It’s always tough trying to pick my favorite albums of the year. The biggest problem is the sheer amount of music I listen to in a given year. By December it’s difficult to remember what I was listening to in January and February. This year it was even tougher since my main computer crashed over the summer and since then I haven’t listened to most of the stuff from the first half of the year, opting instead to only listen to newer albums for the most part.

There were a few clear favorites this year, like any other year, and then some which got off to a fast start but quickly fell by the wayside.

My top four in alphabetical order — these got the most listens this year. According to iTunes, about 30 listens each and probably the same amount in winamp!

  • Sure Juror - Sure Juror I saw them at Pianos where they played a ridiculously short four song set but they rocked it anyway. Wish their upcoming NYC shows coincided with my trip next month…
  • The Format - Dog Problems Indie pop at its very best.
  • The Long Winters - Putting the Days to Bed No, wait.. THIS is indie pop at its very best!
  • The Thermals - The Body, The Blood, The Machine Saw them at Fontana’s in NYC and again in Zurich. Of my top four, these guys rock the hardest.

And the rest:

  • Barenaked Ladies - Are Me
  • Cansei de Ser Sexy - CSS
  • Hot Chip - The Warning
  • I’m From Barcelona - Let Me Introduce My Friends
  • Lupe Fiasco - Food & Liquor
  • Sean Lennon - Friendly Fire
  • Silversun Pickups - Carnavas
  • Tokyo Police Club - A Lesson in Crime (EP)

Late breaking favorites, because I found them so late in the game…

  • Matt and Kim - Matt and Kim
  • Showstar - Showstar

And finally, the best albums from 2007 which leaked this year:

  • Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?
  • The Shins - Wincing the Night Away

And there was so much more good music this year, I just can’t list it all. According to my iTunes library, I have about 120 albums from 2006 and that’s not even counting all the stuff on my desktop at home! Now to make room for the year ahead…