The Best Albums of 2007
All criticism is, to some extent subjective, but of all the artistic mediums which receive regular critical attention, rock/pop music criticism is by far the least grounded in any sort of objective standards. That doesn’t mean there are none to speak of, but the criteria on which pop music critics make their judgments are broader, vaguer, and less settled than those used by the critical communities surrounding, say, jazz, classical music, film, or fiction. Making year-end best lists, then, especially ordered lists, is — at very best — an exercise in instinct and approximation.
Part of the problem lies in balancing the concerns of personal enjoyment versus innovation and impact. With movies, it’s fairly easy to call something a guilty pleasure and move on, but with pop music more than any other medium, it’s difficult to separate the comforts and pleasures of the familiar and the conventional from a higher set of critical standards. Spoon’s Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, for example, makes for a singularly delightful listen, but it’s essentially trafficking in musical ideas that have been around for three decades (at least), and it’s little more than a refinement and update on its own time-tested sound. It’s tough enough to attempt to put this up against something roughly equivalent like The Arcade Fire’s Neon Bible. How does one effectively compare this to, say, Animal Collective’s Strawberry Jam, a brilliant but often dense and difficult record whose primary pleasures are in its innovations and experimentions?
This problem is only exacerbated by the increasing need to compare across genres. It’s relatively easy to make substantive arguments that M.I.A.‘s Kala and Kanye West’s Graduation are simply better albums than 50 Cent’s dismal Curtis, or even Jay-Z’s surprisingly strong, if too straightforward, American Gangster. But how ought one go about ranking any of these albums in a list that also includes Animal Collective and Spoon?
In the end, it’s an almost purely arbitrary decision, a not-quite-random balancing act that tries to figure out the proper blend of personal pleasure and enthusiasm, recognition of impact and ingenuity, and qualitative judgments about the success or failure of a project weighed against its ambitions. In that spirit, here are my picks for the best – or at least my favorite – albums of 2007.
15) Sunset Rubdown – Random Spirit Lover
14) St. Vincent – Marry Me
13) Spoon – Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
12) Black Kids – Wizard of Ahhs
11) Justice – †
10) Battles – Mirrored
9) Feist – The Reminder
8) Of Montreal – Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?
7) Menomena – Friend and Foe
6) Arcade Fire – Neon Bible
5) The National – Boxer
4) MIA – Kala
3) Yeasayer – All Hour Cymbals
2) Animal Collective – Strawberry Jam
1) Kanye West – Graduation
I probably heard upwards of 200 new albums this year, and this was, by far, the best year for music in a very long time (I’m tempted to say in my lifetime). I found exciting and instantly memorable new music on what seemed like a regular schedule for the entire year. So I feel it’s worth it to note some other strong albums, many of which might have made a year-end best list in a weaker year.
Other worthy albums this year (in no particular order):
Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Is Is EP; Travis Morrison – All Y’all; Simian Mobile Disco – Attack Decay Sustain Release; Radiohead – In Rainbows; Jay-Z – American Gangster; John Vanderslice – Emerald City; Iron & Wine – Shepherd’s Dog; Interpol – Our Love to Admire; El-P – I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead; Aesop Rock – None Shall Pass; Les Savy Fav – Let’s Stay Friends; Dear and the Headlights – Small Steps, Heavy Hooves; Deerhoof – Friend Opportunity; Johnny Greenwood – There Will Be Blood Soundtrack; Grizzly Bear – Friend EP; Okkervil River – Stage Names; Blonde Redhead – 23; Le Loup – The Throne of the Third Heaven of the Nations Millennium General Assembly; LCD Soundsystem – Sound of Silver; Modest Mouse – We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank; Goodbooks – Control; Nine Inch Nails – Year Zero
I thought it was curious that Pitchfork’s year-end review put Panda Bear’s Person Pitch at the top of the list; it’s a pleasant enough record, but not especially memorable, and not nearly as good as Strawberry Jam. (Sez me.)
— Alan Jacobs · Dec 30, 09:49 PM · #
Dear Lord, the only bands I’ve heard of on that liste are Justice and Kanye West. Does that mean I have to turn in my youth licence to the authorities?
— PEG · Dec 30, 10:07 PM · #
Alan, I agree completely. Person Pitch was a curious, often interesting album, but I remain baffled at the attention it’s received, especially in comparison with the far superior Strawberry Jam.
PEG, no, not yet; adding Stereogum to your RSS reader and check it periodically ought to do the trick (though I do wonder how you’ve managed to miss out on Spoon, who has been around for more than a decade and achieved a measure of mainstream success, and Feist, who is more or less the official Apple songstress).
— Peter Suderman · Dec 30, 10:14 PM · #
Nice to see The National getting recognition, Peter. The first song on Boxer, Fake Empire, is exquisite. And the rest of the album is nearly as good. I picked up on them with Alligator and have dipped into their older stuff as well; I think they’re a band that’s really hitting their stride. What else on your list, if anything, might appeal to a fan of The National? (I do adore Neon Bible as well…)
— Chris Floyd · Dec 30, 11:24 PM · #
Thank Chris, I was pretty impressed with that album too, although I actually think “Mistaken for Strangers” is the best track.
Judging from those two picks, I’d recommend checking out Iron & Wine, St. Vincent, Le Loup, Blonde Redhead, John Vanderslice, and maybe Yeasayer, Black Kids (the whole album is free on myspace), Feist, and Spoon as well. Most if not all of these bands have a couple of songs free online somewhere, so the only investment you need to make is a little bit of time.
— Peter Suderman · Dec 30, 11:52 PM · #
I would be hard pressed to name ANY album in the last five years as memorable. It seems like all energy and creativity has disappeared. Rap in particular has gone to parody like Chronic of Narnia on SNL.
— Jim Rockford · Dec 30, 11:56 PM · #
I heartily endorse this list. LSF album is great. Peter introduced me to Simian Mobile Disco, which was a highlight. Hua Hsu sent me some excellent music that I’m still processing. I was actually pretty pleased by new releases from Raekwon (The DaVinci Code mix), Lil Wayne, Ghostface, Jay-Z, AZ (surprisingly!), etc., and I say this as someone who’s also been discouraged by hip-hop’s creative exhaustion. Nobody & Mystic Chords of Memory were great. I love any Rilo Kiley album, including the new one (which polarized fans). Yeasayer is amazing, and richly deserves its spot on Peter’s list. I thought the St. Vincent album was a mixed bag, but will give it another listen. I’m still not sold on Battles and Menomena, but that’s a strong vote of confidence.
Thank you sir for an excellent list!
— Reihan · Dec 31, 02:10 AM · #
200 albums in a year? This means that you listened to an new album every other day. I find it difficult to believe that you actually took the time to listen to and digest every track on every one of these albums.
— Jeff · Dec 31, 02:11 AM · #
Kanye West is the greatest sham since Geritol. Like PT Anderson, the one ability he really has is the ability to play precisely to critic’s tastes. I really do wonder if critics will ever realize how eminently easy they are to manipulate. Ugh.
— Freddie · Dec 31, 03:56 AM · #
Jeff, you’re certainly welcome to disbelieve, but I really do listen to a huge amount of music; if I counted all the albums I only heard partially, it would probably be more like 500 albums. I tend to flip through a couple of songs off of a half dozen albums a few times week. I listen to about 4-5 of those albums all the way through, and most of those get multiple listens. (It helps to have a job where I can listen to music almost all day if I want, or even just play an album through twice in the morning while catching up on the news.) I wouldn’t claim to be able to produce a detailed description of every track on every one of those albums, but I don’t really think that’s necessary. I tend to forget those that don’t grab me as much, so the ones that don’t stick out at the end of the year, the ones that I’m not still listening to every now and then or that don’t jump out at me when I’m looking through my collection, are the ones I didn’t care for as much.
Freddie, I really adore PT Anderson, and I’ve increasingly enjoyed Kanye’s records (the others were strong, but this year’s is the only one I really love), so it’s entirely possible that you’re right about their ability to play to the critical consensus. That said, Kanye, at least, is extremely popular with the music-buying public; Graduation sold 1.8 million copies this year, so I don’t think it’s quite accurate to say that that’s his only trick.
It’s also true that, from a certain perspective, many critics are easy to manipulate. I think your statement relies too much on the assumption that most critics’ tastes are the same, but I’ll definitely grant that there are certain qualities that quite a few professional and semi-pro pop culture critics tend to appreciate. Nut I suspect most critics would argue that those are 1. pretty hard to produce (especially seeing as how rarely it happens) and 2. the things that, well, make a piece of pop art good.
Now, you might simply argue that “the critics,” in general, don’t know what the hell they’re talking about. That’s fine! But I tend to be of the mind that, broadly speaking (there are a gajillion specific exceptions), when the critical community — supposedly the people who are best positioned to discern what’s interesting and worthwhile in a medium — latches onto a particular piece of art or artist, that probably means there’s something there. Maybe not something I particularly like myself, but something worth considering seriously.
Or, you could always ignore all that and take a shot at internet fame
and fortuneand pitch your nicely counterintuitive ideas about PTA and Kanye to Slate.— Peter Suderman · Dec 31, 04:42 AM · #
I can attest to Peter’s prolific music-listening, and he’s not the only one. Consider that there is a bell curve in the distribution of music-listening, and that some people of course exist in the far right edge. Given the number of nonprofessionals I know who spent implausibly large amounts of time listening to music, reading comic books, buying and making clothing, etc., I’m surprised that Jeff would find this even remotely surprising. Also, keep in mind that Peter’s been writing music criticism since he was a teenager, which means that he gets albums early and often, often for free. That makes life easier.
— Reihan · Dec 31, 06:17 AM · #
No Kevin Drew/ Broken Social Scene’s Spirit If? For shame.
— Derrick · Jan 3, 04:12 AM · #
…There is one composer whose name is never included with the greats. Why is it that nobody remembers the name of Johann Gambolputty de von Ausfern-schplenden-schlitter-crasscrenbon-fried-digger-dingle-dangle-dongle- dungle-burstein-vonknnacker-trasher-apple-banger-horowitz-ticolensic-grander-knotty -spelltinkle-grandlich-grumblemeyer-spelterwasser-kurstlich-himbleeisen-bahnwagen -gutenabend-bitte-ein-nurnburger-bratwustle-gernspurten-mitz-weimacho-luber-hundsfut-gumberaber-schonedanker-kalbsfleisch-mittler-aucher von Hautkopft of Ulm?
—from my Monty Python page-a-day calendar for 2008
— Joules · Jan 3, 11:13 PM · #