1. Sunset Rubdown - Random Spirit LoverRandom Spirit Lover (RSL) is the single best album I have heard in the past five years and maybe even in this decade. This album is so complex and quirky but in all of the right ways. The first several listens of RSL can be rough but it has some innate quality that makes one continually come back to it. The payoff is a musical adventure in which each song blends into the next like a true album should. Granted the songs themselves are amazing but it is the cohesiveness of the recordings as a continuous work that make this album so amazing. In my eyes Spencer Krug has become the writer of this generation and I can't wait to see what he has up his sleeve next.
Best Songs - "The Mending of the Gown", "The Taming of the Hands that Came Back to Life", "Winged/Wicked Things
Best Songs - "The Mending of the Gown", "The Taming of the Hands that Came Back to Life", "Winged/Wicked Things
2. Radiohead - In RainbowsIn Rainbows was released with a myriad of attention for the way in which Radiohead marketed and sold this album, but shouldn't we be focusing on the album itself? Let's forget the hype and what we find is arguably Radiohead's best album to date. In Rainbows finds a band that is finally comfortable in its own skin. The songs here do not sound forced or experimental as some of their past releases have come off as. Instead, In Rainbows finds a Radiohead producing an effortless and natural sound all being the culmination of their past works. If this album was released in any other year it could easily be my number one album, but 2007 was just too damn good.
Best Songs - "All I Need", "Bodysnatchers", "Reckoner"
3. The National - BoxerThe National have a crafted an album that is truly a classic. Boxer is an album that will age like a fine wine and be one that will hold relevance 10 years into the future. The songs have an understated beauty that reveals itself in each listen. I have seen numerous references to Boxer as a "grower" and while this sentiment is true there is still plenty of immediacy to this album as well. Buy it, enjoy it, period.
Best Songs - "Fake Empire", "Mistaken for Strangers", "Apartment Story"
4. Broken Social Scene Presents: Kevin Drew - Spirit If...Broken Social Scene (BSL) references are inescapable but necessary as Kevin Drew is the chief songwriter for that outfit and it is with Kevin Drew's Spirit If... one can recognize his importance to the band's success. Kevin Drew is nothing other than a extremely solid songwriter and to discount this record because he released it under the Broken Social Scene moniker is missing the point entirely. Kevin Drew's songwriting will always be inseparable from the Broken Social Scene sound because of his major role in shaping that sound, and while Broken Social Scene members contributed to this album the majority of its sound is Kevin Drew steering the ship to its ultimate destination. This album smells and tastes like BSL but with a quality of its own. Mmmmm, yummy.
Best Songs - "Safety Bricks", "Lucky Ones", Frightening Lives", "Backed Out on the..."
5. Menomena - Friend and FoeFriend and Foe is an album that seems so schizophrenic but somehow manages to hold everything together. This dichotomy of sound weaves between intense, driving, and beautiful and its many personalities are what makes this album so interesting. Inventive and creative all while finding itself accessible Friend and Foe is an album that I can see myself coming back to in the future and only appreciating more with time.
Best Songs - "The Pelican", "Wet and Rusting", "My My"
6. Handsome Furs - Plague ParkHandsome Furs is no more than Dan Boeckner (Wolf Parade), Alexei Perry, a guitar, and a drum machine. Now this statement may lack the inclusion of synthesizers, but I want to reflect the simplicity of the approach taken in Plague Park. Boeckner has stated that the album was "to be as sparse and repetitive as possible" and while this repetition is achieved in sorts the album is not sterile by any means. Plague Park takes a bit of Wolf Parade and a little bit of New Order and lets everyone know that Wolf Parade is not a one man show.
Best Songs - "What We Had", "Dead + Rural", "Handsome Furs Hate This City"
7. Okkervill River - The Stage NamesThe Stage Names is a songwriter's album in that Okkervill River has no gimmicks but just great songs. The songs are naked and raw and reflect the mature songwriting that one would expect of Will Sheff. The Stage Names is not trying to slap you in the face, but is that stray dog that gently finds a place in your heart and makes a home.
Best Songs - "Our Life Is Not a Movie or Maybe", "Plus Ones", "John Allyn Smith Sails", "Girl In Port"
8. Panda Bear - Person PitchThe best way I can describe Person Pitch is if someone locked Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys in a room for days with only a knowledge of electronic based music/sampling and a month's supply of acid. The product is something that seems so recognizable but so new all at the same time. The only negative to this album is that it is not one that will find its way into your CD player on a daily basis. Person Pitch is a mood album and by this I mean you have to be in a certain mood to want to listen to it, but when you find that mood, it is well worth it.
Best Songs - "Bros", "Comfy in Nautica", "Im Not"
9. The Besnard Lakes - The Besnard Lakes Are The Dark HorseThe two opening songs "Disaster" and "For Agent 13" are an extremely powerful opening to a great album, however, the album unfortunately cannot maintain the pace set by these great songs. Don't let this distress you though as the remainder of the album is good, but suffers from its own creation of high expectations.
Best Songs - "For Agent 13", "Disaster", "Because Tonight"
10. Stars - In Our Bedroom After the WarI am going to borrow from my review of this album as I took a lot of time in figuring out how I exactly wanted to describe this album so here it goes... Stars have always achieved a charming quality through the interaction of the voices of Torquil Campbell and Amy Millan and In Our Bedroom After the War continues this relationship without being 'rinse and repeat'. The duet of Campbell and Millan sing the gambit from feuding lovers to pop perfectionists and we are all the better for it in joining in for the ride.
Best Songs - "The Night starts Here", "Window Bird", "Take Me to the Riot"
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