The Cold Cut

In my short blogging career I have never been quick to jump on the bandwagon. Some might accuse me of being behind the curve, but that isn't always the case. I just feel tainted somehow, writing about a band such as Vampire Weekend or Feist, who have quite literally been blogged to death (and stardom). My thought process is as follows: if 1000 other people have written about them, what else can I add? Sure, I could put my own unique spin on things, but that doesn't alter the feeling I get that those sort of posts are pointless. This is me making up for those lost chances: rather than writing about the great artists I haven't mentioned, this new feature will allow me to post some of their music without boring you. First up, Vampire Weekend:

Vampire Weekend- The Kid's Don't Stand A Chance
Vampire Weekend- I Stand Corrected
Vampire Weekend- Campus
Vampire Weekend- Walcott
Vampire Weekend- A-Punk (Live on SNL)
Vampire Weekend- M79 (Live on SNL)

NB- Normally I would feel terrible posting more than two tracks by an artist in one post, but considering the whole album is on the Hype Machine I think this is acceptable. Enjoy...

After a four day stretch, I've finished the list, and I'm honestly quite proud of it.

The quality of music released in 2007 was high, and because of this, many special albums didn't find their way into my top 20. Therefore, its only fair that I have a post devoted to a round-up, including the notable mentions, who just missed out on the top 20. I will post a couple of great tracks as well...

Top 20 Albums:
1. Lupe Fiasco- The Cool
2. Patrick Wolf- The Magic Position
3. M.I.A.- Kala
4. Arctic Monkeys- Favourite Worst Nightmare
5. Arcade Fire- Neon Bible
6. Burial- Untrue
7. ?- The Good, The Bad And The Queen
8. Radiohead- In Rainbows
9. Daft Punk- Alive 2007
10. Les Savy Fav- Let's Stay Friends
11. Kings Of Leon- Because Of The Times
12. The Shins- Wincing The Night Away
13. LCD Soundsystem- Sound Of Silver
14. Justice- †
15. Bloc Party- A Weekend In The City
16. Interpol- Our Love To Admire
17. Klaxons- Myths Of The Near Future
18. Jay-Z- American Gangster
19. Bright Eyes- Cassadaga
20. Foo Fighters- Echoes, Silence, Patience And Grace

Notable Mentions:

Rock/Indie/Pop
The Maccabees- Colour It In: If I'd given this a few more listens, it probably would have flown into my top 20. Unfortunately, I never really gave it the time of day. I'll quote my brother on this (a HUGE fan): "I see this album as the coming of a really great band".

The Maccabees- Latchmere

Band Of Horses- Cease To Begin: To the trained ear, this was apparently worse than previous Band Of Horses album 'Everything All The Time'. If that's the truth, Everything All The Time must have been bloody amazing.

Band Of Horses- Is There A Ghost
Feist- The Reminder: The experience from dozens of other projects gave Leslie Feist the necessary grounding to produce such a great solo album. Easy-going, memorable, and remixed to death, The Reminder has established Feist as a serious songwriter.

Feist- My Moon My Man

Maximo Park- Our Earthly Pleasures: Our Earthly Pleasures got destroyed by the NME for some reason, and although I don't believe its top 20 worthy, it still chock full of great pop songs.

Maximo Park- Books From Boxes

Hip-Hop/Rap:
Kanye West- Graduation: Graduation was a return to form after the disappointing Late Registration. Other than 'Drunk And Hot Girls', it gels to perfection.

Kanye West- Good Life (ft. T-Pain)

Wu-Tang Clan- 8 Diagrams: Have you been missing the way rap used to be? Look no further. 8 Diagrams is the Clan doing what they do best, and their sound is almost totally unchanged from the throwback days.

Chris Brown- Exclusive: This guy can do it all. Sing, dance, act (for 15 minutes of Stomp The Yard at least). And whilst Exclusive isn't really good, it does show the smallest bit of progression on Chris' part. Maybe he will be the next Michael Jackson after all?

Dizzee Rascal- Maths+English: Now twice nominated for the Mercury award, and much deserved. No tricks- what you see is what you get.

Dizzee Rascal- Sirens

Chamillionaire- Ultimate Victory: No, he isn't a one hit wonder. His flow is almost unmatched in my opinion ("so fluid its like drinking a song"), and he has really improved between albums.

Chamillionaire- The Ultimate Victory

Things I haven't heard but really should do:
Bruce Sprinstein- Magic
Spoon- Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
Of Montreal- Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?
The National- Boxer

Admittedly, I'm not in the greatest of moods this evening after having been rejected from the university of Cambridge this afternoon, something which I wasn't really expecting. I've been building this university up for a long time now, and to be honest, being rejected is probably the best thing that could have happened to me at this moment. In the end, Cambridge is just like any other university: bricks and mortar. Its put things in perspective, shall we say. Anyway, I feel a little hurt inside, and these are the tracks that have been getting me through this afternoon. The observant ones of you will notice a theme with the song lyrics(*hint hint*). What are your musical weapons of choice for the bad moments in your life? Any tips? I could do with some...

Johnny Cash- Hurt Buy
Athlete- Wires Buy
Howling Bells- Low Happening Buy
Massive Attack- Teardrops Buy
Captain- This Heart Keeps Beating For Me Buy
Travis- Why Does It Always Rain On Me Buy
Arcade Fire- Neighborhood #3 (Power Out) Buy
Fugees- Ready Or Not Buy
Longwave- Tidal Wave Buy
Feist- One Two Three Four Buy
Elbow- Ribacage Buy
.

There's been a definite change in direction for the music industry: any song that makes it onto the charts has it's own set of remixes before you can say "cash-cow". I made it my job today to dig through the mountain of material and find some of the real gems:

Rihanna Ft. Chris Brown- Umbrella


This is an interesting one: I shamefully admit that I'm a massive fan of the original, and Chris Brown is a solid addition, slotting in his computer-enhanced voice and some original lyrics:
"Baby girl you can be my Cinderella, ella, ella, ella, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh"
It was a brilliantly bold hip-hop song to begin with: add Chris Brown, some more 'direct 'lyrics and you have an even superior version... but please don't spoil the magic and re-release it (as if Rihanna needs more money anyway?).

Feist- My Moon My Man (Boyz Noize Remix)

You might spot the trend (yes, I only just wrote about Boyz Noize), but this is a lot more than I expected from him on the remix front. You have to have balls to mix Feist's whispy voice with a bloody great voice synth, but the bravery pays off. I've listened to this about 15 times and I can't see any reason to dislike it- someone influential get a hold of this, I beg you, and give credit where it's deserved (Yes, Zane Lowe, YOU, if for some crazy reason you're reading).

M.I.A Ft. Battles & Akon- Boyz (Diplo Remix)


The sign of a skilled DJ/MC is that they can remix a song with an artist you hate an make you love them 3 minutes later. I have always been quick to show my confusion towards Battles and their space-rock- how else can you describe it?- and Akon has been a thorn in my side since 'Lonely' clogged up MTV Base. Mix these together with M.I.A.'s insanely brilliant Boyz, however, and you have something which miraculously works, and even sounds less 'out-there' than most of Kala, her latest album. Please let me know how you feel about these songs- isn't Boyz Noize remix awesome?

So there you have it: some DJ's do themselves proud and outdo the numerous "Jazzy Phizzle produc-shizzles" which get dumped on the music industry each year.