Actual, shmactual, Shakira still shook me this year. In my first year as a "professional", I managed to get less connected to the music that I love, and that is something that needs to be fixed in Twenty-Aught-Seven. And since you never got to see what my numbers 30-1 were from last year, I'll also summarize in list form what I had for numbers 19 through 1. For the first time, debuted here, ever.

10 "according to plan."
i love you but i've chosen darkness.
fear is on our side.
secretly canadian.

"in a perfect world..."

Speaking of perfect, here's what The Killers should be -- creepy, menacing, lots of reverb, and artistic. Scratch that, ILYBICD (yeah, check the acronym bitches!) is the thinking man's Killers.

9 "islands sink."
chin up chin up.
this harness can't ride anything.
suicide squeeze.

"perfume forms the life on the interstate."

I spent a lot of time from September through December making a long interstate drive to Chicago and back and this song got me through many chunks of Wisconsin, whether it was through my head or blasting on my speakers. The repetition of the verse-bridge-chorus and chugging drums remind me a lot of the multiple McDonalds down I-94 in Wisconsin. Comfort food for the road, indeed, in the musical sense.

8 "excellent news, colonel."
bound stems.
appreciation night.
flameshovel.

"i'm gonna be doing a great deal of work in that very field."

This is the best disjointed boy-girl vocal rock music this side of The Fiery Furnaces. And the multiple movements make it the Paranoid Android for the harried 21st century post-graduate professional. That's right, Radiohead, in the 21st century, robots don't control everything, at least not yet.

7 "punkrocker" (ft. iggy pop.)
teddybears.
soft machine
big beat/atlantic.

"i'm bored with looking good."

I'm pretty sure this song is commentary on being a punk rocker in one's Honda Civic. It is just edgy enough to sound like some of that heavy metal in the suburbs, yet lame enough to fit in a real life car commercial. Iggy Pop has never sounded more bored declaring himself a punk rocker. It doesn't matter -- even in suburban hell, we can all listen to the music with no fear. Also, this song fills the Guided by Voices void left by their breakup very well.

6 "in my arms."
mylo.
destroy rock and roll.
breast fed.

"is my heart beating? yeah."

This one takes me back to the clubs in Copenhagen, where people spoke a mixture of English, Danish, Greek, and the one unifying language was the language of LOUD DANCE MUSIC THAT REPEATED ITSELF. Naturally, 99% of the music there was garbage, but the 1% was as good as this song. Also, this is one of the most touching love songs of the year. Now DANCE, hipster, DANCE!!!!!!!!!

5 "winter."
caroline.
murmurs.
temporary residence.

"if we hold onto each other, life would be complete."

If you're noticing a pattern of delicate longingly sad sounding songs on the top of this list, you're a smartypants. I made it through a year of my now-fiancee being on the other side of the world by making her mix CDs that ended with songs like this, the kind of songs that guide you into sleep and guide you into hope. Caroline's voice kind of sounds like the alien that would descend from her spaceship and be swept into the guy from Sigur Ros' arms.

4 "the funeral."
band of horses.
everything all the time.
sub pop.

"at every occasion, i'll be ready for a funeral."

When you have old relatives who are near the end, you do feel like at every occasion you'll be ready for a funeral, and songs like this get you ready. Soft, melancholy, chiming guitars give way to an avalanche of noise (i.e. EMOTION!) One can never really be ready for a funeral, and this song is the best living proof of that feeling.

3 "borneo."
the fiery furnaces.
bitter tea.
fat possum.

"let me tell you why i think i love her: she knows you always take the bye week dome home team to cover."

The Fiery Furnaces are my absolute favorite band in music today, so I admit that I am a little biased. But, come ON! A kalidescope frantic pop song involving Eleanor Friedberger getting bored in her apartment, stealing her roommate's credit card, and eventually flying to Sydney to keep gambling and then ending up in a casino in Borneo until a bulldozer killed her?! It makes no sense and yet makes perfect sense.

2 "a bird in hand."
owen.
at home with owen.
polyvinyl.

"you know what you are to me. don't make me say it over and over again."

This is the song that made me realize that I was ready to be engaged. "when I put my arms around you, i mean it. when i'm too drunk to stay up with you, i mean it. when i slam doors 'cause i'm pissed at you, i mean it. when i put on a suit and say 'i do,' i mean it." This lyrical centerpiece is surrounded by Owen's trademark chiming acoustic/electric guitar orgasmatron and multi-tracked vocals. Suddenly, I realized that I was where I was supposed to be. Yes, it's that good.

1 "tearing up the oxygen."
maritime.
we, the vehicles.
flameshovel.

"tearing up the oxygen to find one another."

In a year of throwbacks and reminscing back to my college years, it was a great surprise and joy to find that Maritime, the band that was spawned from two of my all-time favorite bands The Promise Ring and The Dismemberment Plan released an album that was not only familiar sounding, but really damn good. Davey Von Bohlen, one of the nicest musicians out there (remember, Paal and Ben, when we talked to him for ten minutes after seeing Maritime?) has never sounded as happy or content as he does here. And the band is not forcing anything, a'la Wood/Water (forced depth). A simple guitar, synth, drums and bass will do, and the most gorgeous chorus and closing of their respective musical careers. If "Why Did Ever We Meet" by Das TPR was the album that ushered me out of my hometown and into college, then this song is the song that brings me into "the real world." I should be so lucky.

And for those completists out there (i.e. me, Chris), here is the rest of last year's list:

19. Stars - Yr ex-lover is dead
Bittersweet breakups. Nevermind, just plain bitter.
18. Architecture in Helsinki - It's 5
Bouncy bouncy! I feel joy. I'm also five.
17. Her Space Holiday - The Weight of the World
Electro-poppy at its finest.
16. Royksopp - Only This Moment
For those who are abroad, only this moment pulls us together.
15. The Fiery Furnaces - The Garfield El
I get thrown into a time machine occupied by an old rickety piano that rocks. Faster hammers! David Lynch as pop music.
14. The Most Serene Republic - (Oh) God
I actually think I had one of those I-can-feel-God experiences listening to this watching the sunset the day an extended family member died. Blissful.
13. Caribou - Yeti
Leaves crunching, stuff happening.
12. Wolf Parade - I'll Believe in Anything
Rocktown.
11. The Long Winters - Delicate Hands
Beautiful chamber pop circa Out of Time era R.E.M. That's the best compliment a popster can get.
10. Black Mountain - Modern Music
Post-classic rock. Me likey.
9. Deerhoof - Running Thoughts
More rocktown.
8. Andrew Bird - Fake Palindromes
Monsters?
7. Animal Collective - Grass
Bouncy meta-pop is the new something-or-another.
6. Broken Social Scene - 7/4 (shoreline)
Rocktown, part III.
5. Why? - Gemini (birthday song)
"When we're on different sides of the globe, I thought we'd keep our veins tangled like a pair of mic cables." Best lyrical song of the year.
4. M83 - Don't Save Us From the Flames
The broken glass is so beautiful.
3. The Decemberists - The Engine Driver
If you don't love me, let me go. The apex of The Decemberists' existence.
2. Sufjan Stevens - Chicago
All things go.
1. Wilderness - End of Freedom
Drums echo, guitars chime. Little did I know that the end of 2005 was truly the end of freedom (i.e. college).