A year's record collection, reduced to some mix tapes: DiS's tracks of 2007

The clue’s up there, in the title. A load of words culled: these are our tracks of 2007, divided into sets of ten. (Click contributor names for profiles.)

Sean Adams

Panda Bear
‘Take Pills’ (review)

LCD Soundsystem
‘All My Friends’ (review)

The Field
'Silent'

Friendly Fires
'Paris' (review)

Deerhunter
'Cryptograms' (review)

These New Puritans
'Numbers' (review)

Arctic Monkeys
'505' (review)

Andrew Bird
'Dark Matter' (review)

Beirut
'Cliquot' (review)

Patrick Wolf
‘Stars’ (review)

2007 has been a year of synapse-snapping synth noises, tumbling drumming and strings which graze your heart, leaving it to marinate in a bloody pool. People might not look back on this year and instantly feel it was one of the greatest for music or culture, as there was so much going on, so many people having so many fragmented epiphanies, but I honestly believe some of the most powerful and inventive music since about 2001 has been bubbling and swirling far away from TV screens. It’s interesting that it’s those that mangle many of the dancier soundscapes, often in very blissed-out shoegaze ways, that have had the most resonance amongst the DiS boards and blogosphere. I dunno, maybe this is one of those years where no clear BIG ACT leaves space for people/the media room to focus on genuine quality and find things which connect with them personally, to allow them to define and redefine what it is they want and what they love. In turn this has fractured things increasingly, but that’s 2007 and until some big change, like, I dunno, DrownedinSound putting a radio show onto everyone’s Google, things aren’t going to change too dramatically.

Adam Anonymous

Oxbow
‘Down A Stair Backward’ (review)

Les Savy Fav
‘The Equestrian’ (review)

CocoRosie
‘Werewolf’ (review)

Clipse featuring Rosco P Coldchain
‘Chinese New Year’ (review)

Dizzee Rascal featuring UGK
‘Where’s Da G’s?’ (review)

Ted Leo And The Pharmacists
‘A Bottle Of Buckie’ (review)

El-P
‘EMG’ (review)

Future Of The Left
‘The Lord Hates A Coward’ (review)

The Dillinger Escape Plan
‘Milk Lizard’ (review)

The Mitchell Brothers featuring Franz Ferdinand
‘Slap My Face’ (review)

These tracks represent 2007 as an event; respectively: shame, bad dancing, ruining a girl’s summer, being about as gangsta as Gary Coleman (twice), drinking Buckfast with Ted ‘gentleman’ Leo, trains, angry friends, angrier non-friends, and surprise.

Chris Beanland

The Xcerts
‘Just Go Home’ (review)

Wheat
‘Move = Move’

Les Savy Fav
‘What Would Wolves Do’ (review)

Feist
‘1234’ (VanShe Tech Mix)

Hot Chip
‘My Piano’

Modest Mouse
‘We've Got Everything’ (review)

Dartz!
‘Prego Triangolos’ (review)

Foals
‘Hummer’ (review)

Sebastian
‘Ross Ross Ross’

Arcade Fire
‘Keep The Car Running’ (review)

Thomas Blatchford

Von Südenfed
‘Flooded’ (review)

Yelle
‘Je Veux Te Voir’

The Broken Family Band
‘Leaps’ (review)

DJ Scotch Egg
‘Scotch Hausen’

Deerhoof
‘The Perfect Me’ (review)

Pagan Wanderer Lu
‘The Black Death’

Los Campesinos!
‘The International Tweexcore Underground’ (review)

Misty’s Big Adventure
‘Home Made War’ (review)

The Noisettes
‘Sister Rosetta (Capture The Spirit)’ (review)

Tracy Is Hot & The Clap
‘Gordon Brown’

In this sort of situation my reaction is to assess how well the year has gone musically by judging the quality of stuff that hasn’t got into my top ten tracks, which makes this year pretty bloody great. Not only did I not have room for oft-reliable old favourites like Bearsuit, Super Furry Animals and Melt Banana, I’ve also not been able to squeeze in steamin’ new tracks from the likes of Afrikan Boy, Riot In Belgium and Dan Le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip. Still, I think this selection shows how extraordinary 2007 has been, and this mixtape is for anyone who likes the thought of dancing but couldn’t possibly bring themselves to do it, or vice versa.

John Brainlove

John & Jehn
‘20L07’

The Knife
‘Heartbeats’ (live)

Modernaire
‘Bloodshed In The Woodshed’

Oh No! Oh My!
‘I Love You All The Time’

Trademark
‘Come To Love’

Joanna Newsom
‘Colleen’ (watch)

Windmill
‘Restaurant Tiles’

Team Brick
‘Hawk’

Fireworks Night
‘Echo's Swing’ (review)

The Wave Pictures
‘Long Island’ (listen)

Fuck Buttons
‘Sweet Love For Planet Earth’

David Thomas Broughton
‘Weight Of My Love’ (listen)

This is an collection of amazing songs that have inspired me and lit my body up with adrenaline this year. Each of them oozes some kind of special power that goes beyond just being good music. This music resonates with me in a way I can barely explain. It sounds like... life. Experience. Whether in the nails-down-a-blackboard yelp of Windmill's voice; Joanna Newsom's fingers dancing over the harp strings as she dispenses her achingly gorgeous folk wisdom; the intense desolation of Fireworks Night's 'Echo Swing'; the fiery, tribal, twinkling beauty of Fuck Buttons; Trademark's wistful and beautiful pop; The Wave Pictures' literate, confessional indie-pop; the light-headed rush of love in John & Jehn's ‘20L07’. This is what music was all about for me this year... this and Napoleon IIIrd, Pagan Wanderer Lu, and Keyboard Choir, of course - I had an amazing musical year with Brainlove, finding loads of radio play, MTV infamy, our first national CD release and a label tour to round it all off.

Mark Butterworth

Arcade Fire
‘Intervention’ (review)

The Shins
‘Sleeping Lessons’ (review)

Stars
‘The Night Starts Here’ (review)

Björk
‘Innocence’ (review)

Spoon
‘The Underdog’ (review)

Arctic Monkeys
‘Fluorescent Adolescent’ (review)

Ryan Adams
‘Two’ (review)

Yndi Halda
‘We Flood Empty Lakes’ (review)

Radiohead
‘Weird Fishes/Arpeggi’ (review)

Ryan Adams & The Cardinals
‘If I Am A Stranger’

Before the year began, Radiohead were still Kings of the Land Of Epileptic Over-Experimentation, Björk was still Queen of the Land Of Lost The Plot, Arctic Monkeys and Arcade Fire might have been one-album flash in the pans, Ryan Adams had arguably ceased to even be Prince of anything anymore, and I had never even heard of Yndi Halda. What a difference a year makes. Particular highlights for me have been the last 90 seconds of Arcade Fire’s ‘Intervention’ (and – obviously – the rest of it), Yndi Halda’s stunning live set and a whole load of straight-up great tunes from Arctic Monkeys, The Shins, Spoon and Stars.

Rachel Cawley

Bon Iver
‘Re: Stacks’

Cass McCombs
‘Windfall’

Feist
‘1234’ (review)

Handsome Furs
‘What We Had’ (review)

Panda Bear
‘Comfy In Nautica’ (review)

Young Marble Giants
‘Music For Evenings’

Tom Brosseau
‘Kiss My Lips’ (review)

Eugene McGuinness
‘Myrtle Parade’ (review)

Dan Deacon
‘Wham City’

XX Teens
‘Onkawara’

Nick Cowen

Feist
‘1234’ (review)

Bloc Party
‘I Still Remember’ (review)

Future Of The Left
‘Wrigley Scott’ (review)

Battles
‘Atlas’ (review)

Editors
‘Smokers Outside The Hospital Doors’ (review)

The Hours
‘Ali In The Jungle’ (review)

Jamie T
‘Sheila’ (review)

Liars
‘Houseclouds’ (review)

El-P
‘Flyentology’ (review)

M.I.A.
‘Boyz’ (review)

Will Dean

Band of Horses
‘Is There A Ghost?’ (review)

LCD Soundsystem
‘All My Friends’ (review)

The Shins
‘Sleeping Lessons’ (review)

Arms
‘Whirring’

Chromeo
‘Fancy Footwork’ (review)

The Whip
‘Divebomb’ (Kitsune Remix) (review)

Justice
‘D.A.N.C.E.’ (review)

Menomena
‘Muscle and Flo’ (review)

Glasvegas
‘Daddy's Gone’ (review)

The Twilight Sad
‘Cold Days From The Birdhouse’ (review)

This has probably been my favourite year of music for a while — The Twang notwithstanding. Collected here is a mix of indie whimsy, daft electro and a beautiful mixture of the two in this year's end-of-year-poll conquerors LCD Soundsystem. More like this please 2008.

Alex Denney

M.I.A.
‘Boyz’ (review)

Trans Am
‘The Film’ (review)

White Williams
‘New Violence’

Caribou
‘Melody Day’ (review)

Yeasayer
‘2028’ (review)

Shocking Pinks
‘Victims’ (review)

Wild Beasts
‘Assembly’ (review)

Let’s Wrestle
‘I Won’t Lie To You’ (review)

Field Music
‘In Context’ (review)

Sunset Rubdown
‘The Mending Of The Gown’ (review)

Christmas is coming, and we must all gulp down the insuperable urge to spew forth sweeping reflections about the state of this, that and the other: consequently, here is a list of tracks, compiled by me, signifying nothing. To 2007 I’d like to extend a stoical nod, and the implicit acknowledgement that, while we undoubtedly shared some pleasant moments together, we shan’t be seeing each other again. A brief word on the individual tracks: included here is a mix of the cool (White Williams, Shocking Pinks), the so-uncool-it’s cool (Yeasayer), the combustible and the violently overheating (Sunset Rubdown, MIA, Caribou). A healthy range of temperatures, all told, to ensure you won’t end up feeling an absolute zero over the holiday period.

El-P
‘Tasmanian Pain Coaster’ (review)

Cutting Pink With Knives
‘Laser Hannon’ (review)

The Dillinger Escape Plan
‘Black Bubblegum’ (review)

Devastations
‘Black Ice’ (review)

Trans Am
‘Tesco Vs Sainsbury’s’ (review)

Torche
‘Warship’ (review)

Yeah Yeah Yeahs
‘Down Boy’ (review)

Beestung Lips
‘Patch Up My Persona’ (review)

Björk
‘Innocence’ (review)

Yndi Halda
‘We Flood Empty Lakes’ (review)

This list of ten is purely designed to offer a round of applause the way of artists whose latest long-players and EPs missed our Albums of the Year cut. I could stretch to another ten, or twenty, easily – no room here, still, for the Icarus Line, or Do Make Say Think, or Meet Me In St Louis, or Lady Sov, or ‘Conquest’, or Shady Bard, or MF Doom, or Optimist Club, or et cetera. No room, even, for Phosphorescent’s sublime ‘Be Dark Night’ track. Thinking differently I might have included that, plus amazing album standouts from Battles, M.I.A., Grinderman, Blonde Redhead and !!!. 2007 has been a great year for great records, and I actually feel pretty privileged to have heard so many of them.

Gareth Dobson

LCD Soundsystem
'All My Friends' (review)

The Maccabees
'Latchmere' (review)

The Cribs
'Women’s Needs' (review)

Bloc Party
'Waiting for the 7:18' (review)

Super Furry Animals
'Baby Ate My Eightball' (review)

Sky Larkin
'One of Two' (review)

Modest Mouse
'Spitting Venom' (review)

Radiohead
'Reckoner' (review)

Stars
'Take Me To The Riot' (review)

Les Savy Fav
'What Would Wolves Do' (review)

Munch Munch
'Wedding' (review)

This year was a bit good and a bit bad. Bad for most of the stuff clogging up the radiowaves (although I own a soft spot for The Pigeon Detectives’ 'I'm Not Sorry'), but naturally a good year for fine album tracks and under-acclaimed 7"s. Naturally, there is always something in between, like LCD's 'All My Friends' - inarguably, in my mind, the finest song of the year. It was acclaimed, though deserved to be much more so. Modest Mouse, The Cribs and Les Savy Fav all released records as good as anything from earlier in their catalogues, and there were some immense gems tucked away in all three. 'Atlas' by Battles should be in this list, of course, but I'm sure it will be in everybody else’s, so they shouldn't feel too hard done by.

Jordan Dowling

Exit Calm
'We Are Not Alone'

Her Name Is Calla
'Condor' (review)

Adam Brown
'Silly Boy'

The Twilight Sad
'That Summer, At Home, I Had Become The Invisible Boy' (review)

Battles
'Atlas' (review)

Exit Calm
'Before Tomorrow'

Animal Collective
'Chores' (review)

Coyote
'Headlights' (review)

Insect Guide
'David Hero' (review)

The Besnard Lakes
'For Agent 13' (review)

Claire Dupree

Brand New
‘Jesus’ (review)

Okkervil River
‘A Girl In Port’ (review)

Arcade Fire
‘My Body Is A Cage’ (review)

Biffy Clyro
‘Machines’ (review)

Maximo Park
‘Russian Literature’ (review)

Modest Mouse
‘Dashboard’ (review)

School of Language
‘This Is No Fun’

The Shins
‘Red Rabbits’ (review)

The New Pornographers
‘Myriad Harbour’ (review)

Bright Eyes
‘Four Winds’ (review)

I’ve never spent so much money on buying CDs as I have this year, and in the process I have discovered some of my favourite bands of all time! Rather disgracefully, The Shins, The New Pornographers and Okkervil River have really only just come to my attention in this last year, and I’m head over heels with both of them. Maximo Park, Modest Mouse and Arcade Fire released perfect albums this year – for me there’s really not a thing wrong with any of them – while Bright Eyes’ Cassadega made me realise how much of a genius Connor Oberst really is. My need for heavier, edgier music has been satiated by Brand New and Biffy Clyro, and I’m most looking forward to the release of David Brewis’ School of Language debut album (which I’ve already heard, and it is amazing!) in February next year.

Tom Edwards

Applicants
‘Hyperchondriac’

Blonde Redhead
‘23’ (review)

Buffalo Tom
‘Bad Phone Call’

Califone
‘The Orchids’ (review)

Comanechi
‘My Pussy’ (review)

Future Of The Left
‘Small Bones Small Bodies’ (review)

Hundreds Tens & Units
‘Down We Go’ (watch)

Mark Rose
‘Elizabeth’ (listen)

Tiny Masters Of Today
‘Hologram World’

Turbo Fruits
‘Murder’

If last year seemed to be dominated by underground acts pushing the boundaries and outdoing their established counterparts, 2007 feels like the year of the comeback. Buffalo Tom, Dinosaur Jr and Sebadoh were some of my most noteworthy reappearances, the first two delivering albums that rival their finest hours. Fighting for a place in the public consciousness next year, Applicants’ bubblegum punk racket, Hundreds Tens & Units’ grrrl-powered pop and Comanechi’s bare-boned metal assault lead the way.

Jonathan Fisher

Eugene McGuinness
'Monsters Under The Bed' (review)

Wintersleep
'Archaeologist'

Hot Chip
'Shake A Fist'

Justice
'The Party' (review)

Justin Timberlake
'What Goes Around.../...Comes Around Interlude'

Why?
'The Hollows'

Foals
'Astronauts And All' (review)

The Maccabees
'Happy Faces' (review)

BARR
'Half Of Two Times Two (Newer Version)' (review)

Woods
'Be Still'

These are the songs that have made my feet dance the hardest, my eyes cry the hardest and my heart swell the hardest in 2007. The ten silver linings to a truly awful year.

Dan Gavin

Panda Bear
'Take Pills' (review)

Robyn
'Konichiwa Bitches'

Joanna Newsom
'Clam, Crab, Cockle, Cowrie'

Dan Deacon
'Wham City'

Blanket
'Heaven Heaven Earth' (review)

Emma Pollock
'Here Comes The Heartbreak' (review)

The Twilight Sad
'I'm Taking The Train Home' (review)

Bright Eyes
'Lime Tree'

Low
'Violent Past' (review)

L Pierre
'Drift' (review)

Dom Gourlay

The Twilight Sad
‘And She Would Darken The Memory’ (review)
Single of the year material if it weren’t for Battles and ‘Atlas’. Dense guitars, pounding drums and a broad Glasgow dialect that sounds more menacing with every listen. Brutal.

Björk
‘Declare Independence’ (review)
Anyone at this year’s Connect Festival will know what I mean when I say this was THE festival anthem of 2007.

Glasvegas
‘I’m Gonna Get Stabbed’
Glasgow seems to be a real hotbed of new talent at the minute. This is as frantic as its title suggests; a three-minute pursuit through the city’s back alleys over Mary Chain-esque guitars.

Mint Ive
‘Paint A Picture (Of The Broken Hearts)’
The moment where Nottingham’s so-called ugly ducklings turned into the white swans of the East Midlands and became possibly the best unsigned band in the country with it.

Exit Calm
‘Higher Learning’
Dreamy soundscapes, crushing melodies and a crisp production make these the must-see band for 2008.

Battles
‘Atlas’ (review)
Single of the year? Single of the millennium, more like. Whoever said there was no originality in music any more needs to listen to just 30 seconds of this. Kitchen is cook, who-aa-oa…

The Chiara L’s
‘Odio’
Mixing the principles of twee86 with the pop sensibilities of every half decent girl band from Spector to the Spice Girls, this is the sound of Leeds you should be reading about in the supplements.

The Insect Guide
‘Liline’ (review)
As dark as the most potent Velvet Underground, as atmospheric as Slowdive in their heyday. Simply blissful.

Air Formation
‘Adrift’ (review)
Brighton’s premier ethereal combo head straight for the stars rather than the soles of their shoes on this standout from one of the year’s most-underrated albums.

Her Name Is Calla
‘Condor And River’ (review)
Frankly the most ambitious piece – or maybe that should say pieces – of music to emerge from these shores in a long, long time. The Leicester four-piece forge three songs into one that becomes more compelling with every listen. Post-rock’s answer to ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’.

Mike Haydock

Foals
'Hummer' (review)

Patrick Watson
'Luscious Life' (review)

The Snake The Cross The Crown
'Hey Jim'

The Wombats
'Backfire At The Disco'

Forget Cassettes
'Quiero' (review)

Minus The Bear
'When We Escape' (review)

Tokyo Police Club
'Your English Is Good' (review)

Reuben
'Good Luck'

Bombay Bicycle Club
'How Are You'

Circa Survive
'The Difference Between Medicine And Poison Is The Dose' (review)

No matter how hard I try and fight it, I'm still a sucker for a strong, memorable pop song, so no doubt some of these choices will wrankle with certain readers. But whether it be a through a huge chorus or a lush crescendo or a beat that makes my toes twitch, I increasingly look for music that can transport me away from all the crap that life can throw at you. These ten tracks have done just that - I hope you've found at least ten that have had the same effect on you.

Lucy Johnston

Dead Meadow
'Drifting Down Streams'

Björk
'Declare Independence' (review)

Battles
‘TIJ’ (review)

M.I.A.
‘Hussel’ (review)

Grinderman
‘Grinderman’ (review)

Saul Williams
‘WTF’

Les Savy Fav
‘What Would Wolves Do’ (review)

Beirut
‘ Un Dernier Verre (Pour la Route)’ (review)

Panda Bear
‘I’m Not’ (review)

PJ Harvey
‘Dear Darkness’ (review)

Dave Kerr

El-P
'Smithereens (Stop Cryin')' (review)

Future of the Left
'Kept By Bees' (review)

The National
'Squalor Victoria' (review)

Saul Williams
'Convict Colony'

Battles
'Leyendecker' (review)

Sole and the Skyrider Band
'Shipwreckers'

The Twilight Sad
'Walking For Two Hours' (review)

Pinback
'Good to Sea' (review)

Aereogramme
'Nightmares' (review)

Soulsavers
'Kingdoms of Rain'

I used to know a guy who claimed to throw out his record collection every six months. “That's just lies,” I'd reckon to myself. I think he was only telling me this for the sake of appearing the cool bastard at the time, but when I started to properly trip over my collection after a house move earlier this year I thought, just for a minute, that he might have been onto something. This year made me glad I kept the clutter and happy to have the archival luxury of dusting off those two God Machine LPs when Aereogramme's last one reminded me of their genius so much. The same went for Lanegan's Whiskey for the Holy Ghost, hearing an old track from that unexpectedly unearthed and resurrected by he in collaboration with Soulsavers sent a shiver down my spine. So at the risk of sounding a bit Bill Drummond, my resolution for 2008 is to think a bit more about how I listen to my music, especially if I'm this prepared to let it take over the house.

Kev Kharas

Jens Lekman
'And I Remember Every Kiss' (listen at Ohmpark ‘blog; review)

John Maus
'My Whole World is Coming Apart' (listen at Upset the Rhythm); (review)

Telepathe
'Chrome's on it' (listen at MySpace)

Gui Boratto
'Beautiful Life' (watch on YouTube)

Jamie T
'Meet Me on the Corner' (listen at fileden)

Burial
'Shell of Light' (listen at Resonator Magazine; review)

Banjo or Freakout
'Mr No' (listen at MySpace)

Mathew Sawyer and the Ghosts
'In a Haunted House' (listen at MySpace; review)

Panda Bear
'Bros' (watch at YouTube; review)

These New Puritans
'Navigate, Navigate' (listen at MySpace; review)

Fractured and loose, this year has been one that's seen scenes fall and the walls between genres knock up perilously against each other before their eventual, inevitable collapse. Spurred on, doubtless, by the impact of Klaxons' dance-rock, new genius is flowering amid the ruins. Not that the Mercury-deserving quartet were immediately responsible for anything, really, worth remembering; other than their debut record. But for all the rubbish bands, even demented clubland will continue to know the debt it owes to the quartet.

Tracing a loop in pencil back up the margin, that flowering genius has come through fully-realised only fleetingly in 2007. Panda Bear made the record of the year in Person Pitch, and I’ve gone for ‘Bros’ to fly that psychedelic flag. Burial, too, tracked nocturnal, urban zones that many others had tried to map, but added new soul to the grey surfaces of a city that appears increasingly drained and weary after a year spent doling out sexual favours to shitrock ladbands. And even if the media attention over Untrue occasionally veers into the hysterical – embarrassing for something that struggles so achingly for composure – it’s to be expected of a record that flies a drabber flag than Panda Bear’s. Grim are the national colours of dubstep’s queasy republic.

Elsewhere, Lekman’s was the most glorious opener of the year, and Telepathe’s ‘Chrome’s on it’ is a lustrous totem between the flat, fluttering drive of Boratto's tech and John Maus’s ghoulish croon. The best track Jamie T’s ever written glowers and aches like a campfire Burial, personal DiScoverees Alessio Natalizia (BoF) and Mathew Sawyer justify my stolen pride with brilliance and These New Puritans come up with, simply put, one of the bravest, best things I have ever heard. Ten best tracks of the year and 80 per cent of those are built on loops? Let's hope music continues to work its way up and out in circles in 2008, an electric ivy wire running through rock 'n' roll's ruins.

Tom King

No Age
‘Neck Escaper’ (review)

These New Puritans
‘Navigate, Navigate’ (review)

Laura Marling
‘New Romantic’ (review)

Burial
‘Raver’ (review)

Liars
‘Plaster Casts Of Everything’ (review)

Noah and the Whale
‘Five Years’ Time’ (review)

HEALTH
‘//M\\’ (review)

Benga & Coki
‘Night’

Panda Bear
‘Bros’ (review)

Skream
‘Chestboxin’

Sam Lewis

Sleeping States
'Rain Check' (review)

Adrian Orange and her Band
'Inderdependence Dance' (review)

BARR
'Half of Two Times Two' (review)

Frànçois
'Holly Golightly'

Grouper
'Cover The Windows And The Walls' (review)

Nina Nastasia and Jim White
'Late Night' (review)

Animal Collective
'Fireworks' (review)

Clipse
'Chinese New Year' (review)

M.I.A.
'Bird Flu' (review)

Durrty Goodz
'Switching Songs 2' (The Good Ol' Days)'

Okay, so the Sleeping States record is the best of the year by an English artist not making dance music - so good it's silly. Adrian Orange's new record manages to be infinitely madder than his last (all yelps and precise, deranged horns) and yet equally profound, which would seem improbable, but that's the measure of the man. BARR treads the line between eloquence and insight perfectly. Grouper managed to somehow perfectly capture the sound of falling asleep, alone, in the dark, happily. Was a more passionate, emotive songs than ‘Last Night’ by Nastasia and White released this year? Like the whole of You Follow Me, it's dark and wonderfully artistic, in an incredibly adult way. ‘Fireworks’ is beautiful beyond words, like all of Strawberry Jam, really. Clipse are the pure epitome of gangster; but gangster you can dance to - the best kind. M.I.A. is, well, a bit of a genius; Kala was everything a modern dance album should be. And Durrty Goodz's Axiom EP has to be one of the releases of the year; eloquent, brilliantly produced, passionate and inventive - everything music should be. My track of the year is from an album that never got released. 'Holly Golightly' was supposed to have been on Brother, Frànçois's third record. Instead, he decided to give music a break, and put all the MP3s up for free on his site (here). Maybe someday he'll change his mind; for now I'm just happy the songs surfaced at all, lovely as they are. Honourable mentions go to Trim's Soulfood mixtapes, Pantha Du Prince, Jana Hunter, Gui Borrato, Best Fwends (gig of the year!), and Panda Bear, of course.

Ben Marwood

Future of the Left
‘Manchasm’ (review)

Alan MX
‘The Captain America Video’ (listen)

Pete and the Pirates
‘Bright Lights’

The Thermals
‘A Pillar Of Salt’ (review)

Jacob Golden
‘Hold Your Hair Back’ (review)

Midlake
‘Roscoe’ (Cassettes Won't Listen remix)

frYars
‘Madeline’ (review)

Figurines
‘Race You’ (review)

The Broken Family Band
‘Dancing on the 4th Floor’ (review)

The Kamikaze Hearts
‘No-one Called You A Failure’ (review)

Richard MacFarlane

Sly Hats
‘Papery Clothes’

Black Kids
‘I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You’

Panda Bear
‘Bros’ (review)

M.I.A.
‘$20’ (review)

Sunset Rubdown
‘The Mending Of The Gown’ (review)

A Sunny Day In Glasgow
‘Things Only I Can See’ (review)

Black Dice
‘Scavenger’ (review)

Animal Collective
‘Fireworks’ (review)

Kes
‘Only When Asked’

The Clientele
‘Somebody Changed’

Though for me it’s been a year of listening to albums rather than just songs, those in this list have certainly stuck out over the course. I’m constantly drawn back to things like Black Dice, Panda Bear and Animal Collective for their clear concerns for making things new, creating unheard sounds and future music. And for sounding so damn great. The Clientele and Sly Hats keep it real on the pop front, A Sunny Day In Glasgow craft the perfect noisy and oddball album of ambitious shoegaze. Thank you Kes for just being you and thank you Spencer Krug for making the most spine-tinglingly good track of the year and the best bass-lacking track for certain. M.I.A.’s image and mythology is the most excellently manufactured (or crafted) in music today and with jams like ‘$20’ she’s getting a bit ridiculous, pure pop, refined. Black Kids rub off mostly like Bowie and The Cure but hey, someone’s got to keep their vibe going; they do it with hints of transcendence and that’s just for me in a year where music pushes forward at a giddying pace.

Tom Milway

Grand Archives
'Sleepdriving'

Interpol
'Pace Is the Trick' (review)

Liars
'Sailing to Byzantium' (review)

Deerhunter
'Spring Hall Convert' (review)

Band of Horses
'No One's Gonna Love You' (review)

Blonde Redhead
'23' (review)

Les Savy Fav
'The Year Before The Year 2000' (review)

Foals
'Hummer' (review)

Battles
'Tonto' (review)

Gravenhurst
'Saints' (review)

This list is very much a reflection of the music that's stuck with me for the entire year, each track bringing back various memories. Heading the list is new Matt Brooke (ex-Band of Horses)-fronted Seattle group Grand Archives. Easily the best thing I've heard all year. Very excited about them! The rest of the year for me was about Boxer by The National (picking one track was so difficult I didn't even try) and albums from Liars, Deerhunter, Band of Horses, Blonde Redhead and live shows from Foals, The National, Youthmovies and Interpol. The closer, by Gravenhurst, rekindles some fond hazy memories from this year’s Truck Festival. I predict in 2008 we'll see a resurgence of vocal harmonies and melodies and that NME will hook up with Suicide Girls in order to increase readership embodying the ‘by any means necessary’ motto.

Dom Passantino

Royce Da 5’9”
‘Hit ‘Em’

Billie the Vision and the Dancers
‘There Is Hope For Anyone’

50 Cent
‘I Get Money’

Los Campesinos!
‘You! Me! Dancing!’ (review)

Mims
‘This Is Why I’m Hot’

Enrique Iglesias
‘Do You Know? (The Ping Pong Song)’

Celph Titled and J-Zone
‘Nut Reception’

The Hold Steady
‘You Can Make Him Like You’ (review)

Sissy Wish
‘Yayaya’

Nas ft Redhead Kingpin, Rob Base, Original Spinderella, Father MC, Monie Love, Mike Gee, E-S-T, Positive K, Das Efx, DoItAll, Chip-Fu & Dres
‘Where Are They Now’ (90s Remix)

2007 was the year when I effectively gave up having any hope in modern music and just focussed my attentions on repeats of Iron Chef America: when anyone in the current indie milieu brings as much artistry and passion to their music as Mario Batali does to Italian-Asian fusion cuisine, perhaps I’ll give a shit again. Until then... between ‘Nut Reception’’s correct assertion that “The most beautiful thing in the world / Is a bitch with black eyes and a new salon curl”, 50 Cent resigning himself to the fact that all women just want to be pregnant and on benefits, Royce Da 5’9”’s assertion that the common thread between his career, his gun, and your ho is that they’re all “about to blow”, and Craig Finn showing those emo upstarts the correct way to aggressively belittle a woman who won’t sleep with you, it’s been the best year for danceable misogyny since 1989. Elsewhere on this tape, Billie the Vision made me realise that my priapism for Swedish indie shows no signs of going down any time soon; Los Campesinos! carry the great white hype flag for another 12 months until their debut album inevitably leaves us all disappointed, and that 90s Remix of ‘Where Are They Now’ is just a fantastic idea that should immediately be copied by all other genres. Just think how much XFM could be improved if every bunch of mewling Libertines-via-sea-shanties piece of shit indie band was forced to have that dude from Urusei Yatsura drop eight bars at the end of their track. That’s a world I want to live in.

Ben Patashnik

Future Of The Left
'Manchasm' (review)

Sonic Boom Six
'The Strange Tale Of Sid The Strangler' (review)

Holy Fuck
'Royal Gregory' (review)

Frightened Rabbit
'Music Now' (review)

A Wilhelm Scream
'The Horse'

Ungdomskulen
'Spartacus'

Les Savy Fav
'The Equestrian' (review)

The Hold Steady
'Chips Ahoy' (review)

Frank Turner
'The Ballad Of Me And My Friends' (review)

As majestic as Ungdomskulen's near-instrumental assault is, as drunkenly brilliant as The Hold Steady are and as downright fucking rifftastic as A Wilhelm Scream are, it's Sonic Boom Six who've done the best tune of the entire year. And 'Fix Your Face' from Dillinger Escape Plan's Ire Works almost made the list but...not quite. Discovery of the Year is Frightened Rabbit with a bit of gorgeously heartfelt tuneage. Not a bad year at all.

Raziq Rauf

Biffy Clyro
'As Dust Dances' (review)

The Dillinger Escape Plan
'Mouth Of Ghosts' (review)

The Ghost Of A Thousand
'Bored Of Math' (review)

Machine Head
'Halo' (review)

Every Time I Die
'Inrihab' (review)

Bloodgroup
'Moving Like A Tiger'

Reuben
'Crushed Under The Weight Of The Enormous Bullshit'

Porcupine Tree
'Anesthetize' (review)

Silverchair
'All Across The World'

Killswitch Engage
'Holy Diver' (watch)

I don't even know if this list should be marked as ‘irrelevant’ or ‘alternative’ for this readership. I know that not a single album from which these songs were chosen even manages to feature in the Top 50 longlist, but maybe you'll be able to take something from this collection of tunes that veers from the heavy and groove-laden to the cathartic and heartstring-pulling via some eccentric electro-pop beats. Some of these songs might just remind you that music is meant to make you feel something. Even if it is the purest form of hate.

RJ Rodriguez-Lewis

Liars
‘Plaster Casts of Everything’ (review)

M.I.A.
‘Bird Flu’ (review)

Elapse-O
‘Maars’

Yeasayer
‘2080’ (review)

To Rococo Rot
‘Enigma’

HREÐA
‘KHTC’

April March
‘Chick Habit’

Band of Horses
‘No One’s Gonna Love You’ (review)

HEALTH
‘Crimewave’ (review)

Mrs Duncan
‘Paris, France, Holland, Belgium’

I’m pretty crap at mix tapes. I’d be a terrible DJ. When playing through a favourites list, I am usually found bulldozing through tracks mid-song because I tend to dislike the songs I like. From the golden pop accessibility of groups like Band of Horses, to the primal screams of up-and-coming noise soldiers HEALTH, to the kitchen-sink antics of M.I.A., this year has been a year of extremes.

Daniel Ross

Sunset Rubdown
‘Up On Your Leopard, Upon The End Of Your Feral Days’ (review)

Love Is All
‘Nothing To Be Done’ (review)

Beat Radio
‘What I Love The Most’ (review)

Euros Childs
‘Blaidd Tu Fas Y Drws’ (review)

Battles
‘Ddiamondd’ (review)

The Broken Family Band
‘Don't Change Your Mind’ (review)

Super Furry Animals
‘Suckers’ (review)

Iron & Wine
‘Resurrection Fern’ (review)

Mittens
‘Leeway’ (review)

Low
‘Murderer’ (review)

Now, I'm not one to assume the worst of DiS readers, but there's a relatively high chance that a few of these songs will not be the most widely-experienced on this here endy-yeary list. Some of them (Battles, SFA, Low) will be. So I'll ignore those even though they're pretty much perfect. Instead, I'll bang on about the ones you might not have heard in a series of very blunt and opinionated sentences. Beat Radio's 'What I Love The Most', yeah, is what I love the most about Beat Radio – a lazy dick would call it lame emo indie-pop, but just listen to the guitars at the end and the sex-rasp in Brian Sendrowitz's voice. 'Leeway' by Mittens is pop music. Love Is All, previously big news in Pitchfork-land, recorded a cover of The Pastel's 'Nothing To Be Done' right back in, like, February or something and no-one realised. Shame, that, right, because it's perfectly warm, and just about perfect. Euros Childs provided me with some of the moments of my life last year when he played ' Blaidd Tu Fas Y Drws' live when he was touring, and the finest cut fom his Bore Da album will explain to you (in minutely incomprehensible Welsh detail) exactly why. The Broken Family Band finally reached optimum intensity and were in a good mood on 'Don't Change Your Mind', the year's song most likely to make men feel like boys. Wolf Parade's Spencer Krug announced himself as the real heir of Brian Wilson's genius (it's in the chord progressions, in case you're wondering) and composed the decade's finest guitar break on that song with the long name up there. See you next year!

Dean Samways

Bloc Party
‘The Prayer’ (review)

The Wombats
‘Kill The Director’

Editors
‘An End Has A Start’ (‘review’)

Kate Nash
‘Foundations’ (review)

Thom Yorke
‘Analyse’ (review)
Cheat! This came out in 2006 – Ed

Arcade Fire
‘No Cars Go’ (review)

The Maccabees
‘Precise Time’ (review)

The Rakes
‘The World Was A Mess But His Hair Was Perfect’ (review)

The Holloways
‘Dancefloor’ (review)

The Chemical Brothers
‘Do It Again’ (review

Music has always been more powerful and held more significance and weight when it’s been played live. Hi-fis and laptop speakers can only deliver a fraction of the emotion and meaning that seeing the artists screwed up faces as they try and articulate what they’re trying to say. 2007 has been about that live music for me. Editors put on the show to end all shows at Glastonbury. The Maccabees are a band I seem to have been following around for three years now and every time I see them they charm the pants off me. This mixtape may only show the bands in the limited medium of playback, but they are all artists that have made me scoop my jaw off the ground live.

Shain Shapiro

Charlemagne
‘Tragic Flaw’

Rilo Kiley
‘Breaking Up’

Múm
‘Blessed Brambles’

Au Revoir Simone
‘Sad Song’ (review)

Beirut
‘Nantes’ (review)

Cinematic Orchestra
‘To Build A Home’ (review)

Patrick Watson
‘Luscious Life’ (review)

The Envy Corps
‘Keys To Good Living’

Stars
‘My Favourite Book’ (review)

Immaculate Machine
‘Nothing Ever Happens’ (review)

So much music, so little time to listen to it all, really. Plus, when I get hooked on a few good songs, they crowd my iPod for weeks, usually leaving everything else by the wayside until I work through the crush. I know, it is all a bit cheeky as there is so much new music floating about, but that is the way it is with me. When I am on the Tube, I need something cerebral, not challenging. Of all the songs that made the Tube that much more enjoyable this year, here is the top ten for 2007.

Samuel Strang

Errors
‘Salut! France’ (review)

Gui Boratto
‘Hera’

No Age
‘Neck Escaper’ (review)

Panda Bear
‘Bros’ (review)

A Hawk And A Hacksaw & The Hun Hangar Ensemble
‘Zozobra’

Abe Vigoda
‘Animal Ghosts’

Tussle
‘Pow!’

T2 (ft. Jodie Aysha)
‘Heartbroken’

Shape Of Broad Minds
‘Let’s Go (review)

The Pyramids
‘A Gala In The Harbour Of Your Heart’ (review)

Oh, sat atop this lofty pedestal ejecting off. Open…

Him Tall

Rhianna
'Umbrella' (“Easily single of the year - do we talk about singles any more?”)

Yeasayer
'2080' (review)

Neil Young
'Ordinary People' (review)

Modest Mouse
'Florida' (review)

The Go! Team
'Wrath Of Marcie' (review)

Beasts Of Bourbon
'I Don't Care 'Bout Nothing Anymore'

Grinderman
'No Pussy Blues' (review)

Dinosaur Jr
'This Is All I Came To Do' (review)

Billy Childish and the Musicians of the British Empire
'Joe Strummers Grave'

Interpol
'Pioneer To The Falls' (review)

Charles Ubaghs

Panda Bear
‘Comfy in Nautica’ (review)

These New Puritans
‘Numbers’ (review)

Animal Collective
‘For Reverend Green’ (review)

White Denim
‘Let’s Talk About It’

Grizzly Bear
‘He Hit Me’ (review)

Mirage
‘Lady Operator’

Deerhunter
‘Octet-Stream’ (review)

Liars
‘Plaster Casts of Everything’ (review)

Battles
‘Atlas’ (review)

LCD Soundsystem
‘All My Friends’ (review)

Was this the year of new rave? Perhaps it was a year for noise? Or maybe it’s the year French electro-house broke (again)? Honestly, does any of it matter? The answer is no. You could have it all if you wanted this year. You could keep up with the mags, check out the singles of the week and let people know, “Yeah, I’m tapped right into that good old musical zeitgeist”. Or, you could ignore it all, shut out the hype and find your own sound. This was the year where all that mattered was what you wanted, and no one could tell you otherwise. So these ten songs are not the top ten tracks of the year. They’re just the ten songs that got me out of bed in the morning over the span of 12 months. Better than coffee…

Rob Webb

Apples In Stereo
‘7 Stars’

Arcade Fire
‘No Cars Go’ (review)

Blonde Redhead
‘23’ (review)

Clinic
‘The Castle’

The Cribs
‘Our Bovine Public’ (review)

Eugene McGuinness
‘Monsters Under The Bed’ (review)

Grammatics
‘Broken Wing’ (review)

Los Campesinos!
‘You! Me! Dancing!’ (review)

The Shins
‘Australia’ (review)

White Rabbits
‘The Plot’

Okay, I'll hold my hands up. I like indie-pop. Lots. The sugary-er the better. Hence the inclusion here of Apples In Stereo, The Shins and Los Campesinos! - but try picking a trio of songs from this year that'll make you grin like more of a fool and I bet you'll struggle. As for the rest, The Cribs is bitter agit-pop that gets the blood pumping, while White Rabbits are one of my favourite unDiScovered bands around. And the new version of 'No Cars Go'? Well, it's nothing short of monumental. Clinic's Funff is one of the best B-sides compilations ever released (I went for months thinking it was a conventional full-length... doh!), and talking of B-sides, Grammatics' 'Broken Wing' is one of the most heart-wrenching pieces of music you'll hear from any band, let alone such a new one. Last but not least, Blonde Redhead's '23' is a song and album that soundtracked a lot of 2007's best moments. It's been a fantastic year.

Gary Wolstenholme

Battles
'Tonto' (review)

The Chronicles of Israfel
'Starborn Part III: On A Forever Road'

Dimmu Borgir
'The Serpentine Offering'

Electrelane
'To The East' (review)

Future of the Left
'Small Bones, Small Bodies' (review)

Iced Earth
'Ten Thousand Strong'

Nile
'Papyrus Containing The Spell To Preserve Its Possessor Against Attacks From He Who Is In The Water'

Neurosis
'Water is not enough'

Pelican
'City of Echoes'

Turisas
'To Holmgard and Beyond'

And that’s that. Any contributors who got their tapes in late, or simply didn’t send one in – post your ten below. Same applies to readers. Coming soon: our favourite features of the year on DiS, and the most-read news stories, in neat and tidy ‘retrospective’ formats. Christmas Eve. Not a creature will be stirring, except DiS…