The Lists Continue... More Editor Favorites of 2007

As 2007 fades into the distance, it'd be a shame to let some very good albums fade along with it unnoticed and unlisted. Here's a few that didn't make too many year end lists (amazingly enough, seeing that everyone and their kid sister published one this year) but almost made mine:

Citay - Little Kingdom
Citay's second album is a guitar lover's paradise. Ezra Feinberg (Piano Magic) and Tim Green (Fucking Champs) play a wide variety of acoustic, electric, and synthesized guitars on Little Kingdom and create a lush, layered sound that rewards close listening, or is perfect for letting wash over you like a stream of shimmering water. The record plays like a stoner version of a Fripp and Eno collaboration with the two guitarists trading licks and creating loads of trippy atmosphere. Read more >>


Damon & Naomi - Within These Walls
The release of their seventh album, 2007's Within These Walls, means that Damon Krukowski and Naomi Yang have been releasing albums as a duo for 15 years. Shocking, yes. Even more shocking is that at a point where most bands or artists are well past their sell-by date, Damon & Naomi keep getting better and more interesting. Their basic sound of gently strummed guitars, melodic bass, innocent vocals, and arty lyrics has been the same since they were two-thirds of Galaxie 500, but each record has seen subtle changes in atmosphere and even some dramatic changes, like adding the guitar of Ghost's Michio Kurihara (a collaboration that has been working beautifully since 2000's Damon & Naomi with Ghost album). Within These Walls marks a significant change in sound from the duo. Ironically, given the title, it's their first record that sounds like it was made outside the walls of their apartment. Read more >>

Miracle Fortress - Five Roses
A couple things come to mind upon hearing the first few tracks of Five Roses. The first is that it sounds a lot like Yo La Tengo; there's a lot of ringing guitar work and throbbing bass going on, especially on tracks like "Whirrs" and "Hold Your Secrets to Your Heart." The second is that sounds a whole lot like the Beach Boys; it's bouncy and musically ambitious, full of soaring vocal harmonies and echoing snares. Now, this isn't to say that Graham Van Pelt (the man behind Miracle Fortress) is an outright copycat, or that Five Roses suffers under the weight of its influences. On the contrary, the album wears them beautifully; not only that, but it makes for one of 2007's more memorable and original indie-pop debuts. Read more >>

1990s - Cookies
There are a few reference points for the 1990s' debut album that you need to forget right away. It doesn't matter that Bernard Butler produced, or that two of the band's members were in a band with the drummer from Franz Ferdinand. It does matter that the band in question was Yummy Fur, because if you were a fan of their off-kilter and jagged brand of post-punky pop, you'll like Cookies. Of course that covers a couple hundred people at best, so let's say if you're a fan of off-kilter, spunky and often laugh-out-loud hilarious post-punk influenced pop that ropes in the best elements of Art Brut, the Libertines, Comet Gain and the B-52's, then there's a good chance you'll fall for the 1990s in a big way. Read More >>

The Postmarks - The Postmarks
The Postmarks' Tim Yehezkely has the kind of breathy, sweet vocal style associated with French singers of the '60s or Brazilian bossa nova girls of the same era. She's the focal point of the band's excellent debut record as she drifts like a cotton candy cloud through sophisticated chamber pop backdrops like Astrud Gilberto's mopey little sister. The 11 songs on display here sound lifted from the Bacharach songbook, as they're filled with vibraphones, shimmering strings, gently plucked guitars, and meticulously arranged and produced for full emotional impact. The emotion in question is sadness -- sweet, gentle, crushing sadness. Read more >>