#10  God Is An Astronaut  Far From Refuge
2007 has been a pretty darn good year for post rock. For instance, God Is An Astronaut (a band I was meant to see live this year but missed due to a fever - curse the English winter! Curse it!) followed up the excellent All Is Violent, All Is Bright with one of the most underrated albums of the year. Far From Refuge is so wonderfully dark and apocalyptic it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
Best song: Radau


#9  Radiohead  In Rainbows
In Rainbows received more publicity for its innovative merchandising campaign (meself, I paid £4) than for its musical content, but probably unfairly so, since some of the songs here, particularly 15 Step, are among their best songs in a decade; however, as a whole entity, the album still falls short of Kid A and OK Computer, albeit only slightly.
Best songs: 15 Step, House of Cards


#8  Of Montreal  Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?
Mixing the eccentricity of Devo with the aloof of Fischerspooner, this album underlines how Of Montreal remain one of the most interesting acts of the decade.
Best song: Heimdalsgate Like a Promethean Curse


#7  M.I.A.  Kala
Her first album, Arular, in spite of critics getting palpitations over it, was promising, but it really was just that in my view. Kala is an entirely different kettle of fish, an accomplished, innovative work that marks her out not merely to be the best mainstream hip hop act in Britain, but one of the best solo artists around, period. And this isn't just me showing solidarity with a fellow Actonite, nuh-uh.
Best songs: Jimmy, $20


#6  Githead  Art Pop
A brilliant follow-up to their debut Profile, but then the term "debut" does it scant justice given that Colin Newman and Malka Spigel are musical pioneers and amongst some of the most influential musical artists of the past three decades; so in that light it's difficult to regard Githead as a "new" band in that sense. But even so, Art Pop is another excellent minimalistic masterpiece from start to finish. And I'm still giddily looking forward to the forthcoming Wire album.
Best songs: Drive By, Space Life.


#5  iLiKETRAiNS  Elegies To Lessons Learnt
I saw them live and they rocked. And Spencer Perceval is the best song of the year. There's not much else to say that I haven't already said here.
Best songs: Twenty Five Sins, Spencer Perceval, We Go Hunting


#4  65daysofsatic  The Destruction of Small Ideas
This work is far more convoluted than their previous efforts, far less straightforward, and there are times when it's almost tempting to reach the point of frustration with the seemingly constant change in mood and tempo which accompanies this album (not to mention some admittedly rather pretentious song titles), when all of a sudden, in I guess what you could call a moment of clarity, everything makes sense and you just get lost in the beauty of it all. That and their collaboration with Circle Takes The Square, The Conspiracy of Seeds, is simply awesome.
Best songs: Don't Go Down To Sorrow, Music is Music as Devices are Kisses is Everything, The Conspiracy of Seeds


#3  Les Savy Fav  Let's Stay Friends
I guess this is what they call a "sleeper". Hardly anyone noticed when it was released, and hardly anybody notices still, at the end of the year. But remember the silence that greeted Neutral Milk Hotel's In The Aeroplance Over The Sea back when it was released? Actually, you won't remember, because you didn't notice, you bloody philistines. Ditto this album. I dare say that, ten years from now, Let's Stay Friends will be regarded as an all-time classic, the way other classic albums that went unsung in their time (Astral Weeks and Bryter Layter are two other examples I can think of). And if you don't fall in love with them upon hearing Comes & Goes, you are a bad person and I shall never speak to you again.
Best song: What Would Wolves Do?, Comes & Goes


#2  Arcade Fire  Neon Bible
Music critics often write about the "difficult third album", but in my opinion the second album is far more substantial. It can make or break a promising band, either building on a successful debut to ensure some kind of posterity (think Meat Is Murder or Led Zeppelin II), or it ultimately disappoints and condemns a band to the horrors of One Hit Wonder-dom (eg. Room on Fire by the Strokes). For the sake of using a hopeless cliche (ok, another one), Arcade Fire are gearing up to be one of the defining bands of our era, and Neon Bible merely underlines that claim: while it's a seething sociopolitical statement on one level (made obvious by its title, illustrating both the rise of the religious right and the way a corporate thiefdom of sorts has replaced organised religion as the all-encompassing, controlling aspect of our lives), it maintains the bizarre but somehow appropriate mixture of virulent despair and downright optimism that made Funeral such a fantastic, energetic and endearing work. Not just among the albums of the year, but one of the best albums of the decade.
Best songs: Intervention, My Body is a Cage.


#1  Tocotronic  Kapitulation
Surprise! You expected me to put 65daysofstatic, iLIKETRAINS or some other post rock act at the top, didn't you? Certainly not some indie group from Hamburg. Alas, I was surprised myself when I heard Tocotronic's latest effort, because up until now their output, spanning the best part of two decades, had been rather lacklustre. However, this is anything but. Of course, you won't have heard of this album if you're outside German-speaking territories (and even there they are still relatively obscure), but trust me when I say that their lyrics are among the most enthralling and perceptive out there, whether it's a  walk in the park which transforms into a descent to the gates of Hell (in Harmonie ist eine Strategie), an ode to fame which slowly reveals itself to be an allegory to the insecurity and alienation which are among fame's children (Aus Meiner Festung), and where all failed relationships are ultimately a case of self-sabotage (Verschwör Dich Gegen Dich). Kapitulation is a fantastic album, a more than welcome revelation for German rock music, and the best album of the year without a shadow of a doubt. And no, you don't need to understand German to appreciate its brilliance, just as you don't need to speak Icelandic to appreciate Sigur Ros.
Best song(s): Verschwör' Dich Gegen Dich, Harmonie Ist Eine Strategie, Aus Meiner Festung

Lest we forget...
2006  Joanna Newsom  Ys
2005  Sigur Ros  Takk...
2004  Arcade Fire  Funeral
2003  Explosions In The Sky  The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place
2002  Agalloch  The Mantle
2001  A Silver Mt. Zion  Born Into Trouble As The Sparks Fly Upward
2000  Godspeed You! Black Emperor  Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven
1999  The Flaming Lips  The Soft Bulletin
1998  Neutral Milk Hotel  In The Aeroplane Over The Sea
1997  Spiritualized  Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space

Phew. Coming up - my favourite movies of the year. :D