Pitchfork

We asked many of our favorite artists to tell us what they enjoyed listening to in 2007, and some were kind enough to take the time to reply. From Panda Bear to Battles to M.I.A., here's what was on tour bus stereos in 2007:


BRADFORD COX, DEERHUNTER/ATLAS SOUND
1. Animal Collective: Strawberry Jam
I think this band encapsulates what music from this era will be remembered for. They tap into a universal thing, and they are masters at masking amazing pop hooks in the most confusing atmospherics imaginable.

2. Dirty Projectors: Rise Above
I just turn it on and think about nothing but the music. I respect their music a lot. Also I think Chris Taylor from Grizzly Bear did a fantastic job recording this.

3. Liars: Liars
I love any band that treats making a new record as an opportunity to create a collage. Also, it includes the best love song ever written, "Pure Unevil".

4. Panda Bear: Person Pitch
I admit jealousy. When I heard this record I was actually annoyed at how perfect it was. Then I realized it was not the sound of doors closing I was hearing, but doors opening. Poetic.

5. High Places: Self Released CD-R
You'll know by this time next year. Really haunting.


MOSES ARCHULETA, DEERHUNTER
1. Burial: Untrue
2. No Age: Weirdo Rippers
3. Supersilent: 8
4. The Field: From Here We Go Sublime
5. Circle: Panic
6. Liars: Liars
7. Battles: Mirrored
8. Om: Pilgrimage
9. Strategy: Future Rock
10. Black Lips: Good Bad Not Evil

THE TOUGH ALLIANCE
Sean Kingston: "Beautiful Girls"
Taken by Trees: "Open Field"
Beyoncé: "Irreplaceable"
Axwell: "I Found You"
T-Pain: "Buy You a Drank"
Air France: "Afraid You Told Someone About Us"
Cappuchino: "High Grade"
Glass Candy: "Rolling Down The Hills"
Ne-Yo: "Go On Girl"
Panda Bear: "I'm Not"
Kylie Minogue: "Two Hearts (Studio Remix)"
Rihanna: "Umbrella"
The Honeydrips: "Fall From a Height"
Mike Jones: "Mr. Jones"


KEVIN BARNES, OF MONTREAL
1. Caribou: Andorra
2. Deerhoof: Friend Opportunity
3. M.I.A.: Kala
4. Robert Wyatt: Comicopera
5. Liars: Liars
6. MGMT: Oracular Spectacular
7. Animal Collective: Strawberry Jam
8. Panda Bear: Person Pitch
9. Fiery Furnaces: Widow City
10. A Hawk and a Hacksaw: A Hawk and a Hacksaw and the Hun Hangar Ensemble


RANDY RANDALL, NO AGE
1990s: "See You at the Lights" b/w "Hayley Mills" 7"
I heard this song when Chris from Upset the Rhythm put on the Rough Trade Comp in the van in England, and it blew me away. I kept putting it on repeat thoughout that tour. Then next time we were in Glasgow we went to Mono and I found the song on 7". I was estatic!!! I also picked up their split 7" with The Royal We which is also top notch! "I know I will be liking it"

Lucky Dragons / YACHT: Nirvana
This is an awesome mind melting white label 12" where Luke and Jonna take Nirvana sound sources and skewer then to points beyond. If it wasn't for the cover, "Nirvana" written in the Bleach font and the classic Bob Marley dorm room staple picture silk screened with gold ink on a white sleeve, you would not even recognize that they were even tweaking Nirvana sounds. It kinda sounds like the noisy feedback ladden endings of the songs shuffled together and layered on top of each other. Brilliant!!!

Devon Williams: "A Truce" b/w "Elevator" 7"
Devon Williams, when not accompaning Becky Stark and her Lavender Diamonds, writes heartbreakingly great Paul Westerberg like pop songs. On this his first 7" and the first for LA Record Devon enlists the help of a beautiful string arrangement that raises the stakes on his notoriously jangley live show. 2 classic pop gems for the ages, not to be missed!

Ima Fucking Gymnast: So Freakin' Juicy
Having made a name for themselves as one of the best live bands in LA, Ima Fucking Gymnast finally sat down and made prolly the dirtiest danciest punk 7" ever recorded in 2007. How do you get the drums to crack and pop like that, and the bass to fuzz and wail, and Maritza's vocals soar over the top? Have Dean Spunt and Jennifer Clavin record it, that's how.

Abe Vigoda: "Animal Ghost" b/w "All Night and Day"
The fire burns bright in Abe Vigoda's chest as they rip through two calypso infused wasabi washed tracks of tropical punk that will have your toes taping and your hips swaying. I have spent many a night dancing feverishly to this band, making up new hula steps with friends in hopes of better interpeting Abe Vigoda's melodies through traditional Hawaiian dance.

DEAN SPUNT, NO AGE
M.I.A.: Kala
OH MAN, this is the record. My favorite record of the year. So beyond the realms of dance music or any music, this is like a genre bending mind melting powerhouse. When I first heard it I listened to it straight through twice and it kept opening up more and more interesting parts. So good. It is like each song she ventures into a different idea and executes it perfectly. Good job, M.I.A.!

Mika Miko: 666
I like this so much I put it out. Very raw punk with a twist. Sounds like the first Red Cross EP wrestling with Middle Class on the beach. Very California, very awesome. They are one of the most awesome bands to see live, too. Kids go nuts and are so excited when they play it makes you want to dance around like a 12 year old.

Yellow Swans: At All Ends
This is the best YS record yet. They are from Portland and have been making awesome noise music for over seven years. The transformation is beautiful, things are gettng very epic and they shimmer. Drone out and imagine colorful forest scenes. I would say best place to listen to this record is on an airplane trying to sleep, I listened to it on the way to Japan and it gave me weird dreams.

Sex Vid: "Tania" 7"
Since I like things to be shorter I decided to include a 7" in the best albums of 2007. SEX VID rules. Live they are a loud wall of mid tempo perfect hardcore. On record it is close to the same, you feel like you are there and you can feel the depression seeping out. It is dark, sorta like how "My War" makes you bummed, but you are really stoked on the sounds. The title track "Tania" is perfect. It hits you and just pulses. Yeah, they rule.

The Sads: Rough Stabs
The Sads is Aaron Rose. Aaron is a curator and publisher of many things awesome. He has brought so much rad underground art into the "art world" and this is his first musical endeavor. It is great. Very fragile and so honest. It is inspiring to see someone you look up to make something so simple and direct. It gives you the feeling that if you wanted to make music, you can just go make music, which is what I strive for.

<!--pagebreak-->EDWARD DROSTE, GRIZZLY BEAR
1. Dirty Projectors: Rise Above
2. Radiohead: In Rainbows
3. Deerhunter: Fluorescent Grey EP / Cryptograms
4. Cass McCombs: Dropping the Writ
5. Of Montreal: Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?
6. Foreign Born: On the Wing Now
7. Feist: The Reminder
8. Vampire Weekend: Blue CD-R
9. Beirut: The Flying Club Cup
10. Papercuts: Can't Go Back
11. Justice: †
12. Sleeping States: There the Open Spaces
13. Róisín Murphy: Overpowered
14. PJ Harvey: White Chalk
15. Yeasayer: All Hour Cymbals

Album from 2006 I can't stop listening to in 2007?
Beach House: Beach House :)

CHRISTOPHER TAYLOR, GRIZZLY BEAR
Robert Wyatt: Comicopera
Dirty Projectors: Rise Above
Neil Young: Live at Massey Hall 1971
Jay Reatard: Blood Visions
No Age: Weirdo Rippers

CHRISTOPHER BEAR, GRIZZLY BEAR
Dirty Projectors: Rise Above
Deerhunter: Fluorescent Grey EP
Papercuts: Can't Go Back
No Age: Weirdo Rippers
Jay Reatard: Blood Visions
Panda Bear: Person Pitch
Deerhoof: Friend Opportunity
Shocking Pinks: Shocking Pinks
Justice: †


AXEL WILLNER, THE FIELD
Ashra: New Age of Earth
This record has "Sunrain", which probably is one of the greatest tracks ever made. This track always took me back to Stockholm's bright summer nights and night swimming.

!!!
Live around the states. A great experience, the rock'n'roll life. Hard as hell from time to time but fantastic!

Harmonia: Live 1974
the best kraut there is!

Kate Bush: Hounds of Love
One of the best records ever recorded. Truly original, copied by many. Including me...

Stars of the Lid: And Their Refinement...
Finally SotL returned and how they returned!

Andreas Tilliander: Stay Down
Great dub acid, one of the few on this list that actually came this year.

Battles: Mirrored
Great and very unique record. And absolutely amazing live!

Gas: Königsforst
The classic. "Funf" still takes me places no one else manages to take me.

Manuel Göttsching: E2-E4
Great traveling record, makes me forget time and space. A milestone that changed music to come.

M.I.A.: Kala
Mostly "Paper Planes" rocks my socks on this one. Great sampling of the Clash and fun sounds. Kind of the party record on my list.


A-TRAK
1. LCD Soundsystem: Sound of Silver
2. Chromeo: Fancy Footwork
3. Kanye West: Graduation
4. Boys Noize: Oi Oi Oi
5. Justice: †
6. Lil' Wayne: Dedication 3
7. Daft Punk: Alive 2007
8. Simian Mobile Disco: Attack Decay Sustain Release
9. A-Trak: Dirty South Dance
10. Spank Rock: Fabric Live 33


KHAELA MARICICH, THE BLOW
1. Deerhoof: Friend Opportunity
My experience of hearing music rarely takes the form of listening to an album all the way through. I have always been an enormous fan of Deerhoof, and have lusted over whatever I have heard, but for some reason have never owned any of their records. Maybe because I've never had a real stereo. I got to play some shows with them in Europe and got a copy of their CD, and listened to it in the rental car. I think the whole record is just about perfect, for all the reasons that everyone always says, because it is pop music precisely butchered so that you can really only have to listen to the excellent guitar refrain and not have to include stupid verses filled with filler lyrics. The one song which sounds like a very sparse rendition of some emotional number from a musical, sung by the lonely little girl character, is pretty amazing. I only get antsy during the second to the last song (I think) the total free jazz rock out one, but I guess you have to let them off the leash now and then. I would argue that Deerhoof is the best band, and it's probably becuase the star of their music is always the music.

2. Of Montreal: Hissing Fauna, Are you the Destroyer?
I listened to this album on repeat with my girlfriend while we drove around Calfornia, opening a few shows for Of Montreal. (It's another record I probably would never have owned if not for playing with the band). We kind of overdosed on the songs, dissecting the lyrics and trying to figure out where Kevin Barnes was coming from, singing along and wearing his persona like a wig. Once we got over the basic shameless ripoff of David Bowie, we really savored the delicious layers of production and the indulgent faggy lyrics and the great melodies. I think the songs are really good, and I think there should be a special reward for having the balls to sing, "We make love like a pair of Black Wizarrrrrdss!"

3. Julie Doiron: I Woke Myself Up
I love this record. I got it when I played a show with Julie in France, though I have been a fan of hers for a long time. She writes excellent songs, and sings them like she has a microphone all the way down her throat so that it can pick up the literal sound of her heart valves.

4. High Places
They don't have a full length album out yet. They played with the Blow through the US this fall, and we got to hear them play their lovely jangly distortion of gadgets and lady voice five nights in a row. It's kind of like hearing really good atmospheric world-inspired-music made by white kids, with your head in a bucket.

5. Marnie Stern
I listened to her songs on an internet site created for the promotion of musicians and laypeople, and they were amazing. I didn't listen to her whole record, and I don't even know what it is called, but I would buy it if I was in a record store and had some money. It sounded violent in an especially female way, which I really appreciate.

6. Lavender Diamond: Imagine Our Love
I love Lavender Diamond for the way in which it is the exact opposite of what I heard from Marnie Stern. The songs are complete and very gentle, though forceful in their loving insistence. I haven't heard the album all the way through on my own, just seen them live and had the songs played to me on a friend's iPod. I think that Becky Stark is pretty brilliant. I wouldn't have thought that that sort of softy singing about love would be appealing to me, but she delivers it with such confidence, and with just the tiniest mischievous twinkle, that it works for me. It makes me believe in love.

7. Vampire Weekend
I heard of these dudes a few months ago, and have only heard a few songs on that website where people promote their music and themselves. Their songs are really good. My guess is that they will be the band that gets remembered as the most prominent poster child of the late 00s indie-pop afro-pop imitation trend. I don't know who invented the trend, but theirs is the most poppy and digestible by the masses. I'd buy their record too, I think.

8. Dirty Projectors
I haven't heard their newer record but their live show in London was very, very good. They managed to marry the soft sounds with the hard sounds, in the way that makes you appreciate both even more. The girls' voices did weird things that I didn't understand at all, really beautiful.

9. Trouble vs. Glue
They are a really awesome Italian band who don't have an official full length out yet. They used to be part of Dada Swing, which put out something on Kill Rock Stars. Now they are pared down and super vital weird electro. It sounds like if a German band set up all their instruments on stage to play and then some Italians locked the Germans in the closet and played the set for them. I saw them twice in Europe, when they play everyone just shuts up and stares.

10. Annie Lennox
I only heard one of these songs on the radio in Germany, but the way the music sounds isn't what's important in her case. She makes the list.


VAMPIRE WEEKEND
Dirty Projectors: Rise Above
White Williams: Smoke
Panda Bear: Person Pitch
Feist: The Reminder
M.I.A.: Kala
Kanye West: Graduation
Sam Rosen: Get the Motion
Studio: Yearbook 1
The National: Boxer
Pekos/Yoro Diallo: Pekos/Yoro Diallo


MARISSA NADLER
Favorite Record/Live show of 2007:
Phosphorescent: Pride
After hearing praise for the alt-country musings of Phosphorescent, I finally caught a recent Boston show. Matthew Houck (aka Phosphorescent), complete with Manson beard and eyeliner, enraptured the intimate audience. Phosphorescent started with "A Picture of Our Torn Up Praise". The harmonies on that song moved the show into the memorable category. I haven't been able to take the record off since and am living in a spectral reverb dream populated by country western ghosts and waltzing ladies. It's winter soon and to me there is no more perfect listening than the saddest album ever for the coming months.

Favorite heavy Swedish band:
Witchcraft: The Alchemist

Favorite Chick Rock:
Tegan and Sara's new record: Also my favorite obsession/crush song for "Back in Your Head".

Favorite Sad Song:
Jesse Sykes and the Sweet Hereafter: "The Air Is Thin"
A modern classic. If there were today an equivalent to the creepy country twang of Emmylou Harris, it's Jesse Sykes. Sure, Sykes sounds more like a female Tom Waits, but there is some kind of witch sister vibe going on. If you are needing to be transmitted to anywhere else but your here and now, put on the video to "The Air is Thin" (it's on YouTube or on her MySpace page) and enjoy.

Favorite Honey Voice:
Mariee Sioux
Her honey voiced debut is populated with imagery of bones and blood. She plays guitar like Elizabeth Cotton. Her long streams of tripped out lyrics are reminiscent of a Desolation Row-era Dylan. What's not to like?

Favorite Zelda and/or Tetris playing companion:
Orion Rigel Dommisse's first record, What I Want From You is Sweet, off of the new Drag City subsidiary Language of Stone. Her first proper release is impressively layered chamber music that is super creepy and infectious.


SCOTT DEVENDORF and AARON DESSNER, THE NATIONAL
Andrew Bird: Armchair Apocrypha
Arcade Fire: Neon Bible
Broken Social Scene Presents: Kevin Drew: Spirit If...
Caribou: Andorra
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah: Some Loud Thunder
Doveman: With My Left Hand I Raise The Dead
Feist: The Reminder
The Rosebuds: Night of the Furies
St. Vincent: Marry Me
Menomena: Friend And Foe


DAN DEACON
I'm friends with most of these people so that's probably why I love this music so much. I think a lot of people made some really amazing advances in their music this year and these are the albums that I am most thankful to have heard.....

Santa Dads: Anima Mundi
In my opinion this is the most original band playing music today. The instrumentation, song structure, the unique temperament and the presentation of it live is just breathtaking. The album is in two parts, the first several tracks are their earliest compositions, when Josh was teaching himself ukuele and Connor learning how to use his voice as a rhythmic device. However, the real gem is in the last set of tracks, their "Beast" dog. Much of this song is sung in a language that Connor created. The album is for anyone who is a fan of hearing something new and odd. Probably the least "hip" band ever.

HEALTH: HEALTH
My favorite band/ensemble at the moment. We must have listened to their tape (featuring the demos of these songs) everyday on my tour this summer. The songs are really thought out and consistent. And I'm a sucker for lots of loud drums and effects pedals.

Video Hippos: Unleash the Beast
It's crazy how a band that can be so heavy could make one of the most laid back and relaxing albums. These songs sound and feel like an old shirt that you just washed (and you never wash it) so it feels extra nice. Really beautiful people making music because they love to do it.

Ecstatic Sunshine: Living
I remember seeing one (if not their first ever) show in the Copycat Building a few years ago. The songs were so strict and unrelenting, it blew me away. Two electric guitarists playing out of matching amps, playing loud, intelligent and difficult yet poppy and coated simplicity at the same time. It just blew me away. Also almost 95% of the set was played with not a single effect and the only effect that was used was distortion built into the amps. I toured several times with them since and have been able to see them grow as a band. This release shows an evolution, a major instrumental change and compositional change for the band. Heavy effects use, much more "free" playing, and a matured playing style have changed the band in a way i could have never foreseen. This is 100% the band that the music world overlooked the most this year. They will be a force in 2008. This record will solidify that.

Parts & Labor: Map Maker
One of the best live electronic bands playing today released one of the most soulful and inspiring records this year. The war songs but without all the bullshit war. Really human and synthetic at the same time. Like the kind of music factory workers would come home and listen to when they think about blowing up the factory (if the factories weren't all shut down). Besides the awesome songs, the performances on the album were as flawless. The best noise-singing-songs album this year.

Height: Winterize the Game
Sincerity is lacking so heavily in "independent" or "underground" music these days. So many bands follow trends, force a style, write songs for Jeep ads, or try to write music that they think will get them good press. It's rare to hear a record that is completely true, honest, raw and unconcerned. "Bad Weather" is totally one of my favorite songs of the year and "Smash Your Eyes" and "Pipe Down" are also rad as fuck, but the standout track on the album is "Hanging Out Late All Alone". It's rare you hear a rapper tell of being alone, down and out, longing for this youth, talking about being from the suburbs but not mocking it jokingly. The references to a big release in '05 that never happened, of friends moving away, about feeling unfamiliar with where you grow up. This track is like the closest thing to a self portrait I have heard from a contemporary musician. It's just powerful. He should be huge.

Mincemeat or 10 Speed: Mincemeat or 10 Speed
Mincemeat or 10 Speed is my favorite performer right now. He is the master of his domain. More human than human. Like four people become one person and start right awesome music for feedback manipulation. Killer diy, low budget live electronics from Philly. Super nice guys and total dorks. The real deal.

OCDJ: Hooray
The best party record of the year. Nonstop. A killer. Really fun, all the time, not trying to be anything but what it is. Wicked. A true ripper.

Double Dagger: Ragged Rubble
This is another CD that was played at least once a day this summer. Bruce's bass playing is outstanding on this record. The way he makes one bass make that range of tones and textures is bonkers to me. Set to solid fucking drums and intense lyrics about graphic design and urban planning: What else to you need in a rock'n'roll album?

Frog Teacher: Live at Muldoons Bootleg Tape
There is a tape going around of the last Frog Teacher show. I only heard it once but it blew me away. Since Frog Teacher never recorded, this recording was amazing to hear. The person must have been right up front because you can hear ever nuance of the performance.


MATT KORVETTE, PISSED JEANS
Ricardo Villalobos: Fabric 36
Lil Wayne: Da Drought 3
Burial: Untrue
Bone Awl: Meaningless Leaning Mess
Guy Gerber: Late Bloomers
Wooden Shjips: Wooden Shjips
Mammal: Lonesome Drifter
Group Inerane: Guitars from Agadez
Busy Signals: Busy Signals
Psychedelic Horseshit: Magic Flowers Droned


HEALTH
TOP 11 SONGS OF 2007
(IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER)

Black Dice: "Roll Up"
The single version!!!! The Load Blown version has been mastered with all this extra low end that totally fucks up yr high. This song is best when its really sunny and hot and yr sweating ballz and yr ballz are sweating. Ballz.

Chromatics: "Running Up That Hill"
You win again Chromatics. In The City last year, and now this. DAMN SON! Haunting. This is Jake's number one.

Kyle H. Mabson: "Burger"
The most hardened harsh noise doods in L.A. have deemed this "unlistenable" which is an impressive feat. 10 minutes of harsh ass noise, laser sounds and rhythmic pedal jumping intercut with sections of nu metal songs + top 40 hits. The highlight is a lengthy call and response between Lil' Jon's "YEA!" and Rob Zombie's "YEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

Glass Candy: "Candy Castle"
John's number one. So rad, it sounds like Jewel's been listening to Young Jeezy or some shit. RULZ BALLZ!

Videohippos: "Bear Fight"
Shoegaze for kids. Sad kids. Really sad kids. Man this song makes us sad. But good sad, like that nostalgic sad you feel when you listen to old punk records, or jerk it to yr High School yearbook. Beej's number one.

Busy P: "Rainbow Man"
Love this song. The best part: It's too fucking slow for a club banger! You gotta have style to dance at this speed! Its awesome. I mean the DJ just speeds it up, but we feel what yr going for, Mr. P.

Dirty Projectors: "Rise Above"
Jup's number one. So good, shit just chills you out. You keep hoping the original Rise Above guitar riff is gonna bust out soopa loud near the end...but it never does.

Data: "Aerius Light"
GO FRANCE! Damn. The New French Touch...but so, so melodic. Why isn't Ed Banger knocking down this guys door with a giant baguette?

Telepathe: "Sinister Militia"
Even our squarebutt roommate was all "this is dark."

Crystal Castles: "Knights"
Another instant CClassic. This is to 2girls1cup what Dark Side is to The Wizard of Oz. Try it!

Captain Jumpstyle (Captain Ahab): "Girls Gone Jumpstyle"
The Captain Ahab classic "Girls Gone Wild" remixed into Belgian jumpstyle format, seriously!!! Sparked a jumpstyle fad in L.A. for a total of three weeks, we spent a good two practicing along with "how to jump" tutorials on YouTube.


J MASCIS, DINOSAUR JR.
Om: Pilgrimage
Grinderman: Grinderman
EA 80: Reise
Thurston: Trees Outside the Academy
Pierced Arrows: "In My Brain" b/w "Caroline" 7"
Band of Horses: Cease to Begin
MV & EE With the Golden Road: Gettin' Gone
Kevin Drew: Spirit If...
Magik Markers: Boss
Earth: Hibernaculum

COADY WILLIS, BIG BUSINESS
Red Fang's Tour EP on Wantage Records

"The Only Fool"-- mp3 on Federation X's MySpace page-- to be released as a single at some point.

Portland's Voodoo Donuts and their Bacon Covered Maple Bars! Not much to listen to, but pure genius all the same.

Tweak Bird
Two piece band from LA by way of Illinois. Recording coming soon--look out for these weirdos in 2008.

When I saw their pictures all over the place, I was ready to hate them, but I gotta say I like the Horrors' record. And I like the part in the "Sheena Is a Parasite" video where the drummer is all hunched in a dark corner over his kit looking like Pugsley Addams doing something naughty. I think I might have learned a valuable lesson or something. Thanks, the Horrors.

The Cave Singers: Invitation Songs
I like Pete's voice, the songs are great, and Derek Fudesco has become an amazing guitar player.

Cheetie Kumar and Paul Siler from Birds of Avalon are super folks in general, plus their band kicks ass. Check out Bazaar Bazaar on Volcom.

I didn't get to see them this year, but whatever Torche did probably killed everything in a 30 mile radius. The bomb note will do that to you.

Hog Heaven Barbeque in Nashville is the best I've tasted so far. White BBQ sauce! Any sense of moral superiority you might enjoy from being vegan could not possibly compare to the amazing taste of this slow-roasted super tender pulled pork. Wilbur died so you could live!

Go see Thrones any chance you get. I think Joe is playing in Harvey Milk now as well.


ANDY MACFARLANE, THE TWILIGHT SAD
Malcolm Middleton: A Brighter Beat
Panda Bear: Person Pitch
Frightened Rabbit: Sings the Greys
Blonde Redhead: 23
Mum: Go Go Smear the Poison Ivy
Animal Collective: Strawberry Jam
Deerhoof: Friend Opportunity
Modest Mouse: We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank
Beirut: The Flying Club Cup
Liars: Liars


JAMIE STEWART, XIU XIU
Cory McCulloch would become livid at the prospect of having to read about music. Out of late respect I will make this as brief as possible. However, that said, these are among the best records I have heard in my entire life. In a year of otherwise low effort, everyone on this list has chosen to be remarkable instead. Please please listen to them and don't waste time reading my subsequent peeps.

 

1. Henryk Mikolaj Górecki: String Quartet No. 3...Songs Are Sung
Close your eyes forever.

2. Deerhoof: Friend Opportunity
Turn it way way way up!!! Forever.

3. Angels of Light: We Are Him
On infinite repeat forever.

4. (R): In Pink
Drift away in a champange casket forever.

5. Common Eider, King Eider: How to Build a Cabin
You can feel dark and ecstatic at the same time forever.

6. Hyunhye Seo: Candy Fawn, Dream Fawn, Dream Boat, Candy Bunny
There is no way you will ever stop wanting more and more forever.

7. Howard Wiley: The Angola Project
This is for people with more than two ears forever.

8. Oxbow: The Narcotic Story
In savage beauty there is savage night forever.

9. Nels Cline Singers: Draw Breath
Unbutton your shirt and be quiet forever.

10. Tarantel: Ghetto Beats on the Surface of the Sun
Turn out the lights forever.


BOWERBIRDS
10. Animal Collective: Strawberry Jam
9. Amy Winehouse: Back to Black
8. Iron and Wine: The Shepherd's Dog
7. Rio en Medio: The Bride of Dynamite
6. The Rosebuds: The Night of the Furies
5. John Vanderslice: Emerald City
4. The National: Boxer
3. M.I.A.: Kala
2. Dirty Projectors: Rise Above
1. Battles: Mirrored


EWAN PEARSON
1. Radiohead: In Rainbows
I was disappointed by several of the albums I was looking forward to this year: Björk, Rufus Wainwright, and the lo-fi vocal production on the otherwise lovely Feist album grated (the most gifted female singer of her generation and they record her through what sounds like a tin can and a piece of string? But I digress...) This made In Rainbows, arriving literally and metaphorically out of the blue, all the more of a sublime treat. They are playing so well together it starts to remind you of Can a little, except with this gorgeous melodic canopy over the top.

2. Rachel Unthank and the Winterset: The Bairns
My dad was in a folk group when I was very small and I grew up with much of the same music as this lot; Martin Carthy, Nic Jones, Richard and Linda Thompson (both of whom put out great records this year too). I love hearing English voices sing in their original accents (here it's Tyneside) and this is a brilliant album full of tales of misery and maltreatment in the best folk tradition. My mum sent me this CD, I stuck it on my ipod, went for a walk and when their cover of Robert Wyatt "Sea Song" came on I started to cry in the street. You might think this weird or unmanly but I reckon it's high praise.

3. Midlake: The Trials of Van Occupanther
Brian Eno once remarked that almost everything is improved by the addition of truffle oil or backing vocals. I don't know how they cook, but Midlake do backing vocals and harmonies very very well indeed and I've sung along to this record more than any other this year. Altogether now: "We won't get married... 'Cause she won't have me..."

4. St. Vincent: Marry Me
This was the album that I evangelised to all my friends about in 2007 (six sales and counting, folks. Impressive, huh?) Confident, bright-brilliant art-rock, superbly played and produced.

5. Studio: Yearbook 1
Unexpectedly, the most blissful balearic record of the year came from Sweden of all places. I have "Life's A Beach!" as my ringtone.

6. Supermayer: Saves the World
Bugger the naysayers, this eccentric, witty record puts a big smile on my face whenever I listen to it, and a spring in the collective step when you play it very loud in a club too. There have been several great "electronic" albums this year (Chloe, Apparat, Matt Dear) but this was the one with the most heart.

7. PJ Harvey: White Chalk
Beautiful and austere, and still so recognisably her despite the shift in instrumentation. The moment when she belts out "Silence" is absolutely spine-tingling.

8. Everything by Liars
I was played Drum's Not Dead in January for the first time and I haven't recovered quite. People will look back on it as one of the great records of the decade. And "Houseclouds" from the latest album is one of the singles of the year. If I was in a band and heard them I'd set fire to my equipment and go and become a postman.

9. Various Artists: Now That's What I Call Ewan's Favourite 12"s of the Year [Spurious Records]
OK, so I made this one up, but if it did exist it would have some great tracks on it: Poni Hoax "Antibodies", Guillaume and the Cotu Dumonts' remix of Shackleton, Radioslave "Bell Clap Dance", Snax "Honeymoon Is Over", Simon Baker "Plastik", Roland Appel "Dark Soldier", Gudrun Gut "Move Me", Hatchback "White Diamond", Carl Craig's remix of Junior Boys. And many many more...


CORNELIUS
Yurayura Teikoku: Kudo Desu
Various Artists: Ohm+: The Early Gurus Of Electronic Music
Robert Wyatt: Comicopera
Arthur Russell: Another Thought
Ituri Pygmies: Polyphony Of The Deep Rain Forest
Bobby Christian & His Orchestra: Strings For A Space Age
Petra Haden: "Don't Stop Believin'"
Jose Gonzalez: In Our Nature
Moody Man: Mahogany Brown
Battles: "Atlas"
These Trails: These Trails


RJD2
José González: In Our Nature
The new Dead Sea record
Dr. Dog: We All Belong
The Teeth: You're My Lover Now
Justice: †
George Duke: The 1976 Solo Keyboard Album
Jeff Lorber Fusion: Water Sign
Stevie Wonder: Journey Through the Secret Life of Plants
Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings: 100 Days, 100 Nights
Bobby Humphrey: Satin Doll


JOHN DARNIELLE, MOUNTAIN GOATS
Bowerbirds: Hymns for a Dark Horse
CocoRosie: The Adventures of Ghosthorse & Stillborn
Bloody Panda: Pheromone
Pig Destroyer: Phantom Limb
Various Artists: The Kings of Reggae
Babyshambles: Shotters Nation
Foetopsy: In the Bathroom
Mayhem: Ordo ad Chao
Shooter Jennings: The Wolf
Darkthrone: F.O.A.D.


YEASAYER
Baby Boy Da Prince: Across the Water
"The Way I Live": most hilarious song since "Still Fly" by Big Tymers.

R. Kelly: Double Up
"I'm a Flirt" was our vocal warm-up anthem this year.

Grizzly Bear: Friend EP
These guys are magicians. I was dumbstruck when I saw them live at Montreal Pop.

M.I.A.: Kala
She followed up Arular with an even better and crazier sounding record. Marry me?

Neil Young: Live at Massey Hall 1971
His vocals on this album are perfect. Great to hear all these old songs stripped down.

Panda Bear: Person Pitch
Best make-out music of 2007!

Rich Boy: Rich Boy
So we just had to get Dayton rims for our Dodge tour van.

Dirty Projectors: Rise Above
My favorite discovery of the year. And Angel is my favorite tea and soccer date.

Animal Collective: Strawberry Jam
These dudes keep killing it in the studio.

Timbaland: Timbaland Presents Shock Value
More inspiring future music from Timbo.


MINUS THE BEAR
(In Alphabetical Order):

Battles: Mirrored
Caribou: Andorra
Feist: The Reminder
The Field: From Here We Go To Sublime
R. Kelly: Double Up
Of Montreal: Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?
T-Pain: Epiphany
UNKLE: War Stories
Laura Veirs: Saltbreakers
Wilco: Sky Blue Sky

Honorable Mentions:

The Shins: Wincing the Night Away
Che Arthur: Iron
Soulja Boy: souljaboytellem.com


BOOKA SHADE
Apparat: Walls
A wonderful album by fellow Berliner Sascha Ring. When he plays live, he's accompanied by singer Raz O'Hara, who will release an album on our label Get Physical early next year.

Depeche Mode: Remastered series of all albums
A great series of CDs/DVDs, great especially for fans, because each album features a DVD part with a film about the time the album was recorded.

Matthew Dear: Asa Breed
We like the album, and especially the Hot Chip remix of "Don and Sherri". Romantic electropop!! We put it on our DJ Kicks compilation. GPM mates M.A.N.D.Y. did a dirty club mix of the track, which is also cool.

Björk: Volta
Actually we've never followed her releases real closely, but ever since we had the chance to see her show live in Buenos Aires during our South America tour, we're real fans.

Radiohead: In Rainbows
What can you say-- a MUST in every record collection.


DAN SNAITH, CARIBOU
1. Panda Bear: Person Pitch
2. Animal Collective: Strawberry Jam
3. Kieran Hebden & Steve Reid: Tongues
4. Battles: Mirrored
5. Ariel Pink: Scared Famous
6. No Age: Weirdo Rippers





NOAH LENNOX, PANDA BEAR
10 GOOD THINGS IN 2007:

Bleza
In March my friends Nelson and Pedro set up a show for me in Lisbon at an old African music disco called Bleza. The people who ran the club were very nice and seemed pleased at the end of the night, and that always makes me feel good about how things went. Also some people came from far away (Latvia, I think) to see the show and brought me flowers bunched with leaves and carrots. I wound up giving the carrots and leaves to a man who worked at the place, and he was saying he was going to make them in a soup the next day, and I figured that was a much better use for them than if I had taken them home.

Pantha du Prince: This Bliss
While we were mixing the album I got really into these jams. Sometimes when I was listening I would feel things very strongly, and I liked that about the music. We met Hendrik (who's Pantha du Prince) when we played in Paris and he was awesome. A little later on in the night I accidentally spilled most of a small glass of water on his girlfriend and felt really stupid about that, but I dont think it did any harm in the end. Even later me and Bresson and Dave DJed at another club and Hendrik fell a little bit on a low seated broken stool, but he was all right.

Practice Week
In May Animal Collective toured for three weeks or so around the US to a bunch of cities that we hadn't been to before, mostly because they weren't on the easiest (and quickest) route around the country. Because we had just finished the album and because we had spent the last two or so years playing the Strawberry Jams, we wanted to get about a set's worth of new songs together for the tour. Even though it was a lot to do in a little time we still had fun doing it (got goofy often) and it came together pretty easy and surely.

John Maus: don't know the title yet
John had sent the songs for his new album a while before but it took a bit before I heard them. We were on tour (there was a lot of it) in France and were out driving in the rain near a coast and it was in the morning time. Whenever I hear these songs I feel some of that, I think, and I like it. There's a lot of attention in the songs and they feel soaked, and I'm into that for sure. I like the details, like the way the bass bounces with the delayed floor tom sound on one song, and the way the synth sounds pulse with the drums on the last part of another, and there's intense energies all over. I don't think this album is out just yet, but I'm pretty sure I've listened to these songs more than any others this year, I should say.

Tour Soldiering
We had some tough times on tour this year and some bad things happened, but I'm pretty sure that's par for the course for any touring band so I don't mean to complain at all. We played more times this year than any other, too, so we should have expected to hit some roughness. But I feel good about how we dealt with the problems and how we didn't let them mess us up too bad or get us down too much. We gave a very bad performance one night and I think I felt lamer that night than any other this year, and all I wanted to do was to try and play all right the next night. And the next night was all right and the shows on the tour after that were all right, too, and I'm happy that we just kept going and kept doing our best. I suppose this is where the skateboarding analogy (down below) holds up for me. Also there were some intense sick times on tour. Brad and I both got it bad in Europe the first time but we kept going and got better. I don't think I aced every one of those performances (I'd have to stop and gag every other song or so) but I did my best and I'm happy with that. Then more recently Dave got really ill and held on for as long as he could, but it became very clear one night that he couldn't make it happen. We were already at the club and Brian and I figured we could play something and we could play some sort of show so we did. I feel good about how we tried to make the best out of any situation this past year as far as the touring goes, and I won't feel bad about the decisions we made. I'd like to have that attitude always with just about everything.

Enjoi Video
I really like to skateboard even though I'm no good at it, and I really like to watch skateboard videos. Lots of times on airplanes or in airports I'll watch them or in the van or whenever, just to calm down. Something about the motion and the fluidness of it calms me and makes me feel good. When they're really good it seems like magic and it's like watching something that's impossible, and watching those impossible moves over and over again is very satisfying for me. I like to see sometimes what it took to get to the finished performance, like, all the falls and things like that. It's often pretty brutal but I think it's the really going for it, and going for it in your own way with your own style, that I find so attractive. The going for it and the trying to make impossible magic is what I'd like to be aiming for with music always, even though that sounds out there. I've been thinking about a lot of similarities between professional skateboarders and professional musicians lately, so perhaps this is all just on my mind. But the Enjoi "Bag of Suck" video is the one I watched more than any other this year, and it's the one I'd return to the most for sure. I like every part of it, but for different reasons I would say, and some of the parts I didn't like at first, but now they're my favorite, and that's always a good sign, I'd say.

Burial: Untrue
I really liked the first album and this one is more of the same but prettier and with more voices. I think of ghosts when I hear the music and I like that sensation. I really like how he (or she, I suppose, I really don't know) does things with the voices and how they're twisted around and high and then low. Also I'm really into how metallic all the sounds are and how sharp things are, and I like how deep it is and how dreamy. I like the simplicity of the words and the small repeated phrases all the time. I feel like this sort of thing is right up my way on many levels, if you know what I mean, so this is kind of a no-brainer if you've known me for a bit. Lots of people I've talked to who are into all the dubstep music don't really like this at all and say it's not dubstep and that's OK. I suppose I don't really care what it is; I just like it a lot.

Black Dice: "Kokomo" Song and Video
Black Dice are one of my favorite bands, for sure, and I've known them for a while. They took Animal Collective on our first tour and I feel like I learned so much just by watching how they did things and how they treated their situations. I saw this video on the internet while we were away and was so psyched and got really pumped to hear the album, although I haven't just yet. It's kind of a sensory overload, but all the images and the way they are put together are so pleasing that it feels really good to see it, and there's some funny parts in there and I always like that kind of thing so long as it's not overblown or over the top if you know what I mean.

Skateboarding in Lisbon
My friend Randy (a Baltimore expat in Lisbon as well) and I went to two parks around Lisbon during the summer. He's very rarely around town and I haven't been around much this year either, so we had to get it when we could. We went to this one up in a wooded park called Monsanto with his bro from Germany. They're both much better skaters than I am, and so were all the kids that were at the park. I was probably older than any of the kids by at least a good eight years or so. I tried to drop in on a pretty tender slope right when we got there and pancaked when my wheels caught in some cut up wood. I put my hand down to break my fall and skinned it all up but I kept it near my body the rest of the time in shame so no one would see the blood. I'm hard pressed to say whether I felt lamer this day or the night of the really bad show (up above) but I had a really good time rolling around and jumping off a foot-high box for most of the day anyways. I'd say it's good to get slapped in the face every so often, and it's good to get hit hard. I ate more than a few slices of humble pie this year, but I imagine anyone could say that.

Hanging Out With My Family
I was away so much that it made the times at home with my family more intensely sweet. I'm at home now and if I'm not playing music or at the computer doing more business or organizational kinds of things then I'm most definitely doing family things. That's a lot of the time, I should say. I like the routines with the kid for sure and mentally it's like washing dishes all day and I like that, and I don't mean it in a bad way at all. There's no room for my mind to meander towards useless thoughts if you know what I mean. Being with my family-- especially this year because the family times were contrasted so heavily and so abruptly with the touring and away times-- fully tunes my mind to what matters and what doesn't matter to me.