The Best Songs of 2007 - #40 - #36

Since 2007 was a big year for me as far as music emersion goes, I thought it would be interesting to actually write an end of the year article about the songs that dominated my iPod or that I noticed the most when I heard them while listening to Left of Center on Sirius or I ended up humming or whistling when they weren’t on. This will probably end up being more work than I intended, but here we go. Keep in mind that this is a very rough countdown and the whole ranking thing doesn’t really matter until about the last fifteen or ten songs.

40. “Someone to Love” by Fountains of Wayne – This is fun little bouncer with groovy ‘80s keyboards and great boy/girl harmonies. One of the best things about this tune is that it is able to tell a story and fleshes out the characters in less than four minutes.

39. “Paper Planes” by M.I.A. – The whole record, Kala, is worth checking out, but this track is a standout. It starts out sweet and innocent with its nursery rhyme melody, but the chorus hilariously smashes this to bits with gunshots and cash registers samples. The word “murder” has never been sung so sweetly.

38. “Now. Now.” by St. Vincent – Wonderfully sung and lyrically heart-wrenching, this is another song that plays with a bit of school yard sing-song delivery in the post-chorus. I also like the acoustic pick-strum-crash of the chorus. My only real problem is the ending. It builds into a discordant mess with strings and feedback. It seems a little overbearing and could have been smoother.

37. “Fluorescent Adolescent” by Arctic Monkeys – I didn’t pick up the whole album, but a few of the singles I’ve heard have been really great. The Arctic Monkeys continue to write slice of life songs about being young and a life they seem very familiar with. A solid pop number.

36. “The Shape is in a Trance” by Thurston Moore – Thurston Moore’s Trees Outside the Academy continues the winning streak Sonic Youth started with Murray Street and have maintained for the last several albums. The record is an acoustic-based outgrowth of the types of songs his band has been producing lately. This song exemplifies everything great about the album: strangely tuned acoustic guitars by Thurston, band mate Steve Shelley on drums, violins by Samara Lubelski, and electric lead by J Mascis.