I was chatting with one of the Uncut writers the other day who was amazed that Amy Winehouse's album didn't make the Top 50; a pretty unfortunate omission, I had to admit. But when I polled about 40 of our regular contributors a few weeks ago, it didn't get a single vote. Now, I guess, it's time for you to help us compile an alternative Top 50 of 2007. Let's have a look at your Top Tens: will the Winehouse make the cut this time? What about that Beatles album? "O True Believers" by James Blackshaw, or is it just me who heard that one? Do your worst, folks.

Uncut miss some of the best records in 2006
My top 10 list is the following:

1. Destroyer.- Destroyer Rubies
2. Guillemots.- Through the windowpane
3. Bob Dylan.- Modern Times
4. Joan as Policewoman.- Real Life
5. Decemberists.- The Crane Wife
6. TV on The Radio.- Return to Cookie Mountain
7. Joanna Newson.- YS
8. James Yorkston.- The Year of the leopard
9. Tom Waits.- Orphans
10. Midlake.- Trails of Van Occupanther

Best Reissue

Tropicalia.

So the Yeah Yeah Yeahs haven't hit the UK yet? Or perhaps have and been summarily thrown into the backwaters of the Thames? Maybe I'm just an incorrigible Blondie loving Yankee but "Show Your Bones" by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs is a rather infectious blend of punk-folk rock that will ultimately receive the recognition it deserves. Also where is Thom Yorke's valiant solo effort "Eraser"? Surely, you Brits haven't grown weary of good ole' Thom's existential aloofness yet??

So was Aerial by Kate Bush released in the wrong time or was it really that bad for your liking not to reach the top 50. There are of course certain rules in your top 50, so here they are:
1. The number one has to be already acclaimed artist or "dinosaur artist", so you won't take the risk to have a too different opinion from masses. Like last year's Arcade Fire, although we all know, that Sufjan Stevens really had the best album of the year. And this year you made almost a joke of your magazine putting Dylan's album number one and not taking risk putting Joanna Newsom into that spot, where she absolutely belongs.

2. There has to be certain number of British artists in your top 50, even if it's extremely hard to find excellent British albums in recent years(and you missed Kate Bush???). And still there are about 40 albums by American acts in the top 50 - so here is the really modern time question for your magazine to answer - what has happened to the progressive music force of Great Britain and why have you become so lazy creatively? And Lily Allen in top 50????

3. I really don't understand your rules of album reviews, where the big attention get the "whales" and popular acts, not the best music. What's the criteria, when for example Who album is recommended by you as one of the best albums of last 3 months, but it's not even in the top 50 of the year. If it's only a marketing step, then it will have influence on your magazine's reputation as a guide to quality music.

Anyway I can't say it was an excellent year for music, but still you had some different choices from other publications and took risks in your top 50 as followed:
1. Sufjan Stevens leftovers album in the top 10 - you should be applauded for this!
2. Cat Power as the woman of the year - wow!!!, of course she has made excellent music already for 10 years.

1. Joanna Newsom "Ys"
2. Sufjan Stevens "Avalanche"
3. Kate Bush "Aerial"
4. Scott Walker "Drift"
5. Tv On The Radio "Return To Cookie Mountain"
6. Cat Power "The Greatest"
7. Beirut "Gulag Orkestar"
8. Band of Horses "Everything All the Time"
9. Thom Yorke "Eraser"
10. Brightblack Morning Light "Brightblack Morning Light"

im sorry but pearl jam cannot be overlooked..... i understand why u over looked the chili peppers but i do not understand why u overlooked pearl jam.... they are still a hell of a band... if u dont compare them to their old glory they kick ass...no matter that once they were a lot better.....

Bruce proves he is just an absolutely extraordinary artist!

At War with the Mystics was initially a minor letdown after Yoshimi. Doesn't have that wonderland innocence I kept on telling myself. With all great albums it proved to be a grower.

Your Top 50 was pretty obscure this year (I only had 18 of them).

My top albums for 2006 would have to be those by Jenny Lewis & The Watson Twins, Muse, My Chemical Romance (and that's from someone who has no idea what 'emo' is) and - shameful omission by you - Amy Winehouse. From the older generation, Dylan and Paul Simon continue to come up with the goods.

A couple of random observations...

The Joanna Newsom album will need a few more listens for me to (hopefully) get past the mannered delivery. Great work by Van Dyke Parks on there, certainly.

'Love' just proves that older music sounds much better when remastered (prime exhibit - Aftermath by the Stones). Other than that, couldn't see what the fuss is about.

They really are on fire!

can I only submit comments but not see any comments of others. There's a problem with your website!

I vote Bruce Springsteen for held up the right tradition of really american popular music.
I also vote for Bob Dylan because the time are passin on but the man from Duluth is strong like a big stone against all hurricanes!!!!!!!

Francesco Giustino, Torino Italy.

I think the greatest mistake is the missing masterdebute Through the Windowpane by Guillemots. What a wonderful album, what a wonderful band!

1-Jenny Lewis with the Watson twins - "Rabbit Fur Coat"
2-The Knife - "Silent Shout"
3-Joanna Newsom - "Ys"
4-Beck - "The information"
5-Thom Yorke - "The Eraser"
6-Cat Power - "The Greatest"
7-Final Fantasy - "He poos clouds"
8-Morrissey - "Ringleader of the tormentors"
9-Tom Waits - "Orphans-Brawlers,Bawlers & Bastards"
10-Cansei de ser sexy - "Cansei de ser sexy"

Amazed not to see Judee Sill's two albums, all wrapped up in one bargain package as 'Abracadabra - the Asylum Years', on the list of best re-issues. I've been reading about her and her 'legendary' Old Grey Whistle Test appearance for years without actually hearing a note til this came out, and it was worth the wait. Skipping the odd dated arrangement, there are songs on here ('Jesus Was A Crossmaker' 'Lamb Ran Away With The Crown' especiallythat peeled the top of my skull back and made happy residence in my head for months on end.

to David Towers above... The user comments are updated daily, thats why you couldn't see other peoples submissions - the lists are rolling in ...

Thanks for all the lists - keep them coming, please. I can't explain why some of your choices were omitted, other than I guess our writers weren't keen on records by The Guillemots etc that much. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs record was just outside the Top 50, sadly, while some of your suggestions were exempted on fiendish technicalities. Kate Bush's "Aerial" is fantastic, I agree, but it came out in the UK in 2005, while The Decemberists' album isn't being released here until January 2007. God, I'm a pedant. And yes, Nick, that Judee Sill package was wonderful, but I suspect our writers didn't vote for it because she figured prominently in our 2005 reissues Top 20. Excuses, excuses, I know. . .

A strange top 50, and it was disappointing to see Bob's Modern Times as the years best record.

Some fine records, and here's my pick of the bunch:

1. The Flaming Lips, At War With The Mystics
It was rightfully declared that the '4 Wise Men In A Word Of Evil' have released 3 masterpeices in a row. The musical science project continues!

2. Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan, Ballad Of The Broken Seas
Woah! Lanegan appears to be popping up everywhere these days, and although there has been better records released this year, none are quite as enjoyable as this. Sure, it's flawed, but it's better for it.

3.Neko Case, Fox Confessor Brings The Flood
A departure from her last two albums (excluding the live record) and not what I was expecting. However, after a few listens this has proven to be a winner.

4.Jenny Lewis & The Watson Twins, Rabbit Fur Coat
Wonderfully understated. Simple and effective.

5. Beck, The Information
Beck delivers again, and this time it's got the depth of his 'acoustic' albums and playfulness of his more upbeat albums. Like all great records, a grower.

6. Midlake, The Trials of Van Occupanther
I've got to thank my brother for this (and to some extent the folks at Uncut). A brilliant record that I probably wouldn't have discovered for myself.

7. Howling Bells, Howling Bells
It's too easy to mention Mazzy Star, which many have, but Howling Bells aren't quite as dull or one dimensional. Haunting and instantly appealing.

8. The Twilight Singers, Powder Burns
Not as great as Greg Dulli's solo effort last year, but there's no denying the man enjoys his music. Most enjoyable 'rock' record of the year.

9. Justin Timberlake FutureSex/LoveSounds
?? I have to admit to being fairly impressed with Mr. Timberlake's ambition. Again it has it's flaws (perhaps too ambitious) but for 3 quarters it's enjoyable.

10. Amy Winehouse, Back to Black
It was a tough call: American V, or Amy. But Back To Black won, as it is the stronger of the albums (though Rick Ruben has to be congratulated on the understated nature of the 'last' Cash record).
Frank was a good record, but on Back To Black, Amy Winehouse really steps out. Brilliant.


Hope you all like!

Hello, I'm sorry I've not found the latest Morrissey album between the albums of the year (or maybe it was between the ones of the last year?).

My vote for album of the year has to be Endless Wire by The Who. The return of the studio Who is here and is very welcome!

Other notable mentions include: Bob Dylan - Modern Times, Neil Young - Living With War, Beck - The Information, Keith Urban - Love, Pain & The Whole Crazy Thing, New York Dolls - One Day It Will Please Us To Remember Even This, Radio Birdman - Zeno Beach & Tom Petty - Highway Companion.

Sorry, but I don't understand how does Bob Dylan get the first album of 2006. Was it because he gave you the worldwide exclusive of his new album? Really, I'm a little bit tired of reading about Bob Dylan on Uncut (and Mojo and Q, etc). The rest of the list is ok, I think. Maybe it misses I'm From Barcelona.

By the way, please deliver MORE Uncut's to Lisbon, Portugal, please, because if I don't buy it on the first 2 or 3 days of distribution, I have to get Mojo or, worst, Q.

Thank You very much. Here's my Top Ten of the year:


I'm From Barcelona - Let Me Introduce My Friends
Muse - Blacl Holes And Revelations
Sonic Youth - Rather Ripped
Midlake - The trials of Van Occupanther
Sufjan Stevens - The Avalanche
Neil Young - Living With War
The Arctic Monkeys - Whatever...
Sérgio Godinho - Ligação Directa
Hot Chip - The Warning
Albert Hammond Jr. - Yours To Keep

(I tried sending a variation on this yesterday, may have managed and it simply not been updated yet or I may have buggered up before it was submitted. In which case...)

PRIMAL SCREAM - 'RIOT CITY BLUES' - Forget the revolution, it's time to pay off the mortgage oily hipped crapola rock'n'roll, aimed straight at the hearts and panties of the masses AND IT WORKS!! Kinda dumb but definitely kinda fun.

CHARLOTTE GAINSBOURG - '5.55' - gorgeous Air-iated melodies, breathy vocals, melancholy atmospheric pop for adults. If you've got the last few month's UNCUT sampler cds, search out her 'Songs That We Sing' track.
Along with Cat Power and Jenny Lewis, for example, this is an album you'll continue to play for pleasure (unlike say Neil Young's oddly sweet but FIFTH BEST ALBUM OF THE YEAR??!! amateur trumpetting school concert opus....)

Quiet difficult still to list this year's best music. Didn't have much time to listen properly to last month albums. Let's try:

1) My Morning Jacket - "Okonokos"
2) Archie Bronson Outfit - "Derdang Derdang"
3) Akron/Family - "Meek Warrior"
4) Psychic Ills - "Dins"
5) Motorpsycho - "Black Hole/Black Canvas"
6) Yo La Tengo - "I'm Not Afraid Of You And I Will Beat..."
7) Black Lips - "Let It Bloom"
8) Dungen - "Ta det Lugnt"
9) Seafood - "Paper Crown kings"
10) Six Organs Of Admittance - "The Sun Awakens"

Honestly i left out also Colour Haze "Tempel" (best stoner-psych power trio in Europe); Triple Burner "s/t" (quiet fascinating high speed acoustic stuff); Joanna Newsom "Ys" (played only twice, still no clear opinions on it, but seems really good)

- Best reissue: Faust - "IV" and High Tide "Sea Shanties"

ivor the engine driver (Italy)

One Tusk-y, out-there album, multitracked vocals overlapping like the antipsychotics've run out. But often pretty with it! Don't know what drives a musician like this to keep pushing the envelope so hard when he could so easily sit back and count the royalties... Interesting to listen in on, anyhow!

I can't help noticing the absence of M.Ward in the list. I trust this is an oversight.

top Ten ]

10- Bob Dylan - Modern Times
9- Morrissey - The Ringleader of the Tormentors
8- TV On The Radio - Return to Cookie Mountain
7- Belle & Sebastian - The Life Pursuit
6- Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
5- Thom Yorke - The Eraser
4- Strokes - First Impressions of Earth
3- Cordel do Fogo Encantado - Transfiguração
2- Flaming Lips - At War With the Mystics
1- Raconteurs - Broken Boy Soldiers

Am I the only person who really enjoyed the James Dean Bradfield solo album, 'The Great Western' or the Albert Hammond Jr from the Strokes cd? Agree with the guy who rated the Charlotte Gainsbourg album, too, not that she was ever in a band...

Finally, thinking of what to ask for for Xmas, apart from the new Neil Young live set and John Phillips - can anyone sway me either way re. the John Cale 'Paris 1919' and/or Lou Reed 'Coney Island Baby' re-issues? Midlake (they sound ok, what heard, but not remarkable, like a lethargic indie Fleetwood Mac - is the album worth it?) Anything else that'd make my heart sing? Thanks!

DEFINITELY THE ALBUM OF THE YEAR MUST BE "AT WAR WITH THE MYSTICS"OF THE FLAMING LIPS, BUT YOU FORGOT TO PUT IN THE LIST GUILLEMOTS "THROUGH THE WINDOW PANE", AN AMAZING ALBUM, A LOT BETTER THAT OTHERS IN THE TOP 50.

Best records 2006..

1. John Mayer - Continuum
Redefined his sound in a pure and beautiful way. The essence of the record is highly presence and beautifully captured on this document. Highlight: His blasting perfomance of Jimi Hendrixs "Bold As Love".

2. The Kooks - Inside In Inside out
Great folk/pop (and sometimes lightly dylan-esque) tunes.

3. Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, Thats What I Am Not
No explaination needed.

4. Razorlight - Razorlight
5. Tool - 10,000 Days
6. Wolfmother - Wolfmother
7. The Dead 60s - The Dead 60s
8. Justin Timberlake - FutureSex/LoveSound
9. Jonny Cash - American V.
10. Yo La Tengo - I Am Not Afraid Of You And I Will Beat Your A**

Hamburg, Germany

Best albums of the year 2006 is
Ray Lamontagne "until the sun turns black".
Also on the top 10 are
Shack "...the corner of Miles and Gil"
M Ward "Post War"
Tom Russel "Love & Fear"
Paul Simon "Surprise"
Jenny Lewis "Rabbit Fur Coat"
Neko Case "Fox Confessor bring the flood"
David Gilmour "On an island"
Richard Swift "Dressed up for the letdown" (not officially released but I got lucky, and it's a great CD!)
and
Bruce Springsteen "Live at the Hammersmith Odeon".
There you go!

Gabriel, Stockholm

Strange Top 50 choices, but then again this is music.

My top 10:

1. Black Keys - Magic Potion.
- Led Zep reborn and updated. Outstanding guitar and vocals
2. Red Hot Chili Peppers - Stadium Arcadium.
- If you don't know this you should get it now.
3. Orson - Bright Idea.
- Music to sing in the car !!! Highly underated
4. Primal Scream - Riot City Blues
- Music to shout in the car. PS change their ecstacy for beer - about time. Keep it up.
5. Holloways - So This Is Great Britain
- Indie with humour in true UK style. It's not that bad here, well written songs, so who cares
6. Fratellis - Costello Music
- Brilliant focused fast indie and great great vocals. Sing along now.
7. Towers of London - Blood Sweat and Towers
- Punk 00's style, with great lyrics, another that doesn't leave the car stereo.
8. Evanescence - The Open Door
- Classic rock album which grows and grows - what a voice she has
9. Audioslave - Revelations
- Moving style again, they give no duff tracks here, just great music
10. Angels and Airwaves - We Don't Need To Whisper
- Playing this album stops me in my tracks everytime, and I need to sit and listen

Disappointements:

Neither DOGS nor Sons And Daughters released new albums this year. But still watching and waiting.

Kingofthehill did release Unreleased after 10 years, and tracked it down, but someone in the major should distribute this !!!

Not far out my top 10:

Magic Numbers, Those The Brokes - Still sound unique
Pipettes - We Are The .... - Novel and toe tapping

Top 10 is not enough. Look forward to checking out some more of the Uncut top 50.

Songs For Christmas - Sufjan Stevens
love - George Martin
The Cellar Door Sessions m.dives
Masha Qrella
Raconteurs
My life in the bush of ghosts D Byrne e B Eno


Massimiliano

Italy

I agree with Robert Smith and others - Post-War is a fine album and should definitely have made the top 50.

Also, Bruce's Seeger Sessions should have been higher than 43 - he's more interesting than Dylan nowadays if you ask me.

And how about Mogwai's Mr. Beast, which I thought was an excellent return to form, or Howe Gelb's 'Sno Angel Like You?

These few quibbles aside, thanks for another excellent, and eclectic, top 50 Uncut!

A few missing favourites (Paul Simon, Howe Gelb, Pet Shop Boys) but one glaring ommision - 'Hello Young Lovers' by Sparks. Probably the most ambitiously over the top record of the year, and certainly more sonically exciting and amusing than much of your top 50.

How on earth could you forget Candi Staton, His Hands on your list? The album is filled with great songs, and the title song is one of the best tracks of 2006.
I did see her on a show at Cosmopolite in Oslo, and what a killer concert.

Regards,

Steinar Andorsen, Oslo, Norway

It has been a relatively good year with 2006, albeit Paris Hilton. I did not have the luxury of getting my hands on all the albums that I wanted and should but from the lot which I did get my ears on, here are a few gems which I think are worthy of mention. Some are in my CD rack, some are in my waiting list. They are placed here in no particular order of preference. They are all good.

1. Bruce Springsteen - The Seeger Sessions
2. Neko Case - Fox Confessor Brings The Flood
3. Mary J Blige - Breakthrough
4. Beth Orton - Comfort of Strangers
5. Madeleine Peroux - Half The Perfect World
6. The Decemberists - The Crane Wife
7. Pet Shop Boys - Fundamental
8. Camera Obscura - Let's Get Out Of This Country
9. Tom Petty - Highway Companion
10. Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris - All The Road Running

The fact is Andy Partridge is the one true living English songwriting genius, all right there is Kate Bush too, on this fantastic boxset package Partridge shows us all what a genius he is.

The songwriting is excellent throughout and ranges from demos of XTC classics, through to beautiful childhood lullabies written for films,numerous great songs left off albums, over the years all with Partridge's flair for wit intelligence and a great tune.

On this collection I heard at least 50 yes 50 great new songs I had not heard before and in This Wag two of the greatest musical impressions of other artists I have heard and Mr Jinks ! hilarious .

Andy Partridge stands for the best that is British music in quality and quantity, it is a national disgrace that he continues to be virtually ignored in Britain and is testament to this country's anti intellectualism and continual settling for mediocrity.

Partridge deserves a statue and the key to the British Music Hall Of Fame, do yourself a favour buy this for Christmas, the best musical Christmas present you could buy.

Britain wake up ! you don't know what you are missing out on.

Mi lista de favoritos para el año son:

- Built to Spill. “You in reverse”
- Joanna Newsom. “Ys”
- Bonnie “Prince” Billy. “The letting go”
- My Brightest Diamond. “Bring Me The Workhorse”
- Current 93. “black ships ate the sky”
- Tv On The Radio. “Return To Cookie Mountain”
- Espers. “II”
- Tom Waits. “Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards”
- Neko Case. “Fox Confessor Brings The Flood ”
- Thom Yorke. “The Eraser”.

rather than dylan's record (which is merely back on form) it was a shame to see that the archie bronson outfit's derdang derdang didn't get a mention. this month's cd is full of fine tunes that i'll explore further. ...but we don't need to look quite so far west to find the sources of some of the best primal howls this side of iggy - derdang derdang was a huge leap forward. they were the band of the green man festival too.

When I think about great sequels not many come to mind. In movies, Godfather II, Empire Strikes Back, Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan & Superman II. In music, I can’t think of any. Until now that is! Finally, we can add another title to the short list of names & perhaps the first on the list of "Great Music Sequels". I am speaking about Elton John & Bernie Taupin‘s second autobiographical album “The Captain & The Kid“. AN ALBUM THAT SHOULD HAVE MADE THE UNCUT ALBUMS OF THE YEAR!!
To say that this album is as good, if not better than its original is a very strong statement. The original is of course 1975’s “Captain Fantastic & the Brown Dirt Cowboy” . Not only did this album provide us with such classics as “Someone Saved My Life To Night“ & “We All Fall In Love Sometimes”; it was also the first album in history to enter the Billboard Charts at the #1 Position.
“Captain Fantastic & The Brown Dirt Cowboy” deals with failure and the experiences of the songwriting team from 1967-1970, before they headed to America. “The Captain & The Kid” begins with the pair’s arrival in LA, Elton’s historic performance at LA’s Troubadour & their meteoric rise to stardom. This time around they have to deal with success & all the excess of fast fame. Elton has promised to get back to basics & create an album that he & Bernie can be proud; though their last 2 albums “Songs From The West Coast” & “Peachtree Road” were noble attempts, it wasn’t until the release of the “Captain & The Kid” that the promise had been fulfilled.
The duo’s drive to continually challenge themselves has created their best work in years. Elton’s unrelenting passion for music has allowed him to create some of his catchiest melodies in years. One brilliant idea was tying the past with the present and reworking the opening melody from the 1975 title track “Captain Fantastic & the Brown Dirt Cowboy” into the final track on “The Captain & the Kid”, creating musical bookends for the albums. Not to be out done, Bernie has never been stronger lyrically. Some of his most powerful insights about life/death, relationships, drugs, business & love appear on this album. A creative genius himself, Bernie masterfully reworks the opening line of their first American-charting single “Your Song”: “It’s a little bit funny this feeling inside. ”, into a verse of the fan-favorite “Old 67”. Intertwining the past with present, the old with the new, may just have been the magic that makes this sequel so great and contagious. Perhaps it’s the Ooh’s & Aah’s reminiscent of the “Yellow Brick Road” sound. Perhaps it’s being brought back to great times in their career or reconnecting with a time in our lives or feeling we experienced when we first heard their classics. Perhaps it’s the fact that though this is an autobiographical album, anyone can relate to it because, in essence they are talking about things that effect everyone’s life: love, death, success & failure. Whatever it is, like a fine wine, the two have only gotten better with age and are writing as brilliantly in their 50‘s as they were in their 20‘s.
In their title track Bernie writes & Elton sings, “you can’t go back & if you try it fails”, yet they prove if you give your all & stay passionate you can go anywhere you desire. I’d like to thank them as a musician and as a fan of music for staying dedicated to their craft & continually pushing the envelope. Perhaps this album can inspire & serve as a wake-up call for many of the American record labels then once again the talent & creativity of the next Hendrix, Lennon, Tupac, Dylan or Janis Joplin may be discovered. Once again creating music that inspired, provoked and challenged minds & those in power.

1.THOM YORKE- THE ERASER
2.MUSE- BLACK HOLES AND REVELATIONS
3.THE GATHERING- HOME
4.YEAH YEAH YEAHS- SHOW YOUR BONES
5.HOOVERPHONIC- NO MORE SWEET MUSIC
6.DAMIEN RICE- 9
7.DECEMBERISTS- THE CRANE WIFE
8.THE DEARS - GANG OF LOSERS
9.FIONA APPLE- EXTRA ORDINARY MACHINE
10.MORRISSEY- RINGLEADERS OF TORMENTORS

There's no specific ranking within my top ten album list of 2006. These are just the albums which I liked the most during this year.

- Johnny Cash “Personal File”
- Belle and Sebastian “The Life Pursuit"
- Hot Chip “The Warning”
- Razorlight “Razorlight”
- Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan “Ballad of the Broken Seas”
- Gnarls Barkley “St. Elsewhere”
- Primal Scream “Riot City Blues”
- Candi Staton “His Hands”
- Snow Patrol “Eyes Open”
- The Gossip “Standing in the Way of Control”


Reinhard from Gloggnitz (Austria)

1. roots and crowns - califone
2. let me go let me go let me go - jason molina
3. fox confessor brings the flod- neko case
4. the greatest - cat power
5. animal years - josh ritter
6. the information - beck
7. garden ruin - calexico
8. live a littel - pernice brothers
9. the lemonheads- the lemonheads
10. return to cookie mountain - tv on the radio

la lista se aleja de lo que muchas revistas presentan, entren a mi blog y vean los a mi juicio, mejores discos del 2006..www.decireves.blogspot.com

saludos Uncut...
feliz navidad desde monterrey nuevo leon, mexico..

THX contains Superb evocative songs from Dutch band JOHAN

Not a lot of recognition here for one of the great unsung bands - maybe Lyttle was too damn smart for his own good. Thanks to Uncut for giving them a good send off.

Strange world we live in when Paris Hilton can get played on the radio and Grandaddy probably couldn't get arrested. [Though oddly enough, Paris Hilton can]

This is what Uncut seemingly missed in no particular order:

10- The Fever - In the City of Sleep
9- Heartless Bastards - All This Time
8- The High Dials - War of the Wakening Phantoms
7- Various - Various (yes, that's the band name)
6- 120 Days - 120 Days
5- Mogwai - Zidane: a 21st Century Portrait
4- Clint Mansell, Mogwai & Kronos Quartet - The Fountain
3- Micah P Hinson and the Opera Circuit - selt-titled
2- Mojave 3 - Puzzles Like You
1- The Black Angels - Passover

Cheers,
-e

You guys have definately missed these ones out:
Shack - On The Corner Of Miles And Gil
Ray Davies - Other People's Lives
Paul Weller - Catch-Flame!
And, well, maybe Elvis Costello & Allen Toussaint - The River In Reverse.

Omissions, I'll say...

1. Chris Watson/BJ Nilson - Storm
2. James Yorkston - Year Of The Leopard
3. Biosphere - Dropsonde
4. Various - Life Goes In Circles : Sounds From The Talent Corporation 1974-79
5. Burial - Burial
6. Tom Moulton - A Tom Moulton Mix
7. Geir Jenssen - Cho Oyu 8201m
8. Josef K - Entomology
9. Abba - Arrival (Deluxe Edition)
10. Richard Chartier/Taylor Deupree - Specification.Fifteen

Hang on, which website am I in...dash it. In that case,

11. The Beatles - Love

1. Bob Dylan- a master at the top of his game

2. Tom Waits Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers, and Bastards- an amazing collections of songs that showcase this american treasures amazing range.

3. M. Ward - Post-war- More of a band feel to this record than his previous outings.


4. Fernando- "Enter to Exit" (Portland, Oregon rock band. Richmond Fontaine regulary covers his songs) Uptempo pop, depressing country, torch songs....it's all here!

5.Band of Horses- Everyting all the time
Great all around vibe and sonic textures

but where were The Dears on the list? I defy anyone to name a more beautiful, more personal, more melodic rock album than "Gang of Losers." I mean, really.

How on earth does the Guillemot's album 'Through the Windowpane' not make the top 50? There might be disageements as to where to place it, but not to make the top 50 at all is a bit odd, and that is an understatement. Fyffe Dangerfield is a seriously talented songwriter.

1 M WARD - POST WAR (nuff said already)
2 YEAH YEAH YEAHS - SHOW YOUR BONES (How did you miss that one?)
3 THE DRONES - GALA MILL (It's Aussie, so of course it's overlooked)
4 KATE BUSH - AERIAL
5 BETH ORTON - COMFORT OF STRANGERS
6 TEDDY THOMPSON - SEPARATE WAYS (If you've seen him live you'll know how good those songs are)
7 REGINA SPEKTOR - BEGIN TO HOPE
8 THE HOLD STEADY - BOYS AND GIRLS IN AMERICA
9 BLACK CAB - JESUS EAST (Aus)
10 SAND PEBBLES - ATLANTIS REGRETS NOTHING (Aus)

1. Page France - Hello, Dear Wind
2. Sufjan Stevens - The Avalanche
3. Tapes 'n' Tapes - The Loon
4. The Young Knives - Voices of Animals and Men
5. The Decemberists - Crane Wife
6. Jenny Lewis & The Watson Twins - Rabbit Fur Coat
7. Various Artists - Rogues Gallery
8. Daniel Johnston - Lost and Found
9. Thom Yorke - The Eraser
10. Sufjan Stevens - Songs for Christmas
11. Beirut - Gulag Orkestar
12. M. Ward - Post War
13. Joanna Newsom - Ys
14. Okkervil River - The Presidents Dead EP
15. Hawksley Workman - Treefull of Starling

1. Joanna Newsom – Ys
2. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Show Your Bones
3. The Drones – Gala Mill
4. Bob Dylan – Modern Times
5. Raconteurs/Saboteurs – Broken Boy Soldiers
6. Darren Hanlon – Fingertips and Mountaintops
7. Brightblack Morning Light – Brightblack Morning Light
8. Vetiver – To Find Me Gone
9. Midlake – Trials of Van Occupanther
10. Yo La Tengo – I Am Not Afraid Of You And I Will Beat Your Ass

You miss something like this

Shack - On the corner of Miles & Gil
Paul Weller - Catch Flame
Jerry Lee Lewis - his last "covers album"
Metheny & Mehldau

For me the number one is "Other People's Lives" by Ray "the King" Davies

Overall, I don't think the top 50 were too bad. The glaring omissions for me being;
M Ward 'Post War' and
Grizzly Bear 'Yellow House'

I did'nt understand Bob Dylan at no.1, always has been very overated.

Ok,here I go with my own totally subjective top 10:
1.Bob Dylan: Modern times (no surprise here)
2.the Who: Endless wire (it does stand up you know:a miracle)
3.the Flaming Lips: At war with the mystics
4.the Beatles: Love (ok,nothing new but I miss them)
5.Sean Lennon: Friendly fire (daddy would be proud)
6.the Raconteurs: Broken boy soldiers
7.Tom Petty: Highway companion
8.Sparks: Hello young lovers
9.Neil Young: Living with war
10.Neil Diamond: 12 songs

That's it for today;I'll probably feel like changing it tomorrow,and include Macca'newest oratorio or Tilly and the wall's feather-light pop of their second album.
Sincerely,
David Huret

I was a bit shocked to not see Stadium Arcadium by the Chili Peppers in the Top 50 Albums for 2006.

Although a bit of a rehash of "One", The Beatles Love was an interesting tidbit in 2006 as well and I felt Giles and George Martin did a decent job in their production...

Otherwise, Top 50 was excellent!!!

Sorry for the delay....Canada seems to have a month lag in the receipt of your excellent mag..

Ciao for now.

R.

Neko Case , Fox Confessor Brings the Flood. Again and again and again i've played this album. Then when I thought I was bored with it i'd play it again and again and again and then again.
What a voice, what a way with a twisted lyric and what a superb set of songs.
Best CD by an alt.country mile.
Other mentions must go to Raconteurs,Amy Winehouse,Lilly Allen and the bonkers but brilliant CSS.

Congrats Uncut for leaving out the Red Hot Chilli Peppers album.

But you did miss a couple of Australian Gems. I admit i am Australian.

Jet- Shine On
An absolute ripper of an album, no matter how much it sounds like Oasis/Beatles.

Wolfmother-Wolfmother
Led Zep reborn, but in trio form.

hey,it seems everybody,including me,has forgotten Ray Davies'superb "other peoples lives".Welcome back Ray,you were great live in Brussels too.

Jenny Lewis with the Watson twins "Rabbit Fur Coat"-THAT is THE BEST OF ALL!

Novak