The Year In Music, 2007: The Best CD's Of The Year

As expected, DHMBIB is a little bit late with our "Best CD's of '07" post. But here it is. And for those of you have been regular readers of our posts here -- or elsewhere across the tubes -- this list should come as no surprise.

Read on for the full list...

The ranking is in the ever-popular "1-to-10" style, with a caveat. Read on.

1) Amy Winehouse, Back To Black



DHMBIB's Album Of The Year [well, obvs...it is "number 1", after all -- Ed.]

Grammy Nominations: 6+1

* Album Of The Year
* Record Of The Year -- "Rehab"
* Song Of The Year -- "Rehab"
* Best New Artist
* Best Female Pop Vocal Performance -- "Rehab"
* Best Pop Vocal Album

* Producer Of The Year, Non-Classical -- Mark Ronson ("Back To Black", "Rehab", "You Know I'm No Good" [Amy Winehouse]; "Littlest Things" [Lily Allen]; Version [Mark Ronson])

2007 Nationwide Mercury Prize Short List

Put quite simply, Amy Winehouse and Mark Ronson have created a masterpiece of popular music. Ronson replaced the retro-jazz-diva-meets-hip-hop sound of Amy's first album, the Salaam Remi-produced Frank, with a retro-jazz-diva-meets-Motown-and-Brill-building-and-classic-soul motif. [Remi also contributed knob-twiddling assistance on the new album]. For the band, Ronson brought in The Dap-Kings, the band that together with Sharon Jones has single-handedly revived the classic soul sound of the 60's and 70's. Married to the sound are Amy's heart-wrenching, poetic lyrics about love, loss, betrayal, anger, depression, and addictions of all kinds. Singing those vulnerable-yet-defiant lyrics is a one-in-a-million voice. It was a big gamble for all involved, working outside their normal comfort zones, but Amy and Ronson have pulled it off here and produced an album that will be in the upper ranges of critics' "Best Of ..." lists for years to come.

Were it not for Amy's tabloid-captured troubles, she would probably be considered a lock to sweep her 6 Grammy nominations. Even considering the stiff competition Amy faces from Kanye West and Rihanna, among others, Back To Black is that good. However, in the real world, Amy's behavior has turned off many a fan and critic, and her upset loss of the prestigious Nationwide Mercury Prize in September 2007 was widely seen as both a plea and a warning. It remains to be seen how Grammy voters will react to developments in Amy's life over the last year.

If Amy does well with her 6 nominations, she has history within her sights. No female artist has ever won more than 5 Grammys on the same nite, although that's happened 5 times now, including 4 times in the last 6 years. And only once has an artist swept "the Big Four". The main reason for the latter is that it is rare that a "new artist" [BNA] comes along with the chops to write [SOTY] one of the best records [ROTY] on one of the best albums of the year [AOTY]. Amy Winehouse is that artist. In spite of Amy's tabloid adventures, you would not be making a bad bet to put your money on Amy to sweep her categories.

READ MORE [wikipedia]:

Amy Winehouse
Back To Black
Mark Ronson

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2) Kanye West, Graduation



DHMBIB's Hip-Hop/Rap Album Of The Year

Grammy Nominations: 6

* Album Of The Year
* Best Rap Solo Performance -- "Stronger"
* Best Rap/Sung Collaboration -- "Good Life" (feat. T-Pain)
* Best Rap Song -- "Can't Tell Me Nothing"
* Best Rap Song -- "Good Life" (feat. T-Pain)
* Best Rap Album

[Kanye also is nominated for 2 Grammys for work he did outside of Graduation.]

It's hard to overstate the accomplishments of Kanye West in the last seven years. After spending about three years as one of hip-hop's most original and unorthodox producers -- Kanye loved to build songs around samples from artists who were obscure or outside the realm of most hip-hop fans and performers -- Kanye finally convinced his friend -- and production client -- Jay-Z to give Kanye a shot with a record deal. Kanye did not blow his shot. In barely 3 1/2 years, Kanye West as a performer has produced 3 of the 50-or-so best hip-hop albums of all time.

Graduation picks up exactly where 2004's The College Dropout and 2006's Late Registration left off, and is surely at least the equal of either of those excellent records. Sonically, Kanye is still making us all say "whaaaaa???" at some of his samples -- Daft Punk in "Stronger"; Steely Dan in "Champion" -- but it is this willingness to consciously appeal to non-traditional hip-hop fans with samples that they recognize and enjoy that has made Kanye perhaps the most popular hip-hopper across multiple demographic groups.

Graduation would appear to be the strongest competitor to Back To Black in the AOTY race, and although we're pulling for Amy around here, an AOTY win for Graduation would not be undeserved.

READ MORE [wikipedia]:

Kanye West
Graduation

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3) Rihanna, Good Girl Gone Bad



DHMBIB's Pop/R&B/Dance Album Of The Year

Grammy Nominations: 6

* Record Of The Year -- "Umbrella" (feat. Jay-Z)
* Song Of The Year -- "Umbrella" (feat. Jay-Z)
* Best Dance Recording -- "Don't Stop The Music"
* Best R&B Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals -- "Hate That I Love You" (feat. Ne-Yo)
* Best R&B Song -- "Hate That I Love You" (feat. Ne-Yo)
* Best Rap/Sung Collaboration -- "Unmbrella" (feat. Jay-Z)

[Rihanna is personally eligible to win 4 Grammys -- she is not credited as a songwriter on the 2 nominated songs and thus is not eligible to win those awards.]

Since first appearing on the scene in 2005, Rihanna has had trouble shaking a perception as a nasally Beyonce knockoff whose albums were little more than filler to surround her handful of minor pop hits. Though popular among international club-goers for her Carribean-influenced sound, the Barbados native was not catching on with fickle pop fans in the US, and she looked to be about to blow her chance.

Even though she had put out 2 albums a mere eight months apart in 2005 and 2006, the still only 18-year-old Rihanna raced back to the studio in early 2007 to record her third album. Label head Jay-Z, for whom Rihanna's failure to catch fire was very much a reflection on his decision-making as well, decided that a new formula and new personnel were needed. Added to Rihanna's long-time production team were superproducer Timbaland, Tim's male muse Justin Timberlake, Ne-Yo, the Swedish superproducer team Stargate, and the team of Christopher "Tricky" Stewart and Terius "The-Dream" Nash.

Whatever the cost of assembling this near "dream team" of high-wattage talent, the result was certainly a smashing success. Stewart and Nash brought along the song "Umbrella", which Nash had actually written for Britney Spears (she never responded to his offer) and was also offered to Mary J. Blige (who didn't say "yes" fast enough). "Umbrella", released as a single in March, quickly became a ubiquitous world-wide phenomenon, hitting #1 in 27 different countries and propelling Rihanna to international pop superstardom.

Even though many critics feared the "too many cooks" aspect of the ensuing album Good Girl Gone Bad would render it a sonic mess, it's actually responsible for the album being so accessible and listenable. In short, there's something here for everyone -- "Shut Up And Drive" rocks more than any song on any other "Pop/R&B/Dance" record this year, and also is, 25 years later, "Little Red Corvette" from the female's perspective; longtime fans of Rihanna's euro-club bangers will love "Don't Stop The Music" and "Push Up On Me"; fans of Rihanna's balladry will love her collaboration with Ne-Yo, "Hate That I Love You"; fans of Timbaland's style will eat up "Sell Me Candy"; fans of Rihanna's R&B contemporaries can get behind "Say It", and so on. Probably because there is so much that is so different, Good Girl Gone Bad also stands out as Rihanna's first album that truly needs to be heard all the way through, again and again.

2007 admittedly was very weak in the "Pop/R&B/Dance" genre, with most of the genres biggest names (Justin Timberlake, Christina Aguilera, Gwen Stefani, Beyonce, Fergie, etc.) having released new material in 2006. But Good Girl Gone Bad does not stand out simply for a lack of competition. Rihanna and her team have produced a record that most pop starlets only dream about. Rihanna's new-found international superstardom is well deserved. We hope she can maintain it for a while.

READ MORE [wikipedia]:

Rihanna
Good Girl Gone Bad

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[Notice anything about the top 3? That they all generated 6 Grammy nominations? Notice anything about the next 7? That not one generated more than 1 Grammy nomination? See any significance in that? No, we don't either -- Ed.]

[DHMBIB's numbers 4 through 10 albums of the year all could share the number 4 honor. They are all different records, with different intended audiences, and different ways in which they challenge the listener. Consider these rankings fluid -- on any other list-making day, we might have ordered them differently -- Ed.]

4) Fall Out Boy, Infinity On High



DHMBIB's Modern Rock Album Of The Year

Grammy Nominations: 0

Rihanna is not the only artist on this list to breakthrough to superstardom with help from Jay-Z in 2007. Jay-Z had long been an ardent proponent of Fall Out Boy -- he did have financial incentives of course -- but his appearance on Infinity On High's leadoff track, the outstanding "Thriller", gave FOB some valuable street-cred to go along with adoration they had cultivated among teens and "emo kids".

Of all the albums on this list, Infinity On High made by far the fewest "Best Of '07" lists I saw. Much of that is undoubtedly due to the rock critics' scorn of "emo", or to their image of Fall Out Boy as a band with far too much appeal to teenage girls. Much of it is also undoubtedly due to FOB's polarizing lead figure, bassist Pete Wentz, and his Hollywood associates. But it's too bad the critics didn't give this record its due, because Infinity On High was, in our opinion of course, the best Modern Rock album of the year.

Wentz's songwriting, and Patrick Stump's vocals, show the positive effects of their rise to stardom in 2005 and 2006. The songs are more mature and less quirky, and Stump's singing has definitely gotten stronger. It may sound hyperbolic to some, but Fall Out Boy right now remind us a lot of the artistic and critical growth of The Who around the beginning of the 1970's. We hope they continue to grow stronger, and we hope the critics start sacking up and giving FOB their critical due.

READ MORE [wikipedia]:

Fall Out Boy
Infinity On High

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5) Miranda Lambert, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend



DHMBIB's Country Album Of The Year

Grammy Nominations: 1

* Best Female Country Vocal Performance -- "Famous In A Small Town"

Miranda Lambert first achieved national attention when she finished 3d in the inaugural season of Nashville Star, an American Idol-like competition focusing entirely on country music performers. Her debut album, Kerosene, was released in 2004 to critical acclaim but initially modest sales. Then, her barn-burner of a performance of the title track at the 2005 CMA Awards added, well, kerosene to the sales of the record, and eventually it went platinum.

Miranda spent much of 2005 and 2006 touring, and in 2007 released her 2d album, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. But even with a command performance of "Gunpowder And Lead" at the 2007 CMA Awards, Crazy appears to have stalled out in the US with barely 300,000 scans, and that's too bad, because this is one hell of a record.

As every review written about Crazy has noted, this is not just an album of 2 or 3 surefire hit songs surrounded by sound-alike filler. This is an album that top to bottom sounds like an interwoven fabric of material -- probably as close as you can come to a fully-realized "concept album" in modern country music. Miranda is not just a talented singer with a gift for expressing complex emotions with her voice, she is also one of Nashville's best songrwiters -- from the anger of the abused lover in "Gunpowder And Lead" to the way she stands genre cliches on their head in "Famous In A Small Town", Miranda shows here that she is a once-in-a-generation talent, akin to Loretta Lynn or Kris Kristofferson.

Which of course means her label will probably drop her next year. Sigh.

READ MORE [wikipedia]:

Miranda Lambert
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend

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6) Lily Allen, Alright, Still



DHMBIB's Brit-Pop Album Of The Year

Grammy Nominations: 1+1

* Best Alternative Music Album

* Producer Of The Year, Non-Classical -- Mark Ronson ("Back To Black", "Rehab", "You Know I'm No Good" [Amy Winehouse]; "Littlest Things" [Lily Allen]; Version [Mark Ronson])

The earliest US-released album on this list, Alright, Still has gotten lost on a lot of critics' year-end lists, likely to due the large number of critically-acclaimed albums released later in the year. Also, some critics' attempts to lump her in with Amy Winehouse in their "British ladies invade the U.S." motifs, combined with the tabloid-headline-grabbing year Amy had, have left Lily Allen little room to grab critical mindshare.

It's too bad that so many people have already forgotten this year-old CD, which was far and away the most fun listen of the year. Lily has an incredible knack for writing subversively humorous -- or is it humorously subversive? -- songs that are sweet and funny, catchy and familiar, and instantly likeable. Throw in another perfect production performance from superstar producer Mark Ronson, and this album is a perfect pop album.

Lily has an engaging personality and is adorable in interviews and on her own blog. She also avoided some of the high-profile tabloid-headline-grabbing activity to which so many of her contemporaries were attracted in 2007. She has already expressed that she may retire after delivering her next record, in order to start a family and spend time with them. We hope she changes her mind, but even if she doesn't, we'll always have Alright, Still, the "fun" album of the year.

READ MORE [wikipedia]:

Lily Allen
Alright, Still

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7) Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, Raising Sand



DHMBIB's Americana Album Of The Year
DHMBIB's Collaboration Album Of The Year

Grammy Nominations: 1

* Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals -- "Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On)"

DHMBIB is a HUUUUUGE fan of Alison Krauss. But when we first heard about this project, we were skeptical. We are not fans of most of Krauss' collaborative work outside her work with her modern Blue Grass / Americana band, Union Station. Perhaps it's been her choice of projects, or just the difficulty of meeting high expectations, but these collaborations have largely disappointed.

So it was with trepidation that we approached this project. We have great respect for Robert Plant, of course, but his best days seemingly were long ago. But upon hearing Raising Sand, we realized that not only were our fears unfounded, but that we were amazed at the depth of soul and emotion on this project. The two vocal legends teamed with legendary producer-and-artist T-Bone Burnett to create a truly unique listening experience. Burnett was able to persuade Plant and Krauss to step way outside some of their normal comfort zones, and the result is an inspired creation that came from out of nowhere onto many critics Best-of-'07 lists.

Robert Plant famously played a one-off show with his old mates from Led Zeppelin back in November. This, naturally, led to speculation that Led Zeppelin would embark on a reunion tour. Robert Plant could earn upwards of a gazillion dollars on that tour. But instead, Robert Plant announced that he wanted to tour with Alison Krauss in support of Raising Sand.

Yeah, this record is that good.

READ MORE [wikipedia]:

Robert Plant
Alison Krauss
Raising Sand
T-Bone Burnett

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8) M.I.A., Kala



DHMBIB's What-Do-You-Call-This-Style? Album Of The Year

Grammy Nominations: 0

Maya Arulpragasam -- the artist known as M.I.A. [section 13(d)(3)(K)(iv) of the Music Blogger Style code requires all music bloggers who write about M.I.A. to write out in full, at a minimum, her last name -- Ed.] -- has always been a challenging artist in many ways. Most challenging has been "categorizing" her music. Is it "dance" music? Is it "world" music? Is it "club" music? Is it it "indie"? Is it "pop"?

However you choose to categorize Kala, one thing you can say about it is that it is easily the most political album on this or most other year-end lists. M.I.A. does not shy away from using her work to promote her causes, be those causes third-world poverty, immigrant rights, sexism, racism, or classism. But unlike most artists who make "political" music, M.I.A. never clubs you over the head with her beliefs. And you can bet your ass that you will be snapping and bopping along the whole time.

M.I.A. intended to record a significant part of Kala with superproducer Timbaland, which sounds like a good match in theory. Both are known for using unusual sonic elements to produce something completely unexpected. But visa problems (which provided the inspiration for "Paper Planes") kept M.I.A. out of the United States for most of Tim's free time, so the two only produced one track together, "Come Around". Oddly, it stands out as the weakest track on the album, so I'd say the visa problems actually worked out in her favor.

READ MORE [wikipedia]:

M.I.A.
Kala

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9) LCD Soundsystem, Sound Of Silver



DHMBIB's Dance DJ Album Of The Year

Grammy Nominations: 1

* Best Electronic/Dance Album

If you were to synthesize the hundreds of "music critic's best albums of '07" year-end lists in search of some sort of "consensus No. 1" -- to gather some sort of BCS ranking for CDs, as it were -- Sound Of Silver would probably come out on top. I think I saw this CD in the top 3 of more lists this season than every other CD on this list combined.

I agree that it was one of the best of the year. And -- my earlier "coulda pulled them outta my hat" caveat aside -- it would probably be higher on my list if the final track, "New York, I Love You But You're Bringing Me Down", weren't such a downer. Yes, that's stupid, but it's also true, and it needed to be said.

Seriously, from every album I heard "almost" all the way through this year -- and this list plus about ten others is THE LIST of such albums -- "New York..." was the one track I most often skipped over [iTunes tells us that we heard "North American Scum" 3 times as often as we heard "New York..." -- Ed.]. And it doesn't help that the track is not only a downer, but it also clocks in at 5:35, which is waaaaaaay too long for me to be listening to a downer track.

So, James Murphy, kudos to you! You took 9th "this week".

READ MORE [wikipedia]:

LCD Soundsystem
Sound Of Silver
James Murphy

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10) Arctic Monkeys, Favourite Worst Nightmare



Grammy Nominations: 0

2007 Nationwide Mercury Prize Short List

In 2006, Britain's Arctic Monkeys became the first act to achieve superstar status largely as a result of an online community of fans reaching critical mass. Their debut album, Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not, debuted to critical acclaim and strong sales. After the Monkeys were awarded the prestigious Nationwide Mercury Prize later in the year, the Monkeys' status as Britain's premier rock-and-roll group was cemented.

Many critics worried that the Monkeys would fall victim to the dreaded "sophomore slump", both due to the expectations placed on them after taking the NMP, and because they were so young -- leader Alex Turner was only 20 years old when Whatever... dropped. But seeking to capture the momentum of their solid 2006, the Monkeys raced back into the studio to record Favourite Worst Nightmare.

The critics needn't have been concerned. The Monkeys have managed not only to not slump, but Favourite... actually betters their debut, and demonstrates artistic growth and teases a promising future for the band. The critics largely agreed, and honored the Monkeys in 2007 by again placing them on the Short List for the Nationwide Mercury Prize, making the Monkeys the first artist to be on the Short List in 2 consecutive years (alas, they did not win the 2007 award).

READ MORE [wikipedia]:

Arctic Monkeys
Favourite Worst Nightmare
Alex Turner

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READ MORE:

Idolator's Idolator Pop '07 Music Critics' Poll
Idolator's round-up of other critics' lists
Village Voice's 2007 Pazz & Jop Poll

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This Is Why We Love Lily Allen [20 August 2007]

From Lily's MySpace blog:

Monday, August 20, 2007

hello all

v festival was great, thanks to everybody who came ,

i just want all my fans to know this ,

I have called george bush a c**t at pretty much every show i have played over the past year , that is because I think he is one and i stand by that . You can make up your own mind as to whether you agree with me or not , thats just how i feel . Just because i hate george bush doesnt mean I hate america , quite the opposite , I think the US is a great place and I am really sad that I cant be there for my commitments scheduled for the near future . what i said about George Bush this weekend bears no relation to what happened a couple of weeks ago with my visa , that is an issue with the US immigration service . I just wanted to let you all know that my " foul mouthed tirade " so widely reported over the past couple of days is actually pretty rehearsed and ive beeen saying it long before all this visa issue .

also me raising a drink to Amy , was just that , showing my support for her . I've been around enough substance abuse and alcoholism to know that it's a serious matter , and not to be taken lightly .

im sorry, i wanted to write this because i felt like if i didn't say anything you all might believe the rubbish your being fed .

Lily

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The Year In Music, 2007: The Best CDs Of The Year [Part 1] -- Lily Allen, Alright, Still

US Release Date: 30 January 2007

MAINSTREAM POP ALBUM OF THE YEAR
DEBUT ALBUM OF THE YEAR

Okay, let's just get this out of the way right now. Lily Allen is abso-freakin'-lutely adorable. And so is Alright, Still.

We cannot talk about 22-year-old Lily Allen without taking a quick trip through her family background. Lily is what we now in the US might refer to as "celebuspawn". Lily's father is Keith Allen, a middlingly-famous British actor and musician not famous enough that we in the US would know who he is without googling him. Lily's mother is British TV producer Alison Owen.

Lily's celebrity upbringing was both a help and a hindrance to her desire to become a singer in her own right. Fans and detractors -- and potential competitors -- constantly questioned her bona fides, and asked how much her celebrity parentage was helping her career along. Tiring of these barriers, eventually Lily decided to create her music career the new-fashioned way: on MySpace. Indeed, Lily Allen may be the first true "pop star" to emerge entirely from her MySpace presence. [Take THAT, Tila Tequila -- Ed.]

In addition to posting all of her music on MySpace, Lily kept in touch with her fans -- and attracted legions of new fans -- through her MySpace blog, in which she opened up about her life: her body-image issues, her beloved English Bull Terrier, Maggie May [whom she reported missing back in December, but who turned up safe-if-not-so-sound shortly thereafter -- that's Maggie May in the lower-left corner of the CD cover photo], and, perhaps most famously, her "feud" with fellow Brit singer Lady Sovereign:

Dear Lady Sovereign

In response to Miss sovereigns comments , I've spoken to my Dad and he says he'd be happy to adopt you if you think it will give you a leg up .

The 21-year-old rapper - who is enjoying chart success in the US - thinks it is unfair she is attacked in Britain for her sense of style, while Lily is lauded for her quirky dress sense.
Lady Sovereign told the Observer Music Monthly magazine: 'I'm not appreciated. You get some of the media hating people like me 'cause they're chavish but Lily is the biggest chav going and everyone seems to love her.' The 'Public Warning' singer insists she doesn't hate Lily, but thinks she has had it easy, because she is the daughter of successful comic actor Keith Allen.
She added: 'I'm not hating on her but someone like Lily Allen, just 'cause her dad's famous, doesn't have to work as hard as someone like me.' The Wembley-born MC also claims her next album is going to be so controversial, her record label Def Jam will 's**t themselves'.
The rapper - who can count Nas and LL Cool J as her label mates - said: 'If they think my current album is irregular the next one's going to be pretty f**ked up. I've got so many things to say. They're going to s**t themselves.'

Perhaps growing up with famous-for-British-"Hollywood" parents gave Lily a unique perspective on fame and stardom. She seems remarkably humble and self-composed for being a huge break-out popstar. Perhaps that's also due to the fact that she's still just 22 and this all seems so new and remarkable to her.

Back in late May -- it seems like so much longer ago -- Lily had the chance to duet with her idol, Blondie's Debbie Harry, on The Today Show. Lily is still so in awe of her idols that she doesn't want to take the spotlight away from Debbie, not even appearing on stage until after Meredith Viera finishes her interview with Debbie:



And Lily has no problem making herself -- or her fellow break-out stars -- the butt of a joke by, well, looking ridiculous:


[Lily as Amy Winehouse recently on the British teevee show "Friday Night Project" -- Ed.]

But wait -- isn't this post supposed to be about Alright, Still?

Lily's debut CD is a brilliant tour-de-force that mixes elements of brit-pop, ska, R&B, dance, and neo-60's-Motown to produce the best "mainstream pop" CD of the first half of 2007.

Yes, I just wrote that.

Part of it is Mark Ronson's brilliant production work [more on HIM later -- Ed.]. Part of it is Lily's unique and entertaining songwriting. Whether she's writing and singing about the pitfalls facing ladies in the club scene ["Knock 'Em Out", "Friday Night"], past lovers who have done her wrong ["Not Big", "Littlest Things"], her body-image issues ["Everything's Just Wonderful"], or her "little baby brother" Alfie who won't stop smoking weed and pullllllling her hair ["Alfie"], Lily manages to create a nearly perfect concoction of sing-a-long lyrics and head-bouncing music. Ironically, at the tender age of 21 [when she recorded this record] Lily managed to create the precise CD that Geri ["Ginger Spice"] Halliwell spent 10 years of her career struggling -- and not succeeding -- to make.

Part of it is also Lily's sailor-mouth. Brits -- especially female Brits -- can "get away away with" being "foul-mouthed sailors" in ways that Americans can't. Lily also benefits from being a young woman -- out of her 22-year-old mouth, it doesn't sound crass -- in context, it even sounds subversively fun. ["oh, my gosh, you must be joking me / if you think that you'll be poking me", from "Shame For You" -- Ed.]

And speaking of subversive fun, Alright, Still is the most subversively "fun" record of the year. Listen to the three most head-bouncing singles on this CD: "Smile", "LDN", and "Alfie". Listen to the lyrics VERY CAREFULLY. Unless you are the asshole-ex-boyfriend of "Smile", the old-lady-who-got-mugged-in-the-park of "LDN", or the "twat" [= rhymes with "hat", not "hot"] baby brother of "Alfie", you will have no choice but to grin slyly as you bounce your head along, feeling like you are "in" on an inside joke.

Lily Allen's Alright, Still is head-and-shoulders-above-the-crowd one of the best pop records of the year. If Lily can maintain her careful balance of clever songrwriting, ahead-of-the-curve production, and attitude, she just may be able to cultivate that career she's long wanted.

*****


[Lily Allen performing "Everything's Just Wonderful" and "Littlest Things" live at the Bonnaroo Music Festival, 25 June 2007 -- Ed.]


[Lily Allen music video for "Smile" -- Ed.]


[Lily Allen music video for "Alfie" -- Ed.]


[Lily Allen music video for "LDN" -- Ed.]

*****

Still haven't fallen in love with Lily Allen yet? And you need more?

Seriously???

[Lily Allen music video for "Smile" in Simlish -- the "language" for The Sims. Seriously, there is a language for The Sims. This may actually be nerdier than those people who go to Star Trek conventions dressed as Klingons and only speak to each other in Klingon. Seriously. Just sayin' -- Ed.]

Invite Lily to go bowling sometime:

[Lily went bowling with a friend in Japan while on tour in early 2007. We have no idea which bowler is Lily -- Ed.]

*****

Okay, you still aren't sold? This is the last best hope for you...
Lily Allen has a third nipple. And she's not afraid to whip it out and show you.


Check please!

*****

Lily Allen, Alright, Still

Reviews / Ratings:

Blender [out of 5]: 4.5
Pitchfork [out of 10]: 8.3
Rolling Stone [out of 5]: 3.5
Spin [out of 5]: 4

metacritic.com [weighted combined rating, out of 100]: 79

*****

So, what MP3's could I possibly post from this record? All of the hits are ubiquitous by now, and there are some great tracks beyond those hits.

This will plague me over the course of this project.

For Alright, Still, I've decided to post my favorite of the three "hit" tracks, "Alfie", and a great "album" track, "Everything's Just Wonderful". Enjoy!

Lily Allen - Alfie [MP3, via YSI]
Lily Allen - Alfie [MP3, via zShare]

Lily Allen - Everything's Just Wonderful [MP3, via YSI]
Lily Allen - Everything's Just Wonderful [MP3, via zShare]

*****

[Next: This Ain't A Scene, It's A God Damn Great Record -- Ed.]

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Video Of The Day: Runners-Up [2 April 2007]

The video we posted earlier of Alanis Morissette covering "My Humps" set the bloggosphere on fire today and is obvs the Video Of The Day. And we're glad for that, because we had a few videos gathered up over the last week and couldn't decide which one to make a "Video Of The Day", and they were starting to go stale because we got busy and couldn't post for a few days. Obviously, we could just post them over the next few days [time permitting], but we've just decided to put them up for your enjoyment now.

After the jump, they follow in the chronological order in which we found them...

* 28 March: Another Fergie "cover":

Julia Allison pointed us in the direction of yet another very awesome parody of "Fergalicious". Enjoy:



* 29 March: Three words -- Jessica. Biel. Stripping.:

Egotastic and IDontLikeYouInThatWay pointed us to the trailer for an upcoming movie called "I Now Pronounce You Chuck And Larry". The movie stars Adam Sandler and Kevin James as NYC firefighters who pretend to be gay partners so they can collect spousal benefits should either die. Jessica Biel plays an attorney they hire to defend them in an investigation into the legitimacy of their "relationship". Predictably, Adam's character falls in love with Jessie's character.

The movie must suck, because the trailer shows a lot of Jessica Biel. Jessica Biel in a pleather catsuit. Jessica Biel stripping down to her lingerie in front of the "gay" Adam Sandler. Jessica Biel inviting the "gay" Adam Sandler to feel her breasts to prove that they are "real".

Yes, we know -- we don't know anyone who would be interested in seeing any of that. But if you might be, enjoy this:


[nice tattoo -- a dove perhaps??? -- Ed.]

* 30 March: Lily Allen rulez!!!:

Stereogum pointed us to a video of the super awesome Lily Allen covering Blondie's "Heart Of Glass" at a recent concert. Watch -- it's worth it:



ciaobaby

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Odds & Sods: American Idol Drop-Out Wouldn't Get Away With This Shit With Hulk Hogan [13 March 2007 Edition]

* Breaking: World War II Memorial Plans To Sue Antonella Barba:

Remember Mario Vazquez?

Mario was a contestant on American Idol 4 who made it to the final 12 and was handicapped to be a top-3 or top-4 prospect. But, on the day before the final 12 were to compete for the first time, Fox announced that Mario had dropped out of the competition for "family reasons" [Mario was replaced in the finals by "7th-place-in-the-semifinal male finisher" Nikko Smith].

Everyone called bullshit on this at the time and assumed that Mario dropped out because he thought he could get a record deal on his own giving him more control over his career. Even Mario's mom said she had no idea what these "family reasons" could be. Idol watchers felt Mario's subsequent signing by Clive Davis validated their assumptions.

But, alas, the truth may be a little less banal and a lot ickier than that.

According to a lawsuit filed on Monday against Vazquez, Fox and Idol-producer Fremantle Media, the "family" appears to be "former Fremantle Assistant Accountant Magdaleno Olmos", and the "reasons" appear to be "sexual harassment and attempted-gay-rape in the men's restroom".

[insert your own Ryan Seacrest / Clay Aiken / William Hung jokes here, please -- Ed.]

* Breaking: Lily Allen Is Adorable!!!:

Both of these were in serious contention for Video Of The Day. But, alas, they're a little too short, so they only rate "Kudos!!!":


[link courtesy themodernage.org]



These two videos are the only videos posted to YouTube by a user named "lilyallenisme". These videos obviously were taken by someone with definite "insider" access, so "lilyallenisme" may really be Lily herself. Awesome!

* Breaking: Music Critic Writes Fawning Article In Praise Of Arcade Fire:

If you haven't heard of Arcade Fire, the Montreal septet anointed by the music Poindexters as the latest "best rock band in the world", you might as well read Jody Rosen's love letter in Slate and pick up Neon Bible at the iTMS. Both are worth your time.

Trust me.

* Breaking: Katharine McPhee Likes Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Clean Teeth:

Kat did a LiveOnline chat with washingtonpost.com on Tuesday. And she made a shocking [!] revelation at the end:

" Katharine McPhee: I'm sorry I have to leave now but I have to go get my teeth cleaned at the dentist. I love you all and talk to you soon. "

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This Week In Lily Allen: 27 February 2007 Edition

[image courtesy idolator.com]

Lily Allen is just cute as a button [guv'na]!!!

DHMBIB <3's Lily Allen!!! Lily was anointed the indie-music-bloggosphere's biggest crush last year, and now she's crashing our shores.

Just cuz, I'm devoting a "This week In..." entry to her.

* BREAKING: Lily Allen Doesn't Care About Corrine-Bailey-Rae-Named People, Lady-Sov-Named People:


[image courtesy myspace.com/lilymusic]

[Ironically, as I blog this, I'm watching Ellen DeGeneres dance around her set to Kanye West. How meta.]

12 February 2007:

Lily Allen: "Corinne Bailey Rae? I think she's a bit boring, sorry. She's a lovely girl but I don't think her music stands out and I'd be a bit annoyed if she won Best Female Artist [at the Brit Awards, the British Grammys]."

22 February 2007:

Lady Sov: "I'm not hating on her but someone like Lily Allen, just 'cause her dad's famous, doesn't have to work as hard as someone like me. You get some of the media hating people 'cause they're 'chavish' but she's the biggest chav going." [In the same interview, Lady Sov also called CBR "boring" -- Ed.]

22 February 2007:

Lily Allen: "Dear Lady Sovereign: In response to Miss sovereigns comments, I've spoken to my Dad and he says he'd be happy to adopt you if you think it will give you a leg up." [sic]

[Ooh, snap!!! -- Ed.]

* BREAKING: Lily Allen Doesn't Care About iTMS Bully People:

"...iTunes [is] kind of bullying people into corners by making sure they have extra, you know, extra songs so they can put them on the front page. And they won't [advertise] your album unless you kind of give them extra material and so on. And we've kind of been backed into a corner. We want to do this remix, but the remix isn't ready, but they need it delivered by today and blah blah blah. So I said, 'Okay, fine, give iTunes the rubbish remix, and then what I'll do I'll get the people remixing it to do a good remix and then we'll give it away for free on MySpace."

[Sound Opinions, via Idolator]

* BREAKING: NBC Uni Doesn't Care About "You"-Lily-Allen-Loving People:

Lily Allen was the musical guest on the 3 February 2007 show of Saturday Night Live. Lily's performances made it up to YouTube -- where, of course, they no longer are, because NBC Uni C&D'd YouTube. And, of course, guess which other site they're not on -- that's right, kids: NBC.

[NBC's SNL site lists the 3 Feb 2007 episode as the "next" episode. Douchebags.]

But a trailer is still on YouTube:



*****


[Smile, Lily!]

*****

Here is the "rubbish remix" that those bullies at the iTMS insist you *must* hear:

Lily Allen - Smile (Mark Ronson Remix) [mp3, via YSI]
Lily Allen - Smile (Mark Ronson Remix) [mp3, via zShare]

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