Stav Tunes Top 10 Albums of 2007

Posted in Music, Christmas at Tue 18 Dec 2007 by Stavros

It’s that time of year again. It’s time for me to pretend my opinions on music mean something slightly above nish. So come closer (not you, fire), and if you like there’s a track off each of my favourite ten for sample purposes. It’s Christmas come early for you lucky loyal lot.

Colour It In10. The Maccabees - Colour It In
I like how this record sounds both confident but naive at the same time. In a year full of poor British post Arctics/Libertines bands, there’s a freshness in these boys, and an endearing fragility to the singer’s voice.
[MP3] Toothpaste Kisses

Armchair Apocrypha9. Andrew Bird - Armchair Apocrypha
This is my big singer-songwriter record this year. A classicly trained violinist, and some classic folk/blues/indie rock over which philosphical lyrics pour from Bird’s clear voice.
[MP3] Heretics

Wincing The Night Away8. The Shins - Wincing The Night Away
Sadly not as immediate as Chutes Too Narrow, it has a more mature, maybe a more adventurous sound to it. It’s still The Shins though, and it’s still full of fun, tight, catchy songs. At their best, they sound like a band you’d want to be in.
[MP3] Australia

Hey Venus!7. Super Furry Animals - Hey Venus!
For the first time ever I was disappointed by a Super Furries album a couple of years ago with the release of Love Kraft. And while Gruff’s solo album was pleasant enough, I didn’t give this new album much of a chance. Then I listened to it. And my only complaint was the record’s length (not much more than 30 minutes). They don’t really delve into new territory, but it’s fun while it lasts. Shit cover art though.
[MP3] Carbon Dating

Boxer6. The National - Boxer
This has been a grower on me all year. Listen to that voice. Poetic, graceful, grand. It’s more of a balletic jabber than a brutal upper-cut.
[MP3] Fake Empire

Sound of Silver5. LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver
It’s like taking a sneaky look through a DJ’s record collection, a bit of Leftfield, a bit of Bowie, a pinch of Orbital, a sprinkling of New Order, a squirt of Talking Heads, a little Iggy and the Stooges. There’s an honesty, a soulfulness that electronic records rarely achieve.
[MP3] All My Friends

Friend and Foe4. Menomena - Friend and Foe
I enjoyed most of their debut album, but this surpasses it in scale and consistancy. Their unique sound is still present, but the song-crafting is finer on this record. The sleeve art deserves praise too, see here for more.
[MP3] Muscle’n Flo

The Flying Club Cup3. Beirut - The Flying Club Cup
The debut was one of the surprises last year, full of eastern European beats and gypsie instruments. This album turns it’s attention westwards for a very French-flavoured record. It’s better for it too. This video demonstrates it better than I could in 50 words.
[MP3] Nantes

Person Pitch2. Panda Bear - Person Pitch
The drummer from Animal Collective’s solo album. I don’t know where to start with this. I feel this may be the hardest to explain why I have it so high. The obvious references are with the Beach Boys, and the timing hints at his joint professions of drummer/DJ. The first listen was met with quizzical gestures. The noises, oh, the noises, they drag you in. It… just… works.
[MP3] Bro’s

Neon Bible1. The Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
I’ll be honest, a part of me wanted to find a different number one. One maybe not so well known, one that hasn’t already had a ton of praise heaped on it. But I couldn’t find another album with the same scale, emotional or sonically. There’s probably been a million words written about this record, but I will add a couple more. I think it’s better than Funeral. How’s that?
[MP3] Keep The Car Running

So there we have it. A fully fledged ten-some. My “nearly” pile included, Kevin Drew, !!!, Arctic Monkeys, Enon, Do Make Say Think, Gruff Rhys, Jamie T, Voxtrot, Spoon, Explosions In The Sky, Modest Mouse, Battles, Animal Collective, Liars, Band of Horses, Klaxons, Architecture In Helsinki, Sunset Rubdown, The Go! Team, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Pants Yell!, The Good The Bad & The Queen, Interpol, Burial, Sigur Rós, The Besnard Lakes. And Los Campesinos, Tokyo Police Club and Black Kids for releasing ace EPs.

I hope you find summat you like up there.

Whiteout

Posted in Christmas, Films at Thu 13 Dec 2007 by Stavros

Hold on to your hats pop-pickers, the world famous Stav’s top ten albums is being currently being compiled. In other news, I’m a bit pissed, and I started flicking round the channels on freeview (as long as there’s no taxis within half a mile we get good signal). At first I started watching an old Sopranos episode, then after flicking through the shopping channels, I settled with the arse end of Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels on Filmfour. Now, it was always something of a guilty pleasure with it’s cockernee cliché gangsterism, but I did like the film. I can say now, nine years on (honestly), that it’s not aged particularly well. The whole bleached, almost sepia tone to the film looks ropey now, like flares on your dad. And that’s before we get to the acting. Sting, ffs?! Jason Flemyng’s not much better. It wasn’t all bad, though. The story is extremely tight, and it was Lenny “The Guv’nor” McLean’s last role (and did you notice Rob Bydon as the traffic warden? I didn’t till tonight). The ending is quite good too, with “Welsh” ex-”footballer” Vinny Jones in a shiny new “motor”, and the valuable guns/bridge/mobile phone oh-deary-me thing.

I’ve just realised, I’ve just reviewed a nine year old film (hmmm I’ll give it a ***). Shit, what next?! Tune in next week, for my take on new release, Battleship Potemkin, the movie event of the holiday season. Still, ah! Russian battleships, Russian beer. If you are bored though, try using webtelly to catch the new US series (season) of Pushing Daisies. It’s very “Amelie”, so it may not be to all tastes, but it’s got that lovely Anna Friel, who used to be a rusty bike with a dad under the patio in Brookside.

Laters,