Yes, 2007 was the Year Of Disappointments, as far as many were concerned. The recording industry continued to suffer as God continued to smite them for exploiting the ringtone rap craze and allowing Nickelback to sell music to the public, but this has been fairly standard fare since 2002, so let's move on. No, what was truly disappointing was watching artists that I once considered great fall flat on their face in total embarassment. (Except in Wilco's case, in which they fell flat on their face and didn't seem to care because the vibes were just so good, man...).
But while the Interpols and the Bands of Horses of the world were busy pissing on our goodwill, there were a select few artists who were willing and gracious enough to avoid following the usual trends of the industry and actually reward their listeners with good music that didn't insult their intelligence. The following records are all ones that I sought out, purchased, and left afterwards feeling extremely elated and satisfied. If you don't own them, you either have pencils in your ears or you bought too many Dan Deacon and Justice records. (If this is the case, you probably should stick pencils in your ears).
10. A Place To Bury Strangers-A Place To Bury Strangers: Shoegaze and JAMC-style drone pop is very difficult to pull off without sounding completely moronic (exhibit A: Hurricane #1), but A Place To Bury Strangers pulls this off quite admirably. What's even more astonishing is that, even though they're from Brooklyn and they got a shitload of hype from the Pitchfork staff, I still genuinely like them. One of the best debuts of the year, and easily the best knock-off of Psychocandy I've heard.
9. Spoon-Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga: Goddamn; I hate typing that title, but I fucking love this record. In a year when artists tried to reach lofty ideas that were far beyond their station, Spoon's return to fast, taut indie pop/rock after 2005 admirable-yet-unsatisfying Gimme Fiction was a definite breath of fresh air. Deservedly, the album's smart blend of guitar rock, funk, and soul earned the band a bigger audience, and the newcomers couldn't have picked a better album to start getting into one of America's finest pop bands.
8. Sunset Rubdown-Random Spirit Lover: Spencer Krug is a strange creature for me to approach: on one hand, he gets a wicked amount of hype for his many projects, most notably the enjoyable-but-massively-overrated Wolf Parade; on the other hand, his work with Sunset Rubdown has always displayed a deft mastery of texture and dense songcraft. Random Spirit Lover doesn't change that. If you like Spencer Krug, particularly Shut Up I Am Dreaming, then there's plenty to love here. If you don't like Sunset Rubdown, then there's obviously something wrong with you.
7. Panda Bear-Person Pitch: Another one of the more "interesting" offerings of 2007 in that it's a collection of pop songs wrapped in something damn near impenetrable. "Bros", for example, is-at its center-a brilliant slice of Brian Wilson-esque pop...except it has a bunch of weird noises and it goes on for 12 minutes. It sounds scary, but it isn't. Noah Lennox keeps up his momentum, allowing his songs to stretch without wearing out his welcome. Strangeness isn't always off-putting, you know.
6. Dinosaur Jr.-Beyond: After all the waiting, the tours, the thefts, and the various albums that got a severe boost from the "featuring J Mascis" tagline, Dinosaur Jr. got down to business and made a record that could've either made or broken their legacy. So what do they do? They pick up where they left off, of course. Beyond is a louder, more sober You're Living All Over Me, made by three guys who figured out why they enjoyed making music together in the first place. Everything to love about Dino Jr. is here: the loud arrangements, the mumbled lyrics about nothing. Honestly, what more could you ask for?
5. Jay-Z-American Gangster: Nothing disappointed me as much this year as the entire rap genre did. While efforts by Kanye West, Wu Tang Clan, and Ghostface Killah (okay, and T.I.) were entertaining, they were far from what each artist was capable of. Thankfully, we now have a re-invigorated Jay-Z to know and love. American Gangster returns to the soul-sampling formula that served Jigga so well on The Blueprint and The Black Album, but rather than sounding like a retread, Jay sounds inspired and assured, free of the lyrical laziness that plagued Kingdom Come. Too bad the movie that inspired him sucked...
4. Arcade Fire-Neon Bible: I must be forced to eat crow here: I'm not placing this album at the #1 spot, even though I flipped two shits about its awesomeness when it came out. You know what? I don't care. Fuck critical integrity. It may not be the absolute best album of the year, but it's still fucking great. "(Antichrist Television Blues)" still does Springsteen better than the actual Springsteen can, "Intervention" still gives me goosebumps when I hear it, and "No Cars Go" is still the knock-you-on-your-ass album closer that never was ("My Body Is A Cage" still kinda sucks). Hype be damned, I love Neon Bible.
3. Ted Leo & The Pharmacists-Living With The Living: In a world that's becoming a bit too much like the Reagan-esque Bullshit Artist Golden Age of the 1980s, we desperately need a new Clash, a band that will lay off the partying for a bit so they can urge us on towards change. As I've said multiple times, "Thank God for Ted Leo." Living With The Living is the sound of a man who has allowed his music to expand in order to match his lofty ideas. Leo's songs inspire a sort of fist-pumping righteousness, while the admittedly haphazard track sequencing gives the feeling of discomfort. It's just the elixir we'll need for the upcoming Bullshitting Contest in 2008.
2. Animal Collective-Strawberry Jam: Truth be told, I've never heard a record like this before. It's noisy and abrasive, yet it contains distinctly melodic songs. It's sort of what people said Yankee Hotel Foxtrot by Wilco was, except it isn't a load of crap and overhype this time. Try listening to songs like "Peacebone" or "For Reverend Green": they sound dissonant at first, but you'll catch yourself humming along to the songs a few minutes later. Records like these don't often exist, which is why it's such a treat when an artist respects the listener's ability to appreciate enough to create such an immersible work.
And finally....
1. Radiohead-In Rainbows: Okay, it's not as revolutionary as Kid A or OK Computer. In fact, it's about as streamlined as Radiohead have been since The Bends. Why, then, is it the #1 album of 2007? Honestly, I'm not sure. I don't know what aspect of the record it is, but something keeps bringing me back to this record. I can honestly say I've never truly enjoyed a record for a long time before I heard In Rainbows. Something about the record-the warm, inviting production; Johnny Greenwood's slick, jazzy guitar work, or Thom Yorke's modestly intense songs-made me shut off most of my self-imposed critical facets and just made me love the damn thing. After close to 100 listens, I can tell that it's another new turn for Radiohead, this time into the realm of rhythm section-based lo-fi, a la Liars. It's also evident that the band sound like they enjoy what they do again: had this been Hail To The Thief, songs like "15 Step" and "Jigsaw Falling Into Place" may have ended up as 5-minute dirges; here, they're exciting, spontaneous and-yes, I'm using this word in regards to a Radiohead album-fun. Hell, I don't even care two shits about all the hoopla surrounding its release. Even with all the talk about how "revolutionary" and "daring" the pay-what-you-want tactic was, it was all helped by the fact that In Rainbows was an album worth paying for, anyway. And if you didn't pay for it, God will probably slap you in the face before you wake up and realize that it was all a dream.
