Something you may not realise from reading my rantings and ravings (or reviews as they’re usually called) is that in the past year I have become really interested in instrumental music. Before 2007 I would only put on a jazz record (usually Bill Evans or Miles Davis) or film score (Gladiator OST and the Kingdom of Heaven soundtrack were highlights for me) when I was studying. They provided great background music, and according to scientific research, they helped you remember things. They also made cows produce more milk, but seeing as how I have never lactated or plan or ever doing so, I doubt that applies to me! Thus this year I listened to a good amount of instrumental music. Some of it I stumbled across, some was recommended. Some was awful, and I never plan on listening to it again. But some was beautiful. Here are ten perfect albums to study to. Or if you like instrumental music, albums to accompany your train ride: stare out the window, think of that long last love, and with one of these on, you won’t look like an idiot anymore mouthing along with the words.

(Note: For this list, I went for mostly vocal-less albums. Kind of like the Grammy’s 51% or more thing. Thus spectacular albums, like Burial’s Untrue which have no lyrics but some human voices were excluded.)

10. Kenny Warner - Lawn Chair Society
This album is worthy of entry here for the album sleeve alone. It’s witty but kind of “what the…?” at the same time. One of the songs here (’Kothbiro’) was used on the Constant Gardener soundtrack, and if this debut album is anything to go by, there’s no doubt he’ll be scoring a lot more films.

9. Michael Brecker - Pilgrimage
Sadly, Michael Brecker died in January of this year. But before he did, he recorded numerous splendid performances featuring noted Jazz musicians such as Pat Metheny, Brad Mehldau and the legendary Herbie Hancock. It was not until this summer that I first heard of Brecker, and that is surely my loss.

8. Glen Jones - Against Which The Sea Continually Beats
Rodrigo y Gabriela didn’t release a record this year, so that left room for other guitarists’ instrumental work on my iPod. There’s a lot going on in this album - a lot from one man - but it never overwhelms. Beautifully melodic, which is exactly what you want from an instrumental record. But what the hell is with that cover art? Does it have some kind of bizarre Lord of the Flies meaning that I’m missing out on?

7. Oregon - 1000 Kilometers
Someone recommended this album to me, and I usually track down every album recommended to me. Yes, I am that anal, and yes I do listen to that much music! It took me ages to finally find this album, as no matter how many times I typed in “1000 Kilometres” I never could find it. Perhaps I had got the name wrong? Perhaps it was 100 or 10,000 Kilometres, or abbreviated Km. Finally I figured out it was an -er suffix, and I must say it truly was worth the wait. A stunning Jazz album. The playing of Paul McCandless is just phenomenal.

6. Dario Marinelli - Atonement OST
Soundtracks: when the composer is writing them, do they have to follow certain requirements? Do they have to make them a certain length, that not only will they tie in with certain parts of the movie, but that they are also long enough to fit on a full album, and thus be hidden away in the back areas of record stores? You know the ones I mean - the areas where you have to move aside the beaded curtain, an area lit by neon lighting. Oh, wrong shop. Whatever the rules are, this soundtrack contained my favourite use of typewriter this year. I look forward to more typewriter records in 2008.

5. Stars of the Lid - And Their Refinement of the Decline
I felt I didn’t give this album enough love this year. If I had have received it earlier than late November it could well have made my overall Top 30 list. They list one of their influences as Brian Eno, and as much as I love Eno, this usually is a bad thing. Not here though. The music is quite ambient, and never really engulfs the listener. You’re never jolted out of your seat, but the gentle nudges in various directions are more than welcome.

4. Yesterday’s New Quintet - Yesterday’s Universe
Is there anything Madlib can’t do? It seems the man can make wonderful music in any genre. He seems to transcend everything. Not really jazz, definitely not hip-hop, Yesterday’s Universe defies categorization. It is what it is: brilliant.

3. Olafur Arnalds - Eulogy for Evolution
The best album with numbered song titles this year. Actually, I don’t know of any others. He’s from Iceland and is 20 years young. That’s all I can get from the bio, as I can’t really speak Icelandic all that well. A bit of Inuit, but no Icelandic. It just barely missed out on my top 10. But no doubt over the next year I’ll be playing this a lot more than some of my actual top ten. Come to think of it, he may not be 20 after all. That could be another of his song titles. We’ll never know…

2. Gui Boratto - Chromophobia
Brazil. It has soccer, beaches, supermodels, and a weird martial art. And that’s about it really. Until Gui Boratto came along. He’s a DJ by trade, but after hearing this, you’d have to see that the guy definitely has a career in making his own music. If there was a video show to accompany this, it would be like the Aurora Borealis. The coverart really is spot on. For people who have synthesia, this album would surely be the best thing ever.

1. World’s End Girlfriend - Hurtbreak Wonderland
I’ve already written two blurbs for this. I really shouldn’t have to write another. Check out my top 10 and TwoWayMonologues’ overall top 50 to read them. The best instrumental release of 2007. Possibly of the decade. We’ll see…

And cause it’s unreleased, an eleventh. (It’s down here because it’d easily be AotY!)

0. Jazzman - Brass Knuckle Shuffle
This album is ineligible for ranking, as it is an unreleased record. Jazzman auditioned for Mike Doughty’s 2006 solo release, but luckily the two musicians didn’t gel. I say “luckily”, because if he did end up working with Doughty, he never would have made this utterly tremendous record. Upon hearing this album, one listener (who wishes only to be known as “Dansam”) claimed “Jazzman makes Radiohead look like a bunch of babbling toddlers with expensive equipment, such is his genius.”. “Jazzman” is only a working title band-name, but no matter what the record or artist (a certain Mr. Keith Meicher to you and I) ends up being called, this album will still be one of the highlights of 2007. Instrumental or not.

This entry was posted on Monday, December 17th, 2007 at 6:08 am and is filed under Year End, Lists, Music, Instrumental. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.