Evan Greenwald’s look at ‘07 and more free tunes by FJP

I’ve been quite lucky to have so much help from great writers like Farhad J. Parsa, Evan Greenwald, Jory John, and John Hell. No longer is 4F a space for one person’s look at the current world of music, but instead, it’s a true collaboration.

I’ve set up a separate page for Mr. Greenwald’s epic list of his favorite music, musicians, and songs from 2007. Here’s just an excerpt:

Album of the Year:

Neon Bible
By The Arcade Fire

I
don’t know why I’ve been denying it all year–maybe because I didn’t
want to give all the awards to the same band–but the truth is: I love
this album. Especially after giving it a year to grow on me. Even songs
that feel boring at first (“Neon Bible,” “Ocean of Noise,” “Windowsill”)
have eventually grown on me, and on some occasions have even become my
favorites on the album, of only for a day or two. The real power in
Neon Bible is the way that Arcade Fire have mastered their sonic
oxymoron. For example, on their first and classic album, Funeral,
inspired by nine deaths in the families of the seven members of the
group, you’ll feel joyous. Listen to the Springsteen-meets-Bjork anthem “Haiti,” about escaping from the country of the same name, complete
with angry soldiers and dieing cousins, and keep yourself from dancing.
At that point in the career, they might as well have capitalized the
FUN in FUNeral. Now, listen to “Intervention,” the moody church organ
centerpiece of the album about salvation of the religious variety, and
keep the Kleenex nearby.

The sonic changes in Neon Bible from
Funeral are significant, but the power each song has not lessened in
any way. And where some songs are sad and beautiful, the best songs
you’ll hear are the dancier ones like the American Spirit of “(Antichrist Television Blues)” or the contagiously catchy “Keep the
Car Running” (which even the Foo Fighters have been known to cover
recently).

First came the Funeral, then came the Bible. Now we’ve got to believe. Itís easier than you might think.

AND . . .

More tunes fished out of the web by FJP:

• Sebadoh : On Fire
• The Microphones : Ice
• LCD Soundsystem : Daft Punk is Playing At My House (Soulwax Shibuya Re-Remix)
• The Futureheads : Let’s Dance (Bowie Cover)
• The Organ : Brother
• The Occasion : All Over Idaho
• Heatmiser (Elliott Smith) : Plainclothes Man (acoustic)
• The Polyphonic Spree : Lithium (Nirvana Cover)
• Sunset Rubdown : The Mending of the Gown