So it's the time of year for "best of..." lists, and many sites have already posted "best albums" lists. I'm partly inspired by Eric, but this post will be nowhere near as elaborate as Eric's exhaustive year-end reviews. In fact, I won't even attempt to rank the albums; I guess my taste isn't that sophisticated. Rather, following the iTunes star system, I'll grade the albums, at least the ones that I feel strongly about.
Among the albums about which I don't have strong feelings are some that various sources seem to think are the tops, stuff by Panda Bear (and his steady drone), M.I.A. (I just don't think I get her--my fault, not hers), and LCD Soundsystem (although the album has grown on me). To be frank, I think all three are overrated. Among the others that make too little an impression for me to really care: Wild Mountain Nation by Blitzen Trapper (though the title track and “Country Caravan” are nice), Some Loud Thunder by Clap Your Hands Say Yeah!, Interpol’s new one, Allright, Still by Lily Allen, We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank by Modest Mouse (though it’s exciting that Johnny Marr has joined the band), Neil Young’s Chrome Dreams II, One Man Revolution by The Nightwatchman (i.e., Tom Morello, and perhaps the more moronic than oxymoronic title suggests where this goes wrong; still some of the guitar is [expectedly] nice), and Steve Earle’s Washington Square (which is okay, but just okay; there was certainly a time when I wouldn’t have imagined saying I just don’t care about a Steve Earle album, but that’s where things are).
3.67 Stars
Ryan Adams – Easy Tiger
Animal Collective – Strawberry Jam
This I get more than Panda's solo album. "Fireworks" is a great song, though not quite the best Fire- song of 2007 (see Voxtrot's "Firecracker"). I also like "For Reverend Green," though I'm underwhelmed by "Peacebone."
The Besnard Lakes – The Besnard Lakes Are The Dark Horse
Jens Lekman – Night Falls Over Kortedala
Of Montreal – Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?
Stars – In Our Bedroom After the War
Ted Leo – Living with the Living
Lucinda Williams – West
4 Stars
Black Francis – Bluefinger
Feist – The Reminder
New Pornographers – Challengers
This is a really good album, largely underrated, I think. How can you not like the title track?
The Shins – Wincing the Night Away
Although "Phantom Limb" and "A Comet Appears" are truly terrific songs, and although "Sleeping Lessons" (zune ad and all) and "Turn on Me" are quite good songs, on the whole I find this album a bit overrated.
Voxtrot – Voxtrot
This album isn't quite as good as Voxtrot's two EPs released over the last two years promised. However, "Firecracker" is one of the top 5 tracks of the year.
4.33 Stars
Arcade Fire – Neon Bible
Caribou – Andorra
The National – The Boxer
Peter Bjorn and John – Writer’s Block
Iron and Wine – The Shepherd’s Dog
Spoon – Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
The Thrills – Teenager
Wilco – Sky Blue Sky
4.67 Stars
Apples in Stereo – New Magnetic Wonder
Pitchfork and I don't seem to agree, but I think the only real weakness of this album is that it contains 11 tracks under 1:30 and 10 under 1:00--filler, link songs. Still, "7 Stars" is a fine song, as are "Open Eyes," "Skyway," and "Same Old Drag."
Beirut – The Flying Club Cup
Blonde Redhead – 23
This album isn't quite Misery Is a Butterfly, but it's close, and it's damn good.
John Vanderslice – Emerald City
Another underrated album, I think. It's no Cellar Door (and probably not quite Pixel Revolt either), but it has plenty of merits. "White Dove" is insistently (and perhaps instantly) singable, but it was "Kookaburra" that I couldn't get out of my head. The first video off the album is clever, and "Time to Go" is a good song, too.
5 Stars
Band of Horses – Cease to Begin
So people seem to think this isn't quite the effort the band's first album was, but I actually like it better. The only song on the album not worth 5*s is "Lamb on the Lam," and that's only because it's really just an intro to "Islands on the Coast." "Ode to LRC" and "No One's Gonna Love You" are simply brilliant. (And although I was watching Chuck a little skeptically this season, that the latter played on "Chuck vs. the Nemesis" definitely tilted the scale in its favor.) "Marry Song" is also quite good. These three would go into 5+* rating, which I sometimes crave.
Okkervil River – The Stage Names
This is simply an amazing album. It's neither better nor worse than Black Sheep Boy. Both are stunning. The only song not a solid 5*s (most merit that 5+* rating), to my mind, is track 4, "Savannah Smiles," still a weak 5*. So it's hard to pick highlights, but forced, I'd say the first two tracks, "Our Life Is Not a Movie or Maybe" and "Unless It's Kicks" (here's the Waterloo in-store), and "Plus Ones" (clever concept), as well as the really smart "John Allyn Smith Sails" (about John Berryman, of course, and merging seamlessly into "Sloop John B"): "By the second verse, dear friends / My head will burst, my life will end..." And indeed in the second verse: "From a bridge on Washington Avenue, the year of 1972 / Broke my bones and skull, and it was memorable / It was half a second and I was halfway down / Do you think I wanted to turn back around and teach a class?" Even the bonus tracks are fantastic: "(Shannon Wilsey on the) Starry Stairs" and "Love to a Monster."
Radiohead – In Rainbows
Wow. It lived up to expectations, not necessarily by meeting them, but by reconfiguring the expectations. While the most heartbreakingly, desolately beautiful song is only on the outtakes (and here), nothing on the main disc is not really good, and the 2-3-4 combo ("Nude," "Weird Fishes/Arpeggi," "All I Need") are outstanding, as are "Reckoner" and "House of Cards." The album ends beautifully, too, and conventionally (for Radiohead) with "Videotape." The first single, "Jigsaw Falling Into Place," is also a great song.
