16 January 2008

top ten of 2007

When someone , refers to major influential
groups / composers like : Mazzy Star, Velvet
Underground,Cocteau Twins, Kraftwerk and
also P.j. Harvey , Brian Eno, Ennio Morricone
and Angelo Badalamenti then you shouldn't
be surprised after listening to the album
' Stories ' by 'The Marzipan Man' .





At least 4 incredibly beautiful tracks-'Buddy
the cat' , 'Billy the fox' 'take this wind as an
advice' and last but not least , ' sometimes '
could come from any album from the '60's
till the 00's . And don't rush to think that I
am over exaggerating . Discover it first...









' 2 ' is the second album from Abbie Gale,
( the first one was 'family life' ),and I think
that this one is their magnum opus so far.
They come from Patras,Greece.This album
is much more powerful but without losing
the melody of the previous one.
They have an extra group member , nice
artwork & remarkable production. Among
others there is also a duet with Vasilikos
(the singer of 'raining pleasure') and I can't
really find a second rate song . Danko,
clown,lovesong,gone & heliotrope portrait
seem to be the best...so far...We will all be
lucky to see them live at blow up, on
March 15.






After all these years , it's not really very
difficult to understand which are the group's
influences , when you hear a specific album.
At least so far, because how is it possible to
realize that behind the contemporary ' twee
pop 'of Honeydrips, hides the whilom punk
indie ( lead singer - of the group Dorotea ) .


It's Swedish again ,sometimes it sounds like
the 60's , sometimes a glance to the 80's.
There are at least 3 masterpieces of pop and
some of the instruments used , you don't
really hear them in pop music very often
(flute and tamburine) .Once you hear it, you
can't easily press the stop button . Maybe
'' in some distant future '', ' it's better to be
lost than to be found ' , as Carlsson claims .
'Here comes the future ' is what we say.


Suppose we have the following case study.
It's 1979 , you are 19 years old in England
from a completely





unknown place ,under the name Inkberrow.

suppose it's just a matter of time before you

become supporter of Cure, echo and the
bunnymen and ' Sound'. In this ' and also

the trees' album there is not even a song

that stands out from the rest. It's a well

balanced album , with concrete structure

and it's ups & downs .Jones brothers have

achieved to create an atmospherical album,

where the moody vocals by Simon Jones

give thecall to travel us in paths where we

all have been before(Tindersticks) .A demo

was the cause to start a friendship between

them and Cure. Another childhood dream

came true.Cure not only took them as support

group, but also L.Tolhurst was the producer

of their album, released in 1983.Approximately

25 years after 'and also the trees ' , doesn't not

sound, dated,thanks to' The rag and bone Man' .

Don't try to resist ' beutiful silence ' . It's no use .
















Usually before I recommend a new lp it

takes at least one careful listen before I

express my opinion.With 'National's' album

it took me an entire Sunday afternoon before

I ..... fell in love with it. And of course you all

know that Sunday is a severe judge. I first

heard ' National ' ,in ''alligator'' 2005, which

means that i have missed their first 2 albums.

I still do. I was attracted by the voice of Matt
Berninger,the 'reincarnation' of Stuart Staples

Leonard Kohen and Johnny Cash.After all these

listenings & i still can't overcome the vertebrate

melody of brainy, or the violin intro of the
exceptional ''Sqalor Victoria''. On '' slow show ''

Matt presents the band's love manifesto'' you

knowI dreamed about you for 29 years before

i saw you'' , and finally all the sad beauty of an

era is concentrated on 'boxer's' ,'racing like a

pro' . That's all i have to say.

A version of the legend tells that the group

took it's name after a brake up, between

Kevin Barnes and a girl ...of Montreal
In this concept album,where Kevin claims

that it's his transforma tion from K. Barnes

into G. Fruit





(his rock- glam persona),anything can happen.

From the tremendous

' the past is a grotesque

animal' ,to the hilarious 'she's a rejecter' & from

the twee popish 'cato as a pan', to playful 'suffer

for fashion'. After 7 lp's ,5 ep's 12 singles and 1

soundtrack ,I think that the time has arrived for

Kevin & co. Will you get on the bus with the

strange name 'Hising Fauna ,Are You A Destroyer' ?


Nowdays,to characterize an album 'rock' 2 guitars

1 bass and 1 drum is not enough. A few years ago

(1997) I used to say that the best rock






album of the year was Prodigy's lp ' fat of the

land' . I think that Unkle's ' war stories '

belong to the same category. What you think

by listening this album differs by far from

what you expected to hear . First of all,

there are a lot of collaborations,and some of

them were really a knock out. Ian Astbury

participations in (2 songs) is the highlight of

the album. 'Burn my shadow' ,puts in for the

song of the year & I haven't had the chance

to listen to tracks so heartbreaking as 'when

things explode' . There are also Gavin clark,

Josh Homme , Duke spirit and Autolux.Josh

Homme sounds exactly like the ' Franz

Ferdinard' in 'restless',while Gavin's ' key to

the kingdom ' combines the music of Joy

division ,with the vocals of Stone roses' .Liela
moss of the ' Duke Spirit ' reminds me of

'elastica' . As far as I 'm concerned this is the

album of the year. Ok,I admit it.I am a fan of

Swedish pop .This is the second lp from this

country that I have included in my list. A

catchy and


clever name,a front cover that reminds me of

4AD era,and a few minute lessons about 'how

dark wave music sounds in the 00's ' .From a
city under the name Jonkoping , around 2000

,a few friends desided to form a group .Their

story is similar to the majority of rock groups.

One more time Cure and Jesus & Mary Chain

influnces a band.It took them 5 years and a lot

of label begging before they sign for 1 ep.

Labrador saved them from breaking up ,and

the rest is ...Mary Onettes .How many albums

have you heard so far with songs like 'lost' or '

slow' . Not many for sure.


Coherence, stability and innovation.Coherence,
to Radiohead sound, stability, because there

is the same line up for more than 20 years, and
innovation because they always find something
to make us talk about them.
This year they sold their album ' in Rainbows'
via internet without a fixed price.The result was
achieving sales equal to with the aggregation of


their last 3 lp's.' In rainbows ' there are songs

that awakes memories of the near past ( though

10 years have passed since ok computer ), like
nude,weird fishes/arpeggi,Reckoner and jigsaw

falling into place which is the highlight of the

album. It's remarkable that most of the songs

were first presented at Radiohead's tour and

then on the studio. Finally 'nude' was the song

that premiered live in the 'ok computer ' tour

before they decided to include it ,in their new

album.

Suppose you are the candidate for a job

concerning economics and in your c.v there is

the London school of Economics reference
then you have at least one advantage over in

comparison to the other candidates.





If we make an anagoge in music instead of

economics then Cherry red is the 'passe-partout'

that holds all the reservations.The Hepburns is a

u.k band that was lucky enough to record for the
cult label of the 80's ( Cherry Red ) 1 lp and 1 12'' .

For the next 10 years we couldn't say that they

were at the peack of their creativity.
So since 2000 they have been recording for

' Radio Khartoum ' . ' Something worth
steeling ' is an album that brings back

memories & sounds we have for a long time

missed.'Fire red car' for example reminds me

of the first singles of Belle & Sebastian ,

'Heavy weight Bohemians' and 'During British

Winter 'is like Terry Hall (Specials) singing in

the '00's . ' The last thing I saw before I said

goodbye is probably the song that Morrissey
forgot to include in his last album. It's pop,

jazzy , with a little ska attitude and it's a

must - hear album for 2007. if it was

necessary to rank the above albums I think
the list would look like this :





1. U.n.k.l.e - War Stories


2. Abbie Gale - 2


3. Marzipan man - Stories


4. The National - Boxer


5. Hepburns - Something Worth Stealing


6. And Also The Trees - The Rag And Bone Man


7. Honeydrips - Here Comes The Future


8. Radiohead - In Rainbows


9. Of Montreal - Hising Fauna,Are You A Destroyer?


10. Mary Onettes - Mary Onettes

















8 comments:

malddim said...

poly kali i lista sou... me tous hepburns na kanoun ti megali ekpliksi!!! bravo re vag, foberi epilogi! tsekare kai auto:
http://rateyourmusic.com/list/malddim/best_of_2007
my list...

blowman said...

SE EYXARISTW DIMITRI.PRAGMATIKA LEIPEIS APO HERAKLIO.4 KOINA ,NOMIZV KALA EINAI.ENTEKA APO TA ALBUM POU PROTEINEIS DEN TA EXW AKOYSEI.ELPIZW NA TA BRW.ELPIZW NA EISAI STOUS ABBIE GALE.GIA THN PARTARA THS ALLHS EBDOMADAS DEN NOMIZW NA PROLAVEIS.FILIA

malddim said...

makari na kataferw na eimai stous abbie gale, tha to thela poly...
kai ososn afora ta alboum pou les oti tha psakseis... an den ta breis, pes mou... tha brw egw tropo na ta pareis... kai oti allo thes episeis.
btw, mia kai to sizitousame, akouses kainourgio el perro? thelw ti gnwmi sou...

Byron said...

geia sou re VAG. Nomizw soy eixa bei sto BlowUP oti eixa pathei plaka me tos National. Xairomai pou tous eida stin lista sou. Tha prospathisw na erthw stos Abbie Gale. Ta leme
Byron

blowman said...

Dimitri sygnwmh gia thn kathysterhsh na sou apanthsw.Nomizw oti einai para poly ypotoniko.Stis dynates toy stigmes (se sxesh vevaia me ta ypoloipa) mou thimizei Kate Bush.
Oso afora tous Abbie Gale ,tha paiksoyn paraskevi ,Sabbato.Pairnw to risko kai oti vgei....

blowman said...

Byrona isxyei oti eipa kai ston Dimitri,gia thn kathisterhsh.Den to thimame ayto Byrona alla den fhmizome gia thn mnhmh moy.Gia na to les etsi tha einai.Elpizw na se dw syntoma ,filia sthn Agaph.

malddim said...

kala kaneis kai perneis ta riska sou, sinithws se kalo bgainoun...
megales stisges tha zisei to irakleio, abbie gale gia 2 meres, fobero!
mpravo re vag, giati olo aggelakas, aggelakas... eleos pia... hahahah
egw pantws kanonisa kai tha eimai katw kai tis 2 meres... opote tha ta poume kai apo konta.

blowman said...

DIMITRI,MOY TO EIPE H EIRHNH KAI HARHKA PARA POLY.EGW PHRA TA RISKA MOY ,KANW AYTO POY THELW (POLLA TA EKSODA),THA TO PALEPSW OSO MPORO .APO KEI KAI PERA PERIMENV VOHTHIA APO SAS.PAEI DEN PAEI KALA,DEN THA STAMATHSW PANTWS.SE EYXARISTW PAAARA POLY.BYE