Neil Hamburger
I think it was Graham Linehan’s currently sleeping livejournal that introduced me to the anti-comedy of Neil Hamburger, coincidentally just before he suddenly became a lot more visible via supporting Tenacious D, appearing in The Pick Of Destiny, appearing on TAEASGJ, having a regular role on that Tom Green internet thing, having a track on that Comedy Death Ray CD and so forth. This years “Hot February Night” album is a good starting point, with Neil in his best element – performing in front of a hostile crown who isn’t in on the joke (in this case a Tenacious D crowd). Also check 2005’s “Great Moments at Di Presa’s Pizza House”. It’s a great example of creating a fictional world just through audio and is a fine example of audio storytelling.
Kanye West – Graduation
The lyrics can sometimes border on the naive and clumsy, but the quality of the production and sometimes the sheer force of his own ego can drag the songs past that. And he’s kept up his great eye for a music video. The Akira-homaging Stronger, the Zach Galifianakis /Will Oldham farm-based miming of Can’t Tell Me Nothing and the can’t-beat-em-join-em Jonas & François/So Me video for Good Life (Jonas & François/So Me created the Justice vs. Simian video that Kanye threw a hissy fit over when it beat his video at some MTV award thing. They also did the DANCE video for Justice, which uses similar So Me animation to the Good Life video. Both DANCE and Good Life owe something to Michael Jackson’s track P.Y.T.).
Psych
I’m not sure I’ve properly said how much I love this show. I think it’s my favourite current television show. The concept of a fake psychic detective had me hooked from the start and the chemistry between James Roday, Dule Hill and Corbin Bernsen made it fun from the get go (I took a little longer to come around to Timothy Omundson and Maggie Lawson’s cop characters). And unlike Monk, it’s mysteries are whodunnits rather than a Columbo style howsolveit. And the technique of zoom and freeze when Shawn Spencer spots a clue is great for playing fair with the viewer. Plus the comedic quality of the performances and script actually give it rewatching value (not to mention when you rewatch it, you invariably see how the reveal is properly foreshadowed in the story).
Mononoke
Kenji Nakamura’s spin off from his Bakeneko arc of Ayakashi was a tour-de-force in direction. And the stories it told weren’t half bad either. Easily the most visually interesting show this year (Gurren Lagann and Denno Coil both had better animation, but Nakamura did far more interesting things with shot composition and visual storytelling than those two shows).
Blitzen Trapper – Wild Mountain Nation
All I needed to know was that they were a band who sounded like Wowee Zowee-era Pavement. And I wasn’t disappointed when I heard them. Why not check the proper music video for the title track they recently had made? Ramshackle country tinged indie can still bring a smile to my face in ’07.