Okkervil River’s nuanced Americana pushed their The Stage Names to the top of at least one of 2007’s year-end top tens

As the year winds to its close and the weather grows frigid (at least in this hemisphere), a few things are sure to happen. People go crazy for consumerism and gastronomic indulgence, religious holidays are observed to varying degrees and people start filtering the art they experienced into prim and proper “best of” lists. Though most lists have yet to trickle out, some notable websites and publications have jumped the end-of-the-year gun, and Radio Silence is here to take a look at — and offer samples of — their number ones.

Stylus Magazine (www.stylusmagazine.com)

Stylus got one ball rolling early and put a stop to another by publishing its best-of list in November and simultaneously ceasing site updates. The former online institution picked LCD Soundsystem’s Sound of Silver as the best release of 2007, a pick that is sure to be echoed in weeks to come. The second proper album by DFA Records’ James Murphy, Silver presents an amalgamation of his influences — mainly David Bowie, disco, krautrock, Detroit techno and Daft Punk — creating a thoroughly fun affair, even while he examines the effects of aging. For a sample check out “Someone Great” (http://buzzhypemedia.com/mp3/LCDSoundsystem-SomeoneGreat.mp3). It’s not Murphy’s best song, but it adequately illustrates his charms.

Additionally, www.lcdremixed.com offers Sounds Like Silver, a track-by-track remix of Sound of Silver that was actually made available a few weeks before the original’s official release. It’s not as strong as its source material, but it’s still worth a listen.

Gorilla vs. Bear (www.gorillavsbear.blogspot.com)

Considering juggernaut MP3 blog Gorilla vs. Bear had been raving since January about Person Pitch, the second solo album from Animal Collective’s Panda Bear (Noah Lennox), no one was surprised when it showed up at number 1 on the blog’s list. The album employs an engaging smorgasbord of samples ranging from tribal chants, reggae songs, skateboard noises and Lennox’s muffled voice to create a more distinctive sound. Album opener “Comfy in Nautica” (www.paw-tracks.com/pandacomfy.mp3) and an abbreviated version of gorgeous centrepiece “Bros” (gvsbchris.com/13%20Bros%20%28edit%29.mp3) are both freely available, though neither capture the magnificence Pitch achieves when heard start to finish. A better introduction to Panda Bear can be had through his in-studio performance for Portuguese radio show Má Fama (podcast.radio.ist.utl.pt/mafama_20070107.mp3).

Paste Magazine (www.pastemagazine.com)

Paste fulfils their hipster-lite mandate by picking The National’s Boxer as album of the year. The album is a straight-ahead romp through mid-tempo rock boosted by some inspired drumming and Matt Berninger’s husky, caddish vocals. It’s far from the most ambitious release of the year, but it succeeds at what it attempts remarkably well and is the perfect pick for Paste, a magazine that sometimes awkwardly straddles the line between mainstream and fringe. MP3 blog Sixeyes, who also named Boxer album of the year, (sixeyes.blogspot.com/2007/11/album-of-year-2007-nationals-boxer.html) has “Slow Show” and a variety of alternate takes on Boxer tracks available for free download.

Largehearted Boy (www.largeheartedboy.com)

Meta-blog Largehearted Boy named Okkervil River’s The Stage Names its favourite album of 2007. Like The National, Okkervil River aren’t really reinventing the wheel with their nuanced Americana, but Stage Names is a powerfully emotional album with evocative imagery, anchored by killer single “Our Life is Not a Movie or Maybe” (www.scjag.com/mp3/jag/ourlifeisnot.mp3). Largehearted Boy also has an ongoing super-list that links to many more best-of-2007 pages (www.largeheartedboy.com/blog/archive/2007/11/2007_online_bes.html).

Of course, this is just the beginning of 2007’s album-of-the-year nods. As December and January roll on, best-of lists will pop up everywhere, including in Fast Forward on Thursday, December 27, and they’ll be nearly as impossible to ignore as the endless 12-song loop of Christmas carols every retail store feels compelled to play this time of year.