THE BEST ALBUMS OF 2007
2007 was a great year in music; one of the decade's best. This year saw the release of several classic albums from artists new and old; from post-rock to rap, chamber-pop to dance-punk, the music covers a diverse and exciting sonic spectrum. When Radiohead releases an album for free over the worldwide web, it's a very good year. (Of course, that's assuming you didn't pay $34.57 for In Rainbows because you can't convert dollars into pounds).
This list includes many of the year's essential albums. The National, Kanye West, Okkervil River, Arcade Fire, The White Stripes, among others, all released soon-to-be classics. But there are some obvious omissions, such as two of this year's most forward-thinking records--Animal Collective's Strawberry Jam and Panda Bear's Person Pitch. Those two albums will likely be seen in future years as harbingers of a brave new musical world--Panda Bear's pop-soaked "Bros" a stunning example.
However, my albums generally represent the fine line between experiment and enjoyment. Some of these albums stretch musical boundaries, others explore well-worn paths. But all of them I came back to again and again. Thus, although the originality of a few outliers may not be represented, it could be that they do not always reward that most straightforward of pursuits: listen after listen. It takes real perspective (and ears) to appreciate musical genius--and to acknowledge when that genius actually takes lesser, but more accessible forms.
Of course, I by no means apologize for my list--these albums were among the twenty best, and I would argue that the exclusion of many would make any list incomplete. Some albums may still be too difficult for some listeners. To those individuals, I invite you to expand your palette to allow for new discoveries. Others may feel like they fit the first time. To that, I say enjoy.
*As always, I include the following disclaimer: Due to limited funds (and time), I was unable to purchase some albums that would likely have been somewhere on this list. The albums on this list are all ones I actually own and have listened to repeatedly.
1. Boxer, The National
We're half awake in a fake empire. Somewhat chilling, thus begins the masterful Boxer, with singer and songwriter Matt Berringer sounding like a fractured, amplified Leonard Cohen. On "Fake Empire," a stark piano line moves into perfectly-timed drum fills, and the song expands, like the rest of the album, into dark, groovy territory.
Boxer is a masterpiece of early twenty-first century narrative--loosely-tied threads of love, loss, and alienation. Lyrically and musically, Boxer's urban elegance shimmers in the streetlights, rewarding listen after listen with a rich, world-weary texture that can leave one bewildered and breathless. The album's subtle, back-alley mix of chamber-pop, folk, and post-punk, captures the perfect tone of modern city dreams.
"Mistaken For Strangers" reveals the dark, friendless streets that we walk as adults. (Has there ever been a better album describing the vagaries of the white-collar world?)
You get mistaken for strangers by your own friends
when you pass them at night under the silvery, silvery citibank lights
arm in arm in arm and eyes and eyes glazing under
arm in arm in arm and eyes and eyes glazing under
oh you wouldn’t want an angel watching over
surprise, surprise they wouldn’t wannna watch
surprise, surprise they wouldn’t wannna watch
another uninnocent, elegant fall into the unmagnificent lives of adults
"Start A War" details the quiet, earnest pleas of a broken relationship.
Whatever went away, I’ll get it over again
I’ll get money, I’ll get funny again
Walk away now and you’re gonna start a war
And "Apartment Story," with its rolling drums and luxurious layer of guitars, sweeps up Berringer's perfect image of urban escape.
We'll stay inside till somebody finds us
Do whatever the TV tells us
Stay inside our rosy-minded fuzz for days
As one critic noted, Berringer's characters toy with adulthood and dress for success, but they also grapple with near-paralyzing insecurity. Fortunately, it is the music's sublime assuredness, played in a deceptively subdued manner, that underscores the difficulties of modern relationships and makes Boxer the best album of the year.
2. In Rainbows, Radiohead
Jason,
How good is In Rainbows? Unbelievable is how good. I just spent a solitary headphone evening with the album and I'm left wondering how Radiohead can't be the best band in the world. Moreover, it's the record I've always (unconsciously) hoped they would make. The tones are warm (by their standards) and the vistas are melodic, and yet, the record is still surrounded by their intricate millenial musicianship. It's almost as if they took some of the best parts of The Bends, OK Computer, and Kid A, and then distilled the music through a butterfly net to make something sad and beautiful. Of course, that might be selling the album short. Like their greatest achievements, In Rainbows simply stands in its own creative space, reckoning.
Just a few thoughts.
The D Man
3. Night Falls Over Kortedela, Jens Lekman
My wife thinks the premise of the album is ridiculous--semi-ironic, overdramatic, even silly. I believe his songs are heartbreaking, beautiful, and brilliant. Fortunately, both sentiments ring true on Night Falls Over Kortedala, where Jens creates the most delightful pop album of the year. Filled with an array of strings, horns, and percussion, the lush orchestration is juxtaposed against Lekman's bittersweet sorrows and blissful moments. As the leading man of the recent Swedish pop explosion, Jens will make you laugh and cry at the same time--and will make you wonder why you've never been to Scandinavia.
4. Icky Thump, The White Stripes
After the musical detours of Get Behind Me Satan, The White Stripes return with a relentless album of virtuosic blues-rock riffs. Unlike GBMS or even Elephant, this record rarely lets you come up for air--it's a vivid reinvention of the duo's guitar-based idiom. Feel the border stomp of "Icky Thump." Listen to the yard-sale preacher of "Rag and Bone." Experience the rising, whirlwind guitars of "300 M.P.H. Torrential Outpour Blues," the ragged punk assault of "Bone Broke," and the menacing fretwork of "Cream Soda." As Jack keeps hitting you with righteous hook after righteous hook, maybe you'll decide not to take him for granted anymore.
5. Cease To Begin, Band of Horses
Pretty, autumnal indie rock. Expansive and life-affirming. Like shuffling through the leaves on a sidewalk in a small town. Or watching the moon over an empty lake. Their expansive guitars and ringing melodies are drenched with atmosphere. Opening track "Is There A Ghost" is another classic BofH anthem, taking right off from their impressive debut, Everything All The Time. But the rest of the album proves to be more relaxed, loose, like a return to a familiar place. Indeed, BofH recorded the album in their hometown of Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina, and you can feel they are playing right in their comfortable sweet spot.
6. Graduation, Kanye West
Perhaps it was the awesome Takashi Murakami cover art. Maybe it was an inner longing for the rap of my youth. Whatever it was, I picked up Kanye West's third-album and discovered that it was the most enjoyable listen of the year. Graduation is a post-rap (near) masterpiece, venturing into rich pop realms that West's lesser peers can't even comprehend. Flawless production? Check. Sophisticated soul samples? Check. Intelligent lyrics? Check. Not rap you say? Well then, consider Kanye a full-fledged pop superstar.
7. Easy Tiger, Ryan Adams
Ryan Adams is a fine singer-songwriter, no matter what the haters say. Call me an unabashed homer, but his Easy Tiger found heavy rotation in my collection this year. With straightforward and beguiling melodies, Easy Tiger is an album that should have all of Nashville drooling. His ace backing band, The Cardinals, don't share the marquee, but they still deliver the irresistable alt-country hooks. It's enough to forgive the notoriously impestuous Adams for the terrible show he played at Red Butte Amphitheatre; with all the annoying scenesters roaming around, I would have stayed sitting down and avoided center stage too.
8. We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank, Modest Mouse
Long-time cult favorites follow up their popular breakthrough, Good News For People Who Love Bad News, with another frenetic, high-gloss indie album. Refreshingly, Modest Mouse does not abandon their distinctive sound and vocals, but merely expand it into a more populist, free-wheeling rock assault. The dire existential themes still hang ragged and threadbare, but the songs are more accessible, willing to let others in on the distress. Two emerging characteristics stand out: the band's emphasis on melody and prominent guitarwork. Even in the wake of Brock's schizophrenic vocal theatrics, most song's are imbued with an overarching melodic strain. And Modest Mouse's cosmic guitar effects are placed front-and-center, possibly due to The Smiths' guitar legend Johnny Marr joining the band. Isaac Brock calls the record a "nautical balalaika carnvial romp." Can't argue with that.
9. The Stage Names, Okkervil River
Less ragged and spare than its meloncholy predecessor, The Stage Names is full-bodied roots rock, wildly alive, brooding, and majestic. Will Sheff's fierce prose still brims with literate clarity, but it is surrounded by larger melodies and arrangments. Moving through cinematic metaphors ("Our Live Is Not A Movie Or Maybe" and "A Hand To Take A Hold Of The Scene), poetic mythologies, ("John Allyn Smith Sails"), and pop-culture litanies ("Plus Ones"), The Stage Names may be the headiest collection of indie rock tunes in years.
10. The Shepherd's Dog, Iron and Wine
Sam Beam, our beloved and bearded folk romanticist, explores new sonic territory while soaking his feet in Southern acoustic tanglewood stew. The Shepherd's Dog is an eclectic batch of tunes that finds Beam backed by a full band and teeming with creativity. His music imagines backwaters, backwoods, poorhouses, and porches; the rich, nuanced playing elevates his lyrics onto some strange spiritual plane. Indeed, Beam's religious allusions describe lovelorn relationships with Biblical heft. Not the sound of your momma's Iron & Wine? Well, you better learn to deal with it.
11. Armchair Apocrypha, Andrew Bird
A stunning multi-instrumentalist and world-class whistler, Andrew Bird writes eliptical, classically-themed pop songs. Bird accompanies himself with violin, glockenspiel, xylophone, and guitar--the list goes on. Performing live, he typically plays a part with one instrument, records it, and then loops it back into the song, building uncanny choruses and bridges. On Armchair Apocrypha, almost every song showcases these wondrous musical gifts. "Heretics" engages with a woozy violin line, while "Imitosis" gets swanky with some fine string picking. And opener "Fiery Crash" whistles its way to disaster.
12. The End of History, Fionn Regan
More propulsive than Nick Drake, more pastoral than Bob Dylan, this Irish folk troubadour creates rich, holistic melodies. Regan's songwriting recalls narrow rainy streets, cottages in the woods, or cloudy coastal plains merging with the sea. "Be Good Or Be Gone," with its series of lyrical abstractions, somehow manages to be the most righteous song of the year.
13. Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, Spoon
Spoon is among a handful of recent American rock bands to carve out a truly original creative space. Their sixth album is accessible and eclectic, a fine achievement in its own right. Their sound is tight, streamlined, and funky. The songs are built around the nuanced play of rhythm and space between guitar and bass and the end result is vintage rock and roll--think a smarter, more dexterous Rolling Stones album. You are guaranteed to bob your head in response to "The Underdog," when singer Brit Daniel warns, "You got no fear of the underdog / That's why you will not survive!"
14. Wincing The Night Away, The Shins
The Shins' latest, Wincing The Night Away, (a reference to singer James Mercer's insomnia) is another melodic, soft-pyschadelic pop affair. Lacking the propulsive intracacies of their first two albums, Wincing showcases the band's development into larger sonic spaces. This makes sense, considering the band's status as another indie gone mainstream; Wincing debuted at #2 on the charts. While they owe Zach Braff some thanks for that, The Shins can mostly credit their superb pop craftsmanship.
15. Neon Bible, Arcade Fire
While this album will be near the top of most critics' lists, the dark religious tones and heavyhandedness was a little offputting. Even more, the album lacks the cohesive, dynamic originality of their debut, Funeral. While it may be unfair to compare the band's latest effort to that masterpiece, it is inevitable consideringFuneral's rightful place as one of the decade's best releases. Fortunately, epic songs such as "Keep The Car Running" and "The Well and the Lighthouse" still satisfy your cathedral pop dreams.
16. Sound of Silver, LCD Soundsystem
A driving set of disco dance punk. The deft use of keyboards and drums give the album an authentic quality that is missing from much of the genre. And the music's heavy pulse makes you feel like you are running on some treadmill of the future--as a result, Sound of Silver is also one of the best workout albums of the past several years. Highlights include the gyrating synths of opener "Get Innocuous!," the tongue-in-cheek "North American Scum," and the album's sonic centerpiece, the epic electronica of "Someone Great." Featured previously on 45:33, it's even better with words.
17. Hvarf/Heim, Sigur Ros
If you've never heard the sound of glaciers melting, whales falling in love, or ice queens blessing the earth, then you need to experience Iceland's Sigur Ros. Their latest effort, Hvarf/Heim, coincided with the release of Heima, a critically-acclaimed documentary about the band. It is a wonderful double-album; one side of previously unreleased studio tracks, the other side of live acoustic performances. A small treasure trove from one of this decade's most vital artists.
18. Sky Blue Sky, Wilco
Some critics have called Sky Blue Sky the best album the Eagles never made. (And, for better or worse, they mean that in a good way). Others have called it dangerously close to Dad Rock. I tend to agree a little with both assessments and feel a twinge of disappointment to see the end of a truly remarkable four-album run. Wilco takes a step backward with its sixth release; after the seminal alt-country of Being There, the glowing pop of Summerteeth, the avant-garde deconstruction of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, and the underrated minimalism of A Ghost Is Born, Sky Blue Sky is their weakest effort yet. Of course, that being said, it was still better than 99% of the releases this year.
19. Everybody, The Sea and Cake
Everybody was easily one of the best albums of the summer. The Sea and Cake's breezy post-jazz sounds effortless, but suggesting as much may be a slight to the band's considerable talent. Even so, the music does go down easy, and frankly, makes you feel pretty good. Does anyone in indie rock have a more soothing voice than Sam Prekop? Ummmm . . . no.
20. Loney Noir, Loney Dear
An insular, homespun record from another Swedish pop purveyor. Unlike Mr. Lekman's bombastic overtures, Emil Svanangen crafts inward-looking soundscapes that bubble with instrumental flourishes. Svanangen's falsetto melodies are often cinematic in their seclusion, such as album closer "I Want Cause Anything At All."
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