This year was definitely weak:

1. TV On the Radio - Return...
2. Maritime - We, the Vehicles
3. Junior Boys - So This Is Goodbye
4. +/- (Plus/Minus) - Let's Build a Fire
5. Blood Brothers - Young Machetes
6. Gnarls Barkley - St. Elsewhere
7. Bound Stems - Appreciation Night
8. Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say...
9. Aloha - Some Echoes
10. Belle & Sebastian - Life Pursuit

Do you read SPIN?

quote:

Originally posted by Karen:
My favorites from 2006:

1. The Raconteurs, Broken Boy Soldier
2. Wolfmother, Wolfmother
3. Belle & Sebastian, The Life Pursuit
4. Eagles of Death Metal, Death by Sexy
5. Deftones, Saturday Night Wrist
6. Beck, The Information
7. Duke Spirit, Cuts Across the Land
8. Band of Horses, Everything All the Time
9. Muse, Black Holes and Revelations
10. Basement Jaxx, Crazy Itch Radio
11. Red Hot Chili Peppers, Stadium Arcadium
12. The Mars Volta, Amputechture
13. Cat Power, The Greatest
14. Thom Yorke, The Eraser
15. Art Brut, Bang Bang Rock & Roll
16. Gnarls Barkley, St. Elsewhere
17. Tool, 10,000 Days
18. Peaches, Impeach My Bush
19. Secret Machines, Ten Silver Drops
20. Scissor Sisters, Ta-Dah

Yay, have you posted your list yet? I'm interested in seeing it...

Joanna Newsom - Ys
Burial - s/t
Junior Boys - So This is Goodbye
Hot Chip - The Warning
Scott Walker - The Drift
Camera Obscura - Let's Get Out Of This Country
Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People...
Ellen Allien & Apparat - Orchestra Of Bubbles
Liars - Drum's Not Dead
Keith Fullerton Whitman - Recorded in Lisbon

01. Feu Thérèse - Feu Thérèse
02. The Decemberists - The crane wife
03. Destroyer - Destroyer's rubies
04. M. Ward - Post-war
05. Sunn 0))) & Earth - Angel coma split
06. The Slits - Revenge of the killer slits EP
07. Built To Spill - You in reverse
08. Sonic Youth - Rather ripped
09. Grandaddy - What happened to the fambly cat?
10. Band Of Horses - Everything all the time
11. Amy Millan - Honey from the tombs
12. Sparklehorse - Dreamt for light years in the belly of a mountain
13. Clinic - Visitations
14. The Black Heart Procession - The spell
15. Lily Allen - Alright still

quote:

Originally posted by ericg75:
Have you checked out Phoenix's It's Never Been Like That? That's been on several lists and it seems like something that would be up your alley.

Yes I have. It's a great little album. The closest thing to power pop on year end lists. Not sure where it figures on my list, but it's a great album.

quote:

Originally posted by [douglasdickel]:
01. Feu Thérèse - Feu Thérèse
02. The Decemberists - The crane wife
03. Destroyer - Destroyer's rubies
04. M. Ward - Post-war
05. Sunn 0))) & Earth - Angel coma split
06. The Slits - Revenge of the killer slits EP
07. Built To Spill - You in reverse
08. Sonic Youth - Rather ripped
09. Grandaddy - What happened to the fambly cat?
10. Band Of Horses - Everything all the time
11. Amy Millan - Honey from the tombs
12. Sparklehorse - Dreamt for light years in the belly of a mountain
13. Clinic - Visitations
14. The Black Heart Procession - The spell
15. Lily Allen - Alright still

DouglasDickel, you've got Sunn 0))) but no Boris? Have you heard Pink yet?

Man, we need to abolish signatures on these forums. They look exactly like a part of the message, so your eyes automatically go to them. I can't tell you how sick I am of reading "Just got a little distracted by somebody doing the repeater" or "...of course, I could be wrong" or "at 16 years old, I'm only old enough to know that I don't know much."

quote:

Originally posted by RavingLunatic:
Man, we need to abolish signatures on these forums. They look exactly like a part of the message, so your eyes automatically go to them. I can't tell you how sick I am of reading "Just got a little distracted by somebody doing the repeater" or "...of course, I could be wrong" or "at 16 years old, I'm only old enough to know that I don't know much."

Personally, I like the signatures, and don't find them distracting, even if some fallible 16 year-old is doing the repeater. Maybe posters could sign in a different colour?

That's better.

quote:

Originally posted by general_zod:

quote:

Originally posted by LD:
I really like the Damnwells album, even though the indie snobs would probably scoff at it.

I'm not really sure why it hasn't made anyone's list. I guess indie is king this year. Who would've thought music critics would only be interested in melancholy music this year. Maybe I'll get lucky and power pop will be king next year.

I assume by 'anyone' you mean critics, because the Damnwells made my list at 14. Really good record, and one of the better live shows I saw this year.

I like some of the things on your list, zod, including the Barenaked Ladies and Cheap Trick. I'm gonna pick up the new Sloan when it gets its US release in January.

I don't read Spin, but I love to read. Do you think I should check it out? Do my favorites suggest that I would benefit from reading Spin? Thanks . . . .

quote:

Originally posted by Yay!:
Do you read SPIN?

quote:

Originally posted by Karen:
My favorites from 2006:

1. The Raconteurs, Broken Boy Soldier
2. Wolfmother, Wolfmother
3. Belle & Sebastian, The Life Pursuit
4. Eagles of Death Metal, Death by Sexy
5. Deftones, Saturday Night Wrist
6. Beck, The Information
7. Duke Spirit, Cuts Across the Land
8. Band of Horses, Everything All the Time
9. Muse, Black Holes and Revelations
10. Basement Jaxx, Crazy Itch Radio
11. Red Hot Chili Peppers, Stadium Arcadium
12. The Mars Volta, Amputechture
13. Cat Power, The Greatest
14. Thom Yorke, The Eraser
15. Art Brut, Bang Bang Rock & Roll
16. Gnarls Barkley, St. Elsewhere
17. Tool, 10,000 Days
18. Peaches, Impeach My Bush
19. Secret Machines, Ten Silver Drops
20. Scissor Sisters, Ta-Dah

quote:

Originally posted by Troy:
I'm reading all this press about Ys, but I'm reluctant to buy it.


Please, someone tell me why it is worth my $9.99.

It's worth your $9.99 because if you think the voice is only slightly annoying, you'll eventually get past that and be able to see the album for the masterpiece it is. ; )

Oh and if you're going to buy Ys buy a physical copy, not a downloadable one. The packaging has very high production value.[/QUOTE]

yeah... the packaging has a thick booklet with gold foil edging (like the childrens' books you read as a kid), a slip case, gorgeous design, and an immaculate painting of Joanna on the cover with such detail it's something to get lost in while you are listening.

the album is something that you have to let grow on you. perhaps for starters you should pick up her previous record, Milk-Eyed Mender, because it has more digestible 3-to-4-minute songs and is more immediately accessible.

quote:

Originally posted by philosopherEric:
I assume by 'anyone' you mean critics, because the Damnwells made my list at 14.

Yes, I was referring to the critics. I have yet to see the Damnwells on one best of list from a publication. By the way, your list is pretty good. I like the shout out to Snow Patrol and Badly Drawn Boy. Both those albums probably should've been in my top 10.

Well, I gave a good listen to a lot of the albums on people's lists like TV on the Radio, Cat Power, The Knife, Beirut, Liars, Band of Horses, Neko Case, Destroyer and Islands, and I gotta say, I just don't get it. I guess I'm out of the indie rock loop. I suppose I still think of indie rock in terms of 1980's R.E.M. This new breed of stuff is just beyond me. Bully for everyone who likes those albums because we all gotta like something and we can't all be power pop fanatics like myself. I'm sure the albums are good, I guess I just don't have the ear for them. I'll have to listen to them again. I must be missing something. Then again, I didn't get Outkast and Kanye West ruling the lists the last few years so maybe I'm not meant to get it.

quote:

Originally posted by general_zod:
I guess I'm out of the indie rock loop. I suppose I still think of indie rock in terms of 1980's R.E.M. This new breed of stuff is just beyond me.

If you like your indie rock on the poppier side of things, you may also want to check out two albums that just missed my top 20: The Pernice Brothers' Live a Little and Maritime's We, The Vehicles.

Also, if you're an R.E.M. fan, you ought to check out The Minus 5's self-titled 2006 album. The band features Young Fresh Fellow/part-time R.E.M. guitarist Scott McCaughey, full-time R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck, and a bunch of other jangle-pop all-stars.

Not too long, but I've just loved all of these albums. Particularly the top 6. (The rest are a more on an "in-the-mood" basis.)

1. Joanna Newsom—Ys
2. Tom Waits—Orphans
3. Katatonia—The Great Cold Distance
4. Thom Yorke—The Eraser
5. Emily Haines & The Soft Skeleton—Knives Don't Have Your Back
6. Evanesence—The Open Door (yeah this surprised me too. don't think it renders the rest of my list invalid, because that would be silly.)
7. CSS—Cansei de Ser Sexy
8. The Knife—Silent Shout
9. Herbert—Scale
10. Cat Power—The Greatest
11. The Decemberists—The Crane Wife
12. Regina Spektor—Begin to Hope

quote:

Originally posted by RavingLunatic:
Man, we need to abolish signatures on these forums. They look exactly like a part of the message, so your eyes automatically go to them. I can't tell you how sick I am of reading "Just got a little distracted by somebody doing the repeater" or "...of course, I could be wrong" or "at 16 years old, I'm only old enough to know that I don't know much."

I am not really sure why, but this post just made me crack up, very funny

quote:

Originally posted by Troy:
I'm reading all this press about Ys, but I'm reluctant to buy it.

I played the 30 second snippets on iTunes, and her voice was slightly annoying. She plays a harp. That's interesting. I don't think I have any other harp players in my vast collection. There are only 5 songs and the album is 55 minutes long (why can't I download it at $.99 a song?). So, I'm intregued but nor sold yet.

Please, someone tell me why it is worth my $9.99.

Like someone else said here, if you can get past the strange, spectral vocals and see it's true brilliance: beautiful string arrangements, poetic, smart lyrics, comfortably smart song structure and classically-trained, outstanding musicianship then you will love it. If the voice distracts you that much then you probably won't notice any of the aforementioned.

where the hell is 'chosen lords' on here
i have to assume it doesn't qualify for using tracks from last year, but even as a best-of-comp, it's better than 99.9 percent of everything else here...save tom waits
wait, no, it DOES qualify. the material is less than 2 years old, released as a series of singles just last year.
any shortlist is remiss sans afx's latest

i just registered on these boards, so what do i need to do--comment 29 more times then make my list eligible?