Best albums of 2006....

Below I've posted the list of my favorite albums of 2006. Just like it was the case with the songs, I've probably forgotten or ignored some real gems. But it's impossible to know or listen to every album released. And I would probably change my opinion on several albums, if I've had time to give them repeated listens. But overall I'm not really that impressed with this year's crop and I probably will remember 2006 as a year where the songs were a lot better than the albums. Anyway - here's the list.

20. Badly Drawn Boy - Born in the U.K.
19. Phoenix - It's never been like that
18. Razorlight - Razorlight
17. DulceSky - Lands
16. Amber Smith - rePRINT
15. The Oxygen Ponies - The Oxygen Ponies
14. Muse - Black Holes and Revelations
13. iLiKETRAiNS - Progress Reform
12. Murder - Stockholm Syndrome
11. Memphis - A Little Place in the Wilderness

10. VETO - There's a beat in all machines
At first I was quite disappointed, but for some reason I kept getting back to it, and slowly the album started to grow on me.
+ You are a Knife

9. EPO-555 - Mafia
The excellent sophomore album from one of the most interesting new Danish bands in recent years.

8. The Ballet - Mattachine!
According to the band's webpage there are about 100 copies of the album left. So hurry up and get yours!
+ In My Head

7. Band of Horses - Everything All the Time
Everyone in the bloggerworld seemed to fall in love with this band. And no wonder, because this certainly was one great debut album!
+ The Funeral

6. Late Night Venture - Late Night Venture
Must be the "surprise" band of the year. Read a review of the album in my local newspaper, which was enough to catch my interest. Glad it did, because this is a really great alternative pop/rock album.
+ Pay the Moon

5. Camera Obscura - Let's Get Out of This Country
For some reason it took me a long, long time before I actually started listening to this album. Wonder why, because this is a wonderful twee pop album.
+ Lloyd, I'm Ready to Be Heartbroken

4. The Electric Pop Group - The Electric Pop Group
Probably would have cracked the Top 3 had it been released earlier. An album to remind you never to publish your "best-of" lists at the beginning of December.
+ Walk Away

3. The Radio Dept. - Pet Grief
I know quite a lot of people were disappointed about The Radio Dept.'s second album. In my opinion they took a step in the right direction by sounding less noisy and by (unlike on the debut) not including any weak songs on the album. But it would have been great if the album was running for more than 37 minutes!
+ The Worst Taste In Music


2. moi Caprice - The Art of Kissing Properly
For every listen the album unfolds and delivers one great pop song after the other. It rarely happens that an album actually meets my (high) expectations, but this (the band's third) album certainly did. Now if I could only catch them live some day!!



1. Windermere - No One Wins
This is one of the albums that so easily could make me start rambling about the injustice of the world. So great and so sadly overlooked. A month ago I described it as "dark, noisy, beautiful, catchy, atmospheric and at times depressive" and I still believe that this is a pretty accurate description.
+ There's a sun