Spring Break
Hill and Rice present the best albums of 2007
Issue date: 12/10/07 Section: Entertainment
3. Minus The Bear, "Planet of Ice"
Whoever thought that Pink Floyd worship and acid-rock guitar solos were a thing best left in the '70s must not have been paying attention. Lucky for everyone else, Minus The Bear was. On "Planet of Ice," the band's third album, these boys have crafted one of the most ambitious rock records of the past decade. Songs range from the danceable and accessible "Knights" to seizure-shock-rocking climax builders like "Double Vision Quest." Finally, Minus the Bear has pushed its sound and genre to the next level.
4. Ampere, "Ampere/Das Oath Split"
If there was ever a musical equivalent to getting kicked in the teeth and spit on, this is it. That's just what Massachusetts natives Ampere had in mind for their split with New York thrash punk band Das Oath, whose songs clock in at a neck-breaking pace of barely less than seven minutes. Made up entirely of covers of classic punk standards such as the Bad Brains' "The Regulator," these new renditions rival the original cuts. Ampere's version of "Money Stinks," originally written by seminal English post-punks Wire, lurches with all the reckless insanity of a drunk driver going against traffic.
5. Magnolia Electric Co., "Sojourner"
Jason Molina has always been a mystery. Whether it has been manning the helm as singer-songwriter for the cult-classic indie group Songs: Ohia or as the writing force and voice behind his most recent incarnation in Magnolia Electric Co., he's never been one to loosen grip over the reigns. Here, though, on the group's fourth album, the sprawling and grand box set "Sojourner," he's never been more inviting. Granted the subjects stay the same as Molina and his guitar wail against the backdrop of lonesome, moonlit country highways in tracks like the heavenly built "Texas 71." But with a vision for his art this precise and uniquely imagined, who's complaining?
6. Bright Eyes, "Cassadaga"
"How can you live in the same state that that traitor in the White House came from?" Yes, Bright Eyes' main man Conor Oberst is even quotable outside his lyrics. But in the past two years, Oberst has done what no one expected of him - actually grown up. Proof comes courtesy of the country-tinged folk rock on the concept album "Cassadaga." Based around themes related to faith healing, spirituality and general freaked-out mysticism, this is an album that skimped on none of the potentially alienating artistic awkwardness. Instead, though, it embraces it. Fortunately, it works incredibly. "Cassadaga" creates a captivating world desperate for meaning and acceptance in songs like the catchy and ironically light-hearted "I Must Belong Somewhere" and the blackly triumphant "Soul Singer In A Session Band."
Whoever thought that Pink Floyd worship and acid-rock guitar solos were a thing best left in the '70s must not have been paying attention. Lucky for everyone else, Minus The Bear was. On "Planet of Ice," the band's third album, these boys have crafted one of the most ambitious rock records of the past decade. Songs range from the danceable and accessible "Knights" to seizure-shock-rocking climax builders like "Double Vision Quest." Finally, Minus the Bear has pushed its sound and genre to the next level.
4. Ampere, "Ampere/Das Oath Split"
If there was ever a musical equivalent to getting kicked in the teeth and spit on, this is it. That's just what Massachusetts natives Ampere had in mind for their split with New York thrash punk band Das Oath, whose songs clock in at a neck-breaking pace of barely less than seven minutes. Made up entirely of covers of classic punk standards such as the Bad Brains' "The Regulator," these new renditions rival the original cuts. Ampere's version of "Money Stinks," originally written by seminal English post-punks Wire, lurches with all the reckless insanity of a drunk driver going against traffic.
5. Magnolia Electric Co., "Sojourner"
Jason Molina has always been a mystery. Whether it has been manning the helm as singer-songwriter for the cult-classic indie group Songs: Ohia or as the writing force and voice behind his most recent incarnation in Magnolia Electric Co., he's never been one to loosen grip over the reigns. Here, though, on the group's fourth album, the sprawling and grand box set "Sojourner," he's never been more inviting. Granted the subjects stay the same as Molina and his guitar wail against the backdrop of lonesome, moonlit country highways in tracks like the heavenly built "Texas 71." But with a vision for his art this precise and uniquely imagined, who's complaining?
6. Bright Eyes, "Cassadaga"
"How can you live in the same state that that traitor in the White House came from?" Yes, Bright Eyes' main man Conor Oberst is even quotable outside his lyrics. But in the past two years, Oberst has done what no one expected of him - actually grown up. Proof comes courtesy of the country-tinged folk rock on the concept album "Cassadaga." Based around themes related to faith healing, spirituality and general freaked-out mysticism, this is an album that skimped on none of the potentially alienating artistic awkwardness. Instead, though, it embraces it. Fortunately, it works incredibly. "Cassadaga" creates a captivating world desperate for meaning and acceptance in songs like the catchy and ironically light-hearted "I Must Belong Somewhere" and the blackly triumphant "Soul Singer In A Session Band."
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