The Top Fifty Favorite Songs Of 2007 - Pt.1

HAHA! What do you know? It's melonfarming March and out comes another Top Songs of 2007 list! HA! I know, I know, every magazine, blogger, webzine, public radio station, etc. has already published their list of Best Whatevers of 2007, and, most importantly, moved on. Well, as you know, This Is Not Entertainment is not every publication (**natch**). 2007 was one of my worst years ever ... and early 2008 sucks almost as much. I don't even know how that last sentence fits into the context of this post. I've been reading a lot of Camus over the last two years. Context? Who the fuck cares! Oh YOU do ... here you go:

Here are the facts that you the discerning music listener expect: these 50 songs are ranked with number 50 being the least favorite of my 50 favorite songs, and number 1 being my most favorite of my 50 favorite songs. As in previous years, I will be posting ten songs per day for the next five days.

Read on! Feel free to leave comments and/or send e-mail too.

50. “Hold Me In The River” by brakesbrakesbrakes
This song fucking rattles. Do you get it? Listen to the guitar riffs, the bass bumbles, those drums, all rattling like a loose wheel. Even the vocals by Eamon Hamilton clatter all flustered up and down. I don’t get this band – is it a novelty act? Snark fest? Whatever, this nonsensical rave up gets the feet shufflin’ and the head noddin’. Yeah, WTF Short?!?!

49. “Waltz und Paranoia” by The Original Mark Edwards
Lovely title ---> truly a waltz and paranoia (and kook-freak-out) … listen how the first two minutes are a druggy three-four time shanty town, then all hell breaks loose into fuzzed out indie pop berserker, and you see what I am getting at. Of course, I love it. More WTFs fall on the hook “Bomb it baby”. Yeah, methinks Homeland Security would put a call in … talk about paranoia.

48. “Tonight I Have To Leave It” by Shout Out Louds
Like Dr. Drew being glib-confident running a rehab for celebs, I'm not going to ignore the elephant in the middle of the room. Yes, the Shout Out Louds have completely appropriated the acoustic guitar part from "Inbetween Days". I doubt these lovable Swedes would deny it, either. It's the melody which is unique, smooth, and touched by Bob Smith's tears that make this song a triumph of sad lovelorn sober pop.

47. “Bones” by Editors
“Bones” doesn’t have the immediacy and sheer perfection of LY’s “Munich”, but there is plenty right going on here. The drum beat bugs the hell out of me ---> U2-meets-that-ubquitous-Gang-Of-Fourish-post-punk-disco, ---> it is the slinky lead guitar that makes up for it big time. The best part? The nervous-paranoia-skittish when Tom Smith sings, “Retreat! Retreat! I’ve fallen at the low tide. Retreat! Retreat! Meet me at the quayside.”

46. “Mutiny, I Promise You” by The New Pornographers
These once hyper amphetamine power popsters go mid-tempo (an unsettling trend, if you ask me) to which I am driven mad with down-in-the-mouth annoyance. Actually, I’m being unfair – when head New Porno Carl Newman released his solo album a few years ago, I was pleased with how tremendous the songs were even though they were slower (the record came in at #9 on my Top 50 list that year). “Mutiny” is a great song … still, picture this slab amped up about 50 bpm! It would be that more glorious. Hoot! Hoot! Hoo hoo-hoo!

45. “Come Friendly Bombs” by Gallows
Kick those heels up and skank like yer at a Minor Threat show in 1982! Good grief. Focus here CMS – Gallows are a complete fucking kick in your ass and this particular track grooves with snotty swagger. When Frank Carter spits, "Black knuckles and broken teeth" he embodies it. "So you wanna go? Let's GO!" Indeed. “If we were the same ones, I'd draw this knife across my throat and bleed it dry.” I’m right with you.

44. “Valentine” by The Moths
This is simple - (pure jangle + post-punk herky-jerk + undeniable chorus) X huge hooks / clever-truth-laden lyrics = Hit Song.

43. “Freak Out” by Liars
One major trend in 2007 was the proliference of Pyschocandy fuzz in alt.indie.rock. While Liars didn’t embrace this wholesale (that is, for the entire record), they did it their own way on this particular song ---> based on a one-two-one-two percussive beat and echo-chamber lead guitar lick, they craft a wonderful fuzzy pop song out of the warbley distortion.

42. “The Go From Tactical” by The Caribbean
Uber-understated post-pavement indie pop is probably the most uncool thing in recent memory (at least to the Discerning Listener Public). The first forty-five seconds of this song, understandably, elicits illicit groans, but you got to stick with it. It's the little things here: the languid chorus, the name drop of The Go-Betweens, the slight swell near the song's end that make the whole delectable.

41. “Fractales (Pt. I)” by Apparat
Hot on the heels of Apparat's stellar LY collaboration with the tremendous Ellen Alien comes Walls. This is most awesome track among awesome tracks from that record. "Fractales (Pt. I)" is Kid A through shoegazer and pop songwriting, and if that doesn’t sound good to you, fuck you. No, just kidding! Well about the “fuck you”, but not the overlying sentiment. You should think Kid A through shoegazer and pop songwriting is pretty fucking awesome. Seriously. If not, fuck you. No, really JUST KIDDING. You should love this. If not … ad nauseum.

@ --->