The bottom half of the Top Ten albums of 2007

Bird, Brock, Boeckner, Sheff and Tween all head up bands that round out the bottom the Top 10 of 2007.

Listen In. It's what's for dinner.

One of the most basic human instincts, aside from seeking warmth and food, is making lists. We love lists. For some reason, at about this time every year, we start to compiling the various bits of information we've consumed for the past 12 months into bitesize empirical documents, imbuing the subjects therein with an unmistakable historical weight. One day, history will look back that the following five albums and remark "Wow. These albums made the bottom half of ScooterD's year-end list." Take a look here to see how Eric Atienza squares up his 6-10. Eric's added 5-word responses to each of my album, and I've done the same for him (aren't we clever?)

Be sure to stop by Listen In all next week as we count down the top 5 albums of 2007 day by day.

6. Modest Mouse — We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank

All in all this album is admittedly all over the place. But what it lacks in cohesion it makes up for in providing a slew of excellent songs that show a definitive evolution for a band that just ten years ago released the monstrous and gritty Lonesome Crowded West. On We Were Dead, Modest Mouse have refined the buttery pop that ran rampant through its 2004 release, Good News for People Who Love Bad News, and have filtered it through some of the more recognizable elements that have defined its music over the years. The dancy "Fly Trapped In a Jar" bears resemblance to "I Came as Rat" in its windy guitar progression and hip-hoppish beats during the bridge; "Parting of the Sensory" reminds Mouse fans that Brock is quite the capable nihilist, as he repeatedly bellows "Some day you will die and somehow something's gonna steal your carbon," lyrical content that recalls a few of his other naturalistic treatises, like "Lives" and "Neverending Math Equation;" and the album's best tune, "Spitting Venom," takes listeners on a musical journey, that not unlike "The Stars are Projectors," last several invigorating movements. Add to all this the contributions of newest Mouse-keteer Johhny Marr and Shins frontman James Mercer, who's work is most impressive on the album's catchiest track, "Florida," and you have one 2007's best.

('Listen In' to "We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank" — Stream "Parting of the Sensory" at The Hype Machine. Myspace.)

Eric: Far superior to "Good News..."

Read my full review of this album from 02/20/07 here.

7. Okkervil River — The Stage Names

On The Stage Names, Okkervil River lead singer and songwriter Will Sheff is as expressive as ever and his knack for painting vivid (and sometimes uncomfortable) pictures is not lost here. He also continues to prove that he is one of the most literate and articulate songwriters of this age with excellent thematic songs like "Plus Ones" and album closer "John Allyn Smith Sails." On the former, Sheff adds one unit of measurement to several famous numbered song subjects (100 luftballoons, 8 Chinese brothers, 17 candles, etc. See a nice round up of all the allusions here.) In the latter, Sheff picks up where Hold Steady frontman Craig Finn left off last year by chronicling the last hours of famous American poet, the late John Berryman. Sheff closes out the album by telling the tragic story of the poet over a song that slowly merges into a reinterpretation of the Beach Boys' "Sloop John B." Not be forgotten is the album's opener, "Our Life is a Movie or Maybe," which rides a simple D-G-D chord progression until the chorus, where hums and hoos recall 70's Meatloaf among other influences. Overall, an excellent effort, and the second (or third depending on your taste) in a row from this Austin band.

('Listen In' to "The Stage Names" — Stream our "Our Life is a Movie..." at The Hype Machine. Myspace.)

Eric: Good album. Wears out easily.

8. Handsome Furs — Plague Park

Plague Park is an album defined by mechanical metaphor. The hollow nature of the "Modern World," about which Fur frontman Dan Boeckner lamented on Wolf Parade's debut LP in 2005, is the centerpiece for Plague Park — a place where human hearts risk being diminished by the layers of steel and smoke that stand between them. It's depressing post-industrial paranoia, but the urgency and clarity of Boeckner's futuristic manifestations — not to mention the album's myriad catchy hooks that are soaked in optimism — serve to remind us that dystopias are avoidable. Boeckner's solid songwriting here also serves to distance him from his Wolf Parade partner in crime, the oft-heralded (and deservedly so) Spencer Krug, who may also make an appearance on this list a few spots up. Boeckner's style is less mythological and more immediate and relatable than Krug's, and this album makes it clear that the slick grooves that make Apologies to the Queen Mary so delightful were likely manifestations of Boeckner's pop sensibilities.

('Listen In' to Plague Park — Stream "What We Had" at The Hype Machine. Myspace)

Eric: All too hit or miss.

Read my full review of this album from 05/21/07 here.

9. Andrew Bird — Armchair Apocrypha

With 2007's Armchair Apocrypha, singer/songwriter/violinist/xylophonist/whistlin' fool Andrew Bird reassured those of us who instantly fell in love with his delightful 2005 release, The Mysterious Production of Eggs, that the Bird-man was the real deal. Armchair features the same quirky/clever, scientifically-minded lyrics that Bird became well-known for after Eggs, but on this release, he drops (mostly) the "pluck pluck loop" approach he employed on his last album for far more spacious arrangements This evolved sound is due in part to Martin Dosh, Bird's long-time tour collaborator/drummer, who joined him in the studio for this record. Backed up by Dosh's soothing liquid keys and excellent drumming, Bird leans on his guitar more than ever before as the backbone behind many of Armchair's songs. Armchair's lacks a "Fake Palindromes" ("Heretics" comes close), but it makes up in coherence what it lacks in pop immediacy.

('Listen In' to Armchair Apocrypha — Stream "Fiery Crash at The Hype Machine. MySpace.)

Eric: "So damned apropos, I dunno..."

10. The Forms — The Forms

Their truncated, three song set at a rainy, late summer show at the South Street Seaport (where they opened for The National), inspired me to check out their sophomore LP, which is self-titled. Produced by Steve Albine (who pushed the knobs for Nirvana in the 90s), The Forms is an exercise in concision. Coming in at just over 30 minutes, the album has all the elements of a classic — anthemic hooks, seamless transitions and consistent energy. But The Forms, for as sweet as the buildup is, never quite climaxes, and leaves the listener's desire for closure unrequited. That being said, in the star-studded quilt of the 2007 music scene, The Forms occupy a firm place, nonetheless. Expect a lot more from them in the future.

('Listen In' to The Forms — Stream "Knowledge in Hand" and "Bones" at The Hype Machine. MySpace.)

Eric: Bet they love Jeremy Enigk.

© ScooterDMan 2007 for LISTEN IN. Some rights reserved.

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	Year in Review: Top Ten Albums of 2007, 6-10	Eric Atienza	Fri Dec 7	9
	2007 Year-End Gamevine Review Round-Up	Russ R.	Sun Dec 9	10
	Reel Minis: Secrecy, Iranimation, Teen Pregnancy, Revenge and Ferrets	Brian Ford	Fri Dec 7	19