Best Albums Of January 2007

Having not actually made a list post for 2006 really I decided why not do one for every month of 2007? So here it is the first in a hopefully monthly feature it is the Sessions of Breakfast Top Ten Albums of January 2007. Enjoy, and feel free to criticise (constructively) or make suggestions (anything you want). Also these are official releases not leaks or otherwise and they are mostly available in the U.K and the U.S but some would be imports. Here goes nothing:

#10 The Earlies-The Enemy Chorus (679)
mixing piano driven melodies, indie rock, shoegaze and Psychedelic into one heck of a great music pie, an album that I’ve only recently started to listen to but it certainly feels a grower and ‘Enemy Chorus’ is one hell of a song to stick on the headphones with some great usage of stereo sound. If you like the musical sounds of Elbow and Sigur Ros, Earlies kind of sound like a middle-ground between the two.
Buy it, Official website, MySpace, Hype Machine
MP3: The Earlies-Enemy Chorus

#9Clap Your Hands Say Yeah-Some Loud Thunder (Wichita)
I’ve always found that Alec Ounsworth's vocals sometimes cause temporary insanity for me which does to some extent put me off their music, but CYHSY have released an interesting second album, darker in tone then their odd yet cheerful debut, I’d say that it has flaws but is an overall a non-Sophomore slump from former(?) blogosphere favourite, and the Tambourine and piano melodies of ‘Love Song No.7’ makes it my current favourite track.
Buy it, Official website, MySpace, Hype Machine
MP3: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah-Love Song No.7


#8

Deerhoof-Friend Oppotunity (Kill Rock Stars)
Is this rock ’n roll? A fantastically and bizarrely catchy new album in which Deerhoof turn their hands to some rock and just making (fairly) straight-forward rock (almost going stadium like at one point with ‘Matchbook seeks Maniac’) although it still sounds like Deerhoof with the help of Satomi’s incredibly distinctive music and that it doesn’t really sound like Rock in a AC/DC sense which would have been odd, its worth checking out.With added marching drums and trumpets which is always a huge bonus ‘+81’ might just be my favourite track, for now.
Buy it, Official website, MySpace, Hype Machine
MP3: Deerhoof-+81

#7Menomena-Friend And Foe (Barsuk)
Electronic-Indie with a warm heart, I’d never heard of Menomena before but this is an excellent album as a whole, it will guide you through your day (seriously) starting with the opening clash of drums in ‘Muscln’Flo’, great to wake up to, up till the blissful melodic ‘West’ closer which should see you to sleep, this is an album to live in for a month and see how your life will improve.
Buy it, Official website, MySpace, Hype Machine
MP3: Menomena-Wet And Rusting


#6The Good, The Bad And The Queen-S/T (Parlophone)
Damon Albarn is incredibly prolific with about five hundred side-projects and bands at the last count (but seriously he is writing an opera at the moment) and G,B,Q is the latest in the line, with a apparent Super-Group who honestly knew how it would sound, well its downbeat but soulful. The smooth production is excellent and really brings out the beauty in the songs and that’s thanks to a certain Mr Dangermouse (‘History Song’ is my favourite with a great bassline and managing to evoke memories of some of the best bits of Blur and Gorrilaz), and there is also a slight element of fun with some top musicians playing about a bit with their influences and back catalogue sounds.
Buy it, Official website, MySpace, Hype Machine
MP3: The Good, The Bad And The Queen-History Song



#5 Klaxons-Myths Of The Near Future (Polydor)
Does New-Rave actually exist? Well no probably not however this has not stopped Klaxons from making some excellent catchy art-rock indie (with an element of rave and Madchester) and an album which just has a loud almost Wall of Sound quality to it and it is incredibly danceable. ‘Atlantis To Interzone’ is the monolith that remains the best the Klaxons have delivered and the one that most obviously incorporates dance/rock crossover particularly with the obvious re-mix potential, and sticking the melodic ‘Golden Skans’ straight after was a great tracklisting move in my opinion it’s the come down after the rush .
Buy it, Official website, MySpace, Hype Machine
MP3: Klaxons-Gravity's Rainbow


#4Of Montreal-Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer? (Polyvinyl)
This is an absolute blistering return from an excellent band, singer Kevin Smith remains most absolutely at the helm and completely re-works the bands sound to some sort of electro-glam complete with personal lyrics, this will make you giddy if not already with it’s driving chorus (still keeping some Elephant 6 elements in the music) and drum-machine sound in back up, the blogosphere loves this and with good reason, ‘Gronlandic Edit’ which summons up a disco bass-line, combines it with Bee Gee style vocals and still sounds modern, how is this possible?
Buy it, Official website, MySpace, Hype Machine
MP3: Of Montreal-Heimdalsgate Like A Promethean Curse


#3Gruff Rhys-Candylion (Rough Trade)
An album that surely should make no sense when not heard in the summer preferably on a beach somewhere, yet its acoustic beauty just transcends any seasonal boundaries (besides it should keep you warm in this weather), Gruff just pulls brilliant melodies out of his bag, almost all of these songs could go on a SFA album, although they would make more sense as a B-sides collection in the very best sense. It also makes for a superb album which even has a jokey beginning track and a majestic story-telling finish with some absolutely joyous music in between, sometimes sung in Welsh or Spanish, I really like ‘Court of King Arthur’ currently with some excellent hi-hat and harmonica use on show, and there apparently is a Super Furrys album on the way, life is good.
Buy it, Official website, MySpace, Hype Machine
MP3: Gruff Rhys-Court Of King Arthur


#2The Shins-Wincing The Night Away (Sub Pop)
So the band that will ‘change your life’ return and what a strong return to make, they expand their sound bringing in a certain ambient electronic style similar to what Animal Collective do yet still sounding very definitely like The Shins also a certain number of less musically upbeat and jangly which still sound great and quite different to whats gone before, certainly enough to keep me a fan, and possibly enough to bring many more on board, and excellent as an album in full too, what more could you ask for? (Brafflash, what Brafflash? it's not even a word) I would say that ‘Australia’ is the best track on the album its just incredibly strong and sticks with you, even if it could have quite happily have fit on either of their previous albums (the la, la, la bit is great), true brilliance (it even has a banjo in there), maybe Natalie Portman was right then.
Buy it, Official website, MySpace, Hype Machine
MP3: The Shins-Australia

#1Field Music-Tones Of Town (Menphis Industries)
Now I bestow upon this second album from the fantastic Field Music, their debut was full of post-pop goodness, and they’ve followed it up with a great expansion, going a bit more pop, thinking a bit more grander and just making a sublime album. ‘Give It Lose It Take It’ has a great kick-in guitar riff and it’s heart complete with trademark Field Music vocals and a piano in the mix, ‘Sit Tight’ brings in a super walking bass line and some violins, the title track creates a uncertain melody that feels like an itch that just doesn’t gets scratched until 01:50 with a confident groove, then a reprise then a odd little bit to end almost ska like and I seriously could go on about each track on their, its such a great album which really sounds like nothing else about at the moment. I can't really reccomend it highly enough, it will make you forget your worries for a moment. Officially released in the U.S on 20th February, but you can get it from the MI shop with a PayPal account.
Buy it, Official website, MySpace, Hype Machine
MP3:Field Music-Tones Of Town

So there you have it Field Music have the masterpiece of January 2007, in next months edition expect to see Bloc Party, and the one after that is pretty likely to include Arcade Fire.