Dragonette kicks off our Top 10…

10. Dragonette - Galore
Song: “Take It Like a Man”

In a perfect world, Galore would be hitting the Billboard Top 10 right about now after months of slowly building buzz - Dragonette’s Martina Sorbara would become an icon on the level of say, Gwen Stefani (or at least Shirley Manson), and “I Get Around,” the provocatively bold, hilarious (”Here I come when I better go / I say yes when I oughtta say no”) lead single, would be featured in a half-dozen trailers for the Sexy New Movie of the Moment.

Instead, Galore fizzled - how could this fizzle? Galore is pure sex, pneumatic, effervescent, with big singalong choruses and whiz-bang production that’s so catchy it’s practically Swedish.

Maybe it’s that cover. It looks like Meagan’s First Punk Zine.

Anyway, I don’t know why this failed to connect, so I pose it to you - how on earth could an album this magnificently pop be received with such indifferent shrugs?

9. Cory Chisel and the Wandering Sons - Little Bird
Song: “Gettin’ By”

So part of me is saying:

What is this shit?! What the fuck is that cover? Bouzard, I know you pride yourself on your wide taste (read: penchant for tokenism) in music, but could you please explain what this is doing here? Since when did you listen to… uh… what exactly is this? All I know is that it’s one step removed from John Mayer/Dave Matthews/Jack Johnson (collectively, the soundtrack of date rape) and just the most maudlin, affected white-boy-shits-on-soul-music blackface routine imaginable.

And the other part says:

MY GOD - THAT VOICE! Disregard the above.

8. Eric Lindley - Nightcat!
Song: “Jawbone”

Full disclosure: Eric Lindley is a friend of mine. I value my friendship with Eric enough to let him know, if he’s reading this: dude, I’m not blowing smoke up your ass, here.

I really love your record. I listen to it a lot. On Windows Media Player (who uses Windows Media Player?) every track is at 5 stars, and it did automatically that because I listen to every track so much.

Eric Lindley, for those who don’t know, is a singer-songwriter in the vein of Elliott Smith, Bonnie “Prince” Billy. He melds subtle electronic tinges to hauntingly melodic American gothic folk-rock, and Nightcat! is his debut album. The key to Eric’s sound is his imaginative use of processed vocal countermelodies, but even when you strip those away, as you would in any of Eric’s low-key live performances, you’ve got a great collection of songs that are both a terrific achievement and a promise toward something even greater.

7. Kylie Minogue - X
Song: “In My Arms”

What were people exactly expecting out of this album?

I mean, I get it - she had cancer. But do you actually think Kylie’s going to go through cancer and then change the formula that’s been working for her for years? That she’s going to move away from her sonically innovative carefree dance pop and embrace life-affirming anthems? It’s bad enough that she’s got one track like that on here - but I can’t imagine why critics seemed so shocked that Kylie might choose to return to the music industry with an album nearly entirely composed of… uh… songs about dancing.

Listen, this is a really awesome album - except for “Heart Beat Rock,” which my friend Amanda convinced me sounds like Fergie (thus minimizing my ability to enjoy it). I like pretty much everything else here - talking about one or two tracks would diminish the thoroughness and the completeness of the vision. A few highlights, though: “2 Hearts”, “Like a Drug”, “In My Arms”, “Speakerphone”, “The One”, “All I See”, “Wow” (if it weren’t for “I Get Around” and “Umbrella”, it’d have the most entertaining lyrical double entendre of the year), “Nu-di-ty.”

6. Devin the Dude - Waitin’ to Inhale
Song: “She Want that Money”

Waitin’ to Inhale is vile music, reprehensible music. The lyrics are scabrous (”She Want that Money”), obscene (”Broccoli and Cheese”), misogynistic (”Hope I Don’t Get Sick a Dis”), hateful (”Just Because”). But they’re also funny, winning, virtuosic, and revealing. And the competent production - never intrusive, never innovative, but offering perfect support to the Houston-based rapper’s sherm-and-sex filled rhymes. He raps a lot about sex, but he also addresses problem childhoods (”Lil Girl Lost” with great verses by Bun B and Weezy) and real-talk economics (”Almighty Dollar”). The hip hop album of the year? Absolutely.

• BROWSE / IN TIMELINE
• « 25 Albums for 2007 (Part Three)
• » 25 Albums for 2007 (Part Five)

• BROWSE / IN Music
• « 25 Albums for 2007 (Part Three)
• » 25 Albums for 2007 (Part Five)