A Belated Adieu to 2007 - Music

Right. We've all done the festivals, the gigs and the parties. We've contracted trench foot at Oxegen (yes, yes - we sold our souls), we've rejoiced at Body and Soul, at Tir na Gaisce, at the Tivoli and, lest we forget, at Rathgar Road. We've spilt half-pints of warm, flat beer on each others shirts while trying to steal a Modeselektor's bottle of Heineken. We've given Albert Hammond Junior his first drink of Buckfast. We've played bongos in Havana.

In short, it was a good year for music, and there have been far too many great records released in 2007 for me to be able to rank them (nor should they be ranked, really). Some of my favourites are thus*:

Beirut - The Flying Club Cup - (BA DA BING)

Young genius records promising multi-instrumental first record with strong Balkan influence. Said genius follows up with a more complete franco-themed sophomore effort. Beautiful stuff.
Beirut - Nantes mp3

Apparat - Walls - (Shitkatapult)

The Berlin producer's first full-length album since the genre-mashing Orchestra of Bubbles collaboration with bPitch Control's Ellen Allian is a collection of haunting Glitch/IDM soundscapes, occasionally interspersed with a gripping falsetto. The poor attendance and dismal sound at his Electric Picnic appearance did him no justice.

Modeselektor - Happy Birthday - (bPitch Control)

Another follow-up to an incredible début, the ever-so-slightly darker Happy Birthday builds on the mesmerising mix of techno, electronica and eurocrunk found on Hello Mom. Features vocals from Thom Yorke, Paul St Hiliare and, not for the first time, a show-stealing collaboration with TTC. Tivoli gig last November was a belter.

Broken Social Scene Presents Kevin Drew - Spirit If... - (Arts and Crafts)

A strangely overlooked record from the driving force behind one of the best bands around in the past few years. BSS's usual mix of slow-burning oddities, quirky lyrics and triumphant crescendos are still in evidence for Drew's first 'solo' record, albeit with a slightly more personal tone. Super gig last October in Tripod too. The full collection of BSSers return to Dublin in May. Do it.

The Field - From Here We Go Sublime - (Kompakt)

Quite probably my album of the year. An intensely captivating, often ebullient series of pulses that guide the listener to an almost revelatory sense of clarity. The elegant simplicity and sheer beauty consistent throughout the record bring minimal techno to an immediacy rarely found across the genre - it is simply one of the year's most intricate and astonishingly engaging records. Not to be missed live either, as anyone present at the last Electric Picnic will testify. Plays Dublin on February 15th.

Burial - Untrue - (Hyperdub)

Quite where this came from is something I'll never grasp. A nocturnal London dubstep producer - known in this guise, he reckons, to only five people - is the man who has quite possibly pushed the genre as close to the mainstream as it can go. Untrue is a haunting collection of intense, brooding, deep dubstep (deepstep? Anyone?). Classic late-night listening.

Interpol - Our Love To Admire - (Capitol Records)

Interesting one, this. Though clearly a record of immense commercial appeal, the trademark sinister delivery of the New Yorkers' third effort carries with it a steely honesty and haunting unease. Not that this represents a emphatic shift from their direction - their back catalogue reveals enough insights into Banks' knack for captivating introspection to suggest this was on the cards - it nonetheless underlines a significant development from the technical precision and comparative homogeneity of their sophomore release, Antics. OLTA's most striking aspect is perhaps the sheer range of rhythm and emotion on display: from the thumping anguish of lead single The Heinrich Maneuver and the mature intensity of Pace is the Trick, to the soaring fervour of Pixies-influenced Rest My Chemistry and the eerie ebb and flow of experimental album closer The Lighthouse, the record's unwavering dedication to quality is just about the only constant on show. On top of all this, of course, is the fact that they're undeniably, irrepresibly, unflinchingly, very, very cool.

Radiohead - In Rainbows - (Self-released on t'interweb, apparently)

Behind all the yapping about new business models, over-priced tickets and shit weekend-review articles lies a truly outstanding record. In Rainbows makes sense of ten years in experimental mode. From the electronic breakbeat intro of 15 Step to the haunting swoons of Reckoner (as fine a song as I've heard in years. Anywhere.) and the gripping album closer Videotape (a classic example of considered restraint. Snow Patrol etc take note), Radiohead's seventh effort appears to sound the beginning of a new, more rounded passage to maturity. A timely reminder of just how far the rest have to catch-up.

*This is a non-exhaustive list. Special mentions go to, amongst others:

Gui Boratto - Chromophobia

Panda Bear - Person Pitch

The National - Boxer

Matthew Dear - Asa Breed (Four Tet's remix of Deserter is incredible)
Feist - The Reminder

Cinematic Orchestra - Ma Fleur

LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver (should really be up there, shouldn't it.)

Arcade Fire - Neon Bible

Caribou - Andorra

Okkervil River - The Stage Names

Adrian Crowley - Long Distance Swimmer.

Record-That's-Probably-Good-But-I-Haven't-Heard-It-Yet: Animal Collective - Strawberry Jam.

Secretly Love: Bruce Springsteen - Magic.

Gig Of The Year: Donal Dineen (with Ronán O'Snodaigh - Kíla), Dark Room Notes, and Jape at Nimmo's Pier, Galway.

A surreal evening, the climax of which featured Ronán playing bodhrán along to a Pantha du Prince track in front of Dineen's video art. Astonishing stuff.

Special Mention: Everything at Body and Soul was just lovely.

Thing I Just Didn't Get This Year: Battles - Atlas.

Eóin.