitting lineup where I was more in the right mood to listen to their music. They were still quite enjoyable, if a bit less energetic than Anberlin (of course).

Motion City Soundtrack was a lot of fun as usual, though the crowd surfing was substantially less pervasive than the last time I saw them. Justin was almost assuredly totally wasted, but he was pretty fun interacting with the crowd as a result. The tradeoff was that he fucked up a fair number of songs, not terribly, mostly just lyrics. Oh well. Pretty good set list and like Mae and Anberlin it got progressively better as it went on.

The funny thing about this show was that among Anberlin, Mae, and Motion City Soundtrack, there all seemed to be fans there for just one of those bands. So unlike most shows, by the time the headliner was on, there was not a huge crowd. In fact amog the different band, crowd size seemed to be about the same for all of them due to the number of folks leaving after a band played. That was too bad because small crowds have less energy and are not as fun.

Vince's Weekly Charts