Your Top 10 Albums of 2007

[Duncan]

The year's not quite over, but we've had a top 10 films thread forever so I thought I might as well. Also, I only have three more days of high speed internet access before I go home for a month, so I wanted some quick recommendations.

[Sven]

Was The White Stripes's Icky Thump this year? If so:

1. The White Stripes - Icky Thump
...

:stuck in the 70s:

[Spinal]

I don't listen to nearly enough new stuff to have a top ten, but I greatly enjoyed the new albums by Bjork, Feist and PJ Harvey.

[Duncan]

Mine goes something like:

1. Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
2. Iron & Wine - The Shepherd's Dog
3. Holy Fuck - LP
4. Sunset Rubdown - Random Spirit Lover
5. Levon Helm - Dirt Farmer
6. LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver
7. Bowerbirds - Hymns for a Dark Horse
8. Dirty Projectors - Rise Above
9. Feist - The Reminder
10. Burial - Untrue

Some honourable mentions:
Radiohead - In Rainbows
Grinderman - Grinderman
The National - Boxer
PJ Harvey - White Chalk
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! - Some Loud Thunder
Liars - Liars

[Duncan]

Was The White Stripes's Icky Thump this year? If so:

1. The White Stripes - Icky Thump
...

:stuck in the 70s:

How about Levon Helm's new album? He did lots of stuff in the 70's.

[Sven]

How about Levon Helm's new album? He did lots of stuff in the 70's.

I saw him on your list and was not aware of any new output of his. Will have to check it out. I do love The Band...

[Sycophant]

Um...

Was The White Stripes's Icky Thump this year? If so:

1. The White Stripes - Icky Thump
...

:has no excuse:

[Kurosawa Fan]

I'm not informed enough to do a top ten, but some of my favorite albums of this year (at least I think they're this year) are:

Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
Beirut - The Flying Club Cup
Feist - The Reminder
Foo Fighters - Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace
Menomena - Friend and Foe
Modest Mouse - We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank
The National - Boxer
Radiohead - In Rainbows
The Shins - Wincing the Night Away
Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
Talib Kweli - Eardrum
The White Stripes - Icky Thump


That's 12. Tough shit.

[Horbgorbler]

In a-no-way-definitive order:

1. Alamaailman Vasarat - Maahan
2. Sleepytime Gorilla Museum - In Glorious Times
3. Big Blood - Space Gallery Jan 27 2007 (May go higher.)
4. Sir Richard Bishop - While My Guitar Violently Bleeds
5. Boris Malkovsky - Time Petah-Tiqva
6. EAQuartett - Electroacoustiquarett
7. Robert Wyatt - Comicopera
8. Oh No - Dr. No's Oxperiment
9. Rational Diet - Rational Diet
10. Mavis Staples - We'll Never Turn Back

A Sunny Day in Glasgow's Scribble Mural Comic Journal and David Watson's Throats just barely missed the cut.

[Ezee E]

1. White Stripes - Icky Thump
2. Lily Allen - Alright Still
3. Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
4. Modest Mouse - We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank
5. Bruce Springsteen - Magic
6. Eddie Vedder - Into the Wild
7. Radiohead - In Rainbows
8. Common - Finding Forever
9. Wu-Tang Clan - 8 Diagrams

Yeah...

[Duncan]

In a-no-way-definitive order:

1. Alamaailman Vasarat - Maahan

I checked out a bunch from your list on MySpace. These guys are awesome. The rest...I was not so taken with.

[Boner M]

I'm pretty behind this year, but here goes...

1. Panda Bear - Person Pitch
2. A Sunny Day in Glasgow - Scribble Mural Comic Journal
3. Radiohead - In Rainbows
4. Stars of the Lid - ...and Their Refinement of the Decline
5. Burial - Untrue
6. Marissa Nadler - Songs III: Bird on the Water
7. Sir Richard Bishop - Polytheistic Fragments
8. Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam
9. Percee P - Perseverance
10. No Age - Weirdo Rippers

[transmogrifier]

Does anyone else but me find it really difficult to rate and rank albums? I guess it's because music is made to be listened to again and again, and as such, I go through periods where I exhaust an album and it suffers it comparison to maybe lesser albums that I listen to less regularly. Not to mention the fact that I hardly ever consciously listen to every song on an album, but rather drift in and out depending on what I'm doing, thinking.

[D_Davis]

I'll put this list together like I do my top 10 movies.

I just don't listen to enough present day stuff, so this will be a top 10 albums I've heard for the first time this year:

1. Pink Floyd - Amsterdam 69
2. Robin Guthrie and Harold Budd - Before the Day Breaks
3. Herbie Hancock - Man-Child
4. The Aggolites - The Aggrolites
5. Brian Eno and John Cale - Wrong Way Up
6. Clint Mansell - The Fountain
7. Cornelius - Sensuous
8. David Gilmour - On And Island
9. The Daysleepers - Soft Attack
10. A Northern Chorus - Spirit Flags

All in all, I've listened to some amazing music this year.

[Ezee E]

Does anyone else but me find it really difficult to rate and rank albums? I guess it's because music is made to be listened to again and again, and as such, I go through periods where I exhaust an album and it suffers it comparison to maybe lesser albums that I listen to less regularly. Not to mention the fact that I hardly ever consciously listen to every song on an album, but rather drift in and out depending on what I'm doing, thinking.

I have the same problem. It's rather tough to find out when an album was released because sometimes a popular single doesn't get discovered until four years later, which leads to all their other singles being released, making it seem like a new album.

[ledfloyd]

hmm... good year for tunes. lets see what i got.

1. Radiohead - In Rainbows
My favorite radiohead album since Kid A. At least. From the first time I heard this album it grabbed me and it hasn't let up yet. I don't think there's a bad track on it. And the price was right.

Weird Fishes/Arpeggi

2. I'm Not There - OST
This one might play for you iosos. My favorite artist of all time covered by many of my favorite current day artists. Even Jack Johnson doesn't let down. This is just a string of great covers. The only artist that disappoints in any way at all is Mason Jennings. And he disappoints only in doing anything interesting with the songs. They're perfectly competent renderings of the originals, and who can complain about that?

3. Talib Kweli - Eardrum
Probably my favorite rap album of the year. Talib's rhymes are just so insightful and biting, and the beats aren't lacking either. A return to form after the disappointing Beautiful Struggle. He's still got it.

Everything Man

4. Kanye West - Graduation
Second fav rap album of the year. Kanye lacks the social commentary of Talib. But his beats are twice as good. And as far as materialistic egotistical rants go is there anything better than "at the Grammys i went Ultra Travolta/Yeah, that tuxedo was a little Guido/But with my ego?/I could stand there in a speedo/And people'd still look at me like I'm a fuckin hero." His insecurity also makes him relatable to a fat white 22 year old like me who doesn't give a shit if he's wearing Prada or Levi's. This album took awhile to grow on me, but now I think it might be my favorite of his oeuvre.

Champion/Everything I Am

5. Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
Spoon is the best at what they do. It's as simple as that.

You Got Yr Cherry Bomb

6. LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver
I found their first album kinda meh. Nothing after track one really grabbed me. This one on the other hand delivers the goods. "Someone Great" is my favorite song of the year. My friend called this 'hipsco' as in hipster disco. I think it fits. Hopefully the genre develops cause if it's as good as this album I want more.

Someone Great

7. Wilco - Sky Blue Sky
Wilco is my favorite band. They took a step back from the sonic experimentation of 'Yankee Hotel Foxtrot' and 'A Ghost is Born' with this one. But Jeff is such a great songwriter it's hard to find much to complain about. Who else can make a song about doing dishes and mowing the lawn kick so much ass?

Hate It Here

8. Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam
These guys are so off the wall they're almost abrasive. But they stop just short of that in some kind of crazy land between music, noise, and nursery rhymes. For some reason they just do it for me. You'd either understand or you wouldn't.

Fireworks

9. Gogol Bordello - Super Taranta!
Gypsy punk. This band is fronted by Eugene Hutz (of Everything is Illuminated). He's a complete madman, and it couldn't be more entertaining. This is fun. Almost an Eastern European take on the Flogging Molly, Dropkick Murphys, Pogues sound. If you like any of those bands you might like Gogol Bordello.

Wonderlust King

10. Nine Inch Nails - Year Zero
Gotta represent a hometown boy when he does good. Trent is off the drugs and he makes his best album since Downward Spiral (some could argue his first good album since Spiral, and they might be right). This was my favorite album for a long time this year. At least until I heard the other 9 albums on this list.

Honorable Mentions
Bright Eyes - Cassadaga. This album has some good songs, but ultimately is not a good album.

Saul Williams - The Rise and Fall of Niggy Tardust. If this whole album was just the cover of Sunday Bloody Sunday on repeat it would be the best thing ever.

Battles - Mirrored. Likewise, if this whole album was 'Atlas' on repeat it'd kick ass.

The White Stripes - Icky Thump. Good, but uneven. And a bit of a letdown after the stellar "Get Behind me Satan."

Patton Oswalt - Werewolves & Lollipops. Funny as hell. But I couldn't justify knocking off any of the others for a comedy album.

Jay Z - American Gangster. This album makes his return after the Black Album less regrettable. Makes it easier to forget Kingdom Come ever happened.

Stuff I haven't listened to enough
Feist's The Reminder, Andrew Bird's Armchair Apocrypha, and Iron & Wine's The Shepherd's Dog are all good from what I've heard, but I haven't given any of them the listens they deserve, and don't feel right putting them on a list yet. I can't accurately judge them in comparison to other albums I've listened to several times. I have to feel Robert Plant & Alison Kraus's Raising Sand produced by T-Bone Burnett and featuring Marc Ribot on guitar is good but I haven't heard it yet. Same goes for Levon Helm's album.

Letdowns
Common - Finding Forever. I listened to this once. The only song I heard multiple times was the single with Lily Allen, that was terrible.

Ryan Adams - Easy Tiger. I'm a bigger fan of Ryan so I gave this a few more chances to sink in. Unfortunately it didn't. It's not bad, there's some great songs. But ultimately it's a return to the Adult Contemporary spirit of 'Gold'. I gave this one to my dad, he loves it.

[Kurosawa Fan]

I didn't care for Wilco's new disc at all. Big letdown. We agree on Common though. A second listen actually brought out all the flaws. Some of his lyrics are downright terrible.

I'm with you Talib Kweli, Radiohead, and Spoon. I'll have to check out NIN. I kind of gave up on Reznor.

[bac0n]

A lotta people have LCD Soundsystem's Sound of Silver on their Top 10s of 2007, but after multiple listens, I think it's merely serviceable, and I don't quite see what the big deal is.

[bac0n]

Oh, and I heard a track off of Animal Collective's album, and I was instantly in love. I'm definitely gonna need to pick up this one. One of the guys in the band (Panda?) did a solo album, and I heard a track off that, which I liked a lot too.

[Raiders]

I haven't got a clue how to compile this list. I do know that St. Vincent and PJ Harvey both released albums this year and they were awesome.

[Raiders]

Oh yeah, Panda Bear's album was great as well.

[Derek]

A lotta people have LCD Soundsystem's Sound of Silver on their Top 10s of 2007, but after multiple listens, I think it's merely serviceable, and I don't quite see what the big deal is.

I'm totally with you there. It's grown on me after a few listens, but I think there's far superior electronic albums out there this year. I just don't get what all the fuss is about.

Oh, and I heard a track off of Animal Collective's album, and I was instantly in love. I'm definitely gonna need to pick up this one. One of the guys in the band (Panda?) did a solo album, and I heard a track off that, which I liked a lot too.

Repped! Both albums are great, though I slightly prefer Panda Bear's. Strawberry Jam isn't the easiest Collective album to get into right away, but after 4 or 5 spins, I loved almost every track.

I'll be doing a list for my site, so I'll start a thread w/countdown next week once I'm home for the holidays.

EDIT: And I agree with trans that it's incredibly hard to decide order of preference, since albums I haven't heard for a few months inevitably fall behind the newer great stuff. Year end music lists are inevitably a snapshot of what you think of the year at that moment, which then changes soon after.

[EvilShoe]

Don't really have a top 10, but I do know Sound of Silver was my fav of the year.

[krazed]

Hmm.

1. The National - Boxer
2. Panda Bear - Person Pitch
3. LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver
4. Black Lips - Good, Bad, Not Evil
5. Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam
6. Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
7. M.I.A. - Kala
8. UGK - Underground Kingz
9. King Khan & His Shrines - What Is?!
10. Pantha du Prince - This Bliss

I probably forgot something.

[Llopin]

1. Louis Sclavis - l'imparfait des langues
2. Ferocious Eagle - The Sea Anemone Inside of Me is Mighty
3. Thurston Moore - Trees Outside the Academy
4. Bottomless Pit - Hammer of the Gods
5. Electro Group - Good Technology
6. The Bad Plus - Prog!
7. Clouds - Legendary Demo
8. Marnie Stern - In Advance of the Broken Arm
9. Dinosaur Jr. - Beyond
10. Psychedelic Horseshit - Magical Flowers Droned
--------
11. Gowns - Red State
12. Suzanne Vega - Beauty & Crime
13. The Detroit Cobras - Tied & True
14. The Fucking Champs - VI
15. Jozef Van Wissem - Stations of the Cross
16. Toddle - Dawn Praise the World
17. Suishou no Fune - I throw a stone into the endless depths
18. Cheater Slicks - Walk into the Sea
19. Julie Doiron - Woke Myself Up
20. Slagsmålsklubben - Boss for leader!
--------
21. Jackie Carol - Check Check
22. Nisei - Continents
23. Estrategia lo Capto! - Gran Bola de Nieve
24. Clockcleaner - Babylon Rules
25. Neurosis - Given to the Rising
26. Self-evident - s/t
27. Cato Salsa Experience and The Thing with Joe McPhee - Two Bands and a Legend
28. Damon and Naomi - Within These Walls
29. Sapat - Mortise and Tenon
30. Airiel - The Battle of Sealand