Top 5: My favorite albums from 2007

Since this is officially the last year of “the oughts” or “the oh-oh’s” or whatever you want to call it, that means only one thing: we now need to figure out what we call the next decade (the teens, I guess?). It also means I need to figure out my top 50 or 100 or whatever albums of this decade.

After a few weeks, I return this week with 2007. A little bit of mix up in the top 5 from my original list.

1. The National – Boxer (Beggars Banquet) – Two years later, still my favorite album of the year by far. And also my favorite album from one of my absolute favorite bands.

2. LCD Soundsystem – Sound of Silver (Capital) – This only gets better through the years. “Someone Great” and “All of My Friends” are two of the best songs this decade for me for you.

3. Radiohead – In Rainbows (ATO Records) – Sad to say, but I had nearly lost interest in the 4 years between Radiohead albums. However, In Rainbows completely sucked me right back in. Silly me.

4. Spoon – Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga (Merge) – I probably sound like a broken record/mp3, but Spoon was one of the most consistent bands of the 00s. Their four album run from Girls Can Tell in 2001 to 2007’s Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga contained four of my favorite albums of the decade.

5. Band of Horses – Cease to Begin (Sub Pop) – Nice two year run for Band of Horses. Hard to believe it will be almost 3 years in their first album since Cease to Begin.

Others receiving votes: Animal Collective – Strawberry Jam (Domino), M.I.A. – Kala (XL), Explosions in the Sky – All of a Sudden, I Miss Everyone (Temporary Residence Limited), Prints – s/t (Temporary Residence)

 

Netflix Rundown: November 09

* indicates movies watched instantly

Stella: Live in Boston (2009)* - 9/10 – I loved the tv show “Stella” with Michael Ian Black, Michael Showalter and David Wain, and this live comedy concert is basically that, just, you know, live.

Jim Gaffigan: Beyond the Pale (2006)* – 8/10 – Never seen Gaffigan’s standup before, and it was pretty darned funny. He did tend to rely on his “scared conservative whiney voice schtick” a lot, though.

American Pie Presents: Beta House (2007)* - 5/10
American Pie Presents: The Naked Mile (2006)* – 3/10
American Pie Presents: Band Camp (2005) – 3/10 - I went on a bad teen movie streak with these three. Band Camp and The Naked Mile both have a shocking lack of nudity, but Beta House more than makes up for it. All are very forgettable.

Out Cold (2001)* – 5/10 – Despite the presence of Zach Galifianakis and David Koechner, this is a pretty awful movie.

Michael Clayton (2007) – 7/10 – A decent corporate thriller, but I can barely remember the plot or any particulars of the movie to save my life.

Anvil! The Story of Anvil (2008) - 8/10 – A fascinating documentary about the canadian metal pioneer band Anvil and their struggles to stay relevant in today’s music landscape. Interestingly enough, the band has gone on to gain some success as a result of this documentary.

Sugar (2008) – 9/10 – The heartbreaking story of a Dominican baseball player that doesn’t make it big in America from the same people behind the awesome Half Nelson.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009) – 3/10 – Just simply awful.

Caddyshack (1980)* – 6/10 – I get a lot of flack for not watching so-called “80’s classic movies,” so I finally checked out Caddyshack. And you know, it wasn’t all that funny to me. Pretty disappointed, you guys.

Currently have out:
The Brothers Bloom (2008)
The Wire: Season 1, Disc 1 (2003)
Can’t Buy Me Love (1987)

 

Thursday Music Videos: 12/3/09

The Avett Brothers – “Slight Figure of Speech” – Directed by fellow Concord, NC-er Jody Hill (“East Bound and Down,” Observe and Report) and featuring the hilarious Principle Cutler from “East Bound and Down.” The music starts at 3:07 and starts off tame but progressively gets more and more raucous.

Vampire Weekend – “Cousins” – Another great video for another raucous song. Definitely a departure for Vampire Weekend, but I am really digging it. I also love the editing of the video.

Passion Pit – “To Kingdom Come” – The latest video from Manners.

 

Spoon – Transference cover art

Spoon certainly has an eye when it comes to their album covers, and the album art for its upcoming album Transference is no exception. Apparently its a photo taken by American photographer William Eggleston in Sumner, Mississippi in 1971.

 

Tuesday Trailers: 12/1/09

Here’s a couple of B-movie trailers, because if you are anything like me you like to watch awful, awful movies every so often.

Princess of Mars – The latest Asylum abomination/awesomefest. I love how they make the tenuous connection to Avatar by saying the source material by Edgar Rice Burroughs was the inspiration for Avatar. Oh oh oh, also it stars Antonio Sabato, Jr. and porn star Traci Lords. Can’t wait to see this one eventually.

The King of Fighters – Maggie Q probably deserves better than this. This looks bad, like Dead or Alive or The Legend of Chun Li bad. I guess it makes sense since they are all based off fighting video games. That reminds me, I still need to see Dead or Alive.

Universal Soldier: Regeneration – Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren return to the “franchise.” This installment goes straight to DVD in February 2010.

 

Linkdown: 11/30/09

- I never noticed how commonly the blue-orange contrast is used on movie posters

- Interview with director Jason Reitman

- Seven movies with nameless main characters

- AV Club Inventory: Seventeen particularly peculiar Beach Boys song

- A new Ted Leo and the Pharmacists album has been announced

- Pitchfork’s Top Music Videos of 2009

- Sterogum’s most anticipated albums of 2010 has albums from The National, LCD Soundsystem, Panda Bear, Toro Y Moi, Vampire Weekend and Liars on it

 

Greenberg movie poster

The latest move from Noah Baumbach stars Ben Stiller, Rhys Ifans, Greta Gerwig and Jennifer Jason Leigh and has a soundtrack composed by James Murphy (aka LCD Soundsystem). Hopefully it will be a lot better than Margot at the Wedding, which had some of the most unlikeable characters in it.

 

Tuesday Trailers: 11/24/09

The Pacific – The upcoming miniseries from Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks comes to HBO in March 2010.

Wapakman – Manny Pacquiao’s first film looks like it is B-movie awesomeness. According to the YouTube description:

Wapakman is the official entry of Solar Films in the 2009 Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) which stars the Worlds pound for pound boxing champion Manny Pacman Pacquiao, Jim Paredes, Mura and Krista Ranillo.

The Carter – A documentary on rap superstar Lil Wayne that apparently pulls no punches when it comes to his drug use. I’ve heard good things, and there is some high praise scattered throughout the trailer from this year’s Sundance.

 

Mix: False Memories

1. Julian Plenti – “Only If You Run”
2. Surfer Blood – “Swim”
3. Jason Lytle – “Ghost of My Own Dog”
4. jj – “Ecstasy”
5. Yeasayer – “Ambling Alp”
6. Megafaun – “Guns”
7. Small Black – “Despicable Dogs (Washed Out Remix)”
8. Washed Out – “Feel It All Around (Toro Y Moi Remix)”
9. Toro Y Moi – “My Touch”
10. These United States – “I Want You To Keep Everything”
11. Here We Go Magic – “Tunnelvision”
12. The Dodos – “Fables”
13. The Kingsbury Manx – “Well, Whatever”
14. Built to Spill – “Things Fall Apart”
15. Atlas Sound – “Shelia”

Download here

 

Thursday Music Videos: 11/19/09

Grizzly Bear – “Ready, Able” – I really appreciate the thought and effort Grizzly Bear puts into their music videos. This one is a tripping balls kind of a video made with claymation.

White Denim – “I Start to Run” – Nice bass line on the first single from this Austin band’s latest album Fits. I predict big things for them in the future.

Rain Machine – “Give Blood” – Rain Machine is the side project of Kyp Malone of TV on the Radio. The self-titled debut is available now on Anti- Records. Not a bad song.