Music Features

Top 50 Albums of 2006 (Part Two)

Welcome to part two of No Ripcord's Top 50 Albums of 2006, our startlingly democratic round-up of the best new music of the last 12 months. Sceptical readers can rest assured -- if your favourite band didn't make the cut it's because none of our writers voted for it. There are no vote rigging shenanigans here.

If you have any comments we'd love to hear them. Seriously, we don't hear from you enough. Contact details can be found here otherwise you can e-mail us at email at noripcord dot com.

. . .

25. THE FLAMING LIPS
"At War with the Mystics" (Warner Bros)
[full review]

"Maybe the balloons, the giant animal suits and the man-size clear plastic balls are getting a bit tiresome but if the Flaming Lips continue to make albums as fun as this we'll keep on flocking to see them. Ok, so there were one or two uncharacteristic turkeys this time round (Free Radicals anyone? No, I didn't think so) but so after two flawless masterpieces surely we can afford them a little bit of slack? If you're not convinced, give Pompeii Am Gotterdammerung a listen and get to me..." - David Coleman

. . .

24. SCOTT WALKER
"The Drift" (4AD)

"I'm still not entirely sure what to make of the fact that one of the most original musical works of 2006 came from a man well into his sixties. It's either highly comical or very sad indeed. The Drift is Walker's first studio effort since 1995; it may take him another decade to think up a way to follow it. " - David Coleman

. . .

23. MEW
"And the Glass Handed Kites" (Sony)
[full review]

"Mew draws its sound from the most dismal decade in rock history, the 80's, and somehow they come up with a worthwhile experience. They've got atmospherics and high vocals without sounding fey, they emphasize rhythm without becoming repetitive, and they dig the synths without letting them bury the chugging guitars. And is it me or does the last tune sound like an out-take from Yes' Going For the One? Cool. " - Alan Shulman

. . .

22. CAMERA OBSCURA
"Let's Get Out Of This Country" (Merge)

"I actually preferred this to the Belle & Sebastian record but No Ripcord's a democratic publication and I couldn't bring myself to rig the vote. If you've never heard this Glaswegian outfit, you're in for a treat. This is their third album of bitter-sweet, 60's tinged indie-pop and you hear the glorious title track in our 'Best of 2006' themed podcast. You won't be disappointed." - David Coleman

. . .

21. SPARKLEHORSE
"Dreamt for Light Years in The Belly of A Mountain" (Astralwerks)

"Five years on from It's a Wonderful Life, Mark Linkous has delivered the goods again. Dreamt for Light Years... features everything we've come to expect from Linkous and then some, with contributions from musicians as diverse as Tom Waits, Dangermouse and Steven Drozd." - David Coleman

. . .

20. M. WARD
"Post-War" (Merge)

"Matt Ward has had a great year. I can confidently predict Post-War appearing in a high proportion of year-end lists, and his live show is sure to be highly rated as well, which is quite impressive for a young man who trades off the back of an old-timey, retrospective sound. But Post-War is a gorgeous set, all warm, curling vocals and songs which sit either in shimmery, summery acoustic bliss or old-fashioned rock'n'roll. It's a record with a beautifully warm feel, that wraps itself around you and draws you in, and is one of the finest by any singer-songwriter this year." - Simon Briercliffe

. . .

19. BELLE & SEBASTIAN
"The Life Pursuit" (Rough Trade)

"I came into this year a Belle & Sebastian novice, but have left it with Stuart Murdoch et al entrenched in my life like I can't believe. For a band to release potentially their best album over ten years into their career is so rare these days, but The Life Pursuit is easily up there with If You're Feeling Sinister and Tigermilk, the band's overarching - and justified - confidence in their own songs coming almost tangibly through the speakers. These are pop songs with such nous and skill involved in the melodies, the harmonies and the lyrics, that they put contenders to shame." - Simon Briercliffe

. . .

18. HOT CHIP
"The Warning" (EMI)

"With toe-shuffling dance-rock smite than glimmers with its own irony, The Warning's cognitive frivolity leaves its listeners steaming over the dance floor, giggling at the proof that yes, "the joy of repetition really is in you." With lucid, lyrical punch-lines tacked to melodic carriers, the crashing synth-breakdowns bark to keep the album's sincerity on a fringe. Spin this one and the room will parade "like a monkey with a miniature symbol." The Warning is one omnipresent, boundary-bulldozing, drug." - Tara Campbell

. . .

17. JUNIOR BOYS
"So This Is Goodbye" (Domino)
[full review]

"Combining ethereal soundscapes with tempestuous beats, the Junior Boys have produced an unsuspecting combination of vulnerability and fervour on their two-toned sophomore epic, So This is Goodbye. As a throne that illustrates the distance between ourselves and our surroundings, they have created an emotional mirror to fog asphyxiating a field. With sombre yet possessive affection, So This is Goodbye meddles brash synth and ambient wisps with resounding fluency, all across the lonely skyline." - Tara Campbell

. . .

16. DESTROYER
"Destroyer's Rubies" (Merge)
[full review]

"Rubies is that kind of cathartic exhaustion, unravelling throughout the album with more allusions and lyrical pasts than any of us will catch in the first twenty listens. Here inside this pink plushy work, this stadium sized blister of rock perfection, this pristine achievement of musical synthesis and epic intention - is everything you need to begin your tax-deductible Destroyer autopsy." - Tara Campbell

. . .

15. THE PIPETTES
"We Are the Pipettes" (Memphis Industries)

"Putting the glamour back into indie music was always going to be hard, but in 2006 the one remaining bastion of faded indie beauty (Brighton to you and me) has thrown up one of the most exciting and (dare I say it ) most entertaining groups of recent years in The Pipettes. In We Are The Pipettes Gwenno, Becki and Rose have crafted an album that steers clear of the pervading trends of glamorising the inglorious and the unglamorous, choosing instead to focus on polka-dot dresses, smelly boys, nice boys and handclaps, all wrapped up in beautiful Spector-esque production. This album succeeds in bringing the dance floor back into the bedroom of sensitive kids the world over, and if you don't have the bottle to go into your local record shop and buy a Girls Aloud album for your girl-pop fix, then this might just be the album for you." - Ben Stroud

. . .

14. CAT POWER
"The Greatest" (Matador)
[full review]

"More used to working with soul legends than alternative darlings, the Nashville rhythm section help Chan Marshall transform herself from confessional stream-of-consciousness poet to a fully fledged diva... well not quite. But the luscious production, third-person narratives, and girl group backing vocals make for an accomplished departure. An album that might not please all of Cat Power's fans should certainly open her up to a new audience." - Peter Hayward

. . .

13. JARVIS COCKER
"Jarvis" (Rough Trade)

"Comeback of the year? It's certainly up there. Since the curtain came down on Pulp's faltering career, Jarvis Cocker had been uncharacteristically quiet. This should put an end to that." - David Coleman

. . .

12. MOGWAI
"Zidane" (PIAS)
[full review]

"A brilliant introduction for the novice, and everything the fan could want too: Black Spider is full of the threatening menace you'd want to begin with, while Wake up and go berserk returns to the quiet, reflective moments of Ten Rapid. Terrific speech shows the 'Gwai opening up their sound before 7:25 combines something that may even be an acoustic guitar with the subtle and insistent percussion that characterised Rock Action. Half time comes over like Max Richter starring as Hannibal Lecter and, to close, Black spider 2 features 25 minutes of perfectly crafted feedback and noise, a throwback to the Come on die young era. Zidane the movie casts the most voyeuristic of gazes onto the hero; the soundtrack sees the same relief thrown onto the band. As we see Zidane, we hear Mogwai: beautiful, political, violent. Truly great." - Ben Bollig

. . .

11. TAPES 'N TAPES
"The Loon" (XL)
[full review]

"Ok, so the debut release from Tapes 'n Tapes doesn't feature any weird Eastern European instruments, none of their members sing (or used to sing) in a huge band, they don't wear matching polka dot dresses, and there isn't a harp in sight. So what's so special about The Loon, what's its gimmick? Great songwriting, smart production and not an ounce of filler in sight. And to think more people bought the Lily Allen record. This country makes me sick sometimes..." - David Coleman

. . .

10. ISLANDS
"Return to the Sea" (Rough Trade)

"Two-thirds of the Unicorns mix indie rock with world music, calypso, and hip hop and create one of the albums of the year. It's an unlikely formula for success, but that's perhaps what makes this record so fun and so enduring. Swans (Life after Death) is 9 minutes of triumphant, anthemic bliss; Volcanoes is a geography lesson on acid; Jogging Gorgeous Summer is a perfect blast of sunlight. A glorious debut." - David Coleman

. . .

9. LIARS
"Drums Not Dead" (Mute)
[full review]

"What you find on Drums not Dead is a stripping away of mannerism, of calculation, of structure, of all but the most basic instincts. There are melodies, but they are rudimentary, static, and surprisingly beautiful. The songs stop and start in surprising, yet natural ways. Everything not organic has been discarded. If you let it, this music will travel directly to your reptile brain, giving your neocortex a much needed rest." - Alan Shulman

. . .

8. MAX RICHTER
"Songs From Before" (Fat Cat / 130701)
[full review]

"A consistent favourite from way back here at No Ripcord, Max Richter's most recent album extended further into that liminal topography of Romantic heart wedded to Classical head that he has made so distinctly his own. Sublimely beautiful, deeply enigmatic, and endlessly interesting, this relatively short (37 minutes) album packs a disturbingly hefty spiritual punch that's as disproportionate to its size as a fragment of the holy thorn." - Paul Roylance

. . .

7. NEKO CASE
"Fox Confessor Brings the Flood" (Matador)
[full review]

"A faultless collection of songs that deserves to be in everyone's record collections, this is the masterpiece that Case has been destined to make for nearly a decade. Oblique, dark, humorous, and expansive - Case's songs fire the imagination with ghost stories, folk tales, and laments for lost lovers. Excellent musicianship picks out every nuance of the supremely crafted songs, and it's all topped off with one of the finest voices to ever be captured on record." - Peter Hayward

. . .

6. BEIRUT
"Gulag Orkestar" (Ba Da Bing!)

"Zach Condon is one of the youngest - and certainly the most talented - musicians to hit the indie scene in a very long time. The Balkan folk and gypsy ballads that influence his songs give his debut record a magical feel, like falling into another more... eastern-European time. Maybe we're all just jealous that he's 20 years old and plays something like 20 instruments. But it's well worth it." - Gabbie Nirenburg

. . .

5. MOGWAI
"Mr Beast" (PIAS)
[full review]

"There's very little to say about Mogwai that hasn't already been said. Yes, they're the best in the world at what they do, creating mind-melting walls of noise tempered with sweeping passages of eerie calm. But on Mr Beast they also showed how their knack of making accessible songs has reached a zenith, whether it be the epic, piano-led Friend Of The Night or frankly awe-inspiring rock action of Glasgow Mega-Snake - with a couple of exceptions these are 4-5 minute songs, everything Mogwai do so well distilled into a context which doesn't let them breathe out in the same way as, say, Young Team, but focuses their minds on cramming as much power into each track as they possibly can. Needless to say, Mogwai rose to their own challenge admirably and continue to blow your minds - whether it takes three minutes or thirty, Mogwai will rock you." - Simon Briercliffe

. . .

4. YO LA TENGO
"I Am Not Afraid Of You And I Will Beat Your Ass" (Matador)
[full review]

"I had my doubts about these guys. They can be hit or miss sometimes. But nearly everything works on the new one, culling from everything they've done so far and making it better. Highlights abound. Just try to resist the charm of Mr. Tough or the simple perfection of Black Flowers. I can't do it. A truly inspired record." - Alan Shulman

. . .

3. THOM YORKE
"Eraser" (XL)

"Despite the initial critical reception (consensus: good, but not Radiohead good) and a few lyrical missteps, the majority of our staff members seem to have taken this record to their (artichoke?) hearts. If you set out to judge any album against Kid A you're going to be disappointed; the trick is not to. Eraser and Harrowdown Hill are brilliant; Black Swan, a distant cousin to Amnesiac highlight I Might Be Wrong, is better still. And for the last time it's not "Radiohead's best record since the Airbag EP" or any of that rubbish. It's a Thom Yorke album." - David Coleman

. . .

2. JOANNA NEWSOM
"Ys" (Drag City)
[full review]

"Without disposing of her irrepressible, mountain nymph ideologies, Joanna Newsom stitches together a seamless tale of monumental succession on this 5-track, double LP. Joining forces with Van Dyke Parks, her harp's thrum is accentuated by luxuriant string arrangements on all of the albums rushing crescendos. Unveiling lucid stories that run up hills, roll through pastures and always seem to end up by the river, Joanna's perspicuous eye sews this album's golden thread with fairy-tale poignancy." - Tara Campbell

. . .

1. TV ON THE RADIO
"Return to Cookie Mountain" (4AD / Interscope)
[full review]

"They sound like nobody else, which is only 50% of their charm. The other two thirds derives from their pop sensibility, which lovers of 60's rock will recognize instantly if they listen close enough. Great tunes, conventional even, completely recast and reborn. And they are immersed in their sound. We all are. That's why we don't mind that it goes on a little too long. After all, when you visit a foreign country you hate to leave too soon for fear of having missed something." - Alan Shulman

. . .

Click here to go back to part one (#50 to #26)