Alright everyone here it is! My list of the best albums of 2007. This year was pretty interesting for music, it felt better than last, and for some reason i feel myself moving farther and farther away from hip hop which pretty much sucks but yeah here it is! i have included a very shortlist of lists from my friends describing what they thought was the best stuff from 2007. So get a cup of coffee or a stiff drink and open your eyes and check this shit out!
thanks to everyone who contributed, no thanks to the lazy bums who didnt, just kidding i still love you too.
THE BEST OF 2007!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
#1: Panda Bear-Person Pitch(paw tracks)
This album is incredibly beautiful. Beautiful in it's construction, beautiful in it's execution, beautiful in it's lyrics, and beautiful in it's instrumentation. The melodies and harmonies swell and dip all around the listener. In the liner notes it mentions that he listened to Enya (among many other artists) when he made the album. I can see this influence coming in very clear. Everything does have this new agey kind of haze to it on this album, everything is covered in this very pleasing gauze, even the distracting or loud noises inserted here and there seem to have a pleasant quality to them. The lyrics are very hard to decipher,for the most part,on this album so giving a read to the lyric sheet on his myspace is a definate rewarding experience. This music is like 60s psychedelia revisited perfectly for the 2000s. It's like taking Brian Wilson's initial inspiration and focusing it for the future, if the Beach Boys were making relevant music for right now i would like to think this might be what it would sound like, so in my mind this is the best Beach Boys album they didnt make. It captures the sunny and the sad, the celebratory and the depressed, it talks about love and longing in a way I havent heard since Pet Sounds, so thank you Noah Lennox for making the best album of the year and one of the best albums I have ever heard. Thank you for the inspiration.
#2: Pissed Jeans-Hope For Men(sub pop)
By far the most intelligently angry album on this list. The entire thing is one big ball of cynical cathartic heavy rock that borders on noisy soundscapes. They sing songs about ice cream, shit on yuppies, shit on joggers, describe their rooms, detail fantasy worlds we create for ourselves, and the singer has time to sarcastically tell us how much of a "people person" he is. This is some of the most theraputic music for anyone who just gets sick and tired of everything work,school and people related. Get ahold of this if you want to let off some steam on the way to or driving away from your shit ass job in this awful working world. Oh and I have no idea why subpop signed them.
#3: Battles-Mirrored(warp)
They perfected robot rock. Queens of the stone age had a somewhat more organic approach to this kind of thing but Battles just upped the technological quotient and made true robot rock. Almost everything on this album was treated with some sort of effect but the drums stayed pretty unaffected, which gave it this weird natural anchor to the sound, the vocals sounded like the Chipmunks, the guitars were all over the place and in some places echoed looney tunes style orchestration. The bass was all wobbly and nuts the whole time, where all this should have sounded clinical and robotic and shitty and unemotional it instead felt completely human.
#4: Animal Collective-Strawberry Jam(domino)
I feel its almost a bit unfair that these guys have made it in my top 10 every year they released an album, I mean I should give newer artists maybe more of a chance, but damn if they dont happen to just release some of the most mind twistingly beautiful music I have ever heard. This is pysche rock done right for a new generation of music listeners who take the time to enjoy this kind of shit. They put on a horribly disappointing live show this year but still this album is excellent and it contains my favorite song of the year "Derek" about a little "white and black sheltie" this shit is fucking excellent!
#5: Qui-Love's Miracle(ipecac)
David Yow is back? Wait David Yow is fucking back??!? Yes he is kids and he joined an already existing band called Qui, they were a duo from LA with a singing drummer, havent so much as checked out their old shit but I was on top of this new shit and I cant say it wasnt because of Mr. Jesus Lizard himself. This music to me is the perfect musical evolution of the Jesus Lizard. It basically sounds just like Jesus Lizard with a few new tricks up their sleeve, this is angular hard rock with a somewhat loose feel to the whole thing. It sounds like they had a lot of fun making it. This band put on the best live shows I saw this year by miles. There was blood, fighting, removal of clothing, more fighting, drinking, harassing, you name it. These guys fucked shit up in 2007.
#6: Dizzee Rascal-Maths and English(xl)
Dizzee Rascal is the shit. This new album of his is the shit. It's a shame it wasnt even released on cd in the U.S. Ironically this is his most commercial sounding album. It takes influences from mainstream hip hop, gangsta rap, and U.S. modern hip hop/dance tracks. Bun B and Pimp C. of UGK make awesome cameos and so does Lily Allen and the dude from the Arctic Monkeys(which is kind of so-so). All in all this is a really forward thinking should've been mainstream hip hop album and a shame it was pretty much slept on due to horrible distribution choices.
#7: Von Sudenfed-Tromatic Reflexxions(domino)
What do you get when you mix one of post punk's most unusual voices and one of the most influential and crazy modern electronic acts? You get this, a crazy mix of drunken slur/singing over some of the best experimental dance music since Mouse on Mars' last album. Everything is catchy yet odd at the same time, you can kind of dance to it, you can kind of sing along to it, and you can definately listen to it with a critical ear. The music basically sounds like a more intelligent and interesting LCD soundsystem with your drunken grandpa ranting over it.
#8: Clockcleaner-Babylon Rules(load)
I cant say too much about this album, I already reviewed it on this site but what I can say about it is that it is one of the best straight ahead rock records of the year and it's catchy as hell and dark and the lyrics are lewd. The music is very bass heavy with lots of noise and a singer who jumps around from sounding like Nick Cave to Lux from the Cramps to the guy from 80s matchbox b line disaster. Check out the review on the site if you want a more detailed description.
#9: Justice-Cross(vice)
All I can say is that this is the best dance album of the year and it would have been higher on the list if it werent for 2 tracks. D.A.N.C.E. is pretty mediocre to me, it's good but it still drives me nuts and the 8th track with the girl singing about "getting drunk and freaky fried" that to me is some of the worst shit this year. Yet, every other song is a gem, the best description I can think of is Daft Punk if they used noise music as an influence, catchy yet noisy in all the right places, reminds me a lot of the Chemical Brothers "Dig Your Own Hole" which was a classic and this isnt but it sounds damn good!
#10: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah-Some Loud Thunder(self released)
I love this album because it was everything everyone hoped it wouldnt be except the few who thought this band had more tricks up their sleeve then they led us to believe. I knew from interviews this band took the same musical stance as Liars(never stand still and by all means never compromise your sound for something other than the band). The opening song is a blast of catchy indie rock filtered through the worst recording possible(it makes it sound like your speakers have blown out) and from then on out it's basically an excellent indie rock record filtered through crap, and by crap I mean weird production techniques, odd noises in the middle of songs that would make it on the radio if only there werent any of those "weird noises" kinda deal. Everything is overblown and recorded in the red yet it has this dreamy hazy quality to it and it pretty much pissed off everyone who bought the first album because it was "fun and dancy" well fuck them, this album is great, difficult yet great.
#11: Prinzhorn Dance School-Self Titled(dfa)
This album was an exercise in minimalism. It's 2 people, drums and bass, dual boy/girl vocals. This shit is so minimal it makes wire sound like a 15 piece orchestra. These kids actually go to art school and it shows from the song structure to the lyrics and even the album art. The lyrics work on a completely word association type structure; meaning they dont mean shit but to each person who thinks about it they do. Kind of like the kills mixed with a very cynical white stripes mixed with something post punk like young marble giants or the raincoats. Oh and it's the only good thing the DFA put out this year.
#12: HEALTH-Self Titled(lovepump united)
This band sounds like Lighting Bolt mixed with The Boredoms and "Drum's Not Dead" era Liars. There are not a whole lot of vocals and when they are there it's mostly chanting or screaming. The album is very heavy with cavernous drums and lots of effects pedals(especially the memory man). It's pretty much just really well done artsy post punk, very exciting and interesting at every turn.
#13: The Avett Brothers-Emotionalism(ramseur records)
I used to really like Alt Country a lot and then i kind of got over it because it started getting either too stale or too out there(wilco is guilty of both) but this album was a breath of fresh air, on the surface it might sound corny or too radio friendly but it really accomplishes this weird sense of honesty in the songwriting and the lyrics. Not a whole lot of people will like this and even more might think i am crazy for putting it on my list, but this is just a really pleasant album to listen to, oh and banjo is the lead instrument!
#14: Magik Markers-boss(ecstatic peace)
Magik Markers used to be a straight up noise band with a girl screaming all over the chaos. Now they are a 2 piece of that screaming girl and a dude drummer and they sound like the kills mixed with Kim Gordon's vocal songs with Sonic Youth mixed with a bit of Royal Trux. The drums are actually better than all 3 of those bands though but her voice isnt as distintive as the 3 but this is damn good blues influenced noise rock. Very accessible yet offputting at the same time.
#15: The Flying Luttenbachers-????
It's a crying shame they are done, well Weasel is done, but yeah the Luttenbachers have retired for now and this is their last album. It's solo, so no Mick Barr, no Ed Rodriguez, no Mike Green...just plain ol' Weasel. To imagine him putting all this together by himself bewilders the shit out of me. He is like a 1 man metal King Crimson. The drumming is out of this world(which is to be expected) but he plays guitar like a virtuoso, bass, mellotron, clarinet, saxophone, and electronics. The technical degree of playing on this album is absurd, almost unthinkable. It's too bad so many people sleep on this band, it's a shame this band didnt pay his bills.
#16: Lavender Diamond-Imagine Our Love(matador)
She got Young People minus their singer to be her backing band, she has a ridiculously good voice. The music is very minimal to showcase that voice. It sounds like it could be from the 60s or 70s. This is what you should have been listening to instead of that shitty ass Feist album. It's really laid back 60s and 70s AM pop music. Lots of piano, lots of interesting percussion but still the standout is her voice. This album is the nicest album on the list.
#17: The Fiery Furnaces-Widow City(thrill jockey)
Come on, i love these guys did you really think i wouldnt put them on here? It's prog run through an indie pop filter. It's more rocking than Bitter Tea and it sounds a bit more focused. But i am not gonna say anymore because i think my vocabulary on the Fiery Furnaces has been exhausted by now. I think they are great and i dont think i will never not feel that way.
#18: Spoon-ga ga ga ga ga(merge)
After the 2 albums that came before this i hated spoon. I mean i thought they were on that shitty indie rock wave that included bands like modest mouse, arcade fire, the walkmen, of montreal, etc.... but instead of create mediocrity they decided to cut the shit and make a really fun funky rock record. The drums and vocals are what really do it for me on this album. The drum patterns are very repetitive but also extremely varied, just when you start to get bored they change up at just the right moment. His vocals are awesome, he plays with his voice very well and seems to duck in and out of each song with them playing with each melody as if he could pre conceive where it will go, highly recommended and one of the best if not the only good strictly "indie rock" record of the year.
#19: Deerhunter-Florescent grey(kranky)
Nothing too special about this ep accept for the fact that it contains 4 undeniably catchy perfect rock songs, the album is on my close calls list, but this ep cut the fat, left the well constructed songs and said thats it. It is like a perfect hybrid of shoegazer and indie rock. To me his vocals sound transcendent of all the crap hype the singer has created for himself(which by the way is total bullshit or genius depending on how you look at it, i havent made up my mind yet). This is just a really solid rock ep that everyone will find some enjoyment from.
#20: 7000 Dying Rats-Season In Hell(hewhocorupts inc)
Ah Weasel Walter, you happen to be 1 of 2 artists that are on 2 albums on this list. For this release you happen to play drums...but you also happen to drop a rap that rivals all comedy rap from here on out. This music is grindcore, metal, synth pop, electronic music, comedy rock, cock rock, and ambient soundscapes all rolled into one, albeit seperate tracks but still, the fact that this album remains consistent and flows well is amazing. the musicianship is incredible(it should be it contains members of lair of the minotaur and neurosis) and the humor is well intact, just look up the song titles on allmusic.com This is my favorite metal release of the year because they dared to take metal where it has never been before!
#21: Black Dice-Load Blown(paw tracks)
A lot of people hate his band. I can definately see it. It's annoying, extremely annoying. I felt their concert in SF when they headlined with Animal Collective and Comets on Fire because they sucked so hard. Now all this might seem like i don't like this band, but why the hell is it on the list then? It's because everytime i pop in a new Black Dice record i am amazed. Amazed at how the hell they pull these sounds out of machines that most people can buy. They happen to make some of the freshest sounding music ever, with every album, including this one. From start to finish this album introduces new shit to my ear every time i listen to it. For being new and interesting they deserve a spot on this list, even if they are annoying.
#22: Marnie Stern-In Advance of the Broken Arm(kill rock stars)
The bottom line is she is a guitar virtuoso. She hooked up with Zach Hill of Hella to record this album because she cant play the drums. She has an obsession with Sleater Kinney(thats why she signed to kill rock stars) she has a tendency to sound like hella/lightning bolt. She doesnt sound like Kaki King. She plays noise music with pop melodies and crazy guitar solos. The fact the she eschews instrumental trappings or high art intellectualism is a great thing. This is unpretentious rock music created by a musical genius who by all means should be playing in art galleries but instead she plays at the smell and the knockout and she sings! excellent shit.
#23: Grinderman-Self Titled(anti)
My reaction to Nick Cave has always been the same, "I really don't like his solo stuff aside from "From her to eternity" and i only really like his stuff with the birthday party." So with this in mind it was nice to see he basically got the Birthday Party back together and formed a new band and tried his hand for the first time ever at guitar, thus Grinderman was born. This album is raw, dirtym lewd and loud. It's everything i wanted Nick Cave to be ever since i first heard the Birthday Party, so therefore, it's on the list. Let's hope they make another one.
#24: Deerhoof-Friend Opportunity(kill rock stars)
At first i loved this album, then i hated it, then i felt luke warm about it, now i feel it deserves to be on this list. The melodies are catchy, the drums are more discordant unlike the last album(which might be better) the singing is the same as every other deerhoof release and every deerhoof album has made it on my top albums of the year lists, so i thought i would include this one too. My brother says it sounds like Enon and i kind of agree but i still really enjoy it. It's catchy, it's fun, it's Deerhoof, if you havent heard them it's about time you buy any of their albums starting with Reville.
#25: Amy Winehouse-Back To Black(universal)
She may be a drunk, she may be a cokehead, she may absolutely suck live every single time i have seen her on tv, but damn if this isn't one of the best attempts at recreating the girl group sound/blues chantueuse sound. Mick Ronson produced this acceptionally well and her voice is filled with such emotion that if you like this style of music at all you couldnt really resist the pull. Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings also does this sort of thing very well but Amy Winehouse takes the cake with this album.
GUEST LISTS!!!!!
Jordann Bradley
2007's Best Albums:
1. Ryan Adams - Easy Tiger
He cleaned up and made an amazing record. He made amazing records completely strung out too but the pop sensibility on this album is classic RA.
2. Modest Mouse - We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank
Johnny Marr...isn't he amazing?
3. Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
Never stop making music.
4. Wilco - Sky Blue Sky
Nels Cline is a master. The 70's-melodic, rock-groove of this album made this the best listening experience of any of the afore of post-mentioned albums.
5. Rogue Wave - Asleep at Heaven's Gate
Honorable Mention:
Band of Horses - Cease to Begin
10 tracks; mellow when it needed to be and galloping when it needed to be as well. Great spin.
LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver
I only wished they were some more acidy-disco jams like "Get Innocuous". The live show is fucking raaaaaadddd.
Queens of the Stone Age - Era Vulgaris
Loved the album, I truly did but, the second half makes me miss Nick.
The White Stripes - Icky Thump
Nine Inch Nails - Year Zero
B-sides though they may have been, Reznor can produce tracks like no other.
Disappointments:
Interpol - Our Love to Admire
It's been a downhill slide since "Turn on the Bright Lights".
Smashing Pumpkins - Zeitgeist
Only coal in your stocking this year Billy Corgan.
Radiohead - In Rainbows
It was good. The free download thing was awesome but, as a full Radiohead release it just didn't do it.
Best Songs of 2007:
1. Rogue Wave - Lake Michigan
2. The National - Apartment Story
3. Queens of the Stone Age - Turnin' on the Screw
4. Arcade Fire - Keep the Car Running
5. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Some Loud Thunder
6. Modest Mouse - Invisible
7. Ryan Adams - Two
8. Wilco - Either Way
9. Burning Brides - Your Nation Will Die
10. LCD Soundsystem - Get Innocuous
Alex Wilson!!!!
top 25 not from 2007:
1. Dre Dog - I Hate You with a Passion
2. Amesoeurs - Ruines Humaines
3. Baroness - First/Second EPs
4. Atheist - Unquestionable Presence
5. Glissandro 70 - 70
6. Dead Meadow - s/t
7. Karen Dalton - In My Own Time
8. Skream - Skreamizm Vol. 1-2
9. Control Denied - Fragile Art of Existence
10. Venetian Snares - The Chocolate Wheelchair Album
11. Eric Cordier - Breizhiselad
12. Utabi - Manchurian Candy
13. Sigh - Imaginary Sonicscape
14. E-40 - In a Major Way
15. Nadja - I Have Tasted the Fire in Your Mouth
16. Jay Reatard - Blood Visions
17. Wire - 154
18. Pungent Stench - Been Caught Buttering
19. Joyless - Wisdom & Arrogance
20. Boxcutter - Oneiric
21. White Zombie - Soul Crusher
22. Hrvatski - Swarm and Dither
23. Drumcorps - Grist
24. Klimek - Listen, The Snow is Falling
25. Various Artists - We Love Katamari OST
top 25 of 2007:
1, Panda Bear - Person Pitch
2. Black Moth Super Rainbow - Dandelion Gum
3. Wolves in the Throne Room - Two Hunters
4. The Field - From Here We Go to Sublime
5. Mammatus - The Coast Explodes
6. M.I.A. - Kala
7. Greg Ashley - Painted Garden
8. Battles - Mirrored
9. Burial - Untrue
10. High on Fire - Death is This Communion
11. Deerhoof - Friend Opportunity
12. Barn Owl - Bridge to the Clouds
13. Radiohead - In Rainbows
14. Om - Pilgrimage
15. Ratatat - Remixes Vol. 2
16. Peste Noir - Folkfuck Folie
17. Marnie Stern - In Advance of the Broken Arm
18. Pig Destroyer - Phantom LImb
19. Deerhunter - Cryptograms
20. Daniel Higgs - Atomic Yggdrasil Tarot
21. The Angelic Process - Weighing Souls with Sand
22. Low - Drums and Guns
23. Weedeater - God Luck and Goodspeed
24. Axolotl - Memory Theater
25. Earth - Hibernaculum
Dan Weiss!!!!!
Top Fifteen Albums of 2007
sort of in order
Jens Lekman - Night Falls Over Kortedala
Panda Bear - Person Pitch
The Avett Brothers - Emotionalism
The Acorn - Glory Hope Mountain
LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver (this album stayed in number one for me through july or so, then I stopped feeling the need to listen to it really ever, none the less I can't say it didn't treat me well)
Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam
The Bowerbirds - Hymns for a Dark Horse
Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
The National - Boxer
Shugo Tokumaru - Exit
Radiohead - In_Rainbows
MIA - Kala
Tullycraft - Every Scene Needs A Center
Andrew Bird - Armychair Apocrypha
King Khan & The Shrines - What Is?!
Top Five EPs
Tigercity - Pretend Not To Love
Los Campesinos - Sticking Fingers Into Sockets
Beirut - Lon Gisland
Deerhunter - Fluorescent Grey
Joanna Newsom - Joanna Newsom and the Ys Street Band
Top Ten Movies
there are still a few films I haven't seen that could overthrow things on this list
No Country For Old Men
Superbad
Ratatouiee
There Will Be Blood
The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters
Hannah Takes the Stairs
Walk Hard
Zodiac
Darjeeling Limited
Sweeney Todd
Three Concerts of Note
Jens Lekman at Bimbos
Spoon at the Treasure Island Music Festival
Casiotone for the Painfully Alone/Page France at Cafe du Nord
Top Five Books Read
Here They Come by Yannik Murphy
Stoner by John Williams
The Children's Hospital by Chris Adrian
The Cement Garden by Ian Mcewan
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
Sarah Buschman!!!!!
1. RTX-Western Exterminator
Amy Thornton!!!
1. Animal Collective-Strawberry Jam
That's It Kiddies@@@!!!
