The Snarcissist’s Top List of 2007

Songs – Ok, any kind of real order for these would be totally arbitrary, so I’m just gonna go down the list as I drink and fuck around with my iTunes. This shall be the result.

1. Tegan and Sara - "The Con"

Seriously, if you can’t enjoy this song? Fuck. You. Open your heart. You will love this every time you hear it until the second it makes its way to Grey’s Anatomy (and it will). But enjoy the time you have with it. It’s worth the future shame.

2. Bonde Do Role – "Bondollica"

While I know not everybody’s gonna get into the Brazilian thing that seemed to be popping up in 2007, this song is hard-rockin’ enough that I think it’s their most accessible for a non Portuguese-speaking audience. If you spoke the language, you’d undoubtedly be singing your ass off. As things stand, you can just shake it.

3. Cansei De Ser Sexy – "Let’s Make Love and Listen to Death From Above"

This one’s a little more US accessible for the Brazilian thang. A bit of bad English never hurt any foreign band in coming on to audiences over here. This is probably the best mélange of fun and sexy you’re gonna find in music last year. Truly, an awesome time.

4. Bat For Lashes – "What’s A Girl to Do?"

You really need to see the video for this to know what clinched this song’s spot on the list. (Go for it - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1wnOUH2jk8!) The remoteness of Natasha Khan’s vocals is at the same time stunning and devastating. Between the ghostly coldness of the song and the Donnie Darko-inspired video, you can’t help but be impressed by the dark places this song will leave you stranded.

5. Rilo Kiley – "Smoke Detector"

Ok, this one took some work. Really, initially, I hated this whole album. It’s just different from the old material in a way that fans really should have seen coming but chose to stay blissfully unaware of. I gave it a chance though, because Jenny Lewis has a lot of cred in my book, she’s done a lot of great work, and she deserves a second listen. Ok, Blake, too. After two or three listens, I came around. Smoke Detector has got the goods to make you glad Jenny decided to once again embrace the filthy secular world after her solo album. Must hear, if you’re into this sort of thing.

6. Immaculate Machine – "C’mon Sea Legs"

Not only does this song make my top list, I just might pick the album it comes from (Immaculate Machine’s Fables) as my number one. It also gets the distinction of being the only song on my list with (primarily) male vocals. Great indie pop with a crisp, clean sound and a sound that’s nothing too adventurous and yet still unforgettable. You will be singing this in the shower, in the car, around the office when you think no one’s looking, but really there are about 8 people behind you…

7. Feist – "I Feel It All"

As Feist gets closer and closer to the mainstream (and the advertising that goes with it) it might not be long til the utter sellout album comes. The fact that she’s Canadian might provide something of a barrier against full-on American capitalism, and we can only hope that is the case, but as it is, Leslie Feist is likely facing diminishing returns from the indie rock community. This is her at her purest, plain ol’ fun rockin’ on her latest album, and goddamn if it can’t make you feel good about life.

8. Electrelane – "To the East"

This is yet another album that really deserved attention this year. A lot of great, electronic/hard rockin’ work done on the album. This song is a little lighter, a little more lyrical, and thus it’s the one that gets my vote, but far be it from me to tell you that the rest of it isn’t fucking incredible. Especially after a few stiff drinks.

9. Dntel – "Roll On"

For those who still hope for the return of the Postal Service… With the ever-growing ego of Ben Gibbard, the like-wise growing popularity of Jenny Lewis and the sputtering relevance of Jimmy Tamborello (aka Dntel), this collaboration between Jimmy and Jenny is likely the best and maybe last glimpse you’ll ever get of what once was. And it’s not exactly the magic you found in the full trio, but on its own merit, it’s damn good.

10. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – "Kiss Kiss"

While this song came on an EP of material written over 3 years ago and before their latest full-length, this was definitely worth hearing. While Show Your Bones had a lot of change-over to new-wave and modern pop that might have been a bit of a turn-off to those who got in on the early aughts art-rock scene, Is Is was a throwback to the early, harsh and dirty YYY’s. "Kiss Kiss" is fairly representative of that feeling, and probably the 7th song on this list about fucking. Currently working its way to my all time most played songs on iTunes, just below Regina Spektor (last year’s obsession).

God, my only regret is that I didn’t expand my horizons a little more.

Top Album nod for the year?

It’s Tegan and Sara. These girls will always have my ear, and The Con happens to be the tightest attempt they’ve made to date. Every song is a gem, and by the end, you only wish it didn’t squeak in at just a bit over 30 minutes. They’ve come a long way from their folky roots, and this album shows no sign of stagnation.

I seemed to have gone brain-dead and fallen out with independent film last year. I seem to be getting bitter and lazy, and there’s not one truly indie film I saw this year that I gave a damn about. The closest I came, and my pick for film of the year?

You guessed it, it’s Pan’s Labyrinth. What says pretentious art-house pick like a film not in my native language? If there is anything else that says it better, I refuse to hear of it. In a year of unwatchable, soul-crushing indie dramas, PL injected me with the magical realism I’d sorely missed from those halcyon days, studying the written word. I cried out for Gabo and the joy he once showed me.

Honorable mention: Superbad