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The Michigan Daily ( michigandaily.com ) Thursday, January 3, 2008

The Daily Arts
guide to the best
upcoming events
- it's everywhere
you should be this
weekend and why.

IN CONCERT
UMS brings the Emerson
String Quartet - named
after famed poet Ralph
Waldo Emerson - to
campus Friday for an
original performance at
8 p.m. in the Rackham
Auditorium. The world-
famous Quartet is a
nine-time Grammy
award-winning group,
renowned for its
technical skill in concert
halls around the globe.
Tickets are $22-$46.

ARTS'N CRAFTS
Celebrate the wintry
landscape today with
a snowflake making
workshop - not actual
snow, paper snow - at
noon in the first floor
lobby of the Taubman
Center. The event is free.

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IN CONCERT
A diverse collection of
instrumentalists and
vocalists will join together
on stage Saturday for a
performance of Dvorak's
full cycle of love songs,
written in the 1860s
after the composer was
rejected by one of his
piano students. The
collection served as
inspiration for much of
Dvorak's consequent
works. The free event
is at 5 p.m. in thea.
Britton Recital Hall.

Extraordinary albums from an extraordinary year

This hasn't been any
ordinary year. 2007 saw
what many heralded as
the demise of the major label
with Radiohead's self-released
album, the recent resignation
of a hip-hop mogul from his
throne atop his label and the
deaths of a number of legends.
But more so than any of these
headlining highs and lows,
2007 will be remembered as
an incredible year for music.
A rebirth of the long-since
waning hip-hop scene as well as
the return of several indie rock

mainstays, 2007 seemed to be
the year of the comeback. Be it
the aforementioned Radiohead,
electro-lords Battles, indie-
troubadours Of Montreal or
MCs like Ghostface Killah and
Jay-Z, this year was spattered
with countless stellar releases.
As such, this list was
exceedingly difficult to
formulate. We don't claim it
to be infallible or even correct.
This list encapsulates what we
at The Michigan Daily felt were
the 25 best albums of a year
littered with best albums.

1. RADIOHEAD - INRAINBOWS
Over che course of 10 early
October days, Radiobead man-
aged to generace a buzz the likes
of which most bands will never
see. Of course, we all know the
story by now - the surprise
announcement, the name-your-
own-price download and the
middle finger to the recording
industry are all things that only
a band of Radiohead's popular-
ity and stature could pull off.
Unfortunately, now that
the band has signed with XL
Recordings,we'llhavetowaitfor
another group of independently-
minded superstars to create the
New Music Order. Neverthe-
less, we're left with one hell of
a great record. On In Rainbows,
Radiohead has moved in one of
the few directions left for such
an inventive group: back toward
pop. This is by far the least-
strange album Radiohead has
released in years. Still, it's any-
thing but shallow. As relatively
straightforward as In Rainbows
is, it possesses an intensity only
a band that's reached the edge
of experimentation
could achieve. Wel-

come backeto earth, guys. It's
good to have you.
MATTRONEY
2. ANIMAL COLLECTIVE -
STRAWBERRY JAM
Most bands don't make it to
seven albums, let alone seven
great and distinctive LP's, but
Animal Collective isn't most
bands and its career art is almost
as reptilian as its sound.After its
last two stellar LP's, a let-down
was seemingly inevitable, and
with Panda Bear's Person Pitch
blowing minds with its AM
psych and setting the bar impos-
sibly high, how could Animal
Collective outdo itself? Let Avey
Tare take the reins for a while.
This is his album and it's his
vocals that carry anthems like
"For Reverend Green," "Fire-
works" and "Peacebone." The
craziest thing is that Strawberry
Jam has already gotten me won-
dering where Animal Collective
will go next. Collaborate with R.
Kelly?

ON STAGE
They're fellow
Wolverines - they're
just more successful than
you. (Check out My Dear
Disco's sexy EP from last
year.) The music school
mavericks and funksters
play regular haunt the
Blind Pig at 9:30 p.m.
Saturday. Tickets are $10,
or $7 if you're 21 or older.

LLOYD CARGO
UBUMS, Page 2B8

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