Better late than never here are my personal favourites of 2007. Any of the Top 20 are worthy of being number one, and may well have been if I’d made my choices on a different day, and in a different mood.
I started with over 500 tracks, and over the course of 3 weeks have driven myself slightly mad trying to whittle the list down. I’m sure I’ve missed 100’s that had I heard would have been right up there.
Please express your disgust, approval, indifference at my selection by commenting at the bottom of the page. Why isn’t Take That “Shine” in there… where are Girls Aloud… why so many funk cover versions?
If you’re an artist and want an mp3 removed please let me know.
1. Busdriver
“Casting Agents & Cowgirls” (MP3) / YouTube Video
“I’m sending a text message on my key pad
Saying, “I hav no more to say to my ex-manager(slash)sea hag divorcee
Except eat shit and die””
Regan Farquhar, otherwise known as Bus Driver can no longer be counted as a “newcomer”, being on album number five, not to mention countless collaborations since he first appeared peddling his own cd-r’s in 1999. What he does have however is the energy and ideas of the new kid on the block. This far down the line and “Casting Agents and Cowgirls” is bursting at the seams with words, hooks, and his trademark lyrical flourishes.
Few carry off the trick of marrying clever, cutting or thought provoking lyrics to an impossibly catchy song, you usually get one or the other.
In many ways its the close relative to OutKasts “Hey Ya” in that it crosses the line that separates hip hop (especially less commercial hiphop) from the shelves packed with X-Factor winners and James Bluntalikes. That universal appeal that comes with a guarantee to have people who claim to hate “hip-hop” dancing as if someone had dropped an E in their cuppa. While at the same time singing lines like “poised with sex toys in your penthouse suite believing you’re Lou Reed” as if following a bouncing Karaoke ball.
Visit: Myspace
Buy: Busdriver LP - “Roadkillovercoat”
2. James Yorkston
“Woozy With Cider (Jon Hopkins Remix)” (MP3) / Youtube Vid
“I think I can be honest in presuming the world is not exactly going to be leaping out its bed to make me rich using my songs in adverts selling oranges…
or lemons”
One of the standout tracks from his 2006 album, “Woozy” is a gorgeously self deprecating spoken word piece that sleepily describes a life spent “Woozy With Cider“. Joking about his album peaking at number 172, and observing that “the world is not exactly going to… make me rich using my songs in adverts selling oranges or lemons“. Given that vegan Yorkston once turned down £10,000 for one of his songs to be used in an advert for butter, he may be right (although that story maybe an urban myth?).
The Jon Hopkins remix comes from a promo CD I picked up for 2 quid in Berwick Street’s “Record & Tape Exchange”. Hopkins strips the track back to just a piano and in the process achieves the almost impossible feat of making it even more chillingly gorgeous. Researching Hopkins (otherwise known as putting his name into google) I discovered he also produced another favourite of mine, King Creosote’s “Admiral” which features elsewhere in this best of. King Creosote also has a remix of “Woozy” on this CD which is equally as good as Hopkins’ take. Who knew alt-folk was so incestuous?
Visit: Myspace / Loads of FREE tracks & remixes here / Domino records have all his videos
Buy: James Yorkston’s LP - “The Year Of The Leopard” / “Woozy With Cider (5 remixes)“
3. M.I.A.
“Paper Planes (Remix Feat. Bun B & Rich Boy)” (MP3) / Youtube Vid
“All I wanna do is (BANG BANG BANG BANG!)
And (KKKAAAA CHING!)
And take your money”
No.3 in the chart and an early debut for a phrase that may get a few airings… “can I change my mind… this should’ve been No.1!”. The undoubted highlight from her Kala LP, Paper Planes was the closest 2007 had to an anthem, even though its not even out as a single till March (the DFA & Diplo mixes just landed on my doormat this morning :)).
A loop from The Clash’s “Straight To Hell” forms the base while MIA’s fairly random lyrics work a treat and the sweet as sugar children’s choir chorus is wonderfully subverted with gunshots and cash machines.
It’s worth a listen to the original version (see below as posted on Diplo’s fantastic Mad Decent blog) which features a gun shot/cash machine free chorus (MP3).
Who’d have thought adding a couple of sound effects could transform a track from average to anthem! Genius production.
Apparently MIA was less than impressed the gunshots were hamfistedly removed from her Letterman performance (YouTube), while MTV have also wielded the scissors.
Visit: Myspace / Maddecent blog (tons of MP3’s) / MiaUK / 6 M.I.A. Videos to download
Buy: M.I.A.’s LP “Kala”
4. Hot 8 Brass Band
“Sexual Healing” (MP3)
Visit: Myspace
Buy: “Rock With The Hot 8” - The Hot 8 Brass Band LP
5. Stuart James
“The Food Between Her Teeth” (MP3)
“Do you bless her soul
when she walks away?”
Visit: Stuart’s Myspace for tons of FREE MP3’s
6. Adele
“Hometown Glory” (MP3 - removed by request) / Live on BBC’s “Sound” YouTube
“Shows that we ain’t gonna stand shit
Shows that we are united“
A disastrous year for Adele who began 2007 on top of the world having topped this blogs “Top 100 of 06″ list. Fast forward 12 months and she finds herself with merely the 6th best tune all year… where did it all go wrong? 
On the upside she’s won a Brit, been proclaimed as THE act for 08 in every magazine or newspaper published so far this year, and the BBC seems to have decided that she must be featured at least daily somewhere on Aunties outlets. The hype around her is unbelievable, but for once every piece of breathless praise is totally 100% justified (although the debut “proper” single is my least favourite track so far).
London has had its fair share of love songs over the years but rarely as beautiful as “Hometown Glory“. As Adele skips the cracks in the pavement, her chorus soars over the piano proclaiming all the wonders of this world… a woman asks if she is lost, “no and thank you madam, I ain’t lost, just wandering“. The lyrics “I love it in the city when two worlds collide“, or “Shows that we’re united, shows that we ain’t gonna take it” could be taken as a tribute to the multiculturalism of the capital, or as a rebuttal to the London bombings. Alternatively just listen, draw your own conclusions, your own meanings, and enjoy that shiver down the spine.
Info: Myspace
Watch “Chasing Pavements” on Adele’s site
Buy: Pre-Order Adele’s debut album “19“
7. Dan Le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip
“Letter From God To Man (Demo version)” (YouTube Vid)
Download studio version of “LFGTM” for FREE on PipvLeSac Myspace (for 1 week only)
“The last time I sent down a message you nailed it to the cross
So I figured I’d just leave you to it, let you be your own boss (Lyrics)”
Info: FREE MP3’s galore… Visit the Myspace page for Dan’s new independent music night for a superb “Clash vs. Beat That My Heart Skipped” mashup MP3
More tracks and superb remixes to download for nadda on Le Sac’s Myspace
Not forgetting LeSacvsPip’s Myspace for the FREE “Letter From God To Man“ (until they take it down).
New version of “Letter From God To Man” (YouTube Vid)
8. Badly Drawn Boy
“Promises (New full length version)” (MP3) / YouTube Vid
“Sometimes you just have to walk away”
Buy: Promises 12″ (including remixes by A Mountain Of One, Reverso68 and Beyond The Wizards Sleeve)
9. LCD Soundsystem
“Someone Great” (MP3) / YouTube Vid
“worst is all the lovely weather,
I’m stunned, it’s not raining”
Info: DFA Records / LCD Soundsystem
Buy: LCD Soundsystem “Sound of Silver” LP
10. Matty G
“War” (MP3)
“Until the colour of a mans skin is of no more significance than the colour of his eyes ”
Info: Myspace / Label site with MP3’s
11. Matthew Dear
“Don & Sherri (Hot Chip Version)”(MP3)
“How could I let you forget me, if you don’t even know me already”
Info: Myspace
Buy: Matthew Dear LP “Asa Breed“
12. Pepe Deluxe
“Ms. Wilhelmina & Her Hat” (MP3)
“A woman ain’t a woman, not wearing one”
Info: Myspace / PepeDeluxe.com
Buy: One of the essential albums of 2007 “Spare Time Machine” by Pepe Deluxe
13. Denis Jones
“Beginning” (MP3)
“Vera Lynn on the violin, Elvis Costello well he’s playing the cello”
Info: Myspace
Buy: Denis Jones LP “Humdrum Virtue“ Nice packaging, even nicer music.
14. Hercules & Love Affair
“Classique #2″ (MP3)
Info: Myspace / Sign up here to get FREE H&LA “Theme” MP3
15. Anthony Hamilton
“Glad U Called” (MP3)
“I’m glad that you called when you called me, ’cause you stopped me from doin’ somethin’ awful,”
Info: Myspace / Buy: Anthony Hamilton
16. Lupe Fiasco
“Superstar (feat. Matthew Santos)” (MP3) / YouTube Vid
“Wanna believe my own hype but it’s too untrue”
Info: Myspace / Lupefiasco.com / Watch Lupe on David Letterman
Buy: “The Cool” Lupe Fiasco LP
17. Jamie Woon
“Wayfaring Stranger (Burial mix)” (MP3)
Info: Myspace / “Wayfaring Stranger” (YouTube Vid)
Buy: “Wayfaring Stranger” (Burial mix)
18. Amy Winehouse
“Back To Black (The Rumble Strips remix)” (MP3) / (YouTube Vid)
“He left no time to regret, Kept his dick wet”
Info: Myspace
Mark Ronson & Charlie from The Rumble Strips live version of Back To Black (YouTube)
Amy off her face on “Never Mind The Buzzcocks” (YouTube)
Buy: “Back To Black” LP
19. Windmill
“Replace Me” (MP3) / (YouTube Vid)
Info: Myspace / Windmill videos on YouTube
Buy: Windmill “Puddle City Racing Lights“ LP (Best Album of 2007???)
20. The Cinematic Orchestra
“To Build A Home” (visit here for MP3 of the Radio Edit)
“And I built a home, For you, For me
Until it disappeared, From me, From you”
Info: Myspace / Cinematicorchestra.com / TCO Fan site (best site for info/news, etc)
Buy: The “Ma Fleur” LP for £6! / Cinematic Orchestra Live CD’s
21. Robert Plant & Alison Krauss
“Please Read The Letter” (MP3)
“It’s crazy how it all turned out, We needed so much more”
Info: Myspace / official site
22. Gwen Stefani
“Wind It Up (Kissy Sell Out Remix)” (MP3) / Youtube Vid
“Uh, uh, uh, Wind it up, uh, uh, uh, uh
Uh, uh, Yodellay, yodallay, yodel-low”
Info: Myspace / official site
23. R. Kelly
“I’m A Flirt (r kelly vs broken social scene)” (MP3) / Youtube Vid
“Cuz Hey I’m Black, Handsome, I Sing Plus I’m Rich And (I’m A Flirt) ”
Info: Visit The Hood Internet for more MP3 mashups from the creator.
24. Elektrons
“Get Up (Greg Wilson’s Special Mix)” (MP3)
Info: Elektrons Myspace / Greg Wilson Myspace / Absolutely incredible Greg Wilson mixes at ELECTROFUNKROOTS
Buy: Elektrons - “Red Light Don’t Stop” LP
25. Linkwood Family
“Piece Of Mind” (MP3)
Info: 5 free Linkwood Family mixes to download from the Firecracker Myspace (see sounds like section)
Buy: Firecracker EP3 Limited Edition 10″
26. Tom Middleton
“Enchanting” (MP3)
Info: Myspace / Tommiddleton.com
Buy: Tom Middleton - “Lifetracks” LP
27. LSB
“FOG” (MP3)
Info: Myspace
28. The Shadow Orchestra
“Seafront Arcade” (MP3)
Info: Myspace (for FREE live MP3) / Shadoworchestra.com (more free MP3’s remixes etc)
“Plucking & Bowing” - Shadow Orchestra (YouTube Vid) - Recommended
Buy: Self titled debut album from CDBaby
29. Arctic Monkeys
“Fluorescent Adolescent” (MP3) / YouTube Vid
“You used to get it in your fishnets
Now you only get it in your night dress”
Info: Myspace
Buy: “Favourite Worst Nightmare” LP
30. Fink
“Little Blue Mailbox” (MP3)
“Staring in the mirror did you find another true beauty”
Info: Myspace / Finkworld / YouTube vid “This Is The Thing” otherwise known as the Mastercard Ad track
Buy: “Distance & Time” LP
31. Paul Simon
“Diamonds Dub” (Tangoterje Edit) (MP3)
32. Lack Of Afro
“When The Sun Goes Down” (MP3)
Info: Myspace / Lackofafro.com / Lack of Afro remixes Myspace / Interview
Buy: “Press On” LP - One of the undiscovered gems of 2007… essential!
33. Bjork
“Declare Independence” (MP3) / Youtube Vid
34. 1gnition
“Secret Sunday Lover” (Greg Wilson Edit) (MP3)
Info: Myspace / Record label
35. Roísín Murphy
“Let Me Know (Joey Negro’s Destination Boogie Club Mix)” (MP3) / Youtube Vid
Buy: “Overpowered” LP for a fiver!
36. Angels of Light
“Black River Song” (MP3)
Info: Myspace / Record label
37. Alicia Keys
“No One (feat. Junior Reid)” (Stalag Remix) (MP3)
38. Simon Baker
“Plastik” (MP3)
Info: Myspace / Simon Baker mix here
Info: Myspace / HolyFuck music, video’s, blog, downloads here
40. Rufus Wainwright
Nobody’s Off The Hook
41. Omarion
“Ice Box” (MP3)
42. Build An Ark
“Love Sweet Like Sugarcane” (MP3)
Info: Myspace
Buy: Build An Ark LP
43. The Ironweed Project
“Boom Boom Clap” (MP3)
Info: Myspace
Remix The Ironweed Project - Full album instrumentals/separate parts available for free download at Ironweedproject.com
44. Beck
“Timebomb”
45. Hot Club De Paris
“Shipwreck (Jamie T & Ben Bones’ Stormy Weather Mix)” (MP3)
46. !!!
“Must Be The Moon” (Emperor Machine Mix) (MP3)
Info: Myspace / ChkChkChk.net
Buy: Myth Takes LP
47. Battles
“Atlas” / Youtube Vid
Info: Myspace
Buy: Mirrored LP
48. Hypnotic Brass Ensemble
“War” (MP3) / YouTube Vid
49. Antibalas
“Beaten Metal” (MP3)
50. Various Production
“13 (feat. Cat Power)” (MP3)
Buy: Some of the many many limited edition, MP3’s, album, remixes here
51. Yoko Ono
“Cambridge 1969/2007″ (With the Flaming Lips) (MP3)
Info: Myspace
52. CRS
“Us Placers (feat. Lupe Fiasco, Kanye West, Pharrell)” (MP3) / YouTube Vid
53. Von Sudenfed
“Slow Down Ronnie” (MP3)
Info: Myspace
Buy: Von Sudenfed LP - Mark E Smith in fine form
54. Mark Ronson
“Valerie” (feat. Amy Winehouse) / YouTube Vid
Early leaks and the one track per artist rule robs Ronson of a higher placing. His Smiths “Stop Me” cover was according to my itunes the track I listened to most this year, but unfortunately ive played it so much I got a bit sick of it. If this list had been done in May it would have been a cast iron cert for No.1.
“Valerie” is that rare example of a cover being better than the original, with Winehouse taking time out from self destruction to provide a killer vocal performance. The Ronson sound certainly does what it says on the tin, ie ape 60’s motown, but when it all comes together in a magical track like this you forget the crimes against music he and Robbie Williams carried out elsewhere on the album. The guy fitting my new windows was just bellowing the chorus of this out at the top his lungs half an hour ago, while equally it wouldn’t sound out of place in the trendiest of clubs.
55. Burial
Archangel
56. Mr Derry
“Goodnight” (MP3)
Info: Myspace (with FREE downloads)
57. Disrupt
“Selassi I Continually” (MP3)
Info: Record Label site
Buy: Super cheap from BoomKat… all lovers of dub reggae get the album
58. Les Edits Du Golem
“Klout” (MP3)
59. Apparat
“Hold On” (MP3) / Youtube Vid
Info: Myspace
60. Kate Nash
“Foundations (Metronomy remix)” (MP3)
61. Samim
“Heater” (Original mix) (MP3) / (Youtube Vid)
Info: Myspace /
62. Swizz Beatz
It’s Me Bitches
63. The Avalanches
“Ray of Zdarlight” (MP3)
Info: Visit Avalanches site for a ton of superb MP3’s & mixes to download
64. Jeffrey Lewis
“I Ain’t Think” (MP3)
65. Beenie Man
“Breast Specialist (feat. Vybz Kartel)” (MP3)
66. Findlay Brown
“Losing The Will To Survive” (Beyond The Wizard’s Sleeve Reanimation) (MP3)
67. The Chemical Brothers
The Salmon Dance (feat. Fatlip) / Youtube vid
68. The White Stripes
“Icky Thump” (MP3)
69. Usher
“Dat Girl Right There (feat. Ludacris)” (MP3)
70. Charlotte Hatherley
“Behave REMIX (JD master)” (MP3)
71. Get Cape Wear Cape Fly
“War of the Worlds” (David E. Sugar Remix) (MP3)
Info: Website (with FREE track off forthcoming LP) / Myspace
72. King Creosote
Admiral
73. Britney Spears
“Piece Of Me” (MP3)
74. Pig Out!!
“Jules On X” (MP3)
Info: Myspace (with FREE downloads) / Pinacolada Records
75. Jay Bharadia
Snowy Day
76. Dizzee Rascal
World Outside
77. Bitty McLean
“Lately” (Version) (MP3)
Info: Myspace
78. The Heavy
“That Kind Of Man” (MP3)
Info: Myspace
79. Richard Hawley
Tonight The Streets Are Ours
80. Dave.i.d
“Guilty Pleasures” (MP3)
Info: Myspace
81. The New Mastersounds
“Witness” (MP3)
Info: Website / Myspace (inc. FREE download)
82. The Dodo’s
Fools
83. A Mountain Of One
“Brown Piano” (Remake by Studio) (MP3)
Info: Myspace
Buy: “Collected Works” - compilation of Mountain Of One Ep’s
84. Flying Lotus
“Tea Leaf Dancers” (MP3)
Info: Myspace
Buy: Reset EP
85. Caribou
Melody Day
86. The Cock’n'bull Kid
“There’s a mother in our bed” (MP3)
Info: Myspace
87. Busy Signal
“These Are The Days” (MP3)
Info: Myspace (inc. Free downloads)
88. Ashley Beedle & Ross Allen
“Murderer Style (feat. Saul Williams)” (Clap Out Vocal Mix) (MP3)
89. Aesop Rock
“None Shall Pass” (MP3)
Info: Myspace
Buy: “None Shall Pass” LP
90. Alborosie
Kingston Town (feat. Junior Reid) (Remix)
Info: Myspace
91. Gaslamp Killer
“Track 8″ (MP3)
Info: Website with blog, MP3’s, videos galore / Myspace
92. Peggy Sue & The Pirates
“New Song” (MP3) / Youtube Vid
Info: Myspace
Dan Le Sac remix available for free download on Dan’s Myspace
93. Black Moth Super Rainbow
“Forever Heavy” (MP3)
Buy: Black Moth Super Rainbow music
94. Modeselektor
The White Flash (feat. Thom Yorke)
95. Julianna Barwick
Info: Website (inc. MP3’s) / Myspace
Buy: “Sanguine” LP
96. Stickboy
“Come Round (And See Me Again)” (MP3)
Info: Myspace (packed with free downloads, chat, video’s, demo’s)
97. Underground Kingz
International Player’s Anthem (I Choose You) (feat. Outkast)
98. Robert Wyatt
Just As You Are
99. Edwin Starr
“Get Up (Pilooski Edit)” (MP3)
100. Rihanna
Umbrella (feat. Jay Z)
101. “No Pussy Blues” (MP3) - Grinderman
102. “Dump Truck” - Cobblestone Jazz
103. “Gravity’s Rainbow (Soulwax remix)” - Klaxons
104. “I Wish I Could Have Loved You More” - Candie Payne
105. “Upside Down” - Tropics Of Cancer
106. “Can You Relate (Main Mix)” - Samuel L Session
107. “Run To Your Grave” - The Mae Shi
108. “What’s A Girl To Do?” - Bats For Lashes
109. “Nude” - Radiohead
110. “Put Your Hands Up” - Ne-Yo
111. “Bros (Album Version)” - Panda Bear
112. “Bushido” (MP3) - The Others
113. “Man’s World” - Guilty Simpson
114. “Now it’s gone” - Micky Green
115. “Raquel” (MP3) - Neon Neon
116. “Gotta Work” - Amerie
117. “Blood On My Hands (Ricardo Villalobos Apocalypso Remix)” - Shackleton
118. “It’s the Beat (the teenagers remix)” - Simian Mobile Disco
119. “Tek Way U Self” - Mr. Vegas
120. “Gutter” - Cyrus
121. “Sleep tonight (Junior Boys remix)” - Stars
122. “Sexual Sportswear (SebAstian Remix)” - Sebastien Tellier
123. “Chemistry” - Unkle
124. “Survivor” (MP3) - Tiger Stripes
125. “War” - Trusme
126. “Shake A Fist” (MP3) - Hot Chip
127. “Ignorant Shit (Feat. Beanie Sigal)” - Jay-Z
128. “Twice” (MP3) - Little Dragon
129. “The Absentee (Justus Kohncke Remix)” - Half Cousin
130. “Song 4 Mutya (Out Of Control)” - Groove Armada
131. “Watch My Feet” - Dude ‘n Nem
132. “Love Hate (Blamma blamma morgasm mix)” - Headland
133. “Nervous Acid” - DJ Buck
134. “Mikey Rocks” (MP3) - The Cool Kids
135. “Gunpowder & Lead” (MP3) - Miranda Lambert
136. “Throw Some D’s” - Rich Boy
137. “Lost Without U” - Robin Thicke
138. “Katrina” - The Black Lips
139. “Seven Nation Army (Grant Phabao Remix)” - Alice Russell
140. “Backward” - Kode 9
141. “Eddy Fresh” - Kid Acne
142. “Dr. Love” - Bumblebeez
143. “Good Life (Show Me) (Feat. Joseph & Aloe Blacc)” - Blu & Exile
144. “Bring It Home (feat. Alice Russell)” - The Bamboos
145. “Cut Up” - Duchess Says
146. “Kitchen Sink (Clark Remix)” - Amon Tobin
147. “Heartbroken (feat. Jodie Aysha)” - T2
148. “Enoi” - Ame
149. “Naive (feat. Amie J)” - Aldo Vanucci
150. “D.A.N.C.E (original)” - Justice
