Time for one last cursory glance over our shoulder at the fading year, as I round up the rest of my Best Of 2007 lists. Here goes!

Albums of The Year...



1. The National - Boxer
2. The Good The Bad and The Queen
3. Art Brut - It's A Bit Complicated
4. Bright Eyes - Cassadaga
5. Biffy Clyro - Puzzle
6. Radiohead - In Rainbows
7. Bloc Party - A Weekend In The City
8. Simian Mobile Disco - Attack Decay Release Sustain
9. Interpol - Our Love To Admire
10. Justice - Cross

So much to praise here. Ambition, reinvention and, more than anything else, wonderful music really. The National's album somehow managed to combine the widescreen emotion of Coldplay, the diverse authenticity of the Arcade Fire and the moody epics of Interpol to create an understated masterpiece.


Live Perfomances of The Year...



1. Rilo Kiley at Islington Academy & Shepherd's Bush Empire
2. Paul McCartney at Camden Electric Ballroom
3. Jesus and Mary Chain at Brixton Academy
4. The National at Shepherd's Bush Empire
5. We Are Scientists at The Union Chapel, Islington
6. Slint at Koko, Camden
7. Charlotte Hatherley at Islington Bar Academy
8. Biffy Clyro at The Union Chapel, Islington
9. Band Of Horses at Scala, King's Cross
10. Finka at The Dublin Castle, Camden

I'm buggered if I can remember all the dates, so you just get the venues.

It was a year of comebacks and farewells. But rather than Take That or the Spices, I managed to see Slint and Jesus and Mary Chain relive past glories. Oh, and a Beatle. Then there was our pet band Finka's swansong, although we didn't know at the time. Good luck lads.

Rilo Kiley hit the top by virtue of playing two great gigs three months apart, both just when I needed them. They managed to make their slightly disappointing recent album come alive onstage, and visibly grew in confidence from one show to the next. Factor in the hits from their previous records, then add a sublime twin ukele slot and, quite simply, Jenny Lewis, and they were untouchable. They also played a third, acoustic set at the Union Chapel for the Little Noise Sessions, which was quite wonderful...

...The very same sessions where We Are Scientists and Biffy Clyro excelled themselves on the same bill a few days before, despite having to follow up special guests Bono and The Edge. A night that featured my three favourite live moments of the year: Firstly watching an entire audience of unknowing Biffy fans' jaws hit the floor as U2 walked out on stage at half seven. Secondly, Biffy pissing themselves laughing onstage in the middle of their exemplerary cover of Rihanna's 'Umbrella', just after the "Come into me" line. And thirdly, We Are Scientists' bassist Chris stopping midsong to answer his mobile, "Yeah, man, U2 opened for us! ... Oh, you know, that one that goes 'Desiiiiiire', yeah... ok, I'd better call you back later, we're kind of half through a song here...", then finishing the song in a perfect end of the credits style. Now that's class.

Movies of The Year...



1. Control
2. Blade Runner - The Final Cut
3. Notes On A Scandal
4. The Bourne Ultimatum
5. I'm Not There
6. Sunshine
7. The Simpsons Movie
8. Hot Fuzz
9. 28 Weeks Later
10. Planet Terror

I know there were are plenty of great movies released last year that I've yet to see, but these were all great entertainment. Control wins by a country mile as it had the perfect combination of great acting, perfect casting and cinematography that was simultaneously grittily authentic and utterly spellbinding. Couple that with a soundtrack from heaven and a frankly astonishing live performance from the cast, this fan surrendered unconditionally. I can't wait to buy the DVD so I can see it again without being so hungover and exhausted I could barely focus.

Now some quickies, so to speak...

Band Of The Year: Rilo Kiley. Mainly thanks to their live shows, and falling in love with their second album The Execution Of All Things from 2002. Which is probably my actual album of the year, if we're being honest.

TV Shows: 'Flight Of The Conchords' and the ever superb 'Screenwipe'. Both on BBC Four. Naturally.

Books: Danny Wallace - Yes Man and Haruki Murakami - Dance Dance Dance. (Non-fiction and Fiction respectively. Neither were published this year, but I do read quite slowly...)


If you missed my singles of the year, they're here, or you can probably just scroll down a bit.

Here's what my other friends in the internet thought of 2007:

Betty's Singles Of The Year
Lord Bargain's Singles Of The Year
Lord Bargain and Swiss Toni's Albums of the Year
GirlonaTrain's Best Of 2007
Paula's Tracks of the Year
Karinki's Singles and Albums Of The Year
Neil's Singles Of Year
Silent Words Speak Loudest's Singles and Live Shows of the Year
Stevious's 2007 Questions
SwissToni's Earworms of 2007
Troubled Diva's Albums and Singles of 2007

And with that, I think we're done. So long, 2007. You had ups, you had downs. Sometimes you were just plain mean, but I think you meant well really. All in all, skipping from 2006 to 2008 without dropping in on you first just wouldn't have been the same. Thanks for the memories.