Your Christmas shopping list:

Inspired by the end of the school year and access to my wife’s laptop, I decided to tackle something I’ve ever done before: a top 50. This list compiles my favorite albums from 2007, in descending order, for your reading pleasure.

Of course, I must add the requisite disclaimer. This is the top 50 albums I heard this year, which means I probably missed some good stuff. For instance, I’m positive that Menomena’s Friend and Foe would be there, as would Bat for Lashes’ Fur and Gold, but I haven’t heard either in their entirety. (That should be rectified after my upcoming visit to Amoeba.) And, no, I didn’t forget LCD Soundsystem (I hate them) or Dinosaur Jr. (I never listen to Beyond). Another note: despite the awesome collaboration with Chuck D, The Go! Team missed the cut.

And now I’m rambling. Without any further ado:

50.) Giovanni Marks
Marks in Angles
Team 2Mex

The penultimate example of success in lo-fi hip-hop, Marks in Angles might get derided by hip-hop fans as poorly produced. They’re missing the point. This album thrives as a deconstruction of hip-hop’s glamor and excess. Marks dropped his “Subtitle” alias, and with the unmasking, created his own warped throwback to rap’s roots. It’s simple, and simply weird.

49.) Lozen
Enemies Against Power
Australian Cattle God

This album is the single biggest reason the Yeah Yeah Yeahs EP missed the cut. In a similar way to how I felt about Des Ark’s 2005 album Loose Lips Sink Ships, Enemies Against Power ups the chick punk ante. Their chugging guitar riffs contrast with Amy Argote’s jagged stylings, landing them more in the “threatening” category than “noodling.”

48.) Fatal Flying Guilloteens
Quantum Fucking
French Kiss

I think my brain confuses The Flying Luttenbachers (who I don’t like) with Fatal Flying Guilloteens, so forgive me if I winced when I put Quantum Fucking in the stereo. Needless to say, I’m glad I actually listened to the record and didn’t immediately dump it in the reject pile. FFG recall churning post-hardcore acts like These Arms Are Snakes and Kill Sadie, but with muddier bass theatrics and a significantly less enigmatic vocalist. Probably the most anthemic album on this list, and the only one that made me almost say “Arab on Radar” in a comparative sense.

47.) Skeletons and the Kings of All Cities
Lucas
Ghostly International

Probably the most overlooked indie collective of 2007, Skeletons create exuberant music like peers The Animal Collective, but rarely add bizarre noise elements to their songs that alienate certain types of fair-weather fans. I received probably 50 mellow, generic, indie rock records this year and only Lucas survived.

46.) White Mice
Blassstphlegmeice
Load

Lets say that Satan exists. What might his vomiting sound like? That’s all.






45.) Tender Buttons
Hot Abductions
Gold Standard Labs

I’m not sure if it’s fitting or just weird that Gold Standard Labs went under not long after the release of Hot Abductions. Only released on digital and vinyl, the album’s alien theme somewhat serves as a metaphor for its sound. Strange. Dance-y. A greenish tinge. Etc.

44.) Holy Molar
Cavity Search
31G

I fear that 31G will fall sooner than later, so I’m savoring their releases. Holy Molar are probably the most playful of any band on the label, and they still sound like they were created by ill-fed ravenous creatures with bloodshot eyes and hateful souls.

43.) HEALTH
HEALTH
Lovepump United

I never thought I'd ever see something both primitive and choreographed at the same time, but HEALTH's live show would fit that description. And there, at (where else) The Smell, I fell in love with HEALTH the album. Filled with punk guitar shreds, thundering drumming, odd noise manipulations and an incredible amount of soul, HEALTH will conquer L.A., if Silver Daggers don’t first.

42.) Chinese Stars
Listen to Your Left Brain
31G

Another Arab on Radar reference, but this one’s unavoidable. Eric Paul and friends always create oddly sexy albums, but Listen to Your Left Brain could almost be titled, Listen to Your Dick. It churns like Paul’s old band did, but also sways back and forth. They’ll make you woozy before they make you vomit.

41.) The Eternals
Heavy International
Aesthetics

I get shit all the time because I have no interest in dub, reggae or old-school ska. Sorry folks. This is the closest I’m going to get. Punk-infused, quasi-dub reggae with a political slant and occasionally painfully awesome falsettos. (Check out vocalist Damon Locks’ other band Trenchmouth).

40.) Deerhunter
Cryptograms + Fluorescent Grey EP
Kranky

Unlike everyone else in blogland and the hipster realm, I’m not completely smitten with Deerhunter. I wasn’t even sure if I liked Cryptograms all that much, but Fluorescent Grey sold me. I do, however, like them, much like I liked early Liars. Hopefully they’ll follow a similar career trajectory.

39.) Thee More Shallows
Book of Bad Breaks
Anticon

This slot was slated either for Thee More Shallows or Peter, Bjorn and John. Thee More Shallows won out the contemporary shoegaze battle because their album is better, even though PB&J certainly created the catchiest song of the bunch.

38.) Sole & The Skyrider Band
Sole & The Skyrider Band
Anticon

I love it when white rappers don’t sound white, so when a white rapper doesn’t sound white and raps over atmospheric music inspired at least partly by Radiohead, consider me impressed.

37.) Twilight Sad
Fourteen Autumns & Fifteen Winters
Fat Cat

These Scots won my heart this year in much the same way Skeletons and the Kings of All Cities did, except they did it within the first minute and a half of one song (“Cold Days from the Birdhouse”). Then that song exploded into a bombastic mood-shifter, and my life changed. (Not really, but I love this band.)

36.) M.I.A.
Kala
Interscope

Like my feelings regarding Deerhunter, I don’t have a raging hipster boner for M.I.A., but I really like her music. I periodically play contemporary underground music for my Hip-hop club kids, and they got down with “Bamboo Banger.”

35.) Iron & Wine
The Shepherd’s Dog
Sub Pop

Sam Beam’s music formerly was perfect sleeping music. It was relaxing, but also incredibly boring. Add band. Now Iron & Wine is one of my favoritea. The students at the school I teach at might call the transformation “active.” It’s certainly welcome.

34.) Nine Inch Nails
Year Zero
Nothing

I keep waiting for Trent Reznor to release a complete dud, and he still hasn’t disappointed me. Sure, there was plenty of excess on The Fragile and a few missteps on the poppy With Teeth, but he keeps fiddling with knobs and screaming with enough anguish to keep me interested. Year Zero finds Reznor exploring dance noise with his oddly catchy melodies.

33.) Shellac
Excellent Italian Greyhound
Touch & Go

There’s very little you can say about a Steve Albini project.






32.) Queens of the Stone Age
Era Vulgaris
Interscope

I bought this on an impulse, despite the fact I hadn’t heard anything from it and hated Lullabies to Paralyze. I’d like to say I had a hunch about how awesome the album would be, but I think I just had a hankering to purchase any mainstream album, since 2007 was pretty lame in that regard. Although the collaboration with Trent Reznor didn’t even make the album, his influence seems peppered throughout. The resulting mutation of Queens of the Stone Age sounds like a reinvention.

31.) Subtle
Yell & Ice
Lex

As alluring as 2006’s For Hero: For Fool, yet oddly ignored this past year, Yell & Ice brings together Subtle with a plethora of guests, including Tunde Adebimpe, Yoni from Why? and Wolf Parade’s Dan Boeckner. Sure, the resulting collaborations can barely be categorized as hip-hop (even Anticon hip-hop), but it’s certainly gorgeous.

30.) Modest Mouse
We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank
Sony

A return to the pre-major label days of screamy Isaac Brock, We Were Dead keeps Modest Mouse on track as the best indie rock band hoodwinking the major labels. There’s plenty of swashbuckling here and it crushes The Decemberists and Murder By Death. There’s not much else to say except the album’s great. Nick Dean. You bastard.

29.) Arcade Fire
Neon Bible
Merge

Had I composed this list about six month ago, I doubt Neon Bible would have even made the honorable mention cut. At the time, I thought they were just rehashing The Boss and had lost their way. But after a few months without a listen, I popped the album back in and fell in love. It’s odd, political and speaks.

28.) Wu-Tang Clan
8 Diagrams
Motown/Universal

“People” and “Folks” are calling this album hippie rap and calling its creation the death of the Wu-Tang Clan. We’ll see if that’s true, but 8 Diagrams certainly feels different than 36 Chambers, where a ragtag bunch of MCs spit venom all over the place. They’re more subdued here, but still create music better than 99 percent of mainstream rappers.

27.) Subtitle
Terrain to Roam
Alpha Pup

One of the only artists to make multiple appearances on the list (Trent Reznor and Justin Pearson are the others), Giovanni Marks (a.k.a. Subtitle) created a rather uneven album here. However, each individual track works well enough for inclusion. His Ben Stein meets Mr. Lif delivery doesn’t work for everyone, but it works for me.

26.) The Good, The Bad & The Queen
The Good, The Bad & The Queen
Virgin

Let’s see if Damon Albarn can resurrect David Bowie’s music career. Could you imagine a collaboration between those two?

25.) Celebration
The Modern Tribe
4AD

Katrina Ford and Sean Antanaitis finally mellow out after years of blisteringly mimicking The Birthday Party with Jakes and Love Life. Less circus-y than their self-titled debut, The Modern Tribe made me believe that Celebration (or another incarnation of Ford and Antanaitis) will exist for another 12 years.

24.) Bad Brains
Build a Nation
Megaforce

I’ve never been a huge fan of early hardcore, including Black Flag, Minor Threat and Bad Brains. But, on a whim, I gave Build a Nation a try, and marveled at its diversity. Hymns, metal, reggae and hardcore punk all fight their way onto the album, perhaps an indication as to how loopy frontman H.R. really is.

23.) Grayskul
Bloody Radio
Rhymesayers

Confession: one of the old Aural Minority writers did an interview with Aural Minority with Grayskul regarding their first album, Deadlivers. I’ve still never heard it, and have been masochistically stabbing myself periodically in the kneecap until I get my hands on it. Bloody Radio might be the most accessible hip-hop record I own that no one’s ever heard.

22.) Big Business
Here Comes the Waterworks
Hydrahead

If there were a sound system big enough to level a city behind the right band, I’d certainly hire Big Business to handle the duties. I’ve seen them live three or four times and still can’t believe how they create music, given how much hatred with which they play their instruments.

21.) Panda Bear
Person Pitch
Paw Tracks

The opposite of Neon Bible, I loved Panda Bear’s Person Pitch when I first listened to it and it was a surefire top-10 a few months ago. It just didn’t hold up. Initially, I loved the Brian Wilson-esque atmospherics, but now I just think they’re borderline annoying. Regardless, the overall album still earns its place for the heart and soul poured within, given Noah’s personal struggles, etc.

20.) Saul Williams
The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust
Self-released

If someone walked up to me and told me Saul Williams could sound anything like Trent Reznor, I’d first ask them who the fuck they were and tell them to get out of my face. Then I’d ponder the statement for 30 seconds and forget it. (All of that just means that Saul worked with Trent on this album, and it sounds like the best Nine Inch Nails album never made, save the awful cover of “Sunday Bloody Sunday”)

19.) Puscifer
V is For Vagina
Puscifer Entertainment

Maynard’s done prog. He’s done rock for the masses. Now he tackles atmospherics. There’s apparently little he can’t do. (And I interviewed him for January’s issue of Geek magazine, on newsstands now!!)

18.) Radiohead
In Rainbows
Self-Released (at this point)

So, yeah, I’m putting the best Radiohead album in a decade at number 18. I remember a time where that would have been blasphemy for a young arts editor of a certain college publication. But standbys like Radiohead, NIN, QOTSA, Modest Mouse, etc. lose out in year-end excitement because they’re always there.

17. Neurosis
Given to the Rising
Neurot

I tried to get into Neurosis a long time ago and bought what apparently was their worst album (A Sun That Never Sets) and didn’t really like it at all, so I never delved further. When Given to the Rising arrived, I again winced a little as I pressed play, and got knocked over. A tremendous achievement in metal.

16.) Feist
The Reminder
Cherry Tree

I know. I know. “Dude listens to Neurosis and Feist?” Yes. Fucking chill out.




15.) Animal Collective
Strawberry Jam
Domino

This year Bjork talked about alien intrusions, but the Animal Collective actually created one. An insane blend of electronic and organic sounds, Strawberry Jam actually makes a lot of sense both as an album and a concept.

14.) Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
Some Loud Thunder
Self-released

I think I was the only person on the face of the planet who thought this album was better than their self-titled debut. I’m going to listen to “Satan Said Dance” now and dance. Satan told me to.

13.) Aesop Rock
None Shall Pass
Definitive Jux

I was about to write for CYHSY that they were another band (like Liars and Panda Bear) I interviewed for Modern Fix that they never ran. Then I remembered they never ran my Aesop Rock interview either. I feel dirty about all of this. I’ll post them after I let this run through the holidays. None Shall Pass is my second favorite hip-hop album of the year. (Foreshadowing…)

12.) Thurston Moore
Trees Outside the Academy
Ecstatic Peace

I’ve never been a huge Sonic Youth fan, and especially not a Thurston Moore fan. Yet, they started to win me over with the more accessible Rather Ripped and Trees Outside the Academy. I know I’m speaking some sort of music geek blasphemy, but I care not. Thurston can write rock songs in addition to alienating noise.

11.) The Shins
Wincing The Night Away
Sub Pop

The mark of a great album: I can play this in my classroom with six opinionated as hell emotionally disturbed students and none of them even comment on it, good or bad. Yet, they bitch and moan about anything else I play. (They all listen to hardcore or rap exclusively and are so close-minded it’s unbelievable.) Regarding the album: it should have sucked, but doesn’t. I can’t explain it.

10.) Silver Daggers
New High & Ord
Load

Depending on whether or not they release another album, 2008 should see Silver Daggers transforming from L.A.’s best kept secret into L.A.’s best band. New High & Ord actually betrays how throttling the band is live and still kicks art punk ass all over the place.

9.) Sleepytime Gorilla Museum
In Glorious Times
The End

The best, most inventive musicians in metal. If you can call it metal. In Glorious Times only builds on Of Natural History a tiny bit, but with a bar this high, where, really, can they go? It’s like an English professor getting a second doctorate in Comparative Literature. Also: I’d like to hear vocalist Nils Frykdahl rap. Just once.

8.) Magik Markers
Boss
Ecstatic Peace

Where’d this come from? Noise, noise, noise, noise, noise…the second coming of Grace Slick and Janis Joplin?



7.) The Locust
New Erections
Anti-

The Locust actually wrote an album that’s listenable. That is, if you live in a post-apocalyptic sci-fi wasteland. But, still, it’s a start.


6.) Oxbow
The Narcotic Story
Hydrahead

The Narcotic Story, on the other hand, is incredibly difficult to listen to, but not for reasons you’d expect. Where Oxbow once reinvented punk rock with a blues veneer, here they slow things down to a surgical pace, opening your world to Eugene Robinson’s nightmarish overly active imagination.

5.) Les Savy Fav
Let’s Stay Friends
French Kiss

Duh.





4.) Battles
Mirrored
Warp

Contrary to popular belief, vocals weren’t really added to Battles’ new record. They’re just another instrument of their savantish creations.




3.) Qui
Love’s Miracle
Ipecac

David Yow hit me in the head with a microphone this year, and sang on the year’s best rock album. Genius move by the brothers Qui to hire the drunk to man vocals. The great thing is, he only wrote vocals for one or two of these songs…what the fuck is their next album going to sound like?

2.) Busdriver
RoadKillOvercoat
Epitaph

I didn’t listen to any other album as many times as RoadKillOvercoat. Busdriver is a genius, a saint and an overall pleasure.



1.) Liars
Liars
Mute

Like Sonic Youth’s Rather Ripped. The album redefined rock and the band that created it. Well played, Mr. Angus and co.




Honorable mentions: Proof of Youth (The Go! Team), Through the Panama (Sightings), Is Is (Yeah Yeah Yeahs), Big Doe Rehab (Ghostface Killah), Grass Geysers…Carbon Clouds (Enon), Sports (The Pope), gAame (Aa), Writer’s Block (Peter, Bjorn & John), Plague Park (Handsome Furs), Random Spirit Lover (Sunset Rubdown), Kid City (Abe Vigoda). Probably others...