LISTMANIA! 2007THE 25 BEST ALBUMS OF 2007PART II: THE TOP 10

**If you missed albums 25–11, you may want to catch up first. Or not. Free country.**

BITTER DEFEAT'S 25 BEST ALBUMS OF THE YEAR, PART TWO

10. Tegan and Sara – The Con

Applying the term "power pop" to The Con seems ridiculous at first, mainly because the drums don't kick in until 1:20 into the album's second song. But from then on the hooks just keep coming. Even more polished and accessible (in the best sense) than 2004's excellent So Jealous, The Con also takes on a darker, more world-weary tone; check out the doleful piano in "Back in Your Head" and "Soil, Soil" and you'll see what I mean.

9. Kevin Drew – Broken Social Scene Presents: Kevin Drew Spirit If...

As the title suggests, this is basically a new Broken Social Scene album, only with more beautiful Kevin Drew songs and fewer instrumental freakouts. So how you feel about this album relative to the rest of the band's output will probably be determined by how you feel about the previous sentence.

8. Panda Bear – Person Pitch

"Sounds like..." sentences are always an iffy proposition (and tend to alienate half the people reading anyway), but Panda Bear prove especially tricky to nail down. That said, it sounds like The Mamas & The Papas dropped a bunch of acid and recorded an album in an airplane hanger on Mars. Consisting solely of Noah Lennox (of Animal Collective), Panda Bear marries weird atmospherics and Wall-of-Sound echo effects to produce the most ethereal pop album of the year. Despite that last sentence, this is not the thinking man's Enya.

7. Band of Horses – Cease to Begin

Relocating to South Carolina had an obvious impact on these guys: opening track "Is There a Ghost" notwithstanding, BoH have largely eschewed the massive waves of guitars from last year's debut album in favor of love songs and more straightforward southern-fried rock. I'll admit I miss the dreamier aspects this time around, but it's hard to complain about something this fun. "The General Specific" and "Marry Song" in particular bear the imprint of rootsier influences, from The Band right through the Rolling Stones' "country honk" phase. If any 2007 album could be embodied by a twelve-pack of Bud cans, this was it.

6. The Arcade Fire – Neon Bible

I was late to the party on the debut album, and this one took me a while as well. The reasons this time around are twofold: First, The Arcade Fire make "grower" music of the highest order; second (and this would undoubtedly be hotly debated by the band's internerd devotees), Neon Bible opens with its weakest tracks. "Black Mirror" is the worst song on the album, and the whole enterprise never really hits a stride until the double-whammy of "Black Wave/Bad Vibrations" and the brilliant "Ocean of Noise." That said, when things finally get rolling the band more than lives up to the ridiculous expectations set by Funeral and the re-released self-titled EP. (And speaking of the EP, Neon Bible's reworked version of "No Cars Go" is utterly inferior to its predecessor.)

5. White Rabbits – Fort Nightly

Preppy, slightly aloof boys with boarding-school looks and a penchant for ringing guitars, bombastic percussion, and antique barroom piano. Yeah, I would have guessed The Walkmen as well. Although comparisons between the two are somewhat apt, White Rabbits have a more varied rhythmic approach, employing the occasional 4-4 beat along with elements of sea shanties, mariachi, ska, and music hall. Along with the fantastic one-two punch of Greg Roberts and Stephen Patterson on vocals, the genre-hopping lends the proceedings a sense of fun, snotty menace reminiscent of early Madness and Dexy's Midnight Runners.

4. Radiohead – In Rainbows

Yeah, yeah, yeah, Radiohead are brilliant. This album really does get more amazing with each listen. Amnesiac notwithstanding, they are clearly the greatest working band on Earth.

3. Spoon – Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga

On their sixth studio album, Britt Daniel and Jim Eno owe very special thanks to... black people! From the blue-eyed Motown of "You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb" to the slinky funk of "Don't You Evah," Spoon help put the lie to Sasha Frere-Jones's "controversial" horseshit about there being no soul left in indie rock. Spoon's trajectory over the course of six albums has been astonishing, and it seems that they outdo themselves every year.

2. LCD Soundsystem – Sound of Silver

Not bad for the band that placed at the very top of the 2005 album list. What Sound of Silver gives up in sheer danceability, it more than makes up for in heart; "All My Freinds," "Someone Great," and "New York, I Love You But You're Bringing Me Down" inject genuine human feeling into a genre that's usually stuck in one gear. Also... cowbells.

1. Deerhunter – Cryptograms

Suffused with meandering aural soundscapes and shimmering lakes of tremolo and reverb, Cryptograms channels Brian Eno by way of the more dissonant sides of Suicide, Neu!, and My Bloody Valentine. The album is essentially a series of ethereal sound experiments punctuated by three or four "proper songs," which give the effect of gleaming spires rising out of a swirling mist. Only, you know...way less pretentious. This was the closest race in years for best album, so Deerhunter took the prize by virtue of their relative novelty and the strength of their equally amazing Fluorescent Grey EP, which also came out this year.


Some final points about the 2007 album lists:

It should be noted that some albums for which I had high expectations (Ghostface Killah's The Big Doe Rehab and Wu Tang Clan's 8 Diagrams, for example) came out too late for consideration. And there were many albums I really wanted to get my hands on, but simply couldn't (Grizzly Bear's Friend EP, Deerhoof's Friend Opportunity, Andrew Bird's Airmchair Apocrypha, 1900s' Cold and Kind, etc.). Finally, some honorable mentions for other good-to-great albums that didn't make the cut (in no order whatsoever):

Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Is Is (EP); OM – Pilgrimage; White Stripes – Icky Thump; Various Artists – After Dark (Italians Do It Better compilation); Modest Mouse – We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank; Battles – Mirrored; Rogue Wave – Asleep at Heaven's Gate; Arctic Monkeys – Favourite Worst Nightmare; Fields – Everything Last Winter; Art Brut – It's a Bit Complicated.

Hope you enjoyed Listmania! 2007, and may you pick up and enjoy as much of this music as possible. (For a disgustingly exhaustive run-down of 2007 best-of lists, be sure to visit Largehearted Boy.) Happy New Year!

LISTMANIA! 2007THE 25 BEST ALBUMS OF 2007(Part One)

As another year slouches toward the glue factory, another year-end list lifts its face to the sun and proclaims, "Behold! Lo, I am created! I and the six or seven million other blog best-of-2007 lists shall trumpet shallow opinions across the Interwebs in the hopes of convincing one of the six or seven people who read me to steal some MP3s from some other blog!" Or something like that.

All in all, 2007 wasn't the best year for music (although it was a fantastic year for band names). A lot of heavy hitters (White Stripes, The Shins, Modest Mouse) and promising newcomers (Arcade Fire, Band of Horses, Art Brut) came out with albums that were (to varying degrees) not quite up to their previous outings. (The less said about my beloved Interpol, the better.)

**"Everyone I know has a big 'But...'. C'mon, Simone, let's talk about your big 'But.'"**

But... it was a great year for new bands and bands that were new to me. In fact, who am I kidding? 2007 was just fine. Enough doom and gloom. Enough talk. It's time for...

BITTER DEFEAT'S 25 BEST ALBUMS OF THE YEAR, PART ONE

Three-way tie from hell
This year's list opens with an acknowledgment of the amazing sludge/stoner metal albums that rocked my world this fall...
25a. Weedeater – God Luck and Good Speed

This Steve Albini-produced dirge-fest is rich with the lifeblood of all ultra-heavy stoner metal: DUH DUH DUH DUH DUH DUH DUUUUUH DUUUUUH!! Recipe for a song like "Wizard Fight" (yes, that is an actual song title): Take the heaviest of Black Sabbath riffs, slow it to half-speed and feed it through 37 bass amps at full volume. Then have one of the Skeksis from The Dark Crystal smoke a carton of unfiltered Camels before handing him the microphone and letting him scream about drinking whiskey, smoking dope, and driving really fast.
25b. Electric Wizard – Witchcult Today

Heavier and slower than Weedeater, Electric Wizard also tend toward more classically Sabbathian themes like witches, the devil, vampires, and other staples of 1960s Hammer horror films. Also, reefer once again plays a major role, as evidenced by songs like "The Satanic Rites of Drugula."
25c. High on Fire – Death Is this Communion

The closest in sound and spirit to what Joe Indie Rocker thinks of as "metal," High on Fire picks up the pace considerably. In fact, they largely eschew the funereal tempo and tone of their more drugged-out contemporaries, favoring instead the all-out assault of Mastodon and their ilk. If Weedeater belongs behind the wheel of an airbrushed van, and Electric Wizard lights black candles in the local graveyard, then High on Fire is most certainly planning to conquer the world with an army of gigantic mythological creatures.

As metal (and, more specifically, stoner/sludge/doom metal) tends to be somewhat polarizing, possible reactions can include:
a) This music is ridiculous.
b) This music is exhilarating.
c) This music is too loud, and it makes me want to wet my pants.
d) This music is ridiculously exhilarating and I just wet my pants with rage/excitement. I shall now smoke angel dust through a ceramic skull bong filled with paint thinner, strip naked, and rob a liquor store with a sword.

I am a solid "d" across the board on these albums (not to mention 2006 gems by Earth, Boris, Sunn0))), Mastodon, etc.) and I welcome the renewed importance of truly evil, profoundly heavy metal in my life. The fact that this explicitly THC-inspired music appeals to me so viscerally even though I am 100% drug free says something about me… and I'm not at all sure that I want to know exactly what that something is.

24. James Murphy & Pat Mahoney – Fabriclive 36

The inclusion of a DJ mix is sure to ruffle purists' feathers. (In fact, in the past I have relegated them to a separate category.) But you know what? The rigors of taxonomy should be the province of those who get paid for writing lists like this (or, at the very least, those who truly give a shit about such things). When one considers the zeitgeist-y center of indie-dance music (or whatever you want to call it), from Simian Mobile Disco to Justice to LCD Soundsystem to the folks at the Italians Do It Better label, it's a rare and enlightening treat to go "behind the music" and dig through the crates of their collective unconscious. Muso fascination aside, Murphy and Mahoney running through a rack of shit-hot disco and space funk records is the ideal start to any Saturday night.

23. !!! – Myth Takes

Wearing their reverence for the Talking Heads, afrobeat, and British postpunk spray-painted across their sleeve, !!! give new meaning to the term "urban jungle." You could probably use terms like "polyrhythmic" to describe their sound, but you'd be dropping five-cent words just to say that they make jerky dance music with lots of drums and sweet-ass bass hooks. So basically exactly what you think a !!! album sounds like.

22. Daft Punk – Alive! 2007

On the one hand, this long-awaited document of Daft Punk's revered 2007 stage shows is downright anemic compared to the brain-melting spectacle of the real thing. But play this for someone who's never had the pleasure, and they'll probably start hugging everyone within reach before running to Wal-Mart for a maxi-carton of Glow Sticks. That's not to say that Daft Punk makes shitty rave music, but, well…you must admit they do make rave music. Call it "French house" until you're blue in the face, but if you played this at a rave (assuming "raves" still take place anymore), no one would stop dancing and look around all confused. But I digress. Great live album. 'Nuff said.

21. Blonde Redhead – 23

Perhaps my perceptions have been unduly colored by their live show, but Blonde Redhead is probably the least cheerful band on this list. That's no small feat when you're up against Bat for Lashes and a trio of sludge metal bands. Yet, despite Kazu Makino's pixieish vocals, there's something self-consciously morose about these guys that transcends mere shoegazery. The lyrics are basically indecipherable (there's that echo again!), but I'm fairly sure all the songs have something to do with a beautiful horse or lover or dream that was somehow lost, never to return. At this point I should probably mention that 1) it's a wonderful album; 2) producer Alan Moulder's involvement is a plus, despite a serious debt to My Bloody Valentine; and 3) despite all the "sadness" stuff above, listeners needn't be placed on suicide watch. It's more "ethereal heartache" than "handful of Seconal."

20. Bat for Lashes – Fur and Gold

In the grand tradition of complex, sexy/weird warblers who make music for future anthropology majors (Kate Bush, Björk, etc.) comes Natasha Khan. She's got a fever… and the only prescription… is more harpsichord! Combining Björk's range with the smoky lower notes of Chan Marshall, Khan sings pagan tales of broken love, forgotten women, and "the beauty of coming together in sorrow." Yet despite her penchant for batik scarves and the likelihood that she counts "naked dancing in forest moonlight" among her hobbies, Bat for Lashes makes tightly controlled and stunningly beautiful music. Too creepy to be a hippie, too absurd for Gap commercials, and too talented to be dismissed, Khan may soon join the ranks of pop music's high priestesses.

19. The Besnard Lakes – The Besnard Lakes Are the Dark Horse

Given the preponderance of subgenres, MySpace bands, blog buzz, and microlabels out there nowadays, it's becoming more and more difficult to talk about "trends" in music. That said, 2007 was a big year for echo. Ironically, thanks in large part to ProTools and the like, more and more albums are being recorded at people's tiny IKEA computer desks… and then processed to sound like they were recorded in the choir of Chartres cathedral. In the case of The Besnard Lakes, the vocal echo, along with big, distorted guitar leads reminiscent of My Morning Jacket, add eerie, otherworldly texture to what could otherwise be dismissed as a fawning attempt at Brian Wilson homage. Think of it as "Good Vibrations" from space.

18. Thurston Moore – Outside the Academy

There's great line in Juno when Ellen Page declares that a Sonic Youth album sucked because "it was just noise!" Good thing she wasn't forced to listen to Thurston Moore's other solo efforts. I'm no philistine, but dragging your guitar through broken glass while a bunch of Japanese "noise artists" bleed onto hotplates and build "feedback sculptures" can be hard to get into. So imagine my surprise when I started hearing words like "pretty," "acoustic," and (most surprising) "songs" associated with a Thurston Moore project. Well this just in: Fresh off the best Sonic Youth album in a decade, Thurston Moore sings a bunch of really nice songs while playing some really nice tunes on an acoustic guitar. And in case anyone had forgotten, the dude can play. Take that, avant-garde!

17. The National – Boxer

Right up front: this album would be waaaaaay higher on the list, but I really have a problem with Matt Berninger's voice. The music is fantastic across the board, but every once in a while the guy starts channeling Crash Test Dummies and it all comes apart for me. I admit this is purely a personal taste thing. (Who are we kidding? The entire critical enterprise is entirely a personal taste thing.) So again, the album's inclusion here is a testament to its superior songwriting and musicianship. Besides, don't listen to me when it comes to voices; I liked the first Clap Your Hands Say Yeah album.

16. Amy Winehouse – Back to Black

"Rehab," irony, blah, blah, blah. In a country whose biggest "soul" artist is John Legend, it's always nice when something a little closer to the source makes it big. Even if it is a crazy white lady with drugs hidden in her beehive. No matter what, the girl's got some serious pipes... and some serious soul.

15. The Shins – Wincing the Night Away

It's hardly fair that an album this good can be considered a disappointment, but Chutes Too Narrow set the bar impossibly high. Still, if you're coming in at 15, this is more of a minor letdown. (Interpol's Our Love to Admire? Now that's a disappointment!) The only real problem here is filler, and James Mercer still writes the stickiest pop hooks going. Tracks like "Sleeping Lessons," "Phantom Limb," and "Turn on Me" will never get old, and those three alone place this outing head and shoulders above their 2001 debut album. So forget that first sentence... unalloyed success!

14. Film School – Hideout

The word "shoegaze" is making the rounds quite a bit again this year, but no recent band is as fully committed to the sound as Film School, who went as far as having My Bloody Valentine drummer Colm O'Ciosoig guest on their latest album (take that, Blonde Redhead!). Rest assured, though, that this is no one-trick pony style-wise: vocals aside, "Sick Hipster Nursed by Suicide Girl" sounds disconcertingly like the Psychedelic Furs' "President Gas," and singer/lead guitarist Greg Bertens writes one hell of a melody.

13. Electrelane – No Shouts No Calls

A last-minute discovery, No Shouts No Calls may have benefited from the initial rush of new love. Blending driving Krautrock beats with the twee harmonies of Stereolab and Heavenly, the Brighton, England, quartet has produced a disarming hybrid of the propulsive and the pretty; it's road-trip music you can cry to. Lead single "To the East" (which I heard too late to include in the Best Songs list) is as beguiling a song as has been recorded all year.

12. Black Lips – Los Valientes Del Mundo Nuevo / Good Bad Not Evil

Although the very concept of "bad boys" in rock has become an exercise in self parody, it's always nice when some young gentlemen seem to be having fun with the whole thing. In the case of the Black Lips, "fun" means, for example, recording a live album in Tijuana (to document "crazy live shows that have included vomiting, urinating, nudity, band members kissing, fireworks, and a chicken," according to Wikipedia). Sublimely sloppy, spirited garage rock of the highest (and lowest) order, the Black Lips are the true children of the Nuggets generation.

11. Black Moth Super Rainbow – Dandelion Gum

Black Moth Super Rainbow: a pseudonymous collective of freaks who spend their time collecting analog synthesizers and frolicking in the woods outside Pittsburgh. You just can't make stuff like this up. Although the album got slapped with the "psychedelic" label by virtue of its sheer oddity, it owes little to 1960s rock and lots to Boards of Canada, Air, and, presumably, drugs. If you can't get a hold of any BMSR music, just eat a pound of 'shrooms, put on Boards of Canada's Music Has the Right to Children, and watch a few hours of H.R. Pufnstuf. That should just about cover it.

CONTINUE TO PART II: ALBUMS 1–10

LISTMANIA! 2007The 25 Best Songs of 2007

I've given up on the whole "singles" concept. Even though most of what follows would fall under the traditional definition, the proliferation of blog-buzz tracks, YouTube sensations, and satellite/internet radio (not to mention the lack of videos on MTV) has sufficiently eroded the classic notion of the label-released single that, well, it's becoming a little irrelevant. Besides, this little cheat allows for the inclusion of superior album tracks. Oh and one other thing...did song X not technically come out in 2007? Guess who gives a shit.

Anyhoo, as they say on the radio, less talk, more rock...

BITTER DEFEAT'S 25 BEST SONGS OF 2007

25. Arctic Monkeys – "Brianstorm" MP3
More of the same from the Arctics. That's a good thing.

24. !!! – "Heart of Hearts"
Does this remind anyone else of Thomas Dolby's "Hyperactive"?

23. Matt & Kim – "Yea Yeah" MP3
This fun little slice of girl/boy party-time synthpop has a treasured place in my heart thanks to their spirited set filling in for CSS at Lollapalooza.

22. Midnight Juggernauts – "Shadows" MP3
Kinda like the Australian Justice. Or, as an NME quote on their Web site puts it, "Like The Rapture with John Carpenter on keys."

21. Feist – "I 2 3 4"
Yep, it's the iPod Nano song.

20. Blonde Redhead – "23"
This should probably have been number 23, but what are you gonna do? Gaze shoeward, young depressives!

19. Justice – "D.A.N.C.E."
The title really sums everything up. Great video too.

18. Black Lips – "Veni Vidi Vici"
"I came/I saw/I conquered all... all y'all"

17. Kanye West – "Stronger"
Kanye + Daft Punk = duh. (Although Kanye owes his finest moment of the year to Zack Galifianakis.)

16. Art Brut – "Direct Hit" MP3

Eddie Argos could read from the phone book and still have a good shot at making this list.

15. Rihanna – "Umbrella"
Sentimental pick: it was Kim's ringtone for most of this year. Oh, it's also a great song.

14. Vampire Weekend – "Walcott (Insane mix #2)" MP3
Simon and Garfunkel meetz phat beatz?

13. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – "Down Boy"
The best song from this year's uniformly excellent (and unfairly maligned) Is Is EP.

12. Tracy Jordan – "Werewolf Bar Mitzvah" MP3
From ten-second throwaway joke to cultural phenomenon in the course of a week. Nice work, NBC marketing department!

11. Amy Winehouse – "Rehab"
Yes, there were much better songs on the album, but in terms of ubiquity, impact, and instant irony, "Rehab" became its own cottage industry.

10. Snoop Dogg – "Sensual Seduction"
Is it all about that video? Yeah, probably.

9. Bat for Lashes – "What's a Girl to Do"
Speaking of videos... Dougal Wilson is a genius.

8. White Rabbits – "The Plot"
Probably the most Walkmen-like song by a band that, well... sounds like the Walkmen.

7. Tegan & Sara – "Nineteen"
They're back! The old poppy, accessible Tegan & Sara!

6. Battles – "Atlas" MP3
Is this song about elves? Is it sung by elves?

5. Panda Bear – "Bros" MP3 (radio edit)
Sweet '60s pop transmitted from a parallel universe. There's something almost Christmassy about this song.

4. Rogue Wave – "Lake Michigan" MP3
Another advertisement song. Yep, it's "that song from the Zune commercial."

3. Spoon – "Don't You Evah"

First "I Turn My Camera On," and now this. Who knew Spoon was so funky? And the Keepon video is too damned cute for words.

2. Deerhunter – "Hazel Street"
I just don't know what to say about how incredible this song is. So maybe Kim can do it for me.

1. LCD Soundsystem – "Someone Great" / "All My Friends"
Cheating? Sure, but no one's paying me for this. I can't choose between these two, and they appear back to back on Sound of Silver, making this the most astounding one-two punch in memory. Just amazing.

CONTINUE TO BITTER DEFEAT'S BEST ALBUMS OF 2007

LISTMANIA! 2007Bitter Defeat's 20 Best Live Shows(and the biggest disappointments)

1. LCD Soundsystem @ Lollapalooza, Chicago 8/3/07
With the Chicago skyline in the background and Daft Punk setting up roughly 300 yards away, the crowd was primed to dance. And dance we did. An electrifying set in the perfect setting. Images and recap.

2. Jarvis Cocker @ Webster Hall 4/23/07
Nothing is more gratifying (and rare) than seeing a genuinely urbane performer. Jarvis's wit was exceeded only by his remarkable singing (and bizarre hand gestures). The cover of Springsteen's "State Trooper" wasn't bad either. Images and recap.

3. Deerhunter @ Mercury Lounge 4/26/07 (video); Bowery Ballroom 7/11/07 (images and commentary); Bowery Ballroom 10/17/07
I can barely differentiate between these shows, so what's the point? Pretty sure Bradford Cox only wore a dress at the first two shows, and only used fake blood at the first one. He also talked to the crowd for 20 minutes (until they turned off his mic) at the second one. It doesn't matter. An absolutely brilliant live band in any case. Check out Kim's recap of the October show HERE.

4. Interpol @ Bowery Ballroom 6/5/07
One of those tiny kick-off-the-tour hometown shows that're always the worst-kept secrets on Earth. Anyway, Kim somehow got tickets and off we went to feel all cool and special. Interpol are clearly suited to smaller venues, so this was a real treat. Images

5. Ted Leo + The Pharmacists; Polyphonic Spree; Matt & Kim; Spoon; Interpol; White Rabbits; 1900s; Iggy & The Stooges; and TV on the Radio @ Lollapalooza, Chicago 8/3/07–8/5/07
Attempting to integrate the rest of this year's great Lollapalooza acts into the list as a whole... well it just seemed like a lot of work. And this [cheat] solution allowed me to have my listy cake and, uh... write it too? Anyway, we had one of the best times of our lives. And I proved that you can still enjoy music festivals in your thirties. Images and recap here and here.

6. LCD Soundsystem @ Bowery Ballroom 3/30/07
See #1 above. Favorite live band on the planet.

7. Amy Winehouse/The Pipettes @ Bowery Ballroom 3/13/07
As a devout Pipettes fan, my main question going in was, "Who in hell is Amy Winehouse and why isn't she opening for them??" This question was answered quickly and definitively. The pre-meltdown Amy Winehouse in a small club was truly something to behold. Images and recap

8. Daft Punk @ Keyspan Park, Coney Island 8/9/07
As this was my third time seeing them in "the pyramid of light," the novelty had worn off slightly. Still, you cannot deny the sheer power of this show. And "show" really applies, as this has as much to do with spectacle as it does with music.

9. Morrissey @ Hammerstein Ballroom & Film School @ Mercury Lounge 10/23/07
What a night. Tye took me to see the Mozzer for the first time in over a decade (and the first since he started doing Smiths songs), and the man did not disappoint. "Death of a Disco Dancer" was a complete show-stopper. Then we hopped a cab down to Mercury Lounge, grabbing a beer just as Film School started their first song in a blistering set of top-notch shoegazery.

10. Sonic Youth @ Webster Hall 2/16/07
Amazingly, this was my first time seeing Sonic Youth live. In a way it was fitting, as Rather Ripped is my favorite album of theirs in over a decade. Suffice it to say they are in every way deserving of their reputation as world-class mindblowers. Video

11. Band of Horses @ McCarren Pool, Brooklyn 7/22/07
Their cover of Ron Wood's "Try Together" alone was worth the price of admission. I mean, it was free, but... well you know what I mean. Images and commentary

12. Grizzly Bear @ Bowery Ballroom 3/6/07
Gotta admit I'm lukewarm on their recorded output, but this show knocked me for a loop. The vocal harmonies seemed to good to be true, and (apparently unlike the rest of the blogosphere) I was utterly charmed by their cover of "He Hit Me (It Felt like a Kiss)."

13. Yeah Yeah Yeahs @ Webster Hall 8/7/07
The fabled Karen O of old returned for the final-night-of-the-tour homecoming show. A scorching set of hits, oldies, and EP cuts had the decidedly young-skewing crowd testing the stress capacity of Webster Hall's dancefloor.

14. Fields @ Mercury Lounge 5/19/07
A total surprise. I liked the album quite a bit, but we were all totally unprepared for their rampant enthusiasm and guitar virtuosity.

15. Bat for Lashes @ Bowery Ballroom 9/25/07
Although I was told repeatedly how much I was going to hate this show, Natasha Khan's haunting vocals won me over completely. As for the Stevie Nicks-meets-Red Sonja vibe? Well, I also enjoy giggling.

16. The Thermals/Ted Leo + The Pharmacists @ McCarren Pool, Brooklyn 8/12/07
It's hard to separate the performances from the setting and the dodgeball tournament, so why even try? Despite Ted's ultra-solid set, The Thermals stole the show.

17. Arcade Fire @ Radio City Music Hall 5/9/07
Although very nearly ruined by the drunken band of Upper West Side douchebags in front of us (good lord do I hate assigned seating), the latter half of the show redeemed thee entire experience. Once the band demanded that the crowd rush the aisles, the experience shifted from torturous to transcendent.

18. Blonde Redhead @ Webster Hall 5/8/07
Interestingly, their spooky/ethereal vibe, which worked so well in this context, has bored me to tears at subsequent outdoor shows.

19. Art Brut @ Bowery Ballroom 4/17/07
Eddie Argos could stand on stage and read the phone book and still make this list.

20. Black Lips @ Siren Festival, Coney Island 7/21/07
Despite our collective boredom and borderline agoraphobia due to massive crowds, the Black Lips were a total revelation. They're just a crazy as one would expect. Images and commentary

...and the Biggest Disappointments

The Shins/Viva Voce @ The Theater at Madison Square Garden 3/14/07
Viva Voce did their very best, but they simply couldn't compete with the cavernous space. The Shins, who have never had much of a reputation as a live band anyway, didn't bother trying. One of those bands who stand still and sound exactly like their studio recordings. Meh.

The Black Angels @ Mercury Lounge 4/7/07
After an amazing set at the Knitting Factory two years ago set the bar at roughly forehead height, these guys have subsequently failed to impress. This time around, it seems likely that the sound guy was on quaaludes.

The Jesus and Mary Chain @ Webster Hall 5/22/07
We could barely hear a thing. Let me say that again: At a JaMC show, we could barely hear a thing! That's supposed to be your complaint as you're leaving their shows, not as you stand 20 feet from the stage. One of the loudest, most tinnitus-inducing bands of all time...neutered. It was like someone's mom made them to turn down all the amps.

The White Stripes @ Madison Square Garden 7/24/07
This show was probably amazing for the folks in the first five rows. For the other 18,000 people in attendance...not so much. Images and commentary

Interpol/Cat Power @ Madison Square Garden 9/14/07
This just in: unless you're U2 or Bruce Springsteen, the Garden sucks. Cat Power? Not ideal for this setting. At least we had a good time laughing at poor Interpol, who were beset by Spinal Tap-style technical difficulties. "We're gonna take a short break while they figure out how to lower this giant curtain." Classic.