Pitchfork's Top 50 Albums Of 2007 List Gets Person Pitched
Well finally here it is, the undisputed and anticipated biggie list we've all been patiently awaiting so as to begin the lobs and insults of pretension. But honestly, P4K's done well by their readers, and mostly well by us, too. After the cavalcade of mag lists that've been tolerable to shitty (for the record, no list will go by without complaint, but really only two were bad enough to merit the Shit stamp -- and we're still in shock over that Rolling Stone catastrophe), the list reads like a sight for sore eyes. Where else will you see No Age not only being remembered by getting a well-deserved #11, the Field's sonic experiment in the top 10, Bon Iver getting a top 30, etc. And how about that, remembering Deerhoof's awesome Friend Opportunity. Much like you guys, Pitchforkmedia.com thought it was a top 10 year for Noah Lennox and Animal Collective, putting both the Panda and AC album within a few of each other at the top of the pops. During the Gummys reveal, we called Panda the year's VIP (#7 Hottie, two top 8 albums). Pitchfork agrees, and puts Person Pitch atop 'em all. A little agenda-based statement-making, that choice, but that's what these lists are, after all. And shit, given that we're still listening to Noah's little opus, and next year's bound to have a rush of aesthetic-incorporating sound-alikes, it's a good choice. So all in all, good show. Obligatory bitch session after the jump, of course.
50 Tinariwen - Aman Iman: Water Is Life
49 Dizzee Rascal - Maths + English
48 Robert Wyatt - Comicopera
47 Yeasayer - All Hour Cymbals
46 Marissa Nadler - Songs III: Bird on the Water
45 Ricardo Villalobos - Fabric 36
44 Les Savy Fav - Let's Stay Friends
43 Stars of the Lid - And Their Refinement of the Decline
42 Ghostface Killah - The Big Doe Rehab
41 Life Without Buildings - Live at the Annandale Hotel
40 Beirut - The Flying Club Cup / Lon Gisland EP
39 The White Stripes - Icky Thump
38 Wu-Tang Clan - 8 Diagrams
37 Grizzly Bear - Friend EP
36 Iron and Wine - The Shepherd's Dog
35 Black Lips - Good Bad Not Evil
34 James Blackshaw - The Cloud Of Unknowing
33 King Khan & the Shrines - What Is?!
32 Sally Shapiro - Disco Romance
31 Deerhoof - Friend Opportunity
30 Caribou - Andorra
29 Bon Iver, For Emma - Forever Ago
28 Dinosaur Jr. - Beyond
27 Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
26 Various Artists - After Dark
25 The Tough Alliance - A New Chance / New Waves EPOK, Boxer at #17? Really? Sometimes they make it too easy to draw that "you're popular, so we'll keep a slight distance lest we seem populist -- unless you're Justin Timberlake or Rihanna 'cause hey we're totally not pretentious!" (See also: Neon Bible at #27.) More complaints? Well that Les Savy Fav record's too low, which is surprising given how repeat-worthy it's proven to be, and how much love its been getting outside Forkland (or maybe, that explains it?), the retroactive Dirty Projectors correction to #21 wasn't nearly as drastic as we predicted it'd be/should've been (Rise Above got a gun-shy 8.1 and not even Best New Music, but really it's one of the year's very finest records, bar none), and finally -- where the metal be at? For the annotated goods, click.
24 Dan Deacon - Spiderman Of The Rings
23 Studio - Yearbook 1
22 Okkervil River - The Stage Names
21 Dirty Projectors - Rise Above
20 Liars - Liars
19 Feist - The Reminder
18 Kanye West - Graduation
17 The National - Boxer
16 Lil Wayne - Da Drought 3
15 Justice - †
14 Deerhunter - Cryptograms / Fluorescent Grey EP
13 Jay-Z - American Gangster
12 No Age - Weirdo Rippers
11 Jens Lekman - Night Falls Over Kortedala
10 Burial - Untrue
09 The Field - From Here We Go Sublime
08 Battles - Mirrored
07 Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
06 Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam
05 of Montreal Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?
04 Radiohead - In Rainbows
03 M.I.A. - Kala
02 LCD Soundsystem - Sound Of Silver
01 Panda Bear - Person Pitch
Posted at 10:27 AM in Year-End List
Tags: Panda Bear
Leave it up to P4k to put Arcade Fire where it belongs.
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menomena and patrick wolf.
and tell adam from WI to e-mail you the top 100 tracks again.
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You know, I was really expecting to hate this list, but it seems pretty well thought out. (Maybe overthought?) For once, it doesn't just sound like Pitchfork jizzing all over itself.
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!!!, low, and pissed jeans were robbed. otherwise, one of their better year end lists.
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Beirut should be higher.
And I like Panda Bear, but I did not think Person Pitch was that good.
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Agreed, Neon Bible's placement on P4K's list is the most dead-on. A great list all around, really. Maybe now, I will listen to my girlfriend when she tells me to listen to Panda Bear.
My gripes: Boxer is waaay too low, and where is Andrew Bird?
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No St. Vincent or A Sunny Day In Glasgow, but overall, a very tolerable list. Not to mention a fairly deserving number one album for the first time in a few years.
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I still think Battles' Mirrored is the most over-rated album of the year. National should have been top 10 at least. I also think The Shepherd's Dog should have been way higher, at least top 20.
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Could have done without Radiohype in the top ten, but very glad to see arcade fire not in there.
I actually was quite surprised with how well it went, and super pumped that No Age got 11 and that Dirty Projectors made the list (didn't see that one coming at all). The left field support for Tinariwen is slightly odd but totally great as well.
P.fork may be slightly inconsistent due to their immense use of various freelance writers, but it is lists like these that bring their credentials back together, (now only if they could get weaned off Murphy's cock).
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where the hell is random spirit lover on that list.
that's a crime
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A very decent list, I have like 35 of those albums, boy do I read p4k too much! It's missing a few of my faves like Patrick Wolf, Future of the Left, Field Music, but I kind of expected that, so no biggie. The quality of the top 10 shows its been an awesome year for music in 07!
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They got it mostly right, can't complain other then the fact that two of my fav albums of the year weren't on there (Myth Takes, Friend & Foe) but hey, that's hip-hop.
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Where the hell is Modest Mouse on ANY year end lists?! It's a crime!!!
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can we now give this shit a rest? everybody hates what you like and nobody in their right mind would put it in a list. and if they did, there's probably too much hype. and if they put it low, they're populist. and if they put it high, they're unoriginal.
seriously, this endless list "criticism" is the most depressing thing to happen to music this year. you and idolator.
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No love for Gummy top 20's Sunset Rubdown, Wilco, and Band of Horses.
Love how they evalauated the two Deerhunter offerings as one collective unit. Same with Beirut and The Tough Alliance. Seems like cheating.
Lil Wayne???
No excuse for leaving Boxer outside the top 10, but I guess that's a classic P4K move. That my only real complaint about an otherwise solid list.
Don't understand all the Arcade Fire bashing. Neon Bible is no Funeral (how could that masterpiece ever be duplicated), but, by comparison to everything else out there today, it is truly an excellent album.
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@ fs 11:11,
church. no love for sun rub in the either the tracks or albums list is kinda ridonk. but these lists can't/never please everyone.
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While perusing their individual lists, I noticed that there wasn't one from Rob Mitchum this year. Does anyone know if he stills writes for them? I hope so, because after Brent DiCrescenzo, he's the best reviewer they've ever had.
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The list is really dead-on. They nailed Boxer and Neon Bible, two good albums that have been way too hyped this year (and not even the best albums from those bands). Person Pitch, Sound of Silver and Hissing Fauna have been favorites of mine since they came out . . . they really bring you into their artists' respective worlds, and I like that in music.
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The Stages Names is a top ten album, so they got that wrong.
Anyway, this list seems to represent -- rather precisely -- how a lot of my friends feel about music this year. Still, they'll probably bitch about how lame P4K is.
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OH LORDY
WHAT THE DAMN
You can kiss my grits in Guantanamo Bay long before I'll accept any list sans Klaxons!
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It's missing Patrick Wolf, St. Vincent, and PJ Harvey (my favorite album this year), but it's a good list nonetheless.
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this is the best list so far.
i previously only had any regard for the stylus list.
i hardly noticed no sunset rubdown on this.
but now, to put it mildly, that really is a shame.
but otherwise.
you can't ever disagree with the pitchfork.
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anyone complaining about lil wayne being on here has obviously not taken the time to listen to the drought 3..quit being an idiot and download it for free.
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No Supersilent?..
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Yeah, 'cause no corporate magazine is going to nail a list like a shitty elitiest website.
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supersilent
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am i the only one who hates The Animal Collective and Panda Bear? pretentious, boring and not in the least enjoyable. does anyone care about songwriting or craft anymore?
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"The Stage Names" is shockingly low. Also, there's no way in hell that "American Gangster" was a better record than "Da Drought 3". Weezy can do no wrong.
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Person Pitch is a heaping load of tuneless noise. I honestly hate this record, and it pisses me the fuck off that it gets praised like this, because it doesn't deserve it.
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Heres an idea : Make your own lists & you can put anything you want on it! what a country !
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Why am I the only one who thinks The White Stripes "Icky Thump" is the MOST overrated, yet perfectly titled, piece of crap all year?!!! It's "Icky" & is like a "thump" to ones psyche when played!
Baahumbug!
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@kidacomputerok 11:31 AM
I hope to god you're joking. Brent DiCrescenzo leaving Pitchfork was the best thing ever to happen to music criticism. He's what made people hate Pitchfork in the first place.
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I love you, Evan.
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It's an OK list; I can't really quibble too much with the top 10. I'm still seething with rage over the crap review of the Forms record, though, which was my undisputed album of the year.
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This is the first year that I actually agree with the fork's list.
Including the National at #17. And I'm a huge National fan.
I think it would be about perfect if they just swapped Person Pitch with Hissing Fauna, and In Rainbows with Stage Names.
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A sign of being self-conscious: P'fork starts a CMJ riot by heaping praise on Black Kids, but not a single voter put that EP in his/her top 25.
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Ummm...Modest Mouse? Easily in the Top 10 of the year.
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animal collective/panda bear haters, did you actually listen to person pitch? its incredibly beautiful. i can understand not liking strawberry jam (I didn't at all), but person pitch is a much different story. To call it "tuneless" seems highly ignorant. If nothing else, it was at least tuneful.
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There are a few things I could nitpick on (I don't really care for Panda Bear/AC too much and there's no love for Andrew Bird, and Boxer should still be top ten, I liked it before I read a damn thing about it), but it's the best list I've seen so far. Pitchfork is suprisingly good at pleasing the masses with this sort of thing despite how terrible most of their album reviews are.
And did anyone else besides me actually like Filter's list?
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Oh Wow, you think I'm fucking with you? I am not fucking with you. Brent DiCrescenzo was great. His review of NIN's "The Fragile" is a laugh riot. Not to mention that he's one of the few American critics who realizes the greatness that is Blur. Their reviewers now are mostly bland. At least you couldn't accuse DiCrescenzo of being uninspired.
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@ Ben
I listened. Many times. I kept giving it chances. Trying to put some positive spin on it. I mean, so many people liked it.. I must be missing something, right?
No, I was missing nothing. It sucks. Not as much as his last record, but still sucks all the same. He should stick to playing drums and percussion.
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the absence of Menomena and Andrew Bird is inexplicable.
pitchfork, i've been true for so long, but you are now officially full of shit in my book.
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To Evan and everyone who hates Person Pitch: Thank you. God. I tried, I honestly tried. Closest AC praise I've ever given is thinking "Fireworks" was a pretty decent song. Ugh.
And Brent was a genius. I wrote a few times to give him his due as best I could.
Missing Modest Mouse but oh well.
No Age also sucks. :(
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I hate lists.
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I agree with a significant portion of their list, but where the hell is Menomena? I guess it was not included because that album came out in January and people were not listening to it too much in the second half of the year. But it was, without question, one of the Top 50 albums to be released this year.
*Also, that Burial album has to be the most overrated of the year.
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Where the f**k is The Twilight Sad?!?!?!?!?!??!!?!??!
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One major problem with all of these lists is the fact that Lupe Fiasco's album hasn't come out yet. Because holy shit, it's amazing. Definitely deserves to be somewhere on these things. As for Person Pitch... I just can't get into it. It's sure interesting, but it's just not my thing. I'm kinda in awe over how many lists it's coming out on top of.
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modest mouse doesnt deserve to be on any of these lists. that album and icky thump were very disappointing for me. arcade fire behind feist though? thats a crime.
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I'm not sure exactly how Pitchfork ranks their albums, but I think LCD SOundsystem should be #1 and Panda Bear #2. LCD was on 26 lists, Panda Bear was on 19. Lcd beat out Panda Bear at about 22-9. And most of LCD's rankings were in the top 6, with many 1's and 2's. Take a look for yourself.
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All things considered it's a pretty good list. I don't think Person Pitch is the album of the year, but it's still good. Some random points:
-I've said it before, but I agree SpikeXXX, Icky Thump is not that good.
-It's funny seeing Dan Deacon a few spots ahead of Arcade Fire. lol. Sure, ok.
-This gives me a few more albums to check out that I haven't. Yay end of year lists for that reason!
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Ummm.... maybe i missed it but where is Sunset Rubdown on this list? All yelpiness aside, it is easily in the top fifty.
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Over 40 comments in less than 10 hours. Impressive. And people say the youth is apathetic.
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Since no list pleases everyone, I thought this pleased as many as possible. I would have switched Spoon and The National. Based on the last two years, it seems like P4K just takes the least heralded of their top five and puts it number one. I feel like LCD this year and TVOTR last year probably would have been first, but they wanted to be different. And where's Pop Levi?!
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Great to see No Age (one of my Gummy Top 3) finally get some real love after not showing up on many lists and getting only light P4K praise initially.
And I'm glad they finally stopped heaping slightly unjust praise on Boxer just cause they dropped the ball on the National the year (the superior) Alligator came out.
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Dear Stereogum & Stereogum Readers,
Am I the only one out there that remembers the Besnard Lakes album? What happened? Try it. You'll like it.
Skip
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Feist at #19?
Lil Wayne at #16?
American Gangster at #13?
I love White Stripes but Inky Thump was shit.
Neon Bible was a better album than the ones above. This isnt a list of Arcade Fire's best work. Just best albums of this year. funeral shouldn't be factored in.
Modest Mouse deserves a little more love, but not too much...
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I wasn’t too excited with Animal Collective’s Strawberry Jam (didn’t think it was as good as Feels), but holy shit—Panda Bear. This came out of nowhere. What I hear on this record is a grown man who has the confidence and brilliance of a young child. I remember the music gently washed over me the first few listens, and it wasn’t until about the tenth listen where things started coming together for me. I heard someone mention this somewhere, and I think it was put perfectly, that this album is like the space between where the conscious and unconscious meet, which is truly where all great art comes from. It’s dreamy, and often puts me in a trance listening to it, yet then it sneakily slides into an almost euphoric dance tune and has the opposite effect, making me want to move; this happens throughout the whole album. I really can’t picture people disliking the album if they’re into 60’s pop in the least bit, specifically The Zombies or Beach Boys. But then again I feel a certain audience who reads these lists expect benign and conventional indie rock bands to come up on top. With this said, I was happy to see Pitchfork get it right with Neon Bible (in fact, I thought it should’ve been lower); yet I, like most people here, am wondering why Menomena didn’t crack the list—in my opinion, their album ranks just a notch below Spoon’s. Also, stop being cynical, Person Pitch wasn’t just thrown on the top of the ‘to make some kind of statement’, Lennox has been helping make the best albums of the decade since the beginning of A.C., it’s not like he’s some unknown Swedish pop-star coming out of nowhere flavor of the moment.
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"where is Andrew Bird?"
my thoughts exactly. somehow i feel like if armchair was an october or november release it would be a lock for the top 20, yet as a january release it is completely absent.
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LCD Soundsystem is overrated. Am I the only one who hates James Murphy's vocals?
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Am I the only one who doens't get the fuss about Battles?
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Are you polishing your writing skills in the hopes of landing a job with P4K with that dissertation on "Person Pitch," Derek, or are you repaying Lennox for using your namesake on Strawberry Jam? Either way, it's a bit much.
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doubt you'll read this 'the karlos' but i agree with you 100%
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The Besnard Lakes Are The Dark Horse.
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"American Gangster" is too high. I understand it is the token rap album, and it is much better than his laughing stock "Kingdom Come." However, there are plenty rap albums, not to mention tons of albums in general, better than "American Gangster." The Drought 3, a mere mixtape for example, is a better display of lyrical ability, flow, humour, etc. Despite some of the amazing production there is no denying how lost and simply uninspired Jay-Z sounds on most of these songs.
(Examples of hip-hop efforts more deserving: Pharoahe Monch - Desire, Talib Kweli - Eardrum, Brother Ali - Undisputed Truth, etc.
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Where are the besnard lakes?
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Marnie Stern got the shaft...everywhere.
In Advance of a Broken Arm
am i the only one or something?
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Bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch...but seriously, Okkervil River needed to be higher so I could sleep at night.
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Why no link to the Pitchfork list? Seems odd to lift their list wholesale without linking to them, yes?
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@ kidacomputerok 11:31/12:25, oh wow 11:59, Kevin 12:37
mark richardson is the best thing to happen to pitchfork since mark richard-san.
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this list is shit, i'll pass on 7 of their top 10.
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Lil Wayne and Jay-Z should not be above Kanye in any of these lists. Rapping aside, Graduation is easily the most musically interesting hip-hop album this year and it has way more re-listenable value than those other two albums.
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everyone talks about pitchfork writing bad reviews... who's doing it better?
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Person Pitch is good, but not number one, not by a longshot. Not even top-ten material. Strawberry Jam is better. In Rainbows is the only valid choice for number one.
Where's Menomena and Blonde Redhead?
Lil Wayne? Jesus. Funny how they pretend to enjoy pop music and mainstream rap in an effort to not look pretentious but refuse to acknowledge a rock band as being good if they become "popular." Hypocrites. Obviously their polyester, two-sizes-too-small, American Apparel clothes are cutting off the circulation to their heads.
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Wow, I'm pretty surprised at how I'm not indignant toward their list for once. I'm mostly just upset with the complete absence of Menomena.
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Blitzen Trapper, Clientele, Sunset Rubdown, BESNARD MOTHERFUCKING LAKES!!!!?
WHA HAPPENED?
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@ uncle grambo
non-link was entirely unintentional, fixed! and yeah, i fogot to mention disappointment with the lack of sunset rubdown, blitzen, andrew bird, menomena, phosphorescent, and besnard lakes. guess after rolling stone having mounted the apex of shittyness, i was vulverable, wounded, ready to be seduced -- and pitchfork's list was just the sweet-talking rebound i was looking for.
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Sunset Rubdown?
Frog Eyes?
Menomena?
Patrick Wolf?
Phosphorescent?
Aside from those omissions, probably their best list in years.
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To all the commentoors remarking "am I the only one who didn't get _______": no, you just wish to be. You don't have some great musical genius buried away that nobody else in the world has.
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no random spirit lover is just plain fked up.
will people be listening to lcd in 20 years time??
i must be the only one that really liked icky. prob my third fav record that they have put out. jack fell in love with his guitar again, which to me was joyous.
sans prickly/st andrew, i thought every track was great. i guess in these days of fluro, red and white just isn't kickin it anymo.
agree with sean, american gangster is waay good, but there is something about graduation that brings you back time and time again. (the Ye's flow being easy enough to imitate in the car for this white boy, might be one reason)
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Where is Zeitgeist?
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Really? No Devendra Banhart?
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Battles SUCK.
That LCD Soundsystem record SUCKS.
Deerhunter SUCKS.
And I like the first song on the Panda Bear record, but that's it.
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random spirit lover and bowerbirds album should be on that list.
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No Andrew Bird = Shit List
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This is the only list I've seen that acknowledges the sad fact that 2007 was full of mediocre (or at least less than great) albums from otherwise great bands. Putting Arcade Fire so low feels like an act of insufferable music snobbery and contrarianism, but at least it's honest. MIA at #3 is a little bullshitty, though, and reeks of hip-hop tokenism.
My main beef with this list and most others: where the hell is Patrick Watson? He only won the friggin Polaris Prize.