Arts & Entertainment Best of 2007 Continued from Page 17 Regan Sarah Taylor Entertainment Connoisseur Regan is a recent MFA graduate and aspiring poet. She spends her nights at home drinking champagne, eating Krispy Kreme donuts and thinking of interesting ways tomispronounce French words. Luke Simcoe A&E Editor Luke is the go-to guy for A&E here at the paper, and the man who wrote all these pointedly false bios. He is far too egotistical and self-aggrandizing to poke fun at himself in the pages of this hallowed publication. ALBULMS: The National — Boxer 4 The National’s breakthrough, Alligator, was a record full of brooding atmospheric rock n’ roll that managed to grab you by the 2005 18 ALBULMS: Bill Callahan — Woke on a Whaleheart Callahan rechristens himself, shedding the Smog moniker, and produces his loveliest album in years. He’s got simple guitar ballads (“Sycamore”), head-down, intense jammers (“Diamond Dancer’), beautiful gospel wailing, and above all, his familiar quirky old-man wisdom (“Day”). Kanye West — Graduation I don’t think this needs any explanation. The unabashedly self-aware Mr. West is one of America’s ablest poets, and he makes music that’s stupidly fun. What more could a girl want? Sightings — Through the Panama This prolific Brooklyn noise trio has made an oddly catchy album this time around, and it’s easy listening for those of us who like our brutal musical onslaughts tempered with some rhythm to hold onto amongst the crunch, static, and throb. MOVIES: The Lives of Others Released abroad in time to win a Best Foreign Film Oscar last year, this hit our shores late last winter. A frightening and compelling look at East Germany in the grip of the Stasi, made all the more poignant by the death this year of the movie’s amazing lead actor, Ulrich Miihe. The Darjeeling Limited Wes Anderson at his typical best: a beautiful movie about a journey during which estranged family members get to know— and maybe not love, but at least like—each other. That there’s very little plot to Darjeeling doesn’t matter; the movie is gorgeous and heartbreaking, and no one does stylish family angst like Mr. Anderson. I’m Not There I haven’t even seen it yet, but I already know Todd Haynes’ weirdo Bob Dylan __biopic/ homage/mindfuck will be amazing. Believe the hype. Buy the soundtrack. CONCERTS: Bill Callahan & Sir Richard Bishop — October 10 at The Triple Door (Seattle) This may be cheating, because I had to head south of the border to see this pair. Callahan was his usual self on stage: in complete control, mostly silent, witty as balls, the brain and the heart all at once. It topped numerous year-end lists like the one you’re currently reading, and even made Bruce Springsteen a fan. Boxer is better. Spoon — Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga In 2007, Spoon quite literally pulled off a miracle. They gave us a reason to listen to their new record instead of their flawless last album, Gimme Fiction, or the dearth of consistently solid material that preceded it. For the life of me, I can’t understand why Spoon isn’t the biggest band in the world. Granted, they can sell out the Commodore pretty easily, but in a perfect world Britt Daniel’s mastery of pop music, brilliant lyrical character sketches and great vocal delivery would have Spoon packing the Garage two nights in a row. Secret Mommy — Plays I probably wrote about this record more than any other this year. Andy Dixon, a mainstay of the Vancouver music scene for over a decade, set out to make an “un-electronic electronic album” under his Secret Mommy moniker, and the result is a glitch noise record awash in humanity. Finger-picked guitar lines are bent and twisted around violin, brass and woodwind samples and then layered over human voices and the syncopated, digital clicks and pops that dot the landscape of Andy’s earlier records. It’s beautiful, intriguing and evocative; what more could you possible want from a piece of music? CONCERTS: I feel the need to put a disclaimer here. I’m writing this prior to seeing Les Savy Fav at Richard’s on December 1. I can’t technically include them on the list, but I’m just going to go ahead and say that it will be the best concert I see this year. Anyway... Cadence Weapon — November 30 at Richard’s on Richards I’m _ actually writing this after coming home from this particular gig. Perhaps it speaks more to my geriatric memory and short attention span, but any show where I get to hear hip- hop covers of Chad Vangaalen’s “Mini-TVs” and Weezer’s “Pink Triangle” pretty much belongs on this list. Secret Mommy — June 7 at The Royal Unicorn (Music Waste 2007) This was one of the most talked about local shows this year, and for good reason. As I’ve mentioned, Andy’s stuff is pretty mind-expanding on _ record, but watching him and a few of his friends recreate it live is another story. There’s something captivatingly surreal about watching music be made and remixed at the same time. No Age — September 22 at Pat’s Pub Pat’s Pub—just a few blocks east of Hastings and Main—was the perfect venue for No Age’s firs trip to Vancouver. The LA duo plays a unique brand of post- punk that juxtaposes shoegazey atmospherics with pop-hooks and hell when he did speak. Bishop, of legendary freak-out band Sun City Girls charmed with his guitar skills and his racy banter. Daniel Menche — October 12 at The Western Front The most interesting noise act I’ve seen in ages. Portland’s Menche got ecstatic with a contact-miked bowl, chain and stick, which he manipulated in various combinations until the walls of the Western Front’s excellent performance space were close to crumbling. Acid Mothers Temple — May 9 at Richard’s on Richards Mind-meltingly awesome. Nobody does psych-folk-rock like the Japanese, and nobody does it quite like Acid Mothers. An enraptured audience in a just-full Richard’s ate it up. I bee youthful energy. The band’s “just for the fuck of it” vibe and Pat’s shabby-but-not-chique aesthetic combined for an evening that was artsy but refreshingly devoid of pretension. MOVIES: The Darjeeling Limited Someone please give Wes Anderson some kind of cool, underground alternative to an Academy Award. Across the Universe So I took a girl I’m quite fond of to see this, and as a result I got caught up in the film’s sense of romantic idealism. There. I said it. Now please don’t make fun of me for having cooties. Once Despite being a thinly veiled promotional vehicle for Glen Hansard’s (of the Frames) solo career, and a storyline that could have been recast as a Behind the Music with Damien Rice, Once was still the only film that felt real to me this year.