Best Records of 2007

1. Band of Horses "Cease to Begin"
This was the best record put out in 07, hands down. Poetic and diverse. What they did here was basically make the same record as their first record, they just made it better. Great.
Postscript- worst album title of the year, hands down.


2. Josh Ritter "The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter"
This guy's genius is in his ironic sense of humor. From the suggestive album title to the gangsta rap lyrics of "Mind's Eye" to the press photo of him slugging whiskey. Joshy isn't a womanizing, violent drunk. He's the sensitive, funny guy we hear in "The Temptation of Adam", but he's smart enough to get a kick out of how silly it is to see himself in the tough guy suit. Smart move. I love it. Not a bad song here. Fabulous artwork. And most of all, the ironic and over-characaturized lyrics, artwork, image, and title are what boosted Ritter out of singer-songwriter boringnessosity. Way to play it like Dylan and invent your own persona.
See my previous blog about this record.


3. Spoon "Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga"
Count 'em- 5 ga's. Blogged all about it here. There should be one in every home.





4. Magnolia Electric Co. "Sojourner" Box Set
Four albums in a wooden box. The pine box is fitting for songs that ring somewhere between a cowboy's prairie ballad and a funeral dirge. The movie on the 5th disc is only 20 minutes and nothing to write home about. But this guy's songwriting is nothing less than special. Jason Molina is someone who has made songcraft his life. Geniuses don't write perfect songs. They write songs that bug you.

5. Destroyer "Destroyer's Rubies"
I'll have whatever this guy's having. I'd love to live in Dan Bejar's psychedelic candycane world of Canadian freakiness. Highlight? This album contains one of the best musical moments ever: on "European Oils" when the the lyric, "She needs release, she needs to feel at peace with her father.... the fucking maniac!" is whispered during a pause, then followed by phenomenal guitar solo. Every time I hold my breath until that solo provides the musical resolution to the tension that the song has built up. In a sense, it's the "release" that he spoke of in the preceding line. Genius. Thanks to Matt for getting me into this.

6. Son Volt "The Search"
This one probably didn't make any critics' lists. And I don't think it was totally brilliant. Nor do I think it even ranks on Jay Farrar's own catalog. But let's be honest- I love their stuff. I bought the record 3 times to get all the special bonus EPs and goodies. When you total up all of the EPs, B-sides, iTunes "exclusives", etc., there are about 30 songs. Blogged about it here, too.

7. New Pornographers "Challengers"
I pre-ordered this and it came out right around the time of Lily's birth. I was anticipating it for the sake of still feeling cool and hip even though I was becoming a father. I was hoping that it would be raw and gritty and rule-breaking like their last three releases. Boy, this was the wrong record for that. It's got KFOG (meaning old people who wanna still feel cool and hip) written all over it. But hey, it's fantastic! Highlights here are from the female vocalists (Neko Case and Kathryn Calder) or Dan Behar (A.K.A Destroyer). Slower, polished, refined.

8. Battles "Mirrored"
Believe the hype. This is amazing. Math rock updated for the millennium. This one finds Battles swaying away from the instrumental-only format with some unintelligible lyrics. But even better than this is their 2 EPs. If you're interested in checking out Battles, get those EPs (I have their import double disc that includes those EPs plus the "Tras/Fantasy" single.... did I say that in enough of an indie-snob way?)

9. Rocky Votolato "The Bragg and Cuss"
Rocky is one of those artists I've followed for years through different bands. I have 12 of this guy's CDs and a handfull of 7-inches (vinyl 45s). He kinda started off with Seattle proto-emo band Waxwing and then started a singer-songwriter career that has been his bread and butter. Now, this is his 5th solo record and, as you could imagine, things have gotten pretty stale..... up until now. This is an exciting record full of twists and turns. Has wonderful moments of Rocky's beautiful voice that sometimes goes scratchy and you can just hear the cigarette tar. The best thing this guy did was team up with Casey Foubert who not only produced and engineered this record, but played lead cowboy guitar in a spaghetti western sort of way that really livened up this record and kept it entertaining.

10. Wilco "Sky Blue Sky"
I want a bumper sticker that says, "I hate Jeff Tweedy, but I love his backing band." The funny thing is, who is his band? It seems to change with every record, which is precisely the reason I dislike professional sports. He's got a winning line-up this season, I just wish someone could've pinch-hit for Tweedy in the lyric writing position. See my blog about it here.

Honorable Mention:
The Rentals "Last Little Life" EP (They're back!)
Neil Young "Live at Massey Hall"
Zookeeper "Becoming All Things"
Feist "The Reminder"
Reissue of Sun Kil Moon's "Ghosts of the Great Highway" w/ bonus disc
Iron and Wine "Shepherd's Dog" (just got it)
TheBrotherEgg "Dandelion Wine" EP

Last Year's Top 10 List!