Three albums that come to mind quickly:

1. Radiohead's In Rainbows

As a gigantic Radiohead fan, this is a natural selection.

2. Lunasa - Lunasa

The debut album from the Celtic supergroup. I picked up the guitar this year, adjusted my strings to DADGAD tuning, and started strumming funky patterns. Lunasa's rhythm section is astounding, and I have worn out the first three tracks on this disc repeating it over and over.

3. The Cancer Conspiracy

A defunct prog-rock band out of Burlington, VT (hometown), this trio cranks out instrumental tunes with the same feel as the mid-70's incarnation of King Crimson. Their 3-song EP (avail. on iTunes) is a great little sonic journey, each of the tracks can be thought of as a movement of a larger piece.

I'd love to send you a little compilation of music that is very significant to me personally this year.

How best to do that? I currently use iTunes for all my music management.

Are there some other tools I can use to make this easy?

Killer blog, killer product, and killer question.

My 2007 mixmaster would include:
"Knights of Cydonia" Muse,
"The Horrible Fanfare" Beck,
"All Night Long" Lionel Richie,
"Random" Ladie Sov,
"End of the World Party" MMW,
"Ain't No Other Man" Chistina Aguilera,
and holy crap "Strange Transmissions" The Peter Malick Group Featuring Norah Jones, which just as I was typing this list came up on my Pandora player.

I just signed up for this thing today at the advice of my buddy, and I am so truly impressed. Keep up the good work.

nice choices colvin and brian - esp the inspired inclusion of L richie's all night long (or is that "nite"?).

steve, a list of the song titles would be perfect, no need to send anything else...

keep em comin...

mz

Alright this would be my greatest hits. Or just a small taste of them for your listening pleasure.

Tiene Sabor by Charlie Palmeri
Brown Eyed Blues by Ben Harper
I Know What Loves All About by Anthony Hamilton'
No Other Love by Chuck Prophet
Whos Going To Take The Blame by Smokey Robinson
The Hole by The Soul Of JOhn Black
All the Answers by Raul Midon
Fea by Roberto Roena
Guitar by Prince
Here Comes The Sun by Richie Havens
New Shoes by Paola Natini
Babylon by David Gray
Love Can Do Terry Callier
After The Dance Marvin Gaye

Hmm...great question.

Accidents Will Happen -Elvis Costello
Sweet Illusions -Ryan Adams
I Want To Vanish -Costello again
Sixteen Blue -The Replacements
American Dream -Lucinda Williams
I Don't Want To Hear About It Anymore -Dusty Springfield
I've Got You Under My Skin -Frank Sinatra
Making Plans For Nigel -XTC
Get Back Down -John Wesley Harding
The Other Side of Summer -the last Costello, I promise
And any song about liking someone you oughtn't. Surprising I can't think of one.

That's not chronological, by the way.

Some relates to characters I've played in MMORPGs during this year, some relates to me, and some I just listened to often.

"You Gotta Be" by Des'ree
"Blacken" by Gjallarhorn
"Bellat" by Barry Phillips
"Who Am I" by Peace Orchestra
"Lights and Sounds" by Yellowcard
"Lazy Days" and "The First of Autumn" by Enya
"Octopus" and "Dead Man Walking" from freeplaymusic
"Smoke From Down Below" by Jon Hallur
"Summer 78" by Yann Tiersen
"Beauty (Holowach Tears mix)" by Tryad
"A Perfect Lie" by The Engine Room
"Mask" by Keiko Matsui
"Kleid aus Rosen" by Subway to Sally
"Pachad" by Yael Naim
"Somewhere Over The Rainbow & What A Wonderful World" by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole
"Sympathy For The Devil" by The Rolling Stones
"Pale" "Memories" and "Angels" by Within Temptation
"Times Like These" by Foo Fighters
"Overland Blues" and "Morricone" by Yoshida Brothers
"Blue Orb" by Kahimi Karie
"Evolution" "Moments" "Dearest" "Heaven" and "Liar" by Ayumi Hamasaki
"Dareka No Negai No Kanau Koro" by Utada Hikaru

I'll answer the question three ways, one for songs released in 2007 that I've discovered, two for songs and groups I heard for the first time in 2007 and three for the songs I love best in 2007. I'm restricting my choices for the first two to songs I've heard on Pandora.com.

I've actually had some songs resurface in my life due to finally getting an iPod last Christmas. I've ripped all of my CDs and rated all of the songs. I only have room for songs that have 3, 4 or 5 stars on my iPod and usually end up listening mainly to the 4 and 5 star songs. As a result a number of old favorites have resurfaced in my life.

I'm still working on the third mix, but here is the content but not the order of the first two.

Mix of 2007 releases
-------------------------------
Like O, Like H - Tegan And Sara
Pornographer's Dream - Suzanne Vega
Relief Next To Me - Tegan And Sara
Weekend A Go-Go - Moonbabies
Wolfboy - Blair
Alaska - Camera Obscura
Reverse - Green Pitch
Keep The River On Your Right - Jonatha Brooke
Jon Jon - Josh Rouse & Paz Suay
Frozen Floods - Lovers
Take Me To The Ballroom - Moonbabies
Our Haunt - Palomar
Along The Way - PT Walkley
Famous (Album Version) - Puddle Of Mudd
Anniversary - Suzanne Vega
Hype - Tegan And Sara
Sunday Sun - The Cinematics
My Best Friend's Hot - The Dollyrots
Out Of LA - The Dollyrots

Mix of 2007 discoveries
-----------------------------------------
Hell Yes - Alkaline Trio
All I Wanna Do - Amy Studt
Suicide - Boyskout
Lloyd, I'm Ready To Be Heartbroken - Camera Obscura
Martian Song - Clevergirl
She Has A Past - Danielle Howle And The Tantrums
Spooky Action - Dear & Glorious Physician
Eye In The Sky - Jonatha Brooke
Fleur De Lyse - Juliana Hatfield
Enchantment - Lily Frost
Don't Wake Up - Paper Moon
Letter Read - Rachael Yamagata
The Moral - The Color Guard
Octopus - The Oohlas
Boston Winter Snow - The Secret Ink
Easy Trigger - 27
Wolfboy - Blair
Had A Dream - Bird York
Saw You With A Girl - Girls From The Clouds
Go Ahead - Jen Trynin

I have to say, my year has culminated to a high point in the past few months... These songs have kept me entertained, some of them were found on Pandora. You guys saved my work-life.

Here's my list:

"You Give Me Something" by James Morrison
"The Distance" by Cake
"Carousel" by Iron and Wine
"Conquest" by The White Stripes
"Tive Rizou" by Seu Jorge
"Badly Bent" by Stiff Dead Cat
"Got Ma' Nuts from a Hippy" by The Fratellis
"Do Me" by Jean Knight
"Dem Blues" by Daniel Johnston
"Heck of a Job" by John Schofield
"Cosmik Debris" by Frank Zappa
"Red Clay Halo" by Gillian Welch

I could really keep going, but I need to get back to work! Keep it up, ya'll. I hope I get to work for you one day... Pandora rocks me!

Best,
Say

these lists are incredible, y'alls.

special mention has to go to say's daniel johnston--> john scofield--> frank zappa--> gillian welch sequence.

yowza!

keep em comin...

mz

hey wuts up person???

Here's my trancey/housey mix, although not perfectly ordered:

Arksun - Arisen
O'Callaghan & Kearney - Exactly
Kuffdam & Plant - Dream Makers (Original Mix)
M.I.K.E. - Voices From the Inside (M.I.K.E.'s Progressiva Mix)
Mannix vs. Kaymak - World Gone Mad
Stoneface & Terminal - Venus
Alt + F4 - Alt + F4
Mono - Rise
Tilt - The World Doesn't Know
Orbital - Tunnel Vision
Perry O'Neill - Wave Force
Gabriel & Dresden - Arcadia
Acquaviva & Maddox - Feedback
Astral Projection - Another world (floorplay remix)
Juno Reactor - Man To Ray
The Thrillseekers - Newlife (Original Mix)
Scott Mac - Twilight (Jelle Faber Remix)
Fictivision vs. Phynn - Escape (Phynn Mix)
Sasha - Xpander
Active Sight - The Search For Freedom
Super 8 - Alba
Oceanlab - Satellite (Original Above & Beyond Remix)
Reflekt - Need to feel loved
Motorcycle - As The Rush Comes (Sweeping Strings Remix)
Dogzilla - Without You
Yilmaz Altanhan - Eighties (Ozgur Can Remix)
Legowelt - Disco Rout
Nikki B & Christian E.F.F.E - I Remember (Solar Groovy Mix)
Depeche Mode - People are People (Giuseppe D's Radioactive Club Mix)
Alex Stealthy - Something is wrong
John Digweed - Lie to Me (Freestyleman Thirsty Monk Dub)
Margot Meets The Melody Maker - Torch (Extrawelt Remix)
Jody Wisternoff - Cold Drink, Hot Girl (Original Mix)
Carl A. Finlow - Polygon Girl
Metope - Libertango
Art of Trance - Killamanjaro (Adam Dived Remix)
John Digweed - Warung Beach (Lutzenkirchen Remix)
Phonique - For The Time Being (Alexkid's Cold Remix)
Undo - Mirrorball
Mysterymen - Is It Real
Mathew Johnson - Marionette
Boards of Canada - Music is Math
Frequency - Return To The Masters (Antix Mix)
Tiesto - Nyana
Progression - Technophobia
Solarstone - Release

Something that didn't fit in, but seems perfect for these Celebrities Gone Wild times: Pet Shop Boys' "Flamboyant".

Hey, so, I have an idea:

On the site, there's generally terminology when I ask, "Why is this song playing?", such as "punk influences", or "minor key tonality". What about making a checklist thing that let's the user click what they want to be included in their station? Also, any way to get moods into the selection process? Sometimes I'm looking for intense music, others I'm looking for laid back or whatever. It'd be good to be able to find a way to add... Dare I say, emotions? To the process. :] THANK YOUS.

hey elise -
thanks for those ideas - I'm passing them along to the rest of the crew here for general absorption. stay tuned...
cheers,
mz

The revelations:
Group - The Clique (and a to a bit lesser extent - The Guess Who) - thanks Pandora!
Song - Pregghero [Stand By Me] - Adriano Celentano - found on blogmusik

The resurfacings:
Group - The Searchers - thanks Pandora!
Song - Voulez Vous Dancez - Ricci e Poveri (again blogmusik)

And I do miss a good station for Italian music of mid-80s (San Remo etc.) .

so good, thank you!!!

The songs on my list are the most wow ones for me.