Top Ten Albums of 2007
Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam
This shamelessly out-there foursome is finally making albums just as unabashedly weird as they are listenable. An unexpected foray into wildly exuberant electropop, Strawberry Jam is full of almost nonstop chaotic energy and blissfully addictive melodies. Check out: "Peacebone," "Fireworks," "Winter Wonderland," "Derek"
Caribou - Andorra
Only when Caribou finally drops the turntables and picks up his electric guitar seven tracks into the album do you finally believe that this album was actually recorded in 2007. Andorra is a record so drenched in psychedelic sunshine that it sounds like it could easily be a long-lost second disc to Pet Sounds or Magical Mystery Tour. Check out: "Melody Day," "Sandy," "Eli," "Sundialing"
Feist - The Reminder
Even if it pains you to listen to "1234" another time after that embarrassingly overplayed iPod commercial, The Reminder is still undoubtedly a songwriting tour-de-force on Feist's part. Jumping between sultry torch songs, heartfelt indie rock, and even a clever reworking of Nina Simone's classic "See Line Woman," Feist proves here that she can just about do it all. Check out: "So Sorry," "I Feel It All," "My Moon My Man," "Past in Present," "Intuition" [...]
Jens Lekman - Night Falls Over Kortedala
Once a shy, heart-on-his-sleeve romantic, Jens Lekman finally embraces his inner casanova and bursts into full-blown blue-eyed soul mode with a full artillery of Supremes-y Motown beats, Barry White strings, and Curtis Mayfield swagger to boot. Check out: "And I Remember Every Kiss," "The Opposite of Hallelujah," "A Postcard to Nina," "I'm Leaving You Because I Don't Love You," "Shirin”
M.I.A. - Kala
Sophomore slump? Naaww. Listening to M.I.A.'s second effort is like watching The Travel Channel on speed, blending a mix of African drums, cheesy Bollywood soundtracks, and Latin American brass bands that should sound messy and inconsistent, but instead proves even more focused in its sound than her debut. Check out: "Bamboo Banga," "Bird Flu," "Boyz," "Jimmy," "Paper Planes"
Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?
Once indie pop's perpetually young-at-heart Peter Pan, Kevin Barnes finally shows signs of maturing as a songwriter on Hissing Fauna, and it's a pleasant surprise to hear that his finesse for writing inventive, enthusiastic pop songs still remains intact. Check out: "Suffer for Fashion," "Heimdalsgate Like a Promethean Curse," "Gronlandic Edit," "The Past is a Grotesque Animal," "She's a Rejecter," "We Were Born the Mutants Again with Leafling"
Panda Bear - Person Pitch
I’m not 100% sure what a soundtrack to a dream might sound like, but if there ever was one, this is it. Awash with reverb and multilayered sounds that seem to come out of nowhere and then disappear before you even knew they were there, Person Pitch is an otherworldly musical experiment unlike any other. Check out: “Comfy in Nautica,” “Take Pills, “Bros,” “Good Girl/Carrots,” “Ponytail”
Phosphorescent – Pride
Fans of Grizzly Bear, Beirut, and Bonnie “Prince” Billiy will delight in this Brooklyn singer-songwriter’s latest, a collection of eight introspective, sometimes ethereal acoustic numbers perfect for listening to in your room late at night. Check out: “A Picture of Our Torn Up Praise,” “Be Dark Night,” “Wolves,” “The Waves at Night,” “Cocaine Lights”
Radiohead - In Rainbows
Any “Best of 2007” without this album is kidding itself. One of Radiohead’s most down-to-earth album in years, In Rainbows is, even in its darkest moments, an album full of unexpected warmth. Leave it to Radiohead to teach us that even exalted art rock gods can make albums as accessible as this. Check out: “15 Step,” “Bodysnatchers,” “Nude,” “Weird Fishes/Arpeggi,” “Reckoner,” “Videotape”
Sunset Rubdown - Random Spirit Lover
Random Spirit Lover is an emotional rollercoaster, and frontman/part-time Wolf Parader Spencer Krug doesn’t plan on letting you off until you’ve rode it from the manic, relentless buildup of “The Mending of the Gown” to the final chords of “Child Heart Losers,” an acoustic guitar ballad so adorable it could fit in perfectly on the Juno soundtrack. Check out: “The Mending of the Gown,” “Winged/Wicked Things,” “For the Pier (Dead and Shimmering),” “The Taming of the Hands that Came Back to Life,” “Child Heart Losers”
Honorable Mention: Britney Spears - Blackout (admit it, you know you love it...)
