My Favorite 25 Tracks of 2007

You can download some of the individual linked tracks, or nap them all together here: tracks 20-17, tracks 18-11, tracks 10-1. feedback is much appreciated. enjoy and thanks for reading!

artist - track title - album

25. plastic little feat. amanda blank, spank rock and ghostface killah - crambodia (pink skull remix) - driz-bodia
24. grails - dead vine blues - burning off impurities
23. les savy fav - patty lee - let's stay friends
22. pig destroyer - girl in the slayer jacket - phantom limb

i wasn't too into a lot of the metal albums this year, but pig destroyer really stepped away from the pack (and their previous albums) with the addition of a forth "noise" member and a start to finish excellent album phantom limb

************
21. best friends forever - handpocket - romance conflict adventure
20. the animal collective - derek - strawberry jam
19. bat for lashes - i'm on fire (bruce springsteen cover) - fur and gold
18. wolves in the throne room - i will lay down my bones among the rocks and roots - two hunters
17. simian mobile disco - hustler - attack decay sustain release video:



************
16. yeasayer - wait for the summer - all hour cymbals
15. notorious b.i.g. - party and bullshit (ratatat remix) - ratatat mixtape vol. 2
14. pissed jeans - caught licking leather - hope for men

people finally "get" pissed jeans this year (myself included) and the group is signed to sup-pop records. the joy division style drums that start of this track are killer.

************
13. why? - the hollows - the hollows ep
12. woods - night creature - at rear house
11. r. kelly feat. usher - same girl - double up video:



************
10. beirut - elephant gun - lon gisland
9. ugk feat. outkast - international players anthem (i choose you) - ungerground kingz video:


r.i.p. pimp c, pour one out for by far the best video of the year

************
8. a-trak - wamperctcle - dirty south dance
7. spank rock and benny blanco feat. amanda blank - loose - bangers and cash video:


while i love this track to death, i do think spank and benny need to chill on the whole "shock value" thing, this video beats the dead horse pretty hard.

************
6. panda bear - comfy in nautica - person pitch
5. kid sister - pro nails - pro nails single
4. eddie ray - glad i found you - eccentric soul: the prix label

this track is actually from 1970, but it was almost completely unheard of and basically unreleased at the time. it's been compiled now on the FANTASTIC numero group soul comp eccentric soul: the prix label HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

************
3. the cool kids - 88 - unreleased
2. the black lips - veni vidi vici - good bad not evil
1. white denim - don't look that way at it - unreleased

by far my favorite track of the year. do yourself a serious favor and listen to this song. everything about it is pitch perfect.

New Earth. Bees, Honey.

The southern lord kings of drone are back with a new upcoming full length The Bees Made Honey in the Lions' Skull. They're taking the "western" style of the last few albums and pushing it even further on this with piano on every track and an epic, dusty atmosphere that would feel at home in any Sergio Leone film. The results are pretty amazing, perfect for the miserable snowy weather we've been having here in Madison, WI, this is the kind of shit you can get seriously lost in. Beautiful stuff.

mp3: earth - hung from the moon
you can also cop the first track of the new album Omens And Portents I: The Driver for free courtesy of the dudes over at southern lord

The Bees Made Honey in the Lions' Skull comes out in Feb. and both tracks are highly recommended

New Beach House & Magnetic Fields

On their new album devotion (due early february on car-park records), beach house stink to the same vibes of their self titled debut, specifically channeling the stand out track master of none (there is also a pretty wicked daniel johnston cover snuck in). I'm really feeling this album and the hand claps (or whatever those are) on this track.

mp3: beach house - holy dances

You can also download the first single Gila on any of the other 1000 blogs that posted about it.

********************



The Magnetic Field's Steven Merritt stays pretty literal on all of distortion's tracks with a thick level of jesus and mary chain feedback worship. He doesn't even start singing till track three, but when he does it gets pretty awesome. Check it out.

mp3: the magnetic fields - old fools

Distortion is due january 15th on nonesuch records.

*also check out what might be the worst album art of all time

my favorite records of 2007

this is the first post of a new and amazing era, read the blurb to the left for introduction info if you don't know what's up.

2007 was a pretty fucking bright year for music, i've narrowed it down to a classic ten best of, hope you dig

***********

10. interpol - our love to admire

mp3:no i in threesome

***********

9. spank rock and benny blanco - bangers and cash ep

mp3:b-o-o-t-a-y

there are two reasons this is so low on the list. the first: how short it is (a tiny 17 minutes) and the second: the complete and total dud of the last track bitch!, party fowls all around, especially since the other four 2 live crew inspired tracks are so goddamn good.

***********

8. a-trak - dirty south dance

mp3:wampercycle

the first "real" mixtape from kanye west's dj is the party record of the year, mashing dirty southern rap with high octane electro joints (both original and found) making it pretty much perfect for the dance floor from start to finish.

***********

7. chromatics - night drive

mp3:night drive

***********

6. woods - at rear house

mp3:night creature

***********

5. beirut - the flying club cup

mp3:nantes

***********

4. the black lips - good bad not evil

mp3:veni vidi vici

***********

3. wolves in the throne room - two hunters

mp3:dia artio

don't write this off if you aren't a traditional fan of heavy music. this dark, spacious and uplifting album is truly mesmerizing even for a music lover who isn't into the heavy or extreme.

***********

2. panda bear - person pitch

mp3:good girl/carrots

***********

1. white denim - workout holiday ep

mp3:shake shake shake
mp3:darksided computer mouth (from let's talk about it)
mp3:don't look that way at it (unreleased)

i'm cheating and including this, their debut 7 inch and all their unreleased tracks of 2007 as a #1 together, that's because i haven't been this excited about music in a long long time. the soul, passion and energy this band has is down right breath-taking. it's unfortunate that the workout holiday ep is literally impossible to buy (the band only sold copies on tour) unless you live in their home town austin, tx that is, but you can head over to their myspace page to order the equally excellent "let's talk about it" 7 inch and lucky for you the dudes over at RCRD LBL will be releasing a track a month of this monster for free download, so you wont have to wait long.

hope anyone reading dug the first post and check back for regular updates including a "my favorite 25 songs of 2007" post along with multiple mp3 downloads.