“Billboard” Asks Musicians For Their Favorite Records Of 2007 With Hilarious/Confusing Results

jharv | December 18, 2007 12:30 pm
jessicasimpson.jpg

From Pitchfork to Artforum, publications love to pad out their year-end coverage with Top Ten lists from musicians, whether world-famous or positively subterranean, but perhaps only Billboard could bring together Greg Dulli and Katharine McPhee. Instead of reprinting them all–there are many, and do you really care that the dudes from Vampire Weekend also liked that Panda Bear record an awful lot?–we’ve included our “Top Three Lists From Billboards‘s Top Tens” after the jump, along with our “The Good,” “The Bad,” and “The Whaaaa?” wrap-up, so as not to spoil the fun.

JOHN DARNIELLE’s picks for best albums of 2007

Lead singer, The Mountain Goats

1. Bowerbirds, “Songs for a Dark Horse” (Burly Time)

2. CocoRosie, “The Adventures of Ghosthorse & Stillborn” (Touch & Go)

3. Bloody Panda, “Pheromone” (Level Plane)

4. Pig Destroyer, “Phantom Limb” (Relapse)

5. Bottomless Pit, “Hammer of the Gods” (Comedy Minus One)

6. Various Artists, “The Kings of Reggae” (Rapster)

7. Babyshambles, “Shotters Nation” (Astralwerks)

8. Foetopsy, “In the Bathroom” (Barbarian)

9. Mayhem, “Ordo ad Chao” (Season of Mist)

10. Om, “Pilgrimage” (Southern Lord)

TOM DeLONGE’s picks for best albums of 2007 Lead Singer, Angels & Airwaves In no order: Tegan & Sara, “The Con” (Sire) I’m really blown away by them. I think they’re amazing. Bloc Party, “A Weekend in the City” (Vice) We played with them at the Reading Festival. Seeing 60,000 people go off to Bloc Party was absolutely incredible. Angels & Airwaves, “I-Empire” (Geffen) Nobody’s doing anything like the trailer for “I-Empire.” It’s on our web site, and I guarantee you every band’s watching it going, “How the fuck did they pull it off?” Spank Rock at the MTVU Awards There’s a kid who looks like Urkel who was dressed up as Run-DMC for Halloween. It was really cool and different. The Police, Anaheim, CA, Honda Center, June 21, 2007 That was the most amazing thing ever. It was like U2’s production but with a punk rock band. It just blew my mind.

JESSICA SIMPSON’s picks for best albums of 2007 1. Colbie Callait, “Coco” (Universal Republic) 2. Justin Timberlake, “FutureSex/LoveSounds” (Jive) 3. James Morrison, “Undiscovered” (Interscope) 4. The Wreckers, “Stand Still, Look Pretty” (Maverick) 5. Sigur Ros, “Hvarf/Heim” (XL Recordings) 6. The White Stripes, “Icky Thump” (Warner Bros.) 7. Ray LaMontagne, “Till the Sun Turns Black” (RCA) 8. Keane, “Under the Iron Sea” (Interscope) 9. Mute Math, “Mute Math” (Teleprompt/Warner Bros.)

THE GOOD: John Darnielle’s list has to be the first (and only) time comedy grindcorers Foetopsy (sample song titles: “Deformed Foetal Scrotal,” “Scab In A Puddin’ Cup”) will rate a reference in the hallowed pages of Billboard. Unless America suddenly starts craving 10-second songs about forced rectal exams. THE BAD: Sure, Maura and I both snickered at Tom DeLonge (positively!) comparing Spank Rock to Urkel after she sent me the former Blinker’s list this morning. But any points for that unintended dis are deducted for including his own band in his Top 5. That’s just bad form, Tom. THE WHAAAA? Jessica Simpson sharing a tender moment with Tony Romo while listening to Sigur Ros. So wrong and yet so… no, it’s just kinda wrong.

The Year In Music: Artists Picks [Billboard]