Top Ten Favourite Albums of 2007

So I have yet to post anything music-related on this reboot of my blog. With that realization in mind, and with the last echoes of 2007 faded away, here are some reflections on my favourite musical selections from this past year. I’m not going to pretend like these are the “best” albums of 2007 or whatever, just the ones I liked / listened to the most.

Oh ya, and I totally fail the #1 rule of music blogging, that being to only favourably mention artists that most of your readers have probably never even heard of. I’m not Jeph Jacques and I know it, so I’m not even going to try. (Nothing against J.J. of course, he’s still one of my webcomic heroes.)

It was an (almost) emotionally exhausting experience for me to rank these records, to give quantitative value to my affection for each, and yet I did – hurray for my emotion chip :P Although I had to listen to each in its entirety at least once more before pronouncing my final judgment.

Oh, and I realize that I missed a lot of good albums from 2007, because for whatever reason (laziness) I didn’t bother to pick up (piratically plunder) a copy in 2007. Over the year 2008, I wouldn’t be surprised if other albums from 2007 end up surpassing some of the following on my playlist.

But anyhow, without further ado…

10

Paramore – Riot!
Punk pop
June 12

There’s something undeniably catchy about the emo angst as delivered by Paramore’s orange-haired and cutely quirky frontgirl Hayley Williams. This sounds like Avril with better, broader vocals and less-contrived feeling. Riot! was like my sighting of these new but quickly-brightening stars in the punk pop sky. Every song is only 3-point-something minutes long, and the rapid-fire sequence of boy-ridden woe (hey, it’s a girl singing after all) and youthfully overpowering love pounds with steadfast aggression. From the snappy bridge in “crushcrushcrush”, to the vocal power driving “Let The Flames Begin”, to the genuinely-touching sadness in “We Are Broken” and “When It Rains”- this album punks enough to be head-nodding while still being pretty pop.

09

Jay-Z – American Gangster
Hip hop
Nov 6

Alright, so my perennial chart-topping hip hop artist is always the Jigga Man, he’s far and away the best rapper alive. American Gangster was thus essentially guaranteed a spot on this list, if only to broaden my musical spectrum a little towards the uh, blacker. But it’s definitely the best Jay-Z since The Black Album, and that was 4 yrs. ago. Simply put, “Roc Boys (And the Winner Is)…” is an ingenious song, with the unstoppable horn riff backing up classically clever Jay-Z lyrics (”bullet wounds’ll stop your buffoonery / thanks to the paster rapping at your eulogy”). “Success” is a great match-up with NAS, also featuring great lines (”I got watches I ain’t seen in months / apartment at the Trump I only slept in it once”). I also enjoyed the use of Beyoncé scripture reading in “Pray”, and how the booming drums and sampled vocals underlie “Fallin’”. This album proves why Jay-Z is unretired, why he can’t retire – he’s the best.

08

Against Me! – New Wave
Punk rock
July 10

My introduction to the angsty folk punk sounds of Against Me! was this smash hit success that appeals to my inner punk, still thrashing about since those awkwardly rebellious high school days. With pounding power chords pushing the songs along at a steady pace, catchy layered vocals, and enjoyably angry lyrics – it’s certainly not a record to calm down to. Highlights include “Stop!”, with its repeating chorus and incessant hi-hat, and the hit single “Thrash Unreal” – which is actually knocked down to 2nd place for my fav track on this album, easily conquered by “Borne on the FM Waves of the Heart” – a duet featuring Tegan Quin (spoiler: she makes another appearance on this list!) that almost breaks my heart every time.

07

The Field – From Here We Go Sublime
Electronica
March 26

It might seem kinda weird to rank a minimalist, lyric-less record so well. But I discovered From Here We Go Sublime only because of its superhigh rankings, and it’s definitely a solid “hit” in my ongoing hit-and-miss strategy of finding good music by going through top-ranked albums online. Besides, it helps fill a void in my audio library – namely, sometimes you need solid background music. I don’t mean the stuff you play at parties to fill the otherwise-awkward social silence, but the type of ambient tracks you can listen to without losing your focus. With no lyrics for the language-y part of my brain to focus on, I can write/read without distraction. Of course this is true for this entire genre. What makes Sublime so special is that Axel Willner (aka “The Field”) just does it so well, so skillfully. The uh-uh-uh-uh female vocal beats in “The Little Heart Beats So Fast” are a sexy bassline for the electronica angels dancing atop it with increasing intensity. “Everyday” has a rise-and-fall repetition that melts into magical when the vocals return with stereo tennis aah-oooh-uhs. And the pièce de résistance is undoubtedly, unquestionably “Silent”, certainly one of my most deeply enjoyed tracks over the past several months.

06

Rilo Kiley – Under the Blacklight
Alt rock
Aug 20

From the very first line of the very first song (”Silver Lining”), Rilo Kiley’s frontwoman Jenny Lewis delivers a round-house kick to the soul with her seductively beautiful voice. By the time the last lines of “Give a Little Love” fade to silence and the album ends (saving the best for last), you can’t help but fall in love all over again. Sure it’s a different, more major-label sound compared to 2004’s More Adventurous, but if Under the Blacklight is the trebuchet destined to launch Lewis into the upper echelons of female post-indie rockers, then you can’t help but wish her well on the way up. Her fellow bandmate (and former love interest) Blake Sennett only provides lead vocals on “Dreamworld”, giving a refreshingly different sound before Lewis takes command again with the unexpected Latin flourish of “Dejalo”. Even the almost-country spirit of “The Angels Hung Around” melts my non-cowboy heart on the strength of Lewis’ melody. And if I mentioned her in every sentence in this paragraph, it’s only because imho Jenny Lewis is Rilo Kiley, and Blacklight highlights her considerable vocal abilities in an attractively new way.

05

Arcade Fire – Neon Bible
Indie rock
March 5

Because it came out way early in the year, it almost seems too late to be mentioning Neon Bible now. But it’s still an ‘07 album, and it’s definitely still worthy of high praise. It seemed almost tragically inevitable that Canada’s indie wunderkind would have sophomore slumps with this follow-up to Funeral (the album equivalent of like Pan’s Labyrinth – universally well-received by critics and audiences alike, despite being decidedly extra-ordinary). But instead this baroque heptagram lived up to the hype – Neon Bible is a rock-solid pillar of post-rock awesomeness. The “Black Wave/Bad Vibrations” mini-suite is a superbly well-executed piece of progressive song structure, as is the two-act “The Well and the Lighthouse”. The waves of sound continue to crash with tracks like “Ocean of Noise” and the heart-attack ending of “(Antichrist Television Blues)”. With every track on this album being a pulsating expression of dystopian fervor, swept up together with a thundering sense of purpose, The Arcade Fire are definitely conquering the musical world, one mind at a time.

04

Feist – The Reminder
Indie rock
April 23

In the fanciful land of Indie, Calgary’s own Leslie Feist is like the nightelf princess. The Reminder was my first journey into her ethereal forest, where she takes you by the hand and leads you ever-onwards into its silver mysteries. From the upbeat percussion disguising fragile emotion in “I Feel It All”, to the steady rhythms and airy vocals of ad-hits “My Moon My Man” and “1234″ (gotta love those horns, btw), this album is a floating journey of sweetly introspective lyrics and softly emotive chords. By this point on my list, these albums are so good that I thoroughly enjoy each and every track with extra-special attention, so it’s hard to mention highlights without going over every aspect in absorbing detail. So I’ll finish off by drawing attention to just one more track, the heartbreaking finale “How My Heart Behaves”, as it wraps up the album with all the softness and sadness of a settling snowflake, singular and surreal.

03

Foo Fighters – Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace
Alt rock
Sept 25

Two years after their double disc In Your Honor instantly rocketed to the top of my playlist, the Foos have returned with their trademark explosive blast of power-rock – and prove yet again why they’re the heavyweight champions of the post-grunge arena. As my highlight reel for Echoes would feature every song, I’ll limit my recollection to five favourite tracks. “Summer’s End”, with it’s folk-rock melody, takes you away to a hazy August evening flecked by fireflies, matched in melodic prowess only by the wistful wonder of “Statues”. Then you’ve got the more powerfully charged hit “The Pretender”, that stacks up solid riffs to form a musical fortress – parapeted by the incessantly furious chorus. And I gotta give props for the ever-increasing emotional intensity that drives “Come Alive” through its subtle intro all the way through to its overwhelming conclusion. And finally, “Home” is a beautifully crafted lyrical gem (”The echoes and silence, patience and grace / All of these moments I’ll never replace / No fear of my heart, absence of faith”), reminiscent of Honor’s acoustic second disc. I guess that’s the thing about The Foo Fighters – it’s like meeting up again with a returning best friend. Sure it’s kinda the same as before, but that’s why they’re your BFF.

02

Tegan and Sara – The Con
Indie rock
July 24

Although an identical twin sister indie rock duo might sound like something that could form the basis of an upcoming Mary-Kate and Ashley affront to cinema (especially with all those writers on strike…), the Calgary-born pair of Tegan and Sara are perhaps the perfect antithesis of that. In that they’re pure awesome. Seriously. If awesome were to bubble out of the earth as from a spring, coursing down silver slopes to an argent pool below, and you were to distill that purest liquid until only the pristine essence remained… you’d probably get The Con. From the title track’s frantic poetry to the bouncy piano hook of “Back In Your Head”, I fell head-over-heels in love with this album. The clear, complimentary harmony of their sisterly similar voices allows for a richly layered effect that still sounds clean. And their vocal magic is matched in magnificence by their lyrical prowess, highlighted in songs like “Call It Off” (”Maybe I would have been something you’d be good at / Maybe you would have been something I’d be good at”) and “Nineteen” (”I felt you in my legs / Before I ever met you / And when I lay beside you / For the first time I told you / I feel you in my heart / And I don’t even know you”). My other personal favs include the lonely reflection of “Soil, Soil” and the unapologetic “Dark Come Soon”. In all, The Con pierced my heart with its emotive arrow, and I’ve been lovestuck ever since.

01

The National – Boxer
Indie rock
May 22

Although it was sometimes a struggle for me to determine exactly where each record would be placed in this list, there wasn’t really any doubt that Boxer would stand atop them all, fists raised in triumphant glory. During the past year, I didn’t listen to any artist more times than The National, and I hadn’t even encountered the group until after the summer. The deep baritone vocals of lead singer Matt Berninger are as unmistakably masculine as his self-deprecating lyrics are not. And I guess that’s essential to my appreciation for it – the stark contrast between a strong male sound and decidedly un-macho subject matter. Add that to the booming drum beats that inevitably appear on every song, and right from the beginning Boxer commands your full attention and never lets go. The opening ballad “Fake Empire” starts off in the shadows until the brass moon and guitar stars come out to shed some light. “Mistaken for Strangers” broods deeply (”You get mistaken for strangers by your own friends / When you pass them at night under the silvery, silvery Citibank lights”), and “Green Gloves” goes even further down the same dimly lit path. “Slow Show”’s surprising appearance on an episode of Chuck was one of my most memorable television moments of the past year, and fostered my appreciation for both. Combine that with the poetically touching chug of “Apartment Story” (”We’ll stay inside ’til somebody finds us / Do whatever the TV tells us”), a piano contribution by the incredible Sufjan Stevens on “Ada”, and the closing chorus of “Gospel”, and this is a guaranteed win in my books.

so hang your holiday rainbow lights in the garden