The Best Albums of 2007
Posted on | January 11, 2008 at 11:18 pm | Comments Off
Here’s my year-end best of list as posted to LoudFans (or close to it, anyway; I’ve made a few changes). This is probably closer to arbitrary than any year-end list I’ve ever made. I’ve just got more music than I have time to comfortably listen to. Some of these that ended up on the final list I only listened to once or twice. And as usual there’s a whole lot of stuff I either own and haven’t listened to yet, or that I don’t own and need to hear. I’m sure there are a lot of albums that would’ve ended up on this list if I had listened to them more than once. But them’s the breaks.
1. Voxtrot: Voxtrot
2. Mitch Easter: Dynamico
3. New Pornographers: Challengers
4. Shalini: The Surface And The Shine
5. Maxïmo Park: Our Earthly Pleasures
6. Kaiser Chiefs: Yours Truly, The Angry Mob
7. Ted Leo/Pharmacists: Living With The Living
8. Immaculate Machine: Fables
9. Midlake: The Trials Of Van Occupanther
10. Shout Out Louds: Our Ill Will
Comments on the Top Ten:
I’m not sure what it is about the Voxtrot that’s got me all hot. I just really like the melodies, the singer’s voice, and the song arrangements. I admit that this full-length debut is not as good as their pre-album series of EPs (which are attaining classic status in my mind), but it’s still very, very good.
I waited a really long time for a Mitch Easter album, and when it finally got here, it was everything I’d hoped it would be. He certainly hasn’t lost his quirkily melodic way of putting a song together. A hook in every song!
Challengers did end up growing on me quite a bit, but I still think it’s the weakest over all NP album. The six-minute “Unguided” in the middle of the album really made it lose momentum, though I admit the song is much better live. The only concert I went to this year was an NP one.
It’s also been too long since there’s been a Shalini album, and the new one really satisfies. Surface follows in the rock vein of Metal Corner, but sounds more intricate, polished, and assured.
The Maxïmo Park and Kaiser Chief discs are the only two britpop discs on this list, and they both suffer from the sophomore slump. But both groups had such stunning debuts, it would be hard to do something as good, much less top them. These were both admirable tries.
The Ted Leo and Immaculate Machine albums were also not as good as their immediate predecessors, but still had a lot to recommend them.
Midlake was a cool new discovery for me. Van Occupanther sounds like a lost prog rock classic, even though it’s not that proggy. Reminds me of a cross between Camel and Radiohead.
The Shout Out Louds album is one sophomore disc that is actually better than the debut. You do have to get past the Cure-isms, but once you do, it’s pretty interesting stuff.
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Bubbling under/honorable mentions (possibly in some kind of order):
Interpol: Our Love To Admire
Hot Hot Heat: Happiness LTD
They Might Be Giants: The Else
Hail Social: Modern Love And Death
Bloc Party: A Weekend In The City
Starflyer 59: My Island
The Long Blondes: Someone To Drive You Home
The Editors: An End Has A Start
Polyphonic Spree: The Fragile Army
Stars: In Our Bedroom After The War
Arcade Fire: Neon Bible
The National: Boxer
Get Him Eat Him: Arms Down
Rush: Snakes & Arrows
Black Francis: Bluefinger
Okkervil River: The Stage Names
Hallelujah The Hills: Collective Psychosis Begone
Broken West: I Can’t Go On I’ll Go On
Of Montreal: Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?
Shake Some Action!: Shake Some Action!
She Wants Revenge: This Is Forever
…and a million other things I’ve forgotten…
I really didn’t like The Shins’ Wincing The Night Away. For some reason, it actually made me mad. A big disappointment, though “Phantom Limb” and “Sleeping Lessons” are cool.
And though I do think that Radiohead’s In Rainbows is the best thing they’ve done in a while, it still hasn’t really grabbed me yet. Radiohead albums take a long time to sink in though, so maybe it will. And hey, I did pay for the download. I think it was around $4.
I wish I had time to list my favorite songs of the year, but that’s going to have to wait for another post.
Jogged Today: Yes (@ 36°F). Almost back up to the full route, but not quite.
Songs That Came Up On The iPod While Jogging:
- “Haemoglobin” (Placebo)
- “Untitled Instrumental” (Television)
- “You’ve Got to Go” (The Church)
- “Telecommunication” (A Flock of Seagulls)
- “Mandelbrot Set” (Jonathan Coulton)
Latre.