Friday, December 21, 2007
The Bitter Buffalo is computer-challenged.
If you logged in here yesterday or earlier today to see my inaugural Best Tracks of 2007 post using Internet Explorer, you saw some random huge playlist that bore little resemblance to my little 12-song post below. That was my mistake. I figured out the problem, fixed it, and now you should see the playlist exactly as I intended it to look (and sound).
Please read, listen, and comment as appropriate.
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Now playing: Blonde Redhead - 23
via FoxyTunes
Thursday, December 20, 2007
The Bitter Buffalo's Best Tracks of 2007, Part One
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And so begins my (probably way too) ambitious effort to share with you my favorite music tracks of 2007…
1. Miracle Fortress: “Have You Seen In Your Dreams”
From the album, Five Roses
2. The Answering Machine: “Silent Hotels”
From the EP, Silent Hotels
In a year when it seemed like every other thing I listened to was Scottish (The Twilight Sad, Frightened Rabbit, Life Without Buildings, hell… even The Fratellis), this one song stood out as my absolute favorite of the bunch. I like the spare, jangling guitar refrain and the shouty call-and-response vocals. It sounds like a conversation between two people sitting at two ends of a long, busy bar.
3. No Age: “Neck Escaper”
From the album, Weirdo Rippers
My favorite pop songs are teases. By that, I mean songs that build to a climax but scuttle off as soon as that climax is reached. The House of Love’s “Happy” is my classic example of that – the song fades out just as it hits the chorus. “Neck Escaper” is just two minutes long, and the first minute or so is a slow, instrumental build to the “song” part of the song. Then, at
From the album, No Shouts, No Calls
This tune plays like the bastard lovechild of Sleater-Kinney and Stereolab, but somehow manages beat either of those bands in terms of sheer accessibility. It opens with a blistering guitar lick (“The Wolf,” maybe?), then ramps up the tempo and seems to be heading into full-bore S-K territory when it adds an analog synth riff and “doot doot” vocals (“The Dog”?), then mixes the two into one of the catchiest rock songs I heard (and almost ignored, but more on that in another post) all year.
From the EP, Casino
The shorter version on The Besnard Lakes Are The Dark Horse is very good, but I think this is one of those cases where more is better. In this case, more is four extra minutes of the epic neo-psychedelic rock and roll (see also The Black Angels, Black Mountain, and probably several other bands with “Black” in their names) that helps transition the album from a Beach Boys homage to something much bigger, darker, and much more interesting.
From the album, All Hour Cymbals
Reaching out to ‘70’s and ‘80’s
From the album, Untrue
Dubstep, to these ears, sounds like an upbeat version of the stuff Tricky was doing ten years ago. But what do I know? “
From the album, OKX: A Tribute To OK Computer
Stereogum, a music blog that became a critical daily read for me in 2007 (though they’ve been around longer than that) produced two outstanding original compilations in 2007, and distributed them, free of charge, to anyone interested in hearing them. The first, a tribute to Radiohead’s OK Computer, produced at least five tracks that could have wound up on this playlist. Doveman’s take on “Airbag” is here because, like the best cover songs, it remains true to the source material without compromising the coverer’s artistic vision. Haunting and beautiful.
From the album, From Here We Go Sublime
I spend a lot of time working and listening to music with headphones, and a fair amount of time driving as well. Not all electronic music works well in both environments – traditional upbeat techno can be irritating while trying to get some work done, and electronic ambient stuff can cause you to get sleepy and drive off the road. “Sun & Ice,” like all of the brilliant From Here We Go Sublime, walks that line exceptionally well. I’m also a sucker for the little dropout at
From the album, Scribble Mural Comic Journal
Included for fans of Cocteau Twins, My Bloody Valentine, Seefeel (you know who you are), and any other act that layers big guitars, echo-y drums and fairy-like vocals in compositions that sound like they were either produced in 1987 and were twenty years ahead of their time, or produced in 2007 and sound like a whirlwind from the past. Also included for those of you who said a band from
From the album, Similar Anniversaries
“Somnambulist” is a lot like the Miracle Fortress cut, though the similarities didn’t strike me until I listened to both cuts in the context of preparing this post. So, everything I said up there applies here (including the part about Jon Wilson discovering them), except Small Sails is from
From the album, Transatlantic KK
Hands down, my favorite driving song from 2007, “As Time Breaks Off” is pure, dumb, euro-Disco – knowing nod to Daft Punk inserted here for both effect and credibility – utterly catchy yet thoroughly insubstantial. This remix foregoes the original’s petulant (but still excellent – this is no knock on the original) vocals and devolves almost immediately into an indulgent electro-wank that – for me, anyway – provided the perfect musical compliment to a moonroof-open nighttime drive in the hot, humid, Carolina countryside. All this from a bunch of nameless Basques, no less. Who knew?
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Now playing: Black Moth Super Rainbow - Forever Heavy
via FoxyTunes