It’s always odd to revisit what you’ve reviewed over the course of a year. Sometimes, much can change – as after subsequent listenings, you realize that record you thought was pretty decent just blows (see The Killers’ Sam’s Town) or you come to love an album that you’d previously dismissed as mediocre (see “Into the Wild” soundtrack). The true test of a “best release of the year” is its stability, so I’ve tried to pick “long-haul” contenders—albums I’ll go to for months (or even years) to come, with no requirement for a set amount of finalists. Here’s what made the cut…
TOP ALBUMS:
- LCD Soundsystem: Sound of Silver (this one sits significantly higher than the rest)
- Interpol: Our Love to Admire
- The Shins: Wincing the Night Away
- Eddie Vedder: “Into the Wild” soundtrack
- Minus the Bear: Planet of Ice
- Aqueduct: Or Give Me Death
And, topping the list of what sadly wasn’t as good as I expected:
Modest Mouse: We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank
I’ll leave it at that. I can hardly fathom how disappointed I was by that output (mixing the quirky fire of Modest Mouse with legendary jangler Johnny Marr? How did it fall so flat?).
TOP NORTHWEST ALBUMS:
Not that NW artists don’t count in overall, national polls! I just felt like making a separate list. To wit:
- The Shins: Wincing the Night Away
- Eddie Vedder: “Into the Wild” soundtrack
- Minus the Bear: Planet of Ice
- Aqueduct: Or Give Me Death
- Blue Scholars: Bayani
- Ms. Led: Shake Yourself Awake
- Siberian: With Me
- Schoolyard Heroes: Abominations
- Menomena: Friend and Foe
- Charmparticles: Alive in the Hotspell
TOP SONGS:
Just call me John Cusack in “High Fidelity” — I can’t stop making lists! Here are my top songs of 2007. This is basically a list of the most-played new tracks on my iPod this year…
- “Underdog” by Spoon
- “Dashboard” by Modest Mouse
- “Split Needles” by The Shins
- “Someone Great” by LCD Soundsystem
- “Golden Skans” by Klaxons
- “White Winter Hymnal” by Fleet Foxes
- “Misery Business” by Paramore
- “The Story” by Brandi Carlile
- “What Goes Around…Comes Around” by Justin Timberlake