Aural Fixation: My Best Songs Of 2007

Challenged by Mr. Orn, I put together my "best of" list for 2007. I'm a month late, but let's just say it was a busy month.

For this list, I have one basic rule... Only one song per new album - even if the whole album is worthy of being on the list. It's a bit of a long list, but each song has its own distinctive reason why it's on the list. Some songs just have interesting, new sounds. Some songs have meaning. Some just rock.
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My top 10

Intervention - Arcade Fire. Church organs, acoustic guitars, and a desperation filled lead vocal. "Working for the church while your family dies" is an allusion, evidently, to Bush's war efforts. The Church, with an obvious meaning, and family, meaning country. And now deep thoughts...

No One's Gonna Love You - Band of Horses. This is one of the best break-up songs I've heard in a while. This Band of Horses' song reverberates loss, but it sounds great.

Sandy - Caribou. Caribou used to call themselves Manitoba, until a band with the same named sued. The name Caribou came about during an acid trip out in the Canadian wilderness, suggested by none other than a grizzly bear. Anyway, these guys have a very unique sound, blending 60s vocal harmony with some cues from modern electronica. Irene and Melody Day are also good tunes from these guys.

Boy With A Coin - Iron and Wine. This whole album is very chill, and this was a toss-up. It's got an interesting acoustic lead-in, a simple drum beat, and the use of clapping as percussion. Lovesong of the Buzzard is another great tune from this album.

Bodysnatchers - Radiohead. I love the dissonant crunch on the guitar riff starting the song, which quickly evolves into the most rocking song off of the whole In Rainbows album.

Hljomalind - Sigur Ros. Despite being totally in Icelandic, this is a great song. It kinda has a Radiohead spaciness to it, yet with the anthemic explosiveness of a U2 song.

Mistaken For Strangers - The National. A song about distance and alienation. I love the line, "You wouldn't want an angel watching over you. Surprise, surprise. They wouldn't want to watch."

Sleeping Lessons - The Shins. The new Shins disc was one of my favorites of 2007, and occupied a great share of my personal earspace. This song starts off with a soft keyboard note progression and distorted vocal, but then it just jumps out of the speakers as the acoustic guitar joins, followed by full bass and drums. I saw these guys with Orn and a few others, and they played this first, which was a great way to kick off the concert with a ton of energy.

Either Way - Wilco. My favorite song off of Sky Blue Sky. I love the chill instrumental feel of the song, and I even like the solo, which one critic maligned as "Pat Methany-esque." Who even knows what a Pat Methany solo is supposed to sound like in the first place??? I also really like the message of the song, which is acceptance and resignation. Sometimes, you just need to throw your hands up at the things you have no control over. "I will try to understand, either way..."

Pink Batman - Dan Deacon. This is probably the most random of my list, but I really liked this song the first time I heard it. I would imagine it's the kind of song played during some kind of montage during an indy film. Wow, I just said montage. (We need a montage!)

Honorable Mentions

I'm On Fire - Bat For Lashes. A stirring cover of the Bruce Springsteen original. One of the few covers that does justice to the antecedant song.

September Shirt - Buffalo Tom. I've liked the music of Tom's lead singer, Bill Janovitz, after attending several of Peter Gammons' Hot Stove-Cool Music charity benefits in Boston. There's nothing particularly remarkable about this song, other than the way it all fits together into an ode to an article of clothing.

Give It Lose It Take It - Field Music. These guys use an interesting blend of vocal harmony, acoustic guitar, and piano. I've seen them called "alt-psych-folk-rock." I didn't know you could string so many genres together.

The Minaret - John Vanderslice. A haunting premise for a song - a soldier who comes to sympathize with Iraqi insurgents. I was first attracted to the chunky piano riff and distant sounding electronic drums, but the thought provoking chorus is an interesting side effect.

Take My Time - Junior Senior. These guys are hilariously retro-80s, but their sound is their own. If this were a single in the 80s, I would put my money on it being a hit.

All My Friends - LCD Soundsystem. Like Sleeping Lessons, another song that has a great build. It starts off with an initially annoyingly redundant piano chord, which leads into a frenetic drumbeat and a great progression. .

My Favourite Book - Stars. This could be the "make-out" mix song of the year. Yes, that was very 7th grade of me, but it's a good song.

Back In Your Head - Tegan and Sarah. A fun song by a duo of identical twins from Canada. I like the simple yet hard-to-forget piano riff, and Tegan (or is it Sarah?) has a flirtatious voice.