Andy Gapin

There comes a time at the end of each year when we must reflect on what was important to us over the past 12 months. And I think the most important part of this reflection is the music that was released. Trips we may have taken, relationships that we may have started or ended, movies we may have seen, things we may have experienced, none of it matters as much as the music we heard. At least for me anyway. When I think back to everything about this year (and most years), music was either directly responsible for it or indirectly a part of it. Music is a catalyst for a lot of things in my life. And for the things that it wasn’t directly responsible for, it was there as an accent or to bring everything together.

By my count, I’ve heard somewhere between 1500 and 2000 new albums this year. Picking just 25 was really hard, but I think I’m happy with my list. These are the albums that have had some sort of an impact on me throughout the year or that I think will continue to stay relevant to me. Either that or I just couldn’t stop listening to them.

1. Against Me! – New Wave
2. The Gaslight Anthem – Sink or Swim
3. The Sundowner – Four One Five Two
4. Spoon – Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
5. Jens Lekman – Night Falls Over Kortedala
6. Bruce Springsteen – Magic
7. NOFX – They’ve Actually Gotten Worse Live
8. Maritime – Heresy And The Hotel Choir
9. Black Francis – Bluefinger
10. Georgie James – Places
11. The Copyrights – Make Sound
12. Minus The Bear – Planet of Ice
13. Bright Eyes – Cassadega
14. Shellac – Excellent Italian Greyhounds
15. Radiohead – In Rainbows
16. Rilo Kiley – Under The Blacklight
17. Eisley – Combinations
18. Tim Fite – Over The Counter Coulture
19. Rufus Wainwright – Release The Stars
20. Porter Wagoner – Wagonmaster
21. The Polyphonic Spree – The Fragile Army
22. The Pipettes – We Are The Pipettes
23. Laura Veirs – Saltbreakers
24. The Weakerthans – Reunion Tour
25. Feist – The Reminder

And a few honorable mentions (in no order):

• Frank Smith – Heavy Handed Peace and Love
• Ian Moore – To Be Loved
• Mary Timony Band – The Shapes We Make
• Andrew Bird – Armchair Apochrypha
• Bears – Shortest Day of the Year
• This Is Me Smiling – This Is Me Smiling
• Okkervil River – The Stage Names
• Chuck Ragan – Feast or Famine
• Idlewild – Make Another World
• Jimmy Eat World – Chase This Light
• Band of Horses – Cease to Begin

So there it is, my personal soundtrack of 2007.

On my radio show on 12/26, I will do a countdown and play one song from each album. Yay!

Edit: It took me ten minutes to think of two albums I didn’t even think about. They only make it to the honorable mentions though.