About a dozen albums on this list were late additions as I spent the last few weeks of 2007 year going through my favorite national albums and listening to ones I might not have heard to come up with a list of 50 that I thought were some of the best. (2007's offerings from Rickie Lee Jones, Joe Henry and Richard Thompson albums were three late favorites.)
Somehow, I could only come up with 49. In the comments, let me know my most glaring oversight (even if it's Mirrored by Battles, or Mark Olson's Salvation Blues.)
- The National - Boxer (This album is simply amazing, start to finish.)
- Wilco - Sky Blue Sky (Impossible Germany is part of my soundtrack to 2007)
- Jason Isbell - Sirens of The Ditch (Incredible songwriting. A keeper.)
- Band of Horses -Cease to Begin (A creeper. Hearing one song from this album leads you to explore more, then you get sucked in.)
- Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago (Beautiful, ethereal, almost spookily so.)
- Andrew Bird - Armchair Apocrypha (Gorgeous, a bit of a masterpiece.)
- Mishka Shubaly - How To Make A Bad Situation Worse (Hilarious and tragic. Best drinking album ever!)
- Jens Lekman - Night Falls Over Kortedala (Is Jens Lekman the new Jonathan Richman?)
- AM - Soul Variations (Did anyone see him at the Varsity 12/2? I missed it.)
- Okerville River - The Stage Names
- Joe Henry - Civilians
- Stars - In Our Bedroom After The War
- Richard Hawley - Lady's Bridge (Is Hawley is the new Sinatra.)
- White Rabbits - Fort Nightly (Rock tight, wind it up.)
- Arctic Monkeys - Favorite Worst Nightmare
- Elvis Perkins - Ash Wednesday
- Nick Lowe - At My Age
- Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga (Much the same as the last Spoon album, but that doesn't make it not great.)
- The Frames - The Cost (Not my favorite Frames album, but comparatively, it's still magic)
- The Fratellis - Costello Music
- Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
- Rickie Lee Jones - The Sermon on Exposition Boulevard (sounds like Rickie Lee Jones fronting the Velvet Underground)
- Bjork - Volta (Grows on you)
- Elliott Smith - New Moon (Gorgeous in its roughness. Only 3 of the tracks on this disc were previously released. Nymag.com: "New Moon gives him the triumphant comeback he never had in life.")
- Beruit - The Flying Cup Club
- Eleni Mandell - Miracle of Five (If you haven't heard her, you must - her voice will catch you off guard and slay you)
- Bloc Party - A Weekend In The City
- Radiohead - In Rainbows (Weird Fishes is pretty.)
- Bright Eyes - Cassadaga (Anyone else think Bright Eyes sounds better when you don't realize what you're listening to?)
- LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver (You can tell from the first song how good the album's going to be. I hear elements of Kraftwerk, Tom Tom Club, Bowie, more - great. "North American Scum" grooves.)
- The Shins - Wincing the Night Away (Not as intense an album as Chutes Too Narrow, but maybe there's a transition of sound going on here?)
- Klaxons - Myths of the Near Future
- Blonde Redhead - Got into it late in the year, but can't stop replaying it.
- She Wants Revenge - This is Forever (A little rough in spots, but probably as good as their previous disc. It has elements of what I loved about the early to mid 80s. She Will Always Be A Broken Girl caught my attention because of the synth riff. Kind of reminded me of the Killers or Interpol in a way too. Last song, "Rachael" is a killer. Though about Bladerunner, it might also serve as an anthem for inherited cultural grief.)
- Crowded House - Time On Earth (Don't forget about this album!)
- Against Me! - New Wave (Title is ironic for a somewhat old school punk record. Americans Abroad is hilariously accurate.)
- M.I.A. -Kala (A rhythmic fiesta - the Pixies quotes in 20 Dollar are hilarious)
- Richard Thompson - Sweet Warrior (at 58, Richard Thompson seems to still be getting better - this is a bouncy, energetic rock and roll album)
- Menomena - Friend and Foe (Another one you need to hear more than once)
- Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer? (Intense, clever, and somehow fun despite the dark content of the songs.)
- White Stripes - Icky Thump
- Prefab Sprout - Steve McQueen: Legacy Edition (One of my favorite albums ever, 1985's Steve McQueen (known as "Two Wheels Good" in the States), re-mastered by original producer Thomas Dolby, and with an extra disc's worth of tracks.)
- Dean & Britta - Back Numbers (Not a guilty pleasure, I hope. One of my early favorites of 07.)
- Les Savy Fav - Let's Stay Friends
- Burial - Untrue (I like this a lot, but it kind of makes me want to listen to Radiohead.)
- Patty Griffin - Children Run Through
- The Good The Bad and The Queen - self titled
- Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam
- Stars of The Lid - And Their Refinement of The Decline (File under New Age? Chill, but not fluffy.)