Ellington

pop tunes have been saturating the listening public's ears over the
last few years, and the last few releases. But, on "Night Falls Over
Kortedala" Jens literally brings it home, to his Goteborg
neighborhood, Kortedala. "Kortedala" is filled with a huge list of
influences, samples, and instruments. Jens gently sings over top in
a style that is almost akin to a modern Sinatra, telling heartening
tales of love and various slices of life. From the tale of posing as
his lesbian friend's lover for her father on "Postcard to Nina", to
the trials and tribulations of working "Friday Night at the Drive-In
Bingo", Jens proves irresistible through it all.

DAVID VANDERVELDE "Moonstation House Band"
Oh yes, it was released all the way back in January, but David
Vandervelde's "Moonstation House Band" still sounds as fresh today as
it did back then. Channeling the likes of Bowie and Bolan,
Vandervelde came through with an absolutely stupendous premiere first
full-length with "Moonstation House Band". Recorded over a two-year
residency at former Wilco member Jay Bennett's Clubhouse studio,
Vandervelde enlisted both Bennett, and award-winning string arranger
(and Beck Daddy) David Campbell, but still managed to play the
majority of the album's music himself. Having spent the year touring
with the likes of Spoon and Blitzen Trapper, and playing
Lollapalooza, and SXSW, Vandervelde has now hunkered down in New York
City and is currently working on a follow up to "Moonstation House
Band".

RICHARD SWIFT "Dressed Up For the Letdown"
Mr. Swift dropped "Dressed Up" way back in February, but that should
not detract from you loving the #### out of it on your year end list.
Swift's gorgeous Tin Pan Alley inspired piano pop tunes, just melt
like butter coming through your stereo speakers. Richard Swift has
confidently composed yet another original masterpiece; employing an
archaic attitude of tempered restraint on this collection of ten
songs, without appearing shamelessly retro or kitschy. Having toured
with the likes of Wilco and Cold War Kids this year, as well as
absolutely slaying audiences at this year's SXSW, Swift still had
time to direct a video for his song "Kisses For the Misses". And
looking ahead to 2008, Swift has projects galore upon the horizon.

BISHOP ALLEN "The Broken String"
This year, Bishop Allen, mightily loved by blogs,
and now famous for their 12 EPs in 12 months
project, released their first proper studio album
"The Broken String". Of its 12 songs, 9 are
reworked tracks from the EPs and three are
previously unreleased. These are not just
re-recordings: Bishop Allen has stepped out of
the home studio and created definitive versions
of songs that were originally conceived within
the constraints of a monthly deadline. Benefiting
from the earlier recordings and several tours,
the songs' arrangements have grown, the
production is lush, the lyrics are front and
center, and the band's evolution has reached a
new level. If Ed Sullivan were alive today,
Bishop Allen's story-songs would be ripe for
prime time. The Broken String is the follow-up
for which Bishop Allen fans have long clamored.

CITAY "Little Kingdom"
Citay's Little Kingdom. It's an otherworldly
place, full of psychedelic swirl, soaring
harmonies and grandiose jams. It's an epic
journey, and an album that sounds out of place in
2007 ñ a classic in the purest sense. Like
Citay's 2006 self-titled debut, the '70s rock
sensibility is intact; Thin Lizzy, acoustic Led
Zeppelin, Big Star and the Byrds all remain
touchstones. But Little Kingdom moves further
into ambitious composition, referencing Popul
Vuh, Animals-era Pink Floyd, the Fripp-Eno
collaborations, and early Mike Oldfield. The twin
leads are still huge, the ballads still sweet,
but Citay is reaching for more on Little Kingdom.
Transcending retro-classic rock, these eight
songs are intricate compositions in which texture
is as important as melody, and every sound is
precise. Little Kingdom is not just a great
contemporary album; it is one that would have
sounded great 30 years ago and will still sound
magical decades from now.

DIRTY PROJECTORS "Rise Above"
From beginning to end "Rise Above" is a
reimagining of Black's Flag seminal 1981 record
"Damaged". It is not a covers record. David
Longstreth attempted to rewrite his favorite
adolescent album word for word, from memory. It
resounds with a kind of elegant simplicity:
beautiful interlocking guitar parts, gorgeous
three-part vocal harmonies, and some great
songwriting. Chris Taylor of Grizzly Bear manned
the knobs, giving "Rise Above" the same rich
sound that he brought to his own band's acclaimed
album "Yellow House". Longstreth used the same
musicians that appeared on the US tour on which
he debuted these songs, and "Rise Above" captures
the inventiveness and raw power of Dirty
Projectors' live arrangements at long last.

PHOSPHORESCENT "Pride"
Phosphorescent's Matthew Houck left a lot behind
in the making of "Pride": the deep south for New
York City, the shambling joyous southern jubilees
of previous efforts, and many of the friends he
enlisted to help in such efforts. The end
product, this year's "Pride", is a stripped down
harrowingly lonely set of songs that carry in
them both a wholesome and familiar quality, and
the reverence of an old church spiritual at the
same time. The end result is nothing less than a
new chapter in the American songwriting tradition.

Okkervil River "The Stage Names"
Okkervil River's Black Sheep Boy was one of the most acclaimed releases of 2005. Leaving both the band and the listening public with a lot of anticipation for Okkervil's follow up this year. With their newest release, "The Stage Names", Okkervil River dynamite the walls of Black Sheep Boy's gothic, moss-walled castle from the inside to let in the glaring sun. Riddled with characters real and fake, with true-life biography and brazenly fabricated autobiography, with the relics of high culture and the crumpled-up trash of low culture, "The Stage Names" is a cinemascopic take on the meaning of entertainment. And, crucially, it entertains. Reverberant with echoes of Motown snap and girl-group pop, redolent with ripe whiffs of dirty rock 'n' roll, shining with the shimmy of Bo Diddley, with the shimmer of the Velvets, with the swagger of the Faces, and with a glittery sprinkling of cheap perfume over the top of it all to disguise the stink, "The Stage Names" is a relentlessly-paced and ruthlessly thrilling journey.

Sunset Rubdown "Random Spirit Lover"
The moniker Sunset Rubdown was first born to bear the solo bedroom recordings of Spencer Krug, but has since evolved into a full-fledged band, involving the vital contributions of fellow Montreal residents Jordan Robson Cramer, Michael Doerksen, and Camilla Wynne Ingr. Sunset Rubdown's third full-length record, "Random Spirit Lover", features twelve songs that bleed in and out of each other, mixing portents with theatrics, confusions with conversions. The dark glamour of the music beneath the half-baked revelations in rhyme creates a tone of high drama, blown-out and overt, but the stage is wild and the roles aren't clear, so the sincerity of the work and the spontaneity of the recordings can't help but shine through the formality of structure.

The Besnard Lakes "The Besnard Lakes Are the Dark Horse"
Rich with Beach Boys style harmonies, Roy Orbison reverbs and orchestra, Pink Floyd's pacing and Freddy Mercury's falsetto, "The Besnard Lakes Are The Dark Horse", nominated for the prestigious Polaris Prize, is a luxurious foray into sound and music. The Besnard Lakes created a masterpiece that has resonated within all quarters, amongst critics, casual and not-so-casual rock listeners, garden variety pop fans and headphone junkies.