The Cold Cut

The final 5. How emotional *wipes tear from eye*. These are the five albums that I really connected with this year, and the only advice I can give is to buy them now if you haven't already. As usual, comment, and click the album title to buy it, or the artist name to find out a bit more about them.

Come back tomorrow for a round-up, as well as some more end of year lists.

5. Arcade Fire- Neon Bible
Neon Bible seems to be the epitome of 'bigger is better'. They bought a church, converted it into a recorded studio, learned some new instruments (hurdy-gurdy and organ, for starters) and had loads of fun whilst recording a more rocking second album. Its a slight departure from Funeral, and I wouldn't go so far to say its equal in quality, but Neon Bible is still one of the most complete rock albums this year.

Favourite Track: No Cars Go

Its been around for a long time, but this song has really benefited from being re-recorded. A rollicking tune with some grandiose production.

4. Arctic Monkeys- Favourite Worst Nightmare
How do you build on such a brilliant introduction as Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not (WPSIATWIN!)? Take a cue from this band- get better at your instruments, improve production and up the tempo- then the world's your oyster. Okay, Favourite Worst Nightmare isn't as instant as WPSIATWIN, but the quality of songs on this album absolutely trounces their debut in my opinion. Its bigger, faster and more brutal- a high octane beast of an album. Where next? Only time will tell.

Favourite Track: Teddy Picker

Teddy Picker- the bass driven third single- concerns modern society's chase for fame. In the wake of rubbish like Big Brother and X-Factor, you can see how true this is. They also made the brave move of recording using a live audio track in their video. Watch it here

3. M.I.A.- Kala
Kala was definitely the most diverse album of 2007, and M.I.A. continued her party trick of splicing styles and cultures together into an epic musical concoction. First off, the beats are ridiculous; some of the samples on this album would put most rap/hip-hop albums to shame. Lyrics have always been a key part of M.I.A.'s appeal, and thankfully, her style wasn't hugely altered between Arular and Kala, with political verses still featuring strongly:
"Do you know that cost of AK's
Up in Africa
20 dollars ain't shit to you
But thats how much they are"
All in all, its comforting to see Kala high up on many end of year lists, and once you've heard it, its easy to see why.

Favourite Track: World Town

Who would of thought that the sound of a gun cocking was so cool? M.I.A., ever the pioneer.

2. Patrick Wolf- The Magic Position
With the Magic Position, Patrick Wolf was no longer only for those with 'eclectic' musical tastes. Some critics have accused him of taking the easy 'pop' route, but when the results are so encouraging, it really doesn't make a difference. Patrick recieves very little recognition, which may have been the reason he moved in a 'poppier' direction, but even on unfamiliar ground he excels. The title track is the definition of happiness, but halfway in, things turn dark with Bluebells. Other than the confusing Secret Garden, this is a flawless, undervalued album.

Favourite Track: (Let's Go) Get Lost

No explanation required- listen, and you will be swept up by this song. Happiness, wrapped into a 3 minute package.

1. Lupe Fiasco- The Cool
This album was the latest, and best, addition to this list (full review here). Quite simply, Lupe Fiasco is a legendary rapper, and its a massive shame that he will be retiring after LupEND, his next album. Both Food And Liquor and The Cool are both serious contributions to the musical archives, and illustrate that Lupe is not your generic rapper. He really has something to say in every instance, and a lot of his rhymes contain content that is 'now'. He will also go down in history as the only rapper to ever record a succesful concept album, and a rare lyrical talent. Truly revolutionary...

Favourite Track: Little Weapon (I've bought the album, and its now out, so I feel okay about posting one track)

Fallout Boy singer Patrick Stump produces, and in the process creates the best backing track of the year. Lupe pulls a trick, opening with the line:
"I killed another man today
shot him in his back as he ran away"
All is revealed at the end, when we realise that this is, in fact, occuring in a video game.

Patrick Wolf is, I suppose, someone that you could call odd. You only have to take a look at the album artwork below to deduce that he is not your average person, or at least someone with an extremely warped fashion sense. But this doesn't really matter; as his 3rd album, The Magic Position, is amazing.

I recently copied my Dad's CD onto my ipod out of curiosity, and I wasn't really expecting to like it. I suppose I was being a bit superficial, though 'you can't judge a book by it's cover', i suppose. The album is very unique and different, much like Patrick's dress sense; Wolf prides himself on the fact that he has never reached for a guitar, and i don't think I could compare the album, or its sound, to anything else barring Bjork, Kate Bush and other "weird" artists. The album follows the opener, Overture, with the title track, which is the happiest point on the album. The next song, Accident And Emergency, has heavy beats and sounds experimental. This is my favourite, and was the first single off the album. The next section is made up of two songs, one which builds up to the next, Bluebells. There's a vcast on Amazon.com (follow link at the bottom of this post): i hope this live performance gives an indication of how good his voice is... The next few tracks are great, particularly Magpie, in which he is joined by a slightly disturbing female vocal.

The only negative aspect of this album is a completely wasted song called Secret Garden. I don't really know how to describe it other than continual white noise for two minutes. But I wont let that alter my review; on the whole, Patrick Wolf has constructed an excellent 13 tracks which will hopefully get him the recognition he deserves. Unfortunately, my brother has been going on about him since the release of his first album, Lycanthropy, and I think I will find myself giving his back-catalogue a listen. All in all, The Magic Position is an excellent album by a rare talent, and I give it 8 out of 10.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Magic-Position-Patrick-Wolf/dp/B000LRY9WM/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/203-1649282-4337547?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1175759941&sr=8-1