THE MUSIC DIRECTOR'S TOP 40 TRACKS OF 2011

This is it. My favorite moment of the year. The time when I reflect on the soundtrack of my year. For those of you who don't know me, my life is surrounded by music. My daily routine consists of following music blogs on Twitter and Facebook, listening to suggestions from friends, and filling all of the time in between with tunes from my iPod. I hear great music at work, in my car, in the shower – really anywhere I have access to iTunes, a record player, or a plug-in to speakers.

While my year is filled with plenty of music from different eras, I love to hear what's new in the music world. I also love to share my favorites with friends, which is why I started making my favorite tracks list back in 2009 and continued the tradition in 2010.

This year, I made a few tweaks, like taking my list from 50 to 40 tracks, to reflect the running playlist of new tunes on my iPod. I also suppose, on a subconscious level, it's my way of playing my version of Casey Kasem – although I don't plan on sending out any long-distance dedications. Also, I decided to hold to last year's tweak by only posting one song per artist/album, that way I can share as much new music as possible.

I hope you enjoy the list below the jump. To avoid ratings, I posted the list, like my album list, in alpha-order.