www.list.co.uk/music
REVIEW OF THE YEAR
Ida Maria
The List's crack team of music critics pick
the songs that floated their boat in 2007
Ida Maria ‘Oh My God’ Iggy Pop meets Bierk meets Janis JOplin from this feisty Norwegian. The Horrors ‘ Little Victories’ Inspired. bellowmg from under the musty bed of El Diablo. King Oreosote ‘You’ve No Clue Do You’ File's finest folkie cranks it up in this rocktastic Eaglesesque romp.
Biffy Clyro ‘Living is a Problem Because Everything Dies’ The perfect synergy of prog pomp and grunge bittersweet.
Girls Aloud ‘Sexy No No No’ A bombastic mix of euphoric electro. spiky rock and fizzy pop.
The Hold Steady ‘Stuck Between Stations’ Where misjudged poets and Springteenesgue riffs come to sit. drink and brawl. Battles ‘Tonto’ 'Atlas' was the crowd pleaser but this shows everything they were capable of. The White Stripes ‘Rag and Bone’ As stupid and fun as Jack and Meg get. Saucy.
El-P ‘Up All Night’ Devastating lyrical dexterity over jungle drum thunder.
Burial ‘Raver’ Midnight in an imperfect world. Bass driven weirdness and disembodied vocals. Agnostic Mountain Gospel Choir ‘Bury them in Water’ Ungodly Bluegrass menace. Cold War Kids ‘We Used to Vacation’ Famin life skewed through a film of alcohol and Tom Waits-ian piano clatter.
Rachel Unthank ‘Blue Bleezing Blind Drunk’ Marital despair never sounded so sweet. The Milight Sad ‘Walking for No Hours’ Stop! I can't cry any more. please.
Glasvegas ‘Daddy’s Gone’ Tear jerking familial ballad telling of parental flight.
Kanye West ‘Flashing Lights’ Hip hop bling goes cosmic.
Northern State ‘Things I’ll Do’ If Sarah Silverman were a rapper she‘d sound like this. Chrome Hoot ‘Pronoid’ Demented space funk from the sanity-defying, PFunk-channelling octet. Sons and Daughters ‘Gilt Complex’ Fizzing rift-driven attack on celebrity Culture.
Rhianna ‘Umbrella’ Perfect marriage of slick pop R88 and heavyweight hip hop beatsmithery. Klaxons ‘Not Over Yet’ The rave Classic reborn with heart and passion as a yearning indie classic. Eve ‘Tambourine’ Whoops. whistles. sirens and and marching band beat. What else do you need? MIA ‘Jimmy’ Full-on Bollywood disco swoops and a line about Rwandan genocide.
Swimmer One ‘Largs Hum’ The search fOr pop perfection uncovers this gorgeous pearl. LCD Soundsystem ‘New York I Love You But Your Bringing Me Down’ The king of New York apes oI' blue eyes.
Malcolm Middleton ‘We’re All Going to Die’ The right man singing the right song for the right reasons.
THE VERNON ELLIOT ENSEMBLE Ivor the Engine and Pogle's Wood T'J‘r DO.
\ "’0: n. m" (
Sniallfilins ta ;,;i"t"i:':;" it het.'.'eei‘. .' iiarratci Oliver Pcsfriate
and aniniator Peter
(TV/7' it"'}
liirliiin "latte so“ i: 3‘ the most endearing children's l(}l(?‘.’lf$l0l‘. shows trom the 505 through t") the Us. :nr luding «'i'oggir: fr‘i; i‘v’og. The Changers and Bagpuss Then there was Ivor the foyi'ie, a small green Wels'i locomotive. and the lesser known Poo/es ‘.'/ood. The paroing brass. steam whistles and eccentric orchestration is instantly evocative of afternoons round your gran's. marmite On toast and homemade fruitcake. If you never saw these shows as a nipper the warm sunny glow that emits when you press play might be completely lost. but these are still incrediny sOphisticated soundtracks for what were wonderfully crafted animated shorts.
lHenry Northmorel
CARDBOARD BASHING PUNK ROCK
VARIOUS Boxwars: The Album iBoxwars UK) OOO
Boxwars combines punk and well-behaved fighting. ‘\."v'arricrs' make cardboard armour then launch themselves into a ritauling mosh pit unit? a winner's declared. The gladiatoral combat is powered by energetzc tunes: this is a coilectioc of the best. There are reai gems in there. with The Ven 's tracks pummelling abng so fast the, almost trip over themselves. while Oi Polloi's Simon
VARIOUS
Now That's what We Call Music Vol 1 fantastic Paste O...
To celebrate their tildth release the music hods at Fantastr; Plastic have cast a nostalgic ear over their back catalogue and ':()rralled a bunch of past
rarities and new offerings
t's a sampler of accessibly alternative pop morsels from all over the UK i’vrith Scotland avian-represented} taking in indie rock. pop. disco and folk in the forms of lcara Colt. Guillemots. and Astrid. as well as a last minute curveball: the beautifully melancholic spoken word lullaby 'Local Man Ruins Everything by Willie Campbell and Keyin MacNeil. Sure it smacks of a cash-in, but it's a cheap one lunder 335;. so why not use it to ireldiscover some interesting bands"? lSuzanne Black)
POP
ABBA
The Album iPolydori 0000
If you're tired of Abba. yOu're tired of lite. baSically, so this deluxe reissue of their most ainbitiOus album is extremely welcome. Originally released ii‘x 7978 when the band .vere at their creative and commercial peak. The Album blends their
vi“ ‘.‘ .' ‘. -1 -‘ I '- ‘K g: ‘55 v r K 1 \‘ ’ V ‘r\ v
' ‘ “9198..” .'. H \,V\“ 0' ‘ , ,i , i" “33.2' '1 e x v" d‘ .t 7(1‘ ‘ ' i i \ r‘ x ‘ rr‘ 1r , k , .iiitxii‘ til .1 .' i
Kit.» 7".
SIGUR ROS Hvarf-Heim lEMl 0....
Released to loosely accompan. the ll wala'ii outfits Superl: recei‘t film. He/riia. this twoCl) album is a f€f'.’€l£lilt)l‘ The Hunt half contains outtakes and rarities from 12 years of lull-hand studio 8 .ssioiis and is full of the sumptuous OM; S()L.‘l‘i(lS(,tll)(*?S re come to expect. but the Helm halt manages to oulshirie it. Consisting oi stripped—do'.'.'n dCUtlSllfl versions of their finest moments, it demonstrates that.
beneath all that noise. reverb and strange sound effects beats a heart of purest musical gold. Melodic. melancholic and Citiietl, momentous. songs like ‘Staralfur' and 'Heysataru' take on a new. more perSOnalised intensity. and are heart-achingl, moving as a 'GSLilt. lDoug Johnstone'
INDIE
THE GOOD LIFE Help Wanted Nights Saddle Creek, 000
Frontnian Tim Kasher is a central figure of the Saddle Creek scene. and this established side prefect is an outlet for a rVere 'narnstream scund. centrasting his day gob .‘Jith the explosive Cursive. Untonunateiy. while much of Help Wanted Nights is solid enough indie fare. rather
* "'3.
.H‘ .‘ i. . v! ' '.'l ~ w ~ \;yt l to "‘. a I ‘\ i‘I ‘ ‘. ' i. ." o it» i ' i ' w ' o i l‘ i ' Fl. '4\ I. I f b "‘90 p ‘0 1. , i,!‘}"k i i "' ' L\ , o .
Wu TANG CLAN 8 Diagrams limit/i; Min 1....
The {)th'v'iil‘fllf 6‘ at ‘Jllii efforts tr'ri" thi- "illlllffillll‘illi"'lilii:") ;‘ The Wu liilxi i ,lllt i'iri'ki-s their :fil'il uf‘wirts lifft‘, t,f an ‘3‘.i.‘.'ll than illtt‘. should he The Lari/is last two oiit'nds haw: l)‘,‘(?ll ‘.'/(/H‘,'|i"()l‘y inconsistei‘t illlilll‘. and this. the Stitch lslarirlers' lilth gilliiirii. lacks cohesion but their ',l'lll ' as llllil‘fll'«llil‘t Ji‘. we' The Beatles siiiiiplirir; of 'The Heart fientl, V/‘Kfli‘f flléi‘, 7 61.": l)‘:f:l the talked til/ill? trarl "li'f', T’i‘.‘ “"Li ‘:‘/‘:' if, {taillilile ilir: Rib Folio till? it is among the less affecting. effects fl; track“. he“: [JV/1'.l(,il’)'t fet'iaiti‘. :i‘. 014’. .‘Jitt; “,orriniercia? "r if he
way "are Paine/l Kii' fl: \f.’€:s'. l. i’. he re'iiaira a rerriot‘: mitt/12' and '11‘, "1r:i::'1r,lm‘l’,.
hackszne
) 1\A 1'. {Z/{Z'r
a'ltag'x ixttr. H2 broker. l/téii’) "lake 'l ‘: I/L’l‘flf ‘rai'iencrk r wine the still .rerdartt ."L'litl frirx, ‘ro'r- Metros l/lar Gllil‘éi‘r’xf,‘: KJZA C" at. Surreal. Wingert. soi'itual. 30’," in. the spramng energy 9‘ BDiagramz 2 Jggesta we. and the rap .vo'ldi util need them ardund iMark Robertsoni
13 Dec 2007—4 Jan 2338 THE LIST 73