Sunday, December 30, 2007

2007

2007 has been a pretty great year as far as music goes, so these are our top picks in music (among other things). and also, here's where we lose all cred for not mentioning the super underground album you pretend to like so you can get cred at your favorite elitist message board.


ROSHAN/GRIZZLY:


MUSIC

honorable mentions

the bled - silent treatment
midnight juggernauts - dystopia
maroon 5 - it won't be soon before long
consequence - don't quit your day job
unkle - war stories

top 40 albums of the year

40. m.i.a. - kala
39. 65daysofstatic - the destruction of small ideals
38. saves the day - under the boards
37. young love - too young to fight it
36. coconut records - nighttiming
35. the starting line - direction
34. oh, sleeper - when i am god
33. digitalism - idealism
32. circa survive - on letting go
31. brighten - king vs. queen
30. talib kweli - ear drum
29. simian mobile disco - attack decay sustain release
28. the fall of troy - manipulator
27. rilo kiley - under the blacklight
26. bloc party - a weekend in the city
25. deas vail - all the houses look the same
24. as cities burn - come now sleep
23. bear colony - we came here to die
22. justice - †
21. the shins - wincing the night away
20. thrice - the alchemy index: volume I: fire
19. boys noize - oi oi oi
18. chromeo - fancy footwork
17. minus the bear - planet of ice
16. timbaland - shock value
15. the receiving end of sirens - the earth sings mi fa mi
14. jimmy eat world - chase this light
13. radiohead - in rainbows
12. the graduate - anhedonia
11. chase pagan - oh musica!
10. every time i die - the big dirty
9. jay-z - american gangster
8. explosions in the sky - all of a sudden, i miss everyone
7. common - finding forever
6. envy on the coast - lucy gray

5. cassino - sounds of salvation



from the ashes of northstar (a band who i've been in love with since 02, and a band whose break-up i'm still suffering from) came cassino, but to the surprise of fans, sounded nothing like northstar. cassino brought a soothing blend of indie and folk rock. and you can't really go wrong with anything nick torres does.

4. lupe fiasco - the cool


so after hearing 06's food and liquor, i decided that lupe's next album would be fucking huge, and sure enough, he delivers. dude has stepped up his game in every aspect of it, and continues to make incredible hip-hop. i know it's a little rash putting this as my 4, considering it's been out for three weeks, but i don't care.

3. thrice - the alchemy index: volume II: water


ok, so this shouldn't be a surprise to see thrice on one of my lists. however, they released two EP's together this year, one of which was mindblowing, and one of which i believed was subpar, albeit a great release. thrice's water is an experiment, exploring themes heard on vheissu's "atlantic." haunting melodies and beautiful electronics..sold.

2. moving mountains - pneuma


pneuma is a brilliant record. the first time i had heard this album, i was floored, and have continued to listen to it on a regular basis. there is no doubt in my mind that this will be a highly underated album, since not many people have listened to or have been exposed to the band, but i definitely recommend them.


top 10 EPs of the year:

10. umbrellas - beach front property
9. the carps - the young and passionate days of carpedia
8. dustin kensrue - please come home
7. the reign of kindo - the reign of kindo
6. tokyo police club - smith
5. the cool kids – totally flossed out
4. paper rival - paper rival
3. portugal. the man - it's complicated being a wizard
2. nightmare of you - bang!

1. as tall as lions - into the flood

they had my album of the year in 06, and they continue to blow me away. no words needed. this band is incredible.



honorable mentions

the chain gang of 1974 - when the apple drops
in: aviate – speak


top 5 disappointments:


1. portugal. the man - church mouth
this band was one of my favorites, but i really couldn't dig any of these songs. it's a damn shame. they shouldn't have dropped the keys.

2. coheed and cambria - good apollo, i'll be burning star IV - vol II: no world for tomorrow
3. thrice - the alchemy index: volume I: fire
4. silverchair - young modern
5. boys night out - boys night out

MOVIES

top 10 movies:


1. superbad
this movie was one of the funniest movies i've ever seen. i've seen it 5 times now, and have laughed through the entire thing every time. best decision ever: buying the dvd.

2. grindhouse
3. the darjeeling limited
4. american gangster
5. smokin' aces
6. black snake moan
7. i am legend
8. the bourne ultimatum
9. reno 911: the movie
10. knocked up

honorable mentions
live free or die hard
hot fuzz

top 5 worst movies:


1. epic movie
this movie is complete shit. i couldn't even get through 30 minutes of it. and if it's worse than 300 and spiderman 3, then do everything you can to not watch this awful trash.

2. 300
3. spiderman 3
4. ratatouille
5. evan almighty

honorable mentions
anything with nicholas cage that i haven't seen

TELEVISION

top 5 television shows (/fanboy of):


1. the office (season three)
the dynamic of this show is wonderful, and gets exponentially better every season. season 4 was shaping up to be amazing, but fuck the writers strike. and cmon, jim and pam finally got together.

2. the black donnellys (entire series)
3. lost (season three)
4. prison break (season two)
5. 24 (season six)

top 5 reality shows (i was lured into all of them, i swear)


1. rock of love
ok shit, this show was so funny. the people on it were ridiculous, and it was equally creepy to hear bret michaels say, "i'm so pumped up," every episode. this is quality entertainment.

2. the hills
3. a shot at love with tila tequila
4. i love new york: 2
5. the real world: sydney

RADIO

top 10 'top 40' singles (obviously excluding kanye west)


1. snoop dogg - sexual eruption
this song is so catchy and ridiculous. hands down, one of snoops best songs...ever. it's brilliant, really.

2. 50 cent f/ justin timberlake - ayo technology
3. dj khaled f/everybody - i'm so hood (remix)
4. ne-yo - because of you
5. omarion - ice box
6. chris brown f/ t-pain - kiss kiss
7. playaz circle f/lil wayne - duffle bag boy
8. fabolous f/ ne-yo - you make me better
9. flo-rida f/ t-pain - low
10. soulja boy - crank dat soulja boy

hope you dug my choices, if not, do your job as a human being and check all of those artists out. see ya in 08. happy new year.

-grizzly


JEROME/PANDA:

EPs

honorable mention:
portugal. the man - it's complicated being a wizard
nightmare of you - bang!
the chain gang of 1974 - when the apple drops

top 5 EP's of the year:

5. stadium - change of plans, we're coming home
4. the carps - the young and passionate days of carpedia
3. placebo - extended play 07
2. the cool kids – totally flossed out

1. as tall as lions - into the flood



as tall as lions embody everything music should be and after releasing the best album of '06, they bring you the best ep (and some of the best music) of '07. fall in love.

top 40 albums of the year:

40. silverchair - young modern
39. the starting line - direction
38. hot hot heat - happiness ltd.
37. daft punk - alive 2007 (only this low since cause a live album)
36. the number 12 looks like you - mongrel
35. dear and the headlights - small steps, heavy hooves
34. the honorary title - scream and light up the sky
33. devendra banhart - smoky rolls down thunder canyon
32. maroon 5 - it won't be soon before long
31. saves the day - under the boards
30. chromeo - fancy footwork
29. bjork - volta
28. blaqk audio - cex cells
27. rocky votolato - the brag and cuss
26. digiitalism – idealism
25. consequence - don't quit your day job
24. chris brown – exclusive
23. simian mobile disco - attack sustain decay release
22. the graduate - anhedonia
21. minus the bear - planet of ice
20. m.i.a. - kala
19. the dillinger escape plan - ire works
18. boys noize - oi oi oi
17. timbaland - presents: shock value
16. talib kweli - eardrum
15. rufus wainwright - release the stars
14. dizzee rascal - maths + english
13. jimmy eat world - chase this light
12. patton oswalt - werewolves and lollipops
11. radiohead - in rainbows
10. saul williams - the inevitable rise and liberation of niggy tardust!
9. jay z - american gangster
8. wax tailor - hope & sorrow
7. common - finding forever
6. nine inch nails - year zero

5. justice - †


a lot of why i placed this album so high has to do with what justice have made of themselves in 07 and what them becoming who they are has done for dance/electronic-based music. this album does speak for itself though.

4. chase pagan - oh musica!


one of the most overlooked artists in music today (stress on the word artist). soaring vocals, lush arrangements, and a refreshing take on song writing.


3. lupe fiasco - the cool


this album is so much more important to hip hop that will be realized. he raised the bar in every aspect of what makes a good emcee and lyricist.

2. bloc party - a weekend in the city


a lot of people were disappointed with this album but i thought it showed amazing growth. it's like the soundtrack to a bret easton ellis novel, which isn't too far off of what my life has been the past year.

-panda




and our number one album of the year:



1. kanye west - graduation
did you really think we would pick anything else? seriously, gtfo.


roshan and jerome would like to thank anybody who reads this blog, especially in the last five days (yeah, we've noticed the hit increase!). what would reallllly be tight is if you nerds started leaving feedback and telling us how much you love or hate us or the shit we post about.

we expect to keep this babyblog up in the year 2008, and we've been cooking up ideas for new additions and features, so sit tight and don't go anywhere. and if you feel inclined, feel free to hype your lists to us and tell us that our lists are trash (even though you probably wont).

with love,
-the panda and the grizzly.


final thoughts on 2007:

"07 was a good look, only getting fresher in 08!"
-panda

"2008: here's to hoping the RIAA leaves us alone."
-grizzly

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Cool lists/site guys! I realize it would take a long time, but it would be cool if you guys had dl links for all the stuff on your lists so people could check out the stuff that you liked so much.

roshan said...

hahaha, yeah, not so much. we'll be sure to post about these albums in 08, so be cool!

Pop-Punk Junkie said...

your site is sick - i'm glad i found it. mine's poppunkjunkie.blogspot.com (my end of the year list is there too), but it's not nearly as awesome as yours :P

Anonymous said...

I'm loving this site, but completely disagree with your Top 40 single of the year. I find "Sexual Eruption" to be one of the more annoying songs on the radio today.

roshan said...

what up stephen?
hey man to each his own. i found my pants naturally falling off every time snoop sang "we don't go to the mall, we don't go out to eat, eat, eaaaaaaaaaaat."

shit is hot man. i love that song :(

Anonymous said...

ha, I just love hearing Snoop on more Pharrell/club beats than this. But, this is no doubt a funny song. I just think that other radio singles were better.

And other than that, I love how diverse your lists (both of you) are. It's good to see a Jay-Z album and a Saves the Day album on the same list.

Keep up the good work.

Anonymous said...

love seeing moving mountains up there so high! I also had it at number 2. I was alerted to this blog, and I must say I enjoy it (especially since you have the MM EP that I had been searching forever for). Keep it up in 08!

-Blake

Alex Whyte said...

nice to see some love for The Honorary Title, even if it is only #34 on Jerome's list. Definitely one of my favourites this year, doesnt really get old after tons of listens.

I found this blog through a staff member reccing it on their year end list on absolutepunk.net, and i must say that im quite impressed.