Witness the fitness

So now that the dreaded poll is out of the way, I’ll get on with highlighting some rather excellent moments from the year 2007. Witness the complete transformation of Matthew Dear from darling of the minimal/techno fraternity to pure unadulterated pop star. I imagine he’s being fitted for leather pants right now as i type. In my opinion, Dear has been consistently brilliant for a number of years. Ever since I got my hands on his first album – also a classic – Leave Luck to Heaven, I’ve been hooked. His more minimal/experimental material crops up under his False moniker, and his tougher acid tinged techno can be found in the Audion or Jabberjaw section. The Audion singles on Spectral are a particular career highlight. Dear’s latest album, Asa Breed is truly splendid, and varied. It polarised his fanbase, as techie kids couldn’t really get their heads around it. “What?! Guitar?! On a dance record?!” But the beauty of Dear is that he always had bigger aspirations than most of his contemporaries. The vocal tracks on LLTH were all exceptional and an indication of where his sound was heading. At least he’s had the decency to split his different projects up with several names, so as not confuse the techie kids altogether.

My favourite track on Asa Breed – Don & Sherri – just happens to be one of my tunes of the year. This track really got inside my head, because my better half also took to this album as much as I did. It was one of the few things we managed to agree on this year musically, so it got some heavy rotation in our place. So in honour of her – and as I totally ruined her night last night -here’s the vid for Don and Sherri.

From what I’ve heard, this track also made it onto a commercial in the States or Canada.

He’s making a list, he’s checking it twice…

So, we’re coming to the end of another year and it’s time to get those charts in order. So what was 2007 like? Well, it was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Some amazing albums were released, but album sales dropped dramatically in general, and ticket prices went up more than we could ever have expected. But I’m not getting into any of that now. So I skipped through my iPod to have a look at everything I added for the entire year, and this is what I came up with. It’s by no means definitive, as there’s still a massive pile of albums I still haven’t put on my iTunes, and then there’s everything I bought on vinyl. I know I’ve forgotten a few things, but this will have to do for now.

Pop over to Pedro’s fabulous blog for his chart, and Matt Vinyl has just posted his favourite 7″ purchases for the year. I’m also looking forward to seeing what Nialler, Red, Jim, Billy Lyons, and Sinead deem worthy of inclusion on that all important Christmas list. Please leave some recommendations based on my choices, I’m sure there’s loads of albums I’ve missed out on this year that are essential. Happy reading!

Albums of the Year (in no particular order, but kind of really)

MIA – Kala

Matthew Dear – Asa Breed

Menomena – Friend and Foe

Cadence Weapon – Breaking Kayfabe

Le Loup – The Throne…

Beirut – The Flying Club Cup

Les Savy Fav – Let’s Stay Friends

Colleen – Les Ondes Silencieuses

Adrian Crowley – Long Distance Swimmer

Dan Deacon – Spiderman Of The Rings

Songs of the Year

MIA – Bamboo Banga

Battles – Atlas

Matthew Dear – Don & Sherri

Le Loup – Planes and Vultures

Les Savy Fav – Patty Lee

Beirut – Nantes

Menomena – Wet and Rusting

Dan Deacon – Wham City

LCD Soundsystem – All My Friends

MIA – Paper Planes

 

Special mention must also go to Pantha Du Prince, O’Death, Apparat, Taken By Trees, Adjagas, Panda Bear, Holy Fuck, Explosions in the Sky, Gui Boratto, Battles, Deerhunter, Amiina, Mice Parade, Bat for Lashes, Vector Lovers, Elektrons, The National, Fog, Malajube, LCD Soundsystem, Two Lone Swordsmen, Besnard Lakes, Arcade Fire, The Field, Murcof, Shape of Broad Minds, Silje Nes, Efterklang, Modeselektor, Nina Nastasia, Von Sudenfed, Ungdomskulen, Caribou, and Michael Fakesch.

2007, a rather fine vintage.