Everyone loves lists. At least, everyone loves making them— there's no telling if people actually take the time to read them. So instead of waxing on and on about our top 10 of the year, we're cutting the number in half. Just the top five, no double digits here, and we've asked some of the most valuable folks within Portland's music scene (from performers, to booking agents, to record store owners) to chime in with their picks. Look for our year-end roundup coming next week, and if you'd like to share your top albums of 2007, log onto blogtown.portlandmercury.com and post them there.
Jon Ragel (Boy Eats Drum Machine)
1. Menomena—Friend and Foe
2. M.I.A.—Kala
3. Blonde Redhead—23
4. Common—Finding Forever
5. Radiohead—In Rainbows
Kevin Robinson (Vive Voce)
1. The Shins—Mincing the Meat Away
2. Deerhoof—Friendship Possibilities
3. Aesop Rock—None Shall Break Wind
4. Black Moth Super Rainbow—Dandy Lion...
5. Black Lips—Good Bad Not Kinda Bad
Connie Wohn (Stylus 503, Rock 'n' Roll Camp for Girls)
1. M.I.A.—Kala
2. Pharoahe Monch—Desire
3. UGK—Underground Kingz
4. Mark Ronson—Version
5. Lifesavas—Gutterfly
Jona Bechtolt (YACHT)
1. White Rainbow—Sky Drips Drifts
2. Lloyd & Michael—Just as God Made Us
3. Dirty Projectors—Rise Above
4. Chromatics—Night Drive
5. Scout Niblett—This Fool Can Die Now
Kathy Foster (the Thermals)
1. Kanye West—Graduation
2. Múm—Go Go Smear the Poison Ivy
3. Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings—100 Days, 100 Nights
4. The Cribs—Men's Needs, Women's Needs...
5. Holly Golightly & Billy Childish—In Blood (1999)
Chas Bowie (arts editor, Portland Mercury)
1. T-Pain—Epiphany
2. Menomena—Friend and Foe
3. Lil Wayne—Da Drought 3
4. Thurston Moore—Trees Outside the Academy
5. R. Kelly—Double Up
Terry Currier (Music Millennium)
1. Graham Parker—Don't Tell Columbus
2. Sloan—Never Heard the End of It
3. John Jorgenson—Ultraspontane
4. Blanche—Little Amber Bottles
5. Dolorean—You Can't Win
Alan Singley (Alan Singley & Pants Machine)
1. Spoon—Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
2. Chores—Life Is Hard
3. Modernstate—The Burning Beard
4. Please Step out of the Vehicle—4-Track Soul
5. Air—Pocket Symphony
Braille
1. Ohmega Watts—Watts Happening
2. Theory Hazit—Extra Credit
3. Lifesavas—Gutterfly
4. Shape of Broad Minds—Craft of the Lost Art
5. Panacea—The Scenic Route
Andrew R. Tonry (writer, Portland Mercury)
1. Animal Collective—Strawberry Jam
2. Menomena—Friend and Foe
3. Les Savy Fav—Let's Stay Friends
4. Ghostface Killah—The Big Doe Rehab
5. Neil Young—Live at Massey Hall 1971
DJ Anjali
1. Tru Skool—Raw as Folk
2. M.I.A.—Kala
3. Kid Sister—Control
4. Various artists—Shaanti Presents Mighty Asian Beats
5. Ananda Shankar—Sa-Re-Ga Machan (reissue)
E*Rock (Audio Dregs Recordings)
1. Lil Wayne—Da Drought 3
2. Chromatics—Night Drive
3. Copy—Hair Guitar
4. Panther—Secret Lawns
5. Strategy—Future Rock
Anthony Bayles (Monqui Presents)
1. Radiohead—In Rainbows
2. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah—Some Loud Thunder
3. Robert Plant & Alison Krauss—Raising Sand
4. Shout Out Louds—Our Ill Wills
5. Josh Ritter—The Historical Conquests...
Brandon Barnhill (Pseudosix)
1. Spoon—Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
2. Liars—Self-titled
3. Thurston Moore—Trees Outside the Academy
4. Tragedy Khadafi—The Death of Tragedy
5. Arcade Fire—Neon Bible
Peter Broderick (solo artist, Horse Feathers)
1. Eluvium—Copia
2. Taxi Taxi!—Self-titled
3. Songs of Green Pheasant—Gyllyng Street
4. Thee Stranded Horse—Churning Strides
5. Ólöf Arnalds—Við og Við
Caroline Buchalter (Wonder Ballroom, Mississippi Studios)
1. The National—Boxer
2. Of Montreal—Hissing Fauna...
3. The Walkmen—A Hundred Miles Off
4. Devendra Banhart—Smokey Rolls Down...
5. Loch Lomond—Paper the Walls
Curtis Knapp (Marriage Records)
1. White Rainbow—Prism of Eternal Now
2. Little Wings—Soft Pow'r
3. Dirty Projectors—Rise Above
4. Valet—Blood Is Clean
5. Rob Walmart—Rob-o-Ween
Dawn Pierson (Bigshot Touring)
1. The National—Boxer
2. The Broken West—I Can't Go On, I'll Go On
3. Okkervil River—The Stage Names
4. Ferraby Lionheart—Catch the Brass Ring
5. White Rabbits—Fort Nightly
Alicia Rose (Doug Fir Lounge)
1. Bat for Lashes—Fur and Gold
2. Menomena—Friend and Foe
3. Fujiya & Miyagi—Transparent Things
4. The Builders and the Butchers—Self-titled
5. Peter Bjorn and John—Writer's Block
Heather Larimer (Eux Autres)
1. Spoon—Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
2. Blitzen Trapper—Wild Mountain Nation
3. Times New Viking—Present the Paisley Reich
4. Gruff Rhys—Candylion
5. The Good, the Bad and the Queen—Self-titled
Isaac Slusarenko (Jackpot Records)
1. Nicole Willis—Keep Reachin' Up
2. Bobb Trimble—Harvest of Dreams
3. Sarolta Zalatney—Self-titled
4. Various artists—Home Schooled: The ABC's of Kid Soul
5. Final Warning—PDX
Jason Buehler (Nice Nice)
1. Panda Bear—Person Pitch
2. Dirty Projectors—Rise Above
3. Group Inerane—Guitars from Agadez
4. Flower-Corsano Duo—The Radiant Mirror
5. "Tie, rad records from many Portland bands!"
Gabe Lageson (East End, Nice Boys)
1. Billy Nicolls—Would You Believe (reissue)
2. Danava—demos of new album
3. Euclid—Heavy Equipment (reissue)
4. Susan Christie—Paint a Lady
5. Jamme—Self-titled
Joe Kelly (Panther)
1. Spoon—Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
2. Panda Bear—Person Pitch
3. Pig Out—Bak 2 Xtacy Rush
4. Glass Candy—Beatbox
5. Gang Gang Dance—Rawwar
Kevin Friedman (writer, Portland Mercury)
1. Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings—100 Days, 100 Nights
2. Beirut—The Flying Club Cup
3. The Cinematic Orchestra—Ma Fleur
4. Radiohead—In Rainbows
5. Menomena—Friend and Foe
Ritchie Young (Loch Lomond)
1. Robert Wyatt—Comicopera
2. Rufus Wainwright—Release the Stars
3. The Builders and the Butchers—Self-titled
4. Dolorean—You Can't Win
5. Port O'Brien—The Wind and the Swell
Curt Kentner (Magic Marker Records)
1. Shout Out Louds—Our Ill Wills
2. Jens Lekman—Night Falls over Kortedala
3. Electrelane—No Shouts, No Calls
4. A Sunny Day In Glasgow—Scribble Mural...
5. Good Shoes—Think Before You Speak
Marius Libman (Copy)
1. The Field—From Here We Go Sublime
2. Caribou—Andorra
3. Panther—Secret Lawns
4. Various artists—After Dark
5. Panda Bear—Person Pitch
Matt Brown (Bladen County Records)
1. Bon Iver—For Emma, Forever Ago
2. Iron and Wine—The Shepherd's Dog
3. Port O'Brien—The Wind and the Swell
4. Panda Bear—Person Pitch
5. The Besnard Lakes—The Besnard Lakes Are the Dark Horse
Matthew Henderson (Crosstide)
1. Animal Collective—Strawberry Jam
2. Jay-Z—American Gangster
3. Jens Lekman—Night Falls over Kortedala
4. M.I.A.—Kala
5. Radiohead—In Rainbows
Ned Lannamann (writer, Portland Mercury)
1. Frightened Rabbit—Sing the Greys
2. Broken Social Scene Presents Kevin Drew— Spirit If...
3. Andrew Bird—Armchair Apocrypha
4. King Khan and the Shrines—What Is?!
5. Miracle Fortress—Five Roses
Noah Mickens (Rotture)
1. Basic Fix—Self-titled
2. Forgotten Fish Memory Orchestra—If I Had a Hi-Fi
3. Moe! Staiano—The Absolute Tradition of No Traditions
4. Magick Daggers—Black Diamonds
5. Evolutionary Jass Band—What's Lost
Colin Grigson (Plan R)
1. P.R.F.—We Got Disease 7-inch
2. Government Warning—Arrested 7-inch
3. Sleepwalkers R.I.P.—Self-Tiled 7-inch
4. B.U.S.H.—Sao Paulo
5. Criminal Damage—No Solution
Victor Nash (Point Juncture, WA)
1. Karl Blau—Dance Positive
2. Modernstate—The Burning Beard
3. Sonic Youth—The Destroyed Room
4. Electrelane—No Shouts, No Calls
5. Neil Young—Live at Massey Hall 1971
Aaron Beam (Red Fang, Ancient Age)
1. The Ax—Black Sea/The Zodiac 7-inch
2. Birds of Avalon—Bazaar Bazaar
3. Blitzen Trapper—Wild Mountain Nation
4. Lions—No Generation
5. Middian—Age Eternal
Alberta Poon (Reporter)
1. Chromatics—Night Drive
2. Battles—Mirrored
3. Menomena—Friend and Foe
4. Kickball—Everything Is a Miracle Nothing
is A Miracle, Everything Is
5. The Shins—Wincing the Night Away
Ryan Sollee (The Builders and the Butchers)
1. Run on Sentence—Oh When the Wind ...
2. Arcade Fire—Neon Bible
3. Bowerbirds—Hymns for a Dark Horse
4. Loch Lomond—Paper the Walls
5. Amy Winehouse—Back to Black
Steve Schroeder (States Rights Records)
1. Dirty Projectors—Rise Above
2. White Rainbow—Prism of Eternal Now
3. YACHT—I Believe in You, Your Magic Is Real
4. Kathy Diamond—Miss Diamond to You
5. Peace—On Earth
Swan Island
1. M.I.A.—Kala
2. Lavender Diamond—Imagine Our Love
3. Arcade Fire—Neon Bible
4. Bat for Lashes—Fur and Gold
5. The Auditorium—Where's T-Bone?
Greg Glover (94.7 FM, Arena Rock Recording Company)
1. The Young Knives—Voices of Animals and Men
2. House & Parish—One, One-Thousand
3. AA Bondy—American Hearts
4. Josh Ritter—The Historical Conquests...
5. The Cribs—Men's Needs, Women's Needs...
Kevin O'Connor (Talkdemonic)
1. Thee More Shallows—Book of Bad Breaks
2. Voice of the Seven Woods—The Journey
3. Caribou—Andorra
4. Menomena—Friend and Foe
5. Black Moth Super Rainbow—Dandelion Gum
Danny Seim (Menomena, Lackthereof)
1. The National—Boxer
2. M.I.A.—Kala
3. 31Knots—The Days and Nights of Everything Anywhere
4. Panda Bear—Person Pitch
5. Dat'r—Turn up the Ghosts