I hate to say it, but 2007 isn’t shaping up to be my favorite year for music. While there have been a handful of excellent albums, there have been a lot more “misses” than “hits” so far. New albums from The Shins, The Arcade Fire, Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, Bloc Party, and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah have all failed to impress me. (Don’t even get me started on the new “Smashing Pumpkins” album.) And, even worse than disappointing albums from established bands, there has been a real paucity of interesting new bands so far this year.

That said, there have been a few releases this year that just may salvage the year. I’ve used the interesting Seeqpod music service to put together a playlist of songs from what I consider to be the best releases of 2007 to date. The list is a mix of older established bands (Wilco, Dinosaur Jr., Apples In Stereo), some “mid-level”, still-growing acts (The National, Earlimart, Glen Hansard), and three extremely impressive young acts (The Broken West, The Antlers and Vandaveer.)

Take a listen (and be sure to scroll down to find all 9 songs).

If you like any of these artists, you can pick up their CDs at great prices here or here.