Monday, December 18, 2006

The Best Of 2006

As we're approaching the new year, it's time to summarize all the good and the bad things we had in the past year when it's about indie music. The task was not easy at all, since 2006 was a very affirmative year for the indie music. We had a plenty of interesting releases where many of them came from the newcomers. We also had a large internet music expansion through MySpace and YouTube, we had a plenty of excellent festivals, etc. So, one may say it was not bad at all. Here is the Indie Surfer's list of the best albums in 2006. I tried to put most of the good things in the lists and I probably missed something but I hope you'll not mind :) Finally, I invite you to give your own opinions on the best music of 2006 and to make your own top-ten lists and leave them in the comments.

The best indie albums of 2006:
100. Mando Diao - Ode To Ochrasey
99. Two Gallants - What The Toll Tells
98. Albert Hammond Jr. - Yours To Keep
97. Junior Boys - So This Is Goodbye
96. Mono - You Are There
95. Swan Lake - Beast Moans
94. Bound Stems - Appreciation Night
93. We Are Scientists - With Love And Squalor
92. Mogwai - Mr. Beast
91. Jenny Lewis - Rabbit Fur Coat
90. Midlake - The Trials Of Van Occupanther
89. Mates Of State - Bring It Back
88. Belle & Sebastian - The Life Pursuit
87. Ratatat - Classics
86. Beck - The Information
85. Girl Talk - Night Ripper
84. The Raconteurs - Broken Boy Soldiers
83. Tapes'n'Tapes - The Loon
82. The Strokes - First Impressions Of Earth
81. Built To Spill - You In Reverse
80. The Young Knives - Voices Of Animals And Men
79. Grizzly Bear - Yellow House
78. Casiotone For The Painfully Alone - Etiquette
77. The Hidden Cameras - Awoo
76. Red Hot Chili Peppers - Stadium Arcadium
75. Ane Brun - A Temporary Dive
74. Isis - In The Absence Of Truth
73. The Grates - Gravity Won't Get You High
72. The Long Blondes - Somone To Drive You Home
71. The Bicycles - The Good, The Bad And The Cuddly
70. Serena Maneesh - Serena Maneesh
69. OOIOO - Taiga
68. Art Brut - Bang Bang Rock & Roll
67. Scott Walker - The Drift
66. Howe Gelb - Sno' Angel Like You
65. I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness - Fear Is On Our Side
64. Be Your Own Pet - Be Your Own Pet
63. Califone - Roots & Crowns
62. ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead - So Divided
61. Asobi Seksu - Citrus
60. The Whitest Boy Alive - Dreams
59. Wolfmother - Wolfmother
58. The Album Leaf - Into The Blue Again
57. Yo La Tengo - I Am Not Afraid Of You And I Will Beat Your Ass
56. M. Ward - Post War
55. Brand New - The Devil And God Are Raging Inside Me
54. Page France - Hello, Dear Wind
53. Mastodon - Blood Mountain
52. Cat Power - The Greatest
51. Boris - Pink
50. Boy Kill Boy - Civilian
49. Thom Yorke - The Eraser
48. Leya - Watch You Don't Take Off
47. The Fratellis - Costello Music
46. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Show Your Bones
45. Ben Kweller - Ben Kweller
44. Dodo Bird - Beware Of The Maniacs
43. Neko Case - Fox Confessor Brings The Flood
42. Final Fantasy - He Poos Clouds
41. Phoenix - It's Never Been Like That
40. Sufjan Stevens - The Avalanche
39. The Kooks - Inside In, Inside Out
38. Guillemots - Through The Windowpane
37. Sparklehorse - Dreamt For Light Years In The Belly Of A Mountain
36. Evangelicals - So Gone
35. The Pipettes - We Are The Pipettes
34. The Knife - Silent Shout
33. Pearl Jam - Pearl Jam
32. Regina Spektor - Begin To Hope
31. Math And Physics Club - Math And Physics Club
30. Annuals - Be He Me
29. Sunset Rubdown - Shut Up I Am Dreaming
28. I'm From Barcelona - Let Me Introduce My Friends
27. Envelopes - Demon
26. Scissor Sisters - Ta-Dah
25. Bonnie Prince Billy - The Letting Go
24. Maritime - We, The Vehicles
23. Hot Chip - The Warning
22. Juana Molina - Son
21. The Mountain Goats - Get Lonely
20. Oh No! Oh My! - Oh No! Oh My!
19. Babyshambles - Down In Albion
18. Figurines - Skeleton
17. Lily Allen - Alright, Still
16. !Forward, Russia! - Give Me A Wall
15. Danielson - Ships
14. Band Of Horses - Everything All The Time
13. The Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I'm, That's What I'm Not
12. The Veils - Nux Vomica
11. The Plastic Constellations - Crusades
10. Sonic Youth - Rather Ripped


09. Destroyer - Destroyer's Rubbies


08. The Diableros - You Can't Break The Strings In Our Olympic Hearts


07. Beirut - The Gulag Orkestar


06. The Decemberists - The Crane Wife


05. Islands - Return To The Sea


04. Tv On The Radio - Return To The Cookie Mountain


03. The Thermals - The Body, The Blood, The Machine


02. Joanna Newsom- Ys


01. The Hold Steady - Boys & Girls In America




The best hip-hop/r&b albums of 2006:
10. Lil Wayne & DJ Drama - Dedication 2
09. Rhymefest - Blue Collar
08. The Game - Doctor's Advocate
07. Lady Sovereign - Public Warning
06. The Roots - Game Theory
05. Lupe Fiasco - Food & Liquor
04. J Dilla - Donouts
03. Ghostface Killah - Fishscale
02. T.I. - King
01. The Clipse - Hell Hath No Fury



The best EPs of 2006:
10. Saturna - All Night
09. The Horrors - The Horrors
08. Dinosaur Jr - Live Acoustic At CGBG
07. Klaxons - Xan Valleys
06. The Little Ones - Sing Song
05. Benjy Ferree - Leaving The Nest
04. The Morning Benders - Loose Change
03. Babyshambles - Blinding
02. DeVotchKa - How It Ends
01. Born Ruffians - Born Ruffians



The 2006 black list contains the releases that are not necessarily bad, but I simply expected much more from those artists.
10. Muse - Black Holes And Revelations
09. The Killers - Sam's Town
08. Kasabian - Empire
07. Damien Rice - 9
06. Tool - 10000 Days
05. Jet - Shine On
04. The Vines - Vision Valley
03. Adam Green - Jacket Full Of Danger
02. Keane - Under The Iron Sea
01. Badly Drawn Boy - Born In The U.K.


There are a couple of nice releases that are not contained in the other lists since they're of different genre or they belong to the mainstream artists.
Tom Waits - Orphans
Bob Dylan - Modern Times
Justin Timberlake - FutureSex / LoveSounds
VA - Tropicalia - A Brazilian Revolution In Sound
Ali Farka Toure - Savane
Johnny Cash - American V: A Hundred Highways
Corinne Bailey Rae - Corinne Bailey Rae
Gnarls Barkley - St. Elsewhere
My Chemical Romance - The Black Parade
Morrissey - Ringleader Of The Tormentors




Note
that this will be the last post in this year. I'll make a break for holidays and will continue posting from the 8th of January 2007. I invite all of you who'd like to have your blogs (or similar internet pages) to be linked on Indie Surfer to send the links via email or MySpace or to leave them in the comments on the blog. I'll set up and publish the list at the beginning of the next year (2007).

I hope you've enjoyed visiting Indie Surfer in 2006. I wish you Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Have nice holidays, see you soon!

24 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Dear friend,
I give you two links for be included in your page (what a great honor). As soon I can, I´m going to create a double cd with the best in 2006... if you want we could change opinions about both lists...

Here you have the links
Musical Minutes Blog: http://minutos-musicales.blogspot.com

Musical Minutes YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=eolrindebara

In other terms, here is my myspace, althoug I think you know it already:
http://www.myspace.com/eolrin

5:58 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I started a blog about a month and a half ago, in the vein of yours (direct links, but no in detail descriptions). If you could post my link, it would be much appreciated.

http://littlexsparkee.blogspot.com

Thanks and great job the IS blog, it's my favorite

7:46 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Yes,I very much agree from your black list that Muse,Kasabian and The Killers were bands that I expected more too.

7:50 AM  
Blogger F.R.E.D. said...

I write a weekly column for my university newspaper, and here’s my top 30. Mostly indie albums with a few stellar mainstream releases thrown in for good measure...

30 ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead - So Divided
29 Raconteurs - Broken Boy Soldiers
28 Feu Thérèse - Feu Thérèse
27 The Album Leaf - Into The Blue Again
26 Jon-Rae & The River - Knows What You Need
25 MSTRKRFT - The Looks
24 Tapes n’ Tapes - The Loon
23 Decemberists - The Crane Wife
22 Graham Coxon - Love Travels At Illegal Speeds
21 Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am That’s What I’m Not
20 Squarepusher - Hello Everything
19 Belle & Sebastian - The Life Pursuit
18 Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Show Your Bones
17 Mew - And The Glass Handed Kites
16 Shout Out Out Out Out - Not Saying/Just Saying
15 Chad VanGaalen - Skelliconnection
14 Peaches - Impeach My Bush
13 Jenny Lewis And The Watson Twins - Rabbit Fur Coat
12 Neko Case - The Fox Confessor Brings The Flood
11 Ratatat - Classics
10 Cat Power - The Greatest
9 Yo La Tengo - I Am Not Afraid Of You And I Will Beat Your Ass
8 The Knife - Silent Shout
7 The Dears - Gang Of Losers
6 Black Keys - Magic Potion
5 Final Fantasy - He Poos Clouds
4 Matmos - The Rose Has Teeth In The Mouth Of A Beast
3 Thom Yorke - The Eraser
2 Mogwai - Mr Beast
1 Beck - The Information

3:01 PM  
Blogger Manu said...

a few comments:
1. the whitest boy alive - much too far
2. i love you, man! :D

3:55 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

i'm a wee bit surprised to see no mention of:

The Black Angels - Passover
Silversun Pickups - Carnavas

10:14 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Just wanted to say this has been my favorite music blog over the past year, and I agree almost wholeheartedly with the rankings. Keep up the good work, thanks for all the great music!

10:42 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

and best wishes from me too, thnx for every post tyou made this year
kind regards,
2ldmoe/b

7:24 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Ziggy - ich wünsch dir ein frohes Fest und ein ganz liebevolles schönes neues Jahr!
Hab deinem Blog schon die eine oder andere schöne Stunde zu verdanken.
Vielen Dank und mach so weiter :)


And to all the others:
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

4:06 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

That was a good year for music, I guess next will be much better.
Thanks for this blog, you do it great. Happy holidays!

7:29 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Great site, keep it up! Merry x-mas & a happy 2007!!

2:05 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

try http://www.midlake.net ...another awesome band you dont mention on your list.

2:37 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

No one is giving any credit to Margot and the Nuclear so and so's!!!

Dust of Retreat was amazing... can someone explain why the blogosphere has been overlooking this insanely talented group?

9:33 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thanks for all the posts, this has been my favourite blog this year, and indeed, hopefully next year. Have fun.

10:14 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I'd compose a list of my own but you seem to have covered all the bases, I'll be expecting pitchfork to rip you off in the few weeks. Thanks for all your effort in this lovely gray area we all reside in here. Happy holidays!

8:12 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

A gde je Razorlight???

1:49 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

thanks for making it christmas all year long!

11:01 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

i thought this was a pitchforkmedia list.

4:57 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

best surprises & new artists to me this year :
dan arborise ('around in circles')
steve adey ('all things real')
scott matthews ('passing stranger')

quite good : duke special

& so much more
thnx for your blog, all the best in '07

2ldmoe/b

8:08 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Major kudos for including Serena Maneesh. Cheers, and Happy New Year.

6:35 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Happy New Year! Just want to say thanks for all you do. I haven't been commenting much lately, but your posts have been great. Also, I totally agree with your choice for the #1 album of 2006. The Hold Steady rule!!!

6:38 PM  
Blogger Diego said...

I started a blog about a month ago. If you could post my link, it would be much appreciated.

http://mikepuffy.blogspot.com

Thanks!

6:48 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

no Nina Nastaia, Steve Adey?
YS is great !
Nice List.

12:56 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

wasnt babyshambles album released in 2005?
great job thru the whole year, bro!

3:48 PM  

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