SONG OF THE DAY (#241) a.k.a the post-birthday blues...

'wow,' by kylie minogue

i know i said i wasn't going to post any 'song[s] of the day,' but i've been enjoying the new kylie minogue so much that i just had to post a song or two. it's funny 'cos the first time i listened to 'x,' it didn't do much for me. i thought it was kind of a mess, poorly sequenced, and just sort of all over the map. i've seen the error of my ways, though. boy, have i ever. i've had this cd in my car for three weeks straight. it's about all i'm listening to these days.

rumor has it that 'wow' is the next single off 'x.' i think it's a really good choice. in fact, i like this song much more than '2 hearts,' the first single. it just makes me wanna boogie. i love the 'wow wow wow' part. excellent. actually, very excellent.

don't be surprised if 'x' spawns at least three more singles--maybe more. now that i've listened to 'x' several dozen times, i think there are only 3 of the 13 songs don't have single potential. that's pretty remarkable if you ask me, especially considering her recent health struggles. what i'm basically trying to say is i adore this woman. that is all.

→ kylie minogue: wow
→ kylie minogue: the one

13.5 hours and counting....

merry merry christmas!

as i suspected, the office is a ghost today. why am i here? i dunno. hopefully i'll get out of here around 2pm, hit the gym, hit the grocery store to get some goodies for lunch tomorrow, and then maybe i'll watch some buffy or battlestar galactica tonight. maybe i'll eat a candy cane. yeah, that sounds like a plan.

i've been listening to this song this morning to help pass the time. if i had my way, christmas would a 365.25-day-a-year event. i'd even settle for two christmases--one in december, one in july. so thanks, sufjan, for writing a song about it. i'm not one to regret christmas on the beach in july either. i got yer back, dood.

→ sufjan stevens: christmas in july

We Have a Winner

congrats to my buddy tim for submitting the winning entry in the first, and only, 'name my cookies' contest [there's a euphemism in there somewhere, but i don't know what it is].

the winning name: plaid fro's pimpin' pumpkin perfection! that's a classy name right there, folks!

i should say that i've known tim since 1996 and he has the unfair advantage of knowing that anything with the words 'plaid fro' is going to win. he also knows how to drop an awesome alliteration [just like that one!]. plaid fro + alliteration = a winner! top job, tim. way to go.

so, be looking for these bad boys shortly. the cookies in the picture are the ones coming your way. i baked 'em this evening. i'm not sure how i'm going to ship 'em to san francisco, but i'll figure something out....

and i must figure out how to use my camera. that picture is terrible. [my sister, vanessa, took the new picture. thanks, sis!]

book review: twilight [or, where, oh where, have the editors gone?]

after seeing just about every woman between the ages of 18 and 80 reading this book at the gym, and on the advice of a couple of trusted friends, i decided to give stephanie meyer's twilight a read. i'm a big 'buffy' and 'angel' fan, so i was a bit weary at first; but my friends assured me twilight beared no resemblance to either, so why not? after all, she's lds, she went to byu. so, you know, gotta support the home team, right? and ms. meyer seems like a perfectly nice and kind woman, someone who's probably pretty cool [she listens to muse and reads orson scott card] and likable. i was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt and ignore the massive hype and adoration by fangirls and give it a go.

the first chapter, i admit, was mildly intriguing: big city girl moves to small, gloomy washington town and is instantly consumed with an inexplicable attraction to a boy with a 'pefect face' by the name edward cullen. he's dark, brooding, gorgeous, enigmatic, blah, blah, blah. and oh yeah, he's a vampire. only bella does it know it yet. ok, it seemed like there was some potential for interesting story, so i lowered my head and trudged forward, all the while hoping it was worth the hype and that i'd be able to pass a few pleasurable hours with this new cast of characters.

my hope, however, only lasted about ten minutes. by the middle of the second chapter i had one one burning question: did anyone actually read this book before it went to press? i say that without irony, without hyperbole. it's not a rhetorical question. i sincerely want to know because the problems with this book are so abundant that it was the third time in my life i've actually been offended by a book [the kite runner and white oleander being the other two]. there's no way i could possibly cover all the issues with this book, but i will address a couple of major, glaring problems. and they are major. and they are glaring.

you would think that someone with an english degree from a major university would at least be able to form a coherent, well-structured sentence. but no. meyer's prose is so clunky, hard to read, and filled with some many voice inconsisties [drifiting between present and past within the same sentence, for example], adverb abuses ['i took my book out my backpack industriously' -- what does that even mean?], and cliches [overly long and repetitive descriptions of the weather, stock characters, for example], and usage errors that it literally drove me to distraction. i had a hard time following what little story there was because the book is so poorly edited both in content and syntax. any editor worth his or her salt should have caught and corrected them as they are very easy to spot. it doesn't matter that the book is aimed at twelve year old girls. poor editing is poor editing and shame on the publisher for not treating its readers with at least a modicum of respect. it's the worst kind of condescension imaginable.

again, i'm not trying to throw ms. meyer under the bus, but the prose itself reads much more like a 1st draft in an intro to creative writing class than a national bestseller. i found myself groaning or rolling my eyes at each passing page, feeling embarrassed for ms. meyer and her publisher, because of the triteness of the writing--again, did anyone read it beforehand? the dialogue borderline laughable. it's flat and generic. the exposition doesn't fare much better. it's amateurish and filled flowery prose and redundant passages that do nothing to advance the plot or develop character--and speaking of plot, twilight should've been whittled down to about 25o pages, maybe even fewer. there's no way a plot this thin and flimsy can sustain a monolithic 55o pages. no way, no how. and just when i didn't think the writing could possibly get any worse, ms. meyers unleashes this zinger: 'again, the fabric clung to his perfectly muscled chest. it was a colossal tribute to his face that it kept my eyes away from his body.' i mean, seriously. really? that's the kind of writing you get in $3.99 supermarket checkout romance books, not a national bestseller. at one point i half expected to close the book and fabio engaged in some good, old-fashioned boddice-ripping.

the writing might be forgivable were twilight at least inhabited with interesting chracters. again, ms. meyer fails miserably. i don't know that i've read a more pathetic character than the novel's protagonist, bella swan. yes, yes. her name is bella swan, the beautiful girl who doesn't know she's beautiful. seriously? do your best GOB voice: 'come on!' so strike one for a lousy, predicatable name. even that, however, might've been easy to overlook had she any redeeming qualities. but bella, for some inexplicable reason, has no ambition, no goals, no hobbies, no interests, no hopes, no dreams, and not a single original thought of her own. and i mean none. about all she does have going for her is her looks. well, that and an all-consuming lust for the hot vampire. that's it. all she does is stare at him and comment on his 'perfect face,' 'rippling muscles,' and 'amber eyes' ad nauseum. i'm not kidding, there have to be at last a couple hundred references to edward's glorious looks and physique. no exaggeration. ms. meyer made a less-than-admirable attempt to make bella more than one-dimensional by giving her an odd, wholly necessary, physical clumsiness. but i quickly realized that bella's clumsiness was just a cheap device to give edward chance after chance to rescue her from the throes of danger. it's just painfully ridiculous and lame. bella swan is an incredibly difficult person to empathize with and cheer for because she's such an idiot. but there was one more surprise about bella that i wasn't prepared for: when you get to the last page of the and see a picture of stephanie meyer, you realize she's mary-sue'd herself right into the book. she is bella swan. tsk, tsk, ms. meyer. at that point what little credibility the book has is immediately blown.

edward, for his part, is about the most boring vampire in history. he's 100 years old, but talks like he's ten. his initial repulsion of bella [due to the scent of her blood -- no lie] gradually gives way to, well, lust. his major conflict is balancing his literal bloodlust and protecting bella from all manner of 'danger' and 'peril' a.k.a. stalking. he's dominating, domineering, and like i said, 100 years old [anyone else see a problem with a 100 year old and 16 year being together? at least buffy and angel didn't skirt the issue]. a number of times bella states that she 'obeyed' edward or 'was commanded' by edward. does that worry you a bit? aside from his alphamale qualities, edward his a big, fat snoozefest. he's the least interesting love interest i've ever read. and that leads me to biggest, and most offensive part of the book....

twilight is marketed and sold as a romance, the quasi-tragic tale of forbidden love between human and vampire, the kind of story that draws women of all ages into fantasyland. that's all well and good, but there's nothing remotely romantic about twilight. in order for a romance to work and be believable, there must be a reason those involved fall in love. ms. meyer, lord knows why, completely skips or ignores that part of the equation. bella shows up in forks, washington and by the third or fourth chapter she's 'irrevocably' in love with edward. why is she love with him? what's he done to make himself so deserving of her love? not one single thing. he's just hot. well, that's a problem. a big problem. it's hard to buy a 'love story' when there's no good reason for bella to be in love with edward in the first place. and there's certainly no reason for him to be in love with her. in twilight what you have is a teenage girl looking for wish-fulfillment--the kind of thing that gets real life teenage girls into all sorts of trouble. what almost no one seems to understand, most of all ms. meyer, is that love is a result, or a bi-product. love is earned and developed over time. love isn't something you just wake up and feel one day. lust? yes. absolutely. love? absolutely not. [and we wonder why so many women end up married to burger jockeys?] i realize twilight is escapist fantasy, but when i see hundreds of reviews on amazon.com by young women who see it as a 'sweet romance' or 'great love story,' it makes me worry for their futures. it's neither a sweet romance or a great love story. life is a lot more complicated than 'you're hot, i'm hot. let's be hot together!' forget about hard work, kindness, respect, decency, thoughtfulness, ethics or morals [as ms. meyer does]. so long as your hot and you've got your man, hey, it's all good.

and i think that's why i was so offended by this novel. when it comes to difficult and complex issues like love and implications of wanting to turn yourself into a vampire, much less fall in love with one, twilight is dishonest and disingenuous. it's not so cut-and-dried as ms. meyers would have us believe. like i said, i realize it's escapist fiction, but that doesn't excuse or forgive the shallowness of twilight. if i had a daughter, i'd think twice about letting her read it, even if it is just about the most popular book around. there's simply nothing to recommend it. boring plot + boring characters + sloppy writing/editing = bad book. i haven't the foggiest idea why it's so popular. i really don't. but i do know that it scares me. it scares me that so many people identify with it; it scares me that so many women buy into twilight's warped and simplistic version of love; it's scares me that such shoddy writing can be so well-received by semi-respected publications. but then again, maybe i shouldn't. wish-fulfillment is a powerful thing. it's made a lot of people a lot of money; and twilight is a perfect example of capitalizing on it and turning it into a cash cow. but in the end, bad books are bad books. and twilight is a stinker of the worst kind.

twilight apologists like to defend the novel by saying things like, 'well, at least young women are reading!' that's one way of looking at it, i guess, but with that kind of logic you might as well congratulate an anorexic for eating a marshmallow.

spitcake verdict: turkey

FAVORITE SONG #1

#1 'ice cream,' new young pony club [mp3] [video]

'i can give you want you want.' so sings nypc front woman tahita bulmer. never was a truer statement ever uttered 'cos 'ice cream' is exactly what i wanted this year. how did she know?

in a year of so many stupidly good songs, 'ice cream,' was my favorite. there, i said it. it's a brilliant combination of a seedy, 70s-inspired bass line, simple but effective keyboards, punchy drums, crunchy guitars, a mountain of dirty double entendres and euphemisms, crazy energy, and tahita's playfully deadpanned, detached vocals. talk about chewy, sticky retro new wave awesomeness.

'ice cream' is also my favorite video of the year. it's so corny and rad and wonderful and silly that i can't help but love it. and yeah, i like watching lou hayter in her blue dress play single notes on the keyboard. niiiiice.

so, yeah. 'ice cream.' i'll have some more please!

FAVORITE SONG #2

#2 'catch you,' sophie ellis-bextor [mp3] [video]

shocking, isn't it?

this song could very well have been my favorite song of the year. in the end it was really pretty much a coin toss between this one and #1. they're actually more like co-#1's.

as far as i'm concerned, pop music doesn't come much better than this. this song knocked me off my chair the first time i heard. i've probably listened to it at least 200 times since then and i've never once gotten sick of it. and while i'm thinking about it, why hasn't it been released stateside? oh, wait, i know: sophie's got class.

be sure to check out the vid [link above]. the best bit of the video? the 2:07 mark. one word: money shot.

FAVORITE SONG #3

#3 'a line you can cross,' lansing-dreiden [mp3]

but wait, matt, 'a line you can cross' came out in 2006! indeed it did. but as with rachel stevens, i didn't hear it until this year, so it qualifies.

i don't know much, but i do know this: artsy-fartsy pretension drives me bonkers. when i first heard this song and did some research on the band, i found out that the band only conducts interviews via email, refuses to be photographed [i don't even think the picture i posted is them], hire people to play their songs on tour, and 'see no distinction between art and commerce — or anything else.' normally this kind of stuff is little more than a cheap stunt--a.k.a artsy-fartsy; but i get the feeling lansing-dreiden are anything but. in fact, they claim they're just 'shy.' in the end i guess it really doesn't matter 'cos lansing-dreiden is such a prodigiously talented band and the songs more than speak for themselves. the melodies [both vocally and musically] on this song are nothing short of astounding. so original, so incredible. and you can check out a fun video for this song here.

i think i listened to 'a line you can cross' for about month straight this summer. when i went to cali for a week in july i was actually having withdrawals 'cos i didn't have it with me. when i finally landed in salt lake city and started driving towards provo i played it over and over and sang at the top of my lungs. i guess the 'line you can cross,' and should cross, is a serious addiction to lansing-dreiden.

FAVORITE SONG #4

#4 'get innocuous' [mp3] / 'someone great,' lcd soundsystem [mp3]

it was impossible to decide between these two songs, so i didn't.

james murphy's vocal performance on 'get innocuous' is incredible. it makes me all woozy when i listen to it, which i think is entirely the point ['you can't normalize, don't it make you feel alive?']. it's all the more effective when he drops it on top of some supremely funky and new order-esque rhythms. i imagine that listening to 'get innocuous' is akin to a serious lsd trip. i just guessin'. it gets bonus points, too, for a clever title, as it's anything but innocuous.

there are few bands out there that actually have me anxiously looking forward to what they do next. lcd soundsystem is one of them. between 'sound of silver' being my favorite album of the year and these two songs among my very most favoritist, i think it's safe to declare lcd soundsystem favorite band of the year. james murphy, i salute you. again and again and again. and again.

FAVORITE SONG #5

#5 'subtle changes,' sambassadeur [mp3]

if ever the 'indie' powers-that-be decide to invade another country [or music genre], i imagine 'subtle changes' will be song spurring the infantry onto victory! for reals. i dunno about you, but that violin intro gets me all sorts of pumped. it also makes me think about molly ringwald and james spader. hmmm....

despite its title, 'subtle changes' is anything but. it's an explosion of energy from another of sweden's conquering heroes and the lead single from sambassadeur's superb sophomore record, 'migration.' 'subtle changes' showed a marked progression for in the band's songwriting skills. it's a beautifully constructed song. it's also got my favorite lyric of the year: following stars will come back in fashion again.... amazing stuff, that.

FAVORITE SONG #6

#6 'invitation,' by the high violets [mp3]

i think that i've written about the high violets enough by now that you should probably have a pretty good as to how great i think these guys are. their album, 'to where you are,' was one of my faves and 'the invitation' is one of my favorite songs, too.

'invitation' is the softer side of the high violets, but it never drifts into sarah mclachlan 'earnest balladry' territory. i've got nothing against sarah mclachlan, but you know what i mean. at any rate, 'invitation' is a perfect vehicle to showcase kaitlyn's amazing vocals--she possesses a purity you don't find in too many vocalists these days. when she hits the high notes they never seemed forced. to the band's credit, neither does the song. it's as lovely as it is simple, as charming as is it fresh. if people still made mix tapes, i'm fairly certain this song would appear on every last one of them.

if i haven't yet convinced you to buy their album, i guess i never will. but at the risk of shoving something do your throat--GO BUY THIS RECORD. that is all.

FAVORITE SONG #7

#7 'we r the handclaps,' junior senior [mp3]

few songs out there capture the magic of what it's like to be an audiophile, so it's really refreshing to hear a song so unabashedly in love with music. none of of this fake-tortured-artist-angnst garbage a la conor oberst. it's all about the good times and god bless 'em for it. just look at the picture to the left there. these guys are definitely having a good time. yeah.

but it takes more than mere jollification to be one of my favorite songs. junior senior are some seriously talented danes. coming from anyone else, 'we r the handclaps' would've been little more than novelty or pastiche; but 'we r the handclaps' is a labor of love, an homage to all things aurally funky and righteous. and it's all done with such skill and unrestrained enthusiasm that's it hard not to get caught up the wave. like tim sendra wrote, 'their heavenly mix of mix of giddy silliness, pop smarts and pop culture overload makes [we r the handclaps] a fun-filled joyride from beginning to end.' by the end of the song you'll wan to to be a handclap, too.

as for me, i'll just say 'i'm so in love with the music! i never wanna wanna wanna go home!'

FAVORITE SONG #8

#8 'to build a home,' the cinematic orchestra featuring patrick watson [mp3]

the cinematic orchestra is one of those bands i finally discovered this year. it seems like i was the last one! but that's quite all right, i suppose. better late than never, as they say. but i do have to say that it's kind of surprising i hadn't gotten to them sooner. i love jazz [love love love jazz] and so-called 'indie' rock [a misnomer if ever there was one], so it stands to reason i would love a band which embraces them both. in fact, it's kind of strange, but very cool, to see a band [are they, in fact, a band? i dunno] like the cinematic orchestra find gain so much traction in the 'indie' scene.

'to build a home' is kind of this year's 'hope there's someone.' guest vocalist patrick watson doesn't quite have antony's flair for the dramatic, but his hushed, almost muted, vocal performance packs the same emotional punch. it's kind of a gut wrenching record to listen to, but since it's such a beautiful song, i assume it has a pretty wide appeal. i certainly played it to death. even 'friday night lights' featured it in an episode. i wouldn't be surprised if it's not the last time we hear in a movie, tv show, or commercial. it's also got one of my favorite lyrics of the year: 'i climbed the tree to see the world.' simple and effective. that's the way it should be.

and by way of advice, don't listen to if your nursing a broken heart. take my word for it. just don't.

FAVORITE SONG #9

#9 'd.a.n.c.e.,' justice [mp3]

if there were a frankenstein's monster of the music world, i'd say it's gotta be 'd.a.n.c.e.' i just can't even imagine how long it took to bring this song together. i'm guessing at least a month. maybe longer. there are so many strange disparate noises, bleeps, and blips in this song, that it's really some kind of miracle that it coalesces the way it does, but boy does it. throw in some children's choirs, a high-voltage [and supremely funky] bassline, a slew orchestra hits [always awesome. always], and you've got my favorite song #9 of 2007. it's an absolute marvel of modern production and should stand as a benchmark for intelligent, sophisticated poptronica. it's just that good. and fun. it also sports one of the cooler videos in recent years. check it out here. monster or not, 'd.a.n.c.e.' is one stupidly awesome song.

as a side note, it's been great to see dance music receive more mainstream appreciation and credibility in recent years. i used to take a beating in high school for listening to music 'without guitars.' so yeah, i feel a tad vindicated. it warms the old heart, know what i'm sayin'?

FAVORITE SONG #10

#10 'lost,' by the mary onettes [mp3]

yet another placing by the swedes. it's kind of ridiculous, isn't it? this time it's the mary onettes with 'lost.' it was too long ago that i posted this song, so hopefully it's still fresh in memory, but if it's not, i basically wrote that this song rules the entire scene. all of it. you're not likely to hear a better chorus all year--it swells like my ankle that one time i turned it playing futbito in spain. that was some serious swelling, kids. but what i like most about 'lost' is the secondary chorus. just when you think you're about to be ricocheted back to the verse, they pummel you with that secondary chorus. me, oh my, those soaring vocals give me the goosebumps everytime...

HONORABLE MENTIONS AND OTHER THINGS...

before i launch into my top ten favorite songs of the year, i just wanted to mention a few other albums that i really loved this year and heartily recommend for your listening pleasure:

→ 'X,' KYLIE MINOGUE. this album probably would've made my top ten were it not released so late in the year. it's all sorts of poptastic. don't be surprised it you hear five singles from it--the songs are that solid and bounteous. but more than anything else, it's just nice to have her around after her battle with breast cancer. i hope she gives us many more albums! key tracks: speakerphone, the one, no more rain, 2 hearts, like a drug, wow, all i see.

→ 'GOD SAVE THE CLIENTELE,' THE CLIENTELE. my favorite band of the last five years. as far as i'm concerned, these chaps can do no wrong and 'god save the clientele' was yet another shiny example of what they're capable of: shimmering melodies, lyrics full of imagery, tight instrumenation, immaculate production. if you've ever wondered what it was like to live in london in fall 1967, spin any one of their records. the violin on bookshop casanova alone is worth the price of admission. key tracks: bookshop casanova, here comes the phantom, i hope you know, somebody changed.

→ 'FANTASTIC PLAYROOM,' NEW YOUNG PONY CLUB. this was probably album #11, just barely missing the top ten. in fact, it could have just easily tied with the shout out louds. but never fear because i can promise you this: they do appear in my top ten songs list. in fact, they almost made it twice. and lou is just oh-so-lovely. i could watch her play keyboards all day. and well, i have. welcome to the 2nd biggiest party album of the year. key tracks: ice cream, the bomb, the get go, tight fit, hiding on the staircase

→ 'DRAMA,' MONTT MARDIE. you're not likely to get more bang for you buck than montt mardie's 'drama.' not only is he a supreme songsmith, he's got a great sense of humor. great songs + sense of humor = awesome. yet another swede who's perfected the art of songcraft. have i mentioned lately how much i hate them all? :) key tracks: changed [a sailor's plea], huckleberry friend, highschool drama.

→ 'HEY HEY MY MY YO YO,' JUNIOR SENIOR. it took a while, but 'hhmmyy' finally got released stateside this year. it's nothing but one irony-free party from start to finish. if you've ever wondered what a genuine, guileless homage to party music sounds like, this is it. it's all about funky basslines, brass sections, handclaps, doo-waps and bee-bops. and it's all brilliant. this is your #1 party album of the year. key tracks: we r the handclaps, can i get get get, i like music [w.o.s.b.]

and some more....

→ 'BEAT BOX,' GLASS CANDY
→ 'SOMEWHERE, ANYWHERE,' NEW BUFFALO
→ 'CROSS,' JUSTICE
→ 'NIGHT DRIVE,' CHROMATICS
→ 'NIGHT FALLS OVER KORTEDALA,' JENS LEKMAN
→ 'MOMENTUM,' TRANSCARGO
→ 'WINCING THE NIGHT AWAY,' THE SHINS
→ 'SOME PEOPLE HAVE REAL PROBLEMS,' SIA
→ 'BENEATH AND BEYOND,' STANDFAST
→ 'FAVOURITE WORST NIGHTMARE,' THE ARCTIC MONKEYS

FAVORITE ALBUM #1

#1 SOUND OF SILVER / LCD SOUNDSYSTEM [taste] [buy]

key tracks: the whole darn thing

when i first heard 'sound of silver' last january, i said it would be hard for any album top it. well, here we are in december and 'sound of silver' is still the king of the mountain. does that make me a prophet? i'm not sayin' i'm a prophet, i'm just sayin'. or is it all simply a case self-fulfilling prophecy? i dunno. does it even matter? not a bit.

i've thought long and hard what it is about 'sound of silver' that sets it apart from every other album i listened to this year. why did i like this one the most? why did i play it the most? why did it resonate with me as much as it did and does? i don't know if have the answers and maybe that's part of the allure. maybe it's the same reason some women tend to throw themselves at those 'mysterious' guys. who knows. about all i do know is that james murphy is some sort of secret genius.

if i had to hazard a guess, however, as to why i love it, it's this: not a single song on 'sound of silver' is terribly complicated. they really aren't. in fact, a big chunk of the songs rely on one--ONE--chord change. listen to 'get innocuous,' 'all my friends,' and 'time to get away' and you won't hear more than two chords. 'north american scum?' three. 'someone great?' four. 'us v. them? ONE. one friggin' chord over eight plus minutes. it's absurd. i mean really, really absurd. 'watch the tapes?' three. it's remarkable because there's no way it should work as well as it does--which is to say, perfectly.

most electronica, hip hop, or dance rock, or whatever you want to call it, relies on bringing the hook straight to the forefront. it's the single most important ingredient, and in dance music you better hear it pretty quickly, especially when most folks have an attention span of about 3.5 seconds. well, james murphy and co. throw that maxim out the window. in fact, only one song on 'sound of silver' comes in under four minutes and most of them come in at over six minutes. but despite the length of the individual tracks, they never sound repetitive. murphy and co. use that time to give the songs room to breath, build momentum, and seduce you before knocking you over the head with a chorus beamed straight from a party in outta space. there's something to be said for a song that doesn't even try to wallop you right from the beginning. that's part of 'sound of silver's' beauty. sure, it's a party album, but it's never rushed. i mean, geez, you don't even hear james murphy's vocals until 2:10 seconds into the album. but by that time 'get innocuous' has so fully hypnotized you that resistance is futile. he wins. he owns you. and for the next hour you are his. you can try to fight it, er, well, actually you can't, so forget it. don't even try.

'sound of silver,' spitcake's not-at-all-coveted favorite album of the year, is an incredible testament to what you can do with inventine percussion, programmed rhythms, catchy riffs, and superb knack for melody. i guess just admire so much how talented these guys are. i wish i were one of them. maybe james murphy, and not me, is the prophet. that would make a lot more sense. i wish that we could talk about, but there lies the problem...

FAVORITE ALBUM #2

#2 TRIP THE LIGHT FANTASTIC / SOPHIE ELLIS-BEXTOR [taste] [buy]

key tracks: catch you / me and my imagination / if i can't dance / if i go / today the sun's on us

well, what can i say about sophie ellis bextor that i haven't already said? not a whole lot, so i'll just say that after two fairly mediocre albums, sophie ellis-bextor wholly and completely redeemed herself as a solo artist [for the uninitiated, she did vocals for the 90s britpop band theaudience. she was a mere 18 years old at the time. theaudience was pretty good, but only lasted one album and one e.p.]. she's occassionally show flashes of greatness in the past with songs like 'murder on the dancefloor' and 'i won't change you,' but her albums suffered from subpar production that left the bulk of her solo work sounding like cheap, early 1990s club retreads.

with 'trip the light fantastic' however, she's found a new sense of urgency and energy, relying more on a contemporary and sophisticated eurodisco sound, and the payoff was immense. it was also incredibly smart to bring cathy dennis in to pen a few a tracks [cathy dennis has written songs for rachel stevens, emma bunton, ronan keating, kelly clarkson, clay aiken, the spice girls, s club 7, kylie minogue, etc, etc, etc], including the blistering first single, 'catch you.' it was a pretty clear sign sophie had ditched her dubious musical past and was ready to enter the ring with the pros. it also sported a great video of sophie running around in a red flamenco dress, which, you know, is 23 kinds of awesome. 'me and my imagination' was a superb second single, followed by 'today the sun's on us.' it's been rumored that 'trip the light fantastic' might spawn a fourth single in 'if i can't dance' [probably the album's most dynamic track], and i can only hope it does because that means new remixes and a new video.

and if you think the fact that sophie ellis-bextor is about the most beautiful woman in the world has something to do with her placing at #2, you're 1000% correct. if she weren't already married, i'd seriously consider moving to london.

FAVORITE ALBUM #3

#3 TO WHERE YOU ARE / THE HIGH VIOLETS [taste] [buy]

key tracks: sun baby / chinese letter / invitation / cool green / x-tasy / love is blinding

too many folks have tried and failed to revive the shoegaze movement, and while i don't think for one second high violets are trying to revive shoegazing, 'to where you are' certainly takes the best of what shoegazing had to offer without ever sacrificing melody and vocal clarity in favor of atmosphere. kaitlyn ni donovan is a great vocalist, by the way. she's liz frazier without the effects, harriet wheeler turned down an octave. the band, too, are great. they seemed to have mastered the pop/rock song the same way andy chase and adam schlesinger from ivy have. they are supreme craftsmen and woman.

the album starts off with a couple of shoegazy songs straight out of 1992. 'sun baby' and 'love is blinding' smack of lush more than anyone else, but are on the whole much stronger songs than lush ever created (and i love lush). 'chinese letter' might be my favorite song on the album. it's a glorious song that might not have been out of place on the cocteau twins 'heaven or las vegas.' 'invitation' sounds like something off the sundays 'static and silence [and is probably my 2nd favorite]. then they throw you a curveball in 'cool green,' a bundle of dancy energy complete with sleighbells at the halfway point; while it doesn't necessarily 'fit' in with the rest of the album, is still such a joy to listen to that you're so glad it's there.

i'm still mortified that only twelve people showed up to see them when they came through salt lake city a while back. the only cool part about it was that i got to talk to the band afterwards. they are, to a person, champs. so kind, so friendly. they love what they do and seem a bit frustrated they don't have a bigger audience. frankly, i'm frustrated, too, 'cos this is one helluva band.

FAVORITE ALBUM #4

#4 RACHEL STEVENS / COME AND GET IT [taste] [buy]

key tracks: some girls / negotiate with love / nothing good about this goodbye / i said never again [but here we are] / dumb dumb / i will be there / so good

ok, ok. i know this album came out in 2005, but i didn't hear it until 2007, so it qualifies. so there.

i'll always remember the summer of 2007 as my rachel stevens summer. i knew of her [she used to be part of uk boy/girl band s club 7], but i had no idea she'd released two solo albums after striking it out on her own. one day my friend in london sendspaced me the album. i dropped it into itunes, hit play, and immediately wondered, 'how is this woman not an international superstar??' she has the songs and the looks. my only guess was that the UK record-buying public, fairly or unfairly, had a beef with her. alls i got to say is i certainly have no beef with her!

over the next few weeks i slipped further and further into fantasyland and tried to track down her address, phone number...er, i bought both of her albums [they aren't available domestically, but you can buy them used off on amazon on the cheap]. if you know me, you know i tend to go a little overboard on the things i love. some might call it neurotic, i call it extremely passionate. but we're getting into semantics, here....

the transition from throw-away pop starlet to respected pop starlet can't be easy. very few actually make the transition. the only one that immediately comes to mind if kylie minogue although i supposed you could make a case for mandy moore]. so when rachel made the leap, she and her peeps were smart to enlist the services of richard x in the production booth. the result was an album of perfectly executed pop songs. and 'perfectly' is by no means hyperbole. they are perfect. they are so good, in fact, that it plays like a greatest hits rather than a studio album. the first track, 'so good,' establishes the blueprint for the rest of the album--a relentless onslaught of hi-nrg, three-and-a-half minute pop gems. of the thirteen tracks presented on 'come and get it,' on the two miss the mark ['all about me' and 'secret garden']. but even then 'come and get it' is an example of what mature, adult pop should sound like. kudos to everyone involved. her american counterparts would do well to take note, for rachel stevens is no pop princess--she's the queen.

FAVORITE ALBUM #5

#5 OVERPOWERED / ROISIN MURPHY [taste] [buy]

key tracks: overpowered / you know me better / movie star / modern timing / cry baby

i've already written about roisin murphy twice in the last six months, so if you read this blog with any sort of regularity, you'll already know what how much i adore this woman. again, it was all a bit surprising because her first album, 'ruby blue,' didn't do a whole lot for me [and apparently didn't do a lot for most people]. it just kind of meandered about and really didn't take advantage of roisin's fantastic voice.

'overpowered,' however, is the proverbial tour-de-force. these are the songs people who eat steak for breakfast and pee diamonds listen to whilst jetsetting across the world from one fashion show to the next. ok, maybe that's a stretch, but you know what i mean. at first listen, 'overpowered' might come across as too slick for its own good; but a closer listen reveals some top song songs. the beats are sick, the elastic rhythms seem to boomerang out into the cosmos, and roisin murphy--one of her generations finest voices--nails every song. for someone who never wanted a career in the music business, it's pretty darn remarkable [is it just me or is she a dead ringer for tea leoni?] but for all its sophistication, the production never collapses under its own weight. 'overpowered' is surprisingly spry, lithe affair. but most of all, it's just a lot of fun. roisin understands, maybe better than anyone else, that dance music is just as much about fun and energy as it is about artistic integrity. so here's to you, roisin.

FAVORITE ALBUM #6

#6 NOISE AROUND ME / TIGER BABY [taste] [buy]

key tracks: at least i'm honest / girlfriend / just for a day / parkova / prolusion

i'm the first to admit that a lot of synthpop is souless, emotionally vacant, and robotic. if you go back to the late 80s and early 90s, most of it is a cheezefest. if you were in utah country back then, you even had your home grown cheezy synthpop band, agnes poetry. am i the only who remembers them? man, they were truly craptastic.

i think a lot of folks base their opinions of the currenty crop of synth-based bands on those relics of a former time and consequently dismiss the current crop of synth-based bands without ever giving them a fair shake. that's too bad because there are some first rate synthpop bands out there who take classic approaches to songwriting, but opt for a moog instead of a guitar. today's synthpoppers are classy, cool, and downright sexified. maybe it would have more street cred were it called 'poptronica.' yeah, probably.

danish trio tiger baby's second album, 'noise around me,' is one such band. synthpop is inherently built on the hook, and no one seems to understand that better than tiger baby keyboard doods benjamin teglbjærg and nikolaj gregersen. they provide vocalist pernille pang some exquisite acid-laced background for her to sing over. these tracks are sleek, uniformly excellent, expertly arranged, interesting to listen to, and most importantly, instantly memorable. plus they made a killer cover of depeche mode's 'strangelove.' so, you know, bonus points right there. play 'noise around me' at your next party and your cool factor will rise exponentially.

FAVORITE ALBUM #7

#7 IN RAINBOWS / RADIOHEAD [taste] [buy]

key tracks: bodysnatchers / all i need / house of cards / reckoner / videotape

never has my faith in a band been so immediately restored with one album. i've had a long love/hate relationship with the band. probably because few things drove me battier than so-called critics hailing droning, wandering and aloof electronica as 'masterpieces' [for my money, 'the bends' stands out as radiohead's magnum opus]. equally annoying and troubling were all the hipster kids who, like pavlovian dogs, started foaming out the mouth at the mention of 'kid a' and 'amnesiac.' it was kind of frightening, actually, to behold such blind allegiance to an album. i was actually shouted down a few times because i actually dared to call their merits into question and one person actually told me to 'just admit' radiohead was the best. band. ever. who knew music fascism exisited?

but 'in rainbows,' radiohead's seventh studio album was, in many ways, a return to the radiohead we all know and love. it was the album i'd been waiting ten years to hear. no more navel-gazing. no more silly knob twiddling. no more aimless yodelling. for the first time since 'ok computer' it was about the song. hey, now there's a novel idea! thom yorke found a melody and the band realized that warmth and humanity are more important song elements than icy, electronic alienation. the album's centerpiece, 'all i need,' in my opinion is one of radiohead's finest. it's a beautiful example of what they do best: thom trades in his drowning cat falsetto for some truly magnificent and emotionally rich vocals. the band beautifully balances electronic and acoustic, mood and tempo, and most importantly, genuine emotion and isolation. no bombast, no pretension. if you ever needed an example of less is more, this is it.

radiohead has long held the title of 'best band in the world' and with 'in rainbows,' they might just have proved thier supporters correct. it's a monumental and massive accomplishment.

FAVORITE ALBUM #8

#8 23 / BLONDE REDHEAD [taste] [buy]

key tracks: 23 / dr. strangeluv / spring and by summer fall / silently / publisher

maybe it was the tone-bending nods the my bloody valentine on the title track that drew me into this record. maybe it was the layers thick, swirling, gloomy guitars. maybe it was the fact that '23' just rocked so mightily that it was impossible for me not to get sucked up into the majesty of it all. my guess? all of the above.

blonde redhead is yet another one of those bands i always meant to get around to, but never really heard until this past spring. sure, i'd heard the occassional song on the border's listening station, or some random compilation someone made me, but those songs, for whatever reason, never really stuck with me. maybe that's why i never bought an album. it wasn't until i heard '23' and 'silently' that my ears perked up and i took notice [i've since gone back and picked up their back catalogue, finally]; it's an amazing album; it is by turns dark, mysterious, gloomy, magical, and majestic. yes, it's blonde redhead's most accessible album, but it's also their best.

FAVORITE ALBUM #9

#9 PLACES / GEORGIE JAMES [taste] [buy]

key tracks: need your needs / cheap champagne / you can have it / aftermath / comfortable headphones

after q and not u went splitzville in 2005, drummer john davis hooked up his friend laura burhenn, an accomplished songstress in her own right, and the two christened themselves 'georgie james,' which, according to the band, was a little bit androgynous, a little bit glam. all i know it's a whole lot of awesome. if you're looking for the best harmonies committed to tape this year, look no further than georgie james incredible debut, 'places.' not since alan sparhawk and mimi parker have two voices so seamlessly and effortlessly blended.

'places' is an album that completely took me by surprise. i had never heard a q and not u song [and i still haven't]; and, well, i'd never heard a laura burhenn song either. it was only by chance that i can across 'places.' it was one of those albums that had been sitting in my itunes for, like, forever. i think i randomly picked a track and happened to land on 'cheap champagne.' talk about energy! and there was just something so distinctly american about it. given the amount of musical crap we produce, it was all the more refreshing. from the opening strums of 'look me up'--a clever opener for sure--to 'aftermath,' its heartbreaking, elegiac closer, 'places' is the sound of confident, self-assured band brimming with superb pop sensibilities. of course, when you're talking about two folks as prodigiously talented and john davis and laura berhenn, that kind of confidence is a given.

let's get the party started...

#10 OUR ILL WILLS / THE SHOUT OUT LOUDS [taste] [buy]

key tracks: you are dreaming / impossible / normandie / tonight i have to leave it / south america

in a year where the swedes couldn't do a single thing wrong [and i mean nuthin', nada, zilch, zippo], the shout out louds sophomore effort, 'our ill wills,' perfectly captured everything wonderful coming out sweden these days: choruses so massive you need a forklift and melodies so perfect you'd think they were the result of a mathematical equation. it's beautiful thing to behold.

despite the fact they were released in 2007, the thirteen tracks that make up 'our ill wills' are meticulously crafted paeans to pop songs of yesteryear, sounding as at home in 1987 as they do today. it's also pretty clear adam olenius and co. spent considerable time studying the cure's 'the head on the door' ['tonight i have to leave it' = 'in between days.' 'normandie' = 'close to me.']. it's quite the open love letter to one of the cure's seminal works. but 'our ill wills' no mere mimicry. it's anything but, actually. the shout out louds are uniquely their own band and 'our ill wills' is a lush, textured, smart, joyous album from start to finish. if it doesn't open your eyes to the power of pure pop music, let's face it, there's no hope for you.

[clicking 'taste' will let you download the album for your enjoyment. if you do enjoy it, i encourage you to buy it by clicking on the 'buy' link. amazon.com's mp3 are drm-free, meaning they are aren't locked or protected and can be transferred to any computer or mp3 device.]