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BEST OF 2007

For the first time, an actual publication seemed to be (somewhat) interested in what I had to say about music, so Party Ben Information Systems made a lucrative deal with the Mother Jones Riff blog that allowed them to post my Top 20 Albums & Top 20 Singles a few days before this esteemed website right here, so perhaps you've already seen them. But if you're wondering, say, what #21 is, then you've come to the right place.

ALBUMS

1. LCD SOUNDSYSTEM Sound of Silver (DFA)
This shouldn't surprise anybody: hey, a dancey album from an aging hipster who really seems to like weird old disco and the Talking Heads, why don't you just put yourself at #1, nerd. Well, that's part of it, since this album feels like a victory for the, ahem, "mature": you don't have to stop breaking ground and being awesome, even if your lyrics reflect the trouble you've seen. From the massive build-to-ecstasy of "Get Innocuous!" to the cheeky "North American Scum" and the majestic, mournful "Someone Great," this is an album that runs the emotional gamut, and all of us, with all of our baggage, are invited to the shindig: "so throw a party til the cops come in and bust it up/oh you were planning it, I didn't mean to interrupt."

2. RADIOHEAD – In Rainbows (Intertubes)
So, Mr. Dumb DJ Name Guy, how can an album that didn't manage to generate any singles good enough for your Top 20 somehow land at #2 on your albums list, huh? Well, helpful internal voice of criticism, you unwittingly point out one of this album's main strengths: it's an album, all of whose songs seem to reference and lift up each other, and while "House of Cards" sounded pretty good on the radio, it just made me flip off the station and start the whole album up, because then I have to hear the Boards of Canada space-hop of "All I Need," the rock ecstasy of "Bodysnatchers," the abject despair of "Reckoner." And I paid like $10.63 for it cause I forgot the pound is worth a million dollars, and I still don't mind.

3. M.I.A. – Kala (XL/Interscope)
I already said lots and lots of stuff about this album, so I'll keep this kind of brief. Four months after its release, these tracks, mashups of familiar samples and avant-garde sensibility, still seem fresh; her lyrics, a devil-may-care collection of agit-prop sloganeering and quick-witted flirtation, still seem urgent. Rolling Stone, calling this their album of the year, says she's a "criminal-minded art freak with a true rock & roller's love of flash and sensation and irresponsible shit-talking;" yes, but you forgot to mention "cute."

4. LIL WAYNE –Da Drought 3 / The Carter III (Interwebs)
It's kind of odd, when you think about it: Radiohead get all the attention for releasing a pay-what-you-want album on the internet, but Lil Wayne put out like 27 free mix tapes this year and is anybody lauding him for "changing the music industry?" Well, who cares, because the guy can't seem to make a bad song. I've got another tie here, which I know is a cop-out, but both of these are towering achievements: the former a mix-tape using (and one-upping) current instrumental tracks from MIMS to Gnarls Barkley, the latter a studio album that leaked in an early, Beatles-sampling version all over the internet. Wayne's laid-back style belies what's clearly workaholism.

5. OF MONTREAL – Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? (Polyvinyl)
More than anyone since Franz Ferdinand, these Georgians seem to understand the manic energy of the best new wave, and moreover, that sunny chords and synth lines are best paired with dark, troubled lyrics. With what sounds like a really rough breakup providing the album's force, the lyrics somehow avoid cliché, always surprising with their takes on the emotional roller coaster. For instance, the "chemicals" of "Heimsdalgate" aren't drugs, they're far more dangerous: natural brain chemistry, of which bandleader Kevin Barnes demands, "come on mood shift, shift back to good again!"

6. KANYE WEST - Graduation (Def Jam)
As Technicolor musically as its Murakami cover, and as much of a musical "event" as anything else this year, Graduation is a leap forward, even for the already-running-pretty-fast Kanye. Dude didn't have to look to J Dilla, Daft Punk, Justice, or Japan's freakiest artist for inspiration, but he did. He still mouthed off all year, but somehow, the sheer joy of tracks like "Stronger" and "The Good Life" seemed to reorient the world towards Kanye's viewpoint, and his braggodocio suddenly seemed almost like humility.

7. BLONDE REDHEAD – 23 (4AD)
Some reviews called this album "high-gloss," but just because its cover doesn't look like it was laying in a vault for 30 years doesn't mean it's a pop sellout. In fact, the band's reorientation towards, let's say it out loud, "shoegaze," isn't monolithic and seems like a far-from-assured move commercially. The title track, sure, it's hypnotic and mid-tempo, with swirling guitars and Kazu Makino's delicate vocals. But "Spring and By Summer Fall," with its driving rhythms and awe-inspiring central guitar line, combines the swirl factor with something very new.

8. JAY-Z – American Gangster (Roc-A-Fella)
Guess who's back? Jay-Z's back! And there's nobody who's better positioned to take full advantage of what seems like the current trend towards hip-hop's rediscovering soul classics like Curtis Mayfield and Marvin Gaye. On top of the affecting samples, Jay-Z is still a master poet, and his lyrics here combine dexterity with a wise maturity. Check out "Fallin'," a dramatic string-led track, with complicated tongue-twisting internal rhymes and a final denouement that's both acquiescence and release: "Fightin', you'll never survive/Runnin', you'll never escape/So just fall from grace."

9. CARIBOU – Andorra (Merge)
Canadian Dan Smith has assembled an unassuming (and at times shambolic) psychedelic masterpiece, which, despite his electronic history, is more Dungen than it is Aphex Twin. Opener "Melody Day," with its flute trills and ecstatic chord changes, sounds both as familiar as The Beach Boys and as left-field as the Beta Band and it gets both stranger and more inspirational as it goes on, even if its tales of archetypal girls ("Irene," "Desiree,") are inspired by the past. Closer "Niobe" seems to take its euphoric uplift directly from trance music, but the drums never kick in: this is a record that's all about melody... whoever she is.

10. GUI BORATTO – Chromophobia (Kompakt)
How to make sense of a Brazilian producing music that fits right in with Cologne, Germany's minimal-house juggernaut Kompakt Records? Don't ask, just relax and let these deceptively simple songs wash over you. This label releases some great stuff, and what unites it (and is most in evidence here) is a realization that "minimal" doesn't have to mean "boring." Track seven, "The Blessing," is based on a rolling, echoey staccato melody, but strange clatters and atmospheric effects flow around the beat, giving you a sensation of both stillness and great speed, like flying through clouds, which by the way is a great place to listen to this album on your iPod, especially if you use your frequent-flier miles to upgrade to business class.

11. THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE QUEEN – S/T (Virgin)
Surprise: it's not mashups, disco, or hip-hop: just melancholy, dub-inflected ballads.

12. KLAXONS – Myths of the Near Future (Geffen)
Nu-Rave? Nah, just forward-looking rock with super sci-fi references.

13. JUSTICE – † (Vice)
French duo turns up the techno until it turns into metal.

14. FEIST – The Reminder (Interscope)
A wildly diverse record of home-grown, straightforward tunes, insistently memorable but never cliché.

15. SIMIAN MOBILE DISCO – Attack Decay Sustain Release (Wichita)
Former rockers turn to dance music, and they don't want to break your eardrums like Justice, they just want you to shake it.

16. BURIAL – Untrue (Hyperdub)
The dubbed-out sound of South London through a soulful (and despairing) prism.

17. ARCADE FIRE – Neon Bible (Merge)
Canadian collective works themselves into a religious frenzy until the church falls down.

18. THE FIELD – From Here We Go Sublime (Kompakt)
Chilly sample-based dance music with sources that will freak you out—was that Lionel Richie?

19. JOSE GONZALEZ – In Our Nature (Mute)
Swedish singer-songwriter laments the state of humanity accompanied by rhythmic, hypnotic acoustic guitar.

20. THE NATIONAL – Boxer (Beggars Banguet)
This album's dark tales are like Raymond Carver short stories: brutal, too familiar.

21. IRON & WINE - The Shepherd's Dog (Sub Pop)
22. BATTLES - Mirrored (Warp)
23. SPOON - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga (Merge)
24. LOW - Drums and Guns (Sub Pop)
25. LILY ALLEN - Alright Still (Capitol)
26. STUDIO - Yearbook 1 (Information)
27, THE WHITE STRIPES - Icky Thump (Warner)
28. CALVIN HARRIS - I Created Disco (Almost Gold)
29. BEIRUT - The Flying Club Cup (Ba Da Bing!)
30. THE WU-TANG CLAN - 8 Diagrams (Universal)
31. DEERHOOF - Friend Opportunity (Kill Rock Stars)
32. OKKERVIL RIVER - The Stage Names (JagJaguwar)

SINGLES

1. Rihanna – "Umbrella"
Like I said back in July, Rolling Stone's accusation of a Freudian vaginal-metaphor at work here doesn't hold up—sometimes an umbrella is just an umbrella. Musically, this is a perfectly-executed piece of production, and despite the wall of sound, everything stands out loud and clear, and that open hi-hat on the one keeps everything in check. Is Rihanna a brilliant artist or even that great a singer? Neither, really, but that's probably for the best—there's not a show-offy moment here. It's as straightforward as a promise can be: I'll always be your friend.


2. LCD Soundsystem – "All My Friends" / "Someone Great"
A tie is a cheat, I know, but both of these songs switched places in my Top 2 so many times I lost track and finally just gave up. On your left, ladies and gentlemen: a driving, two-chord ode to, well, aging, whose organic imperfection makes it all the more powerful, like New Order circa "Ceremony"; on your right, a machine-driven piece of clockwork electro, mournful and numb, like The Human League's "Don't You Want Me" multiplied by Royksopp's "Remind Me." While there were lots of awesome moments on Sound of Silver (see my album chart tomorrow), these were the two highlights.

3. Battles – "Atlas"
A song that followed me around all year, creepily, until I just stopped running and danced along. It's not surprising that the drummer here is from Helmet, and his precision allows the track to sustain momentum over its 7-minute length. But straightforward prog-metal this is not: the label, Warp records, should be a clue that there's some electronic wizardry afoot here, most noticeably in the barely-human (and again, kind of creepy) vocal effects. I know I keep saying how scary this track is, but like the monolith in 2001, it's both completely insane and somehow perfect, and how can we be challenged to evolve if we aren't a little freaked out at first?

4. M.I.A. – "Boyz"
Triple-time, man, it's so hot right now. Diplo noticed this, natch, and made a good effort at mashing M.I.A. up with Battles, but the result was kind of like "ack, too much!" "Boyz" is so fully-formed, with what feels like layers and layers of audio: booming drums, cheering crowds, whistle toots, honky horns, and so many cultural references you lose track of where you are. Like everything M.I.A. does, it's both a challenge and a party, and the lyrics switch back and forth accordingly. Boys: you can't live with 'em…

5. Kanye West feat T-Pain – "Good Life"
Who knew there was sample magic to be found in "P.Y.T," a kind of embarrassing footnote to Thriller? Kanye, that's who, and like all of his decisions in 2007, it's audacious, arrogant, and completely right on. "I got to shine," read one way, is more Kanye navel-gazing; but read another way, it's a gift, a line for everyone to sing along with. Add to that a video that out-Justiced Justice, a brilliant shout-out-slash-swipe at 50 Cent, and, well, T-Pain: now throw your hands up in the sky.

6. UGK feat. Outkast – "Int'l Players Anthem"
A track that's astonishing from the get-go: a 75-second intro that loops its Willie Hutch sample without any additional beats or production, just Andre 3000 delivering a poetic testimony to pre-wedding jitters. But when those drums finally come in, oh my God, and then they step it up a notch for the third verse, getting almost as skittery as drum 'n' bass. Pimp C, who died just two weeks ago, isn't really the star here, but he's vital to the track's success, and the empty space he now leaves in the world of Southern hip-hop feels surprisingly enormous.

7. Amy Winehouse - "Rehab"
You really need a ticker to keep up with the twists and turns in Winehouse's life that add ironic, or not-so-ironic, layers to this song—jeez, she was arrested just today, right? I'll leave it to scholars to sort out whether it's her Jewish guilt over stealing the sounds of classic soul that's causing her self-torture, since the groove here is so perfectly executed, and the vocal seems so sunny and unconcerned (unlike everybody else in the world), it's impossible to resist.

8. Timbaland feat. Nelly Furtado & Justin Timberlake – "Give It To Me"
Okay, Timbo: you need to lay off the roids, and stop trying to hang around with the emo kids, I'm starting to reconsider my utter devotion to your production skills. Here, you managed to combine the slinky harmonies of "Promiscuous" with the swagger and thump of "SexyBack," your two greatest pieces of work in '06, and even though it's been off the radio for a while, it still sounds great. Just don't jump the shark.

9. Justice – "D.A.N.C.E."
I was so way ahead of everybody on the Justice tip. I swear it!! I was proselytizing about their skronky techno before you were even born, but then this single comes out, and because I didn't recognize its genius at first (no big distorted bassline!) I get no credit. But its funky orchestral stabs and wobbly, goofy vocal lodged themselves in my brain, until I find myself walking down the street, singing "do your dance," and wishing my T-shirt was a cartoon.

10. Dude N Nem – "Watch My Feet"
Usually it takes a while before a new underground musical genre produces a monster single, and while this hasn't exactly topped the Hot 100, it feels like it could, any minute now. Juke music is all about contrast, and here's how it works: this track ambles along, a mellow hip-hop joint, riding one of my favorite James Brown basslines and a Sesame Street-sounding sample, and then suddenly explodes into stompy techno double-time that makes you want to jump up and down, even if you don't have the agility to do some of the shoelace-tangling moves in evidence in the video.

11. Feist – "1234"
So close, Feist, but considering my first impression of you as a iPod-shilling Lisa Loeb, the fact that I now think you're awesome is nothing short of miraculous.

12. Lil Mama – "Lip Gloss"
I know the song's about lip gloss, but it sounds so confident I still find it hard to believe she's 18.

13. Of Montreal – "Heimsdalgate Like a Promethean Curse"
Bright, new wavey synth-pop with fatalistic lyrics about our unpredictable brain chemisty.

14. Lil Wayne – "I Feel Like Dying"
A devastating ode to addiction built around an unusual, haunting sample.

15. Arcade Fire – "Intervention"
A song that brings you to church only to tear the place down.

16. Duke Dumont – "Lean & Bounce"
Wildly experimental breakbeat techno that approaches industrial intensity.

17. Timbaland – "The Way I Are"
A mutant cross between trance, hip-hop, and freestyle.

18. Caribou – "Melody Day"
Psychedelic dream-pop that still feels contemporary.

19. Kanye West – "Stronger"
The best use of Daft Punk since Busta Rhymes' "Touch It."

20. Bat for Lashes – "What's a Girl to Do?"
A creepy mirror-image of Motown, with lyrics from the opposite side of heartbreak.

21. Simian Mobile Disco – "I Believe"
22. Santogold – "Creator"
23. Stateless – "Bloodstream"
24. Sea Wolf – "You're a Wolf"
25. Common – "The People"
26. Jose Gonzalez – "Killing for Love"
27. M.I.A. – "Paper Planes"
28. Radiohead – "House of Cards"
29. Pharoahe Monch – "Desire"
30. Sinden & Count of Monte Cristal – "Beeper"
31. Arcade Fire – "Keep the Car Running"
32. DJ Mehdi – "Signatune" (Thomas Bangaltier Edit)
33. Kanye West- "Can't Tell Me Nothing"
34. Jay-Z – "Roc Boys"
35. Dizzee Rascal – "Old Skool"
36. Go! Team – "Grip Like a Vice"
37. Arctic Monkeys – "Brianstorm"
38. Charlotte Hatherley – "Behave"
39. T-Pain – "Buy You a Drank"
40. Klaxons "Golden Skans"
41. Brodinski – "Bad Runner"
42. Rogue Wave – "Lake Michigan"
43. 50 Cent – "I Get Money"
44. Feist – "My Moon My Man"
45. PJ Harvey – "When Under Ether"
46. Rich Boy – "Throw Some Ds"
47. DJ Khaled – "We Takin' Over"
48. The White Stripes – "Icky Thump"
49. Blonde Redhead – "23"
50. Calvin Harris – "Vegas"
51. Little Dragon – "Twice"
52. Flying Lotus – "Massage Situation"
53. Cold War Kids – "Hang Me Out to Dry"
54. Partial Arts – "Trauermusik"
55. Dungen – "Familj"