The Top Fifty Favorite Songs Of 2007 - Pt.2

The process --->

1) Load one-to-two-hundred of your favorite songs (release date = 2007) into a playlist on the iPod (or preferred music storage device); set to songs to shuffle (a.k.a. random play).
2) Press play and listen.
3) Rank order songs from best-best to least-best based on criteria that includes, but is not limited to: songwriting quality (melody/hook(s)/chorus), lyrical quality (if applicable), and overall creativity.
4) Repeat Steps 2 and 3 three times (note position of each song, each time ranked).
5) Prepare draft ranking by averaging the song positions from three previous attempts.
6) Sort the results.
7) Implement some minor-to-mid-major tweaking to achieve an order that reflects your favorites.
8) Review the list. Yes you missed some songs, it isn’t perfect, but it is your list.
9) Publish. One thing that isn’t arguable, these are your fifty favorite songs from the year.

40. “How Am I Not Myself?” by Shocking Pinks
A lo-fi indie pop gem (awww fuck) that lays claim to Shocking Pink’s homeland, the Flying Nun record label heritage. I also love how it's got two distinct parts: a) the acoustic shack hum jam; that segues into b) a semi-lazy driving indie pop. And each section has the best lines of the year: a) "I'd rather be a retard than be your motherfucking dad telling you what to do”; and b) “Take some medicine, get a bandage, shoot some heroin, see a therapist”.

39. “Not What It Seems” by Anything After
This SoCal band brings pop-punk exuberance to The Jesus & Mary Chain indifference. Clanging face-melting feedback cradles a defiant lead guitar line and a youthfully indignant melody. This is a tale where the main character is calling-it-like-it-is. The passion falls off the rails – in a fantastic good way – when lead singer, Brian Dale wails, "Don't you … hate it/when I say I am right!/Don't you … like it when I say I'm wrong!” and the drums pound triple-rate.

38. “L’Immense L’Arme” by Milles Monarques
Milles Monarques steep this song with classical drama, mid-80s English alternative, and 21st century indie quirk. Synth harpsichord buoys a near Bowie monotone melody. Flippant drum beats and crashing cymbals fill space while pretty-as-let-them-eat-cake guitars scurry in and out. It is a gorgeous mess.

37. “Melody Day” by Caribou
Mr. Daniel Snaith (the artist formerly known as Manitoba) crafts the throwback hit of the year! This baby is drenched in late 60s psych-pop with wonderful falsetto magique vocals. Nowhere does a lilting flute trill fit so perfect with transitional freakouts. It is a fantastical mess.

36. “Ears Like Golden Bats” by My Teenage Stride
The second best thing about this track is the classic C86 guitars, and that’s pretty cool. The real money move is how My Teenage Stride have both an electric and an acoustic execute those lickty-split riffs. The best part is the perfect melody, the way Jedediah Smith’s voice bobs up-and-down with an enviable ease AND the little synth flirts in a kind of call-and-response.

35. “The Rhinohead” by Von Sudenfed
I am convinced that Mark E. Smith - despite what he says (which is that he doesn't listen to new music) - wanted to make a statement to all those indie bands citing The Fall as a major influence; to remind them that they don't have shit on him. This track is the product of a collaboration with Mouse On Mars (another defiantly original act) that grooves with self-assured fuck-you swagger. I love how the beats splat and MES' vocals are nearly gorgeous.

34. “The Plot That Weaves” by The Brothers Martin
This collaboration of Ronnie and Jason Martin (yes, they are brothers who front their own bands, Joy Electric and Starflyer 59 … with all due respectively) is based on the mid-80s Brit indie and American college radio sounds. "Plot" has a glorious drumbeat, workman-like structure, and addicitve hook/melody. Simply, this is impeccably crafted pure pop domination via a collaboration of two of the most underrated songwriters.

33. “Ex-Guru” by The Fiery Furnaces
The majoriy of the discerning music listener public does not truly "get" The Fiery Furnaces. I include myself in this majority. There are always too many words for the avant-melody, the hooks are in the wrong parts, and there all sorts of whacky transitions that rub raw as pumice on skin with a second degree burn incurred at a bonfire in St. Lucia. "Ex-Guru" is all of the above and I love it. You do too. Unless yer one of those whining indie brats who cry inscrutably pretentious. Then move on.

32. “Nag Nag Nag Nag” by Art Brut
Art Brut! Listen, you may think Eddie Argos is filled with snark to the nth degree - you're wrong. The guy perfectly encapsulates the substance of the music geek and that's kewl. This track is relentess, even when it pulls back at the halfway point, it indicates a crescendo to exascerbated earnestness. And it comes hard with Argos spitting and band reeling, throwing their entirety into riffs, thumping bass, and pounding drums. Glory be, it is Art Brut!

31. “Square One Here I Come” by The Hives
This track is steeped in jittery garage punk energy with a litany of dirty pseudo-street wisdom. The Hives play it tight and taut while lead singer Pelle Almqvist struts across the aural stage spitting every line with absurdist swagger. Life is a mess and you take it by the throat, taunt it, and tell it you know the score. Then ... rock out. “You get what’s given to you! Square one, here I come! Here I come, square one!”, indeed.

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