Favorite Albums of 2007

Fuck it, I like lists and seeing what other people dug. Here's my top 20 for the year.

1 Gallows â??Orchestra of Wolvesâ??
2 Josh Ritter â??Historical Conquestsâ??
3 Earthless â??Rhythms from a Cosmic Skyâ??
4. Alcest â??Souvenirs french french frenchâ??
5. Miss Alex White & The Red Orchestra â??Space & Timeâ??
6. M.I.A. â??Kalaâ??
7 The Hives â??Black and White Albumâ??
8 A Place to Bury Strangers S-T
9 Arcade Fire â??Neon Bibleâ??
10 Against Me â??New Waveâ??
11 Battles â??Mirroredâ??
12 Fratellis â??Costello Musicâ??
13 Dinosaur Jr â??Beyondâ??
14 Japancakes â??Lovelessâ??
15 Girls Aloud â??Tangled Upâ??
16 The Field â??From Here We Got to Sublimeâ??
17 Akron/Family â??Love is Simpleâ??
18 Mika â??Life in Cartoon Motionâ??
19 Vampire Weekend â??Blue CDRâ??
20 Stars of the Lid â??And Their Refinement of the Declineâ??

10 is definitely not enough so 20 sounds good to me.

(these aren't in much of an order
also realize i have two eps on here)

1. The Virgins - '07 EP
2. Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam
3. Coconut Records - Nighttiming
4. Panda Bear - Person Pitch
5. Washington Social Club - Bigger Than Your Boyfriend
6. Feist - The Reminder
7. Radiohead - In Rainbows
8. Georgie James - Places
9. Vampire Weekend - Blue CDR
10. Charlotte Gainsbourg - 5:55
11. Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
12. Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
13. Johnathan Rice - Further North
14. Mark Ronson - Version
15. Troubles - Nightlights
16. MIA - Kala
17. Rogue Wave - Asleep at Heaven's Gate
18. 1990s - Cookies
19. Sea Wolf - Get to the River Before it Runs Too Low EP
20. Apples In Stereo - New Magnetic Wonder

25. Soft Circle - Full Bloom
24. Raveonettes - Lust Lust Lust
23. Dungen - Tio Bitar
22. Wooden Shjips - S/T
21. Pantha Du Prince - This Bliss
20. Alcest - Souvenirs D'un Autre Monde
19. Six Organs of Admittance - Shelter From The Ash
18. Gui Boratto - Chromophobia
17. Sir Richard Bishop - Polytheistic Fragments
16. Alasdair Roberts-The Amber Gatherers
15. Dinosaur Jr. - Beyond
14. Mark Ronson - Version
13. Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
12. Cornelius - Sensuous
11. Caribou - Andorra
10. Meg Baird - Dear Companion
9. Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?
8. Battles - Mirrored
7. Radiohead - In Rainbows
6. Feist - The Reminder
5. A Place To Bury Strangers - S/T
4. Jens Lekman - Night Falls Over Kortedala
3. Boris with Michio Kurihara - Rainbow
2. Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam
1. Panda Bear - Person Pitch

I stuck strictly to albums with that list. There are plenty of EPs that could've easily been included on there.

i still have a couple dozen albums to plow through, but of the 80 or so i've given a proper listen, here's my take:

top 20 in alpha order:

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• &lt;font size="2" face="Arial, Veranda"&gt;against me! – "new wave"
apples in stereo - "new magnetic wonder"
arcade fire – "neon bible"
band of horses – "cease to begin"
blitzen trapper – "wild mountain nation"
blonde redhead – "23"
daft punk – "alive 2007"
el-p – "i'll sleep when you're dead"
the field – "from here we go sublime"
jens lekman – "night falls over kortedala"
the national – "boxer"
of montreal – "hissing fauna, are you the destroyer?"
panda bear – "person pitch"
patty griffin – "children running through"
pharoahe monch – "desire"
a place to bury strangers – s/t
spoon – "ga ga ga ga ga"
a sunny day in glasgow – "scribble mural comic journal"
the twilight sad – "fourteen autumns &amp; fifteen winters"
wilco – "sky blue sky"&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;

<font size="2" face="Arial, Veranda">
some albums that i liked, but just didn't stand out from the bands' previous works:

</font>

• &lt;font size="2" face="Arial, Veranda"&gt;andrew bird – "armchair apocrypha"
arctic monkeys – "favourite worst nightmare"
beirut – "the flying club cup"
the clientele – "god save the clientele"
deerhoof – "friend opportunity"
explosions in the sky – "all of a sudden i miss everyone"
field music – "tones of town"
interpol – "our love to admire"
jay-z – "american gangster"
m.i.a. – "kala"
modest mouse – "we were dead before the ship even sank"
the new pornographers – "challengers"
the shins – "wincing the night away"
the white stripes – "icky thump"&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;

<font size="2" face="Arial, Veranda">
disappointments:

</font>

• &lt;font size="2" face="Arial, Veranda"&gt;air – "pocket symphony"
bloc party – "a weekend in the city"
clap your hands say yeah – "some loud thunder"
editors – "an end has a start"
lupe fiasco – "the cool"
wu-tang clan – "8 diagrams"&lt;/font&gt;&lt;/li&gt;

<font size="2" face="Arial, Veranda">

My top 20 in no particular order:
Band of Horses - Cease to Begin
She Wants Revenge - This is Forever
Matt Pond PA - Last Light
Devandra Banhart - Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon
Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam
Flight of the Conchords - the Distant Future
Low - Drums and Guns
Minus the Bear - Planet of Ice
Seal - System
Interpol - Our Love to Admire
Tegan and Sara - the Con
Cold War Kids - Robbers & Cowards
the Polyphonic Spree - the Fragile Army
Fujiya & Miyagi - Transparent Things
Voxtrot - Voxtrot
Modest Mouse - We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank
Klaxons - Myths Of The Near Future
Justice - Justice
Dntel - Dumb Luck
Radiohead - In Rainbows

Originally posted by azaghal1981:

24. Raveonettes - Lust Lust Lust

That would be the 2008 list, trendy

(good album though)

Hmm…

Was it released in Europe already or something? Wikipedia lists it as having come out on 11/12/07.
There are a bunch of online reviews of it but AMG does say it comes out in '08. I'm keeping it on my list if it's been released in other countries.

Originally posted by Relaxer:

Originally posted by azaghal1981:

24. Raveonettes - Lust Lust Lust

That would be the 2008 list, trendy

(good album though)

Originally posted by azaghal1981:
Hmm…

Was it released in Europe already or something? Wikipedia lists it as having come out on 11/12/07.
There are a bunch of online reviews of it but AMG does say it comes out in '08. I'm keeping it on my list if it's been released in other countries.

Originally posted by Relaxer:

Originally posted by azaghal1981:

24. Raveonettes - Lust Lust Lust

That would be the 2008 list, trendy

(good album though)

I think you're right. I figured it was a pre-release web leak, and Allmusic says it's coming out in February 2008. But Amazon says it has it now (for 20 bucks) so probably an import. I think I'll spend another hour researching this very important fact.

There however have been a few excellent 2008 albums that have graced my HD but that topic is for another thread.

1. The Gaslight Anthem - Sink or Swim
2. Gogol Bordello - Super Taranta!
3. Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
4. Against Me! - New Wave
5. The Shins - Wincing the Night Away
6. The Weakerthans - Reunion Tour
7. Rilo Kiley - Under the Blacklight
8. Ted Leo/The Pharmacists - Living with the Living
9. The Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
10. Sondre Lerche - Phantom Punch
11. Wilco - Sky Blue Sky
12. Bruce Springsteen - Magic
13. Dinosaur, Jr - Beyond
14. Peter Bjorn & John - Writer's Block
15. Modest Mouse - We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank
16. The National - Boxer
17. Minus the Bear - Planet of Ice
18. Mavis Staples - Weâ??ll Never Turn Back
19. Bloc Party - A Weekend in the City
20. Josh Small - Tall by Josh Small

These are the 2007 released albums albums that crossed my path last year, ranked and graded. A (*) indicates that it was a 2007 domestic release, though I previously had it on import.

1. Wilco A+
2. Amy Winehouse (Back to Black) A
3. Spoon A
4. Jens Lekman A
*5. Joan As Police Woman A
6. Okkervil River A-
7. Band of Horses A-
*8. Amy Winehouse (Frank) B+
9 Teddy Thompson B+
10. Feist B+
11. Josh Ritter B+
12. Pela B+
13. Of Montreal B
14. The Brunettes B
15. Dean and Britta B
16. Dolorean B
17. Eleni Mandell B-
18. The Long Blondes B-
19. Josh Rouse B-
20. The National C+
21. Ceu C+
22. Dwight Yoakam C+
23. Apples in Stereo C+
24. The Clientele C+
25. Beirut C
26. Lily Allen C
27. Arcade Fire C
28. Nick Lowe C-
29. Robbie Fulks C-
30. Autumn Defense C-
31. Vampire Weekend D+
32. The Postmarks D
33. Ryan Adams D-
34. Real Tuesday Weld F
35. Mice Parade F

31. Vampire Weekend D+

D+? You realize that they went to Coulmbia, right? And they listen to Afrobeat. Isn't this enough for you to overlook the fact that they suck?

Robbie Fulks went to Columbia, and in spite of me being a big fan, I thought his live album was pretty weak (C-). I guess it just wasn't the year for Columbians.

Here we go:

Amy Winehouse- Back To Black
Amy Winehouse- Frank
Feist- The Reminder
MIA-Kala
Chrisette Michelle- I Am
Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings- 100 Days, 100 Nights
Jill Scott-The Real Thing:Words and Sounds Vol.3
Midnight Juggernaut-Dystopia
Dreamgirls Soundtrack
Across The Universe Soundtrack
Britney Spears- Blackout
Kylie Minogue -X
Lily Allen- Alright Still
Mark Ronson-Version
Justice -+

18 Mika â??Life in Cartoon Motionâ??

Can't say I like this album…..too cheesy….but Relax is a great song!!!!!

Are you gonna see Sharon Jones at the Black Cat?

Originally posted by bull930:
Here we go:

Amy Winehouse- Back To Black
Amy Winehouse- Frank
Feist- The Reminder
MIA-Kala
Chrisette Michelle- I Am
Sharon Jones &amp; The Dap Kings- 100 Days, 100 Nights
Jill Scott-The Real Thing:Words and Sounds Vol.3
Midnight Juggernaut-Dystopia
Dreamgirls Soundtrack
Across The Universe Soundtrack
Britney Spears- Blackout
Kylie Minogue -X
Lily Allen- Alright Still
Mark Ronson-Version
Justice -+

Favorite Album of 2007: Arcade Fire's Neon Bible.

FWIW, my list. Note, I drafted this a few weeks ago, before I became completely obsessed with the Future Clouds and Radar album.

25. Shout Out Louds, Our Ill Wills
24. Bottomless Pit, Hammer of the Gods
23. Thurston Moore, Trees Outside the Academy
22. The Mendoza Line, 30 Year Low
21. Wheat, Every Day I Said a Prayer for Kathy and Made a One Inch Square
20. Jason Isbell, Sirens of the Ditch
19. Blonde Redhead, 23
18. You Am I, Convicts
17. Dinosaur Jr., Beyond
16. Wilco, Sky Blue Sky
15. Josh Ritter, The Historical Conquests ofâ?¦
14. The National Lights, The Dead Will Walk, Dear
13. Babyshambles, Shotterâ??s Nation
12. The Apples In Stereo, New Magnetic Wonder
11. Vandaveer, Grace and Speed
10. Okkervil River, The Stage Names
9. Parts and Labor, Mapmaker
8. Rogue Wave, Asleep at Heavenâ??s Gate
7. Dead Confederate, Dead Confederate EP
6. The Broken West, I Canâ??t Go On Iâ??ll Go On
5. Wussy, Left For Dead
4. Earlimart, Mentor Tormentor
3. Nothington, All In
2. The Antlers, In the Attic of the Universe
1. The National, Boxer

1. The National - Boxer
2. Elliott Smith - New Moon
3. Radiohead - In Rainbows
4. Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
5. Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam
6. Band of Horses - Cease to Begin
7. Jose Gonzalez - In Our Nature
8. Jens Lekman - Night Falls Over Kortedala
9. Bright Eyes - Cassadaga
10. Ted Leo & the Pharmacists - Living with the Living