The Dude's Top Shit of 2007

And not my top shit mind you, although I could probably tell you about that if you really want me to... this is the shit that floated my boat this past year (in multiple parts):

ALBUMS

3. Jarvis Cocker, The Jarvis Cocker Record. I knew I had to get this album when I heard "(Cunts) Are Still Running The World" over the credits of Alfonso Cuaron's Children of Men and it didn't let me down. It's scathing satire made me laugh, the arrangements and production kicked my ass, and it's breadth and depth of subject matter really made me listen it every time I put it on, and that's something you really have to cherish these days.

2. Arcade Fire, Neon Bible. It was my favorite album of the year for a long time. Funky, soulful, densely orchestrated, a yearning, earnest piece of art that spoke to me every time I listened to it. A staggering sophomore effort.

1. Radiohead, In Rainbows. The first beautiful Radiohead record in 10 years, and goddamn was it worth the wait. I also had to like the whole bypass the middleman experiment, and the fact that it was like Radiohead announced on their blog that the album was coming out next week and wham it came out next week. The hype, the madness, the interest- that was all us. Fucking brilliant on every level and in every way.

Honorable Mentions: Rilo Kiley Under the Black Light (sexy, dirty, funky, the sexy cooing of Jenny Lewis is irresistable), Springsteen's Magic (the MAN is on a mission to save us from ourselves, bless him), both of those vintage live Neil Young cd's, and Sigur Ros Hvarf/Heim (the accoustic Heim side is awe inspiring).

MOVIES

3. Transformers. And I'm not fucking ashamed of that fact. It's the first Michael Bay movie that didn't make me want to vomit all over myself, the explosions and digital FX are mindboggling- thus making it the most perfect disaster/Godzilla/killer robots movie ever (the movie I've always wanted to see even if I didn't know it), and goddamn it satisfied on just about every level. Was it soulless? Probably (although probably not), but goddamn was it satisfying.

2. Grindhouse. The most intentionally misunderstood movie of all time. A gnarly trash cinema double feature that served as potentially definitive auteur statements of their respective makers. The most dirty fun I've had at a movie theater since the first Kill Bill and a film whose box office failure paradoxically actually signals the impending death of American culture.

1. Children of Men. Bleak yet affirming. A tour de force by Alfonso Cuaron and perfect in every respect.

Special Honorable Mentions: Michael Moore's magnificent Sicko and Wes Anderson's The Darjeerling Limited.