With all the ballots in and the numbers thoroughly crunched, Bwog proudly presents its second annual Music Critics(ish) Poll. Like last year, we've collected lists of favorite albums and singles from various on campus critics, musicians, and radio programmers. Unlike last year, we've devised a formula (not a very complicated one) in order to create a composite list, awarding 100 points to the first album or song on the list, 90 to the second, 85 to the third, 80 to fourth, etc. It sounds simple, but it took a while, believe you me. Thanks to all those who submitted lists (all of which can be read and thoroughly criticized after the jump).

UPDATE: After it was brought to my attention that a certain Bwogger's list was not posted and thus not included in the composite album listing, we have a new number one album. It was close, but Radiohead wins. My sincerest apologies to Armin Rosen, whose list is now visible after the jump.

Critics' Choice:

Albums

1. Radiohead—In Rainbows
2. M.I.A.—Kala
3. Animal Collective—Strawberry Jam
4. Battles—Mirrored
5. The Field—From Here We Go Sublime
6. Kanye West—Graduation
6. Panda Bear—Person Pitch
8. The National—Boxer
9. Justice—Cross
10. Liars—Liars
11. Deerhoof—Friend Opportunity
12. Dirty Projectors—Rise Above
13. Om—Pilgrimage
14. Of Montreal—Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?
15. LCD Soundsystem—Sound of Silver

Singles

1. Rihanna feat. Jay-Z—"Umbrella"
2. LCD Soundsystem—"All My Friends"
3. UGK feat. Outkast—"Int'l Players Anthem (I Choose You) "
4. M.I.A.— "Paper Planes"
5. Sean Kingston—"Beautiful Girls"
6. DJ Khaled feat. Akon, T.I., Fat Joe, Rick Ross, Birdman, and Lil Wayne—"We Takin' Over"
7. Fabolous feat. Ne-Yo—"Make Me Better"
8. Kanye West—"Stronger"
9. Panda Bear—"Bros."
10. Swizz Beatz—"Money in the Bank"

Jacob Brunner
Music Blogger Vice's VLES/Musician

Albums

1. Animal Collective—Strawberry Jam
2. Panda Bear—Person Pitch
3. Battles—Mirrored
4. Of Montreal—Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?
5. Deerhoof—Friend Opportunity
6. Dirty Projectors—Rise Above
7. Radiohead—In Rainbows
8. The Field—From Here We Go Sublime
9. Om—Pilgrimage
10. White Williams—Smoke

Singles

1. UGK feat. Outkast—"International Players Anthem"
2. Swizz Beatz—"Money in the Bank"
3. Fabolous feat. Ne-Yo—"You Make Me Better"
4. Sean Kingston—"Beautiful Girls"
5. Animal Collective—"Fireworks"
6. Panda Bear—"Bros"
7. Cool Kids—"Black Mags"
8. Caribou—"She's The One"
9. J. Holiday—"Bed"
10. Vampire Weekend—"Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa"

---

Chas Carey
WBAR College Rock/Fed EIC

Albums

1. Magik Markers—Boss
2. Dirty Projectors—Rise Above
3. Deerhoof—Friend Opportunity
4. M.I.A.—Kala
5. Parts & Labor—Mapmaker
6. Ghostface Killah—The Big Doe Rehab
7. Von Sudenfed—Tromatic Reflexxions
8. Black Dice—Load Blown
9. Times New Viking—Present The Paisley Reich
10. Love Of Diagrams—Mosaic

Singles

1. PK14—"00000000001"
2. Electrelane—"To The East"
3. Wu-Tang Clan—"Wolves"
4. LCD Soundsystem— "All My Friends"
5. No Age—"My Life's Alright Without You"
6. Shy Child—"Summer" (2007 single version)
7. This Free Field—"6000 Salad Bowls"
8. Dinosaur Jr. —"Been There All The Time"
9. Future Of The Left — "Plague Of Onces"
10. Galaxie 500 —"Ceremony" (even though it came out in 1989, this is really
just for Sam Roberts since he's been the unfortunate person next door to me
who's heard me play it at least twice a day for awhile)

As the Replacements once said, "I hate music, it's got too many
notes."

---

Milano Chowkwanyun
WBAR Co-Promotions Director

This year I enjoyed the revivalism of stoner rock and continued my habit of listening to post-punk reissues and questionably mysogynistic punk bands.

Albums

1. Electric wizard—Witchcult Today
2. Circle—Katapult
3. Pissed Jeans—Hope For Men
4. Young Marble Giants—Colossal Youth and Pylon (Gyrate reissues)
5. Clockcleaner—Babylon Rules
6. Wooden Shjips—Wooden Shjips
7. Health—Health
8. Om—Pilgrimage
9. Mika Miko—666 EP
10. v/a—I Hate CDs: Norton Records Singles Collection

Singles

1. Magic Lantern—"At the Mountains of Madness"
2. Jay Reatard—"Night of Broken Glass"
3. Jay Reatard—"I Know a Place"
4. Pocahaunted/Robedoor—"Hunted Gathering"
5. Wooden Shjips—"Loose Lips"
6. Black Lips—"Veni Vidi Vici"
7. Live Fast Die—"Got Nintendo"
8. Abe Vigoda—"Animal Ghosts"
9. High Places—"Head Spins"
10. Bat for Lashes—"What's a Girl to Do" (guilty pleasure)

---

Parker Fishel
WKCR Business Manager/Host of Tennesse Border Show

Albums

1. Animal Collective—Strawberry Jam
Beauty and spastic happiness
2. The White Stripes—Icky Thump
Despite the bagpipes misstep, pure guitar heroics
3. The Arcade Fire—Neon Bible
4. Nick Lowe—At My Age
5. Kings of Leon—Because of the Times
6. Neil Young—Live At Massey Hall 1971
Haunting
7. Liars—Liars
8. Betty Lavette—The Scene of the Crime
Back from the dead with a vengeance.
9. Willy Mason—If the Ocean Gets Rough
10. Arctic Monkeys—Favourite Worst Nightmare
They hate the hype more than you do.

Singles

1. Kate Nash—"Foundations"
2. Amy Winehouse—"Rehab"
3. Deerhunter—"Fluorescent Grey E.P."
Where the eye meets the pyramid on the $1 bill.
4. Les Savy Fav—"What Would Wolves Do?"
This rocks!?
5. Grinderman—"No Pussy Blues"
6. Mount Eerie—"Mt. Eerie Pts. 6 & 7"
7. Josh Turner—"Long Black Train"
8. Babyshambles—"Delivery"
9. The Academy Is?—"We've Got A Big Mess On Our Hands"
Stadium rock that embraces the title
10. Tie! Ryan Adams—"Two"/"Halloweenhead"
and DJ Reggie—"I Like You (You Rock)"
11. Alex Silva—"Aesthetic Sense" (www.myspace.com/alexsilvamusic)

---

Alex Gartenfeld
Former Eye Editor

1. Sally Shapiro—"He Keeps Me Alive"
The only woman in my world this year was Sally, and she's from Sweden and it's not even her real name...
2. Sally Shapiro—"I'll Be By Your Side"
Re-issued from 2006. ALSO FROM SWEDEN.
3. Tough Alliance—"First Class Riots"
Re-issued from 2005. Swedish + v. cute!
4. Lissy Trullie & the Fibs—"Hold Your Head Child"
The only song on here that is not, quoth my more discerning friends, "disco shit." They have a broad definition of "disco shit"
5. MIA—"Paper Planes"
I LIKE THIS SONG TOO!
6. Crystal Castles—"Crimewave"
"Thrash/Thrash/Thrash"
7. Teenagers—"Homecoming"
This song is about gender roles!
8. Au Revoir Simone—"Fallen Snow" [Teenagers Remix]
Before this remix, this band was on snooze control. Now I might lose control!
9. Cougarfuck—"Poppers"
10. Dan Deacon—"The Crystal Cat"
I have a cat!

I couldn't really get it together to listen to that many albums this year, but in any case, this is the only one that matters...
Young Marble Giants, Colossal Youth [Reissue]

---

Justin Goncalves
Bwog Arts Editor/WKCR New Music Dept. Head

Albums

1. Radiohead—In Rainbows
2. Kanye West—Graduation
3. Animal Collective—Strawberry Jam
4. Battles—Mirrored
5. Lil Wayne—Da Drought 3
6. Of Montreal—Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?
7. Dirty Projectors—Rise Above
8. The National—Boxer
9. Deerhunter—Cryptograms
10. Wilco—Sky Blue Sky

Singles

1. UGK feat. Outkast—"Int'l Playas Anthem (I Choose You)"
2. Kanye West feat. T-Pain—"The Good Life"
3. Playaz Circle feat. Lil Wayne—"Duffle Bag Boy"
4. J. Holiday—"Bed"
5. DJ Khaled feat. Akon, T.I., Rick Ross, Fat Joe, Birdman, and Lil Wayne—"We Takin' Over"
6. Sean Kingston—"Beautiful Girls"
7. Fabolous feat. Ne-Yo—"Make Me Better"
8. Rihanna feat. Jay-Z—"Umbrella"
9. Cool Kids—"Black Mags"
10. Swizz Beatz—"Money in the Bank"

---

Jennie Rose Halperin
Spec Music Editor

1. Animal Collective— Strawberry Jam
2. Yoko Ono—Yes, I'm a Witch
I had so much fun with this album. It's a complete surprise from Ono, not terribly experimental and completely dance-able. I loved the collaborations with Peaches and Le Tigre, as well as with Antony and the Johnsons. Ono is in top form here, and this album is fantastic.
3. Radiohead—In Rainbows
This one's obvious. They're consistently incredible, and this much-hyped album definitely lived up to expectations. I don't think that there's much more to say about it.
4. Amy Winehouse—Back to Black
5. M.I.A.—Kala
6. Panda Bear—Person Pitch
7. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band—Live in Dublin
This is Springsteen at his best. I feel like as an artist, he is only really good when he surrounds himself with the best musicians of his generation. So this, with fantastic artistry and good songs (my obsession with Pete Seeger is way too encompassing to leave this out!) is a great example of what Springsteen can do.
8. Okkervil River—The Stage Names
9. Bjork—Volta
Fantastic. She is always good, but particularly here, she's on top. Bjork has completely solidified herself as the most talented musician of our time with this album. It's listenable and transcendent.
10. Justice—Cross

Singles

1. Justice—"D.A.N.C.E. "
Self-explanatory. Infectious, dance-able, amazing.
2. M.I.A.— "Jimmy (or XR2) "
See above.
3. Sean Kingston—"Beautiful Girls"
4. Devendra Banhart—"Lover"
If you've ever heard this, you know why it belongs. I was listening to the new Devendra and all of a sudden, out of no where, he turned into Marc Bolan. I don't know where it came from, but it's totally fantastic.
5. Flight of the Conchords—"If That's What You're Into"
6. LCD Soundsystem—"North American Scum"
7. Blitzen Trapper—"Wild Mountain Nation"
8. Menomena—"Muscle'n Flo"
9. Grizzly Bear—"He Hit Me (and It Felt Like a Kiss)"
Sublimely creepy. This was originally written about Little Eva's abuse by her boyfriend as a protest, but was seen as an endorsement for spousal abuse, strangely.
10. Wilco—"Hate It Here"

---

Isla Hansen
WBAR DJ

Albums
(and where we are when we listen)

1. Om—Pilgrimage
(A-Sleep in a dark dark forest)
2. Tomahawk—Anonymous
(away from home on the range, hangin' with Runs With Horses)
3. Mammatus—The Coast Explodes
(final battle: sea creatures vs. amps)
4. Radiohead—In Rainbows
(bubbles of meaningful memories in our bathtub)
5. Animal Collective—Strawberry Jam
(the backyard mini plastic pool turns into an ocean, we all go a-raftin' and a-venturin')
6. Battles—Mirrored
(workin' on the assembly line in a water pipe factory, pay day, on speed)
7. (The) Grails—Burning Off Impurities
(rolled up in an oriental rug in the forest, hiding from Om and Tomahawk)
8. M.I.A.—Kala
(checkin' out the world from one hoppin' hot air balloon)
9. Black Moth Super Rainbow—Falling Through a Field
(in our childhood closet playing with a tape recorder)
10. Jose Gonzalez—In Our Nature
(on our Argentine Grandpa's front porch in October)

---

Jamie Johns
WBAR DJ & Community Affairs/Bwog

1. Battles—Mirrored
Progressive (but not in a prog-rock sense, eww), mindblowing, experimental etc... I love this record more than I will probably ever love any children I give birth to.
2. Marnie Stern — In Advance of the Broken Arm
Marnie Stern sounds like Mick Barr if he stopped smoking a shitload of weed and started chugging red bulls. In short, she shreds. However, she takes this shredding and creates ballistic pop songs about Plato.
3. The Field — From Here We Go Sublime
4. Times New Viking — Present the Paisley Reich
These Ohioans brought back Siltbreeze Records, and also created a lo-fi, noise pop gem that evokes the best of the legendary label's back catalog. Mmmm.
5. No Age — Weirdo Rippers
6. Boris with Michio Kurihara — Rainbow
Also awesome: Boris with Merzbow — Rock Dream.
7. Magik Markers — Boss
I loved when lead singer Elisa Ambrogio mock-masturbated with her guitar but spooky drones and bad trips make this record a breakthrough for this former noise duo.
8. The Studio — West Coast/Yearbook 1
9. REISSUES: Pylon — Gyrate+, Young Marble Giants — Colossal Youth, Fire Engines — Hungry Beat
Post-punk is the greatest subgenre of music...ever.
10. Pissed Jeans — Hope for Men
A lot of people attempt to evoke the Jesus Lizard and fail. Pissed Jeans do not.

Records I will probably love next year when it is too late: Burial — Untrue, Robert Wyatt — Comicopera, Throbbing Gristle — Part Two: The Endless Not

Singles

1. Battles—"Atlas"
Incomprehensible lyrics, loops, exaggerated keyboard tones, a really high cymbal, all in a hall of mirrors — and people can mosh to it?
2. LCD Soundsystem—"All My Friends"
This song is a tear jerker.
3. Fucked Up—"Year of the Pig"
An 18 minute punk song based on the Chinese Zodiac but really about corruption
4. Grinderman—"No Pussy Blues"
I thought Nick Cave was the biggest tool ever until I heard this song.
5. Kathy Diamond—"All Woman"
Maurice Fulton, I thank you for this but please make another Mu record
6. Sian Alice Group—"Nightsong 7" "
A haunting 7" released on the Social Registry label
7. Von Sudenfed—"Flederamus Can't Get Enough"
Mark E. Smith + Mouse on Mars + transvestites
8. Deerhunter—"Strange Lights"
Let's forget the bro-job, the shit/porn blog etc...and remember the straight up Guided by Voices-esque goodness of this song
9. Bjork—"Declare Independence"
10. Panda Bear—"Take Pills"

---

Christian Kamongi
Bwog

1. Liars—Liars
2. P.J. Harvey—White Chalk
A haunting addition to Harvey's oeuvre of exquisitely painful biblical soundscapes.
3. Justice—Cross
No matter how much I've listened to these tracks their final packaging as an album represents a stunning amalgamation of masculinity, distortion, and Michael Jackson.
4. Calvin Harris—I Created Disco
Cheesy and repetitive? So what. The most fun I've had all year? No doubt.
5. New Young Pony Club—Fantastic Playroom
6. Von Sudenfed— Tromatic Reflexxions
7. Battles—Mirrored
We need a new definition for music.
8. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs— Is Is EP
It sounds like a jungle queen's vengeful oratorio.
9. Digitalism—Idealism
10. Simian Mobile Disco—Attack Decay Sustain, Release
Silliness and sexiness joined in holy matrimony.

---

Caitlin Lynch
WKCR Latin Music Department Head

Albums

1. Gui Boratto— Chromophobia
2. M.I.A. — Kala
3. Panda Bear— Person Pitch
4. The Field— From Here We Go Sublime
5. Studio— West Coast
6. Radiohead— In Rainbows
7. Justice— Cross
8. Kanye West—Graduation
9. Electrelane— No Shouts No Calls
10. Caribou— Andorra

Singles

1. Studio— "Out There"
2. Junior Boys— "In the Morning" (Hot Chip remix)
3. M.I.A.— "$20"
4. Panda Bear— "Bros."
5. The Field— "A Paw in my Face"
6. Cut Copy— "Hearts on Fire" (Joakim remix)
7. Klanguage— "All This Time" (Yuksek v. Invaders remix)
8. Electrelane— "To the East"
9. Devin the Dude ft. Snoop Dogg and Andre 3000— "What a Job"
10. Seabear— "Arms"

---

Andrew Martin
Former Spec A&E Editor

Albums

1. Panda Bear—Person Pitch
2. Wu-Tang Clan—8 Diagrams
Method Man isn't having any fun, and he's never sounded better.
3. Dinosaur Jr.—Beyond
J Mascis is God- this record melts indie pop.
4. Lil Wayne—Da Drought 3/ Assorted verses and tracks
All I want for Christmas is The Carter III.
5. The Black Lips—Los Valientes Del Mundo Nuevo
6. The National—Boxer
Slow burn of the year—seems overrated until you've heard it about 30 times.
7. Spoon—GaGaGaGaGa
8. Robert Pollard/GBV/The Takeovers—Coast to Coast Carpet of Love/Live in Austin/Crickets/Standard Gargoyle Decisions/Bad Football
9. Menomena—Friend or Foe
10. Holy Fuck—LP
Worst band name ever.

Singles

1. LCD Soundsystem—"All My Friends"
The "Stairway" or whatever stupid song you like of our generation.
2. Spoon—"The Underdog"
Official campaign song of Bob Martin for Senate '07 —pick it up Obama!
3. DJ Khaled feat. Akon, T.I., Rick Ross, Fat Joe, Birdman, and Lil Wayne—"We Takin' Over"
He is the beast—feed him rappers or feed him beats.
4. Against Me!—"New Wave"
5. The White Stripes—"Rag and Bones"
They're so cute!
6. Jay-Z and Nas—"Success"
The rivals unite- put it on your mixtape after "Ether" and have fun.
7. Black Lips—"Bad Kids"
8. Kanye West— "Can't Tell Me Nothin'"
Kanye takes a break from loving himself and releases it as a single.
9. MIA—"Paper Planes"
Best use of gunshot percussion since the glory days of Master P.
10. Devendra Banhart—"Seahorse"

---

Coleman Moore
Up in Ultra Records and KCR and BAR, active musician

Albums

1. M.I.A.—Kala
M.I.A. and Switch, with the help of a few others, combine rhythms from the American South, South Asia, South Beach, Africa, Detroit, and the Caribbean to produce some of the most original and shockingly effective dance music of 2007.
2. !!!—Myth Takes
3. Rich Boy—Rich Boy
The mediocre rhyming skills of Rich Boy are not important, because this album's producers, particularly Polow da Don and Brian Kidd, fuse various musical styles into a cohesive sound evoking the swamp, the tropics, and the gutter at once.
4. Jay-Z—American Gangster
5. 8 Ball and MJG—Ridin' High
Respectable southern underdogs fall short of their previous collection but come through with a record laced with aces, not without help from a list of excellent contributing MC's and producers.
6. Kanye West—Graduation
7. The Field—From Here We Go Sublime
8. Rihanna—Good Girl Gone Bad
9. Justice—Cross
While many of its tracks risk sounding kitschy after the novelty wears off, Justice' debut LP invents a whole new aesthetic for club music and forcefully gives the genre the "kick in the balls" that the French duo claim it needs.
10. UGK—Underground Kingz

Singles

1. R. Kelly feat. T.I. and T-Pain—"I'm A Flirt (Remix)"
Catchier and groovier than any other single of 2007 and includes possibly T.I.'s best verse of the year, despite his 18-track album.
2. Justin Timberlake—"What Goes Around..."
3. Rihanna feat. Jay-Z—"Umbrella"
So famous for some good reasons: gray-skied echo-drenched melody, fresh drum tracking, and the three (or four?) most quoted syllables of the year.
4. Beyonce—"Irreplaceable"
5. Timbaland feat. Nelly Furtado and Justin Timberlake—"Give It To Me"
6. Jay-Z—"Blue Magic"
7. Fabolous feat. Ne-Yo—"Make Me Better"
Fabolous ices the cake with swag and elegance, but the bread here is Ne-Yo's soulful hooks, spitting his chorus and verse in tight tandem with Timbaland's beat.
8. Justin Timberlake—"Summer Love" by
9. UGK feat. Outkast—"International Players' Anthem"
10. Rich Boy—"Boy Looka Here"

---

Alex Silva
WKCR DOE/Jazz programmer

Albums

1. Radiohead—In Rainbows
Of course.
2. Les Savy Fav— Let's Stay Friends
3. The Field— From Here We Go Sublime
4. M.I.A.— Kala
She's really, really hot.
5. LCD Soundsystem— Sound of Silver
I dance when James Murphy tells me to.
6. Deerhoof— Friend Opportunity
7. Battles— Mirrored
Get out your calculators.
8. Bad Plus— Prog
9. Miles Davis—The Complete On the Corner Sessions
10. Charles Mingus— Cornell 1964
This forgotten, excellent recording resurfaced this year and features Mingus' sextet in prime form just a few weeks before the Town Hall concert and Dolphy's sudden death.

Singles

1. R. Kelly vs. Broken Social Scene—"I'm a Flirt (Shoreline)" [TheHoodInternet]
2. The Twilight Sad—"And She Would Darken The Memory"
3. Flight of the Conchords—"Business Time"
4. Arcade Fire—"Keep the Car Running"
5. White Stripes—"Icky Thump"
6. Andrew Bird—"Heretics"
7. The Klaxons—"Golden Skans"
8. DJ Khaled feat. T.I., Akon, Rick Ross, Fat Joe, Birdman, and Lil Wayne—"We Takin' Over"
9. Animal Collective—"Peacebone"
10. The National—"Fake Empire"

---

Alex Symonds
Eye EIC

Albums

1. The National—Boxer
2. LCD Soundsystem—Sound of Silver
3. Radiohead—In Rainbows
4. Kanye West—Graduation
5. Patrick Wolf—The Magic Position
6. M.I.A.—Kala
7. Animal Collective—Strawberry Jam
8. El-P—I'll Sleep When You're Dead
9. Battles—Mirrored
10. The Field—From Here We Go Sublime

Honorary mentions: Feist's The Reminder, which was cute when it came out but just got so old so fucking fast. (Did you need to sell "1 2 3 4" to every retail chain, Leslie? Did you really?); Spoon's Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga; PJ Harvey's White Chalk; Eisley's Combinations; every album that every one of the below songs came from

Singles

1. Rihanna—"Umbrella"
If you disagree, you have no heart and no tolerance for the mainstream. Also, to paraphrase YLT, Rihanna is not afraid of you and she will beat your ass. Seriously, have you seen her thigh muscles?
2. Panda Bear—"Good Girl/Carrots"
3. Menomena—"Muscle 'n Flo"
4. Malcolm McLaren—"Love Will Keep Us Together/Tear Us Apart"
5. Ryan Adams—"Oh My God, Whatever, Etc."
6. Wilco—"Side With the Seeds"
7. Blonde Redhead—"23"
I put this on the mix I made for my retail job this summer. I discovered that the affluent soccer moms who shop at United Colors of Benetton are maybe not ready for Blonde Redhead.
8. Deerhoof—"Believe E.S.P."
It has enough attitude not to devolve into preciousness... thank goodness.
9. Bishop Allen—"Click, Click, Click, Click"
10. Seabear— "I Sing I Swim"
It's smart and sincere and basically begging to be "discovered" by whatever the Garden State of 2008 ends up being. Guess it's too late for Juno.

---

Lucy Tang
Bwog

Albums

1. Miracle Fortress—Five Roses
If Person Pitch hadn't been released this year, Five Roses would have received much more recognition. Oh well, never enough of a good thing.
2. Blonde Redhead— 23
So 23 is a bit derivative of the Cocteau Twins, but that comparison in itself is pretty high praise. It is also impossible to not fall in love with Kazu Makino after seeing Blonde Redhead live.
3. The Tough Alliance—A New Chance
The band name is such a misnomer. The songs are all absolute pop gems, all of them, really!
4. A-Trak—Dirty South Dance
The Girl Talk comparison is inevitable, like Night Ripper only with more recent top 40 hip hop (which makes it that much more fun).
5. Matthew Dear—Asa Breed
6. Liars— Liars
7. Panda Bear—Person Pitch
8. Menomena—Friend and Foe
9. Holy Fuck—LP
10. Jens Lekman— Night Falls Over Kortedala
Swoon!

Singles

1. LCD Soundsystem— "All My Friends"
If I were fifteen years old, listening to this song, I would have totally quoted the lyrics of this song in my AIM profile.
2. Rihanna feat. Jay-Z— "Umbrella"
3. Kanye West— "Stronger"
4. Fergie— "Glamorous"
"The flossy flossy" is an apposition for glamorous. Bonus points for mentioning Taco Bell.
5. Gwen Stefani feat. Akon— "The Sweet Escape"
6. The Teenagers— "Homecoming"
7. The Tough Alliance vs. Taken by Trees— Taken Too Young
8. Animal Collective— "Chores"
9. M.I.A.— "Paper Planes"

---

Jon Tanners
Producer/CEO Invent Horizons

Albums

1. CunninLynguists—Dirty Acres
Best Hip-Hop album in years. Rich, melodic production and deeply reflective lyrics give us a reminder that accompanying dances are not necessary for great music. What would happen if Outkast and Kanye's old beats had a child.
2. Nine Inch Nails—Year Zero
3. Jens Lekman—Night Falls Over Kortedala
Beautiful cut and paste pop album. Every second of music is shimmering. Lekman's lyrics are everyday without being boring. Simply put, a beautiful album.
4. Kanye West—Graduation
A bit of a spotty album, but the highlights are bigger and better than almost anything else this year.
5. Jay-Z—American Gangster
6. Justice—Cross
7. Pharoahe Monch—Desire
I like Lil Wayne, but Monch is the real best rapper alive.
8. Ghostface Killah—Big Doe Rehab
9. UGK—Underground Kingz
10. Supastition—Leave of Absence
The best rapper you've never heard of delivering a fiery nine-song EP. Focused, hard-hitting Hip-Hop.

Singles

1. UGK feat. Outkast—"Int'l Players (I Choose You)"
Even before Pimp C died this was the best song of the year. Proof that Outkast can
still rap, UGK are still the kings of the south, and the Three 6 Mafia is one hell of a production team.
2. Rihanna feat. Jay-Z—"Umbrella"
3. Kanye West—"Stronger"
4. Mark Ronson feat. Daniel Merriweather—"Stop Me"
Ronson tuns awhiney Smiths song into a polished, beautiful slice of neo-Motown soul.
5. Young Buck—"Get Buck"
The sound of the South punching the North in the face. Polow the Don's relentless marching band beat makes Young Buck sound like Godzilla.
6. DJ Khaled feat. Young Jeezy, Juelz Santana, Rick Ross, Fat Joe, Lil Wayne, Dre—"Brown Paper Bag"
7. Battles—"Atlas"
8. Master P—"Gutta Time"
9. Ghostface Killah feat. Beanie Sigel—"Barrel Brothers a.k.a. Tony Sigel"
Fight music.
10. Common ft. DJ Premier—"The Game"
Kanye's best beat of the year matched with an inspired performance from Common. A glimpse of Hip-Hop if the world had stopped turning in 1994.

---

Zach van Schouwen
Bwog/14th Street Busker

Albums

1. The National—Boxer
2. M.I.A.—Kala
Yummy terrorism hip-hop insanity.
3. Tokyo Police Club—A Lesson in Crime
4. Of Montreal—Hissing Fauna Are You The Destroyer?
5. Fountains of Wayne—Traffic and Weather
A dangerously underrated album by a band I don't usually like.
6. The Twilight Sad—Fourteen Autumns and Fifteen Winters
7. Okkervil River—The Stage Names
8. The Clientele—God Save The Clientele
9. The Shins—Wincing the Night Away
Overrated, underrated, whatever, it's another Shins album.
10. Kanye West—Graduation
C'mon, admit it, you love this.

Singles

1. Wyclef Jean—"Sweetest Girl (Dollar Bill)"
2. The National—"Apartment Story"
3. Emmy the Great—"Secret Circus"
London anti-folk that you'll wish you'd heard of in a year. You can still go to the shows for free on the Lower East Side.
4. Page France—"The Ruby Ring Man"
5. Immaculate Machine—"Dear Confessor"
6. M.I.A.—"Paper Planes"
It's the dumbest song on the album, but it's catchy...
7. St. Vincent—"Marry Me"
8. Consequence—"Don't Forget 'Em"
A great song from a lousy album, with fantastic Kanye production. Actually, there are a few good Kanye guest singles on here that make it worth listening to.
9. Fountains of Wayne—"Someone to Love"
10. Avril Lavigne—"Girlfriend"

---

Armin Rosen
Bwog/Spec Opinion/the L

Albums

1. Balkan Beatbox—Nu Med
How do describe BBB...are they acid-klezmer? Gypsy afropop? Middle-Eastern punk? I have no idea, and thanks to the Box's ability to channel Balkan, Jewish, Caribbean and Middle Eastern beats into an infectious and staggeringly original sound, I've been grasping for some catchy shorthand for the better part of the past year. Forget the genre distinctions--"best band/album of the year" should do.
2. Radiohead—In Rainbows
3. Jens Lekman—Night Falls Over Kortedala,
4. Oakley Hall— I'll Follow You
5. Jay-Z—American Gangster
6. The Black Lips— Good Bad Not Evil
As an acquaintance of mine once put this album on and started drinking as fast as he could. I think it's the best idea I've ever heard--see if you can quick six a pack of Natty before barroom brawler "Bad Kids" wraps up.
7. Arcade Fire—Neon Bible
8. Animal Collective—Strawberry Jam
9. Fiery Furnaces—Widow City
10. The Modern Lovers—The Modern Lovers
I know it's a copout to rank a reissue this high, but the return of this masterpiece of early-70s minimalism (starring Magnet Fields forerunner John Richman and future Talking Heads guitarist Jerry Harrison) definitely deserves some recognition.


Songs

1. A Sunny Day in Glasgow—"5:15 Train"
2. Feist—"1, 2, 3, 4"
It's too bad that this is probably going to go down as "that one song in that iPod commercial that everybody got really tired of." It should go down as a work of undeniable genius, if only because Feist has such an unreal singing voice. I'm also a huge fan of that banjo riff.
3. The Black Lips—"How Do You Tell a Child that Someone Has Died"
4. Balkan Beatbox—"Pachima"
If life were fair, this would have been the biggest dance track of 2007 instead of that one overrated song by Justice. Oh well. At least somebody's giving the best track from the best album of the year the respect it deserves.
5. Okkervil River—"Unless It's Kicks"
6. Elk City, New Believers—"Cherries in the Snow"
7. Lily Allen—"Shame for You"
8. Vampire Weekend—"The Kids Don't Stand a Chance"
Although I've never been much of a Vampire Weekend partisan, "Kids" is the one VW song that makes me think that the critics and rock nerds could be on to something. Patient and self-reflective, the VW's longest and most mature track is not as grating as "Walcott," or as pretentious as "Boston" or as infuriating as "Oxford Comma." If they keep moving in this direction, VW will do more than just stand a chance, even in a music scene where the hype cycle is getting shorter and shorter.
9. Bishop Allen —"The Chinatown Bus"
10. M.I.A.—"Paper Planes"