Top 2007 Albums

I was recently confronted with making the decision of what my personal top albums of the past year would have to be, and after a ton of deliberation and debate with myself, I've come to the following results:

10. Coheed and Cambria- No World For Tomorrow
I found this album to be a wonderful conclusion for Coheed and Cambria saga, with songs such as Feathers and Justice in Murder, keeping the epic Coheed feel, while still containing catchy hooks that keep you with the song stuck in your head for hours on end. This album also brought some great sounding intros as in No World For Tomorrow making you want to stop songs in the middle just to start them over again for one more happy listen. To conclude, this album wraps up with one of the better sets of ending songs from their albums, only rivaled by the Willing Well series, which I'm probably partial to due to getting to see Claudio play the solo of Willing Well IV with his mouth.

9. Circa Survive- On Letting Go
What a progression for Circa Survive this presented! After such a strong debut with Juturna (a spectacular album based upon Eternal Sunshine of the Spotles Mind), Anthony Green and Circa really outdid themselves. On Letting Go is one of those albums that just takes you off your feet for all 45 minutes of it's play time. My personal favorites on this album are On Letting Go and Kicking Your Crosses Down due to their smooth transitions of tempos. Another major mention for this album would have to be In the Morning and Amazing, with it's utterly breath-taking intro into a quite upbeat, yet not uncharacteristic song for the group, overall a simply splendid ear treat.

8. Daft Punk- Alive 2007
Regardless of the fact that Daft Punk didn't exactly make any new songs this year (though some people just learned of them thanks to Kanye West, and fuck anyone who thinks Kanye made them popular), this album brought their famed live performance full of superb mixes of their songs by the DJing duo. The primary benefit of this album, you don't have to deal with the cruddy recorded sound someone captured on their amateur taping of Daft Punk live! Now if only they could somehow capture the lighting effects emitted from the monstrous two ton pyramid-stage...

7. The White Stripes- Icky Thump
This album didn't strike me as that appealing on first listen, but as time went on and I gave it another few good run-throughs, the more I fell in love with it. From the very first song, you feel the strong vibes only attainable by Jack White, Rolling Stones' 17th greatest guitarist of all time (Jimi Hendrix is 1st), followed a bit later by the shout of "Coooooonnnnnquessssst". Let alone the wonderful bagpipes during St. Andrew. Honestly, how much more could be better than that besides a cold ice cream cone and a little cream soda? Not much, exactly.

6. Burial- Untrue
I know, I know, most people would respond with a "What the hell?" or "Who's that?" upon this choice for a top album, but that's part of the greatness in Burial's work. In a recent interview he (or she) stated that only 5 people actually know the person who makes the music under this name. No matter the person, it can't be disputed that they are sure turning up a storm of excitement with this self-proclaimed dubstep (though most in the dubstep community disagree with this label) that gives a wonderful dark ambient feel to any listener. It almost gives me the impression that I'm listening to ghosts and spirits in some surreal dark city setting. The strange use of sounds is simply astounding from the click and unloading of a gun heard during Near Dark to the sound of a swing set creaking during Ghost Hardware this album is a must have, and quite possibly the best meditation music I've ever owned.

5. Klaxons- Myths of the Near Future
I personally find them to be one of the most underrated groups in existence today.
Often categorized as "New Rave" and the self-proclaimed "Four Horsemen of 2012" (also a great song of theirs), this group simply takes electronica to a new level with the blending of graceful piano with dance beats you'd probably find ubiquitous in the dance clubs of the 90's (the song Two Receivers). Or the quick upbeat that you can't help but dance to during songs like Atlantis to Interzone (my personal favorite) and Magick. So though these four horsemen may not be quite the bringers of the apocalypse, they sure are re-inventing this rave concept and in a great way.

4. Animal Collective- Strawberry Jam
Now if there's a warning to be placed on addictive albums this one should be plastered with so many of those damned stickers that you can't see the tasty album cover for this ear treat. From the squeals and shouts of Peacebone all the way to the tribal-sounding finish with Derek, the Animal Collective does a wonderful job of removing the listener from the constraints of regular society and takes to a new world with the excitement of Fireworks that will make you more Cuckoo Cuckoo than any Cocoa Puffs could!

3. Stars- In Our Bedroom After the War
I'd heard a few of Stars' past songs and though I was impressed, this album was a wonderful surprise when I played it through and would possibly win my best "chill" album award (competing with Dreams by The Whitest Boy Alive). Ranging the soft use of synth to the graceful lyrics that give the impression of that soft glow that stars on the ceiling of one's bedroom gives off at night, this album is full of simply spectacular songs. My personal favorites are The Night Starts Here and Take Me To the Riot, and dare I say it without someone coming to my house to beat me to death, I've now placed this above Postal Service's Give Up as my relaxing sleepy time album of wonders.

2. Of Montreal- Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?
Spectacular, start to finish. Kevin Barnes is without a doubt a God among men for this album (though that gives him no right to strip and perform naked, but that's another story...). It's just filled to the brim with sounds that have that addicting label all over them! Heimdalsgate Like a Promethean Curse, with it's joyful look upon the psychedelic use of drugs, the catchy xylophone from a Sentence Of Sorts in Kongsvinger, the epic amazingness of The Past is a Grotesque Animal, the quick tempo of She's a Rejector, they're all just sooooo great! And anyone who disagrees is just another rejector, I'd like to pay a girl to go up and hit her!

1. Panda Bear- Person Pitch (Note: I was not simply partial due to the artist name, he really is this great)
EARGASMIC! That's right, and it's probably and understatement. This album just shows the immeasurable talent of Noah Lennox (of Animal Collective) as an artist. Though the Young Prayer album was pretty impressive, Person Pitch just took the fuckin' cake! It's opening starts off strong with Comfy in Nautica with the sound of a train is literally carrying you away from the real world into the awesomeness of that which is Noah Lennox's brain, and only gets better all the way to my favorite on the album, Good Girl/Carrots (all damn over twelve minutes of it! =]), then finishes off smoothly with Ponytails. His voice and blend of sounds, is simply amazing, and to see or imagine his making of the album would probably be more than breath-taking. Thus making it my number one album of the year!

That concludes my list, comment on your disagreement or agreement with it as you please! =)