Now, I’m no Largehearted Boy when it comes to aggregating lists - David is remarkable at that - but I have enjoyed finding offbeat compilations of the best ‘n’ worst of 2007. The “independent music” world encompasses everything from tours to records to fashion to drama, and if you’re willing to invest a little time making out with your computer screen, you can find a list that someone else has already spent precious time assembling. So why not take a look at some of the best lists in this read ‘em and rank ‘em season?

The Stereogum Gummy Awards are all voted on by the readers, who are always the most opinionated, snarky, and cleverest commenters in the ‘blogosphere.’ Give the powerless some power, and you get a kinda creepy list of the “hottest” indie rockers. Bradford Cox ahead of Jack White? CRIMINAL!

The Onion A.V. Club are some of the snobbiest music snobs you’ll find, but with good reason - they also have (generally) the best taste of any underground-ish publication on the Web, and also (duh) the best senses of humor. I’m anxiously awaiting the Worst Band Names of 2007 list, but for now I’ll take Let It Die: 23 Songs That Should Never Be Covered Again. I’d agree with most, and especially “Crazy,” as long as you omit the Raconteurs totally badass rendition from Lollapalooza 2006.

PopMatters always does a nice job of breaking down their lists by genre, and I particularly like their Best Hip-Hop of 2007 collection, mainly because most hip-hop never made it into my iTunes this year. I did, however, enjoy El-P, Common, and the Jay-Z record (way less filler than Kanye, yo), so this list is right in line with my Bird taste.

My fellow Chicago blogger Damaged Goods For Sale has a list I’m probably going to compile myself by the end of the year, and that’s Worst Albums. It’s sort of misleading, because as he says in the intro, none of us can listen to every record that came out this year…so these are more the major-ish disappointments. I have to agree with him one a couple of these, but you’ll have to sit tight and wait for my list to know which ones.

There’s a lot of time on the collective hands across town at Pitchfork, but my favorite of their many lists this year is 20 Worst Album Covers. It may be because I get so much of my music online that I rarely even see an album’s artwork, but it may also be that these really do suck. The worst is when a good record (Common, The New Pornographers) get such an ugly party dress.

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