Conrad Flynn wrote a blurb for The Underdog which I carelessly forgot to append to the track post when it appeared, so here it is in all its glory:
36. Spoon - The Underdog (72 points, 6 votes, 1 number one vote) (link)
http://img521.imageshack.us/img521/9519/gagagagagafv7.jpg
The Underdog is the type of uplifting and delightful song Belle and Sebastian used to release all the time (and stick primarily on their EPs and b-sides) but stupidly stopped making around 2002 or so. It's like a camp-fire sing-a-long that almost becomes power-pop but at the last minute decided that that would be too aggressive and so exchanges loud guitars for acoustic strumming, maracas, and horns. Producer Jon Brion might have helped Spoon make that adjustment and a lot of bands would improve overnight if they did what Spoon has done here: stop with the non-stop indie posturing and focus more on just making a song that is pleasant to listen to above all else. -Conrad Flynn
― musically, Thursday, 28 February 2008 06:35 (sixteen years ago) link
I'm happy Gui Boratto placed relatively highly. Such an obvious sound but it just WORKS.
― Matt DC, Thursday, 28 February 2008 09:12 (sixteen years ago) link
22. Spoon - You Got Yr Cherry Bomb (91 points, 10 votes) (link)
"You Got Yr Cherry Bomb" is compact, lean, economical -- that's what Spoon do. But there's a lot going on in this track. For starters, there's one of Britt Daniel's most engaging melodies, marrying angular verses with a more linear chorus (built, as it happens, on the tail end of the verse). Compared to the minimalism elsewhere on _Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga_, the arrangement is downright lavish: the rhythm section -- snare drum, piano and rhythm guitar -- is brightened by a tambourine jangle and augmented by vibraphone and horn parts. It sounds like Motown, in fact, which is fitting for this bittersweet song about breaking up ("It was the longest day that I ever known / I watched you start that drive alone") and moving on ("Life can be so fair / Let it go on and on"). -Paul in Santa Cruz
― musically, Thursday, 28 February 2008 15:54 (sixteen years ago) link
-'what goes around' is awesome
-jon brion produced the new spoon??
― Jordan, Thursday, 28 February 2008 15:57 (sixteen years ago) link
Just The Underdog, I think.
― nate woolls, Thursday, 28 February 2008 16:03 (sixteen years ago) link
21. Of Montreal - The Past Is A Grotesque Animal (93 points, 10 votes) (link)
http://img524.imageshack.us/img524/2341/o480487fp4za9.jpg
― musically, Thursday, 28 February 2008 16:54 (sixteen years ago) link
I can honestly say I don't get the love for that song. I think I read some end-of-year track list (Pitchfork, maybe?) that chose it, and I can't figure out why. There are some great songs on that album, but the 11 minute albatross in the middle puts me off listening to the whole thing.
― Gukbe, Thursday, 28 February 2008 17:13 (sixteen years ago) link
i was actually just thinking i should have voted 'grotesque animal' way higher. i put it at like 19 or 20.
― johnny crunch, Thursday, 28 February 2008 17:15 (sixteen years ago) link
20. Timbaland feat. Keri Hilson - The Way I Are (93 points, 12 votes) (link)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/7c/The%2Bway%2Bi%2Bare.jpg
― musically, Thursday, 28 February 2008 19:15 (sixteen years ago) link
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2183/2282654959_e7f6571a89_o.jpg
― blueski, Thursday, 28 February 2008 19:16 (sixteen years ago) link
you ain't got 8 AmEx cards? wtf does that even mean? god I hate the nonsensical math on some of those rap graphs.
― Alex in Baltimore, Thursday, 28 February 2008 19:18 (sixteen years ago) link
let's not go somewhere exotic SEVEN TIMES
sorry, six
my proposed webbie graph> all other graphs
― J0rdan S., Thursday, 28 February 2008 19:51 (sixteen years ago) link
19. Brave Kylie - 2 Hearts (& Studio Version) (96 points, 8 votes) (link and Studio Version)
http://img524.imageshack.us/img524/694/kylie2heartsaw2ly0.jpg
The publicity surrounding Kylie's illness and subsequent recovery seemed to elevate her into some untouchable Everywoman of pop. Claiming you don't like Kylie nowadays gets about the same reaction as saying you like having sex with little baby kittens. Whilst listening to The Wombats.
It seems to have given her an incredible confidence as a performer, which is evident here. Her vocals swagger and though it starts slight it builds into a stomping, cock-sure GETOUTOFMYWAY!! The obvious glam-rock related comparisons are Goldfrapp and Rachel Stevens, and Kylie offers a personality and warmth here that trumps either of those interlopers.
That said, I may have voted for this erroneously - I thought it was the single version. But, though that wasn't technically in the poll, it damn well should have been. So it’s still okay. Yes. Really. A shame people preferred wibbling X-factor finalists singing Celine Dion-esque nonsense and she didn't get the number one she deserved. -Hobart Paving
(Studio Version) If Balearic does prove to be the sound of 2008, the stream of consistently great remixes the Scandinavian duo have been putting out will go a long way towards cementing that position. This is the finest of the lot though, Kylie's vocals freed from the constraints of the lumpen original and allowed to float through a haze of lovely intertwining acoustic guitar lines and lush electronic flourishes. Plus points to Studio for having the audacity to use those two most overused of pop remix devices, the ticking clock and beating heart, at the same time. -Matt DC
― musically, Thursday, 28 February 2008 20:16 (sixteen years ago) link
<3 studio but i wasn't that impressed by '2 hearts' remix. i thought it sounded like a mountain of one, and not in the greatest way.
― J0rdan S., Thursday, 28 February 2008 20:20 (sixteen years ago) link
I'm not sure what the distribution of votes was regarding the single edit versus the remix, especially since "studio version" is a particularly misleading name for a remix, so let's count it's place at #19 as a win for both.
― musically, Thursday, 28 February 2008 20:27 (sixteen years ago) link
18. Caribou - Melody Day (99 points, 9 votes) (link)
http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/5122/893861nl3.jpg
― musically, Thursday, 28 February 2008 21:27 (sixteen years ago) link
'The Past Is A Grotesque Animal' is amazing. Still. Every listen. I don't get the Spoon love though.
― Mister Craig, Thursday, 28 February 2008 22:04 (sixteen years ago) link
17. Panda Bear - Bro's (104 points, 12 votes) (link)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/cb/214_442.jpg
― musically, Thursday, 28 February 2008 22:14 (sixteen years ago) link
16. Pantha Du Prince - Saturn Strobe (110 points, 9 votes, 2 number one votes) (link)
http://img206.imageshack.us/img206/4297/o768903lh3qo1.jpg
― musically, Thursday, 28 February 2008 22:28 (sixteen years ago) link
15. LCD Soundsystem - North American Scum (114 points, 10 votes) (link)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/01/Northamericanscum.jpg
― musically, Thursday, 28 February 2008 22:57 (sixteen years ago) link
Re: Saturn Strobe - that was my number one, which I really didn't expect when I started putting my list together. I don't know *why* it works so well, possibly because the all the minimal house elements have been quietly slipped under the strings rather than one element grafted on top of the other, or because they seem to move together so well.
Also, that bit around 5:19 when that hissing noise pans right across = like seeing the bright white lights bathing the dancefloor at 5am for a few seconds to allow everyone to put their hands in the air. It's beautiful.
― Matt DC, Thursday, 28 February 2008 22:59 (sixteen years ago) link
Jesus, North American Scum? And Get Innocuous? And I bet Someone's Great and All My Friends are still to come. I want variety!
― danzig, Thursday, 28 February 2008 23:08 (sixteen years ago) link
I still don't understand why he says "North American". So awkward.
― Spencer Chow, Thursday, 28 February 2008 23:12 (sixteen years ago) link
what
― J0rdan S., Thursday, 28 February 2008 23:13 (sixteen years ago) link
Canadians are scum too?
― Matt DC, Thursday, 28 February 2008 23:18 (sixteen years ago) link
don't get him started on those Greenlanders
― blueski, Thursday, 28 February 2008 23:22 (sixteen years ago) link
14. Cortney Tidwell - Don't Let Stars Keep Us Tangled Up (Ewan Pearson's Objects In Space Mix) (116 points, 10 votes) (link)
http://img159.imageshack.us/img159/3052/o829678yb9vk9.jpg
Production-wise at least, I'd kind of written Ewan Pearson off as a past-it electrohouse producer by the start of 2007, but this remix obliterated that perception. Pearson takes his initial sound palette from minimal and lets it flower and wilt, drifting from icy shudder of beats and slowly thawing into a glorious nu-Balearic 7am anthem and back again, via one astonishing collapse into a swarm of electronic drones and swirls. Cortney's Bjorkish vocals help too, soaring over the top of it all as Pearson treats us to pay-off after pay-off after pay-off. -Matt DC
― musically, Thursday, 28 February 2008 23:35 (sixteen years ago) link
xpost, It's awkward because I don't know anyone who self-identifies as a "North American". I don't think anyone externally refers to anyone as that either.
― Spencer Chow, Thursday, 28 February 2008 23:38 (sixteen years ago) link
Wow, nice to see Pantha du Prince over Panda Bear, tho I didn't vote for it on the singles ballot.
― maciej recognizing trill, Thursday, 28 February 2008 23:47 (sixteen years ago) link
-- Mister Craig, Thursday, February 28, 2008 5:04 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Link
OTM, too.
― maciej recognizing trill, Thursday, 28 February 2008 23:49 (sixteen years ago) link
I think my top three records just clocked in one after another?
― Matt DC, Thursday, 28 February 2008 23:49 (sixteen years ago) link
One more for today, and then the top 12 will be tomorrow:
13. Burial - Archangel (128 points, 12 votes, 1 number one vote) (link)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/64/BurialUntrue.jpg
― musically, Thursday, 28 February 2008 23:59 (sixteen years ago) link
Hi, I think 2007 was the worst music year ever. And I don't think my opinion will change in hindsight, unless 2008 turns out somehow worse, which it very well might be. I thought 2004 & 2006 were not-so-great at the time, but now looking back at this or this, I was surprised how many songs I actually enjoyed.. whereas this list I consider hugely disappointing.. especially the top 10. I really would love to be proven wrong about this, but in my own opinion, I don't think there was a single solid album from 2007. A few good singles here and there, but overall, it's definitley the worst of this decade so far.. I looked back to the 90's, 80's, 70's and 60's to try and find a year that was worse, and I couldn't find one. I was hoping this thread would be the saving grace that would change my opinion, but so far it looks like it's just more of the same crap.
I do think that "Out There" by Studio is really effin good.
― billstevejim, Friday, 29 February 2008 01:37 (sixteen years ago) link
so far this list might be more indie than Pitchfork's 07 tracks list.
― Alex in Baltimore, Friday, 29 February 2008 02:01 (sixteen years ago) link
*UPDATED* 50. M.I.A. - Jimmy (58 points, 5 votes) 49. Aly & AJ - Potential Breakup Song (58 points, 5 votes, 1 number one vote) 48. Jens Lekman - The Opposite Of Hallelujah (61 points, 5 votes, 1 number one vote) 47. Los Campesinos! - You! Me! Dancing! (61 points, 7 votes) 46. Malcolm Middleton - We're All Going To Die (62 points, 5 votes 45. Björk - Earth Intruders (62 points, 6 votes) 44. Low - Murderer (64 points, 5 votes 43. Kanye West - Stronger (67 points, 5 votes) 42. Von Südenfed - The Rhinohead (68 points, 6 votes, 2 number ones, + 1 vote for Pilooski Remix) 41. Rich Boy - Throw Some D's (69 points, 5 votes) 40. Chromatics - Running Up That Hill (69 points, 6 votes) 39. M.I.A. - Boyz (69 points, 7 votes) 38. National - Fake Empire (69 points, 8 votes) 37. Feist - My Moon My Man (72 points, 5 votes + 2 for Boys Noize Remix) 36. Spoon - The Underdog (72 points, 6 votes, 1 number one vote) 35. Groove Armada - Song 4 Mutya (73 points, 7 votes) 34. Radiohead - Reckoner (74 points, 6 votes) 33. Lil' Mama - Lip Gloss (75 points, 6 votes) 32. White Stripes - Icky Thump (79 points, 8 votes) 31. Roisin Murphy - Overpowered (79 points, 10 votes) 30. LCD Soundsystem - Get Innocuous (82 points, 8 votes) 29. Britney Spears - Piece Of Me (83 points, 7 votes, 1 number votes) 28. Gwen Stefani Ft Akon - The Sweet Escape (84 points, 6 votes, 1 number one vote) 27. Radiohead - 15 Step (84 points, 8 votes) 26. Studio - Out There (87 points, 9 votes, 1 number votes 25. Justin Timberlake - What Goes Around... Comes Around (88 points, 8 votes) 24. Avril Lavigne - Girlfriend (90 points, 7 votes, 1 number votes) 23. Gui Boratto - Beautiful Life (90 points, 10 votes) 22. Spoon - You Got Yr Cherry Bomb (91 points, 10 votes) 21. Of Montreal - The Past Is A Grotesque Animal (93 points, 10 votes) 20. Timbaland feat. Keri Hilson - The Way I Are (93 points, 12 votes) 19. Brave Kylie - 2 Hearts (& Studio Version) (96 points, 8 votes) 18. Caribou - Melody Day (99 points, 9 votes) 17. Panda Bear - Bro's (104 points, 12 votes) 16. Pantha Du Prince - Saturn Strobe (110 points, 9 votes, 2 number one votes) 15. LCD Soundsystem - North American Scum (114 points, 10 votes) 14. Cortney Tidwell - Don't Let Stars Keep Us Tangled Up (Ewan Pearson's Objects In Space Mix) (116 points, 10 votes 13. Burial - Archangel (128 points, 12 votes, 1 number one vote)
― J0rdan S., Friday, 29 February 2008 02:14 (sixteen years ago) link
man, 2007 was a lot worse than I remembered
― Curt1s Stephens, Friday, 29 February 2008 02:22 (sixteen years ago) link
Oh fucking Jesus. Why do people unfailingly manage to think themselves clever by decrying the current or previous year as the worst year for music ever, especially when, by fact of reality, it's only possible to hear a tiny fraction of what's available or even tiny fraction of what is great?
-- The Reverend
^
― omar little, Friday, 29 February 2008 02:31 (sixteen years ago) link
2007 had a lot that i loved...its just not totally comming through on this poll
― gman, Friday, 29 February 2008 02:33 (sixteen years ago) link
I don't think there was a single solid album from 2007.
That's funny, I managed to hear probably about 50 of them.
― The Reverend, Friday, 29 February 2008 03:12 (sixteen years ago) link
gman kind of otm, though
Actually, I guess I count about 15 or so songs I like in there, so not too bad.
― The Reverend, Friday, 29 February 2008 03:14 (sixteen years ago) link
i think 2007 was a really strong year for albums, not so much for singles. i voted for <5 singles on the current list, but i like a great deal more. my statement up thread was solely about pop music— the truly ubiquitous songs of last year. i think those songs were weaker than years past, yes
― J0rdan S., Friday, 29 February 2008 03:18 (sixteen years ago) link
I do think 2007 was a bad year for music, even though I like to avoid making such sweeping generalizations. I guess it has to be wrong, because there is so much going on that I just don't know about, but in most areas I looked, there wasn't much to like. Also, it's not unusual for me to discover a few songs I like, sometimes really mainstream ones (since I can be pretty disconnected from pop), as a result of checking the winners of these end of the year polls. This time there's nothing on the list (so far) that I can get excited about.
50 solid albums? Yeah? I doubt I'd agree.
― _Rockist__Scientist_, Friday, 29 February 2008 03:19 (sixteen years ago) link
i think 2007 was a really strong year for albums, not so much for singles.
I agree with this.
― The Reverend, Friday, 29 February 2008 03:31 (sixteen years ago) link
Oh, God, I can't believe Saturn Strobe actually made it, and at 16 nonetheless. By the time it got down to the 30's (especially the indie/popist fest it is) I was ready enough to post "NO PANTHA NO CREDIBILITY" but wow, ILM got me on this one. I'm really, really glad people aren't overlooking this (especially as it was released in January). As I've said many times before here, he reminds me why I like music in the first place, and right now that seems more important than ever.
― mehlt, Friday, 29 February 2008 03:34 (sixteen years ago) link
btw, I did my not-at-all flawed statistical analysis of this poll vs. p4k and Stylus, and got that the average place of p4k's top 10 in this poll is 10.2, and Stylus's was 34. And tomorrow I'll post the final tracks and you can all contribute your own math projects.
― musically, Friday, 29 February 2008 03:57 (sixteen years ago) link
the average place of p4k's top 10 in this poll is 10.2,
i have no idea what this means
― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Friday, 29 February 2008 04:03 (sixteen years ago) link
wtf @ 'sweet escape' beating throw some d's
― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Friday, 29 February 2008 04:04 (sixteen years ago) link