A positive, life-affirming post

At the end of my prior post, I promised a counter-balance of sorts. And here it is.

Hasn't 2007 been brilliant for new music? I still get a great buzz out of discovering new bands and artists, and any fears that I might develop the musical tastes of my parents (think: Oklahoma, My Fair Lady, anything by Rogers and Hammerstein) have now been firmly put to bed in, this, my 35th year. Hurrah!

So this post is written with all due respect and reverence to the people who have helped me find the music that made me smile in 2007. And, occasionally, jump around. I'm looking at you, eMusic, Pitchfork, @stephenbarber and @brackers, to name the main ones. I doff my cap to you, goodsirs. For me, these were the top albums of 2007:

The Go! Team, "Proof of Youth"
LCD Soundsystem, "Sound of Silver"
Blitzen Trapper, "Wild Mountain Nation"
Caribou, "Andorra"
Of Montreal, "Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?"
Okkervil River, "The Stage Names"
Gui Buratto, "Chromophobia"
The Field, "From Here We Go To Sublime"
Beirut, "The Gulag Orkestar"
Andrew Bird, "Armchair Apocrypha"
Dolorean, "You Can't Win"
Sean Hayes, "Flowering Spade"

Honestly, this was a hard list to whittle down to just 12 albums. Honorable mentions must also go to this year's efforts from Bloc Party, Maximo Park, The Klaxons, Deerhunter, Spoon, The National, Digitalism, Belleruche, PJ Harvey, Radiohead and the Shout Out Louds.

What were your favorites?