Saturday, December 20, 2008

Top 50 of 2007

That's right - it's not a typo. I'm taking a few moments to revisit the Best of 2007 before we wrap up this year. As many of you know, it is nearly impossible to listen and cover all the great music out there. There simply can't be a definitive list for the "best of the best". And once such lists are released, many discover great albums that somehow have slipped passed their radar. It is the case for me as well... Every year... I still stumble upon amazing albums from previous years that sound fresh to me. So I'd like to take this opportunity and bring back the gems that have since moved to the top of my rotations. How many of these have you heard? How many of these have you totally missed? Hold on to your undies, boys and girls, cause it's a doozy!

Headphone Commute's Top 50 of 2007
(listed in alphabetical order)
Aaron Spectre - Lost Tracks (Ad Noiseam)
Amon Tobin - Foley Room (Ninja Tune)
Apparat - Walls (Shitkatapult)
Architect - Lower Lip Interface (Hymen)
Balmorhea - Balmorhea (self)
Ben Frost - Theory Of Machines (Bedroom Community)
Boxcutter - Glyphic (Planet Mu)
Burial - Untrue (Hyperdub)
DJ Hidden - The Later After (Ad Noiseam)
DJ Kentaro - Enter (Ninja Tune)
DeepChord presents Echospace - The Coldest Season (Modern Love)
Elegi - Sistereis (Miasmah)
Eluvium - Copia (Temporary Residence)
Evan Bartholomew - Caverns of Time (Somnia)
Fennesz * Sakamoto - Cendre (Touch / Commons)
Goldmund - Two Point Discrimination (Western Vinyl)
Grails - Burning Off Impurities (Temporary Residence Limited)
Hauschka - Room To Expand (130701)
Hecq - 0000 (Hymen)
Kashiwa Daisuke - Program Music I (MIDI Creative / Noble)
Keef Baker - Redeye (Hymen)
Kettel - Whisper Me Wishes (Djak-Up-Bitch)
KiloWatts - Ground State (Native State)
Krill.Minima - Nautica (Native State)
Lights Out Asia - Tanks And Recognizers (n5MD)
Lusine ICL - Language Barrier (Hymen)
Manual - Lost Days, Open Skies And Streaming Tides (Darla)
Modeselektor - Happy Birthday! (BPitch Control)
Morning Recordings - The Welcome Kinetic (Loose Thread)
Mr. 76ix - 3 (Minority Of 1) (Skam)
Murcof - Cosmos (Leaf)
Near The Parenthesis - Of Soft Construction (n5MD)
Ólafur Arnalds - Eulogy For Evolution (Erased Tapes)
Onra - Chinoiseries (Label Rouge Prod / Favorite)
Pan Sonic - Katodivaihe / Cathodephase (Blast First Petite)
Porn Sword Tobacco - New Exclusive Olympic Heights (City Centre Offices)
Port-Royal - Afraid To Dance (Resonant)
Rafael Anton Irisarri - Daydreaming (Miasmah)
Sankt Otten - Wir Koennen Ja Freunde Bleiben (Hidden Shoal)
Stars Of The Lid - And Their Refinement Of The Decline (Kranky)
Stateless - Stateless (Studio !K7)
Swod - Sekunden (City Centre Offices)
The Cinematic Orchestra - Ma Fleur (Ninja Tune / Domino)
The Field - From Here We Go Sublime (Kompakt)
The Flashbulb - That Missing Week (Alphabasic)
The World on Higher Downs - Land Patterns (Plop)
Valgeir Sigurðsson - Ekvílíbrium (Bedroom Community)
Venetian Snares - My Downfall (Planet Mu)
Vladislav Delay - Whistleblower (Huume)
World's End Girlfriend - Hurtbreak Wonderland (Human Highway)

5 comments:

Alex Barkett said...

Oh this takes me back. Many great albums on here. Particular standouts for me are Burial (!!!, of course), Kashiwa Daisuke (I was a huge fan of this), Murcof, Porn Sword Tobacco, Vladislav Delay. Many a good album. For your money, do you have a preference on year, 2007 vs. 2008 or is it too early/hard to tell?

Headphone Commute said...

In my mind all albums are all mixed up together. Difficult to tell which are more prominent in 08 vs 07, especially since I discovered half of these in 08. 2008 has been a good year for ambient and modern classical - but then again, that could have been just my preference this year. Dubstep is still going strong, but no incredible standouts, like with Burial. There were no notable releases from Ninja Tune - and that's a huge bummer!

Headphone Commute said...

Also, 2008 saw a good year for new labels that became my favorites : namely Tympanik Audio for all the edgy dark IDM releases and Somnia for pure ambient bliss.

steve said...

Yes, took me a while to get caught up with 2007. Still getting caught up - just a matter of time and money. I really though Burial was highly overrated, but perhaps i need to give it more of a chance again.

Andres said...

I through a huge mental tantrum when I heard The Fields album mid 2008... Couldn't believe I missed putting that in my top 2007 list. To this day I listen to it almost every other day!
Hate when that stuff happens.
I know it's going to happen when I get off of work and go check out the Johannsson album tonight :(