WHY 15?
Essentially when I went to assemble my list, I realized that I was using two sets of criteria to determine my favorite releases of the year. On the most fundamental level, I wanted my top 10 to be the works that impressed me the most. However, the reality is that the selections I picked weren't necessarily the albums I listened to (i.e. continuously appreciated) the most. Thus I offer this expanded list. I didn't want to simply list selections 11 to 15 as "honorable mentions," because they're certainly more substantial to me than that.
Despite its status as winner of the 2007 Mercury Music Prize, the debut record from Klaxons might be the closest thing to an "honorable mention" here. Obviously, I've always loved electronic punk music, which this record enhances with science fiction, mythology, apocalypse, Aleister Crowley, Thomas Pynchon, the occasional dance beat, a rave whistle, and a massive dose of pop thrill. It is a heady and breathless mix, produced by James Ford of Simian Mobile Disco. Pair this with the fact that these photogenic young guys come close in artistic spirit to the studious experimentalism of the Cure at their most aesthetic (pre-1983), and this should be my record of the year.
Yet after "Golden Skans" stopped popping up everywhere and the rush of "Atlantis to Interzone" died down, "new rave" never really took off as either a media catchphrase or a new subgenre of music, leaving behind a record of somewhat dirgey art rock that manages to blend a lot of disparate influences together irresistibly but stops just short of developing any single idea into the monster it's begging to become. As if to underline this, Klaxons' live show is trim and straightforward, a powerful set of hooky rock songs that unfortunately lacks the vitality and versatility occasionally on display here.
More than any other artist, Klaxons rank highly for me this year based on what they'll undoubtedly become, rather than what they're already doing. They have now gained an all-important confidence that will push them to develop all of these wonderful ideas even further, and with a band as creative as this one, there is no such thing as "too far." Expect a kaleidoscopic masterpiece in the Near Future... later in 2008. Until then, here's the wild video for "Magick":
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