Tracks

For a fully annotated list of the top 100 songs of the year check out this post on my regular blog.

PART 1

1. Carrying a Stone — Loney, Dear
   from Loney, Noir, 2007

   I think I first heard this on Kevin Cole's show, and was immediately entranced. This was the kind of song that, when you park your car, you keep the key in the ignition until it ends, because you don't want to miss finding out who is responsible for such cascading, propulsive beauty.

2. To Be Surprised — Sondre Lerche
   from Dan In Real Life (Soundtrack), 2007

   I've been a Sondre fan since his very first album, and was quite excited to hear that he would be doing much of the music for this Steve Carell movie, which I didn't see until recently but quite enjoyed. Sondre also put out his own proper record in 2007, a rockier effort called Phantom Punch, but it didn't quite have the charm of this cut.

3. The Ghost of Old Bull Lee — Arthur & Yu
   from In Camera, 2007

   A breath of fresh air to my indie rock ears, Arthur & Yu are what The Velvet Underground would sound like if they weren't so consciously arty and counterculture. This is bedroom pop at its finest, and certainly one of my favorite discoveries of the year. I can't wait to hear what they're going to do next.

4. Open Your Heart — Lavender Diamond
   from Imagine Our Love, 2007

   Normally preciousness gets on my nerves. There is a line between cute and cloying, and I would've thought Lavender Diamond would've crossed it in name alone. And yet the hopefulness and naivete of this pop song beat down my cynicism, eventually earning a slot on my best of.

5. I Feel It All — Feist
   from The Reminder, 2007

   I enjoyed Feist's debut as much as the next guy, but The Reminder elevated the BSS singer's status to keeper. The entire album, with its moody, jazzy, poppy take on female rock, is excellent, and its anchored, in my opinion, not by the iTunes-approved "1,2,3,4" but by this gem.

6. London Bridges — Josh Rouse
   from Country Mouse, City House, 2007

   The most underrated singer/songwriter of the past ten years in my estimation, Rouse continues to put out one fantastic album after another, taking on all kinds of sub-genres, from alt-country to folk to europop to '70s AM radio and back again. Country Mouse might be his most straightforward album in years, but thanks to songs like this, it's still memorable. This song, coincidentally, reminds me of an old favorite by Seattle's own Eric Matthews… maybe that's what I like about it.

7. Thirteen — Elliott Smith
   from New Moon, 2007

   It doesn't hurt that this is titled after my lucky number. Nor does it hurt that it's a cover of an already great song by Big Star. Somehow, though, this Elliott Smith version, likely recorded on a lark, transcends all those reasons to love it and steals my heart on its own merits. I've always been a huge fan of sparse recordings, but this might be one of my all-time favorites.

8. Hungry — Ben Lee
   from Ripe, 2007

   Ripe was a bit of a disappointment for this lifelong Ben Lee fan, especially coming off the near-perfection of Awake Is the New Sleep. Most of it was overproduced, and much of the lyrics were a little too clever for their own good. But there were a few cuts, like this one, that bore the stamp of my favorite Ben Lee songs: a naked honesty, a genuine earnestness, and the desire for a true connection with someone—sounds like someone else I know.

9. Is There a Ghost — Band of Horses
   from Cease To Begin, 2007

   At first, I thought this album wasn't great, a disappointment even. Of course in making that bold declaration, I forgot how long it took for the first Band of Horses album to grow on me. Now nearly a year later, I've realized this one sneaks up on you too, and is quite good. I'm not even sure this is my favorite song on the album anymore (that might be "No One's Gonna Love You"), but at the time, I fell for the repetitive, hypnotic lyrics and anthemic guitars of "Ghost."

10. Plasticities — Andrew Bird
    from Armchair Apocrypha, 2007

    My favorite moment of Bumbershoot '07 might have been sitting side stage in a skippy (aka golf cart), listening to this song. I wasn't even a fan up until that point, really, though I was intrigued by this tiny Minnesotan who whistled like his namesake and played the violin in a hundred different ways. After this song was over, I couldn't get it out of my head for a month, and now am a big fan.

11. Teardrop — Jose Gonzalez
    from In Our Nature, 2007

    Another cover. I do love covers. And I do love Jose Gonzalez, who coincidentally, provided my highlight of Bumbershoot '06. His songs are so sad, so sparse, that it's somewhat inevitable that I fall in love with them. He also has a knack for picking great songs to reinterpret, from the Knife's "Heartbeats" to Kylie Minogue's "Hand on Your Heart." This, my absolute favorite Massive Attack song, is another fine example.

12. Dancing On Our Graves — The Cave Singers
    from Invitation Songs, 2007

    Odd that three normal looking dudes from Seattle would put together one of the best Southern gothic records I've ever heard. Making porch music (one of my favorite sub-genres of folk/alt-country/americana), but with a dark twist, the Cave Singers are, like Arthur & Yu, a reason 2007 was an exciting year for new music.

13. Unless It's Kicks — Okkervil River
    from The Stage Names, 2007

    Speaking of Southern gothic. Will Sheff & his bandmates have always sounded to me like the scariest parts of the deep south, even if I don't consider Austin to be even the slightest bit frightening. Maybe that's how they can sound so exuberant on a track like this, easily my favorite from The Stage Names.

14. Four Winds — Bright Eyes
    from Cassadega, 2007

    I'm not really that into Connor Oberst nor his "band" Bright Eyes. He's a little too serious for me, a little too self-important. I find it kind of pretentious, actually, to rebrand yourself when it's just a vanity solo project. Problem with my misplaced frustration though is that he actually writes some good songs, including this one. It's catchy, it's country, it's rock, and despite my disgust with its creator, it's good.

15. You Ain't Goin' Nowhere — Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova
    from I'm Not There (Soundtrack), 2007

    Perhaps I should've included a song from the film Once, which is where these two met and first made beautiful music together. At the time of this pressing, though, I hadn't yet seen the film nor heard the soundtrack. And while I do love a couple of those songs, this Bob Dylan cover has a haphazard charm that's missing on the more personal, emotional songs from the movie. Besides, it has that nice country flavor that goes so well with the latter half of this first disc.

16. While You Were Sleeping — Elvis Perkins
    from Ash Wednesday, 2007

    This song always reminds me of an old sketch by the State, where a dude is in a coma for only about an hour, and when he wakes up, the whole world has changed—his girlfriend got married, technology has evolved, methods of life are new. This song's kind of like that, though without the absurdity—once you realize that the whole album about 9/11, you tend to forget the comedy sketches and the song's real power takes hold.

17. No Bad News — Patty Griffin
    from Children Running Through, 2007

    Next to Neko Case, Patty is one of my favorite female vocalists ever. Her expressive, often twangy voice can sing the most heart-aching ballads, or it can go uptempo and create a marvelously defiant tune like this one.

18. Prickly Thorn, But Sweetly Worn — The White Stripes
    from Icky Thump, 2007

    I bet most White Stripes fans go for the loud, crunchy blues riffs like "Seven Nation Army." A song like that is great, but I think I like it better when Jack & Meg swing their pendulum back towards the folk idiom and record a song like this. In general, I found Thump a little lackluster, but this song grabbed me on first listen and never let go.

19. Hard Sun — Eddie Vedder
    from Into the Wild (Soundtrack), 2007

    I got the soundtrack nearly two months in advance of seeing the movie, so by the time the scene featuring this song came on screen, I already knew it well. That did nothing, however, to diminish its power. Ed's voice has never sounded so raw, so true, and with Corin Tucker's equally plaintive backing vocal, this is one of the most emotionally engaging songs I've heard—nay, experienced—in years.

PART 2

1. McFearless — Kings of Leon
   from Because of the Times, 2007

   I don't think I really liked this album when I first heard it. It was too different from Aha Shake Heartbreak, one of my favorite albums of this decade. I guess it goes to show you that first impressions aren't always best impressions. This album is nearly as good as its predecessor, this being my favorite song among many excellent choices. Who would've thought years ago, when Rolling Stone called them the Southern Strokes, that KOL would not only be this good, but that nobody would even know anymore who the Strokes were?

2. The Sons of Cain — Ted Leo & the Pharmacists
   from Living With the Living, 2007

   This song reminds me a lot of an X track, "New World," of which I am familiar thanks to a Pearl Jam cover version. Perhaps that's why I love it, or maybe the familiarity just adds to its allure, because the propulsiveness of the drumming here is what really carries the song for me.

3. Florida — Modest Mouse
   from We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank, 2007

   I can still remember the first time I heard this song. I bought the album on its release day, a rainy, cold March evening, and as I sat in my car before heading into a show at the Triple Door, this song came on and caught my attention. When it was over, I hit the back button and played it again. The first half of this album is, for my money, among the best Modest Mouse has ever made. The second half doesn't quite hold up, but no matter. Hearing "Florida" on repeat is good enough.

4. Good To Sea — Pinback
   from Autumn of the Seraphs, 2007

   This song evokes the '80s when I listen to it. I'm not sure why, because nothing in that decade ever sounded so under-produced. Yet I can't help but think of my childhood trip to San Diego and L.A., where I saw Shamu and visited Universal Studios and got absolutely roasted on an air mattress in my cousins' backyard pool. Other than that, I have no idea really why I like this song so much.

5. Back In Your Head — Tegan & Sara
   from The Con, 2007

   I never owned, nor even had the inclination to own a Tegan & Sara record before The Con. Even that one song the White Stripes covered wasn't enough to intrigue me. I guess I'm a latecomer to the party, then, because I really enjoyed the album, and this song especially. Maybe I'm just a patsy, but I now find the Quinn sisters' whiny voices kind of endearing in a strange way.

6. Precious One — Joseph Arthur & the Lonely Astronauts
   from Let's Just Be, 2007

   One of my favorite singer/songwriters in recent years, Brooklynite Arthur can get a little dirge-y and downright glum at times on record. This, obviously, is not one of those times. This song is best listened to, as Arthur himself might say, in the evening sun. It sounds like the potential of a great evening, just before the lights go out in the city and things get really interesting.

7. White Winter Hymnal — Fleet Foxes
   from Mountaineers, 2007

   This is kind of cheating, because this song wasn't even really released in 2007, though it was featured in a Bumbershoot "video" all summer. But in hindsight, now I can say I was on the now-crowded Fleet Foxes bandwagon quite early, and it was all thanks to this perfect little pop-country song. Now that they've got an EP and proper album, this song's impact has lessened some, but I will continue to love it for introducing me to a great up-and-coming band.

8. Sun Is Out — the apples in stereo
   from New Magnetic Wonder, 2007

   What is it about a giant star in the sky that makes people so happy? I mean, we see it almost every day, and yet when it comes out and shines bright over a blue sky, it's pretty much the greatest thing ever. Second to that feeling is a song to celebrate our favorite giant ball of fire, and this song serves that need well, making me happy even when the sun isn't out.

9. Lazy Girls — Jill Cunniff
   from City Beach, 2007

   I was a fan of Luscious Jackson from ages ago, when I first saw them on The Adventures of Pete & Pete. Unlike Pete Wrigley, however, my love was not bestowed upon Gabby Glaser, but instead I fell madly for Jill Cunniff. I loved her side project with fellow Luscious lady Vivian Tremble, and now, years after LJ broke up, I'm enamored with Jill again, thanks to this ode to summer and popsicles.

10. You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb — Spoon
    from Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, 2007

    Whoever planted the seed of Motown into Spoon's musical talent was a genius. It fits them well. The horn section, the keyboards, the Holland-Dozier-Holland-inspired tamborine… it just works. When this song comes on, whether I am in the car, listening on head phones, or wherever, I start tapping the wheel, bouncing my knees, and singing along—it's that good.

11. Young Folks — Peter Bjorn & John
    from Writer's Block, 2007

    This is one of those great retro songs in the sense that it sounds like a time that never really existed. It's as if the Beatles came from Northern Europe in the '60s, but only after they'd time-traveled to the '90s and back. And you can't go wrong with a whistling chorus.

12. Keep the Car Running — The Arcade Fire
    from Neon Bible, 2007

    Truth be told, "No Cars Go" is the best song off this, the Arcade Fire's second consecutive great album. But even if the production quality's not as good, I'm partial to the original EP version from 2005, and so the newness of "Car" beats "Cars" by a nose.

13. Reckoner — Radiohead
    from In Rainbows, 2007

    I'm not sure why, but I really love songs about death. Especially when it's sort of obtusely referenced like it is here. Sure, the title gives it away, but I don't care. The best Radiohead album in years produced a lot of possibilities for inclusion on this list, including "All I Need," "Videotape," and one of my most played songs of '07, "House of Cards," but "Reckoner" was my first and still greatest favorite.

14. Wet and Rusting — Menomena
    from Friend and Foe, 2007

    Sure, you've heard of love at first sight. But what about love at first sound? From the very first note of the very first time I heard this song, I knew I loved it. I've listened to it so many times now (more than any song this decade, actually) and somehow it gets better every time. It speaks to me in a way no song has in years. The childlike quality of the piano, the chaotic song structure, the cadence of the drumming, the counter melody in the second half… there is nothing I don't love about this song.

15. We're Not Alone — Dinosaur Jr.
    from Beyond, 2007

    I finally got Dinosaur Jr.'s greatest hits last year, after ages and ages of liking them without being too familiar with their catalogue. With only the hits in my repertoire now, I guess I'm still not too familiar, but I know enough to have been really excited for their reunion album, which produced a fabulous bit of '90s-reminiscent jangle here on the melancholic "We're Not Alone."

16. Herculean — The Good, The Bad & The Queen
    from The Good, The Bad & The Queen, 2007

    To many this album was a disappointment, what with the stellar players involved and all (former members of Blur, Verve and The Clash), and I might be included in that camp. But this song, one of my earliest candidates for the Best of '07, never quite fell off my radar, even after all the great releases that followed. Damon Albarn's distant vocal, the keyboard and weird samples stick in my head even now.

17. You! Me! Dancing! — Los Campesinos!
    from Sticking Fingers Into Sockets, 2007

    It may or may not surprise you, dear readers, to know that I am a bit of a bedroom dancer. I can't tell if it's self-consciousness that keeps me from doing it in public, or the sheer annoyance at crowds and need for personal space, or the fact that I don't care much for jumping around or waving my hands in the air like I just don't care. I'd much rather groove on some loud recorded music with the laundry on the floor and the neighbors upstairs. So thank you, Los Campesinos! for celebrating people like me.

18. D.A.N.C.E. — Justice
    from †, 2007

    At first I kind of wrote Justice off as a pale imitation of Daft Punk. Only problem was, this song just wouldn't go away. I kept playing it and playing it and liking it more every time. I eventually got the album—on the same day, ironically, as I finally completed my Daft collection with Homework—and you know what? It's pretty great. Also pretty great, if I may say so myself, is putting this track right after Los Campesinos!

19. Do U — Gabriel Teodros
    from Lovework, 2007

    It's been a fantastic few years for Seattle hip-hop of late. Common Market, The Saturday Knights, Blue Scholars, Cancer Rising, and so many others have been making solid, positive, party rap and finally people are starting to take notice. I caught this track one day on KEXP and set out to own it almost instantly. "Do U" is a Jam with a capital J, no doubt about it. If modern rap radio were more like this song, the world would be a better place.

20. Rehab — Amy Winehouse
    from Back to Black, 2007

    Oh, Amy Winehouse, you are an idiot. An impeccably-voiced, extremely talented, grade-A fool. If this be your only contribution to the pop music world, then so be it. At least you had your moment in the sun, before you doused yourself in alcohol and coke and spontaneously combusted.

21. Umbrella — Rihanna feat. Jay-Z
    from Good Girl Gone Bad, 2007

    This should not be considered as the Token Pop Song, a vain and fruitless attempt to stay relevant with The Kids. Nor should it be seen as some sort of ironic, hipsteriffic See I Listen to the Radio Even Though It Actually Sucks kind of statement. It is neither of those things because "Umbrella" is a genuinely good song, and I like it, and not just because Rihanna's hot or because she's got some sort of street cred simply by putting a Jay-Z cameo on her already radio-friendly tune. "Umbrella" deserves to be on the Best of 2007 because sometimes pop music is all we've got to transcend all the holier-than-thou attitudes of music aficionados like myself. So there. Enjoy your four minutes of bliss.

cover: Head in the Clouds / November 22, 2007 / Haleakala, Maui, HI

Volume 2, Issue 1: The Best of 2007