"I think they're doing this to demonstrate that Americans have poor taste."

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It’s always odd to revisit what you’ve reviewed over the course of a year. Sometimes, much can change – as after subsequent listenings, you realize that record you thought was pretty decent just blows (see The Killers’ Sam’s Town) or you come to love an album that you’d previously dismissed as mediocre (see “Into the Wild” soundtrack). The true test of a “best release of the year” is its stability, so I’ve tried to pick “long-haul” contenders—albums I’ll go to for months (or even years) to come, with no requirement for a set amount of finalists. Here’s what made the cut...

TOP ALBUMS:

• LCD Soundsystem: Sound of Silver (this one sits significantly higher than the rest)
• Interpol: Our Love to Admire
• The Shins: Wincing the Night Away
• Eddie Vedder: "Into the Wild" soundtrack
• Minus the Bear: Planet of Ice
• Aqueduct: Or Give Me Death

And, topping the list of what sadly wasn’t as good as I expected:
Modest Mouse: We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank

I’ll leave it at that. I can hardly fathom how disappointed I was by that output (mixing the quirky fire of Modest Mouse with legendary jangler Johnny Marr? How did it fall so flat?).

TOP NORTHWEST ALBUMS:

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2007 has been a frustrating year for me. I've so wanted to latch on to some awesome band or album and feel just kinda 'eh' about everything. I have higher hopes for 2008.

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at The Showbox

Throughout Klaxons set (and Mystery Jets’ before them), the mob at the front of the stage danced the evening away as though it were Manchester in 1988.

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