2007 Year in Review

2007 Song of the Year

Midlake, "Young Bride," from Trials of Van Occupanther

Swooning violin and finger-picked guitar give way to pulsing bass and multi-tracked vocals that sing the words "my young bride, why aren't you keeping with you all the ones who really love you?" If you haven't heard it, you have something wonderful to look forward to.

Honorable Mention

The Shins for "Sleeping Lessons" and "Australia" from Wincing the Night Away, and Dr. Dog for "Old News" and "My Old Ways" from We All Belong

The Shins and Dr. Dog set the bar too high with first 2 tracks from their respective 2007 releases. These tracks rank among the very best work of each band, and to have paired them as one-two punches right out of the gate was overly bold. The tracks that follow, especially on Wincing..., just can't compete.

Most Promising Band

Arctic Monkeys

While Arctic Monkeys have yet to release a wall-to-wall great album, they've already amassed a slew of stand-out individual tracks. Along with "The View from the Afternoon," "When the Sun Goes Down," and "A Certain Romance" from their debut, "Old Yellow Bricks" and "505" from Favourite Worst Nightmare suggest that it's only a matter of time before the band get everything right.

Favorite 7 in 2007

7. Voxtrot -- Raised by Wolves / Your Biggest Fan / Mothers, Daughters, Sisters, and Wives

Put the songs on these three EPs together, and you'll have the album that Voxtrot's self-titled debut should have been. The band's influences are readily identifiable, but in a way that's always charming and never distracting. "Raised by Wolves" sounds like The Smiths covering Herman & the Hermits, while "The Start of Something" gushes like an up tempo Belle & Sebastian number. Where did it all go wrong?

6. Lily Allen - Alright, Still...

Like The Killer's Hot Fuss, Lily Allen's debut is a guilty pleasure you stop feeling guilty about after two listens. The lyrics are hilarious, which is no surprise given the fact that Allen's father is British comedian Keith Allen. Along with the Arctic Monkey's Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not, Alright, Still... is a highly entertaining look into the nightlife of the young & British.

5. M Ward - Post-War

"M Ward's new album -- that one really fucked me up," was Toby from Dr. Dog's answer when I asked him what he'd been listening to when we sat down to chat at Middle East in Cambridge, MA earlier this year. I didn't know what he meant at the time, but I surely do now. Post-War will do a number on you -- especially "Requiem," which remembers a now gone good man who "summoned all of his joy when laughed" and "suffered all of his joy when he cried."

4. The Clientele - God Save the Clientele

There's something uncanny about The Clientele. Take a walk in the city listening to any one of their four spellbinding LPs, and you'll witness the mundane sublimate into poetry. Church bells ring in key with the band's songs; subway turnstiles turn in tempo; the world reveals itself through small things and quiet places. The Clientele have found a way to live in the reverent nostalgia The Zombies briefly tapped into on the Odessey & Oracle track "Beechwood Park." Mesmerizing.

3. Andrew Bird - Armchair Apocrypha

While it doesn't feature a song as instantly captivating as ...And the Mysterious Production of Eggs' "A Nervous Tic Motion of the Head to the Left," Armchair Apocrypha stands as Andrew Bird's finest work to date. No one is making music like this. He's got a voice like Rufus Wainwright, but better. He's an ambitious lyricist like James Mercer of The Shins, but more nimble. As far as his songwriting goes, there's just no comparison. Bird has got it all.

2. Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga

The coolest band in the world make their best album yet. Listen closely for all of the studio chatter and playful vocal effects, and you can tell how much fun they had making it. Spoon albums have always felt stripped down, but they have never felt this loose. The Jon Brion-produced track "Rhythm and Soul" may be the best thing the band has ever done, and yet it doesn't even stand out in the album tracklisting. Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, indeed.

1. Radiohead - In Rainbows

It's safe to say that no one expected Radiohead to make the best album of their career 10 years after the release of OK Computer. It's simply mind-blowing. Everything about In Rainbows is a triumph - the brisk tempos, the return of Thom Yorke's ethereal voice to the fore, the pacing song-to-song, the wonderfully elusive song structures. Last year, Radiohead had hinted that they would stop releasing albums in the traditional sense. The news was actually somewhat of a relief given the band's increasingly hit-or-miss output. For them to turn around and on their own terms release what will be enshrined as a classic album in the traditional sense is a miracle. Absolutely brilliant.