Albums of the Year

After many hours of listening, scribbling notes on pieces of junk mail, re-listening, and scribbling more notes, my top 20 albums of the year list came to fruition. I am rather happy with how it turned out, and it translated to a nice year-end radio show. It was fun being on at 10 am on New Year's Eve, knowing I had many more listeners than I normally would expect. Many thanks to everyone who listened and supported me throughout the year.

My list is posted below as part of the show's playlist. Comparing the year-end list with my half-year list, a couple things pop out. Most notably, the fall of Feist's "The Reminder" from #4 to #16 at year's end. While it contains many great tracks, the slow and wandering second half of the album eventually lead to its downfall. It was perhaps the most front-loaded album of the year. Also of note, both Justice and Simian Mobile Disco failed to land in my Top 20 at the end of the year. They are both enjoyable and innovative albums, but electronic dance albums often don't come together for me (i.e. the single tracks are outstanding, but the album doesn't feel cohesive and they don't yield repeated listens).

An mp3 of the first 80 minutes of the show has been uploaded! Click below. I was hoping to have two mp3s covering the entire show for everyone, but the second CD-R I had decided not to cooperate. Sorry.

Music is My Girlfriend - 12/31/07
* Recording begins with the last minute of "Auld Lang Syne" (the New Year's Song) and ends along with Jens Lekman's "Your Arms Around Me" (which was played AFTER Patrick Wolf's "Bluebells" due to CD skipping problems. Just listen, you'll see).

Playlist
Rank. Artist - Album

20. The Shaky Hands - The Shaky Hands
"Why and How Come"

19. !!! - Myth Takes
"Heart of Hearts"

18. Earlimart - Mentor Tormentor
"Nothing is True"

17. King Khan and the Shrines - What Is?!
"No Regrets"

16. Feist - The Reminder
"I Feel it All"

15. Datarock - Datarock
"I Used to Dance with my Daddy"

14. Radiohead - In Rainbows
"Weird Fishes/Arpeggi"

13. Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
"The Underdog"

12. Electrelane - No Shouts, No Calls
"To the East"

11. Menomena - Friend and Foe
"Wet and Rusting"

- Excellent EP Interlude - Ra Ra Riot - self-titled EP - "Each Year"

10. Okkervil River - The Stage Names
"Our Life is Not a Movie or Maybe"

9. Beirut - The Flying Club Cup
"Nantes"

8. Jens Lekman - Night Falls Over Kortedala
"Your Arms Around Me"

7. Patrick Wolf - The Magic Position
"Bluebells"

6. National - The Boxer
"Fake Empire"

5. Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
"Keep the Car Running"

4. Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?
"Gronlandic Edit"

3. M.I.A. - Kala
"Paper Planes"

2. Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago
"Skinny Love"

- Excellent EP Interlude - Los Campesinos! - Sticking Fingers into Sockets EP - "You! Me! Dancing!"

1. LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver
"All My Friends"
"Us v Them"

Thanks for listening. See you next year!