The best of 2007: listening, watching, reading

by BRETT WOODWARD

HATS and hair-pieces off to the new found australianrules.com.au brevity enforced for the year's best lists. In trying to put together our opinions in 2006, the Melbourne office of this fine site botched the job in a number of ways. Last year, poor preparation on the part of some and over-preparation on the part of others resulted in there being so many lists and entries that it wound up just being a schedule of everything that was released in that calendar year.

A number of other rookie errors were made in the 2006 meeting to discuss the aforementioned:

1. It was done at an early closing pub.

2. It was done at an early closing pub that played The Pretenders Greatest Hits all night.

3. With The Pretenders Greatest Hits playing all night we didn't get to hear a single note of the music - terrific and tragic - that we discussed in such detail.

4. The pub had EFTPOS and a complete disregard for those wowser signs behind the bar that say they will refuse service to intoxicated patrons.

5. Numerous errors of judgement were made in the quantities and types of drinks orders. This resulted in at least one prominent scribe sleeping on his kitchen floor. Furthermore, by the end of the night, said scribe was only capable of verbalising the word 'pissedaz' over and over; had to have all his belongings shoved into his top pocket and escorted home in the cab he had chosen to fall asleep in before making the final decision on the kitchen floor.

With all this in mind it was decided that 10 songs was all that was allowed for the 2007 Year's Best event. We chose a more appropriate venue: one where the drinking could be done at our own pace; where we could hear all the tunes under review; and where there were endless bowls of roasted almonds covered with some kind of addictive garlic and MSG salt. The songs all went into an iPod and we hit 'shuffle'. What resulted was a schizophrenic jukebox playing saccharine hillbilly music one minute and moronic punk the next. I love this country and all my friends in it.

1. Guitar Wolf - Red Me (from album Dead Rock).

Embarrassed by including The Buzzcocks, Hawkwind and everything released by On-U Sound on last year's list, I was forced to find even sneakier ways to include geezer music in my 2007 faves by selecting new songs that sounded like old songs. A death in the band didn't slow the Wolf any. Class of '77 guitars start like a jet turbine and then get louder. The band's confusing, passionately shouted Japlish shows just how unimportant lyrics are to shirts off, screaming, testicle-swinging, punky good times.

2. Michigan And Smiley - Compliments To Studio One (from album When Rhythm Was King)

Sensational, ridiculously up-beat, pop reggae. The track is old but the compilation is new (me exploiting a legal loophole again). Singalong Port Royal patois sung-spoken to a classic riddim. Novelty track 'Natty Kung Fu' was my second fave from this disc.

3. Dalek - Content To Play Villain (from album Abandoned Language)

I don't follow Hip-Hop and related trades religiously, but I and a few others, noticed the dearth of good releases this year. I came to New Jersey's Dalek via their split singles and collaborations with Justin Broadrick (Godflesh, Techno Animal, Jesu, see more below). All their records sound completely different with only rigorous explorations of what can be used as the basis for a beat being the common thread. I'm lead to believe that there's some serious political content to their music. I think that's just dandy but was far more focused on what great music it is to skin up to. Pass me a Rizzla and pass me some fire.

4. Steve Earle - Oxycontin Blues (from album Washington Square Serenade)

I always get terribly embarrassed when people try and lyrically modernise classic roots forms - especially country and blues. My teeth begin to ache at the thought of ever hearing Donna Kay Honey and The Cowpokers' Cyber Cowboy ever again. Steve Earle pulls it off sublimely with his ode to dependence on extremely strong pain killers. You could have just as easily substituted the word 'whiskey' or 'laudanum' in this song and it could have come from any time in the past century. Seriously tho', Steve, if you're reading this, dig your bit parts in one of the greatest shows in the history of TV - The Wire - but fella, get a haircut. At least a trim that rids you of the wispy forelock that flutters around your otherwise hairless crown like a lone shrub on the Serengeti plain!

5. Jesu - Conqueror (from album Conqueror)

I am a huge fan of Justin Broadrick. From his now defunct grindcore main gig, Godflesh, through the multitude of side projects (Final, Ice, Cylon, God, Clinical), Broadrick's command of the punishing rhythm combined with squalling every-other-instrument is legendary. I've even contemplated a book about the guy! That said, the double armful of Jesu releases from 2007 (albums, EPs, splits) contained an awful lot of inoffensive shoegaze. No joke: mobs of Ride and My Bloody Valentine, plenty of lush and heavenly guitarscapes but nary a single head punch from the old days. And the new vocal style has gone from Slayer to crooner! I suspect that this weed choofin', obsessive, studio confined headcase met a nice girl and put a down payment on a flat. Great for her but what about the rest of us darlin'? This title track from the Conqueror album was my pick as most representative of the new direction, as well as being a mild whisper of the old days.

6. Dave, Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Titch - Hold Tight (from album Death Proof OST)

iPods, downloading, cheap hard drives and a bunch of other social and technological changes have meant that the album is done for. So what? Gone like shellac 78s. Gone like the 60s. Gone like Walkmans. Gone like Celtic armband tattoos. Doesn't mean anyone listens to any less music, and the tunes just keep coming. If I had to pick an album of the year, the Tarantino 'Death Proof' soundtrack would probably be it. A ripper selection of 60s and 70s tracks of which 'Hold Tight' is a certified party starter. You'll notice I've exploited the old song/new album loophole again. The film, by the by, is half good. An original idea mired in loooooong scenes of people sitting in cars and diners, chugging beers and discussing popular culture trivia like their lives depended on it. No Quentin, that's what WE do after we've seen YOUR films. Silly boy.

7. LCD Sound System - All My Friends (from album Sound of Silver)

Nonstop yakety yak over the top of a relentless, motorik beat that any Krautrock band would trade their Messerschmitt for. Simply a phenomenal pop tune that LCD experimented with by getting Franz Ferdinand and John Cale to cover on the single. I had originally insisted that the Cale version was superior but when we plugged in that and the original side-by-side, Cale's seemed turgid by comparison.

8. Fu Manchu - Lesson (from album We Must Obey)

Poor ol' Fu Manchu. Leading lights of stoner rock with their endless discussion of vans, beer, dudes, babes and highway living, they turned down a dirt road along about the 'California Crossing' album. Up until then they were kings of the guitar breakdown. I saw them play at The Corner under ideal circumstances and marvelled at their command of the crowd; the tight, professional show; and controlled sound. They were truly one toke gear. Possibly they smoked away their short term memory for a good song and nowadays they sound like a latter period Bachman Turner Overdrive or Blue Oyster Cult. Lesson, however, was a flashback to the good old days.

9. MIA - Paper Planes (from album Kala)

Built around a very distinctive sample from The Clash's 'Straight To Hell', some gunshots and a till ringing, this was one of the catchiest songs of 2007. The singsong, schoolgirl, double-dutch vocals sent me scuttling for Bow Wow Wow albums. Again I imagine this is meant as some sort of political statement about empowering the disenfranchised underclass but I just dug the easy verses about guns, bombs, drugs, robbery and fake documents. Actually, I imagined lil' MIA in hotpants a lot while listening to it. She also did the best Letterman performance of this and many a year. Girl can move!

10. Dinosaur Jr - Almost Ready (from album Beyond)

One of two fine, old-fashioned Dino Jr tracks from the album they reformed to record. The members can bleat all they want about the annoying personal habits that broke up the band in the early 90s but they really needed one another as a steadying influence. Without Lou Barlow, J Mascis just kept putting our morbidly introspective albums of nasally vocals that spoke of Vitamin B deficiency and loose bowel movements. Without J Mascis, Lou Barlow inflicted Sebadoh and the Folk Implosion on the world. After that, Almost Ready is practically make-up sex.

But a year is not 365 days without sustenance other than music. What follows is a short list of other things that made 2007 great.

ALBUM WITH THE MOST GOOD TRACKS ON IT RELEASED IN 2007

Deathproof (Soundtrack)

BEST NEW THING I TRIED OUT

Downloadable audio books and lectures (runner up cheap, large capacity Hard Drives)

BEST FILM (FICTION)

The Simpsons Movie (runner up Blades Of Glory)

BEST FILM (DOCUMENTARY)

The War Tapes (runners up Deep Water, Zoo, Jesus Camp)

BEST TV SHOW

The Wire (runners up The Shield, (new) Battlestar Galactica)

BEST NEW TV SHOW

John From Cinncinnatti (runner up Heroes)

BEST WEBSITE

EZTV (runners up Demonoid [R.I.P.], Mininova)

BEST FICTION I READ (sorry, neither new)

Cordwainer Smith The Rediscovery Of Man (runner up Pete Dexter Train)

BEST NON-FICTION

Christopher Hitchens God Is Not Great (runners up Arthur magazine; Spectrum annual)

For more information about Brett's cartoons, books & writing at go to Brett's place

26 January 2008

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