You can see a full list of my favorite albums of 2007 at Tiny Mix Tapes, but here are my ten favorites of the year, and why. I’ve written about a lot of these bands before, but hopefully I won’t be completely repeating myself.

10. Pink Reason – Cleaning the Mirror
Essential tracks: Storming Heaven, Thrush
In a sentence: Metallic, angular, cold, and slow, but also emotionally convincing, without becoming trite or navel-gazing.

09. Ponytail – Kamehameha
Essential tracks: Dear God Plz Make My2Eyes N2 One, Lion Down
In a sentence: An energetic explosion of an album that will keep you gyrating like a speed freak, that also manages to incorporate some mind-bending references to Classical music.

08. Akron/Family – Love Is Simple
Essential tracks: There’s So Many Colors, Phenomena, Of All the Things
In a sentence: Angel-folk that makes me want to float into a cloud and stay there, without enough intense guitar riffage to keep me from drifting off to sleep.

07. Double Dagger – Ragged Rubble
Essential tracks: The Psychic, Camera Chimera, Luxury Condos for the Poor
In a sentence: Finally, someone makes a good, hardcore album that matches sheer sonic impact with lyrical depth, in the old Dischord model but updated for the 21st century.

06. Dirty Projectors – Rise Above
Essential tracks: Gimmie Gimmie Gimmie, Rise Above, Depression
In a sentence: Eclectic, African-inspired instrumentals and gospel singing transform a Black Flag album into something universal.

05. Gowns – Red State
Essential tracks: White Like Heaven, Fake July, Clawless
In a sentence: A minimalist soundtrack to rural desperation, with flashes of spiritual clarity.

04. Times New Viking – Presents the Paisley Reich
Essential tracks: Teenage Lust!, Let Your Hair Grow Long, Love Your Daughters
In a sentence: Lo-fi basement punk makes a triumphant showing, fusing irresistible pop melodies with the controlled chaos of amplifier fuzz.

03. Panda Bear – Person Pitch
Essential tracks: Take Pills, Bros, I’m Not
In a sentence: Can’t do it. See my blurb at Tiny Mix Tapes.

02. Marnie Stern – In Advance of the Broken Arm
Essential tracks: Every Line Means Something, Grapefruit, This American Life
In a sentence: A girl with the most impressive, self-taught guitar skills explores philosophy and inner space.

01. Of Montreal – Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?
Essential tracks: Heimsdalegate Like a Promethian Curse, Suffer for Fashion, She’s a Rejector, Gronlandic Edit
In a sentence: Kevin Barnes sublimates a painful breakup into a personal transformation, using pop and funk as his guides and revolutionizing both genres in the process.