Glad you’re enjoying the list, and happy for the many thoughtful emails and new music recommendations, but post your thoughts here instead (just scroll to the very bottom of the post)…it fuels my e-ego. – Jason
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For Amusement Only 
Once again, a strong list. I appreciate your commitment to picking great music and not being afraid to choose artists that have been on lists in the past or have become more mainstream. Some lists reek of effort. Not this one. I miss The Editors CD, which is on my top 5. MIA deserves better than honorable mention. PB&J?
Thanks for the reply, stranger who I do not know. Clever response. Clever. I got it. Good one. Peter, Bjorn & John – as you point out – was indeed a fine poppy little album, but if you scroll to the 2006 choices after the 2007 list, you’ll see PB&J honored there. In fact, PB&J and Andrew Bird’s albums were both mentioned in multiple lists in both 2006 and 2007. Since they’re both sort of “tweeners” I decided to include each within the lists from the year I personally was exposed to them. Thanks for reading.
Ah, my man, how you doing? Nice list. I admire the courage to make such a list, setting yourself up for criticism and ridicule. My hope for myself is to subject you to neither. But let’s see. I definitely have some comments.
Ryan Adams – A few really, really nice songs. Several other really nice songs. And then there’s Halloween Head. Sorry, I thought this would be the first album since Gold that I could listen to often, but that song killed that chance.
St. Vincent – Could one of my Dallas friends please introduce me? Please?
Bright Eyes – For the record, I don’t hate it. But it did take me until Jan 08 to actually listen to it. I love Four Winds and I Must Belong Somewhere (both beautiful songs). Other than that, BORING. But I have a feeling that in ten years, I’ll love the whole thing.
Okkervil River – They just keep getting better and better. And you’re full of shit. I’m always right.
Wilco – Are you wholed up in a closet somewhere? This album is on tons of top 10 lists. And yes, it’s perty. But I miss the old, emotional, descriptive, haunting Wilco. I’m happy Tweedy is sober, but I miss the songs his depression created for us.
Other than that, please take the Smashing Pumpkins off your honorable mention list – your not being objective, Chicago-boy.
And you need to immediatetly listen to the following:
Bill Callahan – Woke on a Whaleheart
Fiery Furnaces – Widow City
Les Savy Fav – Let’s Stay Friends
Black Lips – Good, Bad, Not Evil
Dr Dog – We All Belong
That’s all. I didn’t listen to enough music in 2007. There is so much I haven’t listened to yet – Battles, Jens Lekman, Justice, Dan Deacon, etc, etc, etc. I have a lot of catching up to do.
Help me, if you can.
Thanks, buddy.
My top ten:
10 | Feist » Reminder
Laura Feist really was just a piece of the puzzle with bands like Broken Social Scene, Kings of Convenience and Jason Collett. Standing alone makes her much more powerful and seductive. Apple Computers help also.
09 | Datarock »
You like talking heads. Good. Then you like Datarock. Any questions?
08 | Blonde Redhead » 23
Listen closely. Headphone album of the year.
My Bloody Valentine is present on this album.
07 | MIA » Kala
She’s hot. And Hip. And foreign.
Her beats are raw, gritty and bring you into the middle of jungle.
06 | Klaxons » Myths of the Near Future
…a 2007 type of psychadelic: all that acid has been replaced by ecstacy and given the name new-rave.
Hipsters with depth.
05 | Interpol » Our Love to Admire
good shit.
04 | Office » A Night at the Ritz
Home-brewed pop that reminds me to wear my cushioned soled shoes to Metro.
03 | The National » The Boxer
Romance is still alive in Brooklyn.
02 | LCD Soundsystem » Sound of Silver
I once saw James Murphy walking down the street ranting about ‘the scene’. He seems to have moved pass this conversation..onto more concious and insightful observations that feel true and heartfelt.
01 | Radiohead » In Rainbows
Digital music revolutionaries. Sure, it’s not the first time it’s been done. But it was the best.
Honorable mentions: Underworld » Oblivion with Bells, Justice » (cross), Of Montreal » Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer. Wilco » Sky Blue Sky
A nice list. Quantified with a bit of qualitative comment for flavor. Overall, very much appreciated.
But where’s the analysis? Where’s the data crunching? Sure . . . Wilco and Radiohead are both performing way above category norms, but Wilco seems to be trending negative while Radiohead seems to be on the upswing versus their previous release.
And is any thought given to the time lapsed between releases? Seems to me it’s easier to wait 4 years between albums (The Shins) than it is to follow up the very next year (Arctic Monkeys and Great Lake Swimmers). Have you adjusted for that in your rankings?
Meant to do this last month but here is my top without any explanation: also on my blog
( philliplee.tumblr.com )
20. The White Stripes – Icky Thump
19. St. Vincent – Marry Me
18. Blitzen Trapper – Wild Mountain Nation
17. Battles – Mirrored
16. Papercuts – Can’t Go Back
15. Wilco – Sky Blue Sky
14. Grizzly Bear – Friend
13. Interpol – Our Love to Admire
12. Kings of Leon – Because of the Times
11. Spoon – Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
10. Okkerville River – Stage Names
9. Vampire Weekend – EP
8. Of Montreal – Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer
7. Animal Collective – Strawberry Jam
6. Adrew Bird – Armchair Apocrypha
5. Band of Horses – Cease to Begin
4. The National – Boxer
3. Radiohead – In Rainbows
2. Arcade Fire – Neon Bible
1. Panda Bear – Person Pitch
I agree with approximately 58% of your list.
Some great stuff on there. And ain’t that what’s great about the interweb? Everyone’s entitled to their opinion. Or, is that what’s so great about America? I don’t remember. But both are valid, i think.
And honestly, how can you really condense a year’s worth of music into a short list of 20? Nice summaries, and your penmanship was really good.
p.s. Band of Horses: Excellent No.1. In my opinion, its one of the rare times when the sequel outdoes the first. Great mix of toe-tapping melancholy.
That’s all.