Finer Feelings: 2007 in albums

My list of my favorite albums of the year has turned more into a rumination of the state and future of the album as an art. Will the album stick around? Will it morph into something else? Will it vanish altogether? Will the hundreds of CDs that still line my walls finally rise up in rebellion of their poverty of play and smother me in my sleep? It all remains to be seen. But there's one interesting fact:

In 2007, I bought only one (1) compact disc. In the entire calendar year.

If I could go back in time and tell that to my college self, my college self would probably just collapse into a fetal position and start sobbing, assuming the worst: that I'd become a boring grownup who stops searching out new tunes and there was no point in carrying on. Then I would tell college Reid that many people in the distant future of 2007 discovered new music through TV commercials and watch him cry even harder. I could probably clear things up pretty quickly with a few easy clarifications, but I kind of like the idea of making college Reid squirm some. Trust me: he deserves it.

But while I still really like the album as an art form, and don't think that bundles of music—in whatever form they may take—are going anywhere anytime soon, I took most of my favorite albums in pieces much more often than as wholes. I look at the album covers and think how much I love them, but for the most part, at least half of the album was lost in my preference to pick and choose. I was still exposed to them thanks to my ridiculously convoluted "radio" playlist, but the tracks that never grabbed me eventually got left behind, whereas, in the days of CDs in my car, I would give full albums more of a chance. It's a shame, but it's also incredibly convenient. Guess which wins out?

And speaking of convenience, here's the year in music summed up in a word: fantastic. The mix this year could be my favorite ever. But that's next week. This week is for albums.

1.
LCD Soundsystem, Sound of Silver

You may come to this page for a number of reasons. You may come here for the music. You may come to be subtly insulted. You may come here for updates on my life (and will always come away disappointed). You may come here for the typos. You almost certainly come here out of some odd form of masochism.

But you do not come to this site to be surprised about what my favorite album of the year is.

It's worth repeating (for me, anyway) to say that LCD Soundsystem makes perfect music. It's worth saying a million times over that it's music that's as ripe for endless analysis as it is for dumb fun.

But this album made me clutch my heart as well as putting on my thinking cap and dancing shoes because it's a wildly energetic album by a 37-year-old whose humor and self-awareness of his age and place in the world turn an already fantastic album into something exceptional. There's a good amount of musical talent that can spin life truths, but very few tackle aging as beautifully and perfectly as James Murphy does, simultaneously envying and pitying youth:

"Sound of silver, talk to me
Makes you want to feel like a teenager
Until you remember the feelings of a real-live, emotional teenager
Then you think again"

That Murphy is able to confidently spit out lyrics about the unsure feelings of getting older is almost a musical miracle.

It's worth repeating: LCD Soundsystem makes perfect music.

"Someone Great"


"Us v. Them"

2.
Spoon, Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga

I remember reading a couple of reviews (do NOT make me go back and find the links) that called Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga a "grower". And that blew my mind. It's true that Spoon's song arrangements have gotten increasingly unconventional, but this was one of the most immediate albums I've heard in a very long time. It has a swagger that's hard to find in many albums past the early '80's, and while it may be a little brainy, it's no "grower". It's about as instant as albums get: just add ears. Mine, preferably, because good Lord do I ever love this rekkid.

Also: worst album title ever? It's up there. It definitely wins Best Album With the Worst Name award. Of all time.

"Finer Feelings" (appeared on this site before)


"Black Like Me"

3.
Of Montreal, Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?

It was a quality year for quirk rock. Either that, or I was paying closer attention, because I was suddenly listening to bands I was formerly led to believe by myself that I hated.

But I felt somewhat justified in my old, nearly-baseless dislike of Of Montreal when I went back to the reviews of this record (do NOT make me go back and find the links) after I had grown to love it to find that most of the reviewers made references to this being Of Montreal at their most assured and glam-pop. They have just enough of their former twee and quirk to add some bitterness to the mix, but there's only so much you can do to overcome some of the greatest chorus hooks in recent memory. It's as gleeful a record about personal crises can be, and one of those times when I'm glad I gave in to critical pressure.

"Heimdalsgate Like A Promethean Curse" (appeared on this site before)


"A Sentence Of Sorts In Kongsvinger"

4.
Field Music, Tones of Town

As much as I obnoxiously push people to state their reasons for loving something, I do understand that there are those times in life when there's no better explanation for liking something than, "I dunno...it's just good."

This album is just great. The melodies are great, the rhythms are great, the arrangements are great, the harmonies are great. I've listened to Tones of Town tons of times, and there's nothing any more reasoned or deep than that it's just a great, great, great fucking album, okay?

"A House Is Not A Home"


"Working To Work"

5.
Panda Bear, Person Pitch

The problem with experimentation is the desire to do something different can really quickly turn gratuitous. Weird for weird's sake. So when something comes along that's both clearly music experiment and has beautiful melodies, it's worthy of all the hype it gets.

An atmospheric pop classic.

"Carrots (edit)"


"Comfy In Nautica"

6.
Andrew Bird, Armchair Apocrypha

Sometimes I think that Andrew Bird could give Amy Winehouse a run for her money for the fakey singing crown, but it never sounds anything but glorious, especially on top of songs that get better with every album he puts out. The plucked prettiness of his violin gives his songs a perfect cross between the favored xylophones of the indiepop set with the grit of genuine bluegrass and yet manages to be something far apart from both. He does melodrama without being too dramatic, beauty without being sappy, and odd lyrics that never sound too bizarre. I always was able to enjoy this album in the moment, but I could never stop myself from thinking that Andrew Bird is on a collision course with Everyone's Album Of The Year honors with a future album of his.

"Plasticities"


"Armchairs"

7.
Amy Winehouse, Back To Black

I know it doesn't really make sense, but trust me: just because I complain about something up one side and down the other doesn't mean I can't enjoy it. A lot.

So it was with Back To Black. I told just about everyone who would listen that it bugs me that Amy Winehouse does that English thing of putting on a black American soul accent because she's singing soul. And it does bug me. But that doesn't mean she isn't really, really good at it. And that the songs escape the trappings of a bad impersonation through the sincerity of Winehouse's blunt and crass personality (and I mean that in the best possible way).

"Tears Dry On Their Own"


"Back To Black"

8.
Animal Collective, Strawberry Jam

Almost everything I said about Of Montreal could be applied here, except for the fact that Animal Collective's lyrics aren't very good, whereas Of Montreal's are pretty fantastic. The hooks are a little more obscured by the gauze of AC's noise, but these are tight, hooky songs.

It's strange that I haven't gotten into them earlier, because in a lot of ways, they're exactly what I've been asking for: catchy melodies delivered in fractured arrangements and creative percussion. I would say I've learned my lesson, but I never have before, so why start now?

"Peacebone"


"Fireworks"


HONORABLE MENTION

The albums below were enjoyed slightly less (only slightly less) than the ones above:

Mark Ronson, Version
Albums of covers are rarely classics, but they have as much fun and love in them as Version does.
"Just (feat. Phantom Planet)"


M.I.A., Kala
Maybe it seems unfair to require this album to be as good as Arular, because not much is as good as Arular, but you know what? Sometimes life is unfair. It's still pretty damn enjoyable, though.
"Paper Planes"


Iron & Wine, The Shepherd's Dog
If I was going by the albums I enjoyed from beginning to end, this would be up at the top. There were very few songs on this that really stuck out, but it was always a treat to put on and let play.
"Flightless Bird, American Mouth"


The comments are now begging for your favorite 2007 music. Begging for it, I tells ya! What'dya like?