BOAWS Top 20 Records of 2007
It’s that time again! End of the year means year end top album lists come flying from every corner of the internet. It would appear there are crap ton of lists that I will be sorting through over the last week of December to see if I missed in any true gems this year. As always, I am sure I have. I’ve discussed that pet peeve of mine time and time again, but it’s inevitable as you just can’t listen to everything right? Anyway, here are the BOAWS top 20 records of the year. The top ten proved to be a bit difficult to sort out, but in the end I feel good about it. Thanks to everyone out there for continually checking the blog and leaving comments. It’s always appreciated. Hope everyone has a good holiday, I’ll be back sometime shortly after Christmas with regular updates. In the meantime, enjoy the list!
20. Shellac – Excellent Italian Greyhound
[Touch & Go]
Buy It!
As with just about every Shellac album I’ve ever heard, each one seems to be a grower and eventually reveals itself to be completely solid. It proved to be no different with Excellent Italian Greyhound. Venturing further into minimalism than ever before maybe, the album delivers in the way Shellac can deliver I imagine. It’s full of Albini’s trademark sarcasm and is as jarring and uneasy sounding as ever before.
Shellac - Be Prepared [MP3]
19. The Austerity Program – Black Madonna
[Hydrahead]
Buy It!
Two men and a drum machine created one of the best albums of the year. Regains all the harsh dissonance found in all of those late eighties Touch & Go albums, although with a bit more of a human touch than one might expect for a band backed by a drum machine. And for those maybe wondering, it is pure coincidence that this follows the Shellac record in the list.
The Austerity Program - Song 17A [MP3]
18. Electro Group – Good Technology
[Clairecords]
Buy It!
I had been waiting for this album since the release of their first album A New Pacifica back in 2000; a long wait indeed. While not changing their formula hardly an ounce, I honestly can’t complain about that since I loved their debut anyway. Maybe a bit less gritty and bass heavy as the last record, but it doesn’t fail to deliver a solid thirty minutes of sun coated noise-pop for those that seek it out.
Electro Group - Bikini States [MP3]
17. Les Savy Fav – Let’s Stay Friends
[French Kiss]
Buy It!
This is one I’ll never really understand, and that is how I managed to never give Les Savy Fav much attention before Let’s Stay Friends came out this year. If it hadn’t been for someone urging me to listen to it then I probably would have continued that trend. Turns out they are pretty good and apparently have been for some time now. Shame on me for me not knowing and I promise it won’t happen again. Well, it probably will actually, so I hope there will be plenty of people around reading to set me straight in the future when the need arises.
Les Savy Fav - Patty Lee [MP3]
16. Bottomless Pit – Hammer of the Gods
[Comedy Minus One]
Buy It!
After the tragic death of Silkworm drummer Michael Dahlquist members Andy Cohen and Tim Midget reconvened in the form of Bottomless Pit to release their debut Hammer of the Gods. While it’s not unlike Silkworm in a lot of ways, both Cohen and Midget along with two other indie vets from Seam and .22 manage to spread out a bit more here on the album than they may have done so before. The feeling of melancholy and reflections on death are evident throughout the album, but the result is some fantastic songwriting and eight powerful songs.
Bottomless Pit - The Cardinal Movements [MP3]
15. Tulsa Drone – Songs from a Mean Season
[Perpetual Motion Machine]
Buy It!
Songs from a Mean Season is a record I wouldn’t have expected to like as much as I did. But I can’t deny the fantastic job Tulsa Drone did in painting such a vivid picture with their music, something that can’t be said by a number of bands that tend to lay claim to the genre of post-rock these days. As lame as it sounds, Songs from a Mean Season is one of those albums that honestly feels like it takes you on a journey if said journey was through an area with absolutely no civilization for hundreds of miles in every direction and completely at night. That’s my take at least. Buy it, listen to it, and form your own.
Tulsa Drone - Huntsman [MP3]
14. The Pope – Sports
[Wantage]
Buy It!
The Pope came out throwing punches with their album Sports. It’s one aggressive blast of noise-rock that chews through seventeen tracks in a little under thirty-two minutes. The Pope take the overpowering loudness of godheadSilo and pump it full of amphetamines to create this crazy distorted rush that is sadly over just as fast as it begins. However, those minutes in which I get to revel in its filth are some of the most satisfying to come from a record this year. Plus, I can just always hit repeat.
The Pope - Chocolate Babies [MP3]
13. No Doctors – Origins & Tectonics
[Self-Released]
Buy It!
Not only distancing themselves from the city they originally called home a few years ago of Chicago, making the move to the bay area, they’ve also been making a slow departure away from their noisy beginnings. It’s a very welcomed change however, as it allowed for the bands true musicianship to take full stage on their third album Origins & Tectonics. If I would have been up to the task of making a year end list of songs, “Invisible Clopes” would have easily been near the top. Essentially a more than suitable example for the skronked out rock n’ roll that the No Doctors bring to the table.
No Doctors - Invisible Clopes [MP3]
12. Ceremony – Disappear
[Safranin Sound]
Buy It!
Forming out of the remnants of the great Skywave, Ceremony continues to carry on the torch for the type of dark mood driven noise-pop that gets me moving. With the implementation of a drum machine and bit more use of electronics in general, Ceremony create a gothic tinged wall of sound that just soars while at the same time tugging at the hearts of the listener as it buries itself deep in sadness of relationships gone bad.
Ceremony - Dull Life [MP3]
11. Clockcleaner – Babylon Rules
[Load]
Buy It!
As I probably mentioned in my write up for Babylon Rules over a thousand times, this record just oozes filth. It sounds filthy and its lyrics only put a further emphasis on it. All of it makes for a record that is absolutely destined to be in my year end list. For an idea of where this albums roots lie, just think about all of the wonderfully trashy bands that were around in the late eighties and early nineties and apply it here but multiply the creepiness level by at least 2 or 3. It’s an absolutely fantastic album from a truly scary band.
Clockcleaner - Vomiting Mirrors [MP3]
10. Snake Apartment – Paint the Walls
[Parts Unknown]
Buy It!
Boy oh boy if there were only more records like this one these days. This is sludgey noise-rock done right. It’s the type of thing that could melt speakers if that were in any way possible from simply playing a record. If anything it will prompt anyone that is in the room with you to either break something or flat out leave. Loud as fuck and you’ll easily have to reach back and pull yourself off the wall when this one is finished.
Snake Apartment - Riffless [MP3]
09. The Angelic Process – Weighing Souls with Sand
[Profound Lore]
Buy It!
When it comes to creating a wall of sound, as it’s been put so many times before, The Angelic Process could probably go unrivaled in that department. For awhile now the duo has been putting out records that send that needle flying across into the red. Weighing Souls with Sand is no different as it presents a whole new portion of rumbling blissful beauty. Will I ever get sick of this? I’d say probably not.
The Angelic Process - Million Year Summer [MP3]
08. Dinosaur Jr. – Beyond
[Fat Possum]
Buy It!
I still can’t get over at how good of a record this is. It seems so unexpected but yet it shouldn’t be, I mean it is Dinosaur Jr. we’re talking about, the same band that released You’re Living All over Me and Bug. Listening to Beyond is about as close to stepping into a time machine as I’ll probably ever get. I don’t see that type of technology coming any time soon. The band plays as if they never lost a beat and J Mascis is doing some much guitar shredding all over this record it’s not even funny. Talk about a complete surprise, or maybe not, who knows?
No MP3
07. The New Flesh – Vessel
[Heart Break Beat]
Buy It!
The New Flesh return on Vessel with a type of noise-rock that ultimately beats and bruises the listener into submission. Vessel pounds and grinds its way through eleven tracks of pure buzzing noise that often times reminds me of the late Chicago band Mama Tick, however fueled by a Drunks With Guns type of absolute nastiness. This is definitely not a record to be taken lightly.
The New Flesh - Broken Glass [MP3]
06. Ulrich Schnauss – Goodbye
[Domino]
Buy It!
Maybe one of my most anticipated records for this year and it lived up to about any expectation I had for it. Ulrich Schnauss once again creates a lush soundscape on Goodbye that is the result of Schnauss’ almost Kevin Shields like obsession of adding layer after layer except it doesn’t take him over fifteen years to put out another full-length. Goodbye is often times soft to the touch, however manages to maintain the density/thickness of a full-fledged shoegaze album. No doubt in my mind that Schnauss has created an album of full dreamy haze that in my opinion is one the best in it’s genre, both past and present.
Ulrich Schnauss - Shine [MP3]
05. Rumskib – Rumskib
[Darla]
Buy It!
There has been a ton of great Danish music making its way to my ears over the past year or so. Rumskib’s self-titled debut just happens to contain some of the best however. Borrowing a bit from the early days of 4AD and the Cocteau Twins, Rumskib create a completely blissed out record that has been set on overdrive. Some of the melodies found on the album go above and beyond what was previously known as dream-pop to some. There shouldn’t be any argument for lack of creativity here because Rumskib might just very well be one of the most creative bands making music of this type.
Rumskib - Springtime [MP3]
04. Airiel – The Battle of Sealand
[Highwheel]
Buy It!
This is a record I had been waiting on for quite a while now. Ever since hearing Airiel and their series of Winks and Kisses EP’s, I have been frothing at the mouth for a full-length and this year it finally arrived. While at times focusing more so on a straight forward rock n’ roll approach to their music, somewhat like Mezcal Head era Swervedriver, Airiel still create some of the most moving and aurally pleasing shoegaze that is out there. It’s a definite step forward for the band, while at the same time remaining in a comfortable sound that hopefully kept past fans pleased.
Airiel - Thinktank [MP3]
03. Unsane – Visqueen
[Ipecac]
Buy It!
After being a bit disappointed with their last album Blood Run, I felt complete relief and at the same time a kick to the head upon my first listen to Visqueen. The move to Ipecac must have done something because Visqueen regains every bit of power as past Unsane records and more. While there is a noticeable change in clarity to Chris Spencer’s vocals, which is a bit of a hurdle to get over at first, Visqueen blasts out of speakers with an incredible force from start to finish. It’s one of the bands best, and easily their best album since Scattered, Smothered, & Covered.
Unsane - Only Pain [MP3]
02. The Forms – The Forms
[Threespheres]
Buy It!
The Forms could single handedly make indie-rock interesting again. That’s how good their second album is. Screw The Arcade Fire and any of that Pitchfork bullshit. It’s easily the catchiest album I’ve heard all year, while at times revealing itself to be an ethereal display of shimmering guitars and soothing melodies while at other times reverting back to the bombast approach of Midwestern rock. The only downside is its length, like its predecessor Icarus it is way too short. However with The Forms they can be counted on to make every single second of their songs count.
The Forms - Bones [MP3]
01. Oxbow – The Narcotic Story
[Hydrahead]
Buy It!
Really in the end, there was no doubt that this was going to be my number one record of the year. All I really had to do was think about how much I’ve talked about this record before and after it came out to just about everyone I know. Musically, this may be Oxbow’s most accessible album to date. However, I am using the term “accessible” very loosely there, this is Oxbow were talking about after all. Despite any of that, The Narcotic Story may very well be one of the most devastatingly painful and heartbreaking records I’ve heard. While that could be attributed to a lot of Oxbows material, it’s only on The Narcotic Story that I feel like there is a constant feeling of regret and sadness. The Narcotic Story is an absolutely beautiful piece of work that I hope everyone will eventually give a listen.
Oxbow - She's a Find [MP3]
20. Shellac – Excellent Italian Greyhound[Touch & Go]
Buy It!
As with just about every Shellac album I’ve ever heard, each one seems to be a grower and eventually reveals itself to be completely solid. It proved to be no different with Excellent Italian Greyhound. Venturing further into minimalism than ever before maybe, the album delivers in the way Shellac can deliver I imagine. It’s full of Albini’s trademark sarcasm and is as jarring and uneasy sounding as ever before.
Shellac - Be Prepared [MP3]
19. The Austerity Program – Black Madonna[Hydrahead]
Buy It!
Two men and a drum machine created one of the best albums of the year. Regains all the harsh dissonance found in all of those late eighties Touch & Go albums, although with a bit more of a human touch than one might expect for a band backed by a drum machine. And for those maybe wondering, it is pure coincidence that this follows the Shellac record in the list.
The Austerity Program - Song 17A [MP3]
18. Electro Group – Good Technology[Clairecords]
Buy It!
I had been waiting for this album since the release of their first album A New Pacifica back in 2000; a long wait indeed. While not changing their formula hardly an ounce, I honestly can’t complain about that since I loved their debut anyway. Maybe a bit less gritty and bass heavy as the last record, but it doesn’t fail to deliver a solid thirty minutes of sun coated noise-pop for those that seek it out.
Electro Group - Bikini States [MP3]
17. Les Savy Fav – Let’s Stay Friends[French Kiss]
Buy It!
This is one I’ll never really understand, and that is how I managed to never give Les Savy Fav much attention before Let’s Stay Friends came out this year. If it hadn’t been for someone urging me to listen to it then I probably would have continued that trend. Turns out they are pretty good and apparently have been for some time now. Shame on me for me not knowing and I promise it won’t happen again. Well, it probably will actually, so I hope there will be plenty of people around reading to set me straight in the future when the need arises.
Les Savy Fav - Patty Lee [MP3]
16. Bottomless Pit – Hammer of the Gods[Comedy Minus One]
Buy It!
After the tragic death of Silkworm drummer Michael Dahlquist members Andy Cohen and Tim Midget reconvened in the form of Bottomless Pit to release their debut Hammer of the Gods. While it’s not unlike Silkworm in a lot of ways, both Cohen and Midget along with two other indie vets from Seam and .22 manage to spread out a bit more here on the album than they may have done so before. The feeling of melancholy and reflections on death are evident throughout the album, but the result is some fantastic songwriting and eight powerful songs.
Bottomless Pit - The Cardinal Movements [MP3]
15. Tulsa Drone – Songs from a Mean Season[Perpetual Motion Machine]
Buy It!
Songs from a Mean Season is a record I wouldn’t have expected to like as much as I did. But I can’t deny the fantastic job Tulsa Drone did in painting such a vivid picture with their music, something that can’t be said by a number of bands that tend to lay claim to the genre of post-rock these days. As lame as it sounds, Songs from a Mean Season is one of those albums that honestly feels like it takes you on a journey if said journey was through an area with absolutely no civilization for hundreds of miles in every direction and completely at night. That’s my take at least. Buy it, listen to it, and form your own.
Tulsa Drone - Huntsman [MP3]
14. The Pope – Sports[Wantage]
Buy It!
The Pope came out throwing punches with their album Sports. It’s one aggressive blast of noise-rock that chews through seventeen tracks in a little under thirty-two minutes. The Pope take the overpowering loudness of godheadSilo and pump it full of amphetamines to create this crazy distorted rush that is sadly over just as fast as it begins. However, those minutes in which I get to revel in its filth are some of the most satisfying to come from a record this year. Plus, I can just always hit repeat.
The Pope - Chocolate Babies [MP3]
13. No Doctors – Origins & Tectonics[Self-Released]
Buy It!
Not only distancing themselves from the city they originally called home a few years ago of Chicago, making the move to the bay area, they’ve also been making a slow departure away from their noisy beginnings. It’s a very welcomed change however, as it allowed for the bands true musicianship to take full stage on their third album Origins & Tectonics. If I would have been up to the task of making a year end list of songs, “Invisible Clopes” would have easily been near the top. Essentially a more than suitable example for the skronked out rock n’ roll that the No Doctors bring to the table.
No Doctors - Invisible Clopes [MP3]
12. Ceremony – Disappear[Safranin Sound]
Buy It!
Forming out of the remnants of the great Skywave, Ceremony continues to carry on the torch for the type of dark mood driven noise-pop that gets me moving. With the implementation of a drum machine and bit more use of electronics in general, Ceremony create a gothic tinged wall of sound that just soars while at the same time tugging at the hearts of the listener as it buries itself deep in sadness of relationships gone bad.
Ceremony - Dull Life [MP3]
11. Clockcleaner – Babylon Rules[Load]
Buy It!
As I probably mentioned in my write up for Babylon Rules over a thousand times, this record just oozes filth. It sounds filthy and its lyrics only put a further emphasis on it. All of it makes for a record that is absolutely destined to be in my year end list. For an idea of where this albums roots lie, just think about all of the wonderfully trashy bands that were around in the late eighties and early nineties and apply it here but multiply the creepiness level by at least 2 or 3. It’s an absolutely fantastic album from a truly scary band.
Clockcleaner - Vomiting Mirrors [MP3]
10. Snake Apartment – Paint the Walls[Parts Unknown]
Buy It!
Boy oh boy if there were only more records like this one these days. This is sludgey noise-rock done right. It’s the type of thing that could melt speakers if that were in any way possible from simply playing a record. If anything it will prompt anyone that is in the room with you to either break something or flat out leave. Loud as fuck and you’ll easily have to reach back and pull yourself off the wall when this one is finished.
Snake Apartment - Riffless [MP3]
09. The Angelic Process – Weighing Souls with Sand[Profound Lore]
Buy It!
When it comes to creating a wall of sound, as it’s been put so many times before, The Angelic Process could probably go unrivaled in that department. For awhile now the duo has been putting out records that send that needle flying across into the red. Weighing Souls with Sand is no different as it presents a whole new portion of rumbling blissful beauty. Will I ever get sick of this? I’d say probably not.
The Angelic Process - Million Year Summer [MP3]
08. Dinosaur Jr. – Beyond[Fat Possum]
Buy It!
I still can’t get over at how good of a record this is. It seems so unexpected but yet it shouldn’t be, I mean it is Dinosaur Jr. we’re talking about, the same band that released You’re Living All over Me and Bug. Listening to Beyond is about as close to stepping into a time machine as I’ll probably ever get. I don’t see that type of technology coming any time soon. The band plays as if they never lost a beat and J Mascis is doing some much guitar shredding all over this record it’s not even funny. Talk about a complete surprise, or maybe not, who knows?
No MP3
07. The New Flesh – Vessel[Heart Break Beat]
Buy It!
The New Flesh return on Vessel with a type of noise-rock that ultimately beats and bruises the listener into submission. Vessel pounds and grinds its way through eleven tracks of pure buzzing noise that often times reminds me of the late Chicago band Mama Tick, however fueled by a Drunks With Guns type of absolute nastiness. This is definitely not a record to be taken lightly.
The New Flesh - Broken Glass [MP3]
06. Ulrich Schnauss – Goodbye[Domino]
Buy It!
Maybe one of my most anticipated records for this year and it lived up to about any expectation I had for it. Ulrich Schnauss once again creates a lush soundscape on Goodbye that is the result of Schnauss’ almost Kevin Shields like obsession of adding layer after layer except it doesn’t take him over fifteen years to put out another full-length. Goodbye is often times soft to the touch, however manages to maintain the density/thickness of a full-fledged shoegaze album. No doubt in my mind that Schnauss has created an album of full dreamy haze that in my opinion is one the best in it’s genre, both past and present.
Ulrich Schnauss - Shine [MP3]
05. Rumskib – Rumskib[Darla]
Buy It!
There has been a ton of great Danish music making its way to my ears over the past year or so. Rumskib’s self-titled debut just happens to contain some of the best however. Borrowing a bit from the early days of 4AD and the Cocteau Twins, Rumskib create a completely blissed out record that has been set on overdrive. Some of the melodies found on the album go above and beyond what was previously known as dream-pop to some. There shouldn’t be any argument for lack of creativity here because Rumskib might just very well be one of the most creative bands making music of this type.
Rumskib - Springtime [MP3]
04. Airiel – The Battle of Sealand[Highwheel]
Buy It!
This is a record I had been waiting on for quite a while now. Ever since hearing Airiel and their series of Winks and Kisses EP’s, I have been frothing at the mouth for a full-length and this year it finally arrived. While at times focusing more so on a straight forward rock n’ roll approach to their music, somewhat like Mezcal Head era Swervedriver, Airiel still create some of the most moving and aurally pleasing shoegaze that is out there. It’s a definite step forward for the band, while at the same time remaining in a comfortable sound that hopefully kept past fans pleased.
Airiel - Thinktank [MP3]
03. Unsane – Visqueen[Ipecac]
Buy It!
After being a bit disappointed with their last album Blood Run, I felt complete relief and at the same time a kick to the head upon my first listen to Visqueen. The move to Ipecac must have done something because Visqueen regains every bit of power as past Unsane records and more. While there is a noticeable change in clarity to Chris Spencer’s vocals, which is a bit of a hurdle to get over at first, Visqueen blasts out of speakers with an incredible force from start to finish. It’s one of the bands best, and easily their best album since Scattered, Smothered, & Covered.
Unsane - Only Pain [MP3]
02. The Forms – The Forms[Threespheres]
Buy It!
The Forms could single handedly make indie-rock interesting again. That’s how good their second album is. Screw The Arcade Fire and any of that Pitchfork bullshit. It’s easily the catchiest album I’ve heard all year, while at times revealing itself to be an ethereal display of shimmering guitars and soothing melodies while at other times reverting back to the bombast approach of Midwestern rock. The only downside is its length, like its predecessor Icarus it is way too short. However with The Forms they can be counted on to make every single second of their songs count.
The Forms - Bones [MP3]
01. Oxbow – The Narcotic Story[Hydrahead]
Buy It!
Really in the end, there was no doubt that this was going to be my number one record of the year. All I really had to do was think about how much I’ve talked about this record before and after it came out to just about everyone I know. Musically, this may be Oxbow’s most accessible album to date. However, I am using the term “accessible” very loosely there, this is Oxbow were talking about after all. Despite any of that, The Narcotic Story may very well be one of the most devastatingly painful and heartbreaking records I’ve heard. While that could be attributed to a lot of Oxbows material, it’s only on The Narcotic Story that I feel like there is a constant feeling of regret and sadness. The Narcotic Story is an absolutely beautiful piece of work that I hope everyone will eventually give a listen.
Oxbow - She's a Find [MP3]
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