Best of 2007

Claire Dupree

Favourite Album – There’s been so many this year it’s hard to choose! I think We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank by Modest Mouse just about gets to the top of my list.

Favourite Live Gig – Am I allowed to say the whole of NARC. Fest in July? Of course I am! It’s my bloody magazine!

Favourite New Band – Although they’re not strictly ‘new’ Okkervil River, because they make me cry a little bit.

Brian Gibson

Favourite Album – Sound of Silver by LCD Sound System. Mr Murphy’s best work, this album has become stuck somewhere inside me this year.

Favourite Live Gig – Willy Mason at the Edinburgh Fringe. I’d only heard the singles but was blown away by Willy (tee hee) and his band and they did about 36 encores.

Favourite New Band – Los Campesinos. Happy happy joy joy!!

Conor McArdle

Favourite Album – Giant by Herman Dune. Simple heart-warming songs of long distance relationships, cold lakesides, and monkeys. Beautifully crafted with crystal clear production.

Favorite Local Band - Kubichek!

Favourite Live Gig – Boredoms at Glasgow Arches in October.

Band of the Year – LCD Soundsystem.

Ewan McIntyre

Favourite Album - To be honest 2007 has been a bit of a disappointing year for me. I love the Caribou record, and The Shins’ Wincing The Night Away is great, but that seems like a long time ago now. I’m really looking forward to the Envelopes Here Comes The Wind – the best LP that wasn’t released in ’07.

Favourite Live Gig - Fionn Regan at Cap A Pie in Dipton in February. A strange and wonderful venue, a snowy night and a beautiful gig. 

Favourite Local Band – Dog Years, without a doubt. A fine band, never mind a fine local band.

Band of the Year – Envelopes. No LP, but a couple of great shows in Newcastle and Durham earlier in the year. Lovely people too. They should be huge, but I’m glad they’re not.

John Conway

Favourite Album – I’m showing my old man side and going with Annie Lennox, Songs of Mass Destruction.  It may have a shite name, but otherwise it’s ace.

Favourite Live Gig - Back to the 80s when Erasure played the Academy. You mock? You're a tasteless fool. The potent combination of electro power pop and previously unseen levels of gayness make Erasure better than your favourite band.
Favourite New Band - School of Language may be only one man (and so not actually a ‘band’), but wipes the competition clean.
Favourite Local Band - It's a mystery to me where all the decent new bands are, as it is I'm torn between the (vaguely new) New Vinyls, the (not that new) People of Santiago and the (definitely not new) Blackflower. They should all conquer the world.
Band of the Year - Am I allowed to say the Spice Girls? Or will the harrowing remnants of All Saints mysteriously devoted (and apparantly deaf) fans rend me limb from limb?

Tommy Jackson

Favourite Album – Babyshambles - Shotters Nation. Could this be the album where Pete Doherty proves himself? Down In Albion was shite, to be fair, but Shotters Nation rises to what can only be described as Libertine-esque levels of songwriting. If he could shake off the dodgy reputation, this could be Pete's finest hour.
Favourite Live Gig – No contest. Nine Inch Nails at Leeds Festival. I went in expecting nothing and getting the world. Trent Reznor was like a man possessed, and even the reformed Smashing Pumpkins could not beat it. Everything was right for this show, and I doubt I will see a better show as long as I live.
Favourite New Band – Despite not being totally new, having fronted the fantastic Million Dead, Frank Turner stands out in this category. His cynically elegant take on socially-aware folk-punk sets him well above his peers. Sleep Is For The Week is a superb album, and his live shows are effortlessly brilliant, with a wonderful sense of humility thrown in.
Favourite Local Band - Kubichek! have to get the nod here. They're not brand new, but they are awesome, and their album is far better than their years suggest. Live they are immense, and they have been criminally overlooked in far too many corners of this notoriously fickle industry.
Band of the Year – After his previous Glastonbury appearance, where he took to the stage pissed and launched into a highly ill-advised tirade against John Peel, it was anticipated that Conor Oberst would never darken the stages of Somerset again. However, he returned, he apologised he played a stormer. As well as that, he managed to create a stunner of an album in Cassadga, so Bright Eyes is my choice for the best of 2007.

Narinder Purba

Favourite Album – I gotta say, it's a tough call, but I have three. Kala by M.I.A, Because Of The Times by Kings of Leon and Once Again by John Legend.

Favourite Live Gig – Amy Winehouse at Northumbria Uni. Amy was smoking and ridiculously heavy. The lady's got soul.

Holly Poynton

Favourite Album – Rilo Kiley's Under The Blacklight.
Favourite Live Gig - Misty's Big Adventure at Newcastle Performance Academy.
Favourite New Band – Sky Larkin.

Matt Young

Favourite Album – Wincing The Night Away by The Shins.
Favourite New Band - Blood Red Shoes and/or The Rifles.
Favourite Local Band – People of Santiago.
Band of the Year – iLiKETRAiNS.

Andrew Curry

Favourite Album – Bright Eyes – Cassadaga. A return to brilliance for Conor, I loved I'm wide awake... and I love this even more.
Favourite Live Gig – Arcade Fire, either in Newcastle or at Leeds festival, it's all good.
Favourite New Band – Joe Lean And The Jing Jang Jong.

Favourite Local Band – Ever Since The Lake Caught Fire. Arguably the best band in Newcastle - and named after a Simpsons quote.
Band of the Year – Radiohead. In Rainbows was a great album - and free I might add.

Chris Peet

Favourite Album - Album of the year for me is easily Not Enough Night by Kubichek!. Put simply, it's a brilliant piece of work. Inspiring, intelligent and a shock to the senses.

Favourite Live Gig – Kings of Leon at the Academy was a sublime gig. Catweasels at the Academy, Kubichek! at the Academy. It's definitely one of those three...

Favourite New Band - Biffy Clyro raised my pulse this year which is always a good thing.

Favourite Local Band – Where do I start? Jeans goes POP!, New Vinyls, Dog Years, Spies In Limbo,  Catweasels, Freerunner, The Illegal Waste... Given that I've seen about  2 million local bands this year I'm spoilt for choice.

Band of the Year – Kings of Leon. They've moved up a notch.

Paul Patterson/European Animal

Favourite Album – Modeselektor - Happy Birthday! (BPitch Control) For us this LP pretty much captured everything great about electronic music, and it came out at just the right time! Pretty much showing the rest of the world how to make dance music.
Favourite Live Gig - !!! (Chk Chk Chk) at Manchester Ritz in March. Basically if you've never seen this band live YOU NEED TO!!
Favourite New Band - Tokyo Police Club. With new bands almost ten a penny these days it’s so refreshing to actually hear a band and be really excited by each and every sound they make.
Band of the Year – The Rakes. This question is hard!! It has to go to The Rakes though.

Helen Foley

Favourite Local Band – Flowers of Evil.

Favourite Live Gig – Mastodon.

Favourite New Band – Battles.

James Grey

Favourite Album - The Twilight Sad - Fourteen Autumns & Fifteen Winters, Various Artists - David Shrigley's Worried Noodles or Loney, Dear - Loney, Noir.

Favourite Live Gig - Deerhoof and Chippewa Falls at Independent, Joanna Newsom at The Sage or Sodastream, Pete Dale & The Beta Males and St. James Infirmary at The Head of Steam.

Nikki Chivers

Favourite Album – Biffy Clyro’s Puzzle.
Favourite Live Gig – Lake Me at Head of Steam. These girls are so talented and their music is very powerful.
Favourite Local Band – The 27 Club. The most diverse and original band I've seen in a long time.
Band of the Year - Arcade Fire. I’ve loved them since the beginning, saw them at Leeds Festival and it confirmed they are the best band of the year!

Chris Riding

Favourite Album – Just Jack – Overtones.

Favourite Live Gig – Morie Kante at Tynemouth Priory - booze, the seaside and an early 90s dance sample legend, who could ask for more on a summer’s night?

Liam O’Neill

Favourite Album – They Came From The Sun by Yourcodenameis:milo.

Favourite Live Gig – Biffy Clyro.

Favourite New Band – Black Lips.

Favourite Local Band –The Gevelsberg Horror, go and see them at any opportunity you get!

Band of the Year – Yourcodenameis:milo. Such a shame!

Oliver Rauer

Favourite Album – Death Is This Communion by High On Fire.
Favourite Live Gig - Heaven & Hell at the Arena (but only because I'm a fan).

Favourite Local Band – Nord.

Chris Owens

Favourite Album - Men's Needs, Women's Needs, Whatever by The Cribs.
Favourite Live Gig - Klaxons and Sunshine Underground on the NME rave tour.
Favourite New Band – The Ting Tings.
Favourite Local Band - Minotaurs.
Band of the Year – The Cribs.

Craig Donnelly

Favourite Live Gig – Paul Gilbert at Leeds Rios. I took the camera on the off-chance I could shoot it.  Was allowed to sit in the pit for the entire gig.  I’m a mega fan so to see him play from such close quarters AND take photos was amazing.

Favourite Local Band – Ten Ton Friday. Hard and heavy jazz metal funk country fusion!

Andrew Richardson

Favourite Album - LCD  oundsystem - Sound of Silver.

Favourite Live Gig – Deerhoof at Independent in Sunderland.

Favourite New Band - The Twilight Sad.

Band of the Year - Arctic Monkeys (no, seriously).

Carla Washbourne

Favourite Album – Arcade Fire - Neon Bible.

Favourite Live Gig – Muse at Wembley.

Favourite Local Band – Moira Stewart.

Band of the Year – Patrick Wolf.

Ryan Edy

Favourite Album - The Klaxons – Myths Of The Near Future.

Favourite Live Gig – The Pigeon Detectives.

Favourite Local Band – The Modes.

Paul Gibbins

Favourite Album – Either Beirut's Flying Club Cup or (rather shamefully) Babyshambles' Shotters Nation.

Favourite Live Gig - Probably Enter Shikari and Yourcodenameis:milo because it was an absolutely crazy gig in a fanatical atmosphere.

Favourite Local Band – Spies In Limbo or Strangers In Polaroids, they're both making music that's very unique among the local scene.

Band of the Year – This year I totally fell in love with Maximo Park after ignoring them slightly in the past.

Ettrick Scott

Band of the Year – Klaxons. Effortlessly making all other bands look rubbish. They've got the songs, the hair and the dress-sense of the truly enlightened, all combined with a willingness to sonically explore, and the vital ability to never take themselves too seriously. Most of all, they've turned into a fucking killer live band this year. Last time I saw them, I was tapping up strangers in the crowd for a go on their poppers, and I've not done that in years. The fact that loads of people think they're shit and just do not get them makes it even better.

Zeinab Malik

Favourite Album - It's gotta be a three-way tie between Kings of Leon, Arcade Fire and Interpol.

Favourite Live Gig - Kings of Leon at Carling Academy.

Rob Sampson

Favourite Album – A Sunny Day In Glasgow - Scribble Mural Comic Journal, The National - Boxer or Elliott Smith - New Moon

Favourite New Band – Black Kids.

Band of the Year – The National.

Neily Alimohamadi

Favourite Album – Magik Markers – Boss, Asobi Seksu – Citrus, Mixtapes And Cellmates – Mixtapes And Cellmates or Animal Collective – Strawberry Jam.
Favourite New Band - Ipso Facto.
Favourite Live Gig – Mit and Theoretical Girl at the Star And Shadow, Eighties Matchbox B-line Disaster at the Academy or Arcade Fire at the Arena.
Favourite Local Band – Beth Jeans Houghton, Chippewa Falls or Das Wanderlust.
Band of the Year - Bat For Lashes or The Royal We.

David Rutherford

Favourite Album - Let's Stay Friends by Les Savy Fav.

Favourite Live Gig - Super Furry Animals at Carling Academy.

Favourite New Band - Future Of The Left.

Favourite Local Band – Spraydog.

Thomas Bagnall

Favourite Album - Klaxons - Myths Of The Near Future. There have been many, many NME-hyped bands, but none has deserved that hype more than Klaxons. It's not new rave, it's just fantastic, flawless pop music, and they fully deserved to win the Mercury Music Prize. 

Favourite Live Gig – Battles at Northumbria University in October was the only gig I immediately wanted to see again in its entirety as soon as I had left, but the best fun I had at a gig was The Apples In Stereo at The Other Rooms in May. Just brilliant.  

Favourite Local Band - 2007 has been a bit of a let down for me after the excitement of the previous two years. Bands who seemed destined for greatness seem to be stagnating, and there hasn’t been a truly exciting new band for some time. Having said that, New Vinyls display more potential and hope for the future than just about everyone else put together.  

Band of the Year – Radiohead,  for shaking the music industry to its very core by doing something very simple indeed – letting fans decide how much their music was worth. 
Oh, and I know best single wasn’t a category, but I can’t let a piece on music in 2007 go without mentioning what was without a doubt the greatest single song of the last twelve months – Umbrella by Rihanna.

Bill Skinner

Favourite Album – Person Pitch by Panda Bear.
Favourite Live Gig - Sodastream at Head of Steam.
Favourite Local Band - Chippewa Falls.
Band of the Year – Asobi Seksu.

Matt Marlow

Favourite Album – Radiohead - In Rainbows. It was always going to be really. I've literally not been able to stop listening to it, no matter how much I've tried. Warm and human and jazzy. Now I'm just waiting for the second half of the album!
Favourite Live Gig - Future Of The Left at Head of Steam has to be up there, there's been loads though.
Favourite New Band - Subplots, The Winchell Riots, Wintermute or Grammatics. All relatively unknown but beginning to make waves already.
Favourite Local Band – Spies In Limbo. They're the only local band who I get excited by every time I see them. Their new songs are even better. Can't wait for the new recordings early next year!

Band of the Year - It'd have to be Radiohead for releasing In Rainbows several months earlier than expected and making my October.

Andrew Rawson

Favourite Album – Angels And Airwaves – I Empire.

Favourite Live Gig - Foo Fighters at the Arena.
Favourite Local Band - Show Off Summer.