Nostalgia's not what it used to be
So another year shudders to an end. Hooray! To be honest for a lot of reasons 2007 wasn't all that memorable. Certainly in this country the abiding sensation was mainly of being very wet. Musically there were a lot of very good second albums, but probably not as much new stuff to keep me excited as usual. In fact most of the music that's given me the horn has been looking way backwards - with the welcome renaissance of disco, and a whole host of people re-editing long lost classics. The main disappointment is that i've not heard much of that when i've been out... maybe i'm going to the wrong places, and i've certainly missed a few nights that I should have ventured out to.
But in many ways i've reason to be optimistic about 2008. I think i've finally figured out what to do with my life, and while there are always loads of new & exciting sounds to enjoy, I have a good feeling that next year might bring something special.
_____________________________________
Most years I do a compilation CD for friends in lieu of christmas cards, with a round-up of some of my favourite tunes of the year. So as a New Year's present to y'all i'll stick it up to download for a short time. The sleeve isn't as good as usual, but tough shit. The image on the back is by the excellent No/Fi.
DOWNLOAD THE ZIP FILE (130MB)
For what it's worth, my favourite albums of 2007:
1 Italians Do it Better - After Dark
The album i listened to most. Just perfect, shimmering disco. Glass Candy will be huge next year.
2 LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver
The more it was remixed the better it got, culminating in the brilliant Gucci Soundsytem mix of 'Time to Get Away'. DFA were again consistently amazing, and get me buying vinyl more than anyone else.
3 M.I.A. - Kala
So much going on, and so many ideas. Nearly all of them very good indeed.
4 Burial - Untrue
Something akin to genius, like Aphex you can't actually imagine someone writing this stuff. The sound of 5am.
5 Maps - We Can Create
There's a few people trying to revive shoegazing, but only Maps seems able to turn the waves of sound into achingly beautiful tunes.
6 Holy Fuck - Holy Fuck
Who'd have thought that improvised, experimental krautrock could be such fun.
7 Battles - Mirrored
One of my favourite moments this year was seeing a room full of distinctly non 'indie' people go absolutely apeshit to Atlas when I played it at a party. Who'd have thought that experimental mathrock could be such fun.
8 Arctic Monkeys - Favourite Worst Nightmare
They've still got the tunes and the sharp lines. "Who wants to be a man of the people, when they're people like you"
9 D*I*R*T*Y Soundsystem - DIRTY Edits Vol. 1
Some of the Pilooski's consistently amazing edits make it to CD. Can anyone explaing to me why 'Beggin' wasn't a huge hit?
10 Justice - Cross
It's impact was lessened a bit through most of it being all too familiar by the time it was released. It definitely worked well as an album though, and displayed a lot more craft & subtly than I was expecting. Plus it was packed with great tunes of course.
Hopefully i can return with a bit more regularity in 2008. Happy New Year!!
Oh, and if you're still alive NEXT weekend, come to Turnmills where i'll be bottomlining the upstairs room. David E Sugar will be there as well, which should be very good indeed!
But in many ways i've reason to be optimistic about 2008. I think i've finally figured out what to do with my life, and while there are always loads of new & exciting sounds to enjoy, I have a good feeling that next year might bring something special.
_____________________________________
Most years I do a compilation CD for friends in lieu of christmas cards, with a round-up of some of my favourite tunes of the year. So as a New Year's present to y'all i'll stick it up to download for a short time. The sleeve isn't as good as usual, but tough shit. The image on the back is by the excellent No/Fi.
DOWNLOAD THE ZIP FILE (130MB)
For what it's worth, my favourite albums of 2007:
1 Italians Do it Better - After Dark
The album i listened to most. Just perfect, shimmering disco. Glass Candy will be huge next year.
2 LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver
The more it was remixed the better it got, culminating in the brilliant Gucci Soundsytem mix of 'Time to Get Away'. DFA were again consistently amazing, and get me buying vinyl more than anyone else.
3 M.I.A. - Kala
So much going on, and so many ideas. Nearly all of them very good indeed.
4 Burial - Untrue
Something akin to genius, like Aphex you can't actually imagine someone writing this stuff. The sound of 5am.
5 Maps - We Can Create
There's a few people trying to revive shoegazing, but only Maps seems able to turn the waves of sound into achingly beautiful tunes.
6 Holy Fuck - Holy Fuck
Who'd have thought that improvised, experimental krautrock could be such fun.
7 Battles - Mirrored
One of my favourite moments this year was seeing a room full of distinctly non 'indie' people go absolutely apeshit to Atlas when I played it at a party. Who'd have thought that experimental mathrock could be such fun.
8 Arctic Monkeys - Favourite Worst Nightmare
They've still got the tunes and the sharp lines. "Who wants to be a man of the people, when they're people like you"
9 D*I*R*T*Y Soundsystem - DIRTY Edits Vol. 1
Some of the Pilooski's consistently amazing edits make it to CD. Can anyone explaing to me why 'Beggin' wasn't a huge hit?
10 Justice - Cross
It's impact was lessened a bit through most of it being all too familiar by the time it was released. It definitely worked well as an album though, and displayed a lot more craft & subtly than I was expecting. Plus it was packed with great tunes of course.
Hopefully i can return with a bit more regularity in 2008. Happy New Year!!
Oh, and if you're still alive NEXT weekend, come to Turnmills where i'll be bottomlining the upstairs room. David E Sugar will be there as well, which should be very good indeed!
posted by headphonesex @ 3:28 AM
