Pete's Best Ten of 2007

Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
This is it - the epic sound of indie rock taken to the extreme with heart and soul intact. Anthemic but still intimate. The future of rock.
Panda Bear - Person Pitch
Solo project from Animal Collective's drummer. Hypnotic, repetitive, melodic.
Josh Ritter - The Historical Conquests of
Singer-songriter avoids cliches and crafts a crafty record.
A Band of Bees - Octopus
The Beta Band meet Dr. Dog and spend the day jamming on The Rutles' "Living In Hope"
The Shins - Wincing the Night Away
Not as immediately catchy as the previous two, but a mature, solid record - and still heads and shoulders above any other pop songwriter.
Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
Another year, another excellent Spoon record.
Voxtrot
Just a solid, expansive and melodic indie-rock record. "Cheer me up, cheer me up, I'm a miserable fuck..."
Band of Horses - Cease to Begin
Originally I wrote them off as My Morning Shins, but this record is a big improvement over the debut. They dropped the reverb dirges and wrote some great hooks. Catchy as hell.
Au Revoir Simone - The Bird of Music
Not generally a big keyboard fan, but this record won me over with it's beds of keyboard and lush lady vocals. It warmed my soul.
Deerhunter - Cryptograms
This is some experimental shit, but oddly warm and engaging.

Honorable Mention: Bruce Springsteen - Magic, Caribou - Andorra, The Besnard Lakes - Are the Dark Horse, They Might Be Giants - The Else, The Black Lips - Good Bad Not Evil, Mooney Suzuki - Have Mercy, Robert Plant & Alison Krauss - Raising Sand, The Shaky Hands, Okkervil River - The Stage Names, Ted Leo & the Pharmacists - Living with the Living

Plus, 2007's Top Ten "Top Ten" Albums That Were A Disappointment:

Radiohead - In Rainbows
Neil Young - Chrome Dreams II
Wilco - Sky Blue Sky
KIngs of Leon - Because of the Times
Rilo Kiley - Under the Blacklight
White Stripes - Icky Thump
Modest Mouse - We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank
Arctic Monkeys - Favourite Worst Nightmare
Interpol - Our Love to Admire
Feist - The Reminder
The National - The Boxer

And finally, since we didn't know each other that well back then, the Best Ten of 2006:


Midlake - The Trials of Van Occupanther
Lily Allen - Alright Still
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Show Your Bones
Ben Kweller
Vetiver - To Find Me Gone
Tom Petty - Highway Companion
The Decemberists - The Crane Wife
We Are Scientists - With Love and Squalor
Mates of State - Bring it Back
The M's - Future Women