my 20 favorite albums of 2007: #20-16 (and my top disappointments thrown in just to keep things interesting)

My original intent was to write about my favorite ten musical releases of the year, but after sitting down to sort out what those would be and realizing that I had acquired 65 new albums this year (57 which were released in 2007), it became clear that I would have an absolutely impossible time limiting myself to just ten. And so, I whittled things down to 20 of my favorites and broke one monstrously long post up into four much more manageably-sized ones, which I'll be posting over the course of the next four weeks.

These are things you care about, even if you don't realize it yet.

But before all that, here are my two biggest musical disappointments of 2007, and in no particular order:

Interpol, Our Love to Admire
Although not a total lost cause (I rather like "The Heinrich Maneuver" and "All Fired Up"), two good songs an album does not make. It seems that a certain band of moody hipsters have finally gotten too big for their britches, assuming no one would notice if they put out a half-hearted piece of crap. Well, I noticed. Do better.

The New Pornographers, Challengers
I know. I'm surprised too. However, sometimes music is yummy and sometimes it's icky, and Challengers - well - it just tastes icky to me, which is a shame because I really, really like this band. Boo, man. Boo.

But, now let's on to the positive, yes?...

#20: Panda Bear, Person Pitch
To know me is to know that I am not at all afraid of experimental and weird. Person Pitch is what I imagine The Beach Boys would sound like if they dropped some acid and wrote an album for today. And even though I'm not entirely sure what I mean by that, I do know what I mean when I say that Person Pitch is actually quite brilliant. I'd have liked to rank it higher because I'm pretty sure that's what it deserves, however I just didn't listen to it enough for some reason.
What I Like Most: "Take Pills"



#19: !!!, Myth Takes
I'm probably a bit too old to like this band, but whatever. For God's sake, I still get carded for "R" rated movies, so I'm planning to keep denying my age and ride this funky train for as long as humanly possible. (Or, at least until I start to wrinkle.)
Best Moment(So Says I): "All my Heroes are Weirdos"


#18: Voxtrot, Voxtrot

I sure hope Ramesh isn't too mad at me for ranking this band so low, but even I can't excuse the two or three total duds on their debut. Even still, there are songs on here that I unashamedly adore, and so I just couldn't keep it off the list. So sue me.
Songs I'd Recommend: "Kid Gloves" and "Brother in Conflict"


#17: Explosions in the Sky, All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone
Prior to Explosions in the Sky I would never consider myself a fan of instrumental rock, however they've convinced me. I wrote 75% of this year's blog entries and graded a mountain of papers to this album. Perfectly lovely yet not at all distracting music to write to is what it is.

My Favorite: "Catastrophe and the Cure"

#16: LCD Soundsystem, Sound of Silver

Oh, Sound of Silver. I loved you hard for two solid months and then completely forgot about you. Remember how we logged all hours on the treadmill together? How you kept me company while driving to work during the entire month of September? How I danced to you in my kitchen when I was alone and thought no one was looking? I'm sorry I forgot about you, little buddy. But see - I'm remembering you now! So, all's forgiven, right???
Me Likes: "Sound of Silver" and "Get Innocuous!"

And there's more coming. Just not today.