I've found that writing album reviews is a nice outlet for sharpening my literary axe. That said, feel free to share your review of your favorite album of the year so far.

Here's mine:


LCD Soundsystem- Sound of Silver
5 stars

There are certain moments in life that seem to stop the world spinning- their magnitude is such that they usurp all focus and filter out all distractions. I've had a lot of those moments in the past few years- the death of my father, immigration to another country and my blissful wedding day are among the most notable. Usually these moments are reserved for events of grand proportion, but sometimes something much less significant can trigger a heightened awareness or, hell, an epiphany of sorts. I was fortunate enough to have one such moment grace me this year, and that it came from a source as unexpected as LCD Soundsystem makes it all the more special. While I had enjoyed the panache and intellectual foreplay of the eponymous debut record, I in no way expected the sequel to be so emotionally charged and viscerally vital to my being. Sound of Silver, indeed, is an album of many moments.

In spite of the fact that Sound of Silver reveals a definite evolution, the album still retains the wry swagger and cunning dialogue of the debut. The project was launched with "North American Scum", a paranoid rant about anti-imperialism and a half-hearted acknowledgment of its validity, all to the backdrop of some killer dance swashes. Don't believe me? It's groovy enough to have inspired me to post an embarrassing clip of my own rendition of the song online- don't ask. "Time to Get Away", meanwhile, chugs and grunts along to a sassy beat that meanders into a distorted synth utopia complete with wild Princely yelps. "Watch the Tapes" buzzes along to a perfect new wave theme, percolating along with to the dissatisfaction with fickle critical vicissitudes. "Us v Them" continues this theme, starting from a mild drone and building to an effervescent funk workout. All of these songs are fantastically executed, incorporating a bevy of influences and styles. Plenty of ass-shaking, coolly calculated moments here. However, their real value is found in their relative sparsity and placement among the tracks of a more emotional tilt which form the heart of the record.

What makes this album a bona fide classic is the way in which it subtly draws the listener into the scene before unexpectedly unleashing an emotional avalanche. The title track inserts a rather embarrassing repeated chorus into a beautifully crafted dance opus in which it is clear that Mr. Murphy has found some new tricks up his sleeve, enveloping the groove in increasingly intricate layers, capping it all with a floating xylophone whimsy for a moment of sheer ecstasy. The opening cut "Get Innocuous!" drenches Kraftwerk's "The Robots" in liquid metal for a good few minutes before wielding a harrowing blow of paranoia with some haunted, almost indecipherable vocals about the horrors of adhering to a life of normalcy. "When once you had believed it, now you see its sucking you in!", he pleads. The track is pure fire with its inspired mixture of electronic and organic percussion, and when the guest vocalist reels me into her rhythmic "You- can- normalize, don't it make you feel alive" chant, I lose all sensibility. Its impetus is so overwhelming that a slowly warping and chillingly stretched string note that ushers the song out completely goes off kilter in a moment of awestruck chaos. In a great display of parallelism, the album is closed with a track of a similar, but more direct theme, as "New York I Love You, But You're Bringing Me Down" sees Murphy lament the loss of the spark that makes New York so great in what can be best described as a piano-driven power ballad. While he wallows in his criticisms with disarming vocal vulnerability, it is clear that he loves the city, as it is "still the one pool where [he'd] happily drown". As the desperation grows in his voice, so does the instrumental backdrop, culminating in a blistering guitar solo bursts forth with frustration, ending the album in epic fashion- a chest-beating moment of invigoration, if you will.

The true heart of the album, fittingly, is in its center. The brutally honest "Someone Great" captures the feelings associated with the loss of a loved one. The propulsive, thick synthetic haze that opens the song captures the fractured mental state of shock that comes with the news of death perfectly. The lyrics here are outstanding, from the recollection of how awful it is to hear such news over the phone to the commentary on how irrational the mind becomes, as he becomes angry that the weather has the nerve to be lovely while he is mourning. That the cavalcade of catastrophe "keeps coming 'til the day it stops" is a lesson well-learned. Perhaps the greatest display of lyrical brilliance here is the way in which he reveals how much he has built up the image of the person he has lost, by admitting "you're smaller than my wife imagined- surprised you were human". A mesmerizing moment indeed. What follows is the subject of that "moment" described in the first part of this review. A frenetic piano loop acts as the engine for the juggernaut of "All My Friends", the album's behemoth of a centerpiece, whizzing the listener through the twists and turns of life. The instrumentation slowly builds with a melodic bass line that would make New Order proud and some starry percussion that conjures the magic of Bowie's "Teenage Wildlife", before setting the stage for this heartfelt tale of the ache of aging. The story starts innocently enough with blissful nostalgia, but gradually evolves into a manic concession of how quickly life slips away. A wide emotional breadth is cast, with healthy doses of glee, dejection, desperation, defiance, majestic grandeur, charmed reminiscence and self-deprecation churning in the cauldron. Five years spent trying to get with the plan are mirrored by five more in attempts to reconnect with friends, which quickly become ten years dropped "as fast as you can" and a midlife crisis fomenting a 3-month trip to France. Every lyric here is a winner, succinctly cutting and as visceral as the searing guitar wails that intensify the mood. There is no catharsis to be found here and the exasperated pleas of "if I could see all my friends tonight" are left unresolved as the locomotive percussion slowly chugs to a halt. And that, my friends, is a moment that can be better described by the vision of my jaw agape than by any words that could emanate from it. Wow.

As I have grown older, I have found that it is much more difficult for new music to galvanize my emotions into an uncontrollably fevered pitch. As such, I appreciate such moments much more now at my ripe age of 27. Reviewers are generally taught to strive to give an unbiased appraisal, but I'll be damned if it doesn't delight me to the tips of my toes that an album can generate such a rebirth of wide-eyed, teenage, blind fanaticism that I am rendered helplessly unable to muster any semblance of objectivity. "Sound of silver talk to me, makes you want to feel like a teenager. Until you remember the feelings of a real-live emotional teenager." Sorry James, no need to think again.

I was going to write about Sound of Silver, but that seems a bit silly since you wrote such a good review there. Maybe I'll tackle The National in a bit. I still haven't heard it many times, but I can tell it's my 2nd favorite of the year.

I think this is a good idea, although I'm not sure anyone can do a review as comprehensive and well-written as Moonbeam's review of Sound of Silver. I'll share a few of my thoughts on what has been my favorite album of 2007

Sunset Rubdown - Random Spirit Lover
5 Stars

The first time I listened to this album I was blown away and I have found more to love with each listen since. Each of the twelve tracks interweaves beautifully as Spencer Krug seemingly takes you to another world with the incredible visuals he creates in each song. The album is lyrically dense and features some of Krug's best songwriting to date as well as some of his most intricate melodies. "Up On Your Leopard, Upon The End of Your Feral Days," is epic and my pick for song of the year.

Slush, feel free to add your review of Sound of Silver! I'd love to read it. And thanks for the review, Ajackson! What genre is it?

I guess you would classify Sunset Rubdown as an indie rock band. If you are familiar with Wolf Parade, that is what they sound like since Spencer Krug is in both groups.

I do know and like Wolf Parade! I'll have to pick this up!

Nobody else has a review?

Hey Moonbeam, I'd like to wait until the very end of 2007, just in case there are any late contenders for best album.

I've also haven't read your review in detail, because in case Sound of Silver remains my favorite I want to have some original thoughts to write about it. I'm not a professional music reviewer, and I always turn out to be influenced by what other critics say about something when advocating an album.

If you do like Wolf Parade then I do definitely recommend you pick up the Sunset Rubdown album. I wasn't able to find it in stores however, and had to order mine online. Anyway, hope you enjoy it Moonbeam!

Timbaland Presents: Shock Value - Timbaland

In the last two years, let's face it, the charts have been dominated by artists produced by Timbaland, such as Justin Timberlake and Nelly Furtado. Now Timbaland puts together a compilation of his new songs featuring various artists within them. 'Give It To Me' from earlier this year definitely deserves a top 1000 if not top 500 spot in the next update, and I would not be surprised if 'The Way I Are' features in the top 100-200. Other good songs include 'Scream', 'Throw It On Me', 'Apologize' and 'One & Only' ft. Fallout Boy (I HATED Fall Out Boy earlier this year) has a great beat. Music has changed over the past 40 years from being simply creative to becoming heavily industrialised and Timbaland is at the top of his field.

First of all, Moonbeam, your Sound of Silver review is really amazing. Apparently, you have put more of these goodies on rateyourmusic, have to check these out as well.

Secondly, our private situation seems to have some things in common: About 5 years ago, I emigrated to Germany, and July 2005 my father passed away, about a month after my wedding day ...

Then, to my favorite album of the year. Well, up until last week this was ... Wilco - Sky Blue Sky. Now, most of you will have heard this album by now and numerous reviews are all over around, so what can I add? Here's just an opinion:

I like the rootsy sound of Being There more than the experimental road they took as of Summerteeth. Don't get me wrong, all their albums of the last decade are brilliant, but Being There is that unreplacable rough diamant that I like to listen to the most. As a consequence, I am very delighted with Sky Blue Sky, which is nothing new, but merely a set of beautiful references to the 70's, like e.g. Neil Young's "Harvest", or guitar solos that only Steely Dan or the Allmann Brothers could produce.

If I had to, I would pick the following 3 album songs that stand out over the others:

1: Impossible Germany - With "Impossible Germany, unlikely Japan", the lyrics seem to refer to WWII, but I think it's more about the difficulties of traveling separately and keeping a good (love) relation at the same. At the end of the song, the listener's attention is completing drawn to the breathtaking guitar solo from Nels Cline (who could already be heard on "Muzzle of Bees" from Wilco's 2005 live album).

2: Hate it here - Appreciate this song for the way the melody and guitar work follows the mood of the lyrics. Another song about a love relation, or better said, about the difficulty of letting loose after breaking up. It starts pleasantly, as if nothing seems wrong, just doing dishes and mawning the lawn. But since this is not bringing your beloved one back, this starts to annoy and in the end turns into hatred.

3: On and on and on - For me, this is the perfect funeral song. About (everlasting) love and (the acceptance of) death. "I will live in you or you will live in me" probably refers to a love couple, but for me it reminds me of my father's death and the way he will live further in his family.

Sky Blue Sky is not their best album and will certainly not get the acclaim like YHF gets. I'll give it a 4.5 stars anyway, for its beauty and for reminding me, that I used to like "soft rock" a lot in my childhood days.

Please replace the word "mawning" with "mowing" (where were my thoughts when I wrote that down??)

BTW, since last Sunday Iron & Wine's "The Shepherd's Dog" is occupying me, potentially becoming the favorite album of the year. If so, I'll be happy to do another review.

Great review DrDre! I've found that the loss of my father has affected me more than anything in my life. I aged so much when it happened. In the span of 2 and a half years, I lost him, both of my grandmothers, and my aunt, who committed suicide. As a result, I have looked to music now more than ever for insight and inspiration, and albums such as Sound of Silver, Arcade Fire's Funeral and Annie's Anniemal are therefore rendered much more meaningful to me.

On a lighter note, here is a review for one of my other favorite albums of the year. This album won't get much, if any, critical love, but it certainly has my heart.

Chromeo- Fancy Footwork

"Our keyboards grew legs so they could walk it out." This one sentence taken from their myspace page is a summary of Chromeo's ethos as they release their second album, Fancy Footwork: their music is there to entertain and not to be taken so seriously. After the synth funk workout of 2004's guilty pleasure She's in Control, Chromeo ups the ante with an album short on run time but long on replay value. Just like its predecessor, Fancy Footwork pays homage to a bevy of 80s influences in the production style, lyrical content and flow. As such, it mightily succeeds in its aim.

As with She's in Control, Fancy Footwork features funk, funk and more funk. It is led off with a bubbling electronic intro with a clever incorporation of the classic "oooo eee oooo OOOO oooh" into the band's name, before proceeding full steam ahead with two of the most worthy dancefloor fillers of the decade, "Tenderoni" and "Fancy Footwork". The former is all buzzing synth bass, handclaps, a wildly entertaining mixture of natural and processed vocals and a glorious fade out and fade in. With lyrics as silly as "For sure if I tell you how to do my dance, baby then you'll let me get in those pants", it is an irresistible reminder of testosterone-laden synth funk blasts circa 1983. Its successor, "Fancy Footwork" is another delectable funk opus worthy of status as a title track. Zapp and Cameo would be proud to see their legacy continued here. Similar funk injections are generously added to standouts such as the stuck-in-the-doghouse anthem "My Girl Is Calling Me (A Liar)", in which the solution to all domestic disputes seems to be taking your girl to a movie. The silliness factor is raised further with the delicious "Call Me Up" in a section where the desired girl struggles to remember her suitor's phone number. Another 80s tradition is revived in the appearance of characters presented in previous albums. The "needy girl" chronicled in 2004's epic single "Needy Girl" is now responsible for bringing out a more sensitive side in Dave 1 as is evident in the sublimely produced and perfectly delivered "Opening Up". Elsewhere, the duo adds clean guitars typical of the mid 80s in the stellar "Bonafied Lovin'" and a hot saxophone solo sizzles over the warm synth backdrop of the gorgeous vintage closing ballad, "100%".

Even the songs that aren't as successful are nonetheless a treat for fans of the genre. "Outta Sight" and "Waiting 4 U" don't display the increased songwriting craft of the album's standout tracks, but still contain decent grooves. The hilarious electric-piano led ditty "Momma's Boy" may detract from the consistent groove sustained throughout the remainder of the album, but serves the album's goal to entertain.

Chromeo is never going to win awards for their lyrics, and their brand of synth funk may never garner a large commercial following, but Fancy Footwork provides further testimony to their wildly fun stature. Even if it never reaches the lofty heights set by "Needy Girl", the smoother, sleeker Fancy Footwork is nevertheless a stronger album than the band's debut. As the sweet little reprise of "Tenderoni" creeps up after the glowing synths fade out of "100%", the temptation to replay this whirlwind album that clocks in just under 40 minutes is difficult to resist. As a fun diversion from more serious musical fodder, this album delivers wonderfully and holds up to repeated listens. Behind the macho gesturing of this Arab/Jew partnership is a couple of music geeks giddy to revive the glory of 80s synth pop, and their enthusiasm is infectious. If She's in Control was the first kiss, Fancy Footwork is grounds for falling in love.