ALBUMS (10 each)
1. Vishal-Shekhar - Om Shanti Om
2. Calle 13 - Residente o Visitante
3. UGK - Underground Kings
4. M.I.A. - Kala
5. Every Time I Die - The Big Dirty
6. Chingo Bling - They Can't Deport Us All
7. Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?
8. Jenni Rivera - Mi Vida Loca
9. Kahil El'Zabar's Infinity Orchestra - Transmigration
10. Say Anything - In Defense of the Genre

TRACKS
1. Lil Mama - Lip Gloss
2. Tibebu Workye - Ligaba (Popular Amharic)
3. Kat DeLuna f/Elephant Man - Whine Up
4. Soulja Boy Tellem - Crank Dat (Soulja Boy)
5. Himesh Reshammiya - Shakalaka Boom Boom
6. Ike Reilly Assassination - When Irish Eyes Are Burning
7. Rihanna - Umbrella
8. Aleks Syntek - Historias de Danzón y de Arrabal
9. The Federation f/Snoop Dogg - Happy I Met You
10. Tracy Jordan - Werewolf Bar Mitzvah

REISSUES
1. v/a - Golden Afrique Vol. 3
2. Sly and the Family Stone - There's a Riot Goin' On
3. Gilberto Gil - Gilberto Gil (1971)
4. v/a - Wattstax
5. The 5th Dimension - The Magic Garden

ARTISTS
1. M.I.A.
2. Himesh Reshammiya
3. Timbaland
4. Soulja Boy Tellem
5. Lil Wayne

COMMENTS
I feel dirty — at the last second, I eliminated the album I listened to the most this year, Fefe Dobson's Sunday Love, the greatest teenpop album ever made. Sadly, though, it was not released this year, or ever; her record company killed it last year just days before it was supposed to be released. Probably a wise choice, as an album that angry and funny and sad and blatantly sexual (polymorphously so) might have brought down all of Western Civilization. It was illegally leaked to me by a great person, and it has pretty much ruled my year. But since it was not a 2007 release, or even a release at all, I'm kicking it out in favor of a lot of records that I loved almost as much. If and when Fefe ever figures out how to release it, it'll be my #1 of that year.

Although my top album choice is a Bollywood soundtrack, my overall album list ended up a little too US/indie/male for me. That's the way things go sometimes. I loved 23 records this year...pretty good for a year that everyone else has been telling me for months was total crap! My favorite CD store this year was the Indian grocery near my home, with great new discs fresh off the boat, but you can't beat Best Buy's Latin section either. I also rediscovered my love for metal this year, and that's not going to go away any time soon.

But my favorite CD purchase doesn't even show up here, but I'll tell you about it briefly anyway. This summer, we traveled to Addis Ababa to adopt our new daughter Molly. When I asked our handler-guy what people are listening to, he pointed me to Tibebu Workye's album Alamarrm, which I bought for the equivalent of $2.50. It's really great, but I don't think it's available here, so I didn't put it on my album list. However, I did list his big single "Ligaba" as it can be YouTubed under the title "Popular Amharic."

This year I finally decided to stop writing freelance and for other people's websites. I'm starting my own, Cave17.com, with a bunch of other weirdos. By the time you read this, it will be up and running. Come on by. Other than that, not much to say. Appreciate what you have, and work for peace.