hearsay

best albums 2007:

01. Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
[topo: #1, zoviet: #1, freed: #1] video
The fact that they somehow managed to meet the exceed the impossible expectations we had for them is commendable. That they are getting better in the process has us salivating for more. - topomodesto

02. Okkervil River - The Stage Names
[freed: #2, topo: #3, zoviet: #6] sample
As much a voice of Americana as they are of its efforts to redefine itself. Okkervil River are the musical equivelent of Quentin Tarantino, only if Quentin built on his influences rather than mimicking them with painstaking accuracy. - topomodesto

03. The National - Boxer
[zoviet: #4, freed: #4, topo: #5] sample
Matt Beringer’s dark and brooding mood finds hope in the soft lyrics and sweet melodies of their 4th full length, while retaining their edgy Brooklyn sound. - freed

04. Radiohead - In Rainbows
[zoviet: #5, freed: #5, topo: #9] video
They stopped pushing boundaries and just made a great record instead. - zoviet

05. Les Savy Fav - Let’s Stay Friends
[zoviet: #3, topo: #6, freed: #14] sample
Somehow more polished without losing one bit of edge. - zoviet

06. of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?
[topo: #2, freed: #6] sample
An honest expression of the self as villain - complete with put-downs and threats against the lovers that break our hearts - only to come back full circle with a happy ending. More genre-bending that they get credit for, and a strong counter argument to the anti-drug campaign. - topomodesto

07. Andrew Bird - Armchair Apocrypha
[freed: #3, topo: #10] sample
Lilting with the gentle melodies that Bird has become master of, this album is a full lineup of finely crafted pop. Lyrics read like the dialog of a Michel Gondry film. - freed

08. Handsome Furs - Plague Park
[topo: #4, freed: #11, zoviet: #12] sample
Nice tide-over until the next Wolf Parade album. I feel the parts (note my list’s omission of Sunset Rubdown) are less than the whole. - zoviet

09. Stars - In Our Bedroom After The War
[zoviet: #2] video
This took me a couple of listens to get into, but then I couldn’t stop. Perfect pop. - zoviet

10. (tie) The New Pornographers - Challengers
[topo: #7, freed: #12] sample
I was surprised that some longtime Pornographer fans didn’t take to Challengers. For me this was an incredibly well-crafted pop gem, and one that meshed the combination of individual talents in a far more cohesive way than previous efforts. - topomodesto

10. (tie) The Twilight Sad - Fourteen Autumns & Fifteen Winters
[zoviet: #7, topo: #12] sample
An impressive balance between sonic bombast and intricate melodies, woven together by James Graham’s thick Scottish howl. - zoviet

[2006 list]
individual lists in the comments