Whistler Singer Songwriter Agitator Remixer

nobody@vox.com(ydnar) — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 10:22:09 -0800

Distilling a batch of ten from a rough cut three times that size is a craft. Despite feelings of being unsuited for said craft, I humbly present my list of the ten best songs of 2007.

When initially making this list, Krissy asked if I was making a personal list or a critical list. Despite aforementioned ability to compile a reasonable cut of the latter, I made two lists. It turns out the intersection was actually pretty significant, even discounting remixes or covers. In the end I decided on the following rules: Song or source album must have been first released in 2007. For remixes and covers, the date of the derived song’s release is counted. It must have 4+ stars in my iTunes library and a pretty high listen count.

Surprises: The Streets, Bloc Party didn’t make the cut this year, despite heavy presence in last year’s top 10. No hip hop. No Air, M83, or Ratatat. No drum & bass. Hot Chip and Peter Bjorn and John barely got sliced out. Four songs are remixes, and every song has lyrics. Huge thanks to Xis, .tiff and the Toof for introducing me to most (if not all) of the songs on this list.

I’ll repurpose a tweet of a quote from Erika: each is a simple verse in a complex love story. For a lazy monday afternoon, sitting on the rug in the living room of my friend’s upper east side apartment, it seems framed correct. I have two goals today: write this post, and party. And I’m almost out of post.

Klaxons - Golden Skans
Cloud Cult - Take Your Medicine
Hellogoodbye - Here (In Your Arms) (CLASSIXX Remix)
The Bird And The Bee - Fucking Boyfriend
LCD Soundsystem - Someone Great
Digitalism - Pogo
LCD Soundsystem - New York I Love You But You’re Bringing Me Down
Thom Yorke - The Eraser (XXXChange_mix)
Klaxons - As Above, So Below (Justice Remix)
Midnight Juggernauts - Road To Recovery (Miami Horror remix)

Young Folks violates the “released in 2007” rule, but it makes the list as the bonus secret track 11 because of one night in October with my friend Elise in the middle of an epic flurry of rock shows around San Francisco. We were standing in line at Popscene to see Tokyo Police, the sounds of Peter Bjorn and John were tumbling out of the door of 330 Ritch when a dozen-odd hipsters around us started nodding their heads and whistling along.

Peter Bjorn and John - Young Folks

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