Part 1 of the Essential Sounds of 2007 Mixtape: The Lively Sounds of 2007: Here! There! and Everywhere! Part 2 coming asap. Enjoy!

1. Björk: "Innocence"
"Innocence" is my favorite track off of Volta and I think the reason it holds this position is because it is so Björk to the core. Now you might say it doesn't sound like most of Björk's material at all and that is true, but it is also that fact that makes this song bleed everything Björk. Her sound has never been contained or definable and it changes and grows from album to album. With Björk, the old cliche "expect the unexpected" is law. This song is equally indefinable, it's something like a funk-infused dance track as interpreted by a African tribal band, but even that description misses the true sound of the song. Björk's vocals are just as perfect as ever and the production by Björk and Timbaland(!) makes you want to dance and laugh at the same time.



2. Justice: "Waters of Nazareth"
If you stuffed every French dance and electro track into one song, the resulting high-tension music would result into Justice. "Waters of Nazareth" sounds like it is going to explode with noise, so much so parts of the synth line are fuzzy and distorted to the point that a pretty obvious rock influence existed. Although thanks to every review ever of this album, you probably already know that. Gaspard Augé and Xavier de Rosnay, whom before the release of their debut, worked as remix artists for several years, and that really shows in their music. Good remixes re-imagine the song without destroying it, drawing from elements in the song to focus on, and all of Justice's work has hints of remixes in the way that they are constructed, focusing on a key element and building the song around it.

3. Los Campesinos!: "The International Tweexcore Underground"
I am, officially, predicting that Los Campesinos! will be the saviors of indie snobs. They will bring the glorious light of pop music to these stuck of hipsters trapped in their collective animal existences full of "serious" "real" and "meaningful" music that's really nothing more than rehashes of what was done better in past decades. This song (and all of the bands songs really) is bombastic and completely over-the-top pop music executed flawlessly with crashing crescendos, girl/boy lead vocals, and a Los Campesinos! signature: biting lyrics. The band has a nact for writing lyrics that are not only clever but also necessary. They say things that I would absolutely love to say to people I know (one of the best examples of this is in one of the bands other pop masterpieces "You! Me Dancing!" regarding hipsters and their lack of dancing skills) and they do it with such breeze that it's easy to miss just how sarcastic the band is, marrying clever and humorous lyrics with perfect pop for a combination that is sure to take over the world.

4. Architechture in Helsinki: "Debbie"
Architecture in Helsinki have reinvented the wordless hook. There aren't any "la la la's" here, but instead things like "boom da da da da da boom da da da da!" and "hiyahyah hiyahyah hiyah yah yah yah yah" and most memorably "debbiedowndown debbiedowndown debbiedebbiedebbiedowndown...". Never has a band sounded better saying absolutely nothing at all. This song it's compatriots on Places Like This have earned me countless awkward looks as I sing the nonsensical hooks in public places. The lyrics that actually contain real words are just as great, boasting lines like "there's never been a song or a melody that reminds me less of youth" and "first we were anti-social till we tried hibernating through all the seasons where you dyed your hair in a fail attempt at blue". If the lyrics are inspired then the music is genius. Consisting of schizophrenic synths, horns, and guitars that playful bounce all over the backbeat with a funkiness that would seem unnatural coming from any other modern indie band besides these twisted pop geniuses.

5. Yelle: "Ce Jeu"
Why is that France can do everything electronic better then everyone else? Much like Scandanavia is for post-rock, French dance and house bands have been pushing the envelope for years and now the French are teaching the rest of the world how to do pop. Similarities between Yelle and Goldfrapp are pretty evident but it's also easy to see that Goldfrappisms that Yelle puts in her songs aren't rip-offs but simply borrowing from one of the best. Some people may be turned off by the fact that it is all in French, but I actually prefer it because it prevents there from being any of the painful or cheesy lyrics that hinder most pop music. Beats, bass, and synth all play around the centerpiece whistle sample that gives the song it's light hearted tone that works perfectly with Yelle's cute-as-a-button vocals.

6. M.I.A.: "Bird Flu"
This is the kind of song that I can't imagine any right-minded person not loving. The only way that the tribal beats, insane hooks, and shout-along parts couldn't work their magic on a human is if they are predisposed to dislike the music simply because M.I.A. is a critical darling and a favorite of the anti-hipsters favorite target, Pitchfork. Now I'm not a huge fan of ol' P-Fork but they do occasionally get things right, and this is certainly one of the times they did. Kala is just plain fun, melding more genres than you can shake a stick at. The combo of tribal beats, street-hop, grime, and dance is completely irresistible to anybody who likes to get up and shake their stuff but also at the end of the day likes to sit down and really analyze the music they listen to. Their have been plenty of cheap pop thrills this year, just turn on the radio and you'll hear any number of them, but they are empty, bland, and lacking in artistry. M.I.A.'s music is something with substance that will not only have you dancing like a maniac but also have you thinking about the construction of what you hear, something the average pop artist could never hope to achieve.

7. Jens Lekman: "Sipping On the Sweet Nectar"
Jens Lekman is a self-professed lover of cheesy 80's power-ballads, but on many of his songs it's another 80's musician that comes to mind: Paul Simon. The influence of Graceland on Lekman's latest album and this song is undeniable. The melding of polyrhythms, bouncing bass, and triumphant brass and strings sound almost like Lekman pulled a dirty projectors and tried to cover Simon from memory. That's not to say that this is at all a rip-off, indeed it is far from it. One might even go as far as to say that it is a continuation of the work Simon started on Graceland but sadly lost track of with The Rhythm of the Saints (which, besides the fact that it openly tried to be different from it's land predecessor, is actually a terribly underrated album). Lekman not only resembles Simon in his music, but also in his lyrics. Lekman and Simon share a similar structure of writing and also both have a penchant for clever and witty lines that aren't just for getting a laugh but also have a deeper level and a true meaning that it is easy to lose. Paul Simon is the best pop songwriter ever and Lekman is poised to become the Simon of this generation and very well might be able to do so if he starts looking outwardly to the world a little more, but while still retaining his genius for witty introspective criticisms of himself and love.

8. Efterklang: "Horseback Tenors"
This is Efterklang 2.0. Gone is the quiet folktronica (well mostly anyways) and in is bombastic pop music that finds its base in chamber pop and group chantings. This is by far the best Efterklang album to date, although past album were nothing to spit at. One of the best parts of this album is you can really tell that the horn and string players know what they are doing, a lot of times with music similar to this you get the feeling that it could have been done better if a pro had done it, but not with this album. No part of this album would have been changed for me. It's a perfect alt-pop experience. "Horseback Tenors" contains one of the most beautifully written string parts this year, and its whirling circus-like brass and drum backing contrasts perfectly with the strings. The other-worldly and Sigur Rós like vocals soar as the music rises and crescendos with stunning beauty.

9. Doseone: "You Circa You"
With Subtle, Doseone creates complex, funky, space-hop. On his own, his music resembles something like disturbed minimalist hip-hop. Now I realize that that sounds ridicules but it's about the only way to describe it. The beats are small and the music generally hookless. His signature bizarre lyrics and delivery are stronger than ever, as is his almost always present spacey element. The real prize winner in this song is the random multisyllabic spewing of non-words near the end of the song that sound more like a shaman's incantation than part of a rap song. But then again, Doseone has always been much more than a rapper. Sure some of his work displays his ability to unleash rapid-fire lines but his true genius in his ability to reach a place that blurs the lines between singing and rapping to reach a place that is equally one and the other and makes a completely new type of delivery.

10. Sally Shapiro: "I Know"
It's rare that something that is so based on outward action and experience should be better suited to intimate settings. Sally Shapiro's music is indubitably disco but at the same time it is intensely personal love songs that would be best experienced by one or two and not a whole raging club full of dancing maniacs. It would be a mistake to assume that Shapiro's sweet-as-honey lyrics and cool, wispy vocals are the only thing that helps create the personal mood and to completely ignore the production. Shapiro is well know to be influenced by Italo disco and Eurobeat so it should come as no surprise that there is plenty of that in her sound, but it is executed in such a toned down and tame way that it really ends up more provoking rapid heartbeats than rapid dance movement.


11. Apostle of Hustle: "Justine, Beckoning"
Apostle of Hustle's album National Anthem of Nowhere is one of, if not the most criminally overlooked albums released this year. Many reviewers liked it, but very few of them loved it. I personally love it, it's good rock music from top to bottom. The deeper you go into the album the better it becomes until it finally climaxes at its highpoint: "Justine, Beckoning". Unlike most of the songs on the album, the Cuban influence isn't really heard as much except in the acoustic breakdown about halfway through, regardless the song is still far from straightforward. The song opens with big rock riffs and drumming, but they only keep your main focus for a second as a subtle, simple synthesizer comes in and totally takes your complete attention. Is such a simple little addition to the song that it almost seems like an after thought at first. Until you think about it and hear how perfect and natural sounding it is, then you realize that the whole song is built around it. The really amazing thing in this song is the vocals, and more specifically, the melody. The melody is stunning, out side of rap people don't usually talk about the "flow" of vocals, but that's really the best way to describe Andrew Whiteman's vocals in this track. The flow so natural forth without any effort and the mesh perfectly with the music. Maybe it's how subtle the genius in these is that caused people to find the album so average. Or maybe they're just idiots? Hmm.

12. Deerhoof: "The Galaxist"
Deerhoof are known for being very non-traditional in their songs and specifically in their song structures and tempos, but the bands 8th(!) and best album, Friend Opportunity really pushes things to a ridicules limit. My favorite moment of non-conformity comes about halfway through "The Galaxist" when the song just stops for almost five seconds, comes back for a second, then stops again for almost five seconds again before starting up once more. At first you're confused about what just happened but after repeated listens you discover more and more how genius and funny it is. Deerhoof is toying with you, toying with your expectations, you don't expect the song to end, but then it does, but then it doesn't and so on. There are more confusing and "what the heck?!?" moments throughout the album, but for me this has to be the high point. Another thing Deerhoof is known for is quite, normal vocals set over (or more accurately for them, beside) hyperspastic music and this song is no exception, crunching noise-rock riffs and jazz-juiced drumming highlight yet another odd yet infectious and brilliant vocal melody.

13. Blonde Redhead: "23"
Blonde Redhead are often unfairly thought of as "the other rock trio with an Asian girl singer" or as "the Sonic Youth rip-off band". While the band is obviously influenced by the greatest of all New York noise rock bands, they've always had their own niche as well. This is even more abundantly clear with their newest album that's more shoegaze than anything Sonic Youth has ever done. "23" is a divine piece of heavenly dream-pop, the drums, guitar, and bass create a hazy, fuzzed-out wall of sound and serve their purpose: as a soundscape for perhaps the most enchanting vocal melody Kazu Makino has ever written. The vocals layer upon another as one Makino sings verses and the other lets loose a "dadadadada da da" that will make your skin crawl. Another interesting thing about the song is that there's hardly any shifts in the song, making it almost seem drone influenced. The song begins, goes forth, and ends pretty much doing the same couple of things. But the shear awesomeness of those couple things will have you far from complaining.

14. !!!: "Bend Over Beethoven/Break in Case of Anything"
The two part album centerpiece (and masterpiece) of !!!'s brilliant foray into the relatively unknown genre of experimental dance-punk is a piece of music that is so multifaceted and perfectly executed that the task of writing about it seems rather daunting. But I shall attempt to do so anyways. The first thing that strikes you about "Bend Over Beethoven" is that you can't really understand the words being sung until the chorus. Not because the singer slurs or anything, but because the vocals are put into such a dreamy glaze of production that it's rather indecipherable. The music goes along with the dreamy theme and things seem rather normal almost, the song will still keep you shaking anyways, which is normal for !!!. But after the song runs it's typical pop structure 3 and a half minute opening, it shifts gears into a building interlude that rises from almost nothing into one of the most complex dance jams you'll ever hear. Multiple guitars, at least two drum parts, a synth beat and much more all build steadily gaining in tempo and technicality before suddenly and unexpectedly returning to the beginning pop structure of the "don't don't don't don't stop" bridge and then the chorus. But this little sonic adventure is far from over, the song closes as an intro to "Break in Case of Anything" a funk and horn-laden track that makes the best use of mass child vocals I've ever heard. Yes, even better than "D.A.N.C.E." The whole song reeks of a kind of experimentation that is pretty much unclassifiable except for maybe as "art-dance-funk-punk-space-tribal-dirge" music.

15. Patrick Wolf: "The Stars"
Patrick Wolf is an anomaly in music, he's a classically trained violinist and he plays just about every instrument invented (like seriously) but instead of incorporating his string skills into a folk-rock style ala Andrew Bird or a weirdo classical-meets-indie amalgamation like Owen Pallet he uses it to accent and sometimes drive his brand of electro-pop tunes. At least thats how it is on his latest album, in the past he was more bizarre folktronica. But on the last true song on The Magic Position Wolf uses a synthesizer and electronic drum beats to form the foundation of the song while he plays a delicate, floating, and beautiful violin line over top. His vocals are appropriately wonderstruck in the beginning but they soon become more assertive and aggressive as the beats become tougher and faster. The most stunning thing about the song are the parts when Wolf's vocal melody mimics the melody of the violin and the join together to create a magnificent moment where man and instrument are one, even more so than during the performance of a musician on his instrument.