Rolling Stone

1 M.I.A.
Kala(Interscope)
“M.I.A.’s second album was an international block party with a sonic imagination nobody else could match all year.”

Most original album of the year? Yes. Best album of the year? Perhaps. Seems like a pretty odd pick for Rolling Stone, who seemed way more into Graduation and In Rainbows last year (yup, it’s ‘last year’ now). I think they tried to give us a surprise pick Grammy-style upset, which I suppose they did.

Yahoo! Music

1. In Rainbows by Radiohead
“With all hoopla aside, when I listen to this record I become wholly lost in the dynamic power of the playing. The chops are breathtaking. But the beauty of the melody, and the incontestable power of the artistic vision contained within also play a large role in why In Rainbows is not only the best album of the year, but maybe the decade.”

Whoa. Slow down, tiger. Radiohead alone arguably have better records this decade than In Rainbows. While it is a great pick, and a fantastic record, there were many albums this year that gave this a good run for it’s money.

SPIN

Against Me!
New Wave
“No small thanks to producer Butch Vig, New Wave is a beacon: more liberating than a thousand middle fingers. In a perfect world, New Wave would have been greeted with the adulation and success the similarly agitpop American Idiot received.”

Spin, Spin, Spin. Sorry, I don’t get it. Yes, the songs are catchy and anthemic, but Tom Gabel’s dated mid 90′s Warped Tour howl should have at least taken them out of the running for the top 10. A fun album for sure, but not deserving of any American Idiot esque praise; Not even better than any of the 50 or 100 listed by most other publications. Maybe I’m completely missing something, but to be blunt, SPIN, you may as well have given the honors to Good Charlotte. I’m pretty sure they had a protest song.

Pitchfork Media

01: Panda Bear
Person Pitch
“With its bright harmonies, loops that veer from lulling to ecstatic, and reverb that lends each sound a hazy twinkle, Person Pitch feels friendly and conversational, if beautifully streaked with psychedelic disorientation. But mostly, it just feels overwhelmingly positive and unfailingly generous. “

I agree on this review completely (though this is just a snippet). This is a beautiful record, and I’m glad it ranked higher than Animal Collective’s Strawberry Jam (Honestly, I can only take them in small doses). This was the better record, and not much of a surprise pick for Pitchfork. But, to say this is the definitive best record of 2007 is simply a stretch, in my mind. Though, Pitchfork’s picks often are.

Amazon.com

1. The Reminder
Feist (Artist)
Throughout, the record profits from a simple, unfussy aesthetic that keeps the production minimal and the emphasis squarely on Feist’s cracking, wistful vibrato. It’s a low-pressure vibe, welcoming and content to linger. And linger you will.

This was a top 10 record for sure, but a bit too restricted to be #1; Not sure if that makes sense. Genre bending seemed to be a big theme with some of the top picks this year, and the slow, steady pace of The Reminder is a solid 5-star indie-pop record. But…not sure I would ever call it Album of the Year.

MTV.com

1. Wilco, Sky Blue Sky
Sky Blue Sky is the most simple record of the year. It resonates because it’s true and beautiful and seemingly not of this era. But it’s also unfathomably complicated: a record about relationships, about being so in love and wanting to make it work so bad, about giving of yourself and taking from someone else about being back to back, in the foxhole — impossible Germany, unlikely Japan — against overwhelming odds, but determined to fight until the bitter end.

I love this review, and I love this album. But it is simply not Album of the Year. It is, at best, Wilco’s third best album (which of course, doesn’t mean it can’t be album of the year). It just doesn’t have the impact of most of the records listed above. it is simple, but perhaps too simple at times. A lot of fans call this a big disappointment, but I wouldn’t go as far as to say that. You can’t expect them to be perfect everytime. “Impossible Germany” is hands down one of the best songs of the year, but I’m not sure this is even a top 10 album.

This may have been the trickiest year end list I’ve done in a long time. Not only was I stuck staring at a list of over 20 albums that needed to be narrowed down to 10 (I don’t fancy a top 50), but I almost made a last minute switch for the #1 spot. There seemed to be a lot of great albums this year that were amplified by hype alone, but a good majority of them actually deserved it. Much of this list consists of big releases, because that tends to be how I like it. There are no live albums with rarities by bands that broke up 5 years ago (I’m looking at you, Pitchfork). This is Poproks, after all.

Close calls:
As I am Alicia Keys
Writer’s Block Peter Bjorn and John
Finding Forever Common
Wincing the Night Away The Shins
Songs About Girls Will.i.am

10. The Reminder Feist
2007 was Canadian singer/songwriter Leslie Feist’s year. Not only was “1234” the most talked about Ipod commercial theme since U2 debuted “Vertigo,” but it gave the song a ridiculous boost in the charts (peaked at #8 on the Hot 100) and also caught the attention of The Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (the Grammys, I mean). The song’s video made VH1’s Best Of countdown for ’07, and Blender Magazine named it one of the Best Indie Albums Ever. Etc. etc. etc. Everyone loves this album, and they should. Feist’s folky style coupled with her pop sensibility make it hard to believe that 2004’s Let it Die wasn’t just as popular (though it did pretty well in Canada). There’s not much to elaborate on. It’s a simple record about simple ideas, and it’s beautiful.

9. Favourite Worst Nightmare Arctic Monkeys
Here it is, the album I least expected to see on my Top 10…The band that I love to hate…The band whose debut made it’s way to #5 on the NME Best British Albums Ever list (ahead of London Calling and Revolver, mmk?). The band that is bigger than Jesus. Well, I just can’t help but love this band, and I just can’t help but love this record (in fact, it’s probably better than the #5 Bestest Ever debut, and that scares me). Arctic Monkeys are just fucking good. And they make me want to break things and say “fucking” a lot. Possibly with a British accent. This is simply infectious as hell. Make no mistake, Arctic Monkeys are as good as everyone says they are (well, almost everyone).

8. The Cool Lupe Fiasco
Lupe Fiasco’s oddly un-concept-like concept album, The Cool, is a late comer that shot up to this list upon first listen. What with thought provoking subject matter, an UNKLE sample that rocks the universe, and choruses that would be at home on a Radiohead record, it’s pretty hard to listen to this without being impressed. Even the most hardened hip hop foe would walk away from this record with a new favorite rapper. Lupe pushes the envelope on all sorts of levels, and leaves you wondering if you can even categorize this as a hip hop album.

7. Boxer The National
I don’t think The National will ever release a record again that doesn’t sore to the top of every critics’ list there is (except Rolling Stone, what’s up with you guys?). Boxer is another perfect record from one of the most under-rated bands in music. Matt Berninger’s dark and sorrowful lyrics match his dark and sorrowful baritone all too well. “You wouldn’t want an angel watching over/surprise, surprise they wouldn’t wannna watch/another uninnocent, elegant fall into the unmagnificent lives of adults.” Berninger’s exceptionally unconventional, original, and thought provoking words mixed with flowing piano and guitar highlight every last track. It was impossible to even pick a favorite (but will settle on the opener, “Fake Empire”). On this, their forth album on Beggars Banquet, every aspect of the band’s songwriting has improved tenfold from the last. I’m excited just thinking about their next.

6. Panic Prevention Jamie T
From the first second that you hear that half-assed drunken guitar lick kick-start Jamie Treay’s Mercury Prize nominated debut, it’s very hard not to love it. The 21 year old South London native was hailed as a One Man Arctic Monkey by NME (they love their hype at NME), who tripped over themselves to award him the Best Solo Artist award only 3 weeks after the album’s January release. You won’t know what it is that you love about Panic Prevention, but you’ll love it none-the-less. Many young artists of the UK music scene work tirelessly to appear to not give a fuck, but Jamie T is not even trying. He’s not even thinking about trying. He truly doesn’t give a fuck and it transpires wonderfully through this record. The recordings are sloppy at times (and seem to be mostly first or second takes), but only just enough so that you understand that nothing on this record is an accident. Take that however you’d like.

5. American Gangster Jay-Z
This record is a staple in hip hop; one of the best rappers ever making the kind of record that he was born to make. Jay-Z is an American gangster. Every song on this album is perfectly produced, every string effect and drum sound complimented with impeccable flow that only Jay could deliver. Between The Neptunes, Diddy, and Nas, everyone else who managed to be a part of this release is at the top of their game, giving Jay-Z’s 10th #1 record an overflow of 5 star tracks. Jay’s best album ever? I’m not sure yet (The Black Album/The Blueprint just won’t let go), but it’s a definite possibility.

4. Neon Bible Arcade Fire
While it’s not quite the masterpiece that their debut Funeral may have been, Neon Bible would have been the breakthrough record of the year had it not been the dreaded “sophomore follow-up.” It’s hard to put your finger on the band’s sound; as it’s not blatantly or obnoxiously “indie,” and at times sounds more like the best of Springsteen or Bowie. And even though Win Butler arguably lacks the cool of these acts, something about his nervous quiver of a voice and his band’s crowded live show make Arcade Fire much bigger than the sum of it’s many parts.

3. Kala M.I.A.
Nobody else makes music like this. Fortunately, that’s only one of a million reasons to love M.I.A. At first listen, I favored her debut Arular – but the more I jam to this record, the more I start to change my mind. Kala seamlessly combines dozens of otherwise unmeshable genres, and hardly within the confines of pop (though, they’re all in there). From an indie driven Clash sampled hip hop anthem, “Paper Planes” (one of the best songs of 2007 – if not the best) to the Bollywood-infused techno of “Hussel”, I dare anyone to try and put this in a box. World-techno-afro-rap-indie-electro? F*ck labels. Kala is too good for it.

2. In Rainbows Radiohead
What can you say about this record that hasn’t already been said? Forget the Pay What You Want Self Release That Shook the World – this record would have shaken the world regardless. The long (long) awaited follow up to 2003’s Hail to the Thief was, undeniably, well worth the wait. Granted, you were able to get your theoretical hands on this theoretical album just days after its release was announced (not to mention boxsets and webcasts and codes, oh my) , but between Yorke’s solo project and Greenwood’s avant-garde film scores – this album was “anticipated” for quite a while. Again, it was worth it. The catchiest pop of The Bends meets the creepiest moods of Kid A, and the combination is somehow as good as both. It hurt a little not to make this Album of the Year.

1. Graduation Kanye West
Can’t tell me nothing.

I remember the first few days of Graduation’s release well. I would literally listen to it on my way to work, listen to it at work, listen to it on my way home, and listen to it at home. Play. Repeat. Play. Repeat. Always picking up from wherever I left off. If I wasn’t listening to it, I was singing it in my head, reading about it, writing about it, talking about it. I heard it blasted from every car in Brooklyn, every backyard party, every open window. It was everywhere. It deserved to be.

I doubt Kanye will have any award snubbing to bitch about next year (yeah, he’s a baby), but rightfully so. Every word, even when placed awkwardly, is placed just so for a reason. Every sample transformed into Louie Vatan Don perfection. This isn’t even his second best, and it still takes my Album of the Year nod by a landslide (Edit: a mild landslipe – see #2). Who cares how cocky you are when you are this good?

So, I put together a playlist of all of my 40 41 favorite tracks of 2007. If the album the song was on wasn’t released this year, then the single was (I was careful). From Gwen Stefani to The National, these are all of the tracks that stood out from the many great releases in ’07. My Poproks. Merry Christmas to me.