Best of 2006 - The Runners Up

These are the runners up for the best of 2006 show. The places 41-50 are numbered, since these in particular were agonised over. Letting them slip out of the top 40 was painful, and each of them are fine LPs. Just not as satisfying (for whatever reason) as those that made it.

41 Susanna and the Magical Orchestra - Melody Mountain (Rune Grammofon)

42 James Yorkston - The Year of the Leopard (Domino)

43 Robbie Basho - Venus of Cancer (Tomkin's Square)

44 Jenny Lewis w/ The Watson Twins - Rabbit Fur Coat (Rough Trade)

45 TV on the Radio - Return to Cookie Mountain (4AD)

46 Steeleye Span - Hark! The Village Wait (Castle)

47 Steve Reich - Phases [Boxset] (Nonesuch)

48 Karen Dalton - It's So Hard to Tell Who's Going to Love You The Best (Megaphone)

49 Clogs - Lantern (Brassland)

50 Vetiver - To Find Me Gone (Fatcat)

This next list are those in the 51-80 places. They are in no particular order, so you can - if you want - imagine that your favourite LP made it to 51. All of these LPs have something going for them - in my haphazard and casual rating system, they all received 7 out of 10 or more.

Steeleye Span - Ten Man Mop (Castle)

Siouxsie and the Banshees Kaleidoscope (Polydor)

Meg Baird, Helena Espevall, Sharron KrausU Leaves from Off the Tree (Bo'Weavil)

Current 93 - Black Ships Ate The Sky (Durtro Jnana)

Christine Harwood - Nice to Meet Christine (Finders Keepers)

The Memory Band - Apron Strings (Peacefrog)

Pink Mountaintops - Axis of Evol (JagJaguwar)

Juana Molina - Son (Domino)

Woven Hand - Mosaic (Glitterhouse)

Various Artists - Atlantic RnB 1947-1974 Volume 2 1952-1954 (Warners)

Willard Grant Conspiracy Let It Roll (Loose)

Various Artists - Sixties Soul Sensations (Music Club)

Tractor - John Peel Bought Us Studio Gear and a PA (Oz-It)

Tony Allen - Lagos No Shaking (Honest Jons)

Staples Singers - Stax Profiles (Stax)

Sisters of Mercy, The - Floodland (Merciful Release)

Siouxsie and the Banshees Join Hands (Polydor)

Scott Walker - Climate of Hunter (Virgin)

Jassi Sidhu - No Strings Attached (Moviebox)

Nancy Sinatra - The Essential Nancy Sinatra (EMI)

Mustafa Ozkent - Rhythm'n'Soul, Blues'n'Jazz, Rock'n'Pop (Finders Keepers)

Micah P. Hinson - And the Opera Circuit (Sketchbook)

Max Richter - Songs From Below (Fatcat)

Lubos Fiser - Valerie and her Week of Wonders (OST) (Finders Keepers)

Jolie Holland - Springtime Can Kill You (Anti-)

Flaming Lips, The - At War With the Mystics (Warners)

Family - Bandstand (Repertoire)

Dresden Dolls - Yes, Virginia (Roadrunner)

Delgados, The - The BBC Peel Sessions (Chemikal Underground)

David Axelrod - The Edge of Music (Stateside)