Things I Like

Here's some songs I've been enjoying in 2007.
Firstly, the best thing I've heard all year, Parting of the Sensory by Modest Mouse. The linked video is just one of those fan-made cobbled-together things, but you get to hear the song. It sounds simultaneously angry, hurt, sad, and exhausted, before spinning into a sort of terrifying boogaloo hoedown, and the refrain that "someday you will die somehow and something's gonna steal your carbon." It's completely remarkable, if you're into terrifying boogaloo hoedowns.
Right behind is Arcade Fire's Intervention. All the trendy indie rock kids have been going ape about Arcade Fire, and really, why not?
Next, Grip Like A Vice, by The Go! Team. Super-funky, with kitchen sink present and accounted for.
M.I.A. has an even louder, funkier kitchen sink, banging all over the place in Boyz. As David Bowie wrote on Ziggy Stardust, "to be played at maximum volume."
Bjork has to get a mention every time she puts out a record - have a look at Earth Intruders. Ditto Radiohead - my pick off In Rainbows is Weird Fishes / Arpeggi (not a real video either, oh well).
I have no idea who Bluejuice are, but their song Vitriol is a first-class lesson in how to make a great video with no budget. The fake-interview at the start is hilarious.
My favourite video of the year is All My Friends by LCD Soundsystem. It does that neat trick of building up momentum and energy gradually, without you really noticing, without going "BANG! CHORUS! LOUD BIT!" like some songs tend to do.
Architecture In Helsinki can't put a foot wrong - cue the steel drums in Heart It Races.
The Polyphonic Spree keep making great pop songs, though the frontman looks like more of a tool all the time.
Lastly, Just A Song About Ping Pong, by Operator Please, is my pick for winning the Hottest 100. I'm sure I'm losing all trendy indie rock cred by endorsing a pop-chart hit by a bunch of high school kids, but so be it. Everyone in this band looks about twelve years old, and I'd give full praise for any schoolkid who can write a decent pop tune (Hanson aside, because they were evil).