Ooohh-eeee. As the world prepares anxiously for its first year without Anna Nicole Smith since 1967, we thought we would take a quick look back at some of the top records of '07. We sent out a general call to some of our favorite local bands, DJs and writers to send in their lists of the Top 5 albums of the year along with a few brief notes on each. Some were brief, some were long, some count up, some count down, and one list of 5 actually has 12. We've kept the formatting as true to each individual's response as possible. Here's what we got:

Tyler Fedchuk (1/2 Alive, Radio Zero)

Here's my "Top Five" favorite albums 2007 (no order)

Midnight Juggernauts - Dystopia
The Tough Alliance - A New Chance
Muscles - Guns Babes Lemonade
Coconut Records - Nighttiming
Numéro# - L'Idéologie Des Stars

Favorite Songs of the 2007 (exact order):

1. Spoon - The Underdog
2. Black Kids - I'm Not Going To Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You
3. Coconut Records - Nighttiming
4. Coconut Records - West Coast
5. Tough Alliance - New Chance

CRB’s (ChalkedUp.com staff writer, all-round handsome devil) 2007 TOP FIVE ALBUMS:

1) BLACK LIPS – Los Valientes Del Mondo Nuevo / Good Bad Not Evil

Black Lips are the band of 2007 and shitbags of the decade, and that’s final. If there were any justice in the world these guys would be as big as the Stones in ’69, pre-Altamont. There’s 300 other reasons these guys are the best thing in music right now, but releasing two albums of swaggering, irreverently combustible rhythm and psych punk blues rock and roll-a-roll-a-roll in one face-melting year is enough to shoo them to the top here, as far as I’m concerned.

2) JAMIE T – Panic Prevention

Nothing else sounded like Panic Prevention this year and nothing might ever sound like it again. If this was the NME you were reading right now I’d probably make up a genre tag along the lines of GRIME-GARAGE-RAVE-PUNK, but instead I’ll say something less hyperbolic about walking through downtown London with kaleidoscope glasses on, a head full of MDMA, a flask full of gin, ten ‘mates’, and a way in the back door at the best party in town. What?

PS. – There’s absolutely nothing rave-y about this. Just like everything else that got called ‘rave’ this year.

3) CHEESEBURGER – Cheeseburger

“I woke up feeling funny this morning / You know baby just what I gotta do / Go outside and take a drink out of the gutter / Ain’t it fuckin’ cute?” Sure, cute like crawling through the broken glass on a sticky barroom floor. “Tiger” is probably the best song of the year, but the whole thing is fucking magnificent; nothing but one guitar, some drums, and joyously howled stories of street-urchin depravity.

4) JAY REATARD – Night of Broken Glass EP

This thing is only four songs long and a minute short of a dime, but thbhtbhth… Reatard should go visit high schools and give lectures on how to best utilize adolescent ADHD: get a four-track and some buds and bang out song after song after song of searing garage punk with lyrics revolving around how big of a piece of shit you are until you get a record deal big enough to pay for tomorrow’s beers, today.

5) CHROMATICS – Night Drive

Dark, moody, beautiful, and has nothing in common with anything else on this list.

Dave of Japandroids

#1 - CHET - FIGHT AGAINST DARKNESS

This came out sometime near the start of the year and I'm still
listening to it lots and lots and lots. Beautiful songwriting and
singing. "The Shepherd" is my favourite song of the year...

#2 - GHOST HOUSE - DEPARTURES

Ghost House is my favourite local band hands down. Departures actually
came out in 2006, but it's the album I listened to the most this year.

Awesome album start to finish...

#3 - THE NOISETTES - WHAT'S THE TIME MR. WOLF?

I normally don't like wank-rock but I really, really like this record...

#4 - THE GHOST IS DANCING - THE DARKEST SPARK

This is a pretty straight forward pop album, but the songs are super catchy...

#5 - AESOP ROCK - NONE SHALL PASS

I've been walking around town playing this really loud in my
headphones quite a bit over the last while... This is an awesome
headphones album...

MY!GAY!HUSBAND! (1/2 Alive, ) FAVE MUSIC - 2007

Magnolia Electric Co. - Sojourner Box Set
Black kids - Wizards of Ahhhs
Glass Candy - B/E/A/T/B/O/X/
Coconut Records - Night Timing
Hot Rod - Original Movie Soundtrack

honorablllllleeee mentions

Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation (Deluxe remastered edition)

The Tough Alliance - The New School(Summer Lovers Unlimited Edition)
(Is this 2007? Doug (Summer Lovers) just gave it to me on Friday. Says copyrighted 2005 but he says its new and has songs and videos I have never seen on the disc...)

Brian of Japandroids

#1 - TURBONEGRO - RETOX

As a band, releasing a record the same year that turbonegro releases a record is kind of a bummer because you know right away that your record isn't the best record of the year and won't be #1 on anyone's year-end "best-of" list.

#2 - 3 INCHES OF BLOOD - FIRE UP THE BLADES

I don't listen to guitar music myself, but if i did, i would listen to this.

#3 - EXPLOSIONS IN THE SKY - ALL OF A SUDDEN I MISS EVERYONE

I was in New York City for a couple of weeks this year and I only listened to 2 records the entire time. This, and Illmatic by Nas. I wanted to go see Nas at Plush in October, but he was charging a million dollars per ticket. And rightfully so! But it meant I couldn't afford to go. Bummer. Anyway, Illmatic rules and if this is news, there is something wrong with you! This record by explosions in the sky is pretty good too.

#4 - FUTURE OF THE LEFT - CURSES!

Mclusky were rad.

#5 - BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN - MAGIC

Let's be honest - even the worst Springsteen record is better than pretty much every other non-Springsteen record, so it doesn't even really matter what this sounds like, it wins.
I mean, Springsteen could release his home demos and it would still be...WAIT A MINUTE - HE ALREADY DID THAT - IT IS CALLED NEBRASKA AND IT IS A FUCKING MASTERPIECE. see what I mean?

The first song I ever heard from this record is called 'girls in their summer clothes'. You know that feeling you get when summer rolls around and girls start wearing their summer clothes and everwhere you look you're like 'god damn' - boys, you know what I'm talking about. Well Bruce turned that feeling into a song, and he NAILED IT. I'm sweating just thinking about listening to that song, and it is December! In the same song, he says 'she cuts me like a knife'. HOW KOOL IS THAT!? A shout out to Adams! Our hometown hero! No wonder they call him the boss.

For more song by song commentary on this, or any other Springsteen record, please email me at japandroids@gmail.com with the subject line: BRIAN ROCKS

Quinn Omori (From Blown Speakers, ChalkedUp.com regular)

1. LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver

This might not endure me to some people, but Sound of Silver is the first dance record since Trans-Europe Express that I'd even consider calling "classic."

2. MIA - Kala

Two words: "Paper Planes." If you can resist throwing your gun finger in the air during the chorus of the year's best single, you might want to check if you're alive or not.

3. Handsome Furs - Plague Park

The consensus seems to be that Spencer Krug is the more "intelligent" songwriter in Wolf Parade. I don't know if that makes Dan Boecker the "stupid" one, but I do know that I'll take his heavy hearted anthems over Krug's literary tunes any day. To cop a line from Ghostface, "this is for all y'all smart dumb cats out there."

4. Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam

Like the Beach Boys on acid... more acid... more bad acid... and so good.

5. Radiohead - In Rainbows

It's not the best Radiohead record, but it might be the third best Radiohead record, and that's better than pretty much any other record, period. Oh, and in case you forgot, they let your broke ass cop it for free.

Saelan Twerdy (Music Editor, Color Magazine)

1. Vampire Weekend - s/t / Black Mountain - in the future

Okay, these really shouldn't count, since neither of them is out til January '08, but they've both leaked and they were the best two albums I heard this year. Vampire Weekend's pop is the freshest and most well-assembled I've heard since the Strokes blew up, so I hope that overenthusiastic press doesn't drown them before they have a chance to get going. I doubt it, though -- they've got more smarts and substance than a barrel of Arctic Monkeys.

And if you've heard In the Future, I don't think you'll need any justification for my putting it at the top spot. It's the smoke-machine, laser-light-show juggernaut that's going to make Black Mountain legends, if not household names. A true landmark for Vancouver music.

2. Panda Bear - person pitch

Noah Lennox's sun-kissed sophomore solo didn't disappoint. Far better than this year's (or last year's) Animal Collective album, and that's saying something.

3. White Magic - dark stars

I almost gave this spot to No Age, but I think I actually enjoyed this White Magic EP more. Four more songs of haunting genius from one of the most enduringly excellent art-folk groups of the decade. I think Mira Bilotte and Doug Shaw's combination of earthy and ethereal, avant-garde and traditional is only getting better, and this little gem proves that they work best in compact doses.

4. Lee Perry & the upsetters - ape-ology / V/A: Brazil 70 - After Tropicalia: New Directions in Brazilian Music

Another tie, because these are both reissues. The first is one of my all-time favourite albums (and arguably the greatest dub reggae album of all time), Lee Perry's Super Ape, reissued along with not one but TWO contemporaneous albums (Return of the Super Ape and Roast Fish, Collie Weed, and Corn Bread) after being difficult to find for years. A godsend. The other is the second volume of Soul Jazz's unfuckwithable Tropicalia compilation, documenting the birth of the MPB genre (Musica Popular Brasileira) in the wake of a military-government crackdown on free expression. Gorgeous, freewheeling music, with a much more esoteric selection than the first volume.

5. No Gold live

Finally, a young Vancouver band that's actually doing something fresh and new. These guys feel like the start of a whole new scene in Vancouver. I can't wait til they actually put out an album so I can bathe in their positive vibes on a regular basis.

Nardwuar The Human Serviette (www.nardwuar.com)

1. "Ugly Things" # 25

(Best Fanzine ever to continually document the unknown heros of 60s-80s Punk Rock)

2. http://youtube.com/watch?v=dgs61lyrd2E

(The Sonics playing Psycho at Cavestomp 2007)

3. garagehangover.com Music Blog

4. All Your Ears Can Hear" Book and Double CD

(Amazing comp of Victoria, BC Punk Rock 1978-1984)

5. Pointed Sticks "My Japanese Fan" 7inch

(The Best Band Ever from Vancouver returns after 25 years returns with a killer single!)

Matt Owchar (ChalkedUp.com)

2007 was the year of the single, therefore a list of my favorite singles most accurately represents the year in music for me. There weren't that many albums that I really listened to (or enjoyed) all the way through, so here's a list of my 20 best singles of '07. It's not in any particular order of importance, because these songs were all equally great to me in some way or another.

1. Dragonette - "I Get Around (Midnight Juggernauts Remix)"

Dragonette are an absolutely terrible and derivative band from Toronto, but this is their one redeeming moment (and it's not even really theirs). Australian band Midnight Juggernauts added a playful spin to this track, livening its pop sensibilities for the Kitsune Maison 4 compilation.

2. Chromatics - "Running Up That Hill"

More sentimental to me than anything else, although the girl it personally alludes to absolutely hates it because she thinks it doesn't do justice to Kate Bush.

3. Simian Mobile Disco - "I Believe"

I wrote off the SMD album upon first listen because I didn't really understand it, but in many ways it's superior to both the Justice & Digitalism albums. It might take a few listens, but this song is nothing short of amazing.

4. ZZT - "Lower State of Consciousness"

For electronic music, 2007 will no doubt be remembered as the year of the "banger". "Lower State" essentially takes the entire ethos of the "Water of Nazareth" dissonant sound and pushes it all the way to the brink of complete madness. It's musical masturbation in its most admirably pure state-- courtesy of Tiga & Zombie Nation. The Justice remix is pretty sweet too.

5. Battles - "Atlas"

I'd consider this song the math rock version of ZZT's "Lower States". Despite all the madness, there's an undeniable groove.

6. Tough Alliance - "25 Years and Runnin'"

This track came to us courtesy of Vancouver born label SLU. I'm not really sure how to classify TTA, but everything from Scandinavia seems to have a weird ethereal quality that instantly lures me in.

7. Sally Shapiro - "I Know"/"Hold Me So Tight"

More of that ethereal Scandinavian vibe, but wrapped in arpeggiated Italo beats. "Hold Me So Tight" sounds like it could be Orbital if they were Italians, and "I Know" just makes me wanna cry.

8. Sia - "Day Too Soon (Lifelike Remix)"

Lifelike has been KILLING it. Dude's got the Midas Touch or something. I don't know how to describe his sound other than French Groove. Lookout for the next wave of French Touch with this guy leading the pack. See also "So Electric".

9. M.I.A. - "Paper Planes (ft. Bun B. & Rich Boy)"

Did you really expect any list to exist without this on it? Revealed to the world via Diplo's Pitchfork/I Like Turtles mix (which is one of the best mixes of the year), this track's got The Clash, gun blasts, and Bun B. What more is there to life? It's certainly more than enough to make up for Rich Boy's turd of a verse.

10. UGK - "International Players Anthem"

A soulfully sweet track, and one of rap's only redeeming moments this past year. R.I.P. Pimp C.

11. LCD Soundsystem - "Someone Great"/"All My Friends"

What more can be said about these tracks? They just come straight from the heart and speak to the heart. I don't think there's a more definitive break-up song than "Someone Great". There also isn't a more apt remedy for lost love than "All My Friends".

12. Stars - "Take Me to the Riot"

Surprised to see that this song didn't make it on any lists I've seen. I first heard this song when Stars played it acoustically on CBC radio. I really love the melody in the chorus.

13. Escort - "All Through the Night"

This band is largely unknown, but they'll be at the forefront of the 2008 disco revival, rest assured. I think there's like 18 members in this band, and they all play in their live show. Somebody bring them here, stat!

14. Black Lips - "Bad Kids"

This song sums up me, my friends, and our collective selfish and immature behavior. Love you brosssssss!

15. Dude 'N Nem - "Watch My Feet"

This half-time Rap/Juke hybrid was the feel good hit of the year. Eff all that other "Chicago" shit... this is what's real.

16. Animal Collective - "Peacebone"

This song is goofy, but in a good way. Animal Collective are overrated, but I get a really good feeling when I listen to this song.

17. Daft Punk - "Around the World/Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger"

Including this in my top singles list isn't so much about how great this song is, but more about how 2007 is indelibly branded as the year Daft Punk blew it all wide open for me. If you disagree, then you were too poor, idiotic, or lame to see them on the Alive tour, and you'll never in a million years understand what it's like to be touched by god.

18. Armand Van Helden - "I Want Your Soul"

A return to form for the NYC House legend. Armand flips a Siedah Garrett sample into an electro powerhouse that encompasses everything great about the 80's without sounding like a lame attempt at nostalgia.

19. Brick & Lace - "Never Never (Switch Remix)"/Adam Sky vs. Mark Stewart - We Are All Prostitutes (Crookers Remix)"/Charlene Dance - "Mr. DJ" (Speaker Junk's Tarantula Remix)"

On the other end of the "banger" spectrum exists "Figdet House", a London born House hybrid of underground club music from all around the world. These were my three definitive songs of the "genre" by its three definitive producers.

20. Vampire Weekend - "A-Punk"

See? I listen to indie rock too.

James of Bison

#5 - 3 Inches of Blood, 'Fire Up The Blades' (roadrunner)

#4 - Akimbo, 'Navigating The Bronze' (alternative tentacles)

#3 - High On Fire, 'Death Is This Communion' (relapse)

#2 - Earthless, 'Rhythms From A Cosmic Sky' (teepee)

#1 - Municipal Waste, 'The Art Of Partying' (earache)

Sean Orr (Beyond Robson's "Morning Brew", ChalkedUp.com's "The Orr Report", vocalist for Taxes):

5. Liars- Liars.

Definitely not their most haunting, but they put a little rock back into the weird.

5. Benoit Pioulard-Precis.

Heart wrenching soundscapes with precise guitar work and understated vocals. Part shoegaze psych, part lost and found folk.

5. The Boggs- Forts.

Similar to Yeasayer but somehow missing the hype, Boggs are a rambling mess of indie tunes not unlike Broken Social Scene.

4. Citay- Little Kingdom.

I'm a sucker for jams. The record Stephen McBean didn't make this year.

4. Caribou- Andorra.

A melodic Krautrock adventure into the Iberian Alps in summer, with edelweiss tea, nettles, magic mushrooms, and some books on Arabia.

3. Marissa Nadler- Songs III: Bird on the Water.

She beats out St. Vincent, Lavender Diamond, and Jana Hunter for this year's indie princess.

3. Mum- Go go Smear the Poison Ivy.

New lineup and a new outlook. No longer moody European ambient glitch, they started doing lots of E and went camping all summer in the forest.

3. Panda Bear- Person Pitch.

Comfy in Nautica propels this lost Ariel Pink record to number 3. Fragments of a Sheltering Sky by Paul Bowles in the 20s, Paul Simon on acid, and of course Brian Wilson trying to remember the good times.

2. Deerhunter- Cryptograms.

The return of the full record. A story of growing up in the 90s with grunge and techno, of manic depression in the post 9/11 landscape, of bike rides to the lake in the seemingly simple 80s; the poetry of history, or the history of poetry.

2. Klaxons- Myth Takes of the Near Future.

Although branded Nu-Rave, this album is a complex post-electro clash, apocalyptic reinvention of dance rock. Winner of the Mercury Prize, I could hardly leave it out just because they have found success.

2. No Age- Weirdo Rippers.

Also probably the best live show of the
year, these two noise makers are the hottest shit not from Brooklyn.
Layers of feedback and drone intermingle with grunge bangers. See
Deerhunter, Indian Jewelry, This Heat.

1. Bison- Earthbound.

No contest. All others are left in their warpath of destruction; a smoking wreckage.

Honourable Mentions: Hudson Bell, Expo 70, Dragons of Zynth, and Yeasayer.

Cameron of Bella (Mint Records):

1. Travis - The Boy With No Name

This is one of the most beautiful "sensitive rock" albums I've heard in years and just proves what Coldplay could have been had they not gotten famous.

2. Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga

Amazing production, great songs and a brass section. Enough said.

3. The Brothers Martin - The Brothers Martin

The fateful collaboration between the brothers Martin that I've been waiting for since I learned the guys from Starflyer 59 and Joy Electric were brothers in the first place.

4. Starflyer 59 - Ghosts of the Future

One can never go wrong with an old school 7" vinyl mail order box set series, especially if it's done by Starflyer 59.

5. Joy Electric - The Otherly Opus/Memory of Alpha

Ronnie Martin, the man behind Joy Electric, is a fearless modern day pop genius that no one seems to know. This is another fine effort for him to add to his expansive catalog, and for me to add to my record collection.

So there you have it. It's only been half a year, and everyone has already forgotten about that Justice album (or at least tacitly admitted its overrated-ness by omitting it from all of their lists). To all of our readers and contributors (and Dannielynn) have a safe '08 and watch out for them tasers.

<p>Compiled by The ChalkedUp.<br /> A very special thanks to everybody who contributed.</p>