2007: The Year in Music thus far.

note: this post contains thoughts poorly sewn together by the framework of "an essay."
it's a little less than coherent, but try to cut me some slack. this is why i'm practicing.



The end of February is coming quickly, which means we’re already months into the new year. Some of the albums that have already come out make me think that there could hardly be any more good music leftover for the second half of the year. Albums by Lavender Diamond, Andrew Bird, LCD Soundsystem and so many more have already made it onto my year-end list. The size of “indie” releases this year, however, makes me think that this era of independent music will come to a quick end. It started in 2005, with mainstream radio discovering two albums: the Arcade Fire’s Funeral and the Postal Service’s Give Up. Every alternative/rock radio station of any size started playing songs off of those albums alongside other “indie” artists like the Killers and whoever else had the right sound. Give Up went platinum and became Sub Pop’s biggest seller, outselling Nirvana and it was all over. Atlantic Records signed Death Cab for Cutie and the next thing you know, Death Cab is getting airplay on VH1 and Star 98.7, KROQ has picked up Cold War Kids and Sufjan Stevens and the Shins sell 300k in their first week because Natalie Portman said that they changed her life. The Arcade Fire’s album is bound to sell as many albums, if not more, and are scheduled to appear on Saturday Night Live tonight; other artists who have played SNL this season include the Shins (who, of course, played “New Slang” even though it’s anything BUT new) and Lily Allen.

Artists like Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and Of Montreal try to resist mainstream attention by being artistically dense, be it in sound or performance, but it seems like none of that really matters anymore. It’s becoming harder and harder to be on “the cutting edge” anymore; even freak-folk, which has been described by many as “outsider music,” isn’t so inaccessible anymore. Every semi-hipster A-lister has been seen backstage hanging out with Devendra or CocoRosie and has been in the press, praising Zappa, Beefheart and anything David Byrne touches. Actors and actresses are even getting into it themselves. The best example of late is Jena Malone (of Donnie Darko fame), who has gained the most attention from Pitchfork and Stereogum in the last two weeks for her music, which is unique to anyone who doesn’t live in New York.

I say all this to emphasize how little I know about the direction music is going in. All I have are observations.

Over the last month, I’ve noticed how many amazing post-rock/instru-metal albums have come out. Everyone seems to know who Boris is, but they don’t realize that they have more than that album with the pink cover. Albums from Red Sparowes, Jesu, Explosions in the Sky, Do Make Say Think and Pelican are all to be released within the first few months of the year. Explosions in the Sky were the first instrumental act to be featured on Conan O’Brien’s show this past week, having to edit one of their songs down to an acceptable length. They gained most of their initial exposure from scoring both the Friday Night Lights movie and TV show. Within the next eighteen months, I expect to see one of those post-rock type acts playing stadium size venues or places like Red Rocks in Colorado or even the Hollywood Bowl.

Post-Punk/electronica/dance releases also seem to be one of the big genres for the year. The aforementioned LCD Soundsystem album is probably going to be a big deal just based on car commercials alone. Related act !!! released a surprisingly varied album that will push them into the stratosphere of independent acts that can sell out the Avalon two nights in a row. Most people remember the Avalanches and are anticipating their return to music, but even more are anticipating the new Dntel album because not only are there indie all-star guests, but Jimmy Tamborello has learned how to do pop music using the Ben Gibbard method since we last left him. The reason people like this stuff became apparent to me after I heard about the Girl Talk show at the Echo. I was told that the crowd was a lot older than your typical Echo Park gig and it looked like none of them had ever been there before. The reason people like this stuff is because it’s so accessible in comparison to all other forms of “indie.” You don’t have to like music in the same way to like to dance.

The next few months are going to be interesting, considering that festival season is coming up. Coachella’s lineup has bands like Sonic Youth, as usual, but also has the reunited Rage Against the Machine, making it the first year that it made sense for KROQ to post the lineup on their website. Bands like the Hold Steady are making the rounds, playing alongside the reunited Police. South by Southwest is probably going to be more crowded than ever and it’s because the “indie” tag isn’t so much about patronage as it is about sound. Is it hypocrisy to still call it “indie” rock or “outsider music” or is it just the natural evolution of things?