Best Albums of 2006

good list...i have the same one and two in reverse ordersonic youth, ghostface, yo la tengo should be higher...islands a little high for my tastemission of burma?

Yeah, Mission of Burma was definitely talked about.

intriguing. Not what I was expecting. While the midlake album isn't entirely perfect, i thought maybe a spot at 49 , and beirut?Such is life. I Think that bonnie prince billy album is tremendously overrated and the less said about hold steady the better, but I seem to be alone on that one. Surprised not to see Yellow House place higher. IMO it's one of the more original and captivating albums of the year. Ys has nothing on it. An unpopular opinion, but still it's mine.

nice job on the intro matt

between the site's list and the staff picks, this is a lot to take in at once. another bunch of great, overlooked records in an unexpected order. back-pats all around.more stuff i was surprised didn't make the cut: sunset rubdown, the coup, dabrye, lupe fiasco, the decemberists.

The piece looks amazing. Can't believe Comets on Fire, Midlake, and Girl Talk didn't make the collective list.

I'll take 5 out of 10...can't believe Lupe didn't make it tho.

mew!!! better than 90% of the stuff on here. just sayin.' and i second Midlake

girl talk was decent, but not good enough to make this list. not with the other albums that got cut.

"the less said about hold steady the better, but I seem to be alone on that one."no, you're not.

Hip-Hop overrepresented? If it didn't seem so opaque, I would suggest spliting list into Top-Hop, Top-Everything else.Number formatting looks nice though.

girl talk=awful

Generalization.... Girl Talk = hip-hop for rock kids

Generalization: Dave Park = Bigot

I don't think the Girl Talk record is horrible by any stretch. Overall, it's a little too "project-ey," but there's some interesting/great/fun stuff on there.

Props on the format and adding a sample track to each example. So The Roots and Yeah Yeah Yeahs albums were not among the year's 50 Best? But Nas' album was? That seems like kind of a slap in the face. Personally, I don't think Nas' album even belongs in the Top 10 Hiphop albums of the year. Disappointed nobody else mentioned The Walkmen but that's a personal preference. Clipse at #1 = How very Pitchfork of you.

"Clipse at #1 = How very Pitchfork of you."Because only Pitchfork liked Clipse this year...

Georgia Anne Muldrow would have been my #11, so I'm glad at least one person put her on his list. Only one, though. Suprised Mission of Burma wasn't on more lists and that very few people seemed to like this year's Walkmen record, which really had some good songs on it. Ah well.

Why is it that when Pfork likes a record that every other site is trying to be like them?

Clipse at #1 = How very XXL of you.

I unlike the internet masses didn't really feel The Clipse album, but can't argue with the consensus. It did teach me how to cook and sell some bricks though.

both the walkmen and yeah yeah yeah's albums were good, but there were just more albums that were better. to quote the immortal billy bob thorton in bad santa, "they cant all be winners".

Where the hell is Mew? Islands and the Pipettes? Screw Pitchfork -the Pipettes suck. It's a very predicatable formula for your 1-10. Stick TV on the Radio right there at #2 but by no means give it #1...because honestly it's not likeable enough to be in the top 10. Neko Case? Another staple artist that looks great in the top 10. Oh, and how dare you NOT put Bob Dylan and Tom Waits in the top 10!!! Plus, Joanna Newsome -we all know that album is overrated but hey, everyone else loves it! And of course at #1, an album no one else will put there.I love you prefix!!!

I think everyone had Mew in 2005.

Vakill at #18 = how very ... unlike any other website with a year-end list.

It's a crime not to have Lupe somewhere on this list... And the Joanna Newsom album is the most overrated and underwhelming album put out this year. Minor bitching aside, it's a pretty good list. Kudos prefixians!

i haven't even heard half of our top 10. i am a bad music nerd.

er, i mean, i heard everything ever forever and this list is not mine so it's wrong!!

i didn't mind the girl talk record, but if that thing was in the top 50 i'd be annoyed.

you know, i could probably stand a little patience on hitting the 'submit' button.

There's really no convincing me that this flimsy ass Blow record was better than YYY's.

mew!!!! GLARINGIST OR ALL OMMISSIONS. upside your head daba. "I think everyone had Mew in 2005." u schtink. at least we can all agree that the images are the most beautiful things to ever grace teh prefix. also, micah p. hinson shoudl be on there somewhere. and xui xui record is g.0

OR = OF

Or the amateur hour that is Rhymefest over The Roots record...

Even Rhymefest over Lupe is an L.

kudos to staff for a great looking list, and a great intro from Matt.

Actually, I thought the blow record was far superior to the mediocre yeah yeah yeahs record.And that roots record was good, but not great, as was lupe, whereas the rhymefest record was interesting and superior lyrically.

I like the Lupe record, but it's quiet.The Blow record should have been higher.

and now its become okp hour here on prefix.

Worst list ever.Where the eff be the hip-hop? Where is Jeezy??????????????????Where is Jeezy??????????????????Where is Jeezy??????????????????Where is Jeezy??????????????????Where is Jeezy??????????????????Where is Jeezy??????????????????Where is Jeezy??????????????????Where is Jeezy??????????????????Where is Jeezy??????????????????Where is Jeezy??????????????????Where is Jeezy??????????????????Where is Jeezy??????????????????Where is Jeezy??????????????????Where is Jeezy??????????????????Where is Jeezy??????????????????Where is Jeezy??????????????????

Fabulous intro... I like the list for the most partTom Waits is definitely deserving, and I'm not really upset to see Clipse at #1... I didn't have it in my Top 10, but different tastesGreat to see Man Man that high... Only surprises were that both The Elected and Josh Ritter didn't get on the list, seeing that they both got 8.0

Yeah the Mew record is so good it should be included in the top 50 for the next couple years...yo! It is a solid list -Junior Boys need to be much higher and Cat Power much lower. As for Bonnie Prince Bill, the guy is awesome...so you have to put him in your top 50 -or top 21, right? Even if that record is grossly overrated. It's like Mark Kozelek and anything he does -i don't care if he's covering GWAR, homeboy is always top 20. Which begs the question, where's his live album on this list? I know, I know...but still.Way to go guys -seriously, Prefix always has the overall best list.

No Sunset Rubdown makes me sad. Where are all the Bowie lovers ready to embrace their new king? Does no one else think its a better album than "Apologies to the Queen Mary" AND "Destroyer's Rubies"? Am I really all alone?

Nice to see Final Fantasy and Destroyer represented. Canada keeps spitting them out. Discouraging to see The Strokes and Yo La Tengo. Ellos no tengo nada.You stuck belle and Sebastian in the very back seat didn't you? Very wussy. Why don't we trade seats with the TI album -or throw TI out? There, that's better.

Andrew you shut the HELL up about Xiu Xiu!!! For serious...

woops, tienen, not tengo. It's sad not to see Beirut or Figurines. I'm very sad.

Some of you guys are acting like whiny babies. I've been trying to trade some of you guys to Stylus or Pfork but they ain't haven't it.

I'm getting drunk to deal

It's definitely a list, I'll give it that. There's definitely some records on there that I will have to check out, and I think its pretty interesting to see so many hip-hop records alongside the indie jams...How exactly does a staff writer get his own Top 10?

dave park is the biggest whiny baby of all. so there. ::takes ball, goes home::i thought cat power and islands were way high, but i like that nas was up there. i just listened to that record on the way to work this morning...it is good. matt nailed it with the whole rapping while being an icon thing. nas is good.

whatever MK. You're w.0.that Islands record is great. It just came out too early in the year.I like other Cat Power records more but I still dig the Greatest.Sub-par rapping from Nas is still better than 99% of the best stuff from the other rappers.

Lars,We sent out an email asking all you guys to submit your lists a few weeks back. If you want your list up, send it on over. Thanks!

i still hate nas' selection of beats.

Lupe Fiasco is a glaring omission. Pretty inconsistent since at the time, you guys called Food and Liquor the best hip-hop album of the year. Please tell me that was just a huge fuck-up on prefix's part.

me likey that beat on 'money over bullshit'.

i think people make too much of nas beats. overall not great, but he's not picking total shit.

yes, but i hear songs like "if i ruled the world" or "nas is like" and wonder what an entire album of beats that match his flow would sound like. im excluding illmatic from this discussion, of course.

i hated about half the beats on the vakill record at first, but i think he's such a badass on the mic that he actually makes those beats awesome. i totally love them now. 'serpent & rainbow" = pretty cheesy but so so good.

To me Loose Fur is a huge omission. As are albums by Sunset Rubdown, Glissandro 70, Feu Therese, Glenn Kotch, Wooden Wand, Six Organs of Admittance, OOIOO, David Pajo, Califone, Tortoise (Box set!), or anything avant-garde. I'm sorry, the Liars album does not count, its aweful!!!

I love how you cannot read a review of a Hip Hop album released in 2006 without the obligatory stabs at the genre as stale, misogynistic and thuggish and yet it is strongly represented in yet another year-end best-of.If people could pull their heads out of their asses they would see the genre is doing just fine.Not a stab at your prefix, but at hip-hop crit at large.Nice list by the way, although Lupe is noticeably absent.

Guillemots - Through the Windowpane deserves much more attention, Junior Boys should be in the top ten.in response to the above post, i don't think anyone could claim hip-hop is stale, it's probably the most exciting and alive genre of music there is right now. but that doesn't mean there isn't a tremendous amount of misogyny surrounding it and within it, it's very possible to enjoy the music and be off-put by some of the lyrics or the videos. the complete objectification of women in your typical video and in many tracks - most vividly seen in the rampant association of the female body with cars - is a serious culture problem. the "truth" that makes hip-hop such a vital form of expression does not need to simultaneously idealize these hyper-male dehumanizing fantasies. it weighs even heavier on the mind when you are a fan of the music, i mean if fans and critics don't demand higher standards than things won't change. i love the clipse album and i realize that "dirty money" is part of creating a believable environment for the record, just like the coke references and the beats themselves, but that doesn't mean it can't also bother me that they perpetuate a huge inequality in our society that spreads beyond just hip-hop.

Any Top 50 albums of 2006 list without Califone's - "Roots & Crowns" is considerably flawed and your lack of that album seriously undercuts the legitimacy of the entire list.

Good list, with lots of good records. But the lack of Decemberists and Midlake renders it meaningless, unfortunately.Serious question to the Prefix folks: Do you all seriously believe that "The Crane Wife" is not one of the 50 best albums released in 2006? This BOGGLES my MIND.

Great list. Great list! Originality over mass appeal.It's a refreshing change from the majority of the lists I've seen this year. It makes 2006 look exciting!

Thanks for the list, some great stuff on there that I missed. Going back to rock it out. Clipse album is solid, don't take any heat for putting it up so high.

Harry, I can't speak for the entire Prefix staff, but I'm the one that wrote our review for "The Crane Wife," and I can tell you that I feel it's painfully overrated. The actual "Crane Wife" trilogy is pretty good, but outside that I find the album to be mostly just cookie-cutter indie pop. Perhaps, you could explain what makes this album so great and what makes our list meaningless without it. Honestly, I'm not seeing it.

watsup no love 4 the juggaknots album Use Your Confusion, no where in sight 0-50, no wins ya'll aint got no love 4 BSlim/Queen Herawin, and the Brewin-shame,shame,shame

I think the Cunninglynguists album should be on the list.

i liked use your confusion, but i think it suffers from the awesomeness of its forefather...kinda like how godfather part III, outside of sofia coppola's complete inability to act, is a pretty great movie, but it will never be regarded as such.

I feel like the M. Ward album should have been higher. It's beautiful and timely as well as timeless (clearly, this makes no sense in writing, but those who've heard it can surely attest to this...). I think that Sunset Rubdown is much more important than say...the new Strokes album. And, can't you find room for the Crane Wife. It may not be as great as everyone says, but it's one of the best reviewed albums of the year as well as something it seemed (for a brief moment) everyone agreed on. That has to count for something.

BTW, f*** you. you little trailer trash don't know shit bout hip hop. Real hip hop is a message from the hood to the media. Hip Pop is what u listen to. Hip Hop is different from Hip Pop. Nas does Hip Hop. the pretigeous magazine are naming Nas' album as the best album of the year. because it reminds people not to forget where hip hop came from. USA Today, named it # 1. Newstand #1. New York times #1. Allhiphop.com #1. So your opinion is stupid.