2007: Best Music
1.Spoon/Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
(another edgy rock masterpiece from these indie veterans, this one’s near-perfect)
1a. Neil Young/Live at Massey Hall 1971
(“these are a few new songs I’ve been working on…”: mind-boggling acoustic soundboard set)
2.Beirut/The Flying Club Cup
(mournfully joyous orchestral pop, unique and moving; a quantum leap forward)
3.Radiohead/In Rainbows
(stripped-down and organic yet still complex – a beautiful, satisfying rock album)
4.Ted Leo and the Pharmacists/Living With The Living
(surprisingly melodic punk record fueled by anti-war anger and the need to rock, hard)
5.Menomena/Friend and Foe
(shockingly good electro-funk rock - like TV on the Radio, if they had balls instead of MFA’s)
6.Revival/Horses of War
(“My Morning Jacket meets Weezer” says Rob Barocci – and that’s about right)
7.Band of Horses/Cease to Begin
(more contemplative and mellow than before, the psych-country thing still sounds great)
8.Tulsa/I Was Submerged (EP)
(ripping, reverb-laced, southern guitar-rock debut rips off Jim James and crew - in a good way)
9.The Good Life/Help Wanted Nights
(simple, yearning alt-country love songs demand to be heard again and again; not one bad song here)
10.New Pornographers/Challengers (underrated set with a lean, melodic sound that favors singing/songwriting over rocking)
11.The Broken West/I Can’t Go On, I’ll Go On
(big classic ‘70’s pop-rock sound - ELO meets Steve Miller – they’ve got tremendous heart)
12.Elliott Smith/New Moon
(the best posthumous double-disc B-sides collection…ever? Outstanding, timeless)
13.The Shins/Wincing the Night Away
(add Eric Johnson, synthesizers and some sedatives and it’s a wonderful new sound)
14.The Besnard Lakes/The Besnard Lakes Are The Dark Horse
(this slow-burning, moody, driving album is some kind of densely packed psych-rock genius)
15.Wilco/Sky Blue Sky
(a step down from greatness; it’s still beautifully crafted and full of killer guitar work)
16.The Avett Brothers/Emotionalism
(shambly country bluegrass sound with subversive lyrics grabs you and can’t be shaken loose)
17.St. Vincent/Marry Me
(beautiful, lustrous chamber pop that grows more enthralling with each listen)
18.Blitzen Trapper/Wild Mountain Nation
(spastic Pavement-meets-T. Rex-via-Lennon album that defies logic and wins your heart)
19.Iron & Wine/The Shepherd’s Dog
(bigger, percussion-heavy sound (mostly) works, very good though he overreaches a bit)
20.The Bird and the Bee/ The Bird and the Bee
(electronic bossa nova lounge music shouldn’t sound so good, but it does: cool, precise and excellent)
21.The White Stripes/Icky Thump
(sneaky, tough and raw – almost as good as “Elephant,” just less showy; they’ve still got it)
22.Apples In Stereo/New Magnetic Wonder
(outrageously enjoyable sugary indie-pop that just doesn’t grow old)
23.Bright Eyes/Cassadaga
(bigger, fuller sound with (a little) less self-indulgence moves him into the mainstream, and works)
24.Jose Gonzalez/In Our Nature
(true to his lo-fi sound, another set of simple acoustic tunes that stir wonder and anticipation)
25.Andrew Bird/Armchair Apocrypha
(complex, delicate musical dioramas with beautiful melodies, more intriguing each time)
More Very Good Stuff
Earlimart/Mentor Tormentor
Foo Fighters/ Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace
Great Lake Swimmers/Ongiara
Albert Hammond Jr./Yours To Keep
Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova/Once Soundtrack
Modest Mouse/We Were Dead…
The Mother Hips/Kiss The Crystal Flake
Nina Nastasia and Jim White/You Follow Me
Okkervil River/The Stage Names
Rogue Wave/Asleep at Heaven’s Gate
John Vanderslice/Emerald City
Dig ‘Em Out!
The Natural History/Beat Beat Heartbeat (2003)
Holopaw/Holopaw (2003)
Shannon McNally and Neal Casal/Ran On Pure Lightning (2003)
Lynyrd Skynyrd/Second Helping (1974)
Little Feat (1971)
Overrated
Animal Collective/Strawberry Jam
Arcade Fire/Neon Bible
Feist/The Reminder
The National/Boxer
Panda Bear/Person Pitch
Missed in ’06
Ox/American Lo Fi
Sorta/Strange and Sad But True
Bonus
No new Coldplay
Andrew Stewart
Rhinebeck, NY