Top 10 Albums of 2007
Bowerbirds ââ¬â Hymns for a Dark Horse Devendra’s new album got most of the folk vote for album of the year, but excepting a few listens when it first came out, I haven’t really given it that much attention. For my money, the debut album by Bowerbirds was much more compelling.
Oh No! Oh My! ââ¬â Between the Devil and the Sea Yeah, it’s only an EP, and yeah, most of these songs were on the demo album years ago, back when Oh No! Oh My! were called the Jolly Rogers, but technically this album was released this year, so I’m gonna let it in. Besides, this is a great song:
Born Ruffians ââ¬â Hummingbird Another EP, but whatever, every song on this album is pure gold (including a cover of Grizzly Bear’s Knife). Also check out the super-charming video for this song here.
White Rabbits ââ¬â Fort Nightly Okay, so maybe these guys sound like they learned everything they know about music by listening to the first two Walkmen albums, but you act like that’s a bad thing…
Black Kids ââ¬â Wizard of Ahhhs All four songs this band have recorded are available for free download on their MySpace page. So, so good.
I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You [mp3]
Animal Collective ââ¬â Strawberry Jam I know I said I was gonna leave off all the new albums by established favorites, but this album was just too good to pass up.
The Shaky Hands ââ¬â The Shaky Hands I wrote about this Portland band earlier in the year, and here we are at the end and this album was still one of my favorites. This is a slightly different version of the song I posted before, this time from their debut EP.
We All Have Hooks For Hands ââ¬â The Pretender I wrote about these guys too, but what I didn’t say back then was that I spent pretty much two full weeks listening to this 30-minute album over and over and over. The song I posted before is still my favorite, but Elvis “MF” Christ is pretty good, too.
Vampire Weekend ââ¬â Vampire Weekend Yeah, sure, they’re huge now, but they totally deserve it. Actually, I wish they hadn’t gotten huge before I went all the way out to Echo Park for their tickets-at-the-door-only show only to find that it’d sold out 30 minutes before the first band even went on, but whatever.
Fourth of July ââ¬â Fourth of July on the Plains And this is my Number 1.
How about some runners up?
Shapes and Sizes ââ¬â Split Lips, Winning Hips, A Shiner (Previously)
And finally, who could forget all the great 2006 music that I didn’t hear until 2007?