I reckon 2007 has been a great year for music. Just half of the year has gone, and there are already lots of standouts for me. And some albums from big names are due out later on this year, so it is surely only going to get even better.

Here are my favourites of the year so far. I won’t list them in a strict numerical order for the time being. That can wait until the end of the year.

Air — Pocket Symphony

Air is a strange band, because — although I am certain that I like them — I never feel as though they are one of my very favourite bands. Yet, every time they release the album I am uncontrollably drawn to buy it.

At first I was just going to ignore Pocket Symphony until I saw it in a sale or something. But then I heard that it was produced by Nigel Godrich. And then I heard that there was a collaboration with Jarvis Cocker. And then I read all the good reviews.

It is a fine album, but it is exactly how we have come to expect an Air album to sound like. It’s not all that different in style and mood from Talkie Walkie.

In reality, the Jarvis collaboration is not all that great. But the Neil Hannon collaboration, ‘Somewhere Between Waking And Sleeping’ is quite something. It won’t do much to shake off all of the clichés about “chill out” music, but there is no doubt that it is a beauty.

Battles — Mirrored

I have already written about this album once, and I have also written about the time I saw them live. I don’t feel the need to say much more. But believe the hype. Battles are real innovators. This is exciting as much for the use of technology, and what it holds for the future, as anything else.

Björk — Volta

For some bizarre reason, Björk’s label tried to make out that this is her most accessible album for years. I’m not sure if that is the case. Those who did not like Björk before will probably not be swung by a couple of Timbaland collaborations (good though they are).

For me, this is a slight disappointment. It’s quite a good album, although not as good as some of Björk’s previous albums. It’s not helped by the collaborations with Antony Hegarty, who is not personally my cup of tea.

That’s not to say it’s a bad album, but I was expecting more. In a way, the best bit is the packaging. The CD comes in an elaborate fold-out box containing Russian doll-inspired cardboard wallets.

Ceephax — Volume One

[Insert comparison to Squarepusher here], but quite a good album. Just because I like that 8-bit 80s retro thing.

Hanne Hukkelberg — Rykestrasse 68

On Last.fm, a fair number of people appear to have tagged Hanne Hukkelberg as “jazz”. It is not one that I would have thought of, although if they mean jazz in that completely un-jazz Norah Jones sense, I can kind of see where they are coming from.

I do not mean to insult Hanne Hukkelberg’s music by comparing it to Norah Jones, but I can see how this album is a bit like that kind of music, but with all the blandness sucked out and replaced by eclectica.

Hanne Hukkelberg manages to do something that many people can’t — make music that is beautiful as well as experimental. Add a gorgeous Norwegian accent into the mix and you have a delightful album.

Justice — †

What a breath of fresh air! Why does not all dance music sound as good as this? There is seemingly lots of exciting electronic music coming out of Paris at the moment, and Justice spearhead it all. Besides Mirrored, this has to be my favourite album of the year so far.

Kieran Hebden and Steve Reid — Tongues

The awesome collaboration between a man at the forefront of modern electronic music and a jazz drumming legend continues with Tongues. As before, these tracks are performed with no overdubs or edits. That is the most impressive thing about it.

The music is not always great. Some of it is a bit rambling, and a lot of it does sound like second-hand Four Tet out takes. Nonetheless, Kieran Hebden and Steve Reid clearly connect very well, and it is a joy to hear them playing together.

Shining — Grindstone

I love this album! Shining keep the electronic / jazz elements of old, but crank up the prog metal à la Dream Theater to create an astounding, enjoyable album.

Moments of madcap, humorous lunacy like ‘In the Kingdom of Kitsch You Will Be a Monster’ and ‘Winterreise’ are countered by the more thoughtful and beautiful moments like ‘Psalm’ and the playful ‘Moonchild Mindgames’

If you have never heard of Shining, trust me on this one. If you want to hear something a bit different, I don’t think you can go far wrong with Grindstone. In a way, it has to be heard to be believed. Quite an album.

And chalk another one up for Norway!

Simian Mobile Disco — Attack Decay Sustain Release

From the burning wreckage of lamented electronic-indie band Simian (who must be in a right huff after Hot Chip stole their act and became infinitely more popular) emerges Simian Mobile Disco. Like Justice (remixers of Simian, so this is an obvious comparison), SMD go in for the unashamedly fun dance stuff. It’s like IDM that doesn’t feel the need to emphasise the ‘I’. (It’s The Beat that matters, of course.)

SMD answered a call I think. The world was screaming out for them to come along. I mean, who else is there to make this sort of music (by which I mean dance music that is actually danceable yet isn’t the aural equivalent of scraping your balls through a cheesegrater)? The Chemical Brothers? They’re a bit old hat now…

The Tuss — Rushup Edge

Oh dear. Read one forum and this is Aphex Twin collaborating with Squarepusher. Someone else says it’s Aphex Twin collaborating with Luke Vibert. Go somewhere else and all of a sudden it’s Aphex Twin on his own. Then somebody comes along and says it’s not Aphex at all, it’s just somebody taking the piss and pretending to be Aphex.

So of course I had to buy it.

I am undecided on it so far. Musically it reminds me a lot of the Analord series, which I thought was okay but nothing more. Whether it is good or not seems a bit by the by though. It’s going to be a talking point whatever.

EP of note

Boom Bip — Sacchrilege EP

I was prepared to give up on Boom Bip. His last album, Blue Eyed in the Red Room was so boring that I almost forgot how good his old stuff was. Then I heard some samples of this EP, and found out that he’s gone all electro.

Sadly, it’s still not all that interesting. Still, full marks for trying. And infinity marks for the presentation. The artwork is wonderful, and the pink vinyl is irresistible. Maybe it will grow on me — I have not had much chance to digest it yet.

Reissue of note

Seefeel — Quique (redux edition)

Seefeel can’t have spent much time in Scotland if they were prepared to call their album Quique (which, yes, sounds like ‘keech’). But the album is anything but keech.

This lost shoegaze classic was given a reissue earlier this year. I guess it must have been a bit unexpected. There doesn’t seem to be much reason why Quique in particular deserved this treatment, although I’m glad it got it.

It comes with a bonus disc of previously unreleased material, remixes and the like. A real standout is ‘Clique’, which is easily as good as anything on the album. Why it was not released at the time is probably one of those little mysteries that even the band does not understand (I hope so anyway).

Cheesy image, I know. But lying on the bed, half asleep, listening to this through headphones is a special experience.