suck. Really. The process of quantifying music, of rating it, of strategizing for top spots and votes and number ones drains all the joy out of it. A lot of writers are into year end lists, the one and only time critics can attack music with a methodology. More power to them. I ain’t going out like that.

Instead I put together a best-of mixtape every year, which is more inclusive and creative and more fun to do and listen to. This year’s mix fills up two CDs—once I started I couldn’t stop. The idea here was not to rank songs in order of preference but to build a viable mixtape like I used to do with old Maxells to give to friends. I can safely say that I listened to more good music this year than any other, which is the reason this thing got a little out of hand, and the reason why every track on here is a keeper.

The track list:

Disc I

1. “All My Friends,” LCD Soundsystem, The Sound of Silver
2. “Friends Like These,” Mobius Band, Heaven
3. “Ungawa,” Chow Nasty, Super (Electrical) Recordings
4. “Patty Lee,” Les Savy Fav, Let’s Stay Friends
5. “My Sword Hand’s Anger,” Apostle Of Hustle, National Anthem Of Nowhere
6. “The Underdog,” Spoon, Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
7. “My Body Is A Cage,” The Arcade Fire, Neon Bible
8. “Seahorse,” Devendra Banhart, Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon
9. “Night + Day,” The Moondoggies, The Moondoggies
10. “First Fantasy,” Citay, Little Kingdom
11. “New Song,” Nomo, New Tones
12. “Atlas,” Battles, Mirrored
13. “Do Not Fold/Do Not Bend,” Velella Velella, The Bay Of Biscay
14. “Rainbowarriors,” Coco Rosie, The Adventures of Ghosthorse and Stillborn
15. “Paper Planes,” M.I.A., Kala

Disc II

1. “If This Ain’t Love (Don’t Know What Is)” Nicole Willis & The Soul Investigators, Keep Reachin’ Up
2. “We On,” Gemini feat. Lupe Fiasco and Pooh Bear, Leaked single
3. “Motorin’,” The Saturday Knights, EP
4. “Shine Language,” Lifesavas, Gutterfly: The Original Soundtrack
5. “TheGameNeedsMe,” Dyme Def, Space Music
6. “Success” feat. Nas, Jay-Z, American Gangster
7. “You Know I’m No Good [Remix],” Amy Winehouse Feat. Ghostface
Killah, Back To Black
8. “Pull Shapes,” The Pipettes, We Are The Pipettes
9. “Here Comes That Feeling,” El Perro Del Mar, El Perro Del Mar
10. “Elizabeth Sways,” Sean Hayes, Flowering Spade
11. “Wild Mountain Nation,” Blitzen Trapper, Wild Mountain Nation
12. “Ain’t It Strange,” Dr. Dog, We All Belong
13. “What Light,” Wilco, Sky Blue Sky
14. “I Must Belong Somewhere,” Bright Eyes, Cassadaga
15. “Seeds Of Night,” The Cave Singers, Invitation Songs
16. “Seems Like Home To Me,” Two Gallants, The Scenery of Farewell
17. “Seventeen Year Cicada” El Capitan, Stickeen
18. “Living Of Love,” The Avett Brothers, Emotionalism

Consider that my “Top 33 of 2007.”

If anybody’s interested, I can zip file the mix to email addresses for free, I think. I haven’t used a lot of ZShare, but I tried it last week and it’s pretty easy. Send an email to jzwickel@thestranger.com and I’ll send you the mix.

Happy holidays and merry New Year. Now let’s rock.