Feature / Music
Scene Point Blank's Favorites: Year End (2007)

Adam's list

1. Wintersleep - Welcome The Night Sky (Labwork)
2. Oceansize - Frames (Superball)
3. Aereogramme - MY HEART HAS A WISH THAT YOU WOULD NOT GO (Sonic Unyon)
4. A Whisper In The Noise - Dry Land (Southern)
5. Interpol - Our Love to Admire (Capitol Records )
6. Okkervil River - The Stage Names (Jagjaguwar)
7. National, The - Boxer (Beggars)
8. Beirut - The Flying Club Cup (Ba Da Bing)
9. Band of Horses - Cease To Begin (Sub Pop)
10. Saybia - Eyes On The Highway (EMI)
11. Benny Crespo's Gang - Benny Crespo's Gang (Sena)
12. Bowerbirds - Hymns From A Dark Horse (Burly Men)
13. Pinback - Autumn of the Seraphs (Touch & Go)
14. Blonde Redhead - 23 (4AD)
15. Minus the Bear - Planet of Ice (Suicide Squeeze)
16. Pax Cecilia, The - Blessed are the Bonds (Independent)
17. Radical Face - Ghost (Morr Music)
18. Benni Hemm Hemm - Ein í leyni (Morr Music)
19. Radiohead - In Rainbows (Independent)
20. Amandine - Solace In Sore Hands (Fat-Cat)
21. Fair To Midland - Fables From A Mayfly (Universal)
22. Dillinger Escape Plan - Ire Works (Relapse Records)
23. Lis Er Stille - Apathobvious (Brutal But Sentimental)
24. Mice Parade - Mice Parade (Fat-Cat)
25. Menomena - Friend or Foe (Barsuk)

Alex N.'s list

1. Crime in Stereo - ...is Dead (Bridge Nine)

   Absolutely polarizing, unquestionably different than their other material, and I think it's a record that will be influential years from now. You can tell me I'm stupid or that I'll eat those words, but it doesn't matter. I firmly believe that it's impact will be felt. It's that good.

2. Attack In Black - Marriage (Dine Alone Records)

   I can't really think of too many bands whose first album was this good. Attack In Black are clearly on a different level, and they either show incredible promise for future releases, or will never match this album. However it turns out, this record is gold.

3. Lifetime - Lifetime (Decaydance)

   There's nothing left to say about this except that I'm amazed at how they so effortlessly picked up where they left off 10 years ago. A reunion album that's every bit as good as the old material in my opinion.

4. Ben Weasel and His Iron String Quartet - These Ones are Bitter (Mendota)

   I can't believe some of the dudes from the All American Rejects helped create this record. These pop punk songs are so good that they rival anything that Screeching Weasel ever did, and that's coming from a huge Screeching Weasel fan.

5. Minus the Bear - Planet of Ice (Suicide Squeeze)

   With every release, Minus the Bear has evolved further without straying from what made them great in the first place. I can't say enough how impressive Planet of Ice is, because it's truely incredible what's happening on every layer of sound on this record. No one sounds like them, and immitations be damned if they think they can be half as original or half as talented as this band.

6. Shins, The - Wincing the Night Away (Sub Pop)
7. Modest Mouse - We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank (Epic)
8. Weakerthans, The - Reunion Tour (Epitaph)
9. Dinosaur Jr. - Beyond (Fat Possum)
10. Copyrights, The - Make Sound (Red Scare)
11. Band Of Horses - Cease To Begin (Sub Pop)
12. Bright Eyes - Cassadaga (Saddle Creek)
13. Youth Group - Casino Twilight Dogs (Anti)
14. Strung Out - Blackhawks Over Los Angeles (Fat Wreck Chords)
15. Sundowner - Four One Five Two (Red Scare)
16. A Wilhelm Scream - Career Suicide (Nitro)
17. Motion City Soundtrack - Even if it Kills Me (Epitaph)
18. Dave House - See That No One Else Escapes (Banquet)
19. Tegan and Sara - The Con (Sire)
20. Amy Winehouse - Back to Black (Republic )
21. Ambitions - Stranger (Bridge Nine)
22. Ryan Adams - Easy Tiger (Lost Highway)
23. Said Radio - Tidal Waves and Teeth (Mankind)
24. Bad Religion - New Maps of Hell (Epitaph)
25. American Steel - Destroy Their Future (Fat Wreck Chords)

Bob's list

1. Jesu - Conqueror (Hydra Head)

   The amount of music that Justin Broadrick released this year is astounding; from Conqueror in the beginning of the year to Sun Down/ Sun Rise to the split with Eluvium to Pale Sketches and finally releasing Lifeline, Jesu released more than three hours of music in less time than it takes some artists to release two records. Although Lifeline may have been beyond the saturation point, all of it was good to me. Conqueror quickly took a high position in many peoples best of lists in 2007 and never truly relinquished it; the album was a great mix of melancholic emotion and subtle heavy pounding. The other releases, save Sundown/ Sunrise (which is the one out of place Jesu record this year), follow a similar trajectory as Jesu moved to embrace more subtlety than raw power.

2. Neurosis - Given to the Rising (Neurot Recordings)

   Neurosis gave us Given to the Rising this year, and it proves that the group is not going soft as it is easily one of their heaviest records since Times of Grace. The album is a wicked blast of music that seems intent on breaking listener down. Recorded in just six days time, Given to the Rising gives listeners a glimpse of a band that in the futute might only be described as a force of nature rather than a music outfit. Opting to do it all their own (at least in the United States), the band self-released the album further showing their independent leanings and desire to do things for themselves on their terms.

3. Jesu - Pale Sketches (Avalanche Inc.)
4. Earth - Hibernaculum (Southern Lord)

   Hibernaculum is an excellent re-imagining of earlier Earth songs. Not a new release by any stretch of the imagination, this album shows the complexity inherent in Earth's music (dense, many layers) and how it can translate over time. Dylan Carlson and company opt to show the beauty of these songs rather than the crushing power of the songs that their previous incarnations displayed. These versions have an almost cinematic quality that produces soundscapes that listeners can get lost in the quiet ruminations.

5. Jesu / Eluvium - Split (Temporary Residence/Hydra Head)
6. Black Cross - Severance Pays (Auxiliary)

   Several years in the making and recorded in about 2 days, Black Cross's most recent album, Severance Pays shows a band (expanding to a five-piece on this album) making subtle changes that adding the extra guitar have allowed; the D.C. influence seems more intense and more vivid while the vocalist's expressive vocals and excellent lyricism maintain their place in the band's overall sound. It is a record that grows on listeners who may be initially taken back by the "quieter" sound that Black Cross produces on Severance Pays as compared to their last full length, Art Offensive. Repeated listens, however, reveal a group that is still pissed off and just as vicious as before.

7. Jesu - Sundown/Sunrise (Aurora Borealis)
8. Coliseum - No Salvation (Relapse/Auxiliary)

   As the second full length from this Louisville outfit, No Salvation is an excercise in brute force. The pummeling drumming drives the music to increasingly vicious and hectic paces while the guitar and bass lock in step right along with it. Coliseum take their song writing into new reaches of speed and power with the album to produce an even more anthemic quality. The band does not reduce their anger at all as the lyrics still show quite a bit of anger to go around. No Salvation is thirteen tracks of full blast fury and anger that pummels you relentlessly the whole time; even the slower (if that is the right word to use) songs do nothing to weaken the album, but rather, they enhance it with just enough dynamic change to keep it interesting.

9. Cursed - Blackout at Sunrise (Goodfellow)
10. 108 - A New Beat from a Dead Heart (Deathwish Inc.)
11. Coalesce - Salt and Passage (Second Nature/Blue Collar/Crash and Bang)
12. Angels of Light - We are Him (Young God)
13. Jesu - Lifeline (Hydra Head/Daymare)
14. Baroness - The Red Album (Relapse)
15. Torche - In Return (Robotic Empire)
16. Angel Eyes - ...and for a Roof a Sky Full of Stars (Underground Communiqué)
17. Shellac - Excellent Italian Greyhound (Touch & Go)
18. Rocky Votolato - The Brag and Cuss (Barsuk)
19. Unsane - Visqueen (Ipecac)
20. High on Fire - Death is this Communion (Relapse)
21. Tombs - Tombs (Black Box Recordings)
22. Zozobra - Harmonic Tremors (Hydra Head)
23. Explosions in the Sky - All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone (Temporary Residence)
24. Menomena - Friend or Foe (Barsuk)
25. Pulling Teeth - Martyr Immortal (Deathwish Inc.)

Campbell's list

1. Gunsmoke - Little Shields / The Righteous Path to Hell (Independent)

   These are incredibly solid and eclectic hardcore recordings, regardless of what sub-genre you prefer. Their blend of punk sensibilities with metal and melodic touches brings a truly unique sound to your ears.

2. Allegiance - Desperation (Rivalry)

   This album really took me by surprise when it was released, and it continues to impress me each time I listen to it. The raw recording, the heavier touch to the instruments, and the harsher vocals really hammer home a not-so-subtle hatred for the state of hardcore today.

3. Do Make Say Think - You, You're a History in Rust (Constellation)

   Their use of near-silence leading into a juxtaposing barrage of harmonized instrumentals gets me every time. The vocals are soft and spliced in at only a few points, and I feel like they add just the right touch to their sound.

4. First to Leave - Forging a Future (Wednesday/Lobster)

   It?s unfortunate that a band this talented has had so much label trouble over the few years they?ve been around, because their talent really comes out in this recording. I would say this album lies somewhere between Saves the Day, Fairweather, and Braid, bringing an interesting indie-rock touch to their polished pop-punk arrangements.

5. Six Parts Seven - Casually Smashed to Pieces (Suicide Squeeze)

   I?ve loved this band for too long to not mention them. Their use of harmonizing instruments is impeccable, with each one playing a different role in each song. Everything on this album is so beautifully heartbreaking that I?m uncontrollably drawn to it.

6. Spank Rock and Benny Blanco - Bangers & Cash (Downtown)
7. Trash Talk - Walking Disease (Rumble)
8. Down to Nothing - The Most (Revelation)
9. Air - Pocket Symphony (Astralwerks)
10. Andrew Bird - Armchair Apocrypha (Fat Possum)
11. Modest Mouse - We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank (Epic)
12. Bracewar - Juggernaut (1917)
13. Shipwreck A.D. - Abyss (Deathwish Inc.)
14. Skin Like Iron - Demo (Independent)
15. Jesu - Conqueror (Hydra Head)
16. Starting Line, The - Direction (Virgin)
17. Ceremony - Scared People (Bridge Nine)
18. Sea and Cake, The - Everybody (Thrill Jockey)
19. Pelican - City of Echoes (Hydra Head)
20. Blacklisted - Peace on Earth, War on Stage (Deathwish Inc.)
21. Lifetime - Lifetime (Decaydance)
22. Maria Taylor - Lynn Teeter Flower (Saddle Creek)
23. Björk - Volta (Atlantic)
24. Coliseum - No Salvation (Relapse/Auxiliary)
25. Fucked Up - Year of the Pig (Whats Your Rupture?)

Charles's list

1. Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam (Domino)

   2007 has been a good year for original music. While other bands are diverging from traditional distribution techniques or writing concept albums, Animal Collective, known for their eclectic, collaborative methodology have made an enjoyable, much more structured and listenable album. All without abandoning the weird, animated soundscapes that made them notable.

2. Fucked Up - Year of the Pig (Whats Your Rupture?)

   Not the novelty it seems at first glance, Year Of The Pig presents a pretty accurate picture of the cultural anomaly that is FU. Once you can get past some of the mythology that surrounds the band (8 tracks? MTV? Nelly Furtado guest vocals?) You can see that they simply make good original music. Also, the B side on this record was the best punk song I heard all year.

3. Lifetime - Lifetime (Decaydance)

   I had to, I?m sorry. Lifetime helped usher me into punk rock, everything I loved about Lifetime when I first heard them is here, the honest, relatable, bare lyrics, the catchy hooks and the ubiquitous ?fast parts?. This record gets a lot of flak for being oversaturated, but to me it sounds exactly what a reunited Lifetime should sound like; they?re aware of their tremendous influence, but still doing what they do better than legions of impersonators.

4. Crime in Stereo - ...is Dead (Bridge Nine)

   CiS is another band that isn?t afraid to take risks. To me the ?big black sticker? on the front of the CD sort of defines the band?s progression. A symptom of the music industry, the ?for fans of?? sticker plays to listeners? familiarity with their favorites, it stresses the similitude between artists, and a younger CiS might find it trite, even against their values. Is Dead presents a wiser, more accepting, but infinitely more challenging record from one of the most original hardcore bands today.

5. Radiohead - In Rainbows (Independent)

   Obviously. This band pushes boundaries, upsets people, diverges into strange places and still manages to be the best band in the world. From grainy youtube videos to 80$ boxsets, the In Rainbows experience has been an interesting one. Radiohead is helping reinvent what music is in a commercial world.

6. Elliott Smith - New Moon (Kill Rock Stars)
7. White Stripes, The - Icky Thump (Warner Bros.)
8. Electric Wizard - Witchcult Today (Rise Above)
9. Modest Mouse - We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank (Epic)
10. Bright Eyes - Cassadaga (Saddle Creek)
11. Shins, The - Wincing the Night Away (Sub Pop)
12. Jesu - Conqueror (Hydra Head)
13. Cloak/Dagger - We Are (Jade Tree)
14. First to Leave - Forging a Future (Wednesday/Lobster)
15. Iron and Wine - The Shepherd's Dog (Sub Pop)
16. Kanye West - Graduation (Roc-A-Fella)
17. Cruel Hand - Without a Pulse (6131)
18. Om - Pilgrimage (Southern Lord)
19. LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver (DFA)
20. Arcade Fire, The - Neon Bible (Merge)
21. No Age - Weirdo Rippers (Fat Cat)
22. Pulling Teeth - Martyr Immortal (Deathwish Inc.)
23. Ted Leo & The Pharmacists - Living with the Living (Touch & Go)
24. Trash Talk - Walking Disease (Rumble)
25. Pelican - City of Echoes (Hydra Head)

Cory's list

1. Arcade Fire, The - Neon Bible (Merge)

   The band everyone loves to hate or hates to love comes out with their second album, more complete, beautiful, and terrifying than Funeral. The Arcade Fire still manage to be indie darlings while treading the mainstream, not roles many bands can manage.

2. Willy Mason - If the Ocean Gets Rough (Astralwerks)

   Despite opening for Death Cab for Cutie and charting in the UK, Willy Mason still seems to be floating under most people's radar. Mason sings like Springsteen, thinks like Oberst, and can write music like Dylan. All of this coming at the age of 23.

3. New Idea Society - The World is Bright and Lonely (Exotic Fever)

   From the title to the song placements and structures, Mike Law and his gang of musicians find the patterns in opposites and connect the dots.

4. Sage Francis - Human, The Death Dance (Epitaph)

   Francis goes back to the basics, making his most personal album to date. Death Dance is underground hip-hop on the verge of something much more.

5. Meneguar - Strangers in Our House (Troubleman Unlimited)

   Perhaps one of the catchiest bands in years, every song Meneguar creates refuses to leave your head. At only their sophomore attempt, Meneguar has fully hit their stride and don't look to be stopping any time soon.

6. Woods - At Rear House (Shrimper)
7. Tulsa Drone - Songs from a Mean Season (The Perpetual Motion Machine)
8. Defiance, Ohio - The Fear, The Fear, The Fear (No Idea)
9. Loser Life - I Have Ghosts and I Have Ghosts (Magic Bullet)
10. Cloak/Dagger - We Are (Jade Tree)
11. Pygmy Lush - Bitter River (Robotic Empire)
12. Bright Eyes - Cassadaga (Saddle Creek)
13. Trap Them - Seance Prime (Deathwish Inc.)
14. One A.M. Radio, The - This Too Will Pass (Dangerbird)
15. Antlers - Antlers (Rorschach)
16. Modern Life is War - Midnight in America (Equal Vision)
17. Ghostface Killah - The Big Doe Rehab (Def Jam)
18. Iron and Wine - The Shepherd's Dog (Sub Pop)
19. Rocky Votolato - The Brag and Cuss (Barsuk)
20. Ted Leo & The Pharmacists - Living with the Living (Touch & Go)
21. Comadre / Trainwreck - Split (Blood Town)
22. Building Better Bombs - Freak Out Squares (Init)
23. Funeral Diner - The Doors Open (Independent)
24. Feist - The Reminder (Arts and Crafts)
25. Graf Orlock - Destination Time Tomorrow (Level Plane)

Daniel's list

1. Type O Negative - Dead Again (SPV)
2. Electric Wizard - Witchcult Today (Rise Above)
3. Hour of the Wolf - Waste Makes Waste (Think Fast!)
4. Pig Destroyer - Phantom Limb (Relapse)
5. Wolves in the Throne Room - Two Hunters (Southern Lord)
6. Neurosis - Given to the Rising (Neurot Recordings)
7. Rwake - Voices of Omens (Relapse)
8. Baroness - The Red Album (Relapse)
9. High on Fire - Death is this Communion (Relapse)
10. 108 - A New Beat from a Dead Heart (Deathwish Inc.)
11. Deathspell Omega - Fas- Ite, Maledicti, In Ignem Aeternum (Norma Evangelium Diaboli)
12. Buried At Sea - Ghost (Neurot)
13. Watain - Sworn To The Dark (Season Of Mist)
14. Municipal Waste - The Art of Partying (Earache)
15. Drudkh - Estrangement (Supernal Music)
16. Darkthrone - F.O.A.D. (Peaceville)
17. Coliseum - No Salvation (Relapse/Auxiliary)
18. Torche - In Return (Robotic Empire)
19. Wisdom in Chains - Class War (Eulogy)
20. Ringworm - The Venomous Grand Design (Victory)
21. Dead To This World - First Strike For Spiritual Renewance (Dark Essence)
22. Trap Them - Sleepwell Deconstructor (Trash Art!)
23. Hidden Hand, The - The Resurrection of Whiskey Foote (Southern Lord)
24. Pulling Teeth - Martyr Immortal (Deathwish Inc.)
25. Today is the Day - Axis of Eden (SuperNova)

Graham's list

1. Okkervil River - The Stage Names (Jagjaguwar)
2. LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver (DFA)
3. Feist - The Reminder (Arts and Crafts)
4. Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga (Merge)
5. Two Gallants - The Scenery of Farewell (Saddle Creek)
6. Andrew Bird - Armchair Apocrypha (Fat Possum)
7. Ted Leo & The Pharmacists - Living with the Living (Touch & Go)
8. Maria Taylor - Lynn Teeter Flower (Saddle Creek)
9. Radiohead - In Rainbows (Independent)
10. Modest Mouse - We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank (Epic)
11. PJ Harvey - White Chalk (Island)
12. The Snake The Cross The Crown - Cotton Teeth (Equal Vision)
13. Elliott Smith - New Moon (Kill Rock Stars)
14. Tegan and Sara - The Con (Sire)
15. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Some Loud Thunder (Witchita)
16. Good Life, The - Help Wanted Nights (Saddle Creek)
17. Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam (Domino)
18. Bright Eyes - Cassadaga (Saddle Creek)
19. Radiohead - In Rainbows (Independent)
20. Arcade Fire, The - Neon Bible (Merge)
21. Happy Mondays - Uncle Dysfunktional (Sanctuary)
22. Chuck Ragan - Los Feliz (Side One Dummy)
23. Defiance, Ohio - The Fear, The Fear, The Fear (No Idea)
24. Sundowner - Four One Five Two (Red Scare)
25. Andrew W.K. - Close Calls With Brick Walls (Load Records )

Jason's list

1. Lifetime - Lifetime (Decaydance)

   Why listen to second rate Lifetime bands when you can just listen to Lifetime? If you can't answer this question, we probably can't be friends.

2. Holy Roman Empire - The Longue Durée (Hewhocorrupts Inc.)

   Holy Roman are post-hardcore near perfection. If you loved Texas is the Reason, Mineral, Quicksand, etc. then think of HRE ranking up there with all those bands with an awesome female vocalist to boot.

3. Capital - Homefront (Revelation)

   I can never get enough melodic hardcore from Long Island. There was a grip of great albums that came out of there this year and Capital lead the pack.

4. Down to Nothing - The Most (Revelation)

   Every sweet riff combined with some awesome mosh equal one of the best straight-edge hardcore albums to be released in the last five years.

5. Ergs, The - Upstairs/Downstairs (Dirtnap)

   Set Your Goals, Four Years Strong, New Found Glory, Paramore, etc. are not pop-punk bands. The Ergs! are. Get it straight, already.

6. 108 - A New Beat from a Dead Heart (Deathwish Inc.)
7. Bitter End - Climate of Fear (Malfunction)
8. Go it Alone - Histories (Rivalry)
9. Bracewar - Juggernaut (1917)
10. Allegiance - Desperation (Rivalry)
11. Soul Control - Involution (Rivalry)
12. Shipwreck A.D. - Abyss (Deathwish Inc.)
13. Cruel Hand - Without a Pulse (6131)
14. Living Hell - The Lost and the Damned (Revelation)
15. Thieves and Assassins - Martyr Brigade (Iron Pier)
16. Achilles - Hospice (Hex)
17. Gaslight Anthem - Sink of Swim (XOXO Records)
18. Cloak/Dagger - We Are (Jade Tree)
19. Ambitions - Exile (Bridge Nine)
20. Energy - Punch the Clock (Rock Vegas)
21. Death Before Dishonor - Count Me In (Bridge Nine)
22. Ruiner - Prepare to be Let Down (Bridge Nine)
23. Olympia - Emergencies (Equal Vision/Hope Division)
24. Years from Now - We're Gonna Need a Bigger Boat (Get Outta Town)
25. Crime in Stereo - ...is Dead (Bridge Nine)

Kaveh's list

1. Sunset Rubdown - Random Spirit Lover (Jagjaguwar)
2. Cloak/Dagger - We Are (Jade Tree)
3. Yeasayer - All Hours Cymbal (We Are Free)
4. Two Gallants - The Scenery of Farewell (Saddle Creek)
5. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Some Loud Thunder (Witchita)
6. Pelican - City of Echoes (Hydra Head)
7. Sleepytime Gorilla Museum - In Glorious Times (The End)
8. Jesu - Sundown/Sunrise (Aurora Borealis)
9. Okkervil River - The Stage Names (Jagjaguwar)
10. Holy Molar - Cavity Search (Three One G)
11. Bark Bark Bark - Haunts (Retard Disco)
12. Achilles - Hospice (Hex)
13. Willy Mason - If the Ocean Gets Rough (Astralwerks)
14. Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga (Merge)
15. Sundowner - Four One Five Two (Red Scare)
16. Various Artists - New York vs. New Jersey: Punk Rock Battle Royal (Crafty)
17. Indian Summer - Hidden Arithmetic (Future)
18. Tegan and Sara - The Con (Sire)
19. Panda Bear - Person Pitch (Paw Tracks)
20. No Age - Weirdo Rippers (Fat Cat)
21. Prince - Planet Earth (Columbia/Sony)
22. Battles - Mirrored (Warp)
23. CocoRosie - The Adventures of Ghosthorse and Stillborn (Touch & Go)
24. Das Oath - Das Oath (Three One G)
25. Georgie James - Places (Saddle Creek )

Kevin's list

This was a year of turmoil and conflict. No, not in Iraq, (ok, also in Iraq) but I'm talking struggle in my very soul. My entire sense of being came under attack by progressive insurgents and let me tell you - the insurgents won. Coming to terms with three prog rock albums in my top five was an internal struggle towards acceptance of epic proportions. This was a year of surprises both good (an Australian soft-pop band? Mayhem are scary again?), the bad (the Beastie Boys release an album that sounds like the soundtrack to a jeans commercial), the irrelevant (two albums with the exact same title) and the scary (two bands that have been featured on Grey's Anatomy. Now where did my penis go.....) but overall as strong a year as this poor bastard could care to remember. These are glorious times indeed.

1. Radiohead - In Rainbows (Independent)

   Whether the marketing strategy worked or didn't is irrelevant. Radiohead is a band that stays true to their legion of followers and most importantly true to themselves, delivering their best album. Ever.

2. Sleepytime Gorilla Museum - In Glorious Times (The End)

   You wonderful magnificent bastards. You've provided us with an album that manages to scare the shit out of us with a smile on our face the whole damn time and have unintentionally provided the score for "Where The Wild Things Are".

3. Mayhem - Ordo Ad Chao (Season of Mist)

   With the return of vocalist Attila Csihar marks the return of the sound Mayhem became infamous for. A true classic.

4. Porcupine Tree - Fear of a Black Planet (Atlantic)

   Dear Porcupine Tree, I'm sorry I didn't listen to all those people. Everyone's been telling me how cool you were for years now, but I never listened. Forgive me. I fucked up. Love, Kevin

5. Eskimo Joe - Black Fingernails, Red Wine (Rykodisc)

   This pledge I make to you, Eskimo Joe: I will not rest until your popularity is such that you are touring stadiums in North America. I'd even eat vegemite if I thought it would help.

6. Unsane - Visqueen (Ipecac)
7. PJ Harvey - White Chalk (Island)
8. Flobots - Fight with Tools (Independent)
9. Northern State - Can I Keep This Pen? (Ipecac Recordiings)
10. Imani Coppola - The Black And White Album (Ipecac Recordings)
11. Marduk - Rom 5:12 (Blooddawn Productions)
12. Hives, The - The Black and White Album (A&M)
13. Chosen - Promo 2007 (Independent)
14. Foo Fighters - Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace (RCA)
15. Sons of Azrael - The Conjuration of Vengeance (Metal Blade)
16. A Second from the Surface - The Streets Have Eyes (This Dark Reign)
17. Striborg - Nefaria (Southern Lord)
18. Goon Moon - Licker's Last Leg (Ipecac)
19. Neurosis - Given to the Rising (Neurot Recordings)
20. Wolves in the Throne Room - Two Hunters (Southern Lord)
21. Death Breath - Let it Stink (Relapse)
22. Queens of the Stone Age - Era Vulgaris (Interscope)
23. Elliott Smith - New Moon (Kill Rock Stars)
24. Public Enemy - How You Sell Soul to a Soulless People Who Sold Their Soul??? (Slam Jamz)
25. Deathspell Omega - Fas- Ite, Maledicti, In Ignem Aeternum (Norma Evangelium Diaboli)

Matt's list

1. Iron and Wine - The Shepherd's Dog (Sub Pop)

   Arguably their most complete release to date and featuring a lush range of instrumentation, melody, lyrics and emotion, The Shepherd's Dog is a record that can't quite be pinned down but is edgy enough to stick around your musical memory.

2. Ted Leo & The Pharmacists - Living with the Living (Touch & Go)

   Ted Leo bounded back into our collective consciousness this year with the explorative Living with the Living and he's certain not to go away for quite a while yet. Featuring some more experimental sounds than previous releases along with some more traditional TL/Rx. work, it's a fun release with some poignancy too.

3. Minus the Bear - Planet of Ice (Suicide Squeeze)

   Proving that they can go beyond 'that band with the funny song titles', Minus The Bear brought us a slice of challenging but rewarding music that defies classification. If they keep releasing it, I'll keep buying it.

4. Bright Eyes - Cassadaga (Saddle Creek)

   Perfect production, matured sound and a great backing band: Conor Oberst's acoustic meanderings have evolved into something beautiful that still captures his more tender emotional moments.

5. Saves the Day - Under the Boards (Vagrant)

   A return to form for everyone's favourite pop/punk/hardcore-lite heroes. Not an alienating record like In Reverie and not a fairly uninspiring rehash like Sound The Alarm, it's a good choice for fans of the genre, let alone the band.

6. Rocky Votolato - The Brag and Cuss (Barsuk)
7. Radiohead - In Rainbows (Independent)
8. Wu-Tang Clan - 8 Diagrams (Street Records Corporation)
9. Ben Weasel and His Iron String Quartet - These Ones are Bitter (Mendota)
10. Lifetime - Lifetime (Decaydance)
11. Crime in Stereo - ...is Dead (Bridge Nine)
12. Ozma - Pasadena (About a Girl)
13. A Wilhelm Scream - Career Suicide (Nitro)
14. Against Me! - New Wave (Sire)
15. Bad Religion - New Maps of Hell (Epitaph)
16. Strung Out - Blackhawks Over Los Angeles (Fat Wreck Chords)
17. Tiger Army - Music from Regions Beyond (Hellcat)
18. Dizzee Rascal - Maths + English (XL)
19. Gallows - Orchestra of Wolves (Reissue) (Epitaph)
20. Bad Brains - Build a Nation (Megaforce)
21. Weakerthans, The - Reunion Tour (Epitaph)
22. Jimmy Eat World - Chase This Light (Interscope)
23. Modern Life is War - Midnight in America (Equal Vision)
24. Explosions in the Sky - All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone (Temporary Residence)
25. Foo Fighters - Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace (RCA)

Michael's list

1. Foo Fighters - Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace (RCA)

   The Foo Fighters are the quintessential rock band of the last twenty years. This is their most cohesive and strongest album since The Colour and the Shape. Dave Grohl, I salute you.

2. Minus the Bear - Planet of Ice (Suicide Squeeze)

   I?ll admit - it took me several months to get into Minus the Bear?s previous album. And while I occasionally miss the finger-tapping and lyrics about partying from time to time, I?ve grown to both admire and love their growth as musicians.

3. Modest Mouse - We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank (Epic)

   Modest Mouse continues to do what they do best, which is writing catchy indie rock. I?m not sure what the secret to their success is, but whatever it is, they?ve got plenty of it.

4. Queens of the Stone Age - Era Vulgaris (Interscope)

   Josh Homme is Queens of the Stone Age. Always has been and always will be. Cry about the departure of Nick Oliveri all you want, so long as Homme is breathing, the Queens will deliver top shelf rock and roll.

5. Die Young (TX) - Graven Images (Eulogy)

   If there were one hardcore album of 2007 I would recommend to you, it would be this one. Quality hardcore that isn?t generic sounding, nor does it lack substance in its lyrical message. Die Young (TX) may be lesser known than most, but they?re tops in my book for 2007.

6. Neurosis - Given to the Rising (Neurot Recordings)
7. Living Hell - The Lost and the Damned (Revelation)
8. Jesu - Conqueror (Hydra Head)
9. Pulling Teeth - Martyr Immortal (Deathwish Inc.)
10. Bloc Party - A Weekend in the City (Vice)
11. Rosetta - Wake/Lift (Translation Loss)
12. Zozobra - Harmonic Tremors (Hydra Head)
13. Arcade Fire, The - Neon Bible (Merge)
14. These Days - Chained to the Lake (Twelve Gauge)
15. Lifetime - Lifetime (Decaydance)
16. New Found Glory - From the Screen to Your Stereo Pt. 2 (Drive-Thru)
17. Lie and Wait - Led Astray (Thrashed)
18. Allegiance - Desperation (Rivalry)
19. Battles - Mirrored (Warp)
20. Trash Talk - Walking Disease (Rumble)
21. Wu-Tang Clan - 8 Diagrams (Street Records Corporation)
22. Explosions in the Sky - All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone (Temporary Residence)
23. Crime in Stereo - ...is Dead (Bridge Nine)
24. Radiohead - In Rainbows (Independent)
25. Shipwreck A.D. - Abyss (Deathwish Inc.)

Mike B.'s list

1. The Eat - It's Not The Eat, It's The Humidity (Alternative Tentacles )

   One of punk rock?s essential lessons is that timeless and moving music doesn?t need slick production, marketing hype or a prefab aesthetic. Seeing The Eat play their first major reunion show in 1996 nailed this point home emphatically. My jaw hit the floor as dudes who looked like suburban dads took the stage. Surely this couldn?t be the legendary punk group that the current crop of Miami bands were hyping, could it? I quickly shoved my foot in my mouth and rocked out to songs titled ?Communist Radio? and ?Hialeah? that to this day remain unparalleled in terms of their raw power and awesome weirdness. Pick up their discography and suck at the teat of Miami?s genius punk rock greats.

2. Kanye West - Graduation (Roc-A-Fella)

   I?m going to have to echo the sentiments of former President Carter from a few years back: ?"Kanye, you did it again; you're a genius!" All his media hijinks have me laughing harder as haters bitch and moan. How can you not appreciate a dude who declares that if you aren?t feeling Daft Punk, chances are you don?t dress that good?

3. Amy Winehouse - Back to Black (Republic )

   This album snuck its way into my top five. As the year progressed I kept spinning this with the same frequency that her image popped up on perezhilton.com and its tabloid ilk. Maybe I?m weird, but the pictures of Amy in blood-stained ballet slippers make me love her and this album that much more. Tongue-in-cheek remarks aside, I hope Amy gets well and drops another juggernaut in ?08.

4. Lil Wayne - Tha Carter 3 Official Leak (Official Mixtape/Young Money Entertainment)

   When I first listened to the Pixies, I couldn?t make it past the third song on Doolittle. I?d heard the hype from a variety of sources and didn?t understand how the weirdness of songs like ?Crackity Jones? or ?Debaser? appealed to so many people whose musical opinions I valued. Years later, they are in constant rotation and still give me goose bumps. Such is the case with Hollygrove native Lil Wayne. Much like the Pixies, his style and voice aren?t easily accessible. He drops non sequiturs such as declaring that at age 5 his favorite movie was the Gremlins and spends a quarter of his verse time on group remixes hyperactively talking over the beat. But once you give in and inhabit this self-proclaimed martian?s world, you?ll get it. This mix is loaded with inspirational come-up, trippy drug and non-traditional love songs. ?Get money, fuck bitches.?

5. Ramparts - Whiteboys Love The Blues (Spiderghost Pressgang)

   ?No Jazz Before The Rumble? and ?Bed of Roses? are my two favorite hardcore songs of the year and both are contained within this 7? slab of wax. You might not have heard any buzz surrounding Ramparts simply because the vast majority of kids buying records and going to shows would rather hear shit that sounds like Chain of Strength or bands hawking croosh merch instead of something with creative depth and soul. Don?t get me wrong, I love the Revelation canon, but you?re a damn fool if you don?t pick up this cum-splattered gem of a record.

6. Bishop Allen - The Broken String (Dead Oceans )
7. Andrew W.K. - Close Calls With Brick Walls (Load Records )
8. Tim Armstrong - A Poet's Life (Hellcat)
9. M.I.A. - Kala (Interscope )
10. Rivers Cuomo - Alone: The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo (Geffen)
11. Jay-Z - American Gangster (Roc-A-Fella Records )
12. Lil Wayne - Da Drought 3 (Official Mixtape/Young Money Entertainment)
13. Baroness - The Red Album (Relapse)
14. Fucked Up - Year of the Pig (Whats Your Rupture?)
15. Hot Rod Circuit - The Underground is a Dying Breed (Immortal)
16. Bored Stiff - From The Ground Up (Hella Records )
17. Bayside - The Walking Wounded (Victory Records)
18. Lifetime - Lifetime (Decaydance)
19. Ben Weasel and His Iron String Quartet - These Ones are Bitter (Mendota)
20. Torche - In Return (Robotic Empire)
21. Consular - Don't Cross The Swine (Makeshift Origami/Abort The World)
22. Feist - The Reminder (Arts and Crafts)
23. The Ergs / Lemuria - Split (Art of the Underground)
24. Tegan and Sara - The Con (Sire)
25. Energy - Punch the Clock (Rock Vegas)

Samantha's list

1. Radiohead - In Rainbows (Independent)
2. Shins, The - Wincing the Night Away (Sub Pop)
3. Panda Bear - Person Pitch (Paw Tracks)
4. White Stripes, The - Icky Thump (Warner Bros.)
5. Liars - Liars (Mute Records)
6. Caribou - Andorra (Merge)
7. Japanther - Skuffed Up My Huffy (Menlo Park)
8. Battles - Mirrored (Warp)
9. Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam (Domino)
10. Jens Lekman - Night Falls Over Kortedala (Secretly Canadian)
11. Heavy Trash - Going Way Out With Heavy Trash (Yep Roc)
12. Ted Leo & The Pharmacists - Living with the Living (Touch & Go)
13. Les Savy Fav - Let's Stay Friends (Frenchkiss)
14. !!! - Myth Takes (Warp)
15. Andrew Bird - Armchair Apocrypha (Fat Possum)
16. Silverchair - Young Modern (East West/Eleven)
17. Kevin Drew - Spirit If... (Arts and Crafts )
18. Grizzly Bear - Friend (Warp)
19. No Age - Weirdo Rippers (Fat Cat)
20. Black Dice - Load Blown (Paw Tracks)
21. Sunset Rubdown - Random Spirit Lover (Jagjaguwar)
22. Dirty Projectors, The - Rise Above (Dead Oceans)
23. Shellac - Excellent Italian Greyhound (Touch & Go)
24. LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver (DFA)
25. Okkervil River - The Stage Names (Jagjaguwar)

Scottie's list

1. Weakerthans, The - Reunion Tour (Epitaph)

   Have a few listens and you?ll find it hard not to believe that almost every minute of the four years since Reconstruction Site was spent crafting these songs. Reunion Tour is the quirkiest, most sincere album of the year.

2. El-P - I'll Sleep When You're Dead (Definitive Jux)

   Discrediting Nas?s statement of ?hip-hop is dead?, El-P continues to push the boundaries of the genre. Never have I heard an album that so seamlessly weaves such a large spectrum of influences. The juxtaposition is definitive.

3. Radiohead - In Rainbows (Independent)

   It?s Radiohead, including them on your year-end list is almost an obligation, but it?s met with due cause. Yet another brilliant album that manages to draw the listener in so much that they often forget what they?re doing. In Rainbows is a paradox of ideas: complex while being simple, lush while being minimal.

4. Lifetime - Lifetime (Decaydance)

   When I first got into punk rock, this is stuff that did it for me. It wasn?t Lifetime in particular but instead the dozens of bands who site them as primary influence. This album, a proper departure from previous releases, makes its OK to be in your mid twenties to early thirties, singing like a fool to the people you have crushes on.

5. Sundowner - Four One Five Two (Red Scare)

   The whole singer songwriter act is getting kind of tired but I peed myself a little when I heard Lawrence Arms? member Chris McCaughan would be doing one. An albums worth of reflective tracks that helped move along mornings, long drives, and listless Saturday afternoons.

6. Aesop Rock - None Shall Pass (Definitive Jux)
7. Copyrights, The - Make Sound (Red Scare)
8. Fake Problems - How Far Our Bodies Go (Sabot)
9. Explosions in the Sky - All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone (Temporary Residence)
10. Lemuria - The First Collection (yo-yo records)
11. Look Mexico - This is Animal Music (Lujo)
12. The Snake The Cross The Crown - Cotton Teeth (Equal Vision)
13. Sage Francis - Human, The Death Dance (Epitaph)
14. I Rise - Demo (Independent)
15. Look Mexico - This is Animal Music (Lujo)
16. Trash Talk - Walking Disease (Rumble)
17. Against Me! - New Wave (Sire)
18. Wilco - Sky Blue Sky (Nonesuch)
19. Blacklisted - Peace on Earth, War on Stage (Deathwish Inc.)
20. Ben Weasel and His Iron String Quartet - These Ones are Bitter (Mendota)
21. Fall Out Boy - Infinity on High (Island)
22. Ghostface Killah - The Big Doe Rehab (Def Jam)
23. Iron and Wine - The Shepherd's Dog (Sub Pop)
24. Dustheads, The - Tall Tales I & II (Don Giovanni)
25. Wu-Tang Clan - 8 Diagrams (Street Records Corporation)

Shane's list

1. Grouper - Cover the Windows and the Walls (Root Strata)

   Liz Harris has managed to completely undo everything Xanax has done for those lucky enough to come across her very limited LP Cover the Windows and the Walls. Taking what she had already established with her two previous full lengths as Grouper, she added much more intelligible vocals to the repertoire and in turn has churned out one of the most depressing records you're likely to hear in not only '07 but for years to come as well.

2. Eluvium - Copia (Temporary Residence)

   One of the most beautiful releases this year, Matthew Cooper managed to stun people with his fifth album under the Eluvium moniker. Taking his previously mostly guitar based ambient works and changing to fully orchestrated pieces, Cooper proved ambient music is as legitimate in 2007 as it was in 1978.

3. Stars of the Lid - And Their Refinement of the Decline (Kranky)

   The almighty duo of Adam Wiltzie and Brian McBride returned in 2007 with their brand of trans-continental, high-class ambient. Spanning 2CDs(or 3LPs depending on your preference) these two have cemented themselves as cornerstones of the genre in the last decade and hopefully will continue to for years to come.

4. Pissed Jeans - Hope for Men (Sub Pop)

   Some of the most tuneful punk rock you are sure to hear in '07, Pissed Jeans proved they had every right being on Sub Pop that Band of Horses does. Some of the catchiest songs these years, if you like your punk rock to be as self-deprecating as it is smart with a little bit of tongue in cheek humor to it, then you owe it to yourself to listen to Pissed Jeans.

5. No Age - Weirdo Rippers (Fat Cat)

   One of the more aptly titled albums this year, Weirdo Rippers was just that. Short, rip-roaring and bombastic tunes mixed with weirdo splattering of feedback and distortion. Blows you away even more when you realize it's all coming out of a two-piece band.

6. Sandro Perri - Tiny Mirrors (Constellation)
7. Rameses III - Honey Rose (Important)
8. James Blackshaw - The Cloud of Unknowing (Tompkins Square)
9. Bone Awl - Meaningless Leaning Mess (Nuclear War Now)
10. The North Sea - Exquisite Idols (Type)
11. Jens Lekman - Night Falls Over Kortedala (Secretly Canadian)
12. Small Sails - Similar Anniversaries (Other Electricites)
13. Panda Bear - Person Pitch (Paw Tracks)
14. Grizzly Bear - Friend (Warp)
15. Fridge - The Sun (Temporary Residence)
16. Rob Crow - Living Well (Temporary Residence)
17. Pygmy Lush - Bitter River (Robotic Empire)
18. Castanets - In the Vines (Asthmatic Kitty)
19. Okkervil River - The Stage Names (Jagjaguwar)
20. Various Artists - Home Schooled: The ABCs of Kid's Soul (Numero Group)
21. Woods - At Rear House (Shrimper)
22. Japancakes - Loveless (Darla)
23. Lichens - Omns (Kranky)
24. Homostupids - The Intern (Parts Unknown)
25. Giuseppe Ielasi - August (12K)

Tohm's list

1. Do Make Say Think - You, You're a History in Rust (Constellation)

   Canadians Do Make Say Think shine on their fifth - yes, fifth! - album, adding vocals to their original brand of instrumental jams. If you haven't heard - or even heard of - this band, You, You're a History in Rust is the perfect introduction.

2. Radiohead - In Rainbows (Independent)

   When Radiohead releases an album that isn't noteworthy, the whole world will know the band's end has finally come. With In Rainbows, Radiohead proves they're miles from creating bad music.

3. Pyramids - Through the Hourglass (Protagonist Music)

   A concept album about time travel presents intense, mesmerizing music. Pyramids climax over and over (and you might, too).

4. Pygmy Lush - Bitter River (Robotic Empire)

   Members of Pg. 99 and City of Caterpillar released the most bipolar album of the year. Pygmy Lush touch on more than a few genres over the course of Bitter River, and they do it with great talent.

5. Lymbyc Systym - Love Your Abuser (Mush)

   Two brothers from Arizona make unclassifiable electronic masterpieces using a myriad of instruments. Love Your Abuser is easy to fall in love with and easy to fall asleep to (in a good way, of course).

6. Minus the Bear - Planet of Ice (Suicide Squeeze)
7. Arcade Fire, The - Neon Bible (Merge)
8. Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam (Domino)
9. Jesu - Conqueror (Hydra Head)
10. Rosetta - Wake/Lift (Translation Loss)
11. Six Parts Seven - Casually Smashed to Pieces (Suicide Squeeze)
12. Modest Mouse - We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank (Epic)
13. Explosions in the Sky - All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone (Temporary Residence)
14. Funeral Diner - The Doors Open (Independent)
15. One A.M. Radio, The - This Too Will Pass (Dangerbird)
16. Locust, The - New Erections (Anti)
17. Pelican - City of Echoes (Hydra Head)
18. Graf Orlock - Destination Time Tomorrow (Level Plane)
19. Number Twelve Looks Like You, The - Mongrel (Eyeball)
20. Smashing Pumpkins - Zeitgeist (Reprise)
21. White Stripes, The - Icky Thump (Warner Bros.)
22. Om - Pilgrimage (Southern Lord)
23. Eluvium - Copia (Temporary Residence)
24. Battles - Mirrored (Warp)
25. Air - Pocket Symphony (Astralwerks)

Tyler's list

1. Deathspell Omega - Fas- Ite, Maledicti, In Ignem Aeternum (Norma Evangelium Diaboli)
2. Om - Pilgrimage (Southern Lord)
3. El Ten Eleven - Every Direction is North (Bar/None)
4. Wolves in the Throne Room - Two Hunters (Southern Lord)
5. Jesu / Eluvium - Split (Temporary Residence/Hydra Head)
6. Xasthur - Defective Epitaph (Hydra Head)
7. Electric Wizard - Witchcult Today (Rise Above)
8. Neurosis - Given to the Rising (Neurot Recordings)
9. Explosions in the Sky - All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone (Temporary Residence)
10. Ruins of Beverast, The - Rain Upon the Impure (Ván)
11. Dustheads, The - Tall Tales I & II (Don Giovanni)
12. Wold - Screech Owl (Profound Lore)
13. Pelican - City of Echoes (Hydra Head)
14. Oxbow - The Narcotic Story (Hydra Head)
15. Jesu - Sundown/Sunrise (Aurora Borealis)
16. Jesu - Lifeline (Hydra Head/Daymare)
17. Radiohead - In Rainbows (Independent)
18. Jesu - Conqueror (Hydra Head)
19. Jesu - Pale Sketches (Avalanche Inc.)
20. Earth - Hibernaculum (Southern Lord)
21. Black Moth Super Rainbow - Dandelion Gum (Graveface)
22. Don't Mess With Texas - Los Dias de Junio (Moonlee)
23. Zozobra - Harmonic Tremors (Hydra Head)
24. Shellac - Excellent Italian Greyhound (Touch & Go)
25. Melt Banana - Bambi's Dilemma (A-Zap)

Zed's list

1. Panda Bear - Person Pitch (Paw Tracks)
2. Clockcleaner - Babylon Rules (Load)
3. Burial - Untrue (Hyperdub)
4. Frog Eyes - Tears of the Valedictorian (Absolutely Kosher)
5. Dinosaur Jr. - Beyond (Fat Possum)
6. Blonde Redhead - 23 (4AD)
7. Wolves in the Throne Room - Two Hunters (Southern Lord)
8. Electric Wizard - Witchcult Today (Rise Above)
9. Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam (Domino)
10. 108 - A New Beat from a Dead Heart (Deathwish Inc.)
11. Beirut - The Flying Club Cup (Ba Da Bing)
12. Cloak/Dagger - We Are (Jade Tree)
13. Ghastly City Sleep - Ghastly City Sleep (Robotic Empire)
14. Trainwreck Riders - Lonely Road Revival (Alive)
15. Red Dons - Death to Idealism (Deranged)
16. Besnard Lakes, The - Are the Dark Horse (Jagjaguwar)
17. Deathspell Omega - Fas- Ite, Maledicti, In Ignem Aeternum (Norma Evangelium Diaboli)
18. Ergs, The - Upstairs/Downstairs (Dirtnap)
19. National, The - Boxer (Beggars)
20. Om - Pilgrimage (Southern Lord)