Why do we all like lists? It must be how they sum up everything nice and clean, making an easily digestible package of thought. It's sort of the sitcom of writing, but instead of everything being wrapped up nicely in the allotted 30 minutes, it's 10 bullet points. I'm not complaining -- I'm going to make my list right here in this very post. Really, it's fun. But there is something sort of shallow about it. I mean, This year I learned about a lot of great stuff this year that wasn't made in 2007. And finding anything I love is just as big as enjoying the new Arctic Monkeys record. All that said, I have one more, obvious, caveat about my list: What I liked in 2007 is a lot about me. And it was a weird year, with some extreme ups and downs: I filed for divorce, I rode my bike from San Francisco to LA, I got hit while riding to work, I got promoted. Someone in my family suddenly died. I went to SXSW with two great friends for one of the best music experiences of my life. OK, enough disclaimers already. Here's the list: 10 Eddie Vedder et al - Into The Wild soundtrack. Maybe you need to see the movie before listening to this soundtrack, but it's a haunting, beautiful accompaniment to the story. 9 The Cinematics - A Strange Education. This choice is based largely on the brilliant cover of Beck's Sunday Sun, as well as how great the band sounded live at SXSW. The album doesn't quite capture that live sound.8 The National - Boxer. Mumbly, dark, personal and beautiful.7 Radiohead - In Rainbows. Bold for the pay-what-you-want business model, the album is actually great, too.6 Interpol - Our Love to Admire. I was disappointed when I first heard this release, but it, like almost every Interpol album, grows on you. And "The Heinrich Maneuver" ended up being the most irresistible song of the year. 5 Arctic Monkeys - Favourite Worst Nightmare. I take it back - "Brianstorm" is the most irresistible song of the year.4 UNKLE - War Stories. Dale, thank you for pointing me in the direction of this great record. The cathartic "Burn My Shadow" is exemplary of the whole album: guitars, beats and darkness with a brilliant choice of guest vocalists - Ian Astbury.3 Nine Inch Nails - Year Zero. When the news broke that NIN was making a concept album, I feared a new "2112" or "Paradise Theater." But YZ continues what "With Teeth" started - extreme protest of a lot of what we live with today and really shouldn't. 2 Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - Baby 81. Melding the Jesus and Mary Chain-ness of their first two albums with the bluesy sidestep of "Howl," Baby 81 casts BRMC as the next respectable huge band. It doesn't sound like it, but this feels like U2 in the late '80s (minus the pretension).1 LCD Soundsystem - The Sound of Silver. Nothing, absolutely nothing, was like this album this year. It was blippy ("Get Innocuous"), agro ("North American Scum") and melancholy ("Someone Great") and much more, and I couldn't stop playing it. It's hard to find something as original and captivating in any year, not just in 2007.

Update: Other lists I like!
• Anna's
• Dale's