Given how fickle I can be, and the emotional, mood-inducing nature of music, the following albums can, for all intents and purposes, be considered freely interchangeable with positions 8 through 10. I probably didn't write about them cos they were too challenging/less interesting/too similar to other higher-ranked albums.

No Age - Nouns
Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend
Los Campesinos! - Hold on Now, Youngster...
The Hold Steady - Stay Positive
The Dodos - The Visiter

There's a ton of stuff that just seeped through the cracks...Hot Chip's Made in the Dark, Fennesz's Black Sea, The Mae Shi's HLLLYH, Air France's No Way Down, Max Tundra's Parallex Error Beheads You...I could go on forever. Bon Iver's For Emma, Forever Ago would have been in contention for top spot had I not listened to it in its entirety already when it was self-released in 2007. Similarly, offerings by Robyn and Plush were first released prior to 2008.

As always, the list is merely my personal opinion. Merit counts of course, but merit is based on my preference. All in all, I'd say it was a fine exercise in self-indulgence and much-needed language practice - I referred to the humble pocket dictionary more in the past 10 days than the rest of the year combined. I make no apologies for my abiding adoption of alliteration, vague rhyming of stanza-like paragraphs, and repeated use of the almighty dash.
Trend-wise, the pop renaissance of 2005 continues to envelope the industry. Dance music, especially disco, continues to enjoy huge success - this year at the level of the right-field, blog house, everyday indie-kid who has surely graduated from 2006's dance class. Hard rock, metalcore, and all the combination of various pre- and suffixes therein, experienced a revival of sorts, gaining great exposure in public consciousness through the likes of Harvey Milk, F***ed Up, Titus Andronicus, and Protest the Hero. I don't listen to that stuff much so you'll have to look elsewhere for insight. On the other hand, hip-hop is back on its slippery slope downwards (a good thing, imho), with only 'Lil Wayne and Kanye West releasing anything I'd even bear listening to.
There weren't exactly any new themes I could observe, aside from perhaps sentiments I have previously brought up - a move towards more accessible, radio-friendly song structures, the appeal of optimistic lyrics with an air of belief and buoyancy, and a general embracing of quiet, sentimental works. Much of this has more to do with the global state of affairs in 2008 rather than any overarching or dominant musical movement. Than again, music is entwined in our consciousness and perception of everything else eh? Overall, I'd say it wasn't quite the bumper crop of diverse and essential albums of 2007, but still a greatly enriching one which opened up its fair share of doors and stairways. I wish you a similarly-satisfying experience and discovery for the year ahead. Merry Christmas.

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