As I gear up for posting my favorite albums of this year, I like to take a look back at the previous year, and see what I missed. There are always some albums that you don't find out about until later, or maybe an album that takes you awhile to get into. In the past year, my 2007 list didn't change too much -- my top four are still exactly the same. Last year's list can be found here, but in hindsight, here are my choices for the best albums of 2007. New to this list are Feist, A.A. Bondy, Animal Collective, Via Audio, Jaymay, M.I.A., Ryan Adams, and Deerhoof, bumping off my bottom eight.
1. St. Vincent - Marry Me
2. Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
3. The National - Boxer
4. Radiohead - In Rainbows
5. Feist - The Reminder
6. Kings Of Leon - Because Of The Times
7. Wilco - Sky Blue Sky
8. A.A. Bondy - American Hearts
9. John Vanderslice - Emerald City
10. Andrew Bird - Armchair Apocrypha
11. Sondre Lerche - Phantom Punch
12. Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam
13. Stars - In Our Bedroom After The War
14. Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?
15. The Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
16. Caribou - Andorra
17. Kevin Drew - Spirit If...
18. Via Audio - Say Something
19. Keren Ann - Keren Ann
20. Jaymay - Autumn Fallin'
21. Rogue Wave - Asleep At Heaven's Gate
22. M.I.A. - Kala
23. Ryan Adams - Easy Tiger
24. Exploding Star Orchestra - We Are All From Somewhere Else
25. Deerhoof - Friend Opportunity
St. Vincent - Paris Is Burning (from Marry Me, #1)
Feist - So Sorry (from The Reminder, #5)
A.A. Bondy - American Hearts (from American Hearts, #8)
M.I.A. - Come Around (from Kala, #22)
Great list, hadn't seen it last year - I think Mary Me, In Rainbows, and Armchair Apocrypha would all be in my top 5. I saw Via Audio at Berklee's '07 CMJ showcase and was impressed, but never got around to hearing their album.
Nice to see some love for Sky Blue Sky - that record was too "smooth" for a lot of my friends, but I thought it was a nice change of pace. Of course, now I'm dying to hear what a YHF/Ghost is Born-type album would sound like w/ Cline on guitar.
Of course, In Rainbows is still at the top of my list.
Keith, wild idea. Dig down deep and see if you can pick your favorite moment on Marry Me. Is it the harmonics on "Now Now", the hand claps on the title track, the first time the bass kicks in on the chorus of "The Apocolypse Song" or the final OK Computer triangle sound? Choose wisely, or just list a bunch like I did.
When the woodwinds come in on "Human Racing."
The rumble and space of "Landmines".
The glitchy freak-out guitar solo at the end of "Now, Now".
The 'Oh, my dear" of "Landmines".
The lyric change in the final verse of "All My Stars Aligned" to 'Love is the answer.'
The piano spazz in "Your Lips Are Red".
Such a stellar album.