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December 17, 2007
Our Top 50 Songs of 2007: #20-11
Gui Borratto - "Beautiful Life"
If Panda's Person Pitch was the essence of Brian Wilson, spaced out and made newly weird, Brazilian producer Gui Borratto's "Beautiful Life" did the same for New Order. That's a tough sell in the first two minutes, when it's just a buzzing loop and a machine press beat. But long before the heartbreak guitars cement the comparison, it's there in the simple progression of synth chords and in the way the fey voice can't quite match the rhythm but feels more human by failing to measure up. Sure, N O were never this sunny, but they're from Manchester and he's from Brazil. See how that alters your world view.
- J. Klingman
This here is more epic tragedy than mere "song", clocking in at over nine minutes and containing some eleven different movements. Did I mention that one of them is 126 seconds of guitar soloing? There are tumbling walls of piano and a lot of laughable hoopin' and hollerin' going on as well, and the song is actually about a farmer, but don't let all the art school idiosyncrasies fool you, "Bushels" is pure classic rock at heart. - R. Monty
All three of Maya Arulpragasam's tracks on this list cannibalize recognizable bits from other songs, but "Jimmy" is the only straight up cover. As some very non-intensive search engine time will inform you, "Jimmy Adja" is an old Bollywood number, an awesome one at that. Save some excellent studio updates, the bones of it are right there to hear. But where some run of the mill hipster might exploit it for kitsch, Maya recognized the killer tune there. That it was a piece of her treasured childhood pop culture explains the loving faithfulness, but the universality of the end result (and Kala as a whole) suggests a new pop reality. Now that we have this giant pool of cultural ephemera from around the globe at our fingertips, why should we keep it sequestered? - J.K.
After the, "Hello, Cleveland!" into, fast-forward to the 4:15 mark, kick back for thirty seconds, and bask in the two-fisted glory. That right there was the best drum solo performed by a member of homo sapiens this millennium, my friend, courtesy of no less than three different people playing at once. (So I guess, technically, it's six-fisted glory. Even better!) But that's just the jelly filling in this donut of awesomeness. Replete with power stance guitar chords and lyrics about being in love with a spy (or something), "Devastation" is a song that demands you to turn it up to 11! - R.M.
The burrower... One, two, three, four - by the end it may have annoyed, but, seemingly forever, you adored. The soaring swings, Feist's slightly raspy, charming voice; and the banjo and horns. Easy listening the world can get behind. We, here at the Swankster, love our noise rock and complicated structures, but we know simple and pure. Here's to Feist and the musical equivalent of a simple, delightful seared sea scallop. Maybe with a little bacon. Mmmmmmmmmhhh, bacon. - K. O'Brien
Based solely on his public persona in this year, Deerhunter's Bradford Cox seems a tough nut to crack. Similar notes seem valid for "Heatherwood", surely the anomaly of Cryptograms based on clarity alone. Recorded in the second of two spaced out sessions, it exists artistically distant from the rest of the album. For those curious for a more accessible side of Deerhunter, look no further. After all, satisfying the jones for bands with fuzzed out reverb must start somewhere. - M.Swankster
Modest Mouse's cousin... No, you didn't read that wrong. Spoon wins the 2007 version of the Modest Mouse award - the band that surprisingly is embraced by a much larger audience than you thought possible. And that suggests all might be right with the world - Britt Daniel & Co. have always had a great sense of melody and pace - "The Way We Get By" should have been a rock radio staple. This song evokes a studio session jam -- horns ducking in and out and a wonderful ending crescendo - where all the parts go together perfectly. - K.O.
In the year of the green this song is perhaps the year’s best musical argument for the two-legged express. Comparing the 2003 version on their self-titled to Neon Bible’s full orchestral throttling is the difference between the “click of the light and the start of the dream.” One can only imagine the distant euphoric space this song can travel if the band took another stab at it in another four years. -Y. Korngold
"Cryptograms" had me at that first ringing guitar figure at :025, which is undoubtedly my favorite single musical moment of the year. Seeing the band perform it live in August at the South Street Seaport was a thrill, memorable for certain indescribable audio embellishments and the sight of singer Bradford Cox holding forth on the wind-whipped stage. -D. Klein
Low register juke joint thumping met with the seductive crooning of Leslie Feist’s voice alone will keep this song a favorite for years. “My Moon My Man” comes at you like a boxer but like Iron Mike, it disarmingly still sounds gentle and sweet. -Y.K.
Posted by Merry Swankster at December 17, 2007 07:00 PM
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