A year that's ending - for most people time to enjoy some extra days off, with family, or friends if they're lucky. No such leisured occupations for the music fanatics, and especially the chartfreaks amongst us. For us, it's time to think hard, browse through our weblog entries or collect our weekly or monthly charts of our favourite records, re-listen all of them, trying to put them all in order of how much we love them, in a way which will still make sense years from now. A process which I could describe in far bigger detail than any casual reader would want to, so I'll restrain myself and just say that the following charts reflect best what music I loved most this year. - And it's, at the same time, My Way of saying, "Happy New Year! ...and you'd be forgiven to think "what useless way!", I know, I know. It would be better (and harder, stronger, faster) to spend my time on something like this, wouldn't it? :) xxx PS. For the insatiable - my CHARTbeats of two previous years are still online: Top 2005 Top 2006 The 100 best officially on CD or 7" released singles of 2007 001 MAXÏMO PARK Our Velocity 002 ARCADE FIRE No Cars Go 003 TOKYO POLICE CLUB Nature Of The Experiment 004 THE SHINS Phantom Limb 005 LCD SOUNDSYSTEM Someone Great 006 BADLY DRAWN BOY Promises 007 ARCADE FIRE Intervention 008 FEIST 1,2,3,4 009 THE KNIFE Marble House 010 TOKYO POLICE CLUB Cheer It On 011 ROBBIE WILLIAMS WITH PET SHOP BOYS She's Madonna 012 KLAXONS Golden Skans 013 RAZORLIGHT I Can't Stop This Feeling I've Got 014 ROBYN WITH KLEERUP With Every Heartbeat 015 NEW YOUNG PONY CLUB The Bomb 016 KATE NASH Foundations 017 KINGS OF LEON Fans 018 MAPS You Don't Know Her Name 019 LATE OF THE PIER Bathroom Gurgle 020 INTERPOL The Heinrich Maneuver 021 KLAXONS Gravity's Rainbow 022 BADLY DRAWN BOY A Journey For A To B 023 MIKA Grace Kelly 024 CARIBOU Melody Day 025 BLOC PARTY I Still Remember 026 JUSTICE D.A.N.C.E. 027 TOKYO POLICE CLUB Your English Is Good 028 GOOD SHOES Morden 029 PJ HARVEY The Piano 030 LEVY Glorious 031 COLD WAR KIDS Hospital Beds 032 MAXïMO PARK Books From Boxes 033 MALCOLM MIDDLETON Fuck It, I Love You 034 CANSEI DE SER SEXY Off The Hook 035 CASIOTONE FOR THE PAINFULL ALONE Young Shields 036 NELLY FURTADO Say It Right 037 ARCADE FIRE Keep The Car Running 038 THE SOUNDS Painted By Numbers 039 KINGS OF LEON On Call 040 THE SHINS Turn On Me 041 THE ENEMY Away From Here 042 INTERPOL Mammoth 043 THE NATIONAL Mistaken For Strangers 044 THE THERMALS A Pillar Of Salt 045 BLOC PARTY Flux 046 THE WOMBATS Let's Dance To Joy Division 047 ARCTIC MONKEYS Fluorescent Adolescent 048 JAKOBINARINA His Lyrics Are Disastrous 049 SHINY TOY GUNS You Are The One 050 THE SOUNDS Tony The Beat 051 THE SHINS Australia 052 MALCOLM MIDDLETON We're All Going To Die 053 THE CRIBS Our Bovine Public/Don't You Wanna Be Relevant? 054 FIGURINES Let's Head Out 055 BLOC PARTY The Prayer 056 PATRICK WOLF The Magic Position 057 PETER BJORN AND JOHN Objects Of My Affection 058 KULA SHAKER Second Sight 059 LCD SOUNDSYSTEM All My Friends 061 MAXïMO PARK Books From Boxes 062 FEIST My Moon My Man 063 SOPHIE ELLIS-BEXTOR Catch You 064 MALCOLM MIDDLETON A Brighter Beat 065 MIKA Love Today 066 DAVE GAHAN Kingdom 067 THE CRIBS Men's Needs 068 EDITORS Smokers Outside The Hospital Doors 069 VAN SHE Kelly 070 VOXTROT Trouble 071 BATTLE The Longest Time 072 COLD WAR KIDS Hang Me Up To Dry 073 HARRISONS Dear Constable 074 PATRICK WATSON Luscious Life/The Storm 075 PAUL MCCARTNEY Dance Tonight 076 THE PIGEON DETECTIVES I'm Not Sorry 077 MODEST MOUSE Dashboard 078 GHOSTS The World Is Outside 079 THE COURTEENERS Acrylic 080 JOE LEAN AND THE JING JANG JONG Lucio Starts Fires 081 CUT OFF YOUR HANDS Still Fond/Closed Eyes 082 SILVERSUN PICKUPS Well Thought Out Twinkles 083 THE HORRORS Gloves 084 AMY WINEHOUSE Back To Black 085 THE TEENAGERS Starlett Johansson 086 EDITORS An End Has A Start 087 BLOC PARTY Hunting For Witches 088 ELECTRELANE To The East 089 THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE QUEEN Green Fields 090 THE RAVEONETTES Dead Sound 091 THE RAKES We Danced Together 092 BONNIE "PRINCE" BILLY Strange Form Of Life 093 THE POLYPHONIC SPREE Running Away 094 GOOD SHOES Never Meant To Hurt You 095 I WAS A CUB SCOUT Pink Squares 096 THE COOPER TEMPLE CLAUSE Head 097 JARVIS Don't Let Him Waste Your Time 098 BLOOD RED SHOES It's Getting Boring By The Sea 099 LUKE HAINES Off My Rocker At The Art School Bop 100 HERMAN DüNE I Wish That I Could See You Soon Last year I cited the BBC, "Unless something goes badly awry with the upward curve in the general quality of pop music that began in 2002 and banked sharply skywards in 2006, then 2007 ought to be the greatest year for singles since records and records began." and added that, "Ironically, in the age of the disappearing singles market, the quality of the singles themselves have hardly ever been in a healthier state." - A statement which, thankfully, still rings true a year later. But, the amount of download-only singles is increasing rapidly, and the (brick-and-mortar) places where one can buy singles is still decreasing, so I, lover of not only the 7 inch single format but definitely the CD single format as well, am careful not to be too cheery. Still, there's absolutely nothing wrong with the quality of the singles that are released. Best of all, this year, was the Perfect Popsong that is Our Velocity. Just when you think you've heard the chorus, an even bigger hook urges its way to your ears. It's the second time Maxïmo Park receives the honour of delivering the best single of the year; Apply Some Pressure did the same in 2005. Difference is, parent album A Certain Trigger lived up to the greatness of its singles, whereas Our Earthly Pressures did nothing of the kind, its lead single being the sole classic on an otherwise rather uninspired sounding second offering from the Newcastle band. A final breakthrough (Editors-style), as a result, did not quite happen. The 50 best officially on CD or 12" released albums in 2007 001 ARCADE FIRE Neon Bible 002 FIGURINES When The Deer Wore Blue 003 THE MARY ONETTES The Mary Onettes 004 (WE ARE) PERFORMANCE (We Are) Performance 005 BLONDE REDHEAD 23 006 KINGS OF LEON Because Of The Times 007 THE SHINS Wincing The Night Away 008 PATRICK WOLF The Magic Position 009 INTERPOL Our Love To Admire 010 BLOC PARTY A Weekend In The City 011 MALCOLM MIDDLETON A Brighter Beat 012 PJ HARVEY White Chalk 013 KLAXONS Myths Of The Near Future 014 GREAT LAKE SWIMMERS Ongiara 015 LCD SOUNDSYSTEM Sound Of Silver 016 THE ARK Prayer For The Weekend 017 NEW YOUNG PONY CLUB Fantastic Playroom 018 MAXÏMO PARK Our Earthly Pleasures 019 APPIE KIM (=AOK) 020 JUSTICE † 021 ARCTIC MONKEYS Favourite Worst Nightmare 022 MAPS We Can Create 023 MIKA Life In Cartoon Motion 024 TURIN BRAKES Dark On Fire 025 EDITORS An End Has A Start 026 TELEVISION PERSONALITIES Are We Nearly There Yet? 027 PAUL MCCARTNEY Memory Almost Full 028 STARS In Our Bedroom After The War 029 OKKERVIL RIVER The Stage Names 030 SILVERSUN PICKUPS Carnavas 031 CARIBOU Andorra 032 DJ MEHDI Lucky Boy 033 TO MY BOY Messages 034 TEENAGE BAD GIRL Cocotte 035 BOYS NOIZE Oi Oi Oi 036 THE NATIONAL Boxer 037 ULRICH SCHNAUSS Goodbye 038 BATTLE Break The Banks 039 BJÖRK Volta 040 PATRICK WATSON Closer To Paradise 041 THE PIGEON DETECTIVES Wait For Me 042 LEVY Glorious 043 FEIST The Reminder 044 GOOD SHOES Think Before You Speak 045 THE MACCABEES Colour It In 046 BUTCHER BOY Profit In Your Poetry 047 BAND OF HORSES Cease To Begin 048 THE CRIBS Men's Needs, Women's Needs, Whatever 049 THE HORRORS Strange House 050 VALGEIR SIGURDSSON Ekvílibríum As much as I wanted to prevent it from happening, I had to agree with virtually everyone, in claiming Neon Bible is the best record of 2007. I wish I could have gone for a less obvious album, but alas, an album which sounds urgent from start to finish and has huge chords, organs, choirs, the best melodies of the year and gives you the feeling you can reach for the stars and beyond, and makes you feel both melancholic and triumphant at the same time just has to be #1. Figurines, The Mary Onettes and (We Are) Performance were in the running to claim the top spot as well. Figurines delivered a surprisingly good follow-up to the half-classic Skeleton but it couldn't prevent the fact they're still absolute unknowns outside their own country (Denmark). The Mary Onettes are basically New Order with Morten Harket on vocal duties, thinking up new Echo & The Bunnymen songs. Which means they are very, very good. The best Eighties album to not have been released in the Eighties (or Seventies). Something which could also be said of (We Are) Performance's debut album. Über-catchy synthipop songs with a British indie rock feel to them (a bit like a brighter White Rose Movement). Thus combining the two genres I love most. But because nobody else likes both styles at the same time, they're still unsigned. Meanwhile, despite their high positions, the third offerings by Patrick Wolf and Interpol were actually a tad disappointing. I probably expected too much of the former, and I just love the sound of the latter too much to really care their albums are suffering from the "diminishing returns" law. Still, a song like Who Do You Think? is one of their best songs yet. Last year, I praised the continuing wave of great British (indie)rock bands and consequent albums, and bemoaned the lack of truly inspired dance full-lengths. This year, this all turned drastically upside down. The best new British (indie/"London Calling festival"-)rock band albums came from The Pigeon Detectives, Good Shoes and The Maccabees, but to be honest, their albums don't even come near the quality of those by Dirty Pretty Things, The Kooks, The Rifles, Razorlight, The Long Blondes and Delays only a year before. To paraphrase BRMC: Whatever happened to (our) British Rock & Roll? Dance, however, flourished. Mostly thanks to French label Ed Banger, and all its followers. † by Justice was the cream of the crop, with an absolutely massive sound, and no boring bits whatsoever. Well, maybe he shouldn't have offered Uffie a guest spot - the only odd-one out on the Ed Banger label (as she is, quite frankly, without any noticeable talent outside her looks). And in Justice's slipstream, DJ Mehdi, Teenage Bad Girl and Boyz Noise also delivered very good goods, just as the dancey New Young Pony Club, To My Boy and Klaxons. Simian Mobile Disco, Shy Child and Digitalism didn't make the cut, but the future of dance is very bright indeed. To think how many talented producers are out there... MySpace after MySpace after MySpace... Finally, some words for the best Dutch album of the year. (Second-best David Gilmour Girls would have made the Top 100, if I had made one.) Out of the notorious ashes of De Nieuwe Vrolijkheid rose Appie Kim, and after only, like, nine months or sth, they delivered an album worthy of a SubPop stamp (label) of approval. Less people than I had hoped for noticed the album so far, but who knows, it might still happen... Something which also might still happen are albums by AC Berkheimer, Johnny's Landing, Neonbelle and Hasselhoff, four Dutch bands who might actually release a good album in 2008 - and make my Top 50 Albums of 2008 seem a bit more nationalistic. The 111 best songs which should have been singles* in 2007 * as far as I know, these ones weren't released as singles in either the UK or the NL 001 THE ARK Absolutely No Decorum 002 INTERPOL Who Do You Think? 003 JOANNA NEWSOM & THE YS STREET BAND Colleen 004 THE ARK New Pollution 005 SPOON The Ghost Of You Lingers 006 (WE ARE) PERFORMANCE Market Street (Everything Is Changing) 007 BLOC PARTY Song For Clay (Disappear Here) 008 ARCADE FIRE Black Waves/Bad Vibrations 009 THE PIGEON DETECTIVES Left Alone 010 STARS Take Me To The Riot 011 OKKERVIL RIVER Our Life Is Not A Movie Or Maybe 012 THE MARY ONETTES Lost 013 BLONDE REDHEAD Spring And By Summer 014 SOKO I'll Kill Her 015 TURIN BRAKES Last Chance 016 TOKYO POLICE CLUB Shoulders & Arms 017 THE MARY ONETTES Void 018 (WE ARE) PERFORMANCE Short Sharp Shock 019 ULRICH SCHNAUSS Medusa 020 ARCADE FIRE The Well And The Lighthouse 021 KATE NASH Like Maybe 022 SOPHIE ELLIS-BEXTOR If You Go 023 LATE OF THE PIER Space And The Woods 024 (WE ARE) PERFORMANCE It's Bad And It's Just Begun 025 TOKYO POLICE CLUB Be Good 026 TELEVISION PERSONALITIES If I Could Write Poetry 027 THE NATIONAL Fake Empire 028 MALCOLM MIDDLETON Four Cigarettes 029 THE TOUGH ALLIANCE First Class Riot 030 TOKYO POLICE CLUB If It Works 031 RÓISÍN MURPHY Movie Star 032 PAUL MCCARTNEY The End Of The End 033 THE MARY ONETTES Concrete 034 FEIST Brandy Alexander 035 BUTCHER BOY Profit In Your Poetry 036 FASCINATION Topshop Radio (I'll Never Dream That We've Made It) 037 KINGS OF LEON Ragoo 038 THE MARY ONETTES Still 039 BLONDE REDHEAD 23 040 PJ HARVEY The Mountain 041 FIGURINES Childhood Verse 042 TOKYO POLICE CLUB Citizens Of Tomorrow 043 SERENA MANEESH Drain Cosmetics 044 MODEST MOUSE Missed The Boat (feat. James Mercer) 045 MODESELEKTOR FEAT. THOM YORKE The White Flash 046 ALL NEW EVERYTHING Reactionary 047 THE LOVE RIOT The Basement 048 HAFDIS HULD Tomoko 049 BUTCHER BOY Keep Your Powder Dry 050 MALCOLM MIDDLETON Fight Like The Night 051 PATRICK WOLF Get Lost 052 BAND OF HORSES Ode To LRC 053 VALGEIR SIGURDSSON FEAT. BONNIE "PRINCE" BILLY Evolution Of Waters 054 UNDERWORLD Beautiful Burnout 055 MAPS It Will Find You 056 BJÖRK FEAT. ANTONY The Dull Flame Of Desire 057 NOISETTES Bridge To Canada 058 RÓISÍN MURPHY You Know Me Better 059 BUTCHER BOY I Know Who You Could Be 060 (WE ARE) PERFORMANCE Sex Etc. 061 BLOC PARTY Waiting For The 7.18 062 FILM SCHOOL Two Kinds 063 STARS The Night Starts Here 064 THE DANCE INC. Don't Run To The Suburbs 065 APPIE KIM Don't Chase That Devil 066 EFFI BRIEST Mirror Rim 067 JUSTICE Let There Be Light 068 CUT COPY So Haunted 069 BORN RUFFIANS Kurt Vonnegut 070 CHEWY CHOCOLATE COOKIES Time 071 KAVINSKY Dead Cruiser 072 THE RAKES Suspicious Eyes 073 ARCTIC MONKEYS Do Me A Favour 074 VOTE SHOWPONY Kixx For Kids 075 DJ MEHDI Signatune 076 CHROMATICS Mask 077 JUSTICE Genesis 078 TO MY BOY Eureka 079 KAVINSKY Wayfarer 080 RAZORLIGHT Funeral Blues 081 FELIX DA HOUSECAT Sweetfrosti 082 FEIST I Feel It All 083 INTERPOL Pace Is The Trick 084 LOST VALENTINOS Man With The Gun 085 MAXÏMO PARK By The Monument 086 IRON AND WINE White Tooth Man 087 FASCINATION Disco Fever 088 THE KBC Busy Hands 089 ANDREW BIRD Fiery Crash 090 KINGS OF LEON Knocked Up 091 YEASAYER 2080 092 BRIGHT EYES Coat Check Dream Song 093 SILVERSUN PICKUPS Dream At Tempo 119 094 ST. VINCENT Now, Now 095 APPIE KIM Shut Up Treatment 096 THE REAL HEAT Hearts Not Innit 097 BOYS NOIZE & Dance 098 FRIENDLY FIRES Your Love 099 MIDNIGHT JUGGERNAUTS Twenty Thousand Leagues 100 YELLE A Cause Des Garçons 101 NEW YOUNG PONY CLUB Hiding On The Staircase 102 WILD BEASTS Brave Bulging Buoyant Clairvoyants 103 FRANKMUSIK 3 Little Words 104 HEADS WE DANCE My Heart Is Set On You 105 DAGGERS Money 106 JOHNNY'S LANDING Vixen And The Vagabond 107 MISS KITTIN & THE HACKER Hometown 108 8080 Professor Murder 109 THE EXCITORS Didn't You 110 DEAD STEREO Gold Strike 111 THE MELTING ICE CAPS  A Good Night The 25 best concerts out of the 99 I attended in 2007 nb. And I haven't even attended a single outdoor festival in 2007, go figure... I'm amazed myself. In 2006, I witnessed 93 gigs, but that was the year I attended Melt, Pinkpop, Lowlands (albeit just one day) and Metropolis... 01 THE ARK, 2007-10-01, Rotterdam, Waterfront OMG. Second time The Ark delivered the Best Concert of The Year - this time even in my own country. And nobody noticed. Well, nobody apart from the perhaps 99 other believers in the Netherlands who all headed to... Waterfront, of all places. I have grown tired of trying to convince people of the absolute brilliance of The Ark, so I let someone I have convinced do the writing: (Tsk, growing tired - that's something lead singer Ola will probably never do. I am not worthy.) Taken from Ulkedoof 11 Best Shows of 2007, where the show, er, shows up at #1: "(...) they played as if the crowd consisted of 150.000.000 people instead of 150. We had to endure two lame supporting acts but were treated to THE BEST CONCERT OF THE YEAR! A glam-rock show that spits on the Scissor Sisters from such great heights that it isn't even funny anymore. Cried from enjoyment and peed from exitement. I get all barfy even thinking about how great that show was." Read more here: Best Band Ever And here: musicfrom.nl column And here: last.fm shouts 02 JOANNA NEWSOM, 2007-09-12, Amsterdam, Paradiso 03 JARVIS COCKER, 2007-01-22, Amsterdam, Paradiso 04 MARC ALMOND, 2007-10-27, Amsterdam, Paradiso 05 THE PIGEON DETECTIVES, 2007-03-30, Amsterdam, Paradiso, London Calling 06 SOKO, 2007-11-24, The Hague, Koninklijke Schouwburg, Crossing Border 07 FISCHERSPOONER, 2007-07-18, Amsterdam, Paradiso 08 BLONDE REDHEAD, 2007-07-02, Amsterdam, Melkweg 09 PATTI SMITH WITH SILVER MT. ZION AND VIC CHESNUTT, 2007-11-24, Koninklijke Schouwburg, Crossing Border 10 GREAT LAKE SWIMMERS, 2007-11-15, Amsterdam, Paradiso 11 INTERPOL, 2007-05-14, Amsterdam, Paradiso 12 MIKA, 2007-03-07, Amsterdam, Bitterzoet 13 I AM X, 2007-03-08, Amsterdam, Melkweg, Poptrash 14 JOAN AS POLICE WOMAN, 2007-06-26, Amsterdam, Paradiso 15 JOHNNY'S LANDING, 2007-09-12, Amsterdam, Heineken Music Hall 16 PATRICK WATSON, 2007-05-14, Amsterdam, Paradiso 17 THE HORRORS, 2007-04-18, Amsterdam, Paradiso 18 DIGITALISM, 2007-07-04, Amsterdam, Melkweg, 05 Days Off 19 BJÖRK, 2007-07-08, Amsterdam, Westerpark 20 ARCADE FIRE, 2007-11-13, Amsterdam, Heineken Music Hall 21 THE NATIONAL, 2007-11-28, Amsterdam, Melkweg 22 TO MY BOY, 2007-07-19, Amsterdam, Paradiso 23 BRETT ANDERSON, 2007-04-23, Amsterdam, Melkweg 24 FRIENDLY FIRES, 2007-11-02, Amsterdam, Paradiso, London Calling 25 TOKYO POLICE CLUB, 2007-02-18, Amsterdam, Paradiso + 30 live bonus tracks The 30 live moments of 2007 I'll hopefully never forget (awww...) 01 SOKO I'll Kill Her (Live at Crossing Border, The Hague) 02 JOANNA NEWSOM Peach, Plum, Pear (Live at Paradiso, Amsterdam) 03 FISCHERSPOONER Emerge (Live at Paradiso, Amsterdam) 04 PATRICK WATSON Man Under The Sea (Live at Paradiso, Amsterdam) 05 NEW YOUNG PONY CLUB Pump Up The Jam (Live at Paradiso, Amsterdam) 06 KULA SHAKER Melody Day (Live at Crossing Border, The Hague) 07 MARC ALMOND The Port Of Amsterdam (Live at Paradiso, Amsterdam) 08 JOAN AS POLICE WOMAN Are You Not Furious (Live at Paradiso, Amsterdam) 09 JARVIS Big Stuff (Live at Paradiso, Amsterdam) 10 PATTI SMITH & SILVER MT. ZION & VIC CHESNUTT Power To The People (Live at Crossing Border, The Hague) 11 FISCHERSPOONER Can't Dance (Live at Paradiso, Amsterdam) 12 FISCHERSPOONER Sweetness (Live at Paradiso, Amsterdam) 13 NEW YOUNG PONY CLUB The Bomb (Live at Paradiso, Amsterdam) 14 GREAT LAKE SWIMMERS I Am Part Of A Large Family (Live At Paradiso, Amsterdam) 15 ARCADE FIRE Age Of Consent (Live At Heineken Music Hall, Amsterdam) 16 STARSAILOR Tell Me It's Not Over (Light's Out) (Live at Paard van Troje, The Hague) 17 THE SOUNDS Tony The Beat (Rex The Dog Remix) (Live at Paard van Troje, The Hague) 18 SOKO My Wet Dreams (Live at Crossing Border, The Hague) 19 THE NATIONAL Mr. November (Live at Melkweg, Amsterdam) 20 MIKA Love Today (Live at Bitterzoet, Amsterdam) 21 MARC ALMOND Jacky (Live at Paradiso, Amsterdam) 22 BJÖRK Declare Independance (Live at Westerpark, Amsterdam) 23 JOHNNY'S LANDING Blue (Live at the Heineken Music Hall, Amsterdam) 24 INTERPOL Pioneer To The Falls (Live at Paradiso, Amsterdam) 25 I AM X President (Live at Melkweg, Amsterdam) 26 BELLA ET JASJA You've Been On My Mind (Live at Club Meander, Amsterdam) 27 FRIENDLY FIRES Paris (Live at Paradiso) 28 BELLA ET JASJA Low Happening (Live at Volta, Amsterdam) 29 ARCADE FIRE No Cars Go (Live At Heineken Music Hall, Amsterdam) 30 THE HUMAN LEAGUE Being Boiled (Live in 013, Tilburg) The 20 best designed* records of 2007 * Note: only based on the graphic design, not on any fancy packaging. For instance, the sleeve should still stand out printed in a magazine. 01 WILEY Playtime Is Over 02 LCD SOUNDSYSTEM Sound Of Silver 03 BJÖRK Volta 04 TRACEY THORN Out Of The Woods 05 PANDA BEAR Person Pitch 06 ARCADE FIRE The Neon Bible 07 BATTLES Mirrored 08 SPOON Ga Ga Ga Ga 09 DEERHOOF Friend Opportunity 10 DEERHUNTER Cryptograms 11 NOISETTES What's The Time Mr. Wolf? 12 LITTLE WINGS Soft Pow'r 13 COCOROSIE The Adventures Of Ghosthorse And Stillborn 14 TOUFFIC FARROUKH Tootya 15 THE GLIMMERS Eskimo V 16 BARON ZEN At The Mall R-E-M-I-X-E-S 17 THE PONYS Turn The Lights Out 18 WOLF & CUB Vessels 19 SOULWAX Most Of The Remixes... 20 M.I.A. Kala To be honest this is a bit of a random category, since there are so many well designed sleeves out there, I could just open a GonzoCircus, The Wire or any British music mag and find twenty more great covers in each issue. But the ones I selected I have remembered or noted, which is a quality in itself, in a way. + Worst Design Worst sleeve design - the horror! (Excluded are self-released records, which would make it too easy) 01 PINBACK Autumn Of Seraphs File Under: Progrock. Or...? 02 BRYAN FERRY Dylanesque What's that coming up behind Bryan's back, is it a monster? According to Wikipedia, Ferry is "famed for his suave visual style" and "studied fine art". Something went wrong along the way... 03 THIRTY SECONDS TO MARS A Beautiful Lie Probably designed by Jared Leto - in which case beautiful people don't necessarily make beautiful things. Luckily it's copy protected. 04 JOSS STONE Introducing Just look at it! 05 SARAH BETTENS Shine To think her previous album looked even ten times as bad... The 50 albums due in 2008 I look forward to most 01 LADYTRON 02 TOKYO POLICE CLUB 03 WHITE ROSE MOVEMENT 04 THE KOOKS 05 DIRTY PRETTY THINGS 06 SUFJAN STEVENS 07 LATE OF THE PIER 08 BELLE AND SEBASTIAN 09 FRANZ FERDINAND 10 MORRISSEY 11 ANTONY & THE JOHNSONS 12 COLDPLAY 13 THE LONG BLONDES 14 THE CURE 15 T.A.T.U. 16 VOTE SHOWPONY/VOTE SHOW PONY 17 STARSAILOR 18 KAVINSKY 19 REX THE DOG 20 THE MAGNETIC FIELDS 21 SIGUR ROS 22 LOST VALENTINOS 23 DAGGERS 24 THE KBC 25 THE WHIP 26 M83 27 DELAYS 28 VAN SHE 29 DEAD DISCO 30 WILD BEASTS 31 THE TEENAGERS 32 CUT OFF YOUR HANDS 33 FISCHERSPOONER 34 ZOOT WOMAN 35 FRANKMUSIK 36 CRYSTAL CASTLES 37 CAZALS 38 FRIENDLY FIRES 39 THE REAL HEAT 40 GOLDFRAPP 41 THE MUSIC 42 BLOOD RED SHOES 43 OASIS 44 THE DEPARTURE 45 MGMT 46 THE GHOST FREQUENCY 47 BOY KILL BOY 48 CAJUN DANCE PARTY 49 GLASVEGAS 50 THESE NEW PURITANS Top 5 Movies Best movies of 2007, as far as I have seen 01 CONTROL 02 REPRISE 03 RED ROAD 04 DAS LEBEN DER ANDEREN 05 SUMMER PALACE ...although I must say I have seen very few movies this year. Have you felt my CHARTbeat in 2007? ...for those of you bravecharts who have read all the way to the end - you might be interested to know you can join the mailinglist and be one of the lucky few (well there are more people on the list than you might care to believe) who receive my weekly charts every Friday night. Send me an e-mail: joinmychartbeatJUNKPART@schitterdisko.nl - and delete the anti-SPAM junk part of the e-mail address.