Unlikely Summer Jams 2007: Daft Punk

la vermine, originally uploaded by nyresolutions.

In a year without any new Daft releases, it seems odd that Daft Punk finds its way through my summery speakers daily in an almost non-nostalgic way. Apart from the plethora of supersharp recent remixes of their classic singles (try the allknowing Hype Machine for some of the latest ones), it seems odd how the band's french touch has trickled down anew on dancefloors worldwide. It seems odd that their music feels as timely as the other artists sampled by Kanye West on his new mixtape, Thom Yorke, and the omnipresent Peter, Bjorn and John. It definitely seems odd that it has taken me 6 years to rediscover, ahem, Daft Punk's epic pop masterpiece, Discovery.

Unlikely Summer Jams 2007: Bang Gang

lostmarbles, originally uploaded by nyresolutions.

"Inside, we got to know girls who had never considered taking their own lives. We fed them drinks, danced with them until they became unsteady, and led them out to the screened-in veranda. They lost their high heels on the way, kissed us in the humid darkness, and then slipped away to throw up demurely in the outside bushes. Some of us held their heads as they vomited, then let them rinse their mouths with beer, after which we got back to kissing again. The girls were monstrous in their formal dresses, each built around a wire cage. Pounds of hair were secured atop their heads. Drunk, and kissing us, or passing out in chairs, they were bound for college, husbands, child-rearing, unhappiness only dimly perceived--bound in other words, for life." (1993, p. 235)

Like Sofia Coppola's dreamier adaptation, Jeffrey Eugenides' novel The Virgin Suicides very vividly evokes the dull, slow-burning boredom of a teenage summer. Air's soundtrack to the film magically matched the flowy seventies shots of Kirrsten Dunst and her onscreen sisters, adding a lush layer of sensuality to the tragic tale of teen ennui. For their second album, Icelandic ex-triphoppers Bang Gang seem to have followed Air's lead, creating tracks that are more soundtrack than song. Sure they have vocals and even choruses, but they lack the comfort a song's climax and resolution offers, instead presenting us with swaths of atmosphere.

Unlikely Summer Jams 2007: Kids Rap

fence me in, originally uploaded by nyresolutions.

For this second set of summer jams, I picked Rappers Delight Club and Wilcannia Mob, two acts that are not just singalongably sunny, but also hilariously honest. Both come from the peculiar and wonderful genre of kids' rap, but manage to stay far from the glossy Lil' clones so familiar from MTV (excepting the aforeblogged lipgloss-genius Lil' Mama, and with one honorably surreal mention of seven-year-old reggeaton sensation Miguelito, whose video for Boom Boom disturbingly alternates between cute kids at the zoo and gyrating mamas at a racetrack).

Unlikely Summer Jams 2007: The Go Find

go find, originally uploaded by nyresolutions.

Now that summer has hit New York in all its sweaty humid glory, I have immediately started to look for this year's summer jams. Not only the hits popping loud from every corner deli or Humm-ousine, but songs that can define a season and become inextricably enwrapped with its memories: In short, a soundtrack for summer '07. In my next few posts, I'll suggest a few tracks that either through their sheer rhythmic heat, or their poptastic choruses should make their way onto your picnic boomboxes or roadtripping iPods.

The likeliest options are obviously Rihanna's twirly emo-r'n'b hit Umbrella, or Lil' Mama's feisty minimalist handclapfest Lip Gloss (and they surely deserve their own posts), but my first suggestion is a little more farfetched. In fact, it is fetched all the way from my exotic, and sometimes sunny motherland, Belgium.

bird on a montreal branch

bird, originally uploaded by nyresolutions.

squirreling

squirrel, originally uploaded by nyresolutions.

montreal at night

night, originally uploaded by nyresolutions.

Loney, Dear's punctuated Scandinavian pop

After The Pipettes' fabulous encore, I hopped into my waiting car service (or probably someone else's) and rushed through downtown Brooklyn to sneak into Union Hall's sightline-challenged basement. Loney, Dear had just started their set. What you need to know about this Swede is that he is quite relentless. Already four albums into his short one-man-band career, his latest, "Loney, Noir" is pop almost to a fault.

Laden with hooks and cheery brassy Sufjan-strumentation, the album is precise and hopeful even in the face of mild tragedy, a state of mind that can be a bit much for those who like their sentiments sloppy and slushy. On closer inspection, the songs always undercut their own pop-bravado. "I Am John," the free mp3 offered by Sub Pop is undeniably the album's tour-de-force in peppy relentlessness (sparkly xylophone included), but Emil Svanängen's lyrics hint at a tragic romantic realism when he follows the chorus' "Never gonna let you down" with, "but i will always let you down."

The Pipettes' Brooklyn charm offensive

After the ridiculous cool-concert drought of February 2007, I was more than enthusiastically snapping up tickets to the many SXSW-related shows happening all over NYC in March. Belatedly realizing, after clicking the 'Confirm Payment' button, that I had bought tickets for two shows happening on the same night. Moreover, the first was happening in Williamsburg, the other in Park Slope, a true Brooklyn logistics horror.

My double-booked evening did not start well, I stood in the lush Luna Lounge anxiously hoping The Pipettes would start in time for me to make it to the nerdy Union Hall in time for the uniquely Swedish indie-pop of Loney, Dear (but more on the Swedes in my next post). The Pipettes were late, and nervous; their tech-guys checking up on the same keyboard five times. The suspense was killing me, I hardly even noticed my teen-idol, the ever-present ex-Pumpkin James Iha, lounging around behind me. Still, when girl-group-goddesses Gwenno, Becki, and Rose stepped on the stage, dressed in three different, but equally polka-dotted dresses, all was forgiven. The group performed choreographed literal dancemoves, alternated on vocals, awkwardly said 'cheers' between songs, and played all my favorite tracks off "We are The Pipettes".

2006's top 28, albums, belated

1. final fantasy - he poos clouds
2. beirut - gulag orkestar/lon gisland
3. hot chip - the warning
4. the knife - silent shout
5. sufjan stevens - the avalanche
6. the pipettes - we are the pipettes
7. cat power - the greatest
8. thom yorke - the eraser
9. margot & the nuclear so&so's - the dust of retreat
10. the be good tanyas - hello love

11. junior boys - in the morning
12. the hidden cameras - awoo
13. camera obscura - let's get out of this country
14. tiga - sexor
15. sonic youth - rather ripped
16. el perro del mar - look! it's el perro del mar
17. lo-fi-fnk - boylife
18. charlotte gainsbourg - 5.55
19. the whitest boy alive - dreams
20. yeah yeah yeahs - show your bones

21. tunng - comments of the inner chorus
22. barbara morgenstern - the grass is always greener
23. bonnie 'prince' billy - the letting go
24. beck - the information
25. the blow - paper television
26. lily allen - alright still
27. johnny cash - american v
28. fujiya & miyagi - transparent things

top 28s, songs, belated

1. teddybears - yours to keep
2. the mystery jets - you can't fool me dennis
3. morgan geist - most of all
4. justin timberlake - sexyback
5. gnarls barkley - smiley faces
6. doveman - happy
7. cassie - me & u
8. the mountain goats - woke up new
9. laura barrett - robot ponies
10. kleerup feat. robyn - with every heartbeat

11. the klaxons - gravity's rainbow
12. van she - kelly
13. jenny wilson - let my shoes lead me forward
14. john vanderslice - exodus damage
15. midlake - roscoe
16. snow patrol - chasing cars
17. nelly furtado - say it right
18. loveninjas - keep your love
19. oppenheimer - breakfast in nyc
20. pet shop boys - flamboyant (michael mayer kompakt mix)

21. voxtrot - raised by wolves
22. the presets - girl & the sea
23. sally shapiro - i'll be by your side
24. the feeling - sewn
25. chris thile - stay away
26. ra ra riot - can you tell?
27. the ballet - in my head
28. the american analog set - cool kids keep (8 min version)

no. 29

2006' best albums: 29. various production - the world is gone

not a compilation album, various production combines beautiful pencil-sharp sleeve and website design with a sound that perhaps can best be descriped as apocalyptic grime-folk. after releasing a handful of radically different ep's - including robo-funk versions of missy and brandy hits, but also cough-syrup-crunked retro soul tracks and gloomy folk tunes - various released their debut album: a style-compilation unified by a creeping sense of dread worthy of a british lynch. sir, though it has up-to-date, slightly too commercial-shiny beats, at least gives a good sense of this album's mysterious attractions.

2006' best songs: 29. pink nasty & will oldham - don't ever change

this austin songwriter sounds nothing like her name suggests. after dropping several great covers into the blogosphere - moody versions of elo and usher - pink nasty's raucous duet with will oldham shocked fans of bonnie 'prince' billy around the world; the man can really belt! the down-to-earthy lyrics (which feature deodorant stains, a subject rarely referenced in love-songs), combined with the singers' 'say you love me six times' battle just before the drawn out coda makes this the sweetest lovesong i've heard all year.
http://uploadhut.com/view.php/233543.mp3

no. 30

so, i made this list of the best music of the year. actually, it's two lists: one for best albums, another for best songs not found on those albums, both are top 30s. i know that might seem like a lot but it barely fits. the songs discussed today are the last on the lists. they are perhaps replaceable, or overseeable, perhaps not all that relevant to music history or my own. still, they end the lists, serving as gatekeepers, good gatekeepers, worthy even, but not as good as the 29 ahead of them.

2006' best albums: 30. ms. john soda - notes and the like

somewhat of a dusseldorfer supergroup, this duo, made up of members of couch and the notwist, make like a sunnier ladytron. their 'no p or d' was my favorite album of 2002, and this has the same warm glitchy qualities, combining glittering electronic crunches with droney, but never downer strings. with beautiful german-accented vocals and rewound, stuttering instrumentation, hands is a lovely introduction to my apparently least favorite favorite album of 2006.

2006' best songs: 30. the field - thought vs. action

released on 12" as the b-side to 'love vs distance,' this quite astonishing 10-minute piece may start out as almost generic microhouse, chopped akufen-ic vocals slowly moving to a brisk, techno step, but four minutes in very familiar flute tones start to sound. you realize it's an intro, but the song never breaks. instead, gurgly kompakt beats drive the short snippet of the four tops' 'reach out i'll be there' to subdued, but powerful filtered heights.

facade

facade
Originally uploaded by nyresolutions.

couperus

couperus
Originally uploaded by nyresolutions.

vaporetto stop

vaporetto stop
Originally uploaded by nyresolutions.

no phone

no phone
Originally uploaded by nyresolutions.

simple life

simple life
Originally uploaded by nyresolutions.

hongkong reflection

hongkong reflection
Originally uploaded by nyresolutions.

hungarian close-up

hungarian close-up
Originally uploaded by nyresolutions.