DJMonsterMo | 7:18 PM |

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Favorite Songs of 2007

No more than one song per artist. I trimmed this down from a list of over 200 songs, which was very painful.

First, a brief (and by no means exhaustive) honorable mention list:

50 Cent - Ayo Technology feat. Justin Timberlake and Timbaland
Animal Collective - Peacebone
Arctic Monkeys - Brianstorm
Armand Van Helden - I Want Your Soul
Arthur & Yu - Afterglow
Bag Raiders - Punch Reprise
Bon Iver - Skinny Love
Broken Social Scene Presents Kevin Drew - Backed Out On The...
Candie Payne - By Tomorrow
Cass McCombs - Deseret
Celebration - Evergreen
The Chemical Brothers - The Salmon Dance
Chromatics - In the City
Chromeo - Tenderoni
CocoRosie - Rainbowarriors
Common - I Want You feat. Will.I.Am
David Vandervelde - Jacket
Deerhoof - Matchbook Seeks Maniac
Dizzee Rascal - Flex
DJ Khaled - We Takin' Over
Dragonette - I Get Around (Van She Vocal Mix)
Eisley - Invasion
El-P - Flyentology feat. Trent Reznor
Eluvium - Prelude for Time
Escort - All Through the Night
Federico Aubele - Lluvia
Frost - Free Your Heart
Girls Aloud - Call the Shots
Great Northern - Low Is a Height
Gui Boratto - Beautiful Life
Ida Maria - Louie
Jay-Z - Roc Boys
J Dilla - Nothing Like This
Kid Sister - Pro Nails feat. Kanye West
Kylie Minogue - 2 Hearts
Lil' Wayne - La La La
Lucky Soul - Add Your Light to Mine, Baby
Luke Vibert - Swet
Lykke Li - Little Bit
The Magnetic Fields - Three-Way
Map Of Africa - Bone
Martina Topley-Bird - Valentine
Minipop - Precious
The New Pornographers - Myriad Harbour
Of Montreal - Heimdalsgate Like A Promethean Curse
Parts & Labor - Fractures Skies
Peter Bjorn & John - Let's Call It Off (Girl Talk remix)
Phosphorescent - Cocaine Lights
PJ Harvey - Silence
Rihanna - Umbrella feat. Jay-Z
Rilo Kiley - Silver Lining
Robert Plant and Alison Krauss - Stick With Me Baby
Roisin Murphy - Overpowered
Rosie Thomas - Say Hello feat. Sufjan Stevens
Sally Shapiro - He Keeps Me Alive
Sea Wolf - You're a Wolf
The Shins - Australia
Shocking Pinks - Victims
Simian Mobile Disco - It's the Beat (the teenagers remix)
Sissy Wish - Beauties Never Die
Sophie Ellis-Bextor - Catch You
Talib Kweli - Listen!!!
Teki Latex - Les Matins De Paris
T.I. - Big Sh*t Poppin' (Do It)
Timbaland - The Way I Are feat. Keri Hilson and D.O.E
Wale - Nike Boots
Ween - Your Party
White Rabbits - Kid On Your Shoulders
The White Stripes - You Don't Know What Love Is (You Just Do As You're Told)
Wilco - Sky Blue Sky
Yeasayer - Sunrise


Now, with the Top 40:

40) Grinderman - No P*ssy Blues (video)
This video is great. Nothing epitomizes sexual frustration in a graphic visual sense quite like a montage of animals fornicating while you're not.

39) Shout Out Louds - Impossible (possible remake by studio) (MP3)
Fantastic nu-balearic remix of the original.

38) R. Kelly - I'm a Flirt remix feat. T-Pain & T.I. (video)
Believe me man, this is how them playas do it in the Chi.

37) CSS - Music Is My Hot, Hot Sex (MP3)
CSS - Music Is My Hot, Hot Sex (video)
What is the highest charting single by a Brazilian band on the US charts, ever? This song, thanks of course to the fan-made turned official iPod touch ad.

36) Nas - Surviving the Times (video)
Best song Nas has put out in a while.


35) Les Savy Fav - What Would Wolves Do? (MP3)

34) Bodies of Water - Doves Circle the Sky (MP3)
Like Arcade Fire meets Tilly and the Wall.

33) Iron & Wine - Boy with a Coin (MP3)
Iron & Wine - Boy with a Coin (video)

32) Arcade Fire - Intervention (MP3)

31) Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Down Boy (video)


30) Santogold - L.E.S. Artistes (MP3)
Santogold - L.E.S. Artistes (live at Artscape, Baltimore) (video)
Watch Santogold in 2008. Can't wait for her LP release.

29) Lavender Diamond - Oh No (MP3)

28) The National - Fake Empire (MP3)
The National - Fake Empire (live on Letterman) (video)

27) Black Kids - I've Underestimated My Charm (Again) (MP3)
A charming blend of shoegaze rock, new wave reminiscent of The Cure, and Arcade Fire-esque choral shout-singing.

26) Groove Armada - Song 4 Mutya feat. Mutya Buena (video)
The Sugababes sure aren't the same without Mutya.


25) Miranda Lambert - Guilty in Here
Ladies, ever feel like this? "The good ones all got wedding rings and the young ones are just too dumb. And I don't think I have any more room underneath my thumb."

24) Kanye West - Flashing Lights feat. Dwele (via hype)
Another production triumph for Kanye.

23) Mark Ronson - Valerie feat. Amy Winehouse (video)

22) Marissa Nadler - Diamond Heart (MP3)

21) Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova - Falling Slowly (video)


20) Battles - Atlas (video)

19) Jesca Hoop - Dreams in the Hollow (via hype)

18) Vampire Weekend - Mansard Roof (MP3)
Vampire Weekend - Mansard Roof (video)

17) Basia Bulat - Before I Knew (via hype)

16) The Besnard Lakes - For Agent 13 (MP3)
The Besnard Lakes - For Agent 13(video)


15) Burial - Archangel (MP3)

14) Spoon - The Underdog (video)

13) Blonde Redhead - Silently (video)

12) Feist - 1,2,3,4 (video)

11) Bat for Lashes - Moon and Moon (live on BBC) (MP3)
Bat for Lashes - Moon and Moon (live on BBC) (video)



10) Lloyd - You feat. Lil' Wayne (video)
This should be on more best of 2007 lists. It's the finest collaboration of New Orleans/ATL rap and R&B and my favorite of the >77 songs this year featuring Lil' Wayne. The song adapts a sample from Spandau Ballet's "True" and turns the player mentality on its head, all for the sake of love, or punani. "I'm a playa, yeah it's true, but I'll change the game for you." Of course, the song features great lines from Lil' Wayne such as: "You know you give good brain like you graduated from a good school".


9) Caribou - Melody Day (MP3)
Caribou - Melody Day (video)
"Melody Day" features a lovely falsetto melody buried in a dense noisy swirl of sleigh bells, synths, guitar, and flute.


8) Radiohead - Reckoner (via hype)
This is my favorite song on 'In Rainbows'. I prefer this mellowed-out version of the song compared to previous versions.


7) The Field - Everday (MP3)
A prime example of how 'From Here We Go Sublime' transcends the microhouse genre with a synergy of pulsating rhythmic elements and minimalist electronic bits that swells gradually toward a sublime state of musical transcendence.


6) Panda Bear - Bros (MP3)
Animal Collective drummer Noah Lennox really stumbled upon something magical with this song. It challenges and delights with repeated listens whether you listen attentively or just let it play in the background.



5) Klaxons - Golden Skans (video)
This song really got me into the Klaxons. There aren't many artists referencing the postmodernist works of JG Ballard (cf. Joy Division's 'Atrocity Exhibition') or Lakotan spirituality, let alone sounding so damn catchy while doing it.


4) Justice - D.A.N.C.E. (MP3)
"Stick to the b-e-a-t, get ready to ignite." A lot of eurodance has invaded us stateside over the past two years, but few songs have the catchiness and earworminess of this one. Not to mention it features one of the coolest videos of the year. The 12" features excellent remixes by MSTRKRFT and Alan Braxe, but I still like the original the best.


3) UGK feat. Outkast - International Players Anthem (video)
This is not a sympathy vote. They put together my favorite rap album of the year. Single-wise, this is easily the rap song of the year and among the best Southern rap collaborations ever. RIP Pimp C.


2) LCD Soundsystem - All My Friends (video)
Don't let the monotony of the keyboard in the opening lull you. It sets the stage for an epic commentary on life as a young hipster. And there are no easy answers. On the one hand, the process of maturing as an adult is unfulfilling. On the other hand, revisiting the life of partying, drugs, and one-night stands gives way to ennui. The song ends in desperation..."Where are your friends tonight?"


1) M.I.A. - Paper Planes (via hype)
M.I.A. is clearly runnin' sh*t in '07. Visa issues and Homeland Security blacklists are no obstacle for her. This song cleverly cribs a riff from The Clash's "Straight to Hell" to evoke a familiar badass tone; however, it's otherwise quite unlike anything I've heard before.

Labels: electronic, hip-hop, indie rock, mp3, pop, video

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