Hall of Awesome: Best Albums of 2007

10

Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová

Once: Music from the Motion Picture

9

of Montreal

Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?

8

Feist

The Reminder

7

Justice

†

6

They Might Be Giants

The Else

5

Patton Oswalt

Werewolves and Lollipops

4

Jens Lekman

Night Falls Over Kortedala

3

Sondre Lerche

Phantom Punch

2

Loney, Dear

Loney, Noir

1

Panda Bear

Person Pitch

Before I begin, I'm gonna go ahead and say that I never ended up buying the new albums by The National, Arcade Fire, LCD Soundsystem, M.I.A, or any of the other albums that seem to be dotting everyone else's year-end best-of lists. I am constantly amazed at the sheer volume of music other bloggers are able to listen to and absorb. How some people are able to listen to countless CDs over the course of a year and actually be able to come to a consensus over their favorite 20, 25, even 50, is beyond me. After ten, aren't you just picking CDs at random? If a CD makes my list, it is become I am in love with nearly every single song on it. I can't put Radiohead's new album on the list simply because I haven't had enough time to fully absorb every song. It takes a while for me to really get into the spirit of an album and to figure out exactly what the musician or band was going for. That probably explains why a lot of the CDs that made my list were released in late winter or early spring.

Kicking off my list is the downright beautiful soundtrack for Once, a film that is bound to make my best movies list...when I get around to actually writing it. Hansard and Irglová wrote all of the songs themselves and their vocal deliveries are unparalleled. Of course, the ever-prolific of Montreal delivered another terrific album with endlessly catchy melodies and increasingly experimental song structure (the twelve-minute "The Past is a Grotesque Animal" is proof of Kevin Barnes' genius). I had Feist's new CD and was semi-impressed by it, but once I got to see her live, I revisited the album and found myself entranced by all the new sounds and emotions I was able to find within it. Justice came out of nowhere to deliver the album everyone was waiting for Daft Punk to put out (meanwhile, Daft Punk's Alive 2007 more than made up for the misstep that was Human After All). They Might Be Giants was another band I got to see live, but by that time, I was already in love with their latest album, which was definitely a grower, but at least half of the songs on there were so incessantly catchy, I couldn't get them out of my head for months. Patton Oswalt's Werewolves and Lollipops marks my first-ever inclusion of a stand-up comedy album on my annual top ten list, but what an album it is. I still crack up every time I listen to "Death Bed," and the DVD, intended as a "bonus" for those who don't download the album, is almost as essential as the album itself. I was blown away by Jens Lekman's compilation Oh, You're So Silent Jens and his newest studio album shows him in fine form. Indeed, he samples everything from old doo-wop music to scratchy recordings of himself as a child, yet everything comes off as the most sincere and original music released this year. Meanwhile, Sondre Lerche released a new hard-rockin' album that could've easily doubled for a greatest hits collection, since every single track on Phantom Punch is solid and totally worthy of some radio play (sadly, Clear Channel hates talent). Loney, Dear went under the radar after a decidedly low-key Sub Pop debut, but I hope his inclusion at the number two spot on my list will inspire you to go out and get it, or at least to listen to such brilliant tracks as "Saturday Waits" and "I Am John." Finally, I have never been able to listen to an entire Animal Collective album front-to-back, but I immediately fell in love with the stark beauty and meditative nature of Noah Lennox's Panda Bear side project. I have taken to describing Person Pitch as a cross between the Beach Boys and Sigur Rós, but that comparison doesn't really do it justice. Take a listen to "Bros" and you'll see what I'm talking about.

And now, without further ado, the honorable mentions:

"Thanks, Santa. Also, I talk now."

It just wouldn't be Christmas if I didn't point you guys in the direction of McSweeney's, where they've posted excerpts from Ben Joseph's script for Alien vs. Predator Save Christmas. Spread the yuletide cheer with some good 'ol fashioned alien blasting!

Christmas Update!

So, I should probably go ahead and let everyone know that I am hard at work on a documentary short about the indie music industry and how the Internet has changed the way bands market themselves and distribute their music. It's gonna be called Firewall of Sound, and hopefully, everyone will be able to see it this April.

But, for now, let me wish everyone some good 'ol fashioned Christmas cheer with this video of the Prayers & Tears performing "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" at the Christmas at the Cradle event last year. Perry, the leader of the band, is one of the people I am interviewing for the film and he is a super-awesome guy who makes some amazing music, which you can hear a good deal of on his band's official website.



Plenty more footage from the concert can be found here.

UPDATE: I almost forgot. Perry pointed me in the direction of this really solid compilation of Christmas music by fellow blogger Hard to Find a Friend. It's only seven bucks and all proceeds go to Toys for Tots. I'm listening to it right now and I can tell you it's totally worth it!

Rich Aucoin's "How the Grinch Stole Christmas!"

Here's a novel idea. Record a cool indie rock EP with the intention of having it sync up with a timeless Christmas special. Singer/songwriter Rich Aucoin achieves this with his EP Personal Publication by having it sync up with Dr. Seuss' "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" and the results are pretty impressive:

Give it a few minutes for the visuals to show up. The idea is the sync starts up right when track three begins, so there's a couple minutes of black with just music playing.

UPDATE: Apparently, Rich had to pull the video due to copyright, which makes absolutely no sense to me, since the video doesn't have the sound from the TV special, so anyone who watches it isn't getting to watch the actual Grinch Stole Christmas for free.

Hall of Awesome: Worst Movies of 2007

I know, it's not very awesome, but this is my chance to riff on some truly bad movies I saw this year, and God knows they deserve it. Also, I refuse to see dreck like Norbit and Epic Movie, so don't bother commenting on why they aren't on my list. So, without further ado:

1. Flanders (dir. Bruno Dumont)
   As a film student, I frequently find myself defending some really difficult movies, ones that mainstream audiences simply aren’t meant to see, much less comprehend. “I know Drawing Restraint 9 doesn’t make any sense, but it’s so fascinating to watch!” “Give Old Joy a few more viewings. I’m sure you’ll come to love it!” Then there are films that are simply not worth defending. I have tried to come up with a reason why the 2006 Cannes jury decided to give one of their highest honors to this film, especially since the jury consisted of such great actors like Samuel L. Jackson, Helena Bonham Carter, Tim Roth, and Zhang Ziyi. For Flanders, director Bruno Dumont decided to conjure up the most depraved, indifferent, and downright horrible people he could find…and then make a movie about them. When a character isn’t walking down a road, or through a forest, or across a field, or through a war zone (there’s a lot of walking in this film), they’re either raping someone or getting raped. Or exploding. Maybe if Dumont made us genuinely care about these people, I would’ve been more receptive. But it seems his intentions are to make us hate these people in the beginning, downright despise them in the middle, and ultimately not to give a fuck what happens to them by movie’s end. Even though the screening of this film was free, I felt as if a part of my soul had been taken from me by the time the lights went up.
   
2. Spider-Man 3 (dir. Sam Raimi) / Shrek the Third (dir. Chris Miller) (tie)
   As far as sequels go, Shrek 2 was halfway decent and Spider-Man 2 was pretty damn good. But both of them are Empire Strikes Back-quality when compared to their god-awful third chapters. For Spider-Man 3, Sam Raimi decided to forego the usual plot development and story arcs in favor of an extended montage of Tobey Maguire hopping around like a fucking idiot, all while alienating the cardboard Kirsten Dunst in a subplot that somehow got bumped up to the main storyline. Even when we actually focus on the superhero stuff, it’s pretty pathetic. Sandman and Venom aren’t handled with nearly as much attention and care as Alfred Molina (Doc Oc) and Willem Dafoe (Green Goblin) were in the previous two films. I’ve always said that a Spider-Man film is only as good as its bad guy, and with two mediocre ones (not including James Franco as an amnesia-suffering Hobgoblin, and whatever that black alien ooze is), this third entry in the franchise just may be the last. Oh, and the same goes for the third Shrek movie. Anyone could’ve told you you’re making a big mistake when you cast Justin Timberlake as a main character. And the way the filmmakers use “Immigrant Song” is unforgivable.
   
3. Lions for Lambs (dir. Robert Redford)
   I’m sorry; I’m usually not this mean to movies I get to see for free, but I have to speak up about this one. Initially, I described this movie to friends as “Crash with politics,” but the problem with this comparison is that I actually liked Crash the first time I saw it. The reason I dislike Robert Redford’s new movie so much is that it’s one of those films that hits you over the head with its message, even though it’s murky as to what that message is exactly. Redford tries to criticize the Republican machine, but also dilutes that criticism by frequently blaming us for our lack of involvement. Not even Meryl Streep can save this film from stumbling into an incoherent jumble of liberal rhetoric and holier-than-thou posturing from poli-sci professor Redford. This is the guy that did Quiz Show, right?
   
4. Bug (dir. William Friedkin)
   This might have been a better movie if I had seen it in a different context, but I doubt it. Hopelessly misleading blurbs and plot descriptions dotted the DVD box for this film, leading me and my friends to believe we were about to watch a gripping horror film about bug infestations. How wrong we were. Ashley Judd gives a pretty impressive performance, but how hard is it to act like a fucking lunatic, especially when there’s another lunatic onscreen (Michael Shannon) who’s acting even crazier than you are?
   
5. Fracture (dir. Gregory Hoblit)
   Speaking of lunatics, Anthony Hopkins has made a career out of playing them. Every time he appears in a movie, I have a sneaking suspicion that someone else in that movie is about to die. In Fracture, Hopkins once again plays a kook, hell-bent on killing his wife and, more importantly, getting away with it. The audience finds the loophole that will incriminate Hopkins long before bland D.A. Ryan Gosling does, and the excellent Embeth Davidtz (Junebug) is sadly underused as Hopkins’ wife. The real crime is that the filmmakers tried to mix Silence of the Lambs with “Law & Order” without realizing that the crime that occurs onscreen could’ve been solved by Jodie Foster or Jerry Orbach before we even cut to commercial.

Hall of Awesome: Best Music Videos of 2007

Oh my God, is it already that time again? I apologize for my lack of posting towards the end of the year. I have been hard at work on not one, but two short films, which will hopefully be shown at various festivals around mid-2008. With that said, I'd like to begin this year's Hall of Awesome by showcasing some of my favorite music videos.

5. The Strokes, "You Only Live Once" (dir. Warren Fu)

Even though The Strokes had already released a video for the lead track off their last LP, 2006's First Impressions of Earth, I guess they felt it could've used a rewrite. So, they invited director Warren Fu to deliver a CGI-laden, 2001: A Space Odyssey referencing mini-movie.

4. Bat for Lashes, "What's a Girl to Do?" (dir. Dougal Wilson)

What is it about guys in animal masks that creep me out? Dougal Wilson turns out a well-choreographed bike ride with English singer/songwriter Natasha Khan that is anything but cute and cuddly.

3. Grizzly Bear, "Knife" (dir. Encyclopedia Pictura)

The boldly experimental production group Encyclopedia Pictura turned out this daring and bizarre little music video, perfectly complementing the daring and bizarre music of Grizzly Bear. I'd make a pun about studying geology "in-depth," but that kind of humor is below me.

2. Feist, "1234" (dir. Patrick Daughters)

This is one of those videos that you watch and it makes you end up with a smile on your face. I was surprised to learn that the whole thing was done in one take with no computer trickery to mask the other performers. There's a really cool making-of where you can see most of the single take from different angles.

1. Mute Math, "Typical" (dir. Israel Anthem)

Yes, I know the backwards thing has been done before, but Mute Math does the backwards thing really well and don't stop with the cool effects. This is also the first time I've really been impressed with the lead singer's lip-syncing to the backwards version of the song. Check the bizarre live version of this video on Jimmy Kimmel Live!