Apparently when Arcade Fire won Album of the Year at the Grammys a few weeks ago, Twitter exploded with angry dismissals. I missed that, but luckily Jonathan Mann made a video for me so I could catch up on the madness. In addition to singing tweets verbatim, he very nicely explains who Arcade Fire actually is for those of us who might not know (my limited exposure to them is via the Where the Wild Things Are soundtrack).

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Yesterday I divulged my favorite albums of the year. Today I am ready to let go of my latest obsession: My album recap of how I spent my 00's.

The below listage rant is my own little time capsule to remind myself why 2000-2009 musically ruled. As with my other list posts, I'm certain I totally forgot to add something really important to my end-all-be-all-recap. It's up to you to remind me by posting your favs of the 00's below.

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Warning: This is an ecstatic early plug for the upcoming fan-dream book, Our Noise: The Story of Merge Records, the Indie Label that Got Big and Stayed Small.

As Magnet magazine is quoted, "[Merge] might be responsible for more indie-rock classics than any other label in the past two decades." David Byrne considers their survival "kind of amazing these days." NPR asserts they're "one of the top independent labels in the world." In Our Noise author John Cook shows the letter that Glitterhouse sent to Mac McCaughan and Laura Ballance (in Superchunk, of course, and who started the label) originally sent turning down European distribution (it's hilarious, considering what Merge would achieve); to the later days when Mac feels giddy and weird hanging out near Dr. Dre and Springsteen at Coachella.

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"I think they're doing this to demonstrate that Americans have poor taste."

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Of course, this year's nominees were picked by a guy from Snow Patrol, a guy from the Killers, a guy from CMJ and a guy from KCRW ... and I suppose it reflects that diverse group (note the sarcasm).

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I'm a huge nerd when it comes to pouring over annual, best of lists (I'm still biting my nails in anticipation of the Idolator critic's poll that should be out soon), and I'm always intrigued by what the favorites of people who work in the business of music but aren't (necessarily) critics or reviewers. So, I asked Chop Suey's brand new booker Pete Greenberg to submit his list of favorite albums with the promise of posting them here - to which he happily complied.

Here's what made his list:

1. Spoon – Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga (Merge)

2. Future of The Left – Curses (Too Pure)

3. Handsome Furs – Plague Park (Sub Pop)

4. Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings – 100 Days, 100 Nights (Daptone Records)

5. The Arcade Fire – Neon Bible (Merge)

6. Big Business – Here Come The Waterworks (Hydra Head Records)

7. Beach House – Beach House (Carpark Records)

8. Blonde Redhead – 23 (4AD)

9. Band of Horses – Cease to Begin (Sub Pop)

10. Siberian – With Me (Sonic Boom Recordings)

11. Matthew Dear – Asa Breed (Ghostly International)

12. Lavender Diamond – Imagine Our Love (Matador Records)

13. Peter Bjorn & John – Writer’s Block (Almost Gold)

Being a regular contributor on here on TIG takes the show going experience from something you do on the weekends to part of your regular routine. I'll never forget shoving five shows in one week, or running from set to set during Bumbershoot trying to frantically interview all the local bands. Sometimes I still can't believe I'm here.

Very few shows I regret seeing, the vast majority were really good. But there's a distinct ten still stuck in my mind, shows I talk about to this day. The bands who made this list are not just comprised of musicians who stood up there and played -- these were performers who demonstrated how their band is more than a job or hobby, it's their lives. In each case they provided a memorable experience where I left feeling I'd just witnessed the most talented artists making music today.

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After much deliberation, here’s my top ten for 2007.

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This was ridiculously hard to do! Without further ado, I present my top ten picks for 2007 releases (in no particular order)...

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Here's a video put out a while back from The North American Halloween Prevention Initiative. It's kinda weird and it was hard to get my brain around it before the morning muffin... but it features a ton of awesomeness in the line-up -- and that's good enough for me.

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