the anyone's guess 14 best favorite recommended albums of 2007

they're not the best albums of the year, because who, really, can pronounce such a judgment and make it stand it up? instead you should think of the list below as the best of my favorite albums of the year, works that compelled lyrically & conceptually, melodically, instrumentally & vocally, and executed well enough to be exemplars of the form; the discs turned to most often, regardless of the situation, and to which it seems likely i will continue to turn.

but even then it turned out to be a fantastic year for new music and plenty of worthy choices have been left to sit on their hands on their couches and wonder what more they might have done.

two items of note before the curtain's raised, as it were: 1) basia bulat's debut album, oh my darling, a little folk gem, was not released in the states this year (it's scheduled for february, i believe) but is available in canada and europe and so made the cut, quibble if you like; and II) frankly it was hard enough cutting the list down to a manageable fourteen, so the albums below are not ranked according to preference or significance. (they're listed in reverse alphabetical order, in fact.) which means, gang, i love them all (more or less) equally.

f. wilco - sky blue sky
[mp3] side with the seeds
less sonically experimental and generally more hopeful in spirit than the last few wilco discs, sky blue sky impresses more with each listen.



q. state radio - year of the crow
[mp3] fall of the american empire
political engagement never sounded so good. state radio deftly manages the murkiness between rhetoric and awareness and idealism without skimping on story or beats. "gang of thieves" might be one of the 5 best songs i heard all year.


w. sigur rós - hvarf/heim
[mp3] i gaer
this double disc, one electric, the other acoustic, & released as companion to the band's first film, heima, is a lush and transportive listen.



i. st. vincent - marry me
[mp3] now now
structural and lyrical surprises - not to mention virtuoso guitar playing - enliven annie clark's sublime debut. hard to believe she hasn't been around for ages.



p. radiohead - in rainbows
[mp3] reckoner
outside of the hullabaloo surrounding the release of in rainbows, the album delivers organic, complex & thoroughly pleasing rock songs



g. okkervil river - the stage names
[mp3] a hand to take hold of the scene
sheff and company deliver a loose, fun album full of horns, hooks and handclaps in addition to the clever and occasionally dense wordplay for which the band is known.



u. nina nastasia & jim white - you follow me
[mp3] in the evening
there are three main instruments at work in this lovely, spare suite of songs: a guitar, drums, and a voice. an object lesson on the possibilities of simplifying.




m. the national - boxer
[mp3] slow show
another album, like sky blue sky, that rewards patient, active listening. "fake empire" is nearly perfect.



t. josh ritter - the historical conquests of josh ritter
[mp3] mind's eye
historical conquests continued and improved the process begun with last year's the animal years, with ritter establishing himself as one of, if not the, best young songwriters around. check out "to the dogs or whoever," "temptation of adam," and "rumors."


c. iron & wine - the shepherd's dog
[mp3] innocent bones
sam beam belongs in that same class of elite songwriters, and the shepherd's dog adds a more robust instrumentation & sense of fun to his often poignant & lovely songs.



y. feist - the reminder
[mp3] my moon my man
the recent ubiquity of her ipod adds doesn't diminish the charm of this record or feist as a performer.



k. beirut - the flying club cup
[mp3] nantes
beirut expanded on his balkan folk revival by adding a french flavor to his second album, the flying club cup, and it sounds as fresh and distinctive, if not as surprising, as 2006's brilliant gulag orkestar.



r. basia bulat - oh my darling
[mp3] i was a daughter
i may have fudged the criterion a bit to get oh my darling onto the list but it certainly has the minerals, in style and substance, to belong. what an enchanting voice.


z. arcade fire - neon bible
[mp3] keep the car running
not much, to these ears, to the sophomore slump whispers which circulated shortly after neon bible was released.


feel like i got something wrong? of course you do; that's one of the best parts about these lists, and about music & taste in general. please feel encouraged to explain your corrections in the comments section. and have a lovely weekend.