Idolator: year-end analysis

"Paste" Inspires Many A List-Watching Music Fan To Ask, "She & Him??"

Dan Gibson — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 15:00:00 EST

Paste's 2008 best-of isn't unlike the magazine itself: largely predictable, but with a few surprises seemingly thrown in to confuse or distract. The list hews rather closely to their adult alternative aesthetic, but as likely obligated by law, they threw in Lil Wayne (No. 29). He's not quite as good as MGMT, in case you were wondering.

THE GOOD: It cheered my heart to see that Ida Maria's Fortress Round My Heart placed highly (No. 13); the odd, but charming acknowledgment of Torche (No. 34) elicited a similar reaction. For the Christian rock enthusiast portion of my heart, seeing Sandra McCracken buried near the bottom of the list was nice, although almost a wink and a nod to those who wonder if Paste is a undercover Christian rock mag. They may recommend Lil Wayne, but don't worry, true believers. They still have room for Jesus rock.
THE BAD: Im sure any Idolator reader could pick out a record they don't particularly care for and go all critically nutzoid, but Girl Talk at No. 7 seems like an odd slap in the face to the parade of "real musicians" who fall afterwards. I like Girl Talk; I downloaded the disc, and it stayed in my car stereo for a few months. But the question ends up being whether these best of lists are really running down the "best" of the year, and that the idea of lasting value and meaning is taken into consideration, or whether a disc's inclusion just means that it was awesome to hear at parties.
THE WHAAA? Although I was surprised not to see Al Green on the list, and to note that Santogold's Diplo mixtape outranked her actual album, nothing could top my shock to see She & Him at No. 1. The magazine defends the selection: "Maybe it’s just a sweet little folk record—a tiny, flawless diamond. Or maybe it’s a pristine distillation of harmony and craft; 50 years of songwriting experience served up on a spinning silver platter. Either way, it’s our album of the year." To my ears, neither assertion is true. Volume One is a cute novelty record that has more preciousness than innovation, skill, or any other sort of metric people tend to judge great albums by. Last year's number one was the National's Boxer... this year's pick is a long slide down in quality.

1. She & Him, Volume One
2. Sigur Rós, Med sud i eyrum vid spilum endalaust
3. Vampire Weekend, Vampire Weekend
4. Bon Iver, For Emma, Forever Ago
5. Okkervil River - The Stand Ins
6. Fleet Foxes, Fleet Foxes
7. Girl Talk, Feed the Animals
8. Sun Kil Moon, April
9. Lucinda Williams, Little Honey
10. Deerhunter, Microcastle
11. The Hold Steady, Stay Positive
12. Of Montreal, Skeletal Lamping
13. Ida Maria, Fortress Round My Heart
14. Langhorne Slim, Langhorne Slim
15. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!
16. My Morning Jacket , Evil Urges
17. Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, Lie Down In The Light
18. Death Cab  for Cutie, Narrow Stairs 
19. Gentleman Jesse and His Men, Introducing Gentleman Jesse and His Men
20. Hot Chip, Made In The Dark
21. The Raveonettes, Lust Lust Lust
22. No Age, Nouns
23. Mates of State, Re-Arrange Us
24. Santogold and Diplo, Top Ranking 
25. Mugison, Mugiboogie
26. Lee Ann Womack, Call Me Crazy
27. Liam Finn, I'll Be Lightning
28. MGMT, Oracular Spectacular
29. Lil Wayne, Tha Carter III
30. I'm From Barcelona, Who Killed Harry Houdini?
31. The Walkmen, You & Me
32. Silver Jews, Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea
33. Santogold, Santogold
34. Torche, Meanderthal
35. Colour Revolt, Plunder, Beg and Curse
36. The Bridges, Limits of the Sky
37. Johnny Flynn & The Sussex Wit, A Larum
38. Jamie Lidell, Jim
39. The Dodos, Visiter
40. Flight of the Conchords, Flight of the Conchords
41. The Tallest Man On Earth, Shallow Grave
42. Thao Nguyen and the Get Down Stay Down, We Brave Bee Stings & All
43. Amanda Palmer, Who Killed Amanda Palmer
44. Kathleen Edwards, Asking For Flowers
45. M83, Saturdays = Youth
46. Lykke Li, Youth Novels
47. Laura Marling, Alas, I Cannot Swim
48. REM, Accelerate
49. Sandra McCracken, Red Balloon
50. TV On The Radio, Dear Science

Signs of Life 2008: Best Music [Paste]

"Blender" Would Like To Remind You That It Really Enjoys Lil Wayne's Music

Maura Johnston — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 11:30:00 EST

Perhaps unsurprisingly, given the magazine in question's penchant for featuring him in its pages, Lil Wayne's Tha Carter III topped Blender's year-end list of albums, which has swelled from 25 contenders to 33 for reasons that probably don't involve the vinyl revival (if they did, then where's that extra 1/3?). Full list after the jump, but here are a few thumbnail reactions:

THE GOOD: It's nice to know that someone remembered the early-'08 reissue of Robyn's album (No. 6).
THE BAD: More evidence that indie rock has become the "center" for the music-writing set comes from the 11-19 slots on the list, which (save Al Green) could have been cribbed in part from a the elbo.ws chart. (And yes, I include Katy Perry in that list. Haven't you heard her MGMT cover?) Sure, Blender's initial mission of finding some sort of consensus in popular music, and covering every player within said group obsessively, is sorta quaint in the infinite-playlist era, but... I guess I just was hoping for something a little more curveballish than "no, really, My Morning Jacket is great," is all.
THE WHAAA? I would think that the atonal, grueling presence of "Moving Mountains" would disqualify Usher's Here I Stand from any year-end lists that weren't focused on disappointing sales figures from superstar artists. But I'm wrong: It's No. 26 here, right ahead of the similarly soft-selling E=MC².

1. Lil' Wayne, Tha Carter III
2. Girl Talk, Feed The Animals
3. TV On The Radio, Dear Science
4. Metallica, Death Magnetic
5. Hot Chip, Made In The Dark
6. Robyn
7. Of Montreal, Skeletal Lamping
8. Randy Newman, Harps & Angels
9. Vampire Weekend
10. Fall Out Boy, Folie A Deux
11. Death Cab For Cutie, Narrow Stairs
12. My Morning Jacket, Evil Urges
13. Al Green, Lay It Down
14. Jenny Lewis, Acid Tongue
15. Bon Iver, For Emma, Forever Ago
16. Be Your Own Pet, Get Awkward
17. Conor Oberst
18. Ponytail, Ice Cream Spiritual
19. Katy Perry, One Of The Boys
20. Wale, Mixtape About Nothing
21. Erykah Badu, New Amerykah Part I: Fourth World War
22. Coldplay, Viva La Vida
23. The Cool Kids, Bake Sale
24. The Roots, Rising Down
25. Santogold
26. Usher, Here I Stand
27. Mariah Carey, E=MC²
28. Stephen Malkmus, Real Emotional Trash
29. Raphael Saadiq, The Way I See It
30. Young Jeezy, The Recession
31. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!
32. Taylor Swift, Fearless
33. Hayes Carll, Trouble In Mind

Amazon Would Like To Sell You On The Kings Of Leon Album

Maura Johnston — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 08:53:00 EST

This year's first best-of list comes to us from Amazon, which I guess wanted to get a jump on holiday shopping by deeply discounting the albums it found better than the rest way before Black Friday rolled around. Top 50 after the jump, but first, here are a few impressions:

THE GOOD: A top 10 with enough personal favorites (Santogold, No. 2; Al Green's Lay It Down, No. 4; Erykah Badu's New Amerykah, No. 7; Estelle's Shine, No. 8) to make me forgive the obligatory Fleet Foxes inclusion (at No. 3, for real).
THE BAD: Amazon is an e-commerce site, though, and once the list gets into its teens, a few decisions seem to have been arrived at by factoring in both sales and critical appeal. Metallica's Death Magnetic at No. 19, for example: Surely there were better albums put out by metal bands who were going for a serious image makeover after a string of semi-disastrous albums and a movie that let them get a little to emo? (OK, maybe not.)
THE WHAAA? Yeah, I kind of can't get over that the first "best of '08" list that I've come across so far has Kings Of Leon's Only By The Night as No. 1. But maybe you've found other rundowns out there? Feel free to send them our way.

1. Kings Of Leon, Only By The Night
2. Santogold
3. Fleet Foxes
4. Al Green, Lay It Down
5. Adele, 19
6. Death Cab For Cutie, Narrow Stairs
7. Erykah Badu, New Amerykah Part 1: Fourth World War
8. Estelle, Shine
9. Hayes Carll, Trouble In Mind
10. MGMT, Oracular Spectacular
11. Bon Iver, For Emma, Forever Ago
12. Joan As Police Woman, To Survive
13. R.E.M., Accelerate
14. Johnny Flynn, A Larum
15. Duffy, Rockferry
16. Throw Me The Statue, Moonbeams
17. Sigur Ros, Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust
18. Portishead, Third
19. Metallica, Death Magnetic
20. She & Him, Volume One
21. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!
22. Laura Marling, Alas I Cannot Swim
23. T.I., Paper Trail
24. Beck, Modern Guilt
25. M83, Saturdays = Youth
26. The Roy Hargrove Quintet, Ear Food
27. Ashton Shepherd, Sounds So Good
28. B.B. King, One Kind Favor
29. Esperanza Spalding, Esperanza
30. Coldplay, Viva La Vida
31. Ra Ra Riot, The Rhumb Line
32. Thao, We Brave Bee Stings And All
33. TV On The Radio, Dear Science
34. Ting Tings, We Started Nothing
35. The Magnetic Fields, Distortion
36. Little Jackie, The Stoop
37. Amanda Palmer, Who Killed Amanda Palmer
38. Destroyer, Trouble In Dreams
39. Dr. John And The Lower 911, The City That Care Forgot
40. The Helio Sequence, Keep Your Eyes Ahead
41. Think Of One, Camping Shaabi
42. Juno soundtrack
43. The Mighty Underdogs, Droppin' Science Fiction
44. JJ Grey & Moffro, Orange Blossoms
45. CSS, Donkey
46. Katy Perry, One Of The Boys
47. The Raconteurs, Consolers Of The Lonely
48. Calexico, Carried To Dust
49. Jamie Lidell, Jim
50. Jeff Healey, Mess Of Blues

Best Of 2008 [Amazon]

Hot Chip Has Already Released The Best Album Of 2008, So The Rest Of You Can Just Give Up

Maura Johnston — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 10:30:05 EDT

Have you recently found yourself pining for year-end lists, those neat little summaries of the year's best music that provide fodder for argument and giggling as the calendar counts down to Dec. 31? Well, then, you'll want to plant a big, wet one on The Grand Rapids Press' Troy Reimink, whose best albums of 2008 (so far) list , topped by Hot Chip's Made In The Dark, went live on his paper's Web site at 7:09 p.m. yesterday. Arguments ahoy! And if you're like me, they'll be tinged with at least a bit of despondency over whether bands featured on blogs really did produce the only good music of this year, or if we're really at a point in pop music where everything's just too fragmented to have any semblance of "coherency" or "a center." Full list after the jump, but here are some preliminary findings.

THE GOOD: Nick Cave's Dig Lazarus Dig is at No. 3; if you really wanna be nitpicky about things the album's release date in the States actually falls in the second quarter (it comes out April 8), but keep in mind that the awesomeness of Nick Cave doesn't really kowtow to such silly things as "the space-time continuum."
THE BAD: The Raconteurs' Consolers Of The Lonely had been available to the public for not even a week when the MLive.com web technicians hit publish, yet the power of Jack White resulted in it already ascending to No. 12 on Reimink's list! Imagine if it had been available two weeks before his deadline?
THE WHAAA? Troy, what if some record that's even better than the Hot Chip album leaks before midnight on Monday? What do you do then? Do you rework the list? Do you demand that it be taken down?

1. Hot Chip, Made In The Dark
2. The Helio Sequence, Keep Your Eyes Ahead
3. Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds, Dig Lazarus Dig
4. Destroyer, Trouble In Dreams
5. Why?, Alopecia
6. British Sea Power, Do You Like Rock Music?
7. Gnarls Barkley, The Odd Couple
8. Vampire Weekend
9. The Magnetic Fields, Distortion
10. Evangelicals, The Evening Descends
11. The Mountain Goats, Heretic Pride
12. The Raconteurs, Consolers Of The Lonely
13. Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks, Real Emotional Trash
14. MGMT, Oracular Spectacular
15. She & Him, Volume One

The best of music 2008: First quarter [MLive.com]

Bloggers: They Really Liked Radiohead!

Maura Johnston — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 16:00:14 EST

Jess thought last week that we were done with the 2007 wrapping-up, but hey, it's not February yet, which means there's still time for more 2007-related head-scratching! The music-blog aggregator The Hype Machine just dropped the 2007 Music Blog Zeitgeist, which compiled 648 of bloggers' top-albums lists for a 1252-album list of the Internet's favorite full-lengths of the year. And even with all those voters, and all the albums out there, it was still topped by In Rainbows! Funny, that. Also compiled: the 50 most blogged-about songs, which are broken down month-by-month, and the most-discussed artists.

THE GOOD: By now, you can probably recite which albums landed in the top 10 without even taking a peek at the list beforehand.
THE BAD: By now, you can probably recite which albums landed in the top 10 without even taking a peek at the list beforehand.
THE WHAAAA? The Klaxons were the 10th-most-blogged-about band, but Myths Of The Near Future limped in at No. 46, just behind Stars' In Our Bedroom After The War and right in front of Rilo Kiley's How You Like My Micromini Now?

Albums
1. Radiohead, In Rainbows
2. Arcade Fire, Neon Bible
3. The National, Boxer
4. LCD Soundsystem, Sound Of Silver
5. Spoon, Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
6. M.I.A. Kala
7. Panda Bear, Person Pitch
8. Feist, The Reminder
9. Of Montreal, Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?
10. Okkervil River, The Stage Names

Bands
1. Arcade Fire
2. Radiohead
3. Feist
4. LCD Soundsystem
5. Spoon
6. Justice
7. The National
8. Of Montreal
9. Wilco
10. Klaxons

The "Village Voice" Remembers Amy Winehouse Put Out A Record In The Last 24 Months

Jess Harvell — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 09:30:10 EST

Well, that's it. Tag it and bag it. Unless I happen to notice a late-breaking entry from the Burlington Community Times tomorrow while getting my coffee, the publication of the Village Voice's Pazz And Jop poll marks the last of 2007's year-end lists, headed up by LCD Soundsystem (album) and Amy Winehouse (singles). Now let us never speak of either again.

THE GOOD: 2007 is over! Also Feist and Wilco were both kept out of the albums Top 10, plus an honestly surprising, kinda heartening Winehouse-over-Rihanna singles upset, if only by 4 mentions. (And even if No. 2 Rihanna spanked No. 3 "All My Friends" by a whopping 32 mentions.)
THE BAD: As with the Idolator Pop Critics Poll, Peter Bjorn and John earn a Top 10 placing on the singles list despite the evil "Young Folks" first whistling its way into our lives in 2006. Damned twee Swedes.
THE WHAAAA? Radiohead beats M.I.A. to the No. 2 albums spot despite an equal number of points, thanks to four more ballot mentions that break the tie. Not quite fraud at the polls, but clearly the electoral college is not the only voting system that needs reforming.

P.S. Psyche. Full lists not after the jump. Feel free to check out the results and come back here to argue them. Or not. It's 2008 and we have plenty of ~~Hannah Montana stories~~ new things to discuss, even if I'm not 100 percent sure what they are yet. Maybe we'll find out it was Rockwell that really killed Heath Ledger or Courtney Love will put out an album where every song features the Soulja Boy "YAHH!" or the bottom will drop out of Web 2.0 and we'll all be forced to get real jobs. This year's gonna be silly, I just know it.

Pazz And Jop 2007 [Village Voice]

Verizon's Top Music: What Yooooouuuu Enjoyed Hearing Out Of Tiny Speakers In 2007

dangibs — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 12:00:54 EST

Sure, we're ten days into the new year, and the music year just passed has been covered in every imaginable manner, but have we heard the contributions of the true driving force in the music industry? The consumers who are keeping the leaky ship afloat? The voice of those people has been heard... through the announcement of Verizon's top ten ringtones for 2007. The list (which is, curiously, arranged in alphabetical order) after the jump, but for now a few thoughts.

THE GOOD: I suppose the good news depends on your opinion of one-hit-wonder rap hits of the past year (Hurricane Chris, Sean Kingston, Soulja Boy Tell 'Em). Maybe the good news is that there's only one Fergie song on there, and it isn't "Big Girls Don't Cry (Personal)."
THE BAD: "The Way I Live" by Baby Boy Da Prince, and of course, Fergie.
THE WHAAAA? With Interscope announcing that Soulja Boy hit the three-million mark in ringtones, yet had only just reached gold status as far as actual album sales, it nearly makes my head hurt to think of where the music business is going from here, or if anyone will actually be releasing songs that last more than 30 seconds by this time next year.

"A Bay Bay," by Hurricane Chris
"Beautiful Girls (Main Chorus)," by Sean Kingston
"Buy U A Drank (Shawty Snappin')," by T-Pain
"Crank That (Soulja Boy)," by Soulja Boy Tell 'Em
"Glamorous," by Fergie
"Party Like A Rock Star," by Shop Boyz
"Rockstar," by Nickelback
"Stronger," by Kanye West
"The Way I Live," by Baby Boy Da Prince
"This Is Why I'm Hot (Chorus)," by MIMS

Verizon Wireless Announces Top Music from 2007 [PR Newswire]
Soulja Boy Tell'em Makes History as 'Crank That' Passes the 3,000,000 Mark in Downloads [PR Newswire]

The Year In Dropped Artists: Hold On To Your Amerie Imports

mjohnston — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 10:35:05 EST

As a sort of companion piece to the news that Taylor Hicks and Ruben Studdard had been dropped from J, Entertainment Weekly's Hollywood Insider blog ran a list of acts that had been dropped by/defected from major labels in 2007 last week. Frankly, I'm surprised that it isn't about a mile longer, even though it does run the gamut from on-to-better-things artists (the White Stripes, Radiohead) to bands that seem to have hard luck follow them wherever they go (Mooney Suzuki, Blood Brothers). Full list after the jump.

THE GOOD: This is a pretty depressing list overall, but perhaps Liz Phair getting dropped by her label will make her think twice before recording her next ode to getting down with the Kotaku set, "Mii And You (Pushin' My Trigger Button)."
THE BAD: After all that will-it-or-won't-it-come-out? drama, it looks like Amerie has been dropped from Sony, thus leaving the status of Because I Love It's US release date more unknown than ever. Here's hoping she'll make a second mix tape.
THE WHAAA? It's not about the list per se, but the comment section of the EW post has turned into a kinda crazy-ass pissing match between JC Chasez fans and Bo Bice diehards. I mean I loved "Until Yesterday" probably more than anyone else, but really?

Airbourne
Alexz Johnson
Alkaline Trio
Amerie
And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead...
Annie Steela
Ari Hest
Aslyn
Big Pooh and Little Brother
Blood Brothers
Bo Bice
Brendan James
Brett Ryan
Christian Daniel
Christina Milian
CMurder
Dandy Warhols
DMX
Fischerspooner
From First To Last
Goldie
Hedley
IMA Robot
INXS
JC Chasez
Jewel
J-Kwon
Joe Budden
Kelis
Kevin Devine
King Elementary
Liz Phair
Melissa Auf der Mar
Men, Women and Children
Moby
Mooney Suzuki
Natalie Warner
Nine Inch Nails
Northern State
Otep
Over It
P.O.D.
Paris Hilton
Paul McCartney
Phase 9
Prophet Omega
Radiohead
Reeve Oliver
Ronnie Day
Ruben Studdard
Shaggy
Shout Out Louds
Skye Sweetnam
Sound Team
Sparklehorse
Stacie Orrico
Sugarcult
Summer Obsession
The Clipse
The Donnas
The Music
The Outline
The Redwalls
The Vines
What About Frank
White Stripes

All the acts that lost major label deals in 2007 [Hollywood Insider]

The U.K. Really Likes Reality TV Pop (Like, Even More Than "Umbrella")

jharv — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 15:20:33 EST

This weekend the BBC unveiled the best-selling singles of 2007, and not one but two contestants from U.K. reality TV singing contest X-Factor, with Leona Lewis' "Bleeding Love" even outselling Rihanna's "Umbrella," a tune that might have been inescapable for Americans this summer but haunted rainsoaked Brit listeners' dreams. The Top 20 is after the jump, but first we gotta ask: a comedy version of the Proclaimers' "(I'm Gonna Be) 500 Miles" in the Top 10? Really? Hang your heads, people of Great Britain. Hang them lower than your standards for novelty pop tunes.

THE GOOD: Idolator's beloved Sugababes at No. 6, the somewhat overlooked (in the U.S., obviously) Amy Winehouse collaboration from that much-maligned Mark Ronson album at No. 9, and of course "Umbrella" in the runner-up slot.
THE BAD: Inflicting the wussy Braffery/wussy mall emo of the Fray and Plain White T's on England now makes us about even for the whole unfortunate James Blunt episode.
THE WHAAA?: Both Leona Lewis and Leon Jackson—the 2006 and 2007 X-Factor winners, respectively—finish in the Top 5 despite their singles only having been released in December. That's got to make every recent American Idol winner, even the successful ones, briefly wish they had been born across the Atlantic.

1. Leona Lewis - Bleeding Love
2. Rihanna ft. Jay-Z - Umbrella
3. Mika - Grace Kelly
4. Leon Jackson - When You Believe
5. Take That - Rule The World
6. Sugababes - About You Now
7. Timbaland ft. Keri Hilson & DOE - The Way I Are
8. The Proclaimers ft. Brian Potter & Andy Pipkin - (I'm Gonna Be) 500 Miles
9. Mark Ronson ft. Amy Winehouse - Valerie
10. Kaiser Chiefs - Ruby
11. The Fray - How To Save A Life
12. Beyonce & Shakira - Beautiful Liar
13. Gwen Stefani ft. Akon - The Sweet Escape
14. Plain White T's - Hey There Delilah
15. Sean Kingston - Beautiful Girls
16. Timbaland ft. One Republic - Apologize
17. Kate Nash - Foundations
18. Take That - Shine
19. Kanye West - Stronger
20. Avril Lavigne - Girlfriend

The Official Top 20 Biggest Selling Singles Of 2007 In The U.K. [Poptimists]

Pitchfork's Readers Loved In Rainbows So Much They Probably Even Paid For It

jharv — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 08:53:00 EST

Because 2007 still has a few weeks/months left to haunt us—Idolator Poll comin' soon, y'all!—we present (what might be) the last 2007 list in our Year-End Analysis feautre, one we almost forgot in our joy that the clocks had turned over at midnight on Jan. 1, and with that the promise that we might never again have to type the words "Neon Bible" between an italics tag into Movable Type: the Pitchfork readers' poll! And guess what? We had to type the words "Neon Bible" between an italics tag into Movable Type. As Pitchfork itself notes, their reader's Top 10 hews close to the site's own official Top 10, but after that things "diverge." Why? Because [insert usual former-conflict-of-interest-y caveat here] despite the site's admirable expansion of coverage over the last five years into areas that readers might not necessarily mutiny over, who else is gonna vote the Shins for "Most Underrated Album" with a straight face, Braff jokes be damned?

THE GOOD: Consensus cynicism be damned, it's kind of heartening that, after all the first-listen reviews and release date hype hype, people actually do seem to be repeat-listening to and enjoying the Most Important Album Of 2007. (You can decide which one we're talking about.)
THE BAD: That said, consensus keeps great records from Roisin Murphy, Dude N' Nem, and the Dirty Projectors, which "most often received first-place votes," off the singles list in favor of two Arcade Fire joints, two Radiohead songs, and (less irritatingly) two Spoon and LCD Soundsystem tracks each. Democracy!
THE WHAAA?: We've only included the Best Albums and Best Singles list after the jump, but interestingly, or perhaps just keeping with this year's vibe of established artists comfortably trouncing even well-regarded upstarts, only three of the winners in the Best New(ish) Act category make the album and/or singles lists, all down in the lower reaches save the expected Top 10 finish for Justice's "D.A.N.C.E."

Albums
1. Radiohead: In Rainbows
2. LCD Soundsystem: Sound of Silver
3. Panda Bear: Person Pitch
4. The National: Boxer
5. Animal Collective: Strawberry Jam
6. Arcade Fire: Neon Bible
7. Spoon: Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
8. Of Montreal: Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?
9. M.I.A.: Kala
10. Battles: Mirrored
11. Feist: The Reminder
12. Okkervil River: The Stage Names
13. Jens Lekman: Night Falls Over Kortedala
14. Sunset Rubdown: Random Spirit Lover
15. Wilco: Sky Blue Sky
16. Menomena: Friend and Foe
17. Justice: †
18. Burial: Untrue
19. Deerhunter: Cryptograms
20. Iron & Wine: The Shepherd's Dog
21. The Field: From Here We Go Sublime
22. Andrew Bird: Armchair Apocrypha
22. Kanye West: Graduation
23. Modest Mouse: We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank
24. The Shins: Wincing the Night Away
25. Band of Horses: Cease to Begin

Singles
1. LCD Soundsystem: "All My Friends"
2. Panda Bear: "Bros"
3. M.I.A.: "Paper Planes"
4. Battles: "Atlas"
5. Animal Collective: "Fireworks"
6. LCD Soundsystem: "Someone Great"
7. The National: "Mistaken for Strangers"
8. Feist: "1 2 3 4"
9. Justice: "D.A.N.C.E."
10. Arcade Fire: "Keep the Car Running"
11. Radiohead: "Jigsaw Falling Into Place"
12. Radiohead: "Nude"
13. Arcade Fire: "Intervention"
14. Spoon: "You Got Yr Cherry Bomb"
15. Of Montreal: "Heimdalsgate Like a Promethean Curse"
16. Spoon: "The Underdog"
17. Okkervil River: "Our Life Is Not a Movie or Maybe"
18. Animal Collective: "Peacebone"
19. Beirut: "Elephant Gun"
20. UGK [ft. Outkast]: "Int'l Players Anthem (I Choose You)"
21. Rihanna: "Umbrella"
22. Wilco: "Impossible Germany"
23. Jens Lekman: "A Postcard to Nina"
24. Caribou: "Melody Day"
25. Band of Horses: "Is There a Ghost?"

2007 Pitchfork Readers Poll [Pitchfork]

"Magnet" Picks Ween As Its (Hat) Dance Partner For 2007

jharv — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 14:00:26 EST

The super-indies at Magnet are waiting until the January issue to print their Top 20 albums, but a sneak peek has revealed that the mag has chosen Ween's La Cucaracha to lead the list. It's like God answered our yearnings for year-end variety with a big ol' curveball made of chocolate and cheese. The rest of the list is after the jump, and it certainly sticks to Magnet's "bearded, bespectacled core."

THE GOOD: Along with a bunch of already-acknowledged Idolator faves (Grinderman, Parts and Labor, Robert Wyatt, Spoon, Battles, My Teenage Stride), it's nice to see Blonde Redhead's somewhat-lost-in-the-shuffle 23 recieve a prominent shout-out.
THE BAD: Along with "bearded" and "bespectacled," we forgot "penis-ed." (Though "bearded" probably covers that well enough.) With few enough exceptions to count on one hand (with some fingers left over), it's dudes, hairy dudes, and hairier dudes.
THE WHAAAA? Ween?

1. Ween, La Cucaracha (Rounder)
2. The New Pornographers, Challengers (Matador)
3. Spoon, Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga (Merge)
4. Against Me!, New Wave (Sire)
5. Battles, Mirrored (Warp)
6. Panda Bear, Person Pitch (Paw Tracks)
7. Robert Wyatt, Comicopera (Domino)
8. Blonde Redhead, 23 (4AD)
9. Richard Hawley, Lady's Bridge (Mute)
10. Albert Hammond, Jr., Yours To Keep (New Line)
11. Of Montreal, Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer? (Polyvinyl)
12. The Avett Brothers, Emotionalism (Ramseur)
13. Okkervil River, The Stage Names (Jagjaguwar)
14. I'm From Barcelona, Let Me Introduce My Friends (Mute)
15. Shout Out Louds, Our Ill Wills (Merge)
16. Grinderman, Grinderman (Anti-)
17. Parts & Labor, Mapmaker (Jagjaguwar)
18. Caribou, Andorra (Merge)
19. My Teenage Stride, Ears Like Golden Bats (Becalmed)
20. Black Lips, Good Bad Not Evil (Vice)

Magnet [Official Site]

So Much For The Concert Business Saving The Music Industry's Behind

mjohnston — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 16:45:37 EST

Pollstar's list of the top 20 concert tours of 2007 had good news for Sting and bad news for pretty much anyone else trying to figure out if the road life would help make up the money lost by nosediving album sales. The 20 top-grossing tours—which were led by the Police's reunion jaunt, which grossed $131.9 million—made a total of $996 million, a number that's down 15% from last year's top 20 total.

THE GOOD: Despite being shut out of rock radio formats that aren't saddled with the word "classic," the aging rock fan still has a place in the big-ticket music industry because he can still spend money. Namely, on tours by classic-rock staples like Genesis, Roger Waters, and Van Halen. OK, this isn't "the good" as much as it is "the obvious," but hey, something has to keep the music business hoping that its next gasp for air is slightly worth it, right?
THE BAD: Miley "Hannah Montana" Cyrus—one of only two musicians on the list under the age of 25^*—comes in at No. 15, which seems low until you remember that it was the low price of tickets on the legal market (they averaged $54 a seat) that led to the sellouts, the "secondary market" freakouts, and the 400-pound Miley Cyrus statues.
THE WHAAA? Not that I like Genesis all that much, but it has to smart that their big reunion tour (which made $47.6 million) was outgrossed by the umpteenth leg of Rod Freaking Stewart's "Trampling On Any Legacy I Still Have Left" jaunt ($49 million).

^* The other: Wolfgang Van Halen. You forgot about him, didn't you?

1. The Police ($131.9 million)
2. Kenny Chesney ($71.1 million)
3. Justin Timberlake ($70.6 million)
4. Celine Dion ($65.3 million)
5. Van Halen ($56.7 million)
6. Tim McGraw and Faith Hill ($52.3 million)
7. Rod Stewart ($49 million)
8. Genesis ($47.6 million)
9. Josh Groban ($43 million)
10. Rascal Flatts ($41.5 million)
11. Dave Matthews Band ($41.1 million)
12. Billy Joel ($39.1 million)
13. Roger Waters ($38.3 million)
14. Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band ($38.2 million)
15. Hannah Montana / Miley Cyrus ($36 million)
16. Elton John ($35.7 million)
17. Jimmy Buffett ($35.6 million)
18. Barry Manilow ($34.8 million)
19. Toby Keith ($34.3 million)
20. Maná ($33.9 million)

U.S. concert business slumps despite reunion tours [Reuters]
The Police Lock Top 2007 Tours Spot [Pollstar]
[Photo: Getty]

New York's Top 40 Fans Discover This New Artist Named Timbaland

mjohnston — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 10:40:58 EST

In years past, New York top 40 powerhouse Z100 turned over its Christmas programming to a commercial-free all-seasonal-music block, but they've abandoned that practice in recent years, no doubt because other stations had hopped on that bandwagon back in late November. (Although I would like to register a complaint about not hearing Bruce Springsteen's version of "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" at all this year until approximately 11:05 a.m. yesterday. In the NYC metro area, no less! What the hell?) In its place, the station is running its Top 100 of 2007 countdown on what seems to be endless loop, and given that I spent a lot of time in cars these past two days and this chart deviates just enough from the year-end Hot 100 to be kinda interesting, I figured I'd share it. Timbaland took the top two spots, with the "The Way I Are" placing at No. 1 and the still-not-very-good Scott Storch dis track "Give It To Me" somehow landing at No. 2.

THE GOOD: Two Pink tracks—"Who Knew and the oft-censored "U & Ur Hand"—placed in the top 10, as did Nelly Furtado's "Say It Right." Also, Elliott Yamin wound up being the highest-charting American Idol alum of the year who wasn't Daughtry^*, with "Wait For You" (No. 19) just nosing out "Before He Cheats" (No. 20).
THE BAD: In a year that was pretty lackluster for rock-on-pop-radio to begin with, the highest-charting representative of the genre is... the limp, sub-CW-theme "The Great Escape" by Boys Like Girls, which landed at No. 8. Is it because they played the Jingle Ball? I'm seriously curious.
THE WHAAAA? At approximately 7 p.m. Monday, the Best New Artist voting (part of some listener polls that are running in conjunction with this list's airing/trying to pad the station's web stats before the year ends) was led by the moptopped Jonas Brothers, with Miley Cyrus/Hannah Montana in second place. In third place? Timbaland. Hey, if he keeps it up in the polls, maybe he could get a Disney Channel show of his own!

1 Timbaland & Keri Hilson - The Way I Are
2 Timbaland & Nelly Furtado & Justin Timberlake - Give It To Me
3 Pink - U + Ur Hand
4 Justin Timberlake - What Goes Around Comes Around
5 Fergie - Big Girls Dont Cry (Personal)
6 Nelly Furtado - Say It Right
7 Pink - Who Knew
8 Boys Like Girls - The Great Escape
9 Kat DeLuna & Elephant Man - Whine Up
10 Daughtry - It's Not Over
11 Diddy & Christina Aguilera - Tell Me
12 Fall Out Boy - Thnks Fr Th Mmrs
13 Justin Timberlake - Summer Love
14 Timbaland & OneRepublic - Apologize
15 Rihanna & Jay-Z - Umbrella
16 50 Cent & Justin Timberlake - Ayo Technology
17 Red Jumpsuit Apparatus - Face Down
18 Kanye West - Stronger
19 Elliott Yamin - Wait For You
20 Carrie Underwood - Before He Cheats
21 Gwen Stefani - The Sweet Escape
22 Plain White Ts - Hey There Delilah
23 Gym Class Heroes - Cupid's Chokehold
24 Ne-Yo - Because Of You
25 Maroon 5 - Makes Me Wonder
26 Diddy & Keyshia Cole - Last Night
27 Daughtry - Home
28 T-Pain & Yung Joc - Buy U A Drank
29 Avril Lavigne - Girlfriend
30 Colbie Caillat - Bubbly
31 Justin Timberlake - Lovestoned/I Think She Knows
32 Lumidee & Tony Sunshine - She's Like The Wind
33 Fergie - Glamorous
34 Sean Kingston - Beautiful Girls
35 Rihanna & Ne-Yo - Hate That I Love You
36 Good Charlotte - I Don't Wanna Be In Love
37 Alicia Keys - No One
38 Yung Berg & Junior - Sexy Lady
39 Kelly Clarkson - Never Again
40 Britney Spears - Gimme More
41 Nickelback - Rockstar
42 Akon - Dont Matter
43 Jordin Sparks - Tattoo
44 Beyonce & Shakira - Beautiful Liar
45 Ciara - Like A Boy
46 Katharine McPhee - Over It
47 Beyonce - Irreplaceable
48 My Chemical Romance - Welcome To The Black Parade
49 Rihanna - Shut Up And Drive
50 Fabolous & Ne-Yo - Make Me Better
51 Paramore - Misery Business
52 Paula DeAnda & Dey - Walk Away Remember Me
53 Avril Lavigne - When Youre Gone
54 Fergie - Clumsy
55 Akon & Snoop Dogg - I Wanna Love You
56 All-American Rejects - It Ends Tonight
57 Chris Brown - Wall To Wall
58 Daughtry - Over You
59 Hellogoodbye - Here In Your Arms
60 Omarion & Timbaland - Ice Box
61 Jonas Brothers - S.O.S.
62 Ludacris & Mary J. Blige - Runaway Love
63 Matchbox Twenty - How Far We've Come
64 Kanye West & T-Pain - Good Life
65 Nickelback - If Everyone Cared
66 Chris Brown & T-Pain - Kiss Kiss
67 Maroon 5 - Wake Up Call
68 Miley Cyrus - See You Again
69 Lloyd & Lil Wayne - You
70 Amy Winehouse - Rehab
71 Shop Boyz - Party Like A Rockstar
72 Boys Like Girls - Hero Heroine
73 Sean Kingston - Me Love
74 Avril Lavigne - Keep Holding On
75 Lloyd - Get It Shawty
76 Linkin Park - What I've Done
77 Soulja Boy - Crank That Soulja Boy
78 Fall Out Boy - I'm Like A Lawyer With The Way I'm Always Trying To Get You Off (Me & You)
79 Hilary Duff - With Love
80 Enur & Nataja - Calabria
81 Dashboard Confessional - Stolen
82 Robin Thicke - Lost Without U
83 Finger Eleven - Paralyzer
84 Chenelle & Baby Cham - I Fell In Love With The DJ
85 Rihanna - Dont Stop The Music
86 Backstreet Boys - Inconsolable
87 Fall Out Boy - This Ain't A Scene, It's An Arms Race
88 Sean Kingston - Take You There
89 Hinder - Better Than Me
90 Celine Dion - Taking Chances
91 Mims - This Is Why I'm Hot
92 Britney Spears - Piece Of Me
93 John Mayer - Waiting On The World To Change
94 Baby Bash - Cyclone
95 Linkin Park - Shadow Of The Day
96 Jennifer Lopez - Do It Well
97 Taylor Swift - Teardrops On My Guitar
98 Natasha Bedingfield & Sean Kingston - Love Like This
99 Ashley Tisdale - He Said She Said
100 Nelly Furtado - Do It

Top 100 of 2007 [z100.com]
[Photo: Getty]

^* OK OK I initially forgot about Daughtry's Idol connection since he's, you know, actually selling records these days. Hey, did you notice that there are no Taylor Hicks songs on this countdown either?

Feist Unites The Gentlemen Of The New York Times

jharv — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 09:30:14 EST

The only real consistency across these three lists of the year's Top 10 albums, as compiled by the Times' pop critics, is the appearance of Leslie Feist: She lands at No. 2 on Jon Pareles' list, places No. 6 on Ben ~~Rattliff~~ Ratliff's rundown, and takes the top spot for Kelefa Sanneh. (Look, Idolator just refuses to believe we're the crazy ones; that album is a nap-and-a-half.) Looking past the fact that the Times can't even get a dude's name right these days, we'll momentarily drop the grousing, brought on by year-end exhaustion, in interests of holiday cheer and note that these are interesting, diverse lists (look, jazz and music made by people outside of the Anglophone world!) with the bonus of nary a Neon Bible in sight.

THE GOOD: Queens Of The Stone Age finally make a year-end Top 10 that doesn't have the word "hotties" in it. And perhaps a well-placed Times endorsement will finally break that Tracey Thorn solo album out of sales purgatory.
THE BAD: Blah blah Feist blah blah shrug. No real beef here. It's the Christmas miracle.
THE WHAAAA? "In a year with shockingly few big albums..." Sales-wise, perhaps true. (Perception-wise among the mass public, perhaps also true, since pop perception is always tied to sales to some extent.) But allowing for us having to redefine the world "big" in a niched-to-death music industry, didn't most of the high-placers on 2007's year-end lists (Radiohead! Arcade Fire! M.I.A.! Bruce!) prove we had the usual crop of traditionally crit-friendly, statement-making, and/or zeitgeist-exploiting/exploring "Big Albums"?

JON PARELES
Top Albums
1. RADIOHEAD: 'IN RAINBOWS'
2. FEIST: 'THE REMINDER'
3. AMY WINEHOUSE: 'BACK TO BLACK'
4. IRON AND WINE: 'THE SHEPHERD'S DOG'
5. CALLE 13: 'RESIDENTE O VISITANTE'
6. ROBERT PLANT AND ALISON KRAUSS: 'RAISING SAND'
7. LUPE FIASCO: 'THE COOL'
8. BATTLES: 'MIRRORED'
9. PANDA BEAR: 'PERSON PITCH'
10. QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE: 'ERA VULGARIS'

Top Songs
M.I.A. "Paper Planes"
SHAKIRA "Hay Amores"
JONI MITCHELL "Hana"
KANYE WEST "Stronger"
NEIL YOUNG "No Hidden Path"

BEN RATLIFF
Top Albums
1. JOSHUA REDMAN: 'BACK EAST'
2. GILBERTO GIL: 'GIL LUMINOSO'
3. ROBERT PLANT AND ALISON KRAUSS: 'RAISING SAND'
4. BILL MCHENRY: 'ROSES'
5. NO AGE: 'WEIRDO RIPPERS'
6. FEIST: 'THE REMINDER'
7. SAM YAHEL TRIO: 'TRUTH AND BEAUTY'
8. KARTET: 'THE BAY WINDOW'
9. ALICIA KEYS: 'AS I AM'
10. NINA NASTASIA AND JIM WHITE: 'YOU FOLLOW ME'

Top Songs
RIHANNA "Umbrella"
VON SüDENFED "The Rhinohead"
SPANISH HARLEM ORCHESTRA "Sácala Bailar"
CAFé TACUBA "Volver a Comenzar"
JESU "Conqueror"

KELEFA SANNEH
Top Albums
1. FEIST: 'THE REMINDER'
2. TURF TALK: 'WEST COAST VACCINE: THE CURE'
3. PANDA BEAR: 'PERSON PITCH'
4. JOE NICHOLS: 'REAL THINGS'
5. UGK: 'UNDERGROUND KINGZ'
6. TRACEY THORN: 'OUT OF THE WOODS'
7. JENS LEKMAN: 'NIGHT FALLS OVER KORTEDALA'
8. PROJECT PAT: 'WALKIN' BANK ROLL'
9. MARNIE STERN: 'IN ADVANCE OF THE BROKEN ARM'
10. THE-DREAM: 'LOVE/HATE'

Top Songs
RIHANNA "Umbrella"
R. KELLY FEATURING T.I. AND T-PAIN "I'm a Flirt (Remix)"
MARTINA MCBRIDE "Anyway"
SOULJA BOY TELLEM "Crank That (Soulja Boy)"
LINDA SUNDBLAD "Lose You"

EDIT: Dudes, I totally misspelled Ben Ratliff's name in a post where I was making fun of the Times for getting my name wrong. God (or Santa) just pantsed me on the Internet. As usual, I blame the nog.

Of Radiohead and 'Rehab,' '1234' and Calle 13 [NYT]
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/23/arts/music/23ratliff.html?ref=music [NYT]
Few Big Albums, but Small Ones Sounded Just Fine [NYT]

"New York" Collects Hip-Hop's Greatest Under-The-Counter Hits Of 2007

jharv — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 16:15:48 EST

As the remaining minutes of 2007 are suddenly ticking off way too fast for comfort (we hardly knew ye, etc.), the year-end lists are splintering into the minutiae of genre and sub-genre and even format, and New York's list of the ten best hip-hop mixtapes of the year, compiled by dependable rap (and otherwise) crit Chris Ryan in the "the year [mixtapes] were nearly broken" by tape impresario DJ Drama's bust by the feds at the beginning of the year, is a nice change-of-Christmas-shopping-list from the Year-End Analysis routine. Having only heard five of them, I can't exactly start asking "the whaaaa?" or talking shit about some Stack Bundles (R.I.P.) tape I've never laid ears on. So though I can vouch for the quality of, say, No. 8 pick Geek'd Up Music by Fabo and Young Dro (and I'm pretty sure dead relatives have heard Da Drought 3 at this point), perhaps members of the peanut gallery who've made multiple trips to their local mixtape spot this year can offer independent assessment on these ten.

10. Lost Ones - DJ Noodles and Jay-Z
9. Legends Never Die - D.J. Clue and Stack Bundles
8. Geek'd Up Music - Fabo and Young Dro
7. A Tribute to James Brown: The Foundation of Hip-Hop - DJ Premier
6. Da Drought 3 - Lil Wayne
5. The Moral of the Story - Saigon
4. March 9th - Notorious B.I.G.
3. Live Free or Die Hard - Don Cannon and Freeway
2. Do the Right Thing - Clinton Sparks and Kardinal Offishal
1. Warlordz - Dirty Harry

Ten Best Hip-Hop Mixtapes Of 2007 [Vulture]

"Entertainment Weekly" Votes Bruce For Album Man Of The Year Decade

jharv — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 12:30:44 EST

Entertainment Weekly becomes one of the last of the major print media outlets to weigh in on 2007 with its lists of the 10 best and five worst albums of the year as the Boss Supermans Soulja Boy, Paul McCartney unexpectedly pops up like a Whack-A-Mole among Radiocade Firehousesystem (betcha can't guess which list), and 50 Cent gets sandwiched between OneRepublic and Good Charlotte. (Worst fanfic ever.)

THE GOOD: Thanks, EW, for pointing out the following Soulja Boy line that had somehow escaped me until this afternoon: ''Booty meat in my face, even when I be talkin'." Booty meat! That's so awesomely gross. It might turn me off asses^* even more effectively than that Bangers And Cash cover.
THE BAD:"Now infamously troubled, Amy Winehouse risks a total eclipse of the art." Can't decide if that deserves boos or kudos, really.
THE WHAAAA? Did Jennifer Lopez really "[bomb] by playing the hottie card with dance-pop tunes even Ashley Tisdale would've dismissed as too shallow" because Brave didn't offer "the kind of album people want to hear from a celeb of her stature... at least a smallish window into her soul"? Something makes me think that if she'd gotten the hooks right on those shallow dance-pop tunes the buying public wouldn't have really given a shit about being denied a peek into her inner life.

The Best

01. Bruce Springsteen - Magic
02. Amy Winehouse - Back To Black
03. Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
04. Radiohead - In Rainbows
05. Miranda Lambert - Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
06. M.I.A. - Kala
07. LCD Soundsystem - Sound Of Silver
08. Paul McCartney - Memory Almost Full
09. Betty Lavette - The Scene Of The Crime
10. Lupe Fiasco - The Cool

The Worst

01. Soulja Boy - Souljaboytellem.com
02. OneRepublic - Dreaming Out Loud
03. 50 Cent - Curtis
04. Good Charlotte - Good Morning Revival
05. Jennifer Lopez - Brave

The Best (And Worst) Albums Of 2007 [Entertainment Weekly]

^* Yeah, probably not.

What Album Will Top NPR's List Of 2007 Bangers?

jharv — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 15:30:13 EST

As December slumps to a close, and with visions of M.I.A. in sugarplum leggings dancing through our heads, Maura and I have laid our weary eyes on just about every year-end list in the known universe. But the end of the long, hard road out of 2007 is within view, because the all-important results of NPR's listeners' poll are soon to be broadcast! NPR tells us that "All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen hints that this year's voting trends toward well-established independent artists, Canadian bands, and groups with animal names." The hell you say, Bob. Anticipation is already gnawing, and we've got time to kill before that No. 1 bomb finally drops. And so as we wait, we ask you which album out of the following short list will be voted bestest by NPR's listeners?

UPDATE (if you wanna spoil the fun): Wilco? Denied!

Best CDs Of 2007 [NPR]

ABC News Whistled Its Way Through 2007 With Peter, Bjorn, And John

jharv — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 09:05:07 EST

Because 2007's not over for another 11 days, here's... ABC News' list of the Top 50 albums of the year. Their No. 1 pick? The 2006 LP by trendy Swedish whistlers Peter, Bjorn, and John, anchored by their evil, evil, don't-speak-the-name-aloud indie hit. (Oh great. Now it's in my head! Fuck!) No word yet on Headline News' take on the raging "In Rainbows before or after Neon Bible" controversy, the Discovery Channel's picks for the year's best hip-hop, or Hannity and Colmes' opinions on M.I.A. But we've got our ears open for you.

THE GOOD: I really hope they're playing PJ Harvey's White Chalk (No. 11) in the Good Morning America green room right now.
THE BAD: A cynical person might say that this list is washed whiter than a polar bear after an asshole bleaching. But who wants to be cynical so close to the holidays?
THE WHAAAA? ABC News' list is unsurprisingly newsy. For instance, we learn that Kristin Hersh "sounds like a female Kurt Cobain."

1. PETER BJORN & JOHN, Writer's Block
2. SPOON, Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
3. RADIOHEAD, In Rainbows
4. M.I.A., Kala
5. SHOUT OUT LOUDS, Our Ill Wills
6. THE GO! TEAM, Proof of Youth
7. LAURA VEIRS, Saltbreakers
8. LILY ALLEN, Alright Still
9. ELENI MANDELL, Miracle of Five
10. YEAH YEAH YEAHS, Is Is (EP)
11. P.J. HARVEY, White Chalk
12. MARK RONSON, Version
13. NINE INCH NAILS, Year Zero
14. COMMON, Finding Forever
15. K.T. TUNSTALL, Drastic Fantastic
16. MAXIMO PARK, Our Earthly Pleasures
17. RILO KILEY, Under The Blacklight
18. ALBERT HAMMOND JR., Yours to Keep
19. AMY WINEHOUSE, Back to Black
20. A BAND OF BEES, Octopus
21. FOUNTAINS OF WAYNE, Traffic and Weather
22. ELLIOTT SMITH, New Moon
23. IDLEWILD, Make Another World
24. WILCO, Sky Blue Sky
25. THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS, The Else / Cast Your Pod to the Wind
26. SLOAN, Never Hear The End Of It
27. THE PERISHERS, Victorious
28. FEIST, The Reminder
29. THE HIVES, The Black & White Album
30. CARINA ROUND, Slow Motion Addict
31. UNDERWORLD, Oblivion With Bells
32. BLOC PARTY, A Weekend in the City
33. ALICIA KEYS, As I Am
34. THE SHINS, Wincing The Night Away
35. TEGAN & SARA, The Con
36. KATE HAVNEVIK, Melankton
37. BEASTIE BOYS, The Mix Up
38. KEREN ANN, Keren Ann
39. NEW PORNOGRAPHERS, Challengers
40. CROWDED HOUSE, Time On Earth
41. GORILLAZ, D-Sides
42. SUZANNE VEGA, Beauty & Crime
43. AIR, Pocket Symphony
44. THE WHITE STRIPES, Icky Thump
45. BLACK REBEL MOTORCYCLE CLUB, Baby 81
46. KRISTIN HERSH, Learn To Sing Like A Star
47. CHARLOTTE GAINSBOURG, 5:55
48. PREFUSE 73, Preparations
49. ROBERT PLANT & ALLISON KRAUSS, Raising Sand
50. KANYE WEST, Graduation

The Top 50 Albums Of 2007 [ABC News via ILM]

"The Wire" Shares A Laugh With Robert Wyatt

jharv — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 09:30:12 EST

Brit experimental institution The Wire has just dropped its weighty year-end issue, which features Brit experimental (pop) institution Robert Wyatt at No. 1 on its list of the top 50 albums of 2007. As for the rest of the mag's rundown, it may prominently big up LCD Soundsystem and M.I.A., but hey, it's also got saxophone records that you can barely hear!

THE GOOD: The Wire is always reliable for a dose of hair-straightening hairshirt noise, serious sound art, and/or free improv. Like Sightings' brutalist Through at no. 37, Throbbing Gristle's unexpectedly excellent reunion record at No. 32, or the ramshackle brilliance of drummer Chris Corsano and guitarist Mick Flower's duo LP at No. 27.
THE BAD: Rough and tough experimentalists beware: bloggers and message board denizens are already grumbling that The Wire's Top 10 features many of the same records that appeared on all sorts of square lists this year. On the other hand, those who feel the magazine has lost the connection to (avant) pop music that marked its '90s heyday may find this development heartening.
THE WHAAAA? In Rainbows? Even down at No. 34? You're The Wire! You don't have to play these mainstream reindeer games!

01 Robert Wyatt - Comicopera (Domino)
02 Burial - Untrue (Hyperdub)
03 Panda Bear - Person Pitch (Paw Tracks)
04 OM - Pilgrimage (Southern Lord)
05 LCD Soundsystem - Sound Of Silver (DFA/EMI)
06 Von Südenfed - Tromatic Reflexxions (Domino)
07 Pram - The Moving Frontier (Domino)
08 MIA - Kala (XL)
09 Battles - Mirrored (Warp)
10 Ricardo Villalobos - Fabric 36 (Fabric)
11 Grinderman - Grinderman (Mute)
12 Kassin+2 - Futurismo (Luaka Bop)
13 Matthew Dear - Asa Breed (Ghostly)
14 Strategy - Future Rock (Kranky)
15 Laub - Deinetwegen (AGF Producktion)
16 Björk - Volta (One Little Indian)
17 Pole - Steingarten (~scape)
18 Harmonia - Live 1974 (Grönland)
19 John Butcher - The Geometry Of Sentiment (Emanem)
20 Akio Suzuki - K7 Box (ALM)
21 Deerhunter - Cryptograms (Kranky)
22 Lil' Wayne - Da Drought 3 (Mixtape) (No Label)
23 Peter Evans Quartet - Peter Evans Quartet (Firehouse 12)
24 James Blackshaw - The Cloud Of Unknowing (Tompkins Square)
25 Kemialliset Ystävät - Kemialliset Ystävät (Fonal)
26 Pandit Pran Nath - Raga Cycle (SRI Moonshine)
27 Flower-Corsano Duo - The Radiant Mirror (Textile)
28 Electrelane - No Shouts, No Calls (Too Pure)
29 Zeitkratzer & Lou Reed - Metal Machine Music (Asphodel)
30 Gudrun Gut - I Put A Record On (Monika Enterprise)
31 Marnie Stern - In Advance Of The Broken Arm (Kill Rock Stars)
32 Throbbing Gristle - Part Two: The Endless Not (Mute)
33 Rhys Chatham - The Crimson Grail (Table Of The Elements)
34 Radiohead - In Rainbows (www.inrainbows.com/XL)
35 The Focus Group - We Are All Pan's People (Ghost Box)
36 The Terminals - Last Days Of The Sun (Last Visible Dog)
37 Sightings - Through The Panama (Load)
38 Anthony Braxton - 9 Compositions Iridium 2006 (Firehouse 12)
39 Steve Jansen - Slope (Samadhisound)
40 Haswell & Hecker - Blackest Ever Black (Warner Classics)
41 Colleen - Les Ondes Silencieuses (Leaf)
42 Dial - 168K (Cede)
43 Wooden Shjips - Wooden Shjips (Holy Mountain)
44 fORCH - Spin Networks (PSI)
45 PJ Harvey - White Chalk (Island)
46 Hanne Hukkelberg - Rykestrasse 68 (Nettwerk)
47 Susan Howe & David Grubbs - Souls Of The Labadie Tract (Blue Chopsticks)
48 Lichens - Omns (Kranky)
49 Low - Drums And Guns (Sub Pop)
50 Frank Bretschneider - Rhythm (Raster-Norton)

Year-End Critics' Polls '07 [ILX]

"Billboard" Asks Musicians For Their Favorite Records Of 2007 With Hilarious/Confusing Results

jharv — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 12:30:16 EST

From Pitchfork to Artforum, publications love to pad out their year-end coverage with Top Ten lists from musicians, whether world-famous or positively subterranean, but perhaps only Billboard could bring together Greg Dulli and Katharine McPhee. Instead of reprinting them all—there are many, and do you really care that the dudes from Vampire Weekend also liked that Panda Bear record an awful lot?—we've included our "Top Three Lists From Billboards's Top Tens" after the jump, along with our "The Good," "The Bad," and "The Whaaaa?" wrap-up, so as not to spoil the fun.

JOHN DARNIELLE's picks for best albums of 2007

Lead singer, The Mountain Goats

1. Bowerbirds, "Songs for a Dark Horse" (Burly Time)

2. CocoRosie, "The Adventures of Ghosthorse & Stillborn" (Touch & Go)

3. Bloody Panda, "Pheromone" (Level Plane)

4. Pig Destroyer, "Phantom Limb" (Relapse)

5. Bottomless Pit, "Hammer of the Gods" (Comedy Minus One)

6. Various Artists, "The Kings of Reggae" (Rapster)

7. Babyshambles, "Shotters Nation" (Astralwerks)

8. Foetopsy, "In the Bathroom" (Barbarian)

9. Mayhem, "Ordo ad Chao" (Season of Mist)

10. Om, "Pilgrimage" (Southern Lord)

TOM DeLONGE's picks for best albums of 2007
Lead Singer, Angels & Airwaves
In no order:
Tegan & Sara, "The Con" (Sire)
I'm really blown away by them. I think they're amazing.
Bloc Party, "A Weekend in the City" (Vice)
We played with them at the Reading Festival. Seeing 60,000 people go off to Bloc Party was absolutely incredible.
Angels & Airwaves, "I-Empire" (Geffen)
Nobody's doing anything like the trailer for "I-Empire." It's on our web site, and I guarantee you every band's watching it going, "How the fuck did they pull it off?"
Spank Rock at the MTVU Awards
There's a kid who looks like Urkel who was dressed up as Run-DMC for Halloween. It was really cool and different.
The Police, Anaheim, CA, Honda Center, June 21, 2007
That was the most amazing thing ever. It was like U2's production but with a punk rock band. It just blew my mind.

JESSICA SIMPSON's picks for best albums of 2007
1. Colbie Callait, "Coco" (Universal Republic)
2. Justin Timberlake, "FutureSex/LoveSounds" (Jive)
3. James Morrison, "Undiscovered" (Interscope)
4. The Wreckers, "Stand Still, Look Pretty" (Maverick)
5. Sigur Ros, "Hvarf/Heim" (XL Recordings)
6. The White Stripes, "Icky Thump" (Warner Bros.)
7. Ray LaMontagne, "Till the Sun Turns Black" (RCA)
8. Keane, "Under the Iron Sea" (Interscope)
9. Mute Math, "Mute Math" (Teleprompt/Warner Bros.)

THE GOOD: John Darnielle's list has to be the first (and only) time comedy grindcorers Foetopsy (sample song titles: "Deformed Foetal Scrotal," "Scab In A Puddin' Cup") will rate a reference in the hallowed pages of Billboard. Unless America suddenly starts craving 10-second songs about forced rectal exams.
THE BAD: Sure, Maura and I both snickered at Tom DeLonge (positively!) comparing Spank Rock to Urkel after she sent me the former Blinker's list this morning. But any points for that unintended dis are deducted for including his own band in his Top 5. That's just bad form, Tom.
THE WHAAAA? Jessica Simpson sharing a tender moment with Tony Romo while listening to Sigur Ros. So wrong and yet so... no, it's just kinda wrong.

The Year In Music: Artists Picks [Billboard]

"Pitchfork" Heaps Its Praises On Panda Bear

jharv — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 08:55:29 EST

Pitchfork makes it easy when it comes to guessing its Top 50 albums of the year in advance, thanks to the "Best New Music" and "Recommended" stickers it slaps on the records it likes best. So if you've been paying attention to the bottom-left corner of the site for the last 12 months, P-fork's 2007 list, headed up by Animal Collective member Panda Bear's Person Pitch, should feel like a bunch of old friends getting one last shout-out before the end of the year. That, or it's another chance to curse the site for over-praising a bunch of records that don't really deserve the dap.

THE GOOD: U.K. post-punks Life Without Buildings' career-capping live album and Stars Of The Lid's six-years-in-the-making follow-up to a sleepy ambient classic sneak into the upper reaches. Plus all the other records everyone else with even a toe dipped into indie rock liked this year.
THE BAD: Way too much tooth/brain-rotting twee Nordic indie pop/dance. What's that you say? That's only like three or four albums out of 50? It's still too much.
THE WHAAAA? "With Burial's 2006 debut, it helped to have some investment in dubstep; Untrue is for everyone." Really? Everyone?

50: Tinariwen, Aman Iman: Water Is Life
49: Dizzee Rascal, Maths + English
48: Robert Wyatt, Comicopera
47: Yeasayer, All Hour Cymbals
46: Marissa Nadler, Songs III: Bird on the Water
45: Ricardo Villalobos, Fabric 36
44: Les Savy Fav, Let's Stay Friends
43: Stars of the Lid, And Their Refinement of the Decline
42: Ghostface Killah, The Big Doe Rehab
41: Life Without Buildings, Live at the Annandale Hotel
40: Beirut, The Flying Club Cup / Lon Gisland EP
39: The White Stripes, Icky Thump
38: Wu-Tang Clan, 8 Diagrams
37: Grizzly Bear, Friend EP
36: Iron and Wine, The Shepherd's Dog
35: Black Lips, Good Bad Not Evil
34: James Blackshaw, The Cloud of Unknowing
33: King Khan & the Shrines, What Is?!
32: Sally Shapiro, Disco Romance
31: Deerhoof, Friend Opportunity
30: Caribou, Andorra
29: Bon Iver, For Emma, Forever Ago
28: Dinosaur Jr., Beyond
27: Arcade Fire, Neon Bible
26: Various Artists, After Dark
25: The Tough Alliance, A New Chance / New Waves EP
24: Dan Deacon, Spiderman of the Rings
23: Studio, Yearbook 1
22: Okkervil River, The Stage Names
21: Dirty Projectors, Rise Above
20: Liars
19: Feist, The Reminder
18: Kanye West, Graduation
17: The National, Boxer
16: Lil Wayne, Da Drought 3
15: Justice, &8224;
14: Deerhunter, Cryptograms / Fluorescent Grey EP
13: Jay-Z, American Gangster
12: No Age, Weirdo Rippers
11: Jens Lekman, Night Falls Over Kortedala
10: Burial, Untrue
09: The Field, From Here We Go Sublime
08: Battles, Mirrored
07: Spoon, Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
06: Animal Collective, Strawberry Jam
05: Of Montreal, Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?
04: Radiohead, In Rainbows
03: M.I.A., Kala
02: LCD Soundsystem, Sound of Silver
01: Panda Bear, Person Pitch

Top 50 Albums Of 2007 [Pitchfork]

"Rolling Stone" Gives Its Blessing To M.I.A.

jharv — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 16:15:07 EST

Nothing quite as batshit on Rolling Stone's Best Albums Of '07 list as Randy Newman landing at No. 2 on the magazine's list of the year's best singles, but that's not to say the list isn't full of surprises, some far less pleasant than M.I.A.'s Kala taking the top spot.

THE GOOD: Far more hip-hop and R&B—and far more music made (and listened to) by folks under 35—than one may have expected. That's not to say there's a lot, of course, or that RS doesn't rank Bright Eyes and John Fogerty ahead of most of it.
THE BAD: Gee, who'd have thunk the Top 10 would be yet another worthy-but-dull Magic Neon Silver Rainbows Ga Ga Graduation kind of affair? Is it 2008 yet?
THE WHAAAA? One has to assume that Rilo Kiley placing in the Top 10 has something, if not everything, to do with the dreaded hot pants.

50 Britney Spears - Blackout
49 Dropkick Murphys - The Meanest of Times
48 Mavis Staples - We'll Never Turn Back
47 Band of Horses - Cease to Begin
46 Fall Out Boy - Infinity on High
45 Foo Fighters - Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace
44 Peter Bjorn and John - Writer's Block
43 Smashing Pumpkins - Zeitgeist
42 Wilco - Sky Blue Sky
41 of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?
40 Amy Winehouse - Back to Black
39 Dr. Dog - We All Belong
38 Imperial Teen - The Hair the TV the Baby & the Band
37 Down - Over the Under
36 Alicia Keys - As I Am
35 Feist - The Reminder
34 Chris Brown - Exclusive
33 Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, Ray Price - Last of the Breed
32 Maroon 5 - It Won't Be Soon Before Long
31 Kings of Leon - Because of the Times
30 Youssou N'Dour - Rokku Mi Rokka
29 Mary J. Blige - Growing Pains
28 The Apples in Stereo - New Magnetic Wonder
27 Lil Wayne - Da Drought 3
26 Miranda Lambert - Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
25 Linkin Park - Minutes To Midnight
24 Robert Plant and Alison Krauss - Raising Sand
23 1990s - Cookies
22 Paul McCartney - Memory Almost Full
21 Nine Inch Nails - Year Zero
20 Melissa Etheridge - The Awakening
19 Devendra Banhart - Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon
18 Lucinda Williams - West
17 The White Stripes - Icky Thump
16 Les Savy Fav - Let's Stay Friends
15 Common - Finding Forever
14 Gogol Bordello - Super Taranta!
13 Lily Allen - Alright, Still
12 Bright Eyes - Cassadaga
11 John Fogerty - Revival
10 Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
09 Against Me! - New Wave
08 Rilo Kiley - Under the Blacklight
07 LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver
06 Radiohead - In Rainbows
05 Kanye West - Graduation
04 Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
03 Jay-Z - American Gangster
02 Bruce Springsteen - Magic
01 M.I.A. - Kala

Rolling Stone's Top Albums Of '07 List [Stereogum]

"Blender" Sneaks A Best-Of Into Its Pages

mjohnston — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 10:30:24 EST

Blender's year-end issue did, in fact, have its list of the year's top 25 albums—although you wouldn't know it by looking at the mag's cover, which did take the time to tout a) its list of "the 209 best songs of 2007" (which run in eight-point type underneath the list); b) its readers' poll, which allowed visitors to Blender's Web site to choose the "best of 2007" from a narrowly defined set of parameters (how else do you think the Arcade Fire placed in the "Best Band" category?); and c) the 20 essential CDs of 2008. M.I.A., whose Kala landed at No. 1 in Blender's estimation, only gets a passing mention on a "Plus:" coverline, and she's billed third to Rihanna (No. 25 and Best Single in the readers' poll) and freaking Feist (No. 13 and "Breakthrough of the Year" in the readers' poll).

THE GOOD: This list is a near-perfect execution of the Blender-patented blend of mainstream music (Brad Paisley, Jay-Z, Amy Winehouse), just-outside-the-mainstream music (Spoon, Okkervil River), and hot babes (Rihanna, Feist, Miranda Lambert).
THE BAD: I can think of about 10 albums that came out last month that are more interesting than Band Of Horses' Cease To Begin. Just... no.
THE WHAAAA? For an album that just came out last Tuesday, The Dream's Lovehate sure made an impact! It's No. 7, just behind In Rainbows.

25. Rihanna, Good Girl Gone Bad
24. Bright Eyes, Cassadaga
23. Lily Allen, Alright, Still...
22. Band Of Horses, Cease To Begin
21. Okkervil River, The Stage Names
20. Brad Paisley, 5th Gear
19. Modest Mouse, We Were Dead Before The Ship Sank
18. Justice, †
17. Bruce Springsteen, Magic
16. Jay-Z, American Gangster
15. Alison Krauss & Robert Plant, Raising Sand
14. The White Stripes, Icky Thump
13. Feist, The Reminder
12. Spoon, Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
11. LCD Soundsystem, Sound Of Silver
10. Rilo Kiley, Under The Blacklight
9. Miranda Lambert, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
8. Amy Winehouse, Back To Black
7. The Dream, Lovehate
6. Radiohead, In Rainbows
5. Against Me!, New Wave
4. Kanye West, Graduation
3. Lil Wayne, The Carter 3 Sessions
2. Arcade Fire, Neon Bible
1. M.I.A., Kala

Blender [Official site]

"Pitchfork" Thinks LCD Soundsystem's "All My Friends" Is Something Great

jharv — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 09:45:56 EST

This summer I was already convinced that LCD Soundsystem would top Pitchfork's list of the best singles of the year, even if I wasn't sure if the spot would go to "All My Friends" or "Someone Great." But my former colleagues solved the issue by putting both songs into the Top 10 of the site's Top 100 singles of 2007, to which (in the interest of full blah de blah) I should note that I did not contribute my two cents. (Albums list neither.) The full 100 is after the jump, but first our thoughts on the list you've all been (admit it) patiently waiting to pick apart more than any other.

THE GOOD: The Top 10 belongs to what are by now the usual suspects (try to guess the precise order before clicking!), but this is probably the only year-end wrap-up where Sun City Girls guitar magus Sir Richard Bishop shares space with the handbag R&B of T2's bassline house anthem "Heartbroken," a soppy memory from the heyday of U.K. garage that grows on me with each listen. And unlike the bulk of 2007's best-of lists, most every entry comes with an MP3 or audio stream (or at least a video clip) so that you can decide in real time just how much you disagree with it.
THE BAD: Pretty light on dance/electronic music for a site with a monthly techno column by one of the best critics covering the beat and hip-hop's been more or less whittled down to the handful of expected/accepted 2007 Inter-faves (Kanye, Jay-Z, Wayne, etc.) in favor of Pitchfork's indie wheelhouse (which had a better-than-average year). Plus they didn't even have the balls to rank the Black Kids higher than No. 68.
THE WHAAAA? Pitchfork's (institutional) embrace of the pop charts is still so odd. (That it was one of the weakest years for American pop in my living memory notwithstanding.) For instance, nothing by Lloyd, Ne-Yo, Amerie (who they favorably reviewed, even if she scored no American hits this year), Keyshia Cole, Timbaland, Bobby Valentino, Beyonce, Chris Brown, etc. makes the list, which would be fine if there was a blanket ban on non-"Umbrella" R&B. Except why did a negligible soundtrack inclusion from one-hit ex-model Cassie (a song the entry even acknowledges is initially "devoid of any distinctive qualities") make it in?

100: Ost & Kjex "Milano Mugolian (A Thrilling Mungophony in Two Parts)"
99: Broken Social Scene Presents: Kevin Drew "Backed Out on the..."
98: Old Time Relijun "Indestructible Life!"
97: Sir Richard Bishop "Ecstasies in the Open Air"
96: Times New Viking "Teenage Lust!"
95: Groove Armada [ft. Mutya Buena] "Song 4 Mutya (Out of Control)"
94: MGMT "Time to Pretend"
93: Antibalas "Beaten Metal"
92: Air "Mer du Japon (Kris Menace Remix)"
91: Menomena "The Pelican"
90: Miranda Lambert "Gunpowder & Lead"
89: Air France "Beach Party"
88: The New Pornographers "Myriad Harbour"
87: Sophie Ellis-Bextor "Me and My Imagination"
86: Rekid "Next Stop Chicago"
85: BARR "The Song Is the Single"
84: 50 Cent "I Get Money"
83: Sonic Youth "I'm Not There"
82: Tinariwen "Matadjem Yinmixan"
81: Modest Mouse "Dashboard"
80: Grizzly Bear "Little Brother (Electric)"
79: Magik Markers "Taste"
78: Amy Winehouse "Tears Dry on Their Own"
77: The National "Mistaken for Strangers"
76: Klaxons "Golden Skans"
75: Escort "All Through the Night"
74: Black Lips "Katrina"
73: The Twilight Sad "Cold Days From the Birdhouse"
72: Ted Leo & the Pharmacists "La Costa Brava"
71: The Shins "Turn on Me"
70: Cassie "Is It You?"
69: Roísín Murphy "Overpowered"
68: Black Kids "I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance With You"
67: Devin the Dude [ft. Andre 3000 and Snoop Dogg] "What a Job"
66: King Khan & the Shrines "Welfare Bread"
65: DJ Khaled [ft. T.I., Akon, Rick Ross, Fat Joe, Birdman & Lil Wayne] "We Takin' Over"
64: No Age "Neck Escaper"
63: Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings "I'm Not Gonna Cry"
62: Cool Kids "I Rock"
61: !!! "Heart of Hearts"
60: The White Stripes "Rag and Bone"
59: Lil Wayne "Upgrade U"
58: Shellac "The End of Radio"
57: Electrelane "To the East"
56: Aesop Rock "None Shall Pass"
55: Studio "No Comply"
54: Joanna Newsom "Colleen"
53: Bat for Lashes "What's a Girl to Do?"
52: The Clientele "Bookshop Casanova"
51: Kanye West [ft. T-Pain] "Good Life"
50: Dude 'N Nem "Watch My Feet"
49: Yeasayer "2080"
48: Liars "Plaster Casts of Everything"
47: T2 "Heartbroken"
46: Deerhunter "Wash Off"
45: The Honeydrips "Fall From a Height"
44: Pantha du Prince "Saturn Strobe"
43: Deerhoof "The Perfect Me"
42: Spoon "Black Like Me"
41: Los Campesinos! "You! Me! Dancing!"
40: Beirut "Elephant Gun"
39: Sally Shapiro "He Keeps Me Alive"
38: Matthew Dear "Deserter"
37: Blonde Redhead "23"
36: Okkervil River "Our Life Is Not a Movie or Maybe"
35: Dirty Projectors "Rise Above"
34: The Tough Alliance "Silly Crimes"
33: Dinosaur Jr. "Almost Ready"
32: R. Kelly [ft. T.I. and T-Pain] "I'm a Flirt (remix)"
31: Cortney Tidwell "Don't Let Stars Keep Us Tangled Up (Ewan's Objects in Space Remix)"
30: Dan Deacon "Wham City"
29: Arcade Fire "Keep the Car Running"
28: Dizzee Rascal "Pussy'ole (Old Skool)"
27: Lil Mama "Lip Gloss"
26: Jay-Z "Roc Boys (And the Winner Is...)"
25: Kanye West "Can't Tell Me Nothing"
24: Gui Boratto "Beautiful Life"
23: Simian Mobile Disco "I Believe"
22: Animal Collective "Peacebone"
21: M.I.A. "Boyz"
20: Radiohead "All I Need"
19: The Field "A Paw in My Face"
18: Chromatics "In the City"
17: Burial "Archangel"
16: Feist "1 2 3 4"
15: Jens Lekman "A Postcard to Nina"
14: Caribou "Melody Day"
13: Of Montreal "The Past Is a Grotesque Animal"
12: Spoon "You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb"
11: Grinderman "No Pussy Blues"
10: Jay-Z [ft. Beanie Sigel] "Ignorant Shit"
9: Animal Collective "Fireworks"
8: Justice "D.A.N.C.E."
7: LCD Soundsystem "Someone Great"
6: UGK [ft. Outkast] "Int'l Players Anthem (I Choose You)"
5: Rihanna [ft. Jay-Z] "Umbrella"
4: M.I.A. [ft. Bun B and Rich Boy] "Paper Planes (Remix)"
3: Panda Bear "Bros"
2: Battles "Atlas"
1: LCD Soundsystem "All My Friends"

Top 100 Tracks Of 2007 [Pitchfork]

"Spin" Goes Slightly Against The Grain

mjohnston — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 12:30:34 EST

Hey, Spin—thanks for finally letting us use an image for one of these year-end roundups that isn't of Neon Bible or In Rainbows! Yes, Against Me!'s New Wave topped the magazine's year-end best albums list, which went online last night. The mag's tracks list hasn't been revealed yet, but I personally am kind of hoping that it reprises its "Best Albums You Didn't Hear" list, if only because I would really like to know just where Spin would find said records in the current blog-and-MySpace-saturated musical climate.

THE GOOD: I spy former Idolator editor Brian Raftery's influence at No. 33, where The Wildhearts landed!
THE BAD: Don't let New Wave's pole position fool you: Spin's top 10 is otherwise pretty similar to every other list we've run down in this space this year. See if you can guess the other nine albums on the list without clicking through to the next page! OK, OK, I'll give you a hint: Bruce Springsteen and the National are actually in the top 20, and—gasp—Wilco is nowhere to be found. Now, go!
THE WHAAAA? Aside from Prince's Planet Earth at No. 12 and the lack of Wilco, this list is kind of curveball-free as far as matching up with critical consensus in 2007. Here's another fun game, though: How many of Spin's 2007 cover stars did not show up on this list? I count three. And if Rilo Kiley hadn't snuck in at No. 40...

40. Rilo Kiley, Under The Blacklight
39. Turbonegro, Retox
38. Dizzee Rascal, Maths + English
37. Ted Leo & The Pharmicists, Living With The Living
36. Bonde Do Role, With Lasers
35. Say Anything, In Defense Of The Genre
34. Bat For Lashes, Fur And Gold
33. The Wildhearts, The Wildhearts
32. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Baby 81
31. Handsome Furs, Plague Park
30. Brother Ali, Undisputed Truth
29. Panda Bear, Person Pitch
28. Iron And Wine, The Shepherd's Dog
27. Band Of Horses, Cease To Begin
26. Bright Eyes, Cassadaga
25. Queens Of The Stone Age, Era Vulgaris
24. The Shins, Wincing The Night Away
23. Peter Bjorn & John, Writer's Block
22. Elliott Smith, New Moon
21. Modest Mouse, We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank
20. of Montreal, Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?
19. Arctic Monkeys, Favourite Worst Nightmare
18. Feist, The Reminder
17. The National, Boxer
16. Lily Allen, Alright, Still...
15. Justice, †
14. Bruce Springsteen, Magic
13. The Hives, The Black And White Album
12. Prince, Planet Earth
11. Lil Wayne, Da Drought 3
10. The White Stripes, Icky Thump
9. Spoon, Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
8. Jay-Z, American Gangster
7. Amy Winehouse, Back To Black
6. Radiohead, In Rainbows
5. M.I.A., Kala
4. Kanye West, Graduation
3. LCD Soundsystem, Sound Of Silver
2. Arcade Fire, Neon Bible
1. Against Me!, New Wave

Best Of 2007: Albums [Spin]

The "Onion" Finds A Band Name Heavier Than "Regular Goat Ass"

jharv — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 11:30:35 EST

The Onion's A.V. Club has once again undertaken an impossible public service, ranking the "Worst Band Names Of '07," a task that becomes progressively harder every year as MySpace and Facebook make it all too easy to try and catalog every crappy pun cooked up by four dudes in a garage. This year's list goes a little heavy on names that make poor use of the word "funk" for my liking, but my seven favorites of '07 make up for the funky deluge through sheer shamelessness or WTF-ery.

SuperHeavyGoatAss
Comanche Abortion
Dance Me Pregnant
Roger's Porn Collection
Prognosis: Killing It
Harmonica Lewinsky
Haunting Oboe Music

Sadly "Wolf Tee" didn't make the list. Also, we won't even get into the number of entires that are actually great band names, but hey, one man's trash and all that. And with three pages of bad sex jokes and awkward plays on celebrity names, you have to admire the compilers' effort.

The Worst Band Names Of '07 [A.V. Club]

"Rolling Stone" Thinks Jay-Z Owned 2007

jharv — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 10:30:03 EST

Rolling Stone has named the most recent comeback from the (for the time being anyway) president of Def Jam the No. 1 single of 2007. And at No. 2... Randy Newman. (We give up.) At least Lil Wayne placed ahead of the Boss. (Bet that made for some fun editorial meetings.) The full 100 is after the jump, but first our thoughts on a list that ranks a Conor Oberst track ahead of 95 other songs.

THE GOOD: UGK just sneaks into the Top 10. Soulja Boy trumps the Arcade Fire. (More of an ideological victory than an aesthetic one, admittedly.) A handful of oddballs (Liars' bleak joke at the expense of the Reid brothers, CRS' low-key Yorke-freaking posse cut) do their best to liven things up a mix of iTunes top-sellers and Paste-y faves.
THE BAD: But it isn't the make-weight Billboard pop filler or the old-dude rock that sinks this list so much as its complete lack of taste. That Kid Rock's execrable "So Hott" is included is baffling enough, let alone that RS thought it was better than 62 other songs this year. It's not even a decent Kid Rock song! At least they had enough taste/sense to stick Fergie and Nickelback down at Nos. 96 and 100, respectively.
THE WHAAAA? Speaking of which, listen to me very carefully: Rolling Stone called Fergie's "Big Girls Don't Cry" a "modern day version of 'I Will Survive.'" I can't say it any better than Matos did: "NO NO NO NO NON ON ON ONO NONONO."

1 "Roc Boys" Jay-Z
2 "A Few Words in Defense of Our Country" Randy Newman
3 "Umbrella" Rihanna
4 "D.A.N.C.E." Justice
5 "Four Winds" Bright Eyes
6 "Dough Is What I Got" Lil Wayne
7 "Rehab" Amy Winehouse
8 "Long Walk Home" Bruce Springsteen
9 "Boyz" M.I.A.
10 "Int'l Player's Anthem" UGK
11 "Stronger" Kanye West
12 "Gunslinger" John Fogerty
13 "The Past Is a Grotesque Animal" Of Montreal
14 "I Get Money" 50 Cent
15 "Piece of Me" Britney Spears
16 "You Got Yr Cherry Bomb" Spoon
17 "Weird Fishes/Arpeggi" Radiohead
18 "Icky Thump" The White Stripes
19 "1234" Feist
20 "All My Friends" LCD Soundsystem
21 "Crank That" Soulja Boy
22 "Keep the Car Running" Arcade Fire
23 "Teenage Love Affair" Alicia Keys
24 "What Goes Around . . . Comes Around" Justin Timberlake
25 "Teenagers" My Chemical Romance
26 "Same Girl" R. Kelly and Usher
27 "Silver Lining" Rilo Kiley
28 "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend" Miranda Lambert
29 "The People" Common
30 "LDN" Lily Allen
31 "Don't Matter" Akon
32 "When Under Ether" PJ Harvey
33 "Backed Out on the . . ." Kevin Drew
34 "Are You Alright?" Lucinda Williams
35 "Girlfriend" Avril Lavigne
36 "Situation" 1990s
37 "Throw Some D's" Rich Boy
38 "So Hott" Kid Rock
39 "Guitar" Prince
40 "Old News" Dr. Dog
41 "Just Fine" Mary J. Blige
42 "This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race" Fall Out Boy
43 "Us Placers" CRS
44 "Bleed It Out" Linkin Park
45 "Halloweenhead" Ryan Adams
46 "Do You Feel Me" Anthony Hamilton
47 "The Pretender" Foo Fighters
48 "Kiss Kiss" Chris Brown feat. T-Pain
49 "Makes Me Wonder" Maroon 5
50 "The Heart Gently Weeps" Wu-Tang Clan
51 "Killing the Blues" Robert Plant and Alison Krauss
52 "Pressing On" John Doe
53 "Black Mags" The Cool Kids
54 "I-95" Fountains of Wayne
55 "Hold On" KT Tunstall
56 "Lip Gloss" Lil Mama
57 "Men's Needs" Cribs
58 "Grip Like a Vice" The Go! Team
59 "Let It Go" Keyshia Cole
60 "Make It Witchu" Queens of the Stone Age
61 "Down Boy" Yeah Yeah Yeahs
62 "The Last Fight" Velvet Revolver
63 "Buy U a Drank" T-Pain
64 "The Magic Position" Patrick Wolf
65 "White People for Peace" Against Me!
66 "Big Shit Poppin'" T.I.
67 "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa" Vampire Weekend
68 "Tambourine" Eve
69 "Seahorse" Devendra Banhart
70 "Bed" J. Holiday
71 "Impossible Germany" Wilco
72 "You! Me! Dancing!" Los Campesinos!
73 "100 Days, 100 Nights" Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings
74 "Comfy in Nautica" Panda Bear
75 "Phantom Limb" The Shins
76 "Go Getta" Young Jeezy
77 "Chelsea Dagger" The Fratellis
78 "The Songs That We Sing" Charlotte Gainsbourg
79 "Myriad Harbor" New Pornographers
80 "Stop Me" Mark Ronson
81 "Our Life Is Not a Movie or Maybe" Okkervil River
82 "Ultimate" Gogol Bordello
83 "The State of Massachusetts" Dropkick Murphys
84 "The Crystal Cat" Dan Deacon
85 "It's Me, Bitches" (Remix) Swizz Beatz
86 "Pagan Angel and a Borrowed Car" Iron and Wine
87 "Dashboard" Modest Mouse
88 "Computer Camp Love" Datarock
89 "I Wish That I Could See You Soon" Herman Dune
90 "Threshold Apprehension" Black Francis
91 "Freak Out" Liars
92 "Mistaken for Strangers" The National
93 "Is There a Ghost" Band of Horses
94 "2 Hearts" Kylie Minogue
95 "Satan Said Dance" Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
96 "Big Girls Don't Cry" Fergie
97 "Honey Bee (Let's Fly to Mars)" Grinderman
98 "Wild Mountain Nation" Blitzen Trapper
99 "Never Again" Kelly Clarkson
100 "Rockstar" Nickelback

The 100 Best Songs Of 2007 [Rolling Stone]

VH1's Viewers Sure Do Like Looking At Jess Mariano When He's Not Wearing A Shirt

mjohnston — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 15:30:15 EST

I mean, it's the only explanation for Fergie's "Big Girls Don't Cry (Personal)" being the channel's No. 1 video for 2007. Right? Right? Also in the top five: Daughtry's "It's Not Over," Pink's "U + Ur Hand," "Umbrella," and that Maroon 5 video where they're getting their Hall & Oates on while on a plane. Full list after the jump, but for now, etc., etc.

THE GOOD: Nelly Furtado's "Say It Right"—the best freestyle song of the past decade—lands at No. 7. Regina Spektor's lovely "Fidelity" squeaks in at No. 38. Carrie Underwood's super-smashy "Before He Cheats" is on there. And that Pink video is kinda fun. (Bonus: Depending on where you hear "U + Ur Hand," different lyrics—including the titular hand—get bleeped out!)
THE BAD: Two Nickelback videos. Two Daughtry videos. Two Fergie videos. Linkin Park. Colbie Caillat. The OneRepublic Phil Collins homage. That Bon Jovi "country" single that was basically Jon sleepwalking his way through a quieter version of "Never Say Goodbye." An Avril ballad. If you ever wanted to argue that pop this year had as much bad as it had good—if not more!—this list would be an excellent place to start.
THE WHAAAA? Who knew Lifehouse put out a record this year? Well, OK then.

40. Kanye West f/T-Pain - Good Life
39. The Killers - Read My Mind
38. Regina Spektor - Fidelity
37. Fall Out Boy - Thnks Fr Th Mmrs
36. Matt Kearney - Undeniable
35. Bruce Springsteen - Radio Nowhere
34. Natasha Bedingfield - Love Like This
33. Avril Lavigne - When You're Gone
32. Robin Thicke - Lost Without You
31. Maroon 5 - Wake Up Call
30. Linkin Park - What I've Done
29. Lifehouse - First Time
28. Feist - 1234
27. Nickelback - Rockstar
26. Fergie - Clumsy
25. Timbaland f/OneRepublic - Apologize
24. Daughtry - Home
23. Finger Eleven - Paralyzer
22. Alicia Keys - No One
21. Pink - Who Knew
20. Foo Fighters - The Pretender
19. Elliot Yamin - Wait For You
18. Ludacris f/Mary J. Blige - Runaway Love
17. Matchbox 20 - How Far We've Come
16. Amy Winehouse - Rehab
15. Gwen Stefani f/Akon - The Sweet Escape
14. Carrie Underwood - Before He Cheats
13. The All-American Rejects - It Ends Tonight
12. Bon Jovi - You Want To Make (A Memory)
11. Colbie Caillat - Bubbly
10. Justin Timberlake - What Goes Around...
9. Nickelback - If Everyone Cared
8. Plain White T's - Hey There Delilah
7. Nelly Furtado - Say It Right
6. Kanye West - Stronger
5. Maroon 5 - Makes Me Wonder
4. Rihanna f/Jay-Z - Umbrella
3. Pink - U+Ur Hand
2. Daughtry - It's Not Over
1. Fergie - Big Girls Don't Cry (Personal)

VH1's Top 40 Videos Of 2007 [The Music Slut]