Scott McDowell's Top 10 List 2007

Eleven (or Twelve) for 2007:

Listen links are Real Audio from various WFMU shows.

Nels Cline / Andrea Parkins / Tom Rainey - Downpour (Victo) - Tom Rainey (drums) seems to elevate just about every improv meeting he's in. The other two ain't slouches, either. (Anyone know if it was recorded during an actual downpour?) Listen

Poor School - Voor Niets in Zijn CD-R (Cut Hands) - This is a disaster of a record, a jazz-bent plodding guitar/sax/drums assault that calls to mind heyday-era Siltbreeze. Listen

Valet - Blood is Clean (Kranky / World - Can you Feel It Coming in the Air Tonight? (Onomato)  - Loved this creepy psych bedroom glaze from Nudge/Jackie-O-Motherfucker affiliate, Honey Owens aka Valet. World is Honey along with Adam Forkner (White Rainbow) combining forces to build a psychedelic, abstract and rhythmic pillar of sound.  I wish my name was Honey Owens. Listen

Charles Tolliver Big Band - With Love (Blue Note) - Competent brassy big band stuff on Blue Note probably means 'boring' to a lot of people, but this thing brings so much heat, it's a about to spin off the turntable and start orbiting.

Dry Rot - Permission EP 7" (Cold Vomit) - Nauseous Cleveland/Rocket From the Tombs/early-Joy Division/Comsat Angels with unexpected blurpy electronic flourishes rather than Maximum Rock 'n Roll mohawk scuzz, as one might logically expect from the cover.  Listen

Vampire Weekend - EP (self-released) - You probably either love or hate this fake-highlife indie pop band.  Bonus: Self-consciously listening to "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa" on Cape Cod.

OLAibi - Humming Moon Drip (Felicity) - Great Boredoms side-project of mesmerizing tribal drumming.  Better than the Boredoms of late. Listen

Magik Markers - Boss (Ecstatic Peace) - I take issue with the rumblings of descent over the more song-based compositions (as opposed to the freewheeling post-HC ramble of previous records), as they're some of the best songs I heard all year! Listen

Venice Arkestra 12" (Whatever We Want) - Ramshackle dance party that's pleasantly reminiscent of Archie Shepp's Live at the Pan African Festival: ecstatic percussive clatter with saxophones, flutes, etc. Listen 

The Peter Evans Quartet - s/t (Firehouse 12) - The trumpet playing comes eerily close to Don Cherry's spiritual energy on the Ornette classics.  Self-consciously jazz (it even says so in the liner notes), borrowing chord changes from standards, but it bristles with a modern intensity. Listen

Celebration - The Modern Tribe (4AD) - This band has some baggage -- the hipster connections, blog chatter, 4AD's legacy -- but forget that, this is what modern soul sounds like.  Listen

Plus some reissues:

Rene Thomas - Guitaristic (FiveFour) - High-density swinging '50s bop from the Belgian-born Paris scenester. Listen

Noah Howard - The Black Ark (Bo'Weevil) - Really one of the greatest jazz albums ever, finally available to you and me.  Listen

Fraser & Debolt - with Ian Guenther (Fallout) - The hippie-era remarkably seems like it was too short when you listen to this duo. Listen

Lambert & Nuttycombe - At Home (Fallout) - See above. Listen

Anthony Braxton - Performance (Quartet) 1979 - The Braxton album (aside from maybe Dortmund) most likely to make a Braxton loyalist out of your average jazz fan. Listen

Ravi Shankar - Flowers of India (El/Cherry Red) - Hear the half-hour "Raga Jog" that opens this album and witness Ravi at the height of his powers. Listen

v/a Where in the World is Wendy Broccoli (Flying Nun) - I still don't know where Wendy Broccoli is -- or who she is, for that matter -- but she has great taste in music. Listen

Why stop there? I loved these records too!:

Big City Orchestra - Villanella (Ubuibi) Listen

the Our Mouth label Visit

the Chocolate Monk label Visit

Opsvik & Jennings - Commuter Anthems (Rune Grammophone) Listen

Steve Noble / John Edwards / Alan Wilkinson - Obliquity (Bo'Weevil)

Elliott Smith - New Moon (Kill Rock Stars)

Arthur & Yu - In Camera (Hardly Art) Listen

v/a - Skull Disco Soundboy Punishments (Rough Trade) Listen

Muhal Richard Abrams - Vision Towards Essence (Pi Recordings) Listen

Tyshawn Sorey - That/Not (Firehouse 12) Listen

Paolo Angeli - Tessuti: Angeli Plays Frith & Bjork (Recommended) Listen