Top 10 CD's of 2007

Another year, another mountain of CD's reviewed here. As I've finally got all the reviews up, I'll spare long discussions and just link to the original posts.

10. The Born Again Floozies, 7 Deadly Sinners: I had a whole bunch of B+ albums, and room for only one of them in the top 10. (I think I need to make some of my B+ grades into B's, while we're on the subject. Some of the B+ albums were clearly better than others.) Perhaps being freshest in my memory gave this particular CD the needed boost, but chalk one up for novelty.

9. Vieux Farka Touré: The younger Farka Touré picks up his father's mantle with nicely with a lot of groove-oriented guitar playing on his debut.




8. Alamaailman Vasarat, Maahan: Totally frenetic, but also totally original and fun.




7. John Fogerty, Revival: A venerable legend gets mad, gets even, and keeps rocking.




6. Roachford, Word of Mouth: It will take more than my word of mouth to get Roachford albums released in the U. S. again. Our loss.




5. Kíla, Gambler's Ballet: Another album not yet released here, but at least I have hopes for this one.




4. Gomez, How We Operate: I know, this came out in 2006, but it would have cracked last year's list had I known about it. So it's on this year's list instead.




3. Väsen, Linnaeus Väsen: A great live act in either format, but their albums as a quartet have always worked a little better for me than their albums as a trio.




2. Ranarim, Morning Star: Two Swedish albums in the top three. Deal with it.





1. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Baby 81: Essential hard rock from a band that keeps getting better.




reviewed by Scott

Alamaailman Vasarat, Maahan (Silenze, 2007)

Alamaailman Vasarat is a Finnish phrase meaning "hammer of the gods." It is also the name of a Finnish band that mixes genres like Balkan and klezmer with jazz and heavy metal. The band's instrumentation consists of winds, horns, drums, keyboards, and two cellos that are distorted like electric guitars as often as not. As their name implies, they are not known for their subtlety.

Maahan is the band's third album overall, and the second one I've gotten to hear. As before, the music is all instrumental, and generally frenetic. I suppose some of their music qualifies as folk, but the folk music they play comes from eastern Europe, not from their native Finland. Alamaailman Vasarat take the energy that comes naturally in most Balkan music and elevate it a few notches. The signature element to their sound is the heavy metal crunch that the cellists provide. There's actually quite a lot of untapped potential in using stringed instruments other than the guitar, and I think it's only a matter of time before it catches on.

While their previous album Käärmelautakunta featured a classic instrumental in "Asiatehdas" that none of the tunes on the new record can match, Maahan is more consistently strong and fun all the way through. Highlights for me include "Luiden valossa, naapurin talossa," "Huikeuden lieriö," and "Katkorapu," all of which are big rushes of adrenaline. This album will appeal to rock fans who like their music lively regardless of the instruments used.

Overall grade: A-

reviewed by Scott