aaron's favorites, 2007

[1] dinosaur jr "beyond"
my favorite album, not just of 2007, but of recent years. j mascis accidentally explores what’s in his heart and, upon discovering what’s there, tries (unsuccessfully) to obliterate it with noise of his own guitar

[2] low "drums and guns"
low just keeps getting better as they get older. the songs on this album are so pretty that they’re scary (or is it the other way around?)

[3] the arcade fire "neon bible"
what a force of nature this album is. geoff's thoughts are pretty on-point

[4] pj harvey "white chalk"
in which the ghost of p.j. harvey stalks the english countryside terrifying dead and undead alike with the creepy beauty of this record. her second best album, and that’s saying something

[5] radiohead "in rainbows"
radiohead ditch portentousness—about time, right? surprisingly subtle and direct; thom yorke sings like a man possessed

[6] grinderman "grinderman"
my introduction to the sordid world of nicholas cave. a better stooges album than “the weirdness”…who knew sexual frustration could be so much fun?!?

[7] wilco "sky blue sky"
m.o.r maybe, but sometimes maturity and a lack of ambition make for really good music

[8] the white stripes "icky thump"
in my book jack white has never ever done wrong, but this strikes me as a particularly awesome collection of modern day classic rock, bagpipe tunes aside

[9] brother ali "the undisputed truth"
i only heard about 4, but this struck me as easily the best hip-hop album of 2007. the brother’s flow is so intense he sounds like he’s about to have a heart attack on every song

[10] dungen "tio bitar"
if psychedelic music is about imagination—and i like to think it is—dungen’s maestro gustav ejstes must have a pretty powerful one. trippy doesn’t even begin to describe this


i can't wait to see yours...and check out this article about record stores in mpls