Listmania!
Best albums of 2007 according to me in no particular order
How It EndsHow It Ends by DeVotchKa
Buy new: £7.48
Multi- instrumentalists the band offers an intoxicating concoction of Romany, Greek, Slavic and South American-influenced sounds stirred by the distractingly mordant voice of front man Nick Urata.
Our Love to AdmireOur Love to Admire by Interpol
Buy new: £9.98 / Used from: £4.69
Another wonderfully intense and dramatic album from the New Yorkers.
CrossCross by Justice
Buy used from: £4.00
A party album but one with a darker dangerous edge .Best dance album of the year and used by Football Italiano on Channel 5
Imagine Our LoveImagine Our Love by Lavender Diamond
Buy new: £9.48 / Used from: £2.98
Summery pop music done with with an exquisite voice , effusive instrumentation and great songs.
The Besnard Lakes Are the Dark HorseThe Besnard Lakes Are the Dark Horse by The Besnard Lakes
Buy new: £4.98 / Used from: £4.46
A fascinating album this, rich with disparate influences, conflicted interpretations and often more ideas in one song than most bands manage in a career. Succulent melodies abound.
In the SalpetriereIn the Salpetriere by Paris Motel
Buy used from: £14.99
Lovely English chamber pop , literate and elgaic.
Oh What a Blow That Phantom Dealt Me!Oh What a Blow That Phantom Dealt Me! by Jackie Leven
Buy new: £11.69 / Used from: £6.00
Immensely enjoyable album from the prolific Mr Leven. More trmendous songs sung in that rich burr of a voice.
First Steps IntoFirst Steps Into by Blue States
Buy new: £6.48 / Used from: £4.85
Canny amalgamation of sounds allied to a sagacious ear for a diverting melody is most welcome. A lovely warm aural bath of an album
Palo SantoPalo Santo by Shearwater
Buy new: £9.98 / Used from: £10.73
A band it would seem , incapable of making a bad album.Another spectacuarly morose collection of superb songs by one of the best voices in music.
The Royal WeThe Royal We by The Royal We
Buy new: £7.98 / Used from: £0.99
The Royal We,s first and indeed only album is a scaborous collection of spiky snotty marvels .
Beyond EvenBeyond Even by Robert Fripp & Brian Eno
Buy new: £7.48 / Used from: £6.75
An album of old material that still managed to be intoxicating and mercurial and ended up sounding like no one but themselves
State of ThingsState of Things by Reverend and the Makers
Buy new: £4.98 / Used from: £2.49
Why all the fuss about the Artic Monkeys? This album of anthemic swaggering errr anthems is fifty times more enjoyable
Person PitchPerson Pitch by Panda Bear
Buy new: £11.98 / Used from: £7.04
Extraordinary music, a swirling miasma of found sounds, choral vocals and sampled bits and bats sung from a flying fortress in the sky
LPLP by Holy Fuck
Buy new: £8.98 / Used from: £8.23
An antagonistic melding of percussive mayhem and adroitly manipulated sounds
Distance and TimeDistance and Time by Fink
Buy new: £4.98 / Used from: £9.99
A quietly stunning album and one whose insidious charms approximate a kind of sly brilliance with its tempered acoustic tones and whispered eulogies.
With LasersWith Lasers by Bonde do Rolê
Buy new: £3.38 / Used from: £0.79
Sheer inventive fun, with hedonistic carousing songs .Cheesy but hugely enjoyable
KalaKala by M.I.A.
Buy new: £5.28 / Used from: £2.91
A glorious cacophony, a joyous graffiti mural of multi-culutral tones , textures and influences.
Awkward AnnieAwkward Annie by Kate Rusby
Buy new: £11.98 / Used from: £10.76
The most under rated femeale singer songwriter we have with another sprightly and elgaic collection of quality folk songs.
OverpoweredOverpowered by Roisin Murphy
Buy new: £8.98 / Used from: £2.90
Tremendous collection of sassy electronically manipulated dance pop songs
An End Has a StartAn End Has a Start by Editors
Buy new: £4.98 / Used from: £2.39
Terrific second album that every bit justified my raving about them first time around.
UntrueUntrue by Burial
Buy new: £9.98 / Used from: £8.99
Haunting wracked dub-scapes.Busy rhythmic arrangements and growling dub basslines are often pacified by compelling moments of emotive clarity
From the Ground UpFrom the Ground Up by Shady Bard
Buy new: £9.98 / Used from: £5.00
Parched cracked tones with fussy little trails of electronic noise , warm keyboards , decorously brushed electronic and acoustic guitars and violins,
Under the BlacklightUnder the Blacklight by Rilo Kiley
Buy new: £7.98 / Used from: £3.99
More breezy , lush hugely enoyable pop music done with consumate verve and confidence.
Glorious HillGlorious Hill by Cortona Codex Anonymous
Buy new: £12.69
A choral work that is stirring ,dramatic, strident and often very moving.
We Are HimWe Are Him by Angels of Light
Buy new: £9.98 / Used from: £6.40
In lieu of The Swans Michael Giras new band offer a less charcoal black collection of folk and rock songs that still resonate with authority and grim brilliance