The last issue of the Gazette featured picks 11-20 of my top 20 CDs for 2007, as well as my top genre and DVD picks. Below you will find my top 10 CD releases for 2007. My picks are the releases that occupied my listening time and thinking mind more than any others during the year. So here are my top 10, in reverse order.

10. Against Me-New Wave. I am generally not a fan of current CDs that get tagged with the "political label". They usually amount to lyrics of finger-pointing at "stupid/evil" people, while anointing themselves and their listeners as righteous-thinking patriots. The band Against Me will have none of this. The lyrics to their hard-charging, melodic punk anthems point the finger at the band and its listeners more than any other targets. Whether its singing a protest song about the doubtful worth of singing modern protest songs or worrying about the degree to which critiques of Americans from those abroad could equally apply to them (especially as purveyors of American consumerism during their tours of other countries), Against Me never takes the easy way out. No better "political" album came out during 2007.

9. J.J. Grey & Mofro-Country Ghetto. Grey and Mofro captured the spirit and ethos of 70s southern swamp rock on this, their fourth and finest album. With Muscle Shoals sounding horns, gospel-influenced choruses and bluesy licks galore, Country Ghetto takes you right to where the title suggests, with small-time stories and big-time hooks providing the signposts.

8. K-OS-Atlantis: Hymns For Disco. K-OS combined soul, rap, funk and rock on his latest, not by going from one to the other over the course of different songs, but by combining them all within each song. When he starts out a tune by rapping, then puts forth a soul-infused chorus only to be followed by a rock and roll break, you know you're in the realm of genius. And "Sunday Morning" is the finest rap song about family and faith to emerge this past year.

7. Iron & Wine-Shepherd's Dog. Former college professor Sam Beam has taken his place at the head of the class of Nick Drake/Elliott Smith-influenced, acoustic-based singer-songwriters. Beams' lyrics are complex, metaphorical tales of alienation and estrangement, while each album has seen him add more and more subtle instrumental touches. Shepherd's Dog is the culmination of his career so far.

6. M.I.A.-Kala. M.I.A. built her sophomore album almost exclusively around percussion of all types, sampled and filtered beats and her own charismatic vocals. Indeed, there is so much going on percussively that each listen reveals new grooves to shimmy to, a nice feat when only the slightest nods are given to guitar and bass hooks. No other major-label album sounded as fresh and different in its approach as Kala and M.I.A. has ensconced herself as a major new talent.

5. Sigur Ros-Hvarf/Heim. As Gazette readers are probably well aware by now, Sigur Ros is my favorite band of the decade. No other unit encompasses the drive of rock with the beauty and dynamics inherent in classical music to the degree of these Icelanders. And the lead singer's otherworldly falsetto only adds to their unique, bewitching charm. This double-disc release, split evenly between live, acoustic renditions of favorite songs and radically reworked versions of older pieces, is a perfect introduction for those unfamiliar with the band, as well as an excellent catalogue addition for those already enamored.

4. White Stripes-Icky Thump. Jack White has taken the tired-and-true electric blues formula that is essentially the basis for 90 percent of all rock music and reinvigorated it with new life. Whether it's mariachi horns, marimbas, or simply big, dirty riffs, this man shows he is the master blues-rock composer of his generation and Icky Thump makes no concessions to anyone while furthering this argument.

3. U.N.K.L.E.-War Stories. Only the third proper album in nearly 10 years from this former DJ Shadow collaborator and label founder, War Stories encompasses sublime and sweeping orchestral passages, driving rock, wistful techno remembrances, nursery rhyme hooks and even more driving rock, all in a tour de force that never lets up. The fantastic production reveals new nuances upon each listen, with each song being its own sort of mini-epic. This release resulted in completely unanimous praise from the diverse ears and tastes of all of us at Indy CD and Vinyl, a high recommendation indeed.

2. Alison Krauss/Robert Plant-Raising Sand. Who could have imagined that the collaboration between bluegrass superstar Krauss and Led Zeppelin legend Plant would result in one of the most luminous albums of the year. Drenched in T-Bone Burnette's hushed, echoey production (recalling Daniel Lanois' work with Emmylou Harris), the duo's voices blend beautifully throughout, whether it's on the light pop of "Gone Gone Gone," the quiet blues of "Killing The Blues," or the unclassifiable country-gospel-folk of "Sister Rosetta Goes Before Us". When either Krauss or Plant takes the lead throughout a tune, you long for the entrance of the other so you can again bask in the glorious melding of their voices, a rare feat for any duets album at any time. Simply superb.

1. LCD Soundsystem-Sound Of Silver. This album is at the top of my list because both its music AND its lyrics are superb throughout. The sad, orchestral lament of "New York, I Love You But You're Bringing Me Down" explores its topic with light-heartedness and finesse while the fantastic humor and driving rock pulse of "North American Scum" enables the song to stand up to hundreds of repeat listens. But perhaps the finest moment for the thirty-something composer James Murphy, who is LCD Soundsystem, is when he turns literally thousands of rock clichés on their head by intoning this implicit reference to his musical approach: "It makes you want to feel like a teenager/Until you remember the feelings of/A real live emotional teenager/And then you think again". This perfectly captures the combination and contradiction of youthful exuberance and adult thoughtfulness that characterizes Sound Of Silver. What more can you ask from modern rock music?