Top 50

50. ARTHUR AND YU
In Camera
The last survivor to make this here list. I had In Camera all the way up in my top ten mainly due to staying power. What makes a record stand up to literally dozens of listens and get better over time? Consistency, creativity and excellent song writing if you ask me. For those three criteria it didn't get much better than Arthur & Yu this year.

49. BATTLES
Mirrored
Math-rock. Livetronica. Whatever you want to call it, Battles' debut album was accessible, catchy and insanely well-produced. You probably think you don't like this kind of music (I don't either) but you do. Plus, their drummer used to play for Helmet, so you're guaranteed huge beats, if nothing else.

48. VIDEOHIPPOS
Unbeast the Leash
Using sixteen-bit Nintendo/casio sounds, interspersed with electronica and traditional rock & roll howl, these folks sound like The Cure on ecstasy. With a whole lot of digital bells and whistles thrown-in for good measure. And a hyperactive imagination.

47. JOANNA NEWSOM
Y’s Street Band
Ahh, my first review for the site (or maybe it was the second) anyways, let some curator worry about that, after nearly a year this EP is still fresher than A&P produce, and that says a lot!

46. THE HIVES
The Black and White Album
Hip producers and 3 years in the making but still The Black and White Album is no makeover. There was a time when I thought The Hives were possibly the perfect blend of sharp-dressed-man finesse and ass-destroying garage slosh, and with this album they haven't changed my mind much. As per usual, the Hives are at their best when they're trying to convince you that they're your new favorite band, even when they're your old favorite band.

45. GOGOL BORDELLO
Super Taranta!
A punk band from Eastern Europe, with a palpable penchant for the theatrical. They've pulled out all the stops on this album, in solid devotion to chaos. Don't let the playfulness fool you, friends, these songs are profoundly socio-politically motivated.

44. OKKERVIL RIVER
Stage Names
Definitely the most depressing on my top ten list, but the days are getting shorter and my list of things to complain about is getting longer and so is my chest hair which means I'm becoming a man with the ability to be comfortable with my emotions. Slacker-poet observations on life for the new millennium. Y'all!

43. GHOST IS DANCING
The Darkest Spark
So, this band has a lot of people in it. Maybe now you're thinking "Oh, I've heard this before -- who needs this many people in a band anyway?" Well, when all the parts fit together as nicely as they do on The Darkest Spark, I say go for it. And when the album is good but the live show -- size-related logistics and all -- is even better, you've gotten something right.

42. MODEST MOUSE
We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank
The press around this newest Modest Mouse album fizzled out pretty quickly, and mostly centered around Johnny Marr and whether or not Issac Brock was still on the illegal substances. Maybe that's because instead of the pop-oriented departure of their last album, We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank settled in a medium ground between the sound that got the band their popular success and the sound that got them their earlier cult following. Obvious single "Dashboard" might have turned some off, but there's lots here for those who liked this band better before it was on TRL.

41. LOS CAMPESINOS!
Sticking Fingers Into Sockets
This debut EP bodes well for Los Campesinos. Poppy and fun with witty and, dare I say, geeky lyrics, the Cardiff Wales crew were a definite surprise for 2007. Will their early 2008 debut LP be as good? Only time will tell.