Best Of Albums Of August 2007

This month I ended up reformatting my computer. That took a lot of time away from keeping the short story reviews updated. Perhaps that was part of the reason I didn't hear as many great CDs this month. Usually the month's list of best albums is longer. In truth, there were a lot of albums that came out this month that seemed to fall short of expectations or just weren't good. Here's the keepers:

1. Okkervil River - The Stage Names | buy it at insound!

   This album has some of the best lyrics of the year. The images are descriptive, intelligent, and realistic. The tracks are laden with piano, organ, and guitar lines. Every song on this album is well crafted. The Stage Names isn't just the best album of the month, it's one of the best albums of the year.



2. Simple Kid - SK2

   This album starts out like the upbeat, road album that Beck never made. Put on your sunglasses, roll down the windows, and turn this album up. You think you'll make it to the state line with a steady dose of head nodding. The songs are driven by acoustic guitar and hypnotic beats. Then the album starts to mellow out. The energy is still intact, but the in a more reflective way.



3. Project Jenny Project Jan - xoxoxoxoxo

   A mellow dance album or a catchy hip hop album - ultimately it's somewhere in between. And it’s pretty good. There are two standout songs - “Dia De Los Ninos” and “Summertime.”



4. New Pornographers - Challengers | buy it at insound!

   Every time I listen to this album it sounds better. On this album the band stretches no new boundaries. If you have heard the previous New Pronographers' albums, you know what to expect: catchy melodies, layers of harmonies and hook laden indie pop.

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Comments

[Captain Obvious]

Okkervil River's new album is amazing. It gets better with every listen too, and the bonus disc with the acoustic versions is great too.

[The Wheel's Still In Spin]

'The Stage Names' does get better with each listen. It's become my favorite album of the year so far. Now that I've got my computer up again, I'll be posting a review shortly. It's turned into a pretty long review with a slightly different take on the short story review.

I like the bonus disc too. It reminds me of the Demo disc Beulah released for 'Yoko.' But Beulah's disc really just seemed like stripped down version of the exact same takes. 'The Stage Names' acoustic disc sounds more like early versions.