via//chicago

2007 Year in Review V: The Albums (part 1)
After a short break for the holidays, I'm back and ready to reveal my favorite 100 albums of the year. To be honest, I also needed a little extra time to reconfigure my list after a couple late year surprises made me sit up and take notice (most significantly, I'm looking at you Lupe...). I think this year I heard more albums than ever before, it was surprisingly difficult to narrow it down to my top 100. But, as flooded as I was with good to great albums, there were very few that completely knocked my socks off and threw me for a loop. There were a few fun surprises though and a lot of music that I think I will be returning to quite often over the next several years. I'll start with albums 100-81 and update with more in the days to follow.

100. Blonde Redhead - 23 (4AD)
Blonde Redhead continues their evolution from Sonic Youth noiseniks to lush, lovely shoegazers.
Recommended tracks: "23", "Spring and By Summer Fall"

99. The Dillinger Escape Plan - Ire Works (Relapse)
These schizo-metal crazies toss even more curveballs into their sonic stew, including some (gasp!) pop gems.
Recommended tracks: "Black Bubblegum", "Dead As History"

98. El-P - I'll Sleep When You're Dead (Def Jux)
Underground uber-producer gets back on the other side of the mic, rocking 13 tracks of twisted, sci-fi paranoia.
Recommended tracks: "Smithereens (Stop Cryin')", "Flyentology"

97. Shooter Jennings - The Wolf (Universal South)
Waylon's kid comes back with his third and best album yet, polishing up his tales of love and loss without losing those rough edges that keep him well off Nashville's radar.
Recommended tracks: "Tangled Up Roses", "Slow Train"

96. King Khan & The Shrines - What Is?! (Hazelwood/Revolver)
The crazy prolific King Khan strikes back with his Shrines, giving you more of that classic garage rock that you've been aching for.
Recommended tracks: "Welfare Bread", "In Your Grave"

95. The White Stripes - Icky Thump (Warner Bros)
I think this seals it - Jack and Meg are simply incapable of releasing a bad album. This may not be as immediately likable as some of their earlier outings, but still very good.
Recommended tracks: "300 M.P.H. Torrential Outpour Blues", "Conquest"

94. Akron/Family - Love is Simple (Young God)
A lot of Akron fans may hate me for saying it, but these guys are my favorite hippie jam band going right now.
Recommended tracks: "Ed is a Portal", "Lake Song/New Ceremonial Music For Moms"

93. Babyshambles - Shotter's Nation (Astralwerks)
While the rolling Pete Doherty trainwreck sideshow continues to roll on, the man somehow manages to release music that validates his fame.
Recommended tracks: "French Dog Blues", "Carry On Up the Morning"

92. Andrew Bird - Armchair Apocrypha (Fat Possum)
This criminally overlooked Chicago multi-instrumentalist churns out another in his ongoing series of fantastic albums.
Recommended tracks: "Fiery Crash", "Dark Matter"

91. Circus Devils - Sgt. Disco (Ipecac)
The first of several releases from one Robert Pollard that will appear, this finds one of his weirder side-projects releasing its most cohesive work yet.
Recommended tracks: "In Madonna's Gazebo", "Summer is Set"

90. Minsk - The Ritual Fires of Abandonment (Relapse)
A delirious album's worth of psychedelic-doom metal from this Chicago band, one of the heaviest trips of the year.
Recommended tracks: "Mescaline Sunrise", "The Orphans of Piety"

89. Prinzhorn Dance School - Prinzhorn Dance School (Astralwerks)
Obvious Mark E. Smith influence aside, these Brits are a refreshing addition to the usually dance-heavy DFA roster.
Recommended tracks: "You Are the Space Invader", "Do You Know Your Butcher"

88. Wolves in the Throne Room - Two Hunters (Southern Lord)
Easily the most haunting, spookiest album I've heard all year - dark and dense ambient black metal that sounds as if it were literally recorded in the depths of a haunted forest.
Recommended tracks: "Dia Artio", "I Will Lay Down My Bones Among the Rocks and Stones"

87. Feist - The Reminder (Cherry Tree)
Even though we're all sick of "1, 2, 3, 4" by now (thanks Apple!), this is still a great album by a woman finally gathering all the acclaim she deserves.
Recommended tracks: "My Moon, My Man", "How My Heart Behaves"

86. Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga (Merge)
One of the most exciting and consistent indie rock bands today drops another stellar record. But maybe not quite as good as others may tell you.
Recommended tracks: "You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb", "The Underdog"

85. Neil Young - Chrome Dreams II (Reprise)
Good ol' Neil drops another near classic, this time resurrecting the idea for an unreleased 1977 album and filling it with gems from the past several decades.
Recommended tracks: "Ordinary People", "Spirit Road"

84. Ted Leo & The Pharmacists - Living with the Living (Touch & Go)
The hard-rocking and hard-touring Ted Leo takes a break from the road to give us one of the most lively protest records of the year.
Recommended tracks: "La Costa Brava", "The Sons of Cain"

83. Thurston Moore - Trees Outside the Academy (Ecstatic Peace)
Sonic Youth's resident noise-expert drops his first solo effort in over a decade. The surprising? It's chock full of graceful acoustic guitars. The expected? It's chock full of excellent guitar playing, and its awesome.
Recommended tracks: "The Shape is in a Trance", "Silver>Blue"

82. Klaxons - Myths of the Near Future (Geffen)
Don't buy into whatever nu-rave malarkey the British press is trying to sell you on, this is just plain old good music that borrows equally from rock and dance.
Recommended tracks: "Golden Skans", "Atlantis to Interzone"

81. UGK - Underground Kingz (Jive)
The underground legends finally get some mainstream love for this sprawling opus, unfortunately we lose Pimp C just a few short months later. R.I.P.
Recommended tracks: "Int'l Players Anthem (I Choose You)", "Quit Hatin' the South"