Personally, I just can't take a step into the fray that is 2008 without letting you all know my self-indulgent opinion of the year gone by. Yes I'm aware that theres only a few more days of February and that hence the significance of my opinion is less and less but eat my balls and read away anyway.. so here they are +drumroll+ Javid's best and worst of 2007.
The Best
For me personally 2007 saw someone who traditionally digs their metal and rock and generally guitar-based music expand my own horizons to let the other guys influence me in a slightly
more digital direction. Artists I'd never heard and would probably never listen to were brought to my attention through the wonders of Triple J and general exploration and THIS helped me come to the one and only PNAU. Sure it's their third release and I had basically not acknowledged their existence. I've now managed to catch them live multiple times, have the album and Ive boarded the bandwagon. Easily one of the best albums of last year.You wont find many bloggers that didn't have an opinion on Muscles and the surrounding hype projected him to a very 'you love him or you hate him' status. I know which side of the fence I'm on. And come on, we've got to look beyond this year. Love him or hate him there was no escaping the elated and eccentric phenomenon. Supporting Daft Punk and whoring himself around some of the biggest festivals as well as constant radio play has shown someone who should beat Operator Please for 'Breakthrough Artist'. The world is this mans oyster in 2008.
While electro-music dominated the scene it certainly doesn't mean that rock took a back seat. The ballsy rock sounds make their way overseas from the UK in the form of Arctic Monkeys, The Fratellis and The Kaiser Chiefs. All three are incredibly listen worthy, all three I managed to catch live last year and all three did not disappoint. If
my opinion were more significant and you people cared I'd give the gong to Yours Truly, The Angry Mob - an entry with its head held above the rest for 2007.While my counterparts might imply that 2007 wasn't the best year for music, I tend to disagree. My developing CD collection, my developing tastes and my developing pubic hair make me see that there's a whole lot worse out there.
On the live front Splendour once again showed us why its so much better than the Big Day Out. Lees and West need to get their heads on straight and go back to remembering what makes a GOOD festival. Its not just about the bands and its certainly not about the excessive price for a one day festival which makes you miss alot of the bands you were after anyway. And of course if you're like me, your year ended on a sublime live music note with the arrival of Daft Punk on our shores for a show that I am CERTAIN no one who was there will ever forget. Nothing will match it.... until Rammstein come back anyway.
As with the two sides of a coin for some good there must be some bad. And here it is - Ill try to be brief because I know half of you have already tuned out.
THE WORST
Where to begin. Soco infuriated me to the point of writing the lyrics for a parody song with possibly the worst song of the year - 'Ill kill her' (my sentiments exactly). I could put on a stupid French accent to try and make myself sound adorably sweet while trying to be ironic and maniacal. Instead I take a torch to you, your name and everything you stand for. INTO THE BIN!
While bloggers and media reviewers all over the world were creaming themselves silly over Band Of Horses I myself was trying not to scratch my eyeballs out every time I heard the shit. Honestly. Who was sitting in the studio and said 'lets put some church-like delay on my vocals... yeah.. cool.. now lets put some on the guitar.. yeah.. cool.. now lets let the whole album sound like that.. mm yeah.. now send in that chihuahua and a jar of peanut butter'. I'm all for personal expression but honestly what the FUCK (thats right, i said it) is the deal with the fuss over this album? Worst of the year. Dont even use it as a coaster, itd be an insult to beer. 'I could sleep.. I could sleeeeeep' - so could I. INTO THE BIN!
And last, but certainly not least (for years to come no doubt) is Operator Please. I was on the same side as these guys at the start. Was happy to see some kids doing well and the album was catchy with some nice pop-driven melodies. A few months later and a few THOUSAND plays of the ping-pong song later and I annoint them with a 'That Got Old Quick' award. They'll do a Franz Ferdinand and release a follow-up this year, which will also do well, and then we wont hear from them for a while. Maybe its just the cynic and bitter, resentful old muso in me that gets irritated by the success of virtual kids as well but yeah - over it. And it wont be too much longer before alot of you who aren't already in the same boat will be. Still... give that violinist a few years...And that wraps it up for now. With that finally out of the way I can bring you a whole new bunch of information you dont care about for this year! The team is back and like a pack of Hyenas we're looking for the scraps of someone elses dignity to feast on since we're all out of our own. We look forward to 2008 and we hope you do too. Until next time
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