Favorites of 2007

It's that time of the year. Here are my favorites of the past year.

These are albums I didn't get a chance to listen to until just recently, but really enjoy. They could have made the top list if I had got to them sooner:

A Band of Bees - Octopus
Band of Horses - Cease to Begin
Battles - Mirrored
MIA - Kala
The National - Boxer
Panda Bear - Person Pitch
Peter Bjorn and John - Writer's Block
Wilco - Sky Blue Sky

These are albums I enjoyed enough to at least give an honorable mention:

Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam
Antibalas - Security
David Vandervelde – The Moonstation House Band
Elvis Perkins – Ash Wednesday
Explosions in the Sky – All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone
Iron and Wine – Shepherd’s Dog
Maximo Park – Our Earthly Pleasures
Minus the Bear – Planet of Ice
Nine Inch Nails – Year Zero
Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings – 100 Days, 100 Nights

These are my top 20 favorite Albums of 2007, along with a short blurb about each:

20. Feist – The Reminder
A somewhat more upbeat and dancey approach for Feist in comparison to her previous release.

19. Fog – Ditherer
Why did it take me this long to find a band from the Twin Cities I really enjoy?

18. Dr. Dog – We All Belong
A playful and easily enjoyable lo-fi release with some serious early Beatles influences.

17. Vietnam – Vietnam
A late night, smoke filled bar band with some solid chops.

16. Holy Fuck – LP
Despite the gimmicky band name, this album ranks up there with the other groovin’ albums of the year.

15. Bloc Party - A Weekend in the City: Didn’t enjoy it as much as their debut, as they appear to be trying a bit too hard, but still a solid release.

14. Caribou – Andora
60’s psych makes a return!

13. Blonde Redhead – 23
Their most produced and slick album to date, and it’s a good thing in this instance. This is my favorite Blonde Redhead release, despite unimpressive critical response. “Spring and By Summer Fall” is a great song and “23” was a perfect lead single.

12. Parts and Labor – Mapmaker
Noise rock with hooks and melodies. “Fractured Skies,” “Unexplosions,” and “Fake Rain” are three of my favorite songs of the year.

11. Oakley Hall – I’ll Follow You
Pure Americana. The band continues to make country music indie kids can enjoy.

10. Ween – La Cucaracha
What else can I say about Ween. “Woman and Man” kicks serious ass, “Your Party” is impossible not to like, and “Blue Balloon” is classic Ween.

9. White Rabbits – Fort Nightly
The Walkmen and The French Kicks made sweet indie love, had a baby, and named it White Rabbits. Excellent album front to back.

8. !!! – Myth Takes
A sleazy dance floor romp. That is the best way to describe Myth Takes. “Must Be the Moon” and “Heart of Hearts” make you want to get sweaty on the dance floor.

7. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – Baby 81
BRMC back to making kick ass American rock music. “Weapon of Choice” and “Need Some Air” are great rock singles that could fit in with formatted radio. “American X” is possibly the best song the band has made throughout their four releases.

6. Ted Leo – Living with the Living
I’ve always liked Ted Leo to the extent to where I could listen to his albums every now and then, but not usually the whole way through. This one I can, and I love it. “Sons of Cain” immediately caught my attention and opens the album perfectly with it’s blistering hook. Ted Leo has never been shy on voicing his opinion on the current state of the country, but now I really want to hear him out and enjoy his music at the same time.

5. Spoon – Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
Brit Daniel is the king of indie rock. Spoon deserves to get the call to the majors, but why ruin a good thing? A comparable follow up to Gimme Fiction, with a few songs harkening back to older days.

4. Arcade Fire – Neon Bible
Pipe Organs never sounded better. Did these guys spend some time with The Boss while making this album or what?? This album hits on a number of social issues without sounding pretentious or annoying. Arcade Fire certainly didn’t let anybody down with their follow-up to possibly the best album of the decade.

3. Radiohead – In Rainbows
Wow. “Oh by the way, we finished making our album and it will be out in 10 days, AND you can pay whatever you want for it.” Radiohead is the best fucking band on the planet. Even if the album sucked, I still would have put it in my top 10 just for how they kicked big business’ ass with the way this album was released. Fortunately the album doesn’t suck. Quite the opposite actually. “Bodysnatchers” is their most rocking guitar driven song since “Electioneering.” “Reckoner” and “Jigsaw Falling Into Place” are just fantastic. Never stop making music Radiohead. I am begging you.

2. White Stripes – Icky Thump
A triumphant return by the dynamic duo. After the somewhat disappointing Get Behind Me Satan, Jack and Meg return to do what they are best at – Jack playing some of the best guitar in the business, and Meg following Jack’s lead. “Icky Thump” is another great lead single, just as they have done with all of their other releases.

1. LCD Soundsystem – Sound of Silver
James Murphy as a serious songwriter? Who would have thought. While Sound of Silver is not too far of a departure from their self titled debut, Murphy takes the lyrical content more to the forefront. “Get Innocuous” is a perfect lead in, “North American Scum” is the perfect single, and "Somewhat Great” and “All My Friends” shows off Murphy’s true songwriting ability, not to mention being two of the best songs of the year. These two are followed up with “Us V Them” as LCD return to their bread and butter with layer upon layer as the song continues to build to a feverish end. There is not a single misstep on the entire album, as they close it out with the piano-balladry of “New York I Love You But You’re Bringing Me Down.” This is not only my favorite album of the year, but in my opinion, the best release of 2007.