RIB's 2007 Album of the Year nominees (blogged from the Jersey Turnpike)

Happy Turkey Day! We are blogging via Blackberry as we travel up the turnpike, so this'll be short and sweet. No frills whatsoever.

Five honorable mentions, 10 nominees. Winner to be announced New Year's Eve.

HONORABLE MENTION

Lily Allen - Alright, Still
(Smartest, funniest pop album we've heard in a long time)

Tori Amos - American Doll Posse
(A nominee if it was only 14 tracks)

Okkervil River - The Stage Names
(A near miss; great stuff)

Shearwater - Palo Santo (Expanded Edition)
(Definitive version of the now-classic album that finished second last year)

Neil Young - Chrome Dreams 2
(Dirty Old Man alone is worth price of admission)



NOMINEES

Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
(Not Funeral, but in no way a sophomore slump)

Andrew Bird - Armchair Apocrypha
(Never left our active playlist all year; his second nomination)

Feist - The Reminder
(Apple ad in no way influenced this pick; her second nomination)

The Innocence Mission - We Walked in Song
(Another overlooked treasure; they won in 1995 with Glow)

Iron & Wine - The Shepherd's Dog
(Full band brings them to new level)

The National - Boxer
(One of our favorite discoveries of '07)

Radiohead - In Rainbows
(We paid five pounds; they won in 2000 with Kid A)

Rogue Wave - Asleep at Heaven's Gate
(Joined ranks of our favorite bands with this one; their second nomination)

Bruce Springsteen - Magic
(Maybe we've lived in Jersey too long, but this one's simply great)

Wilco - Sky Blue Sky
(Not as ambitious as usual, just solid; they've won with their last two records - Yankee Hotel Foxtrot in 2002 and A Ghost is Born in 2004)