Every year around this time, every person with any sort of blog, website, radio station, sandwich board, or big mouth on the bus releases their top 10 list. Now the torch has made it's way to me. So here you go, but this isn't my list of best albums released in 2007, but a collection of bands that moved and grooved and rocked and rolled my little isolated world this past year. This was a year of musical growth for me. I went from knowing little in the way of indie rock outside Death Cab For Cutie to being completely immersed in it. And indie folk? forget about it! But now, I may not be a savant, but at least I'm fairly well versed. I've met a million great people on Mog and Multiply and learned so much from them that I can't believe how musically ignorant I was just a year ago. so here's my year in 10 bands - everything from bands I'd never heard of, to bands I knew of yet didn't really know, to bands that just get better with age...1. "Winter Passing" soundtrackThis was this year's "Garden State" soundtrack for me. Filled my ears with indie music never before dreamed of. I was thinking of tieing this with the "Juno" soundtrack (which has had a similarly profound effect), but it technically hasn't been released yet, so it'll have to wait 'til next year.2. The ElectedOk, this one is a bit of a cheat. I bought both of their albums in 2006. But I didn't really give them the credit they deserved until this year. This year "Sun, Sun, Sun" and "Me First" took their places next to my ultimate albums of all time like "The Fragile" by Nine Inch Nails, "Pink Moon" by Nick Drake, "The Photo Album" by Death Cab For Cutie, etc. 3. My Chemical RomanceThis is a band that rarely gets the respect they deserve from music afficionados. They often get lumped into that over-crowded and under-talented mess known as popular music, but there is a hell of a lot more to them then that. Listen to their most recent fare a few times and you'll get my drift: there's shit there for teen punk wannabes, complex and intricate lyrics, production that beats the shit out of most of it's competitors, and composition that's breathtaking in it's power. I have tried many a time to just listen to 1 song and move on, but every time I find myself, hours and cds later, hyper and ready to party. Plus, they put on one of the best concerts I've ever been to. I screamed so loud I lost my voice and moshed so hard I was one giant hobbling bruise. (I was flying to London the very next day and I couldn't go 2 feet without getting pulled over by airport security. I don't know what they thought I was, but they were certain it wasn't positive.)4. The NationalYes, I too have joined The National bandwagon. I was relatively indifferent to them when I first came across "Slow Show", but a few listens later and I was hooked for life. Every line has me smirking like the band and I are in cahoots, like we are sharing some dark secret about someone we used to know.5. Rilo KileyLike The Elected, I bought their albums back in '06 but failed to fully appreciate them until I was left broke and alone with nothing but my pet rat and my overflowing iTunes to keep me company. Though, I have to admit that I like them more for Blake Sennet than anything, but that's mostly because I came to them through The Elected, not the other way around like everyone else.6. Iron And WineCome on! You can't have a 2007 list without this band. And Sam Beam is probably the only singer on this list that could pull off a beard that ventures into double digit inches territory.7. Camera ObscuraDon't ask me how I managed to exist for 24 years without knowing Camera Obscura but trust me, I'm making up for lost time.8. War StoriesThey're a local (Los Angeles/San Diego) band that I've fallen in love with. And they're just the coolest, nicest guys ever. And so fucking humble. And all 4 of them are so hott. And I hang out with them. Yeah, I'm a groupie. But what better band to be a groupie to. Their songs aren't the deepest of songs, their lyrics are shaky, simplistic, and often unintelligble, and the album doesn't have the smoothest of production, but they did it themselves after they got left out on the streets by their major label...and I'm all about creative DIY. 9. Matt Pond PAI'm still sorta unsure about this guy. I like but I don't love, but I can't fucking turn it off!10. Louis XIVI don't know how I managed to hear "Finding Out True Love Is Blind" years ago and not buy this cd, but now it's mine and I couldn't be happier. And their so cocky and tongue-in-cheek that it's absolutely impossible to be offended.just missed it:The White StripesAlexi MurdochShapes And SizesThe Moldy PeachesAntsy PantsNick BlackThe Octopus Project