All right, so we'll be counting this one down first this year. By now most of you should know the deal--you vote for as many as 50 or as few as five 2006 albums, which will be measured using the traditional voting system. Albums include:
1. LPs of all-new material
2. Live albums (not ones being re-issued or of all old material)
3. Label compilations (of recent stuff, that is--things like Total 7)
4. Artist remix/b-sides/unreleased compilations of all or mostly 2006 material
2005 vs. 2006 eligibility is broken down as follows--if you can make a case for it being 2006, you can vote for it. So that includes albums released in your country for the first time in 2006, albums that didn't receive wide exposure until 2006, or albums that were released in Dec. 2005 and didn't have enough time to sink in before voting last year.
HOWEVER--and this is a big however--you absolutely can not, under any circumstances, vote for an album that made our top 100 last year. I don't care what the extenuating circumstances are, this role is non-negotiable. So you know, these 100 albums are:
100 Iron & Wine Woman King
99 Sons & Daughters The Repulsion Box
98 Nada Surf The Weight is a Gift
97 The Constantines Tournament of Hearts
96 Sunn 0))) Back One
95 The Editors The Back Room
94 Saint Etienne Tales from Turnpike House
93 Serena Manesh Serena Manesh
92 The Books Lost and Safe
91 Black Rebel Motorcycle Club Howl
90 Supergrass Road to Rouen
89 Shout Out Louds Howl Howl Gaff Gaff
88 The Fiery Furnaces EP
87 Boy Least Likely To The Best Party Ever
86 Depeche Mode Playing the Angel
85 Ryan Adams Jacksonville City Nights
84 Elbow Leaders of the Free World
83 Super Furry Animals Love Kraft
82 Richard Hawley Cole's Corner
81 Engineers Engineers
80 Tom Vek We Have Sound
79 New Order Waiting for the Sirens' Call
78 Devin Davis Lonely People of the World, Unite!
77 Isolee Wearemonster
76 Kaiser Chiefs Employment
75 The Raveonettes Pretty in Black
74 Boards of Canada The Campfire Headphase
73 Deerhoof Long Runners Four
72 The Pernice Brothers Discover a Lovelier You
71 Smog A River Ain't Too Much Love
70 The Mountain Goats The Sunset Tree
69 Stars Set Yourself on Fire
68 Jamie Lidell Multiply
67 The Juan MacLean Less Than Human
66 Lightning Bolt Hypermagic Mountain
65 Hood Outside Closer
64 Iron & Wine / Calexico In the Reins
63 Queens of the Stone Age Lullabies to Paralyze
62 DangerDoom The Man and the Mask
61 Caribou The Milk of Human Kindnesss
60 Kings of Leon Aha Shake Heartbreak
59 Dungen Ta Det Lungt
58 System of a Down Mesmerize
57 Konono No. 1 Congotronics
56 Vitalic OK Cowboy
55 The Magic Numbers The Magic Numbers
54 Garrett Kriston George Takei's Rock & Roll Primer
53 Rachel Stevens Come and Get It
52 Ryan Adams Cold Roses
51 Devandra Banhart Cripple Crow
50 The Russian Futurists Our Thickness
49 Low The Great Destroyer
48 Common Be
47 Fischerspooner Odyssey
46 British Sea Power Open Season
45 Of Montreal The Sunlandic Twins
44 The Clientele Strange Geometry
43 Silver Jews Tanglewood Numbers
42 Akron / Family Akron / Family
41 Opeth Ghost Reveries
40 Stephen Malkmus Face the Truth
39 M Ward Transistor Radio
38 Broadcast Tender Buttons
37 Edan The Beauty and the Beat
36 Architecture in Helsinki In Case We Die
35 Art Brut Bang Bang Rock and Roll
34 Coldplay X & Y
33 Antony + the Johnsons I Am a Bird Now
32 The Hold Steady Separation Sunday
31 M.I.A. Arular
30 Ladytron The Witching Hour
29 Fiona Apple Extraordinary Machine
28 Rogue Wave Descended Like Vultures
27 Beck Guero
26 The Decemberists Picaresque
25 Animal Collective Feels
24 Bright Eyes I'm Wide Awake It's Morning
23 The Go! Team Thunder Lightning Strike
22 Maximo Park A Certain Trigger
21 Doves Some Cities
20 Out Hud Let Us Never Speak of It Again
19 Sigur Ros Takk
18 Kanye West Late Registration
17 Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! Clap Your Hands Say Yeah!
16 The National Alligator
15 Okkervil River Black Sheep Boy
14 My Morning Jacket Z
13 Broken Social Scene Broken Social Scene
12 Gorillaz Demon Days
11 Franz Ferdinand You Could Have it So Much Better
10 Sleater-Kinney The Woods
9 The White Stripes Get Behind Me Satan
8 M83 Before the Dawn Heals Us
7 LCD Soundsystem LCD Soundsystem
6 Spoon Gimme Fiction
5 Andrew Bird The Mysterious Production of Eggs
4 Bloc Party Silent Alarm
3 The New Pornographers Twin Cinema
2 Wolf Parade Apologies to the Queen Mary
1 Sufjan Stevens Illinois
don't vote for these. Just don't.
Also, a new rule for this year: there will now no-longer be any official/unofficial list-labeling. If you post a list in this thread--unless it's clearly just a list of suggestions and is not presented in countdown form--it will be counted. If someone wants to present me with a convincing argument as to why this should not be the case, feel free, but know this rule will almost definitely stand. I'm sick of tabbing lists only to find out that they're unofficial, or people not telling me that their lists have been officialized and having their votes go uncounted. So feel free to post your unofficial lists in any thread but this one, but if you're posting a list in this thread, you better be damn sure that it's final.
That should be all. Start with the questions, voting and YSIing whenever.
also, I'm not sure when voting will end or when results will be posted quite yet--most likely sometime three-four weeks from now. Stay tuned for further updates.









