Was bored so thought I'd compile a list of most of the notable releases this year in regards to music good/bad so far. If you feel like, please add your own additions and such, as Im still on the prowl for releases that I most surely missed...


Boris & Michio Kurihara "Rainbow"
Not really an '07 release but as it hit US shores this May, fuck it Im including it. This one was quite of a shock to me, and has found a place as probably one of my favorite releases of this particular group. It has a nice mix of droning guitar work that is both quite heavy and also shockingly beautifully melodic. Definitely a great introductory album to the band, as I find it even more accessible then their previous effort, "Pink" and does a great job of showing off how versatile their sound can get. So sad I missed their tour here in the states.... Anyways you can judge for yourselves, heres a clip for the title track "Rainbow":
http://youtube.com/watch?v=l1z0FGxWi7Q


Clazziquai "Love Child of the Century"
Not much to say about them really as I assume those that care, already have given this a listen and know who they are. The jist, a korean electronic-pop trio that has an almost bossa nova / lounge sound to it. I have to say this is their worst album, but still blows away anything the Korean music industry normally produces. Heres the incredibly corny-ass video for their first single "Lover Boy" off this release:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=ccA8oPFIIlQ


Electric Wizard "Witchcult Today"
Not actually out yet, but its easily the best rock release this year in terms of stuff on the harder side. A doom metal essential, and gotta love that album art too....Sadly, I couldnt find any good samples for this, the only thing I stumbled across was a leak of the 2nd track "Dunwich" on youtube, though the quality of the audio really doesnt do it justice, its all I got:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=RdW8lt6u4RY


Justice "t"
Im really usually not a fan of house or anything really electro, but Justice is either poppy enough for me to like or more unlikely actually original enough to stand out in a genre I find sounds relatively homogenous. Anyway, heres the ever so awesome video for the 3rd track off this release, D.A.N.C.E.:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=fo_QVq2lGMs


Mavis Staples "We'll Never Turn Back"
The only R&B release I was aware of and cared about this year from my knowledge. Video is for "Eyes On The Prize", watch and judge for yourself if you haven't already:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=0ZWdDI_fkns


Rilo Kiley "Under The Blacklight"
Yes, it sound a shit load more poppy and over-produced, but hey I never thought of them as really "indie" anyways (not that I give that term any merit to begin with). Solid catchy pop album imo and not afraid to admit I enjoyed it. Heres the Silver Lining vid:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=h6-W3fCUok8


World End's Girlfriend "Hurtbreak Wonderland"
Not much to say, if you havent heard of WEG, its sort of like electronic postrock. This release is somewhat special though as it has more of a feel of improvization and jazz influences. Heres a sample of one of the tracks, 100 Years of Choke:
http://www.humanhighwayrecords.com/release/sound/hhr42_03.mp3





and saving the best for last.....



The New Pornographers "Challengers"
Hands down the best album of the year by far in my opinion. I could seriously listen to this album nonstop for months and still love it to death...which I've actually been doing. I find it somewhat of a departure from their older releases, but its definitely for the better if anything. Heres a few samples off the album:
My Rights Vs. Yours (Live on Letterman)
one of the best album openers Ive ever heard....
Challengers
Title track, I find the video kind of lame, but great song nonetheless and incredible singing from Neko Case....
All the Old Showstoppers (Live on the Black Cab Sessions)

JUSTICE AND THE NEW PORNOS = WIN. "And here's the mutiny I promised you... and here's the party it turned into." God, French electronica duos and Canadian indie pop. What would I do without you.

What I also found delicious:
Arcade Fire - "Neon Bible" : granted, following up "Funeral" is like trying to outshine an exploding star, but it's a pretty solid release. Also,


LCD Soundsystem - "Sound Of Silver" : every single track from this album is epic. "North American Scum" and "All My Friends" are definitely faves of mine.

Klaxons - "Myths of the Near Future" : British nu-rave indie rockers; that's a title you just can't screw up.

Animal Collective - "Strawberry Jam" : their sound's much pop-pier than before and, imo, it's a good thing.

Blonde Redhead - "23" : granted, there are a few tracks I don't like on it but for the most part it's incredibly ethereal; Kazu Makino's voice is absolutely enchanting.

Battles - "Mirrored" : it's math rock at its most entertaining. Plus, the video for "Atlas" is kickass.

I lol'ed at Rilo Kiley's "The Moneymaker" vid.

indeed, i just loved every track on Challengers to death. Im still sort of undecided on Strawberry Jam, I don't think I liked it as much as their previous albums like Feels, but its definitely on the better side of releases this year. Completely forgot about Blonde Redhead, definitely a notable release. Do you also get the feeling that they sort of sound like a mix between Shibuya-kei and lofi acts like SCLL?

gah I wanna go to mexico d.f. to see justice and daft punk arctic monkeys will be there too

@crap: If only I knew what Shibuya-kei and SCLL sounded like... but oh-kay!

@s-II: that sounds like one kickass lineup there D: The Monkeys and the two reigning royal groups of French dance? Wow. The only concerts I've been to are Mute Math and Manu Chao in Quebec, and then Cold War Kids and Muse in NYC :S Which, admittedly, were all amazing, especially Muse, but still.

whoops sorry, SCLL (Spangle Call Lilli Line) is a Japanese band that has a similar sound to Lily Chou Chou/Salyu if you know who that is, sort of ethereal like:
Nano
U-Lite

Shibuya-kei is sort of a division of Japanese popular music that pertains both to a geographical and genre similarities. Examples being: Cornelius/ Flipper's Guitar, Pizzicato Five, Fantastic Plastic Machine, etc.... Its somewhat of a loose term but it generally applies to artists that root from a musical scene of the Shibuya district that has a mixture of bossa nova, lounge, triphop, ye-ye, etc...
An example:
Cornelius - Fly

yeah I have heard of how amazing muse concerts are that if you like the band after you go to a concert you'll be addicted that thats how good they are on stage I need to check em out someday

hmmm a few days ago i found this info out...imo not another release matters besides:

the saw iv end song (world release too people not just japan)....

I.V. by dun dun dun...X JAPAN!!!!

dunno about any of you guys but x japan is my favorite band and i almost vomited when i heard the preview it's sooo good!

sad sad though it won't be on the soundtrack.

anyways preview if you don't know about it:



oh and crap i really liked that french dance song or whatever XD

Have a nice day!

oh wow....i cant picture x japan being used for saw at all.


holy shit, i just realized this is a new song....meaning they actually did reunite. zieg heil......

Not out yet nor have I even heard it but Saul Williams seems to be following in Radiohead's example but imo, done right this time. He and producer Trent Reznor are offering the album as a download themselves with the option of paying nothing and getting the album with 192 Lame encoded MP3s with a pdf of the artwork or you can choose to pay a small 5 dollar charge to get the same thing but with the option of getting it in 192/320 for mp3s, or better yet, in FLAC.

For those that do care about quality, Radiohead's measely 160 kbps doesnt really suffice especially when you are buying the album. Saul and Trent are doing actually right in regards to download with the option of giving it in FLAC or even 320.

Just wanted to mention that Alicia Keys new album is complete fucking win. Although I do like her previous two, I can't say I was ever a huge fan of hers, but this recent effort of hers has completely blown me away....

Check out her single here:

Oh yeahhh... that was great! :D I really enjoyed that as well. I'm going to have to check it out...

I wandered onto Vienna's site the other day, and listened to some of her songs. I know Dreaming Through the Noise isn't new, but I remember you saying it was weird. So not worth getting?

A couple weeks ago I was TOTALLY psyched when I found out Jimmy Eat World released a new album. I absolutely adored their previous album - being one of the few CDs I can remember getting where I actually liked every single song. I only checked out some of the new songs briefly on youtube but I'll definitely be getting this CD...

Acoustic version of cover single Chase This Light -

well i mean, i wouldnt buy it but definitely go dl it since you have nothing to lose. I just thought it wasn't all that great....not bad by any means

Dammit I wanted to find the youtube songs thread, but I think it's buried on the second page ; D; Wanted to share some recent finds. The first is Heth and Jed:


Funny story, I actually heard them playing in Penn Station in NYC. It was kinda late, I was just off a 4 hour bus ride from DC to NYC and was on my way to my bf's place, but then I heard them play and just stopped and stood there for 5 minutes with a pretty big crowd of people. Just two kinda scraggly looking guys making some really good sounds. I made a note of their website linked above, they have three songs available for download that you can check out, I might invest in one of their CDs since this was just such a cool find...

Not sure if this was the song they were performing when they caught my ear, but it was pretty similar to this.

- youtube

- and another song off youtube

And the next one I just found today off Facebook, my friend had a "iLike" or whatever the products thing is called application link to Priscilla Ahn.


Her stuff on myspace sounds awesome. She reminds me a bit of Vienna Teng. Gorgeous voice + ambient. Apparently was played on Grey's Anatomy XD So yeah definitely recommend if you haven't already :D

nice. Priscilla Ahn's tunes are tranquil sweetness.

got me thinking about Eisley...indie pop nonsense but I'm feeling especially fruity on horny werewolf day so...




the cute brunette with her grassy knees makes me feel nostalgic o_O;