Favorite Albums of 2007

20 - Liars - Liars
19 - Chikita Violenta - The Stars & Suns Sessions
18 - Marnie Stern - In Advance of the Broken Arm
17 - Thurston Moore - Trees Outside the Academy
16 - LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver

15 - Black Moth Super Rainbow - Dandelion Gum
14 - Kevin Drew - Spirit If...
13 - Panda Bear - Person Pitch
12 - Times New Viking - Presents the Paisley Reich
11 - Celebration - The Modern Tribe

10 - Deerhunter - Fluorescent Gray EP

I feel the same as Elliott regarding EPs; this album is only 4 songs, and they're all awesome. ALL KILLER NO FILLER.

http://www.myspace.com/deerhunter

http://deerhuntertheband.blogspot.com/

9 - Alcest - Souvenirs D'un Autre Monde

The distance from black metal to ambient new-age is closer than you think.

http://www.alcest-music.com/

8 - Arcade Fire - Neon Bible

On the list by virtue of how much I played it in the first half of the year. I think I let the backlash get to me a little bit - I still can't listen to "Keep the Car Running" without hearing John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band - but it would be a mistake to let the hate sully your enjoyment of the big, awe-inspiring sound and sweet neo-Gorey aesthetic.

http://www.arcadefire.com/

7 - Skeletons and the Kings of All Cities - Lucas

Brooklyn-by-way-of-Oberlin weirdos follow up the electro/Prince inflected Git by nestling comfortably into the new Brooklyn sound epitomized by artists like Grizzly Bear and Dirty Projectors.

http://www.ghostly.com/1.0/ghostly/gi58.shtml

6 - Aa - gAame

I like drums and yelling, particularly when the yelling doesn't even consist of recognizable words. This has a lot that.

http://www.myspace.com/alittlea

5 - St. Vincent - Marry Me

4 great songs and about 7 unnecessary ones, but they're pleasant enough to let the former carry the album.

http://www.ilovestvincent.com/

4 - Parts & Labor - Mapmaker

RIDICULOUS PUMMELING DRUMS. Colleen says this album sounds like the 90s. I don't know what that means. I don't think she does either.

http://www.partsandlabor.net/

3 - The National - Boxer

A set of capable rock songs evocative of (post)modern urban life, elevated by Bryan Devendorf's sweet, unexpected drumming.

http://www.americanmary.com/

2 - Battles - Mirrored

I don't think I can come up with anything new to say about this album. It's a pleasant surprise that it seems to have been received so well, even outside of the usual suspects (it made Time Magazine's list).

http://www.bttls.com/

1 - Dirty Projectors - Rise Above

I've still never listened to Black Flag's Damaged in it's entirety, and I'd never listened to a single song before hearing Rise Above, but it didn't matter. The "reimagination" concept certainly makes this a more intellectually interesting album, but it would be silly to say it has any effect on the listening experience, or the music itself. I've never particularly been a fan of lyrics as much as the overall sound of music: I don't care how great Bob Dylan's lyrics are, his music just doesn't appeal to me. By reappropriating the words of others, Dave Longstreth seems to have found a way around the problem of writing new lyrics (his last full-length consisted of his own lyrics from earlier albums combined with selections from Don Henley's lyrics), and he has the musical genius to back it up. In the hands of most others, the concept would likely have come off as trite and corny, but when paired with Longstreth's compositions, it sounds natural, organic, authentic. Is it really though? Does it matter?

http://www.myspace.com/dirtyprojectors