Progressive Boink

[Daniel]

this is where we list and discuss the Music Of 2007. you don't have to make the same lists i make. if you want to list your favorite videos or favorite Black Metal Bass Lines, go for it. links to things are nice because i like to hear music.

Top 30 Albums

30. Josh Ritter - The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter
(Open Doors, Wait for Love, The Temptation of Adam)
29. Various Artists - I'm Not There (Soundtrack)
(Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again [Cat Power], Going to Acapulco [Jim James], You Ain't Goin' Nowhere [Glen Hansard])
28. Angels of Light - We Are Him
(We Are Him, Black River Song, My Brother's Man)
27. Dr. Dog - We All Belong
(Die Die Die, Old News, My Old Ways)
26. The 1900s - Cold & Kind
(Georgia, Two Ways, City Water)
25. Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam
(For Reverend Green, Peacebone, Derek)
24. Voxtrot - Voxtrot
(Real-Life Version, Kid Gloves, The Future Pt. 1)
23. Blitzen Trapper - Wild Mountain Nation
(Wild Mountain Nation, Country Caravan, Devil's A Go-Go)
22. Rogue Wave - Asleep At Heaven's Gate
(Christians In Black, Like I Needed, Harmonium)
21. The Avett Brothers - Emotionalism
(The Ballad of Love and Hate, Living of Love, Salina)

20. Andrew Bird - Armchair Apocrypha
(Simple X, Imitosis, Fiery Crash)
19. Feist - The Reminder
(So Sorry, I Feel It All, Past In Present)
18. Band of Horses - Cease to Begin
(Cigarettes Wedding Bands, Window Blues, The General Specific)
17. The Bowerbirds - Hymns For a Dark Horse
(In Our Talons, Slow Down, Human Hands)
16. Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
(Don't You Evah, The Underdog, You Got Yr Cherry Bomb)
15. Jens Lekman - Night Falls Over Kortedala
(Friday Night at the Drive-In Bingo, Kanske Ar Jag Kar I Dig, The Opposite Of Hallelujah)
14. The Weakerthans - Reunion Tour
(Bigfoot, Civil Twilight, Virtute the Cat Explains Her Deparure)
13. Wilco - Sky Blue Sky
(Walken, Hate It Here, Impossible Germany)
12. The Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
(Ocean of Noise, Antichrist Television Blues, My Body is a Cage)
11. Dolorean - You Can't Win
(Just Don't Leave Town, Heather Remind Me How This Ends, Beachcomber Blues)

10. Modest Mouse - We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank
(Spitting Venom, Little Motel, Florida)
09. Akron/Family - Love Is Simple
(Crickets, I've Got Some Friends, Ed Is a Portal)
08. Kevin Drew - Spirit If...
(Safety Bricks, Broke Me Up, Lucky Ones)
07. Okkervil River - The Stage Names
(Plus Ones, Unless It's Kicks, Savannah Smiles)
06. Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
(Skinny Love, For Emma, Lump Sum)
05. The Shins - Wincing the Night Away
(A Comet Appears, Australia, Turn On Me)
04. Iron & Wine - The Shepherd's Dog
(Flightless Bird American Mouth, Carousel, Resurrection Fern)
03. The Nobility - The Mezzanine
(This Is What I've Wanted to Tell You, Riverboat, Worth Your While)
02. Devendra Banhart - Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon
(Bad Girl, I Remember, Lover)
01. Kings of Leon - Because of the Times
(Knocked Up, Arizona, Fans)

Disappointments

Ted Leo - Living With the Living
The New Pornographers - Challengers
Art Brut - It's a Bit Complicated

i'll post more stuff later. get on it, y'all

[Jon]

Top 15 Albums

15. The Weakerthans - Reunion Tour
Recommended by Bill Hanstock. "Bigfoot" is by far my favorite song.

14. Norah Jones - Not Too Late
I've always liked her, but this is probably her only album that's any good, in part because she took a much larger role in writing the songs.

13. A Place To Bury Strangers - (self-titled)
Really loud noise-rock stuff. It's a huge departure from what I usually listen to it, which is one of the reasons I like it. It might be the loudest catchy music I've ever heard.

12. The White Stripes - Icky Thump
They throw in some tracks like "St. Andrew" that make the album a lot of fun to listen through. Kind of hit and miss, but I've thought that about all their albums.

11. Pinback - Autumn of the Seraphs
Three years ago this album would have been a lot higher on my list. Pinback has a tighter sound than almost any band I can think of, which I can usually appreciate.

10. Sigur Ros - Hvarf-Heim
Half this album is made of different versions of songs I've heard before. Otherwise, it'd probably be up around #3. With the song "Hafsol", they managed to do yet another dramatic buildup-crescendo that sounds different from their others.

9. The Shins - Wincing the Night Away
The first track is the best, no question. This is actually the only Shins album that I'm a big fan of.

8. Andrew Bird - Armchair Apocrypha
I think this album could have been better. The first 45 seconds or so of the song "Heretic" are incredible, and I kind of wish he kept the energy up through the entire song, but as it stands it's still one of my favorite songs of the year.

7. Iron & Wine - The Shepard's Dog
The best Iron & Wine album to date. There's no single track that will become one of my all-time favorites, but every song on the album is great.

6. Jens Lekman - Night Falls Over Kortedala
I didn't come across this until about a month ago. "Skinny guy playing eclectic music" reminded me at first listen of Sufjan Stevens a little, but he's a lot more poppy, less weighed down lyrically, and more fun to listen to. His lyrics are at least as good as the rest of the music, actually.

5. Band of Horses - Cease to Begin
I decided to check them out after Will Leitch made some off-the-cuff post about them on Deadspin. I listened to the song "No One's Ever Gonna Love You" about 50 times in the space of a week.

4. Feist - The Reminder
Daniel got pissed at me for never having heard her, so I checked it out. The album flows really well, and every song except "Honey Honey" is really good.

3. Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
I've recently become a big fan of Spoon because of this album. "Don't Make Me A Target" and "The Underdog" are my two favorites. This is one of the few albums I can listen to just about whenever I want.

2. Radiohead - In Rainbows
The first disc was amazing. The second disc was basically just a B-side, and I kind of wish they'd just called it that so my expectations wouldn't have been so high. Overall, though, I think this was the right place for Radiohead to go with this album. Songs like "Bodysnatchers" seem like a nod to OK Computer and "15 Step" reminds me of Kid A, but some tracks like "Weird Fishes/Arpeggi" and "House of Cards" bring a new sound that I really like.

1. Modest Mouse - We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank
This album wins the tiebreaker because it stays great throughout. My answer to "favorite Modest Mouse" album changes regularly, but at the very least, this is one of their best. As it turns out, Johnny Marr joining Modest Mouse is the best idea of all time, and it actually helped me to appreciate similarities between Modest Mouse and The Smiths that I definitely never would have otherwise. Anyway, as a whole this album has been kind of a "nostalgia album" for me, in that I can listen to it and instantly remember the sort of stuff I was doing earlier this year when I first heard it.

Disappointments

Art Brut - It's A Bit Complicated
I'm only disappointed because a couple of friends talked it up really big, and I ended up not really liking it at all.

Foo Fighters - Patience, Silence, Echoes and Grace
Maybe I should be like everyone else on Earth and not hold any positive expectations for the Foo Fighters. I still think their second and third albums are really, really good, but over their last three albums they've settled into a sort of boring pop-rock that they never depart from.

Other Artists I Began to Appreciate More In 2007

The Smiths
Leonard Cohen
Bob Dylan
Neil Young
Prince
M. Ward
The Arcade Fire
Troubled Hubble
Ryan Adams
Wilco
Tom Waits

[Randy Jones]

Top 30 Albums (links are to youtubes of live performances!)

30. Band of Horses - Cease to Begin
No One's Ever Gonna Love You
29. The National - Boxer
Apartment Story
28. Feist - The Reminder
I Feel it All
27. Common - Finding Forever
Drivin' Me Wild
26. Say Anything - In Defense of the Genre
That is Why
25. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Baby 81
Berlin
24. The Shins - Wincing the Night Away
Sleeping Lessons
23. Fratellis - Costello Music
Chelsea Dagger
22. Radiohead - In Rainbows
Nude
21. Bloc Party - A Weekend in the City
Sunday
20. The New Pornographers - Challengers
My Rights Versus Yours
19. Big D and the Kids Table - Strictly Rude
Strictly Rude
18. Dr. Dog - We All Belong
Ain't it Strange
17. MIA - Kala
Boyz
16. Ryan Adams - Easy Tiger
The Sun Also Sets
15. Bruce Springsteen - Magic
Girls in Their Summer Clothes
14. Peter Bjorn & John - Writer's Block
Young Folks
13. Jay-Z - American Gangster
Fallin'
12. Lucinda Williams - West
Come On
11. Richard Shindell - South of Delia
Northbound 35
10. Modest Mouse - We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank
Missed the Boat
9. Andrew Bird - Armchair Apocrypha
Imitosis
8. Kanye West - Graduation
Homecoming
7. Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
Don't You Evah
6. White Stripes - Icky Thump
Effect and Cause
5. Arctic Monkeys - Favourite Worst Nightmare
D is for Dangerous
4. Augie March - Moo, You Bloody Choir
The Cold Acre
3. Wilco - Sky Blue Sky
Shake it Off
2. Kings of Leon - Because of the Times
Arizona
1. Iron & Wine - The Shepherd's Dog
Flightless Bird, American Mouth

[Z.S. Ghost]

Under "Year => 2007" on iTunes:

"Monkeys For Nothin' And The Chimps For Free", Reel Big Fish
"Werewolves And Lollipops", Patton Oswalt
"Super Taranta!", Gogol Bordello
"Orchestra Of Wolves", Gallows
"Traffic And Weather", Fountains Of Wayne
"Neon Bible", Arcade Fire
"Somewhere In The Between", Streetlight Manifesto
"We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank", Modest Mouse
"What's Pink And Sucks?", xoc

Not bad actually. If I went on Pitchfork ever I'm sure it'd be more impressive.

[Daniel]

i made a mix of some of my favorite songs of the year.

20 songs from 07

1. Jens Lekman - Friday Night At The Drive-In Bingo (4:16)
2. The 1900s - Georgia (2:23)
3. Wilco - Hate It Here (4:35)
4. The White Stripes - Bone Broke (3:14)
5. Les Savy Fav - Patty Lee (3:51)
6. Deerhoof - The Perfect Me (2:40)
7. Akron/Family - I've Got Some Friends (3:09)
8. Animal Collective - For Reverend Green (6:34)
9. Bon Iver - Skinny Love (3:58)
10. The Weakerthans - Bigfoot (2:23)
11. Andrew Bird - Simple X (3:40)
12. Arcade Fire - Ocean Of Noise (4:53)
13. Kings Of Leon - Arizona (4:50)
14. LCD Soundsystem - All My Friends (7:37)
15. Kevin Drew - Safety Bricks (4:27)
16. The Nobility - This Is What I've Wanted To Tell You (2:52)
17. Okkervil River - Plus Ones (3:43)
18. Blitzen Trapper - Wild Mountain Nation (2:41)
19. Devendra Banhart - So Long Old Bean (2:53)
20. Iron & Wine - Flightless Bird, American Mouth (4:03)

[Randy Jones]

i want to have sex with flightless bird, american mouth

[Casey]

man, no love for Beirut on this forum, huh?

I have been dragging my feet on my lists. I really want to do them, but I keep getting distracted.

[Jon]

I like the song "Elephant Gun" but the Gulag Orkestar album kind of bores me.

[Maynard,]

10. Wilco - Sky Blue Sky
9. LCD Soundsystem - Sound Of Silver
8. Neil Young - Chrome Dreams II
7. Paul McCartney - Memory Almost Full
6. The White Stripes - Icky Thump
5. Sigur Rós - Hvarf/Heim
4. The Bees (A Band Of Bees) - Octopus
3. The Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
2. Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?
1. Radiohead - In Rainbows

[Daniel]

man, no love for Beirut on this forum, huh?

i really like the song "nantes" but his voice isn't something i can listen to a lot

[Maynard,]

I haven't heard the new Beirut album. I did like Gulag Orkestar though.

[Duzzy Funlop]

I liked "Postcards From Italy" a lot last year but agreed about his voice.

[beggar]

Here's my top 20

1)Rosetta - Wake/Lift
2)Dark Tranquillity - Fiction
3)Darkest Hour - Deliver Us
4)Band of Horses - Cease to Begin
5)Dethklok - The Dethalbum
6)HORSE the Band - A Natural Death
7)Tides and Giant's split
8)3 Inches of Blood - Fire Up the Blades
9)Men Eater - Hellstone
10)Do Make Say Think - You, You're a History in Rust
11)As I Lay Dying - An Ocean Between Us
12)Mono - The Sky Remains the Same as Ever
13)Through the Eyes of the Dead - Malice
14)The White Stripes - Icky Thump
15)Tusk - The Resisting Dreamer
16)Between the Buried and Me - Colors
17)Baroness - Red Album
18)High on Fire - Death is this Communion
19)Evergreen Terrace - Wolfbiker
20)Blood and Time - Untitled

There's a lot of stuff I haven't gotten the chance to listen to that could be up here. The new Black Dahlia Murder, the new Coheed and Cambria, the new Radiohead, I'm sure Boris released an album in 2007 that I would love. In 2007 I had a huge post-rock/post-metal kick, and there were a LOT of post-albums released this year. It seems like that was the flavor of the year around here. Saw more than a few Neurosis and Isis shirts around campus.

[Nicholas]

Top 5 discs!

6. Dan Deacon - Spiderman of the Rings
It's crazy and I like it.
Favorite Song: "Woody Woodpecker"

5. Daft Punk: Alive 2007
Jesus Christ I can't imagine being at this concert. I don't think I've ever heard a crowd more excited on a live album. Can we get a sublist for that btw? Best crowds on live albums? AC/DC?...Muddy Waters at Newport?
Favorite song: "Da Funk/Daftendirekt"

4. Radiohead - In Rainbows
They didn't try to do too much and I'm glad. Yorke's got the greatest voice ever I always like them best when they just let him sing.
Favorite Song: "House of Cards"

3. Junior Senior - Hey Hey My My Yo Yo
The happiest music ever!
Favorite song: "Headphone Song"

2. Chromeo - Fancy Footwork
Good lord this is so funky. A much better album than She's In Control.
Song: "Fancy Footwork"

1. Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
Like Radiohead, they thankfully just kept it simple. I am not sick of any of these songs after listening to the album a ton of times.
Song "You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb"

Disappointments!

LCD Soundsystem - Sounds of Silver
I miss the batshit craziness of the first album. He's got good lyrics...but who wants to hear lyrics? It's one of those albums that I just haven't had any desire to listen to any more than once or twice.

Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
Booooorrrring except for "My Body is a Cage"

[Illinois Smith]

i made a mix of some of my favorite songs of the year.

20 songs from 07

1. Jens Lekman - Friday Night At The Drive-In Bingo (4:16)
2. The 1900s - Georgia (2:23)
3. Wilco - Hate It Here (4:35)
4. The White Stripes - Bone Broke (3:14)
5. Les Savy Fav - Patty Lee (3:51)
6. Deerhoof - The Perfect Me (2:40)
7. Akron/Family - I've Got Some Friends (3:09)
8. Animal Collective - For Reverend Green (6:34)
9. Bon Iver - Skinny Love (3:58)
10. The Weakerthans - Bigfoot (2:23)
11. Andrew Bird - Simple X (3:40)
12. Arcade Fire - Ocean Of Noise (4:53)
13. Kings Of Leon - Arizona (4:50)
14. LCD Soundsystem - All My Friends (7:37)
15. Kevin Drew - Safety Bricks (4:27)
16. The Nobility - This Is What I've Wanted To Tell You (2:52)
17. Okkervil River - Plus Ones (3:43)
18. Blitzen Trapper - Wild Mountain Nation (2:41)
19. Devendra Banhart - So Long Old Bean (2:53)
20. Iron & Wine - Flightless Bird, American Mouth (4:03)

i spent most of the year listening to old tom waits records and emir kusturica soundtracks so this should come in handy

seriously, i actually started out on my own 2007 mix a week ago but didn't even get up to 10 songs

[Daniel]

what were they?

[Illinois Smith]

Devendra Banhart - Seahorse
Beirut - Nantes
Andrew Bird - Simple X
The Cat Empire - Darkness
Koop - Koop Island Blues
Streetlight Manifesto - Would You Be Impressed?
Puts Marie - No Way Out
Gogol Bordello - Harem In Tuscany (Taranta)

[Daniel]

Beirut - Nantes

song is awesome. i'll try to check out some of the others.

[Casey]

yeah EXACTLY

[Illinois Smith]

oh and also this which I thought had come out last year

Little Barrie - Pretty Pictures