Uncut Names LCD Soundsytem As 2007's Finest
It's December, which means we've entered the official month of list giving. In that spirit, following in the footsteps of Stylus, Uncut has LCD Soundsystem at its top spot. As far as we can tell -- judging from Paste showing love to the National, Harp Okkervil River, and not factoring Stephen King into the equation -- James Murphy & Co. are currently in the lead. No, not the Sound Of Silver ... that's the sound of gold. Before we go, though: The National at 34? At least they beat Interpol.
50 Dinosaur Jr. - Beyond
49 Ry Cooder - My Name Is Buddy
48 Thurston Moore - Trees Outside the Academy
47 Nick Lowe - At My Age
46 Von Sudenfed - Tromatic Reflexxions
45 Richard Hawley - Lady's Bridge
44 Maps - We Can Create
43 Manic Street Preachers - Send Away the Tigers
42 Richard Thompson - Sweet Warrior
41 Justice - †
40 Iron and Wine - The Shepherd's Dog
39 Interpol - Our Love to Admire
38 The Cribs - Men's Needs, Women's Needs, Whatever
37 Beirut - The Flying Club Cup
36 Bright Eyes - Cassadaga
35 Bill Callahan - Woke on a Whaleheart
34 The National - Boxer
33 Tinariwen - Aman Iman: Water Is Life
32 Queens of the Stone Age - Era Vulgaris
31 Devendra Banhart - Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon
30 The Good, The Bad & The Queen - The Good, The Bad & The Queen
29 The Besnard Lakes - The Besnard Lakes are the Dark Horse
28 Rufus Wainwright - Release the Stars
27 Steve Earle - Washington Square Serenade
26 Manu Chao - La Radiolina
25 Kings of Leon - Because of the TimesWhite Chalk really is great. Good to see Robert Wyatt and something gorgeously left-of-center like Voice of the Seven Woods on there, too. Plant and Kraus at no. 4? No wonder they're so happy together.
24 Les Savy Fav - Let's Stay Friends
23 Rilo Kiley - Under the Brightlight
22 Babyshambles - Shotters Nation
21 Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
20 Bruce Springsteen - Magic
19 Feist - The Reminder
18 Voice of the Seven Woods - Voice of the Seven Woods
17 Super Furry Animals - Hey Venus!
16 Grinderman - Grinderman
15 Panda Bear - Person Pitch
14 M.I.A. - Kala
13 Neil Young - Chrome Dreams II
12 Battles - Mirrored
11 Björk - Volta
10 Klaxons - Myths Of The Near Future
09 Radiohead - In Rainbows
08 The White Stripes - Icky Thump
07 The Hold Steady - Boys and Girls in America
06 Robert Wyatt - Comicopera
05 Wilco - Sky Blue Sky
04 Robert Plant and Alison Krauss - Raising Sand
03 PJ Harvey - White Chalk
02 Arctic Monkeys - Favourite Worst Nightmare
01 LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver
Posted at 11:52 AM in Year-End List
Tags: LCD Soundsystem
A little late with the Hold Steady Pick. And much as I love Interpol, they shouldn't be as high on this list... even if average Interpol is still better than the majority of what gets released.
Score = 1
Is it just me or are the Brits the only ones who think the Arctic Monkeys are actually worth listening to? They made the same album twice, and it wasn't good the first time. But the Klaxxons ahead of The National's Boxers? One won't be remembered and the other is a classic...
Score = 0
Arctic Monkeys at 2?
What are you people, on dope?!
Score = 2
although I haven't pick up the new album, it's nice to see Manu Chao get some cred
Score = 1
its nice to (finally) see panda bear on some lists.
Score = 0
what a nice spot for 'Hissing Fauna' - GO UNCUT!
Score = 0
Patrick Wolf anybody??
Score = 0
Pretty cool to see The Cribs on this list.
Score = 0
FINALLY someone recognizes "Favourite Worst Nightmare." It is a little surprising to see it at #2, but is a great album nonetheless. Even better than "Whatever People Think I Am, That's What I Am Not."
There's nothing wrong with rock music being fun.
Score = 0
Even though this list has more excellent albums than others ive read this year, they still lose all credibility for giving the Arctic Monkeys the #2 spot.
Also LCD Soundsystem is good. But not THAT good. 20% talent, 80% hype.
Score = 2
I couldn't wait for Sound of Silver. I got it right away, and I was disappointed just as quickly. It's sounds way too '80s. The bad kind of pop 80s, not the good kind. "North American Scum" is a good track, though. Mirrored took me a while, but now I dig it. It reminds of what Phish would sound like minus the vocals and solos, and jazz aspects.
Score = 2
Weakerthans people. Reunion Tour.
Score = 0
Elliot, you sir are an idiot.
Score = -2
What on Earth do Brits use to eat soup and ice cream? And I'm not talking bowls.
Score = 0
Elliot, I'm wit'ya mate!
Score = 2
Terrible Top 10. Hold Steady is the best up there and it's a year late. Radiohead and the Stripes are past their respective primes and the new Wilco just isn't good enough. The Klaxons and Arctic Monkeys are just fine, even by UK indie standards. Subpar list.
Score = -1
You know what the best thing about lists is? All they do is piss people off!
I'd be willing to be bet that most, if not all who comment on this list haven't even heard a third of them. And if they claim to heard all, they're either an a)indie troll in need of some sunshine and a mate or b) a liar.
Me? I've only heard 15 of the listed 50.
Score = 0
fuck this list!
but at least it has besnard lakes - MUCH LOVE FOR DAT SHIT!
Score = 0
Oh yeah? Well I've heard 16, so take that!
Score = 0
Whatnot, I think your 15 out of 30 qualifies you as the troll.
Score = 0
Wow, that Top 10 is terrible. All 10 of those are either really bad or mediocre.
Score = 0
ATTENTION STEREOGUM READERS:
no two "best-of-year" lists will ever be the same. they're like snowflakes, in that way. grumbling because CatFancy didn't put The National in their top 10 is a sad waste of time and effort. while you lament the placement of Panda Bear, there is an illegal war being waged, and your civil liberties are being eroded. try to get more more upset about that. having said that, arctic monkeys do suck, and LCD deserve the accolades. that is all.
Score = 0
why are these shit lists the biggest news on this site?
Score = 0
Where the hell is Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, and why don't the Weakerthans get any credit?
Score = 0
there are definite problems with this list, despite it being fairly respectable. the white stripes, klaxons, and arctic monkeys are a bit too highly ranked for my liking. to be honest, i didn't get pj harvey because of a handful of subpar reviews, and i have never been into wilco, thank god. i don't know what the hold steady is doing on there, but i didn't understand it last year either.
gonna look up the new plant/krauss i guess, and i'll give wyatt a glance as well. props for those sleeper picks.
should be higher: panda bear, kings of leon, radiohead, justice, the national, m.i.a.
should be on there: spoon, animal collective, of montreal, sunset rubdown, the shins, clap your hands say yeah, the forms, kanye west
understandable omissions: the weakerthans, dan deacon, ugk, patrick wolf
lcd soundsystem desearves the number one spot though.
Score = 0
I will also agree that Weakerthans should have been on this list. They're at least in my top 5.
"Sound of Silver" is more like 40% great 60% hype. That said, that 40% accounts for three songs I'll probably be listening to for the rest of my life so if people want to big up it as a representative document of 2007, I don't take so much of an issue with the praise as with the idea of future fans trying to convince themselves that "Watch the tapes" or "New york, I love you" really needed to exist.
Score = 0
"23 Rilo Kiley - Under the Brightlight"
Horrible.
Score = 0
No one has love for Pinback, apparently. I think Autumn of the Seraphs was good enough to place on a lot of these lists, considering the albums that DID place on them.
Score = 0
Stop getting pissed off at people who get pissed off by lists. That shit gets annoying. If you want to debate music and lists, this is the place to come. When people debate these lists, they are questioning the credibility of these magazines or the ridiculous group-think of many indie critics, and fans who are influenced by those critics. Or they are just having a friendly discussion about music. Having said that, I am wondering about any magazine that still puts Arctic Monkeys this high on a list. They are ok, but were never that important in the first place.
Score = 0
Volta at 11? Did they even hear the record? I'm a big fan of Björk, but Volta was dreadful.
Also, I still can't understand the massive love for the Robert Plant/Alison Krauss duet. It got great reviews according to Metacritic, but it's possibly one of the most boring records of the year. What gives.
Score = 0
What makes Arctic Monkeys so unimportant?
Score = 0
Worst list I've seen thus far......
Jens Lekman and Avett Brothers not on the list?
Me thinks Uncut is a little Brit-o-centric.
Score = 0
here, here jonny, if you don't want to debate about music i would assume you could find better things to do with your time than read the comments section of a music blog.
that said this is the weakest list i've seen yet (not including stephen king's), boys and girls in america came out 14 months ago, arctic monkeys in the top two, no love for the stage names, graduation, or emotionalism. and when will someone finally have to balls to admit that in rainbows was this years best, or at least in the top five
on a side note, will someone tell me if the new neil young c.d. is good, i love me some neil but i heard bad things so i stayed away from it, is it worth my time?
Score = 0
Well, I've heard 30 of the 50....does that make me a troll?
Nice to finally see James Murphy getting some year-end recognition for that masterpiece of an album. I'm left wondering where of Montreal and Jens are...but oh well.
Score = 0
Didn't the Hold Steady actually get released in 07 in England?
Score = 0
@DS48
They make thoroughly mediocre music, which is kind of a crime in itself. Said music has been inflated by everything that is shitty and hollow about the music press to the point where there are actually fucking adults who write good reviews of their stuff. The fact that Arctic Monkeys at their top dollar best overlap with only the most superficial aspect of what The Beatles were capable of somehow became grounds for a string of inflated comparisons that diffused out to anyone who maintains an opinion on music. Lots of people bit, the charts reflected signs of life in a dismal era, and a lot of people mistook it for great art instead of an insidious confluence of hype and they MOR crowd's need to believe that Rock and Roll (tm) wasn't over. The good news is that people's sensibilities are evolving to the point where we'll probably be spared another Arctic Monkeys.
Score = 0
i could make a better list than that in like two seconds.
Score = 0
@ghcornwell: thanks for using your brain. People, Uncut is a British paper. BaGiA may be "old news" to you, but that's because you live in the United States. Derrr.
Secondly, people enjoy dissing the Arctic Monkeys because they aren't twirling around with their eyes closed singing fucked up songs about nothing, nor are they playing a harp. Not a good reason to dis them, of course, but one typical of the "different is better" line of reasoning.
Thirdly, this list is as good as any other. In fact, I'd say Sound of Silver, The Stage Names, and Boxer should split best of 2007 with Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga.
Score = 0
Sound of Silver = 0% good, 100% hype.
For fuck's sake, people, his shit was on fucking NIKE.
Score = 2
YAY KLAXONS!
Score = 2
Ah, yes....empty derision for anything that doesn't sound different is only matched by empty derision for anything that is used to sell product.
Score = 0
Deerhunter, Of Montreal, and Menomena were 2007, right? I liked all three of those a lot more than many listed here, although, if you count the number of times I played any given album, LCD tops my list as well. LCD and Feist were played much more than anyone else in my very crowded household.
Score = 0
Horrible. Volta, Arctic Monkeys, Hold Steady, Klaxons, etc. Just horrible.
Also, one last time for the cheap seats, Spoon is one of the most important American acts of the last decade or so and have released four absolutely classic albums in a row, case anybody's counting. Hello England. We're over here. Thanks.
Score = -2
Interpol shouldn't even be on here. I used to be a huge fan and tried my best to like OLTA. But I listened to it a countless number of times (honestly, A LOT of listening) and it's just so mediocre. Mediocre doesn't deserve to be on best of the year lists. Sorry 'pol but you guys didn't step up. This list sucks on the whole though. Arctic Monkeys? Puh-lease.
BUT Sounds of Silver is amazing. So I won't contest their number 1. Boxer should be higher.
Score = 0
menomena should be up there too, and probably jens lekman. volta WAS horrible. sound of silver > your record. haven't heard the stage names though, but i dig that one song of o.r.'s
Score = -1
no one likes architecture in helsinki =(
Score = 0
you guys really seem to have a problem with bands that play to more than 30 people a night...
Score = 0
i am fully open to admitting that my musical palette may not reign supreme in judgment (although i hold it in high esteem), but any list that doesn't even include andrew bird is not worth my reading.
Score = 0
sigh, Beirut at 37? Best album of the year.
Score = 0
yeah, andrew bird is great. but uh, rgr_moore, who would you have as # 1?
Score = 0
ha. dumbest list.
Score = 0
The Manics? Seriously?
Score = 0
Why is Spoon's Ga^5 not on this list? Or Jens Lekman? These two would have easily made it into the top 30 at least.
I do appreciate the inclusion of Beirut on this list; that is where Paste's list failed me. Should have been higher, though.
Score = 0
^^eep, just found out that Beirut was on Paste's list, but it wasn't in the mag for some reason.
Still, it should have been higher. Flying Club Cup is a great album.
Score = 0
Arctic Monkeys, Klaxons, yessss finally one of the people who make these lists actually has individual taste, and doesn't just follow the Indie Snob Guide 101. Sorry people but some of us actually like music you can dance to. Shocker, I know.
Score = 0
"Lyke omfg wat are teh arctic monkeys doing at #2"
Shut up it was a good album.
Score = 0
@sonokrug
bah i thought the #1 was a good choice. i was just saying people seem to get so upset whenever a popular artist makes it into these kind of lists.
Score = 0
If Frequency Fall had made the apparent mid-November deadline for being considered in year-end lists for their new album "Everything Now," they'd have to make the list somewhere.
Score = 0
where is Ryan Adams?
Score = 0
Up his own arse!
Hah! I jest..
But seriously, no need for the Arctic monkeys hate, they are a good band, perhaps not deserving of the number 2 spot, but their influence in England is phenomenal.
Menomena should have been No.1 and Burial should have been top 10.
Score = 0
Danielle: "Arctic Monkeys, Klaxons, yessss finally one of the people who make these lists actually has individual taste, and doesn't just follow the Indie Snob Guide 101. Sorry people but some of us actually like music you can dance to. Shocker, I know."
Indie Snob Guide 101 is the guide that tells you Arctic Monkeys should be #2. Or at least it used to be. That band is a perfect example of critics just copying off each other. I love music you can dance to. I don't hate the Arctic Monkeys. They have some good songs. But they are severely overrated.
Everyone acts like they are one of the best Brit bands in history and so influential. Where have you been this past decade? Have you ever heard of the Strokes, Hives, White Stripes, Franz Ferdinand, Libertines, Razorlight, Kaiser Chiefs, Bloc Party? I don't live in Britain but I get the impression that it's just people that haven't heard these other bands before. Go buy a copy of Silent Alarm.
Score = 0
Danielle:"Arctic Monkeys, Klaxons, yessss finally one of the people who make these lists actually has individual taste, and doesn't just follow the Indie Snob Guide 101. Sorry people but some of us actually like music you can dance to. Shocker, I know."
Indie Snob Guide 101 is the guide that tells you Arctic Monkeys should be at #2. Or at least it used to be. This band is a perfect example of critics just copying off each other. I love music you can dance to. I don't hate the Arctic Monkeys. But they are severely overrated.
If you think they are one of the best Brit bands in history or super influential, then you have probably never heard of the Strokes, White Stripes, Hives, Libertines, Rapture, Razorlight, Bloc Party. Go buy a copy of Silent Alarm.
Score = 0
Here's my pregunta--if you follow music thoroughly, then after awhile, you probably have blogs, magazines, and websites you go to because your taste of music is best reflected in their works, so why is it, that everyone looks at each publication/site's list and determines if it is "good" or "bad?" Look, I'm not crazy about UNCUT magazine, and I wouldn't put the Arctic Monkeys at #2, but I get why they would, and I think this list represents their journalism and taste, which is more important.
The lists that become ridiculous are the ones like Rollingstone's, who have Fall Out Boy and Panic at the Disco on respective covers this year, and you will see artists like MIA, LCD Soundsystem, and Wilco in their top ten, even though their coverage of them is poor, and they only wish to appear credible with those selections.
And as for the "it's a year late" commenters about The Hold Steady's "Boys and Girls in America," it was not released in the UK until this year. It seems only some American publications (Pitchfork comes to mind) believe that when an album is first released in ANY country, it is then released that specific year, which is why Peter, Bjorn, and John were on their list last year, and you'll be seeing the PB&J album on a lot of 2007 American lists as well.
Score = 0
@SuperUnison
You’re right, “Favourite Worst Nightmare” isn’t “Sgt. Peppers,” “Rubber Soul,” or “Abbey Road” by any stretch of the imagination but it’s completely useless to compare anyone in this era of music with the Beatles. Their influence as pop culture icons as well as rock and roll visionaries has never and will never be matched. Ever.
I guess I don’t understand why once an indie band gets popular, everyone starts to shit on them because they allegedly ‘sold out.’ (Unless, of course, they’re like Interpol and do sell out) The Monkeys are on Domino Records! They stuck with an indie! Is that not admirable? Shouldn’t you be excited that more people are taking an interest in a talented band that, despite their meteoric rise, has worked their way from the ground up to superstardom?
Take away all of the hype, and they’ve simply released two excellent dance-punk albums with relatively intelligent lyrics over a fun, up-tempo Clash-infused rock sound. Good times!
Still though, “In Rainbows” should be higher than “Nightmare.”
Score = 0
The Arctic Monkeys made a song for all the people that have negative things to say about them. It's called Teddy Pickers. Truest song of the year.
Score = 0
No bloc party!!! wtf
Score = 1
The bulk of the list are white performers. Why is that? There are a few acts with skin and I'm sure a few of us will use those exceptions to the rule as proof of the list's diversity?
Robert Plant and Alison Krauss.....please.
Score = 0