Rick Sieber

I can’t keep tweaking forever, so here are my lists as they currently stand. To me, 2007 was an exceptionally good year for music – way better than last year – so these were not easy decisions (hence the delay). My list contains many of the usual suspects (Spoon, Radiohead, LCD Soundsystem), but I finally settled on Field Music as my album of the year, and not just for variety’s sake. This was the album that most captured my imagination this year – quirky and deceptively complex arrangements, new wave zip and prog ambition, and still catchy as all get out. The Shins slightly edged the New Pornographers in my battle of the indie pop titans, and both groups should be applauded for pushing forward into subtly new territory. If Paul McCartney were hipper, and hadn’t recently written the godawful “Freedom,” more people would realize that he’s in the midst of a very strong run of albums, this year’s offering being a late career peak. The slick production isn’t for all tastes, and it isn’t always easy to get past Paul’s cheesy optimism, but for well-crafted studio pop it doesn’t get much better. Paul also gets my award for best bassline of 2007: “See Your Sunshine”. The man can still play. Without further ado, the lists:

TOP 10 ALBUMS:

1. Tones of Town – Field Music
2. Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga – Spoon
3. In Rainbows – Radiohead
4. Sound of Silver – LCD Soundsystem
5. Wincing the Night Away – The Shins
6. Challengers – The New Pornographers
7. Memory Almost Full – Paul McCartney
8. The Good, the Bad, & the Queen – The Good, the Bad, & the Queen
9. White Chalk – PJ Harvey
10. The Far Now – David Kilgour



Bubbling Under:

* Friend Opportunity – Deerhoof
* God Save the Clientele – The Clientele
* Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? – Of Montreal
* Neon Bible – Arcade Fire
* On the Wing Now – Foreign Born
* Turn My Teeth Up! – Baby Elephant



TOP 20 TRACKS:

1. “Ever Present Past” – Paul McCartney
2. “No Cars Go” – Arcade Fire
3. “North American Scum” – LCD Soundsystem
4. “Disaster” – The Besnard Lakes”
5. “Plasticities” – Andrew Bird
6. “+81” - Deerhoof
7. “Myriad Harbour” – The New Pornographers
8. “Heimdalsgate Like a Promethean Curse” – Of Montreal
9. “Horse Riding” – Euros Childs
10. “Brace Yourself” – Les Savy Fav
11. “My Moon, My Man” – Feist
12. “The People” – Common
13. “Give It” – X-Press 2 (featuring Kurt Wagner)
14. “Suddenly It’s a Folk Song” – Future of the Left
15. “Someone to Love” – Fountains of Wayne
16. “Paper Planes” – MIA
17. “Mammoth” - Interpol
18. “Good Life” – Kanye West (featuring T-Pain)
19. “Crack Addicts in Love” – Baby Elephant (featuring Nona Hendryx)
20. “Cryptograms” - Deerhunter



Bubbling Under:

* “Don’t You Evah” - Spoon
* “Finer Feelings” – Spoon
* “Grace Kelly” - Mika
* “A House Is Not A Home” – Field Music
* “I Call On You” – The Trolleyvox
* “If I Don’t” – Amp Fiddler (featuring Corinne Bailey Rae)
* “Sea Legs” – The Shins
* “Someone Great” – LCD Soundsystem
* “Tame the Savage” – Celebration
* “They Follow You” – Siouxsie
* “Weird Fishes/Arpeggi” – Radiohead
* “You Know I’m No Good” – Amy Winehouse