Best of 2007

Now we're getting there...(you'll notice more in-depth analysis this time around, as well as actual numbers)

Best Music of 2007

Honorable Mention:
Blue Scholars Bayani
Feist The Reminder
Galactic From the Corner to the Block
New Pornographers Challengers
Rentals The Last Little Life EP
Mark Ronson Version
Yeasayer All Hour Cymbals

#15. Kanye West - Graduation:
Great closing salvo for West's "trilogy" of albums. Exultant beats, hammering bass, quick-witted lyrics. Mr West is at the top of his game here and the album as a whole really feels like the pinnacle he's been striving to reach ever since The College Dropout introduced him to the world.

#14. K'Naan - The Dusty Foot Philosopher:
The son of a Somalian musician/refugee and a refugee himself, K'Naan speaks from the heart about his childhood (or the approximation of one, at least). All kinds of Afro-beat and world rhythms are incorporated in these songs, lending a lighter touch to the heavy themes he's talking about most of the time. Eccentric and entertaining at the same time.


#13. Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings - 100 Days, 100 Nights:
Classic soul album. Puts Amy Winehouse to shame. Jones's voice is just so smooth and the horn section is so spot-on, it feels like you're at some ballroom in the 60s. Brilliant.


#12. The Arcade Fire - Neon Bible:
A terrific album in it's own right, really, but it still has to be judged in relation to their brilliant debut masterpiece, Funeral. "Keep the Car Running" is one of my favorite songs of the year and Win Butler continues to make deeply emotional songs come across as effortless. And man, what a live show they put on.


#11. Handsome Furs - Plague Park:
One of the many side projects of the guys from Wolf Parade, Plague Park is predominantly Dan Boeckner and features even more lilting melodies and sweeping atmospheric shifts than Wolf Parade's debut the year before. The highlight is "Sing, Captain!," a slow-building anthem with deep emotional resonance.


#10. Immaculate Machine - Fables:
I gotta admit, I'm a bit of a sucker for anything Kathryn Calder does. As the touring replacement (and, I believe, now a full-time member) of the New Pornographers, or with her old group, Immaculate Machine, she is striking in both her voice and instrumentation. This record sounds similar to NP in the same way A.C. Newman's solo album did: a little softer and blurrier around the edges, a little more ramshackle in the delivery. And just as moving. The intricate harmonies woven throughout the songs showcase Calder and her bandmates' ability to craft exquisite pop gems.


#9. White Stripes - Icky Thump:
Welcome back, White Stripes. We missed you during your dalliance in the blues (though you still employ it subtly throughout this album). You've even branched out into some sort of Irish jig this time around, as well as what sounds like bolero music from Ennio Morricone. Well done indeed. This is foot-stomping, fist-pumping, rawk music.


#8. Fratellis - Costello Music:
Despite also being a strong front-runner for dumbest album of the year, the Fratellis debut is tons of fun in a summer-day-at-the-beach, sing-a-long kind of way. Almost all the songs have singalong verses and huge rollicking choruses, and the lyrics are dumb enough to be tongue-in-cheek (or are they?).


#7. M.I.A. - Kala:
And in the hot revolutionary female rapper category--we have M.I.A. Even before "Paper Planes" took off, this album was fantastic from top to bottom. The world music influence on her music is obvious, but it's the way she incorporates all the seemingly jarring elements into a seemless tapestry of sound that really makes you want to stand up and protest, or at least dance a whole bunch.


#6. Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago:
A lot of year-end lists have this one in 2008, because that's when it got a major release, but it was first self-released in 2007. Good old Justin Vernon (aka Bon Iver), from Eau Claire, WI, spent the winter in a little cabin writing and recording these heart-aching, beautiful songs. Curl up with a blanket on a cold winter night and lose yourself in them.


#5. Panda Bear - Person Pitch:
Just weird interesting music. Also features the best 12-minute pop song I've probably ever heard.


#4. Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga:
Other than being an incredibly frustrating title to type, Spoon's latest continues to up the bar they set with each previous album. "The Underdog" is one of the greatest songs of the decade and the craftsmanship throughout Ga is phenomenal. It's simply a great album to listen to, over and over and over again.


#3. K-os - Atlantis: Hymns for Disco:
For some reason, K-os has gotten very little press here in the United States (he's from Toronto). I can't understand why. This is his second consecutive album that really ups the ante for what we as listeners can (and should) expect from a hip-hop album. Various elements of gospel, Afro-beat, electronic, mariachi, even fiddle music pop up throughout Atlantis, making for an enjoyable ride through K-os' sonic landscape. "Valhalla" and "Fly Paper" are two of the strongest tracks, but really, all of them are worth repeated listens. Let's hope his musical ambitions aren't stunted by an apparent lack of interest from mainstream music culture.


#2. Okkervil River - The Stage Names:
Like Spoon, these guys get better and better, both musically and lyrically, on each album. The opening three tracks of Stage Names are unbelievable, and should be required listening for anyone who....well, just anyone, I guess. By the time "John Allyn Smith Sails" winds down with its "Sloop John B" outro, Will Sheff and company have taken you on such a journey of hope and desperation and anger and joy that it's a good thing the album doesn't go on any longer. "Unless It's Kicks" is easily my song of year, maybe multiple years...


#1. Hallelujah the Hills - Collective Psychosis Begone:
...but one song does not a top album make. HtH beat out Okkervil River partly because their entire album is so strong. Partly because of their kitchen-sink mentality to instrument choice, band membership, and even lyrical prowess. But mostly because this album is so damn good. There's slow songs, fast songs, quiet songs, loud songs, quiet/loud...never mind. It's another album noboby knows about, and it's always amazing to play a couple of these songs for someone who really enjoys music and see them react to hearing something so new and different and engaging. Love it.