Every fall, Paste’s staff piles into the conference room to hash out our favorite records of the year. Feelings get hurt. One staffer’s favorite record is inevitably the bane of another’s existence. Most come ready to champion a 
personal darkhorse and see how far they can spur it up the chart. People raise their voices and gesticulate nervously. Hours go by. Pizzas are purchased. Feelings get hurt some more. And eventually the releases are ranked. We now humbly present you with the fruits of our fighting.
But first, a state of the union from the venerable Geoffrey Himes...
It bothers me that Sam Baker’s Pretty World is my favorite album of the year. Not because it’s anything less than an amazing record. No, what bothers me is that Baker’s music has been heard by so few that it’s hard to have a conversation about it. Of course, it’s not your fault that you haven’t heard this selfreleased, poorly distributed gem any more than it’s my fault that I haven’t heard the obscure disc that’s your favorite album of the year.
This is the inevitable result of the music business’s ongoing decentralization. More and more of us are obsessed with our own private discoveries, and fewer and fewer of us connect with the shared experience that puts the “pop” in pop music. Much has been gained by the withering of music monopolies and the democratization of recording, but something has been lost, too.
On one hand, the collapse of the old paradigm—where a few record companies determined what got recorded and what got heard—means that it’s easier for a Texas construction worker to make his own record and for me to stumble across it along some forgotten byway of the Internet. It’s easier for you to discover a Cleveland skatepunk band on MySpace or a bootleg burn of a new rapper from Baltimore.
On the other hand, there was a distinct pleasure in sharing the same music—whether it was Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Prince or Nirvana—at the same time with millions of other people. That’s a pleasure that DIY recording, long-tail marketing and cyber-word-of-mouth hasn’t been able to replicate.
Baby-boomers like to claim that pop music was better in the ’60s than it was before or since. After 40 years of reviewing records for a living, I would argue that there is more or less the same amount of great music in any given year. The only thing different about the ’60s was that more of that great music was prominent on radio, television and the charts. What has changed, in other words, is not the quantity of terrific music but rather its visibility. And today, as a panicky music industry tries to defend the fortress crumbling around it by making ever more conservative choices, the most interesting music is often (though not always) pushed to the margins while the least interesting is set under the spotlight.
Sure, it’s good news that the margins have grown so broad and fertile, but we also need a strong center we can share. Somewhere out there in some dorm room or suburban bungalow or cramped apartment is the person who’s going to figure out how to rebuild that center in this decentralized environment. And that person is going to change the course of pop music forever.
Geoffrey Himes is a Paste senior contributing editor.
Next Page: Paste's Top 100 albums of 2007
TOP 100 ALBUMS OF 2007] [STAFF PICk [WRITER PICk
1. The National - Boxer2. Arcade Fire - Neon Bible3. Bruce Springsteen - Magic4. The White Stripes - Icky Thump5. Feist - The Reminder6. M.I.A. - Kala7. Wilco - Sky Blue Sky8. Modest Mouse - We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank9. Band of Horses - Cease to Begin10. Iron & Wine - The Shepherd's Dog11. Radiohead - In Rainbows12. Avett Brothers - Emotionalism13. Amy Winehouse - Back to Black14. Loney, Dear - Loney, Noir15. Kanye West - Graduation16. Ryan Adams - Easy Tiger17. Josh Ritter - The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter18. Miranda Lambert - Crazy Ex-Girlfriend19. Ted Leo & the Pharmacists - Living with the Living20. Blonde Redhead - 2321. Jens Lekman - Night Falls Over Kortedala22. LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver23. Black Lips - Good Bad Not Evil24. Patty Griffin - Children Running Through25. Over The Rhine - The Trumpet Child26. The Shins - Wincing the Night Away27. Derek Webb - The Ringing Bell28. Mary Gauthier - Between Daylight and Dark29. Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga30. Björk - Volta31. Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?32. Andrew Bird - Armchair Apocrypha33. PJ Harvey - White Chalk34. Bright Eyes - Cassadaga35. Peter Bjorn & John - Writer's Block36. Joe Henry - Civilians37. Eleni Mandell - The Miracle Of Five38. Olof Arnalds - Vid Og Vid39. The Perishers - Victorious40. Damien Dempsey - To Hell Or Barbados41. Brandi Carlile - The Story42. Lifesavas - Gutterfly43. The Everybodyfields - Nothing Is Okay44. Norah Jones - Not Too Late45. Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings - 100 Days, 100 Nights46. Justice - †47. Linda Thompson - Versatile Heart48. The Weakerthans - Reunion Tour49. Carolina Chocolate Drops - Dona Got A Ramblin’ Mind50. Battles - Mirrored51. The Frames - The Cost52. Thurston Moore - Trees Outside the Academy53. Fionn Regan - The End Of History54. Broken Social Scene Presents: Kevin Drew - Spirit If...55. Sunset Rubdown - Random Spirit Lover56. Kate Nash - Made of Bricks57. The Clientele - God Save The Clientele58. Romantica - America59. Imperial Teen - The Hair The TV The Baby & The Band60. The Broken West - I Can't Go On I'll Go On61. Prince - Planet Earth62. Joseph Arthur - Let's Just Be63. Explosions In The Sky - All Of A Sudden I Miss Everyone64. Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam65. Caribou - Andorra66. Apples In Stereo - New Magnetic Wonder67. St. Vincent - Marry Me68. Office - A Night At The Ritz69. Bat For Lashes - Fur & Gold70. Ween - La Cucaracha71. Josh Rouse - Country Mouse City House72. Bettye Lavette - Scene Of The Crime73. Warm In The Wake - American Prehistoric74. Beirut - The Flying Club Cup75. Great Lake Swimmers - Ongiara76. Okkervil River - The Stage Names77. Jeremy Fisher - Goodbye Blue Monday78. The New Pornographers - Challengers79. Deerhoof - Friend Opportunity80. Akron/Family - Love Is Simple81. Art Brut - It's A Bit Complicated82. Dan Deacon - Spiderman of the Rings83. Deerhunter - Cryptograms84. Liars - Liars85. Menomena - Friend and Foe86. Ruthie Foster - The Phenomenal Ruthie Foster87. White Rabbits – Fort Nightly88. Do Make Say Think - You, You're A History In Rust89. Anat Cohen - Noir90. Devendra Banhart - Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon91. The Fratellis - Costello Music92. Jesse Sykes – Like, Love, Lust & the Open Halls of the Soul93. Lori McKenna - Unglamorous94. Suzanne Vega - Beauty & Crime95. The Good, The Bad & The Queen - The Good, The Bad & The Queen96. Arctic Monkeys - Favourite Worst Nightmare97. Marissa Nadler - Song III: Bird on the Water 98. Dinosaur Jr. - Beyond99. The Fiery Furnaces - Widow City100. Stars – In Our Bedroom After The War
personal darkhorse and see how far they can spur it up the chart. People raise their voices and gesticulate nervously. Hours go by. Pizzas are purchased. Feelings get hurt some more. And eventually the releases are ranked. We now humbly present you with the fruits of our fighting.But first, a state of the union from the venerable Geoffrey Himes...
It bothers me that Sam Baker’s Pretty World is my favorite album of the year. Not because it’s anything less than an amazing record. No, what bothers me is that Baker’s music has been heard by so few that it’s hard to have a conversation about it. Of course, it’s not your fault that you haven’t heard this selfreleased, poorly distributed gem any more than it’s my fault that I haven’t heard the obscure disc that’s your favorite album of the year.
This is the inevitable result of the music business’s ongoing decentralization. More and more of us are obsessed with our own private discoveries, and fewer and fewer of us connect with the shared experience that puts the “pop” in pop music. Much has been gained by the withering of music monopolies and the democratization of recording, but something has been lost, too.
On one hand, the collapse of the old paradigm—where a few record companies determined what got recorded and what got heard—means that it’s easier for a Texas construction worker to make his own record and for me to stumble across it along some forgotten byway of the Internet. It’s easier for you to discover a Cleveland skatepunk band on MySpace or a bootleg burn of a new rapper from Baltimore.
On the other hand, there was a distinct pleasure in sharing the same music—whether it was Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Prince or Nirvana—at the same time with millions of other people. That’s a pleasure that DIY recording, long-tail marketing and cyber-word-of-mouth hasn’t been able to replicate.
Baby-boomers like to claim that pop music was better in the ’60s than it was before or since. After 40 years of reviewing records for a living, I would argue that there is more or less the same amount of great music in any given year. The only thing different about the ’60s was that more of that great music was prominent on radio, television and the charts. What has changed, in other words, is not the quantity of terrific music but rather its visibility. And today, as a panicky music industry tries to defend the fortress crumbling around it by making ever more conservative choices, the most interesting music is often (though not always) pushed to the margins while the least interesting is set under the spotlight.
Sure, it’s good news that the margins have grown so broad and fertile, but we also need a strong center we can share. Somewhere out there in some dorm room or suburban bungalow or cramped apartment is the person who’s going to figure out how to rebuild that center in this decentralized environment. And that person is going to change the course of pop music forever.
Geoffrey Himes is a Paste senior contributing editor.
Next Page: Paste's Top 100 albums of 2007
TOP 100 ALBUMS OF 2007] [STAFF PICk [WRITER PICk
1. The National - Boxer2. Arcade Fire - Neon Bible3. Bruce Springsteen - Magic4. The White Stripes - Icky Thump5. Feist - The Reminder6. M.I.A. - Kala7. Wilco - Sky Blue Sky8. Modest Mouse - We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank9. Band of Horses - Cease to Begin10. Iron & Wine - The Shepherd's Dog11. Radiohead - In Rainbows12. Avett Brothers - Emotionalism13. Amy Winehouse - Back to Black14. Loney, Dear - Loney, Noir15. Kanye West - Graduation16. Ryan Adams - Easy Tiger17. Josh Ritter - The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter18. Miranda Lambert - Crazy Ex-Girlfriend19. Ted Leo & the Pharmacists - Living with the Living20. Blonde Redhead - 2321. Jens Lekman - Night Falls Over Kortedala22. LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver23. Black Lips - Good Bad Not Evil24. Patty Griffin - Children Running Through25. Over The Rhine - The Trumpet Child26. The Shins - Wincing the Night Away27. Derek Webb - The Ringing Bell28. Mary Gauthier - Between Daylight and Dark29. Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga30. Björk - Volta31. Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?32. Andrew Bird - Armchair Apocrypha33. PJ Harvey - White Chalk34. Bright Eyes - Cassadaga35. Peter Bjorn & John - Writer's Block36. Joe Henry - Civilians37. Eleni Mandell - The Miracle Of Five38. Olof Arnalds - Vid Og Vid39. The Perishers - Victorious40. Damien Dempsey - To Hell Or Barbados41. Brandi Carlile - The Story42. Lifesavas - Gutterfly43. The Everybodyfields - Nothing Is Okay44. Norah Jones - Not Too Late45. Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings - 100 Days, 100 Nights46. Justice - †47. Linda Thompson - Versatile Heart48. The Weakerthans - Reunion Tour49. Carolina Chocolate Drops - Dona Got A Ramblin’ Mind50. Battles - Mirrored51. The Frames - The Cost52. Thurston Moore - Trees Outside the Academy53. Fionn Regan - The End Of History54. Broken Social Scene Presents: Kevin Drew - Spirit If...55. Sunset Rubdown - Random Spirit Lover56. Kate Nash - Made of Bricks57. The Clientele - God Save The Clientele58. Romantica - America59. Imperial Teen - The Hair The TV The Baby & The Band60. The Broken West - I Can't Go On I'll Go On61. Prince - Planet Earth62. Joseph Arthur - Let's Just Be63. Explosions In The Sky - All Of A Sudden I Miss Everyone64. Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam65. Caribou - Andorra66. Apples In Stereo - New Magnetic Wonder67. St. Vincent - Marry Me68. Office - A Night At The Ritz69. Bat For Lashes - Fur & Gold70. Ween - La Cucaracha71. Josh Rouse - Country Mouse City House72. Bettye Lavette - Scene Of The Crime73. Warm In The Wake - American Prehistoric74. Beirut - The Flying Club Cup75. Great Lake Swimmers - Ongiara76. Okkervil River - The Stage Names77. Jeremy Fisher - Goodbye Blue Monday78. The New Pornographers - Challengers79. Deerhoof - Friend Opportunity80. Akron/Family - Love Is Simple81. Art Brut - It's A Bit Complicated82. Dan Deacon - Spiderman of the Rings83. Deerhunter - Cryptograms84. Liars - Liars85. Menomena - Friend and Foe86. Ruthie Foster - The Phenomenal Ruthie Foster87. White Rabbits – Fort Nightly88. Do Make Say Think - You, You're A History In Rust89. Anat Cohen - Noir90. Devendra Banhart - Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon91. The Fratellis - Costello Music92. Jesse Sykes – Like, Love, Lust & the Open Halls of the Soul93. Lori McKenna - Unglamorous94. Suzanne Vega - Beauty & Crime95. The Good, The Bad & The Queen - The Good, The Bad & The Queen96. Arctic Monkeys - Favourite Worst Nightmare97. Marissa Nadler - Song III: Bird on the Water 98. Dinosaur Jr. - Beyond99. The Fiery Furnaces - Widow City100. Stars – In Our Bedroom After The War
source:http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2007/11/signs-of-life-2007-best-music-1
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