Idolator
British music mag Uncut may advertise a mind-numbing recycled feature in the form of John Lennon's "30 Greatest Songs" on the cover of of its year-end issue, but much like how the magazine's reviews section stays doggedly up-to-date even as the rest of the book flogs seemingly exhausted rock icons, its year-end list names LCD Soundsystem's Sound Of Silver the best album of the year and LCD's "North American Scum" the best song. (Even more surprising for a mag that trades so heavily on "worthy" rock music for grown-up boys, Rihanna's "Umbrella" sits just behind James Murphy at No. 2 on the songs list.) You know the full lists are after the jump, but an advance preview for now.
THE GOOD: PJ Harvey's astounding White Chalk makes a surprisingly high appearance at No. 3, not that we're complaining. Also Uncut's got to be the only relatively high-profile music mag in the world, other than The Wire, that would put Robert Wyatt's art-drunk album about sobering up, Comicopera, in its Top 10.
THE BAD: People really did love that Wilco album, didn't they? Things get a bit flabby in the AAA-friendly mid-section of the albums list with the exception of Les Savy Fav's very fine comeback. Also the Arctic Monkeys at No. 2 seems a bit of a stretch for an album where even fans grumbled and whispered about sophomore slumps.
THE WHAAA?: As Maura wondered, how do EPs count as "songs"? With the format enjoying something of a minor resurgence, is it time to bring back the EP category across the board when it comes to best-of lists?
Albums:
1. LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver
2. Arctic Monkeys - Favourite Worst Nightmare
3. PJ Harvey - White Chalk
4. Robert Plant and Alison Krauss - Raising Sand
5. Wilco - Sky Blue Sky
6. Robert Wyatt - Comicopera
7. The Hold Steady - Boys and Girls in America
8. The White Stripes - Icky Thump
9. Radiohead - In Rainbows
10. Klaxons - Myths of the Near Future
11. Björk - Volta
12. Battles - Mirrored
13. Neil Young - Chrome Dreams II
14. M.I.A. - Kala
15. Panda Bear - Person Pitch
16. Grinderman - Grinderman
17. Super Furry Animals - Hey Venus!
18. Voice of the Seven Woods - Voice of the Seven Woods
19. Feist - The Reminder
20. Bruce Springsteen - Magic
21. Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
22. Babyshambles - Shotters Nation
23. Rilo Kiley - Under the Brightlight
24. Lessavy Fav - Let's Stay Friends
25. Kings of Leon - Because of the Times
26. Manu Chao - La Radiolina
27. Steve Earle - Washington Square Serenade
28. Rufus Wainwright - Release the Stars
29. The Besnard Lakes - The Besnard Lakes are the Dark Horse
30. The Good, The Bad & The Queen - The Good, The Bad & The Queen
31. Devendra Banhart - Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon
32. Queens of the Stone Age - Era Vulgaris
33. Tinariwen - Aman Iman: Water Is Life
34. The National - Boxer
35. Bill Callahan - Woke on a Whaleheart
36. Bright Eyes - Cassadaga
37. Beirut - The Flying Club Cup
38. The Cribs - Men's Needs, Women's Needs, Whatever
39. Interpol - Our Love to Admire
40. Iron and Wine - The Shepherd's Dog
41. Justice - †
42. Richard Thompson - Sweet Warrior
43. Manic Street Preachers - Send Away the Tigers
44. Maps - We Can Create
45. Richard Hawley - Lady's Bridge
46. Von Sudenfed - Tromatic Reflexxions
47. Nick Lowe - At My Age
48. Thurston Moore - Trees Outside the Academy
49. Ry Cooder - My Name Is Buddy
50. Dinosaur Jr. - Beyond
Songs:
1. LCD Soundsystem - North American Scum
2. Rihanna - Umbrella
3. Feist - 1,2,3,4
4. Battles - Atlas
5. The White Stripes - You Don't Know What Love Is (You Just Do As You're Told)
6. M.I.A. - Jimmy
7. Klaxons - Golden Skans
8. Mutya & Groove Armada - Song 4 Mutya (Out of Control)
9. Roisin Murphy - Overpowered
10. Dizzee Rascal - Sirens
11. Effi Briest - Mirror Rim
12. Kanye West - Can't Tell Me Nothing
13. Grinderman - No Pussy Blues
14. Lavender Diamond - The Cavalry of Light EP
15. Arctic Monkeys - Brianstorm
16. The Hold Steady - Stuck Between Stations
17. Justice - D.A.N.C.E.
18. Babyshambles - Delivery
19. Caribou - Meolody Day
20. Joanna Newsom - Joanna Newsom & The Ys Street Band EP
Uncut Best Of 2007 [Acclaimed Music Forums]
Comments
Boys and Girls in America was a 2006 album
@SomeSound-MostlyFury: I think it dropped in 2007 overseas.
Personally, I think "Boxer" should be higher. Whenerver I listen to "Sound of Silver" I only end up wanting to hear "North American Scum", "Someone Great" and "All of My Friends" I don't even think I keep the rest of the album on my ipod.
Debate over EP/songs aside, it's nice to see Lavender Diamond get a little love.
Hooray for Voice of the Seven Woods making the top 20! That's probably the biggest shocker on this list for me, even more than EPs (or, you know, multiple songs) on the song list.
Good to see Robert Plant and Alison Krauss so high up. Also nice to see Richard Hawley in there even though his latest is not his best.
Again with the Neil Young. Did everyone else get a different album than the one I heard? Because that one wasn't very good.
Also, with all the talk about certain artists cruising through on past accomplishments, what's with that shitty Bjork album placing so well on all these lists?
I'm not surprised, but I still haven't seen Vic Chestnutt's North Star Deserter on any lists.
Love "North American Scum," but if I were going to enshrine an LCDS track as single of the year, it'd be "All My Friends," hands down.
[snark] Doesn't anyone recall? A certain Slate critic called it "massive." [/snark]
In England, EPs have been charting with singles for ages, so it's not surprising to see them on these lists. I have to say, these are some pretty good lists, esp. the singles.
I'm surprised to not see "Fake Empire" on the singles list
@ SOMESOUND-MOSTLYFURY :
it was released in the UK in 2007, i think.
I guess I don't understand why "All My Friends," gets so much love. Maybe it's the fact that the first time I heard it I was in an Old Navy store but... Actually, I don't really have a point here. I guess I am just upset about the fact that I haven't been able to trust anything that Old Navy has tried to sell me since all my cargo pants and polar fleeces went out of style.
Unbelievable that noone's heard Phonograph. Best record of the year. And the only decent records in your top 10 are radiohead and plant/krauss. Icky Thump was good for 1 go 'round and arctic monkey's are about 1000 years old and STILL over-hyped.
am i the only one who's going to have Simian Mobile Disco in my top ten albums? i wouldn't have expected Paste or Harp to rank it, but it not appearing in Uncut's top 50 is a little surprising to me.
@righteousmaelstrom: I really cannot stand their first single. I don't know what it is about it but it doesn't do it for me. I like Plant and I like krauss, together not so much.
@PCLoadLetter: Is it 'Gone Gone Gone'? If so, I can agree with that. It's pretty weak. If you're saying that about 'Killing The Blues' or 'Please Read The Letter' I might have an issue. Both are great songs. Especially love the lyrics to 'Killing The Blues.'
@jmb112485: It's probably the most of-this-very-moment and, at the same time, potentially classic songs to come out in a long long time?
I'm still waiting for Low's Drums and Guns, my favorite album of 2007 by a mile, to appear on any top 50 list I've scanned thus far.
A quick analysis: Kudos to Uncut for placing LCD and PJ way up there; both will easily make my top 5 of the year. Glad to see Grinderman on there, too; it'll likely be top 10 worthy for me. Caribou should have made the albums list, not the singles list, as the album's fantastic and one of my top 10 finishers. And I'm still not sure why Sky Blue Sky and Volta are making these lists; each is probably the worst album released by Wilco and Bjork, respectively, in their otherwise excellent careers.
Though I'd at least give Volta an 'E' for effort; Sky Blue Sky is an 'F' all around, no question.
I know a local singer here in Nashville named Wendy Newcomer who's been doing a version of "Killing the Blues" for the past few years that beats the Plant/Krauss one (fine in its own right). Ah, well.
@stephenbush: Ah man, I though for a second there you were going to give Bjork an "E" for effort and "T" for nice try, which would have been fully acceptable and fitting for her space alien shenanigans.
What does Voice of the Seven Woods sound like?
P.S. I take it that house music and hip-hop were somehow forgotten here (Justice at #41 not withstanding).
list is a little Rockist if you ask me..
@Job: bliss. :)
@Job: voice of the seven woods that is...
Comment on this post
Reply by EmailLogin with your username and password below. Or comment on this post via email.
Forgot your username or password? New User?