JKs Picks for 2007

I think most avid music listeners would agree that 2007 was a great year for music, not quite up to the quality of '05 but far better than an all-together dismal '06. I've been working on this list for quite awhile and here's my final version.

The Baker's Dozen:
13. Bruce Springsteen - Magic*
12. Dinosaur Jr. - Beyond*
11. Division Day - Beartrap Island
10. Klaxons - Myths of the Near Future

9. The White Stripes - Icky Thump: This is a better album than I'm willing to give them credit for. Initially, I loved it but then I started to grow tired of Jack and Meg and I've since stopped listening to this. I think we just need some time apart. I'll be back.

8. The New Pornographers - Challengers: About as close to being a sure bet as they come.

7. Band of Horses - Cease to Begin: I can't see myself ever getting tired of listening to this album.

6. Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga: see The New Pornographers.

5. Cloud Cult - The Meaning of 8: see The New Pornographers and Spoon.

4. Yeasayer - All Hour Cymbals: I could regret putting this up too high but for now, this is exactly the fresh and unique sound from a new band that I needed this year.

3. Arcade Fire - Neon Bible: I think a lot of people will downgrade this due to overexposure (see The White Stripes) but I think this is truly a great album. They exceeded my expectations and earned arena rock status.

2. The National - Boxer: I think I saw them live 5 times this year and heard the same set list pretty much every time. Didn't bother me one bit.

1. Radiohead - In Rainbows: An easy pick for me. I can't believe I'm writing this but Rolling Stone really said it best: "...none of it sounds like any other band on earth; it delivers an emotional punch that proves all other rock stars owe us an apology."

* Proving that yes, old men can still rock.

10 Albums I recommend but fall short in a year of great music:
Queens of the Stone Age - Era Vulgaris
Jose Gonzalez - In Our Nature
Dragons of Zynth - Coronation Thieves
Ryan Adams - Easy Tiger
Eddie Vedder - Into the Wild Motion Picture Soundtrack
The Twilight Sad - Fourteen Autumns & Fifteen Winters
The Handsome Furs - Plague Park
Bloc Party - A Weekend in the City
Interpol - Our Love to Admire
White Rabbits - Fort Nightly

Albums that were critically acclaimed and I will never understand why:
Panda Bear - Person Pitch
Animal collective - Strawberry Jam
Sunset Rubdown - Random Spirit Lover
Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?

Albums that I thought I'd like but just couldn't get into:
Broken Social Scene Presents Kevin Drew - Spirit If
Okkervil River - The Stage Names

Album that I thought was hit and miss although most felt was a hit:
LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver

Established bands/artists that I just got into this year and am now completely into:
Ryan Adams
Modest Mouse
John Frusciante
The Silver Jews

The WTF album of 2007 released by a legend:
Puscifer - V is for Vagina

20 Favorite Songs of 2007:
1. Radiohead - "All I Need"
2. The National - "Fake Empire"
3. LCD Soundsystem - "All My Friends"
4. The National - "Mistaken for Strangers"
5. Band of Horses - "Cigarettes, Wedding Bands"
6. Radiohead - "Videotape"
7. Arcade Fire - "Keep the Car Running"
8. Cloud Cult - "Take Your Medicine"
9. Queens of the Stone Age - "Suture Up Your Future"
10. Interpol - "Mammoth"
11. Okkervil River - "Our Life is Not a Movie or Maybe
12. The National - "Slow Show"
13. Bloc Party - "Song for Clay (Disappear Here)"
14. Dragons of Zynth - "Anna Mae"
15. Radiohead - "Reckoner"
16. Yeasayer - "2080"
17. The White Stripes - A Martyr for My Love For You"
18. LCD Soundsystem - "Someone Great"
19. Yeasayer - "Wait for the Wintertime"
20. Sebastian Grainger & Les Montagnes- "Are There Ways to Come Home"

15 Favorites from the 2000s:
Radiohead - Kid A
Arcade Fire - Funeral
Radiohead - In Rainbows
...And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead - Source Tags & Codes
Beck - Sea Change
Bloc Party - Silent Alarm
Broken Social Scene - Your Forgot It in People
Interpol - Turn on the Bright Lights
Wilco - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot
The Wrens - Meadowlands
Cloud Cult - Advice for the Happy Hippopotamus
The National - Alligator (or Boxer; haven't decided)
The White Stripes - White Blood Cells
Wolf Parade - Apologies to the Queen Mary
Dismemberment Plan - Change

Previously: 2006 Picks