Best of '07.

Sorry for the complete lack of posts since my Junior year of high school's begun, shits just gotten tense. Who knows, I may not even be able to maintain it for much longer, but I appreciate the fact that I have actual readers, including people I don't know. It puts a pretty odd responsibility on my back, but I love this shit!

The one thing I've noticed about every damn blog on the planet is they're doing a Best of '07 list. I figure not posting for awhile, here's my list, links and all.

Spider Cider's Best 25 Albums of '07. [Click album art or title]

#25.)The Go! Team - Proof of Youth














#24.)Basia Bulat - "Oh, My Darling"














#23.)Frog Eyes - "Tears of the Valedictorian"














#22.)Low - "Drums & Guns"













#21.)The Polyphonic Spree - "The Fragile Army"














#20.)Skeletons and the King of All Cities - "Lucas"













#19.)Taken by Trees - "Open Field"














#18.)St. Vincent - "Marry Me"













#17.)Battles - "Mirrored"














#16.)The White Stripes - "Icky Thump"














#15.)Feist - "The Reminder"














#14.)Patrick Wolf - "The Magic Position"














#13.)The National - "Boxer"














#12.)Jens Lekman - "Night Falls over Kortedala"














#11.)Bon Iver - "For Emma, Forevor Ago"














#10.)Beirut - "The Flying Club Cup"













#9.)Justice - "Cross"














#8.)Jose Gonzalez - "In Our Nature"














#7.)Caribou - "Andorra"














#6.)LCD Soundsystem - "Sound of Silver"














#5.)Radiohead - "In Rainbows"
Disc I














Disc II














#4.)Animal Collective - "Strawberry Jam"














#3.)M.I.A. - "Kala"














#2.)Panda Bear - "Person Pitch"














#1.) The Arcade Fire - "Neon Bible"


















Albums I slept through.
1.) Band of Horses - "Cease to Begin"
The vocals are even more beautiful than last year's severely underrated "Everything All the Time," but that's like putting make-up on Jenifer-like, hideous, nearly Dashboard-leveled lyrics.

2.) The Fiery Furnaces - "Widow City"
I seem to be the only person I know who adores the Fiery Furnaces, but their recent album lacked the trekking, colorful flow that made previous albums so much fun, and even lacked the interesting lyrical qualities. Would have worked better as a speed-bump EP with a few pointless exercising tracks excised.

3.) The Hives - "The Black & White Album"
Maybe I set my expectations too high after "Tyrannosaurus Hives"(Favorite album of '05), but that doesn't excuse the seriously boring, repetitious jams, and complete quality inconsistency. Same idea with "Widow City": Should have had the null tracks cut and made it a filler before their next great album.

4.) The Smashing Pumpkins - "Zeitgeist"
Billy should have quit while he was ahead. A decade ago.

Caribou: "Andorra" ('07)

Review to come...

Descarga aqui.

Alex Delivery: "Star Destroyer" ('07)

Review to come...

Descarga aqui.

Alaska in Winter: "Dance Party in the Balkans" ('07)

Here's an odd album that's very hard for me to pin down, but I loved the relaxing, lo-fi winter-electronica roll of every track.

The final track features Beirut in a quirky and upbeat change of pace, that somehow still caries the rest of the album's wintry feel mixed among Zach Condon's folk instrumentals and vocal style.

Descarga aqui.

All Night Radio: "Spirit Stereo Frequency" ('04)

A psychedelic dream-pop ride through the shimmering waves of beach music.

A concept album that's best listened to in a singular sitting, oddly enough covers enough lush sounds and styles within the form of their whimsical, spacey flow. The eclectic joining of several referential styles of pop music into separate tracks serves the feel well. Though I'd argue the first track, Daylight Til Dawn, is easily the most entertaining of the album, the rest sways and treks along into more and more sounds, all feeling uniform and united by the singular concept. The track that's easily the strangest amongst the lot is Oh, When?, which feels like a random Pink Floyd track with its clinking, echoing space-ride of distorted guitars and noises, even fits in perfectly and refreshingly at the point in the album when some might lose interest. These guys just want you to sit and relax.

Dave Scher, of Beachwood Sparks, carries on an interesting sound that makes this album feel like more of a sequel to Beachwood Sparks' self-titled album, albeit set on a tropical beach rather then the desert during a sunset.
descarga aqui.

This blog post is dedicated to (son of) Sky Bicycle, this very album containing the track that gave one of my favorite blogs its name. It's shutting down soon, so give it some attention.

Siouxsie & The Banshees: "Peepshow" ('88)

Here's a quickie...

descarga aqui.

Siouxsie & The Banshees: "Juju" ('81)

Here's a quickie...

descarga aqui.