Everybody's doing it, right? I don't pretend to be hip or edgy or rebellious. I mean, I grew up on Billy Joel and Madonna and Motown and then the Gen Xer's basic dichotomy of KROQ versus Top 40 in the 90s. I find it increasingly harder to fall in love with albums in the downloading age, and am one of those people who obsessively compiles mixed cds for friends and iPod playlists full of individual tracks from a broad sampling of artists. The three places I'm most thankful for getting me turned on to new music would be my fellow LAisters, the awesome site 3hive, and good ol' KCRW. So without further ado, here are my pics for the 2007 releases I most enjoyed:

Honorable mentions: Spoon (Ga Ga Ga...); Sondra Lerche (Dan in Real Life Soundtrack); Jesca Hoop (Kismet); Jill Cunniff (City Beach); Kate Walsh (Tim's House); The Sea & Cake (Everybody)

Top Ten:

10. Datarock: Datarock Datarock
9. Andrew Bird: Armchair Apocrypha
8. Lily Allen: Alright, Still
7. The Thrills: Teenager
6. Coconut Records: Nighttiming
5. Josh Rouse: Country Mouse, City House [concert review 9/28]
4. Wilco: Sky Blue Sky
3. The Polyphonic Spree: The Fragile Army [concert review 7/18]
2. Stars: In Our Bedroom After the War

But by far the very bestest, my most favoritest, played the most, lovelovelove:

1. The Shins: Wincing the Night Away (video of "Sleeping Lessons" above)