THE TOP 40 ALBUMS OF 2006 ------------------------- 1. M. WARD - Post-War (Merge) 2. THE DECEMBERISTS - The Crane Wife (Capitol) 3. JOHNNY CASH - American V: A Hundred Highways (American) 4. ARCTIC MONKEYS - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not (Domino) 5. GHOSTFACE KILLAH - Fishscale (Def Jam) 6. NEKO CASE - Fox Confessor Brings The Flood (Anti-) 7. TODD SNIDER - The Devil You Know (New Door) 8. GNARLS BARKLEY - St. Elsewhere (Downtown/Atlantic) 9. NEW YORK DOLLS - One Day It Will Please Us To Remember Even This (Roadrunner) 10. BRIGHTBLACK MORNING LIGHT - Brightblack Morning Light (Matador) 11. VARIOUS ARTISTS - Rogue's Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs, & Chanteys (Anti-) 12. ALEJANDRO ESCOVEDO - The Boxing Mirror (Back Porch) 13. CAT POWER - The Greatest (Matador) 14. BELLE AND SEBASTIAN - The Life Pursuit (Matador) 15. THE COUP - Pick A Bigger Weapon (Epitaph) 16. THE BOTTLE ROCKETS - Zoysia (Bloodshot) 17. THE RAKES - Capture/Release (V2) 18. BONNIE 'PRINCE' BILLY - The Letting Go (Drag City) 19. EDITORS - The Back Room (Kitchenware UK '05/Fader) 20. CHRIS WHITLEY & THE BASTARD CLUB - Reiter In (Red Parlor) 21. SONIC YOUTH - Rather Ripped (Geffen) 22. DAN MELCHIOR - Fire Breathing Clones On Cellular Phones (Plastic) 23. TV ON THE RADIO - Return To Cookie Mountain (4AD/Interscope) 24. OXFORD COLLAPSE - Remember The Night Parties (Sub Pop) 25. JENNY LEWIS WITH THE WATSON TWINS - Rabbit Fur Coat (Team Love) 26. BEN KWELLER - Ben Kweller (ATO) 27. MISSION OF BURMA - The Obliterati (Matador) 28. SNOW PATROL - Eyes Open (Polydor/Fiction UK/A&M) 29. THE PIPETTES - We Are The Pipettes (Memphis Industries) 30. TOM VERLAINE - Songs And Other Things (Thrill Jockey) 31. LOVE IS ALL - Nine Times That Same Song (What's Your Rupture?) 32. TOM WAITS - Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards (Anti-) 33. REGINA SPEKTOR - Begin To Hope (Sire) 34. PERNICE BROTHERS - Live A Little (Ashmont) 35. J DILLA - Donuts (Stones Throw) 36. STUART A. STAPLES - Leaving Songs (Beggars Banquet) 37. SAINT ETIENNE - Tales From Turnpike House (Savoy Jazz) 38. JON LANGFORD - Gold Brick (ROIR) 39. OUTKAST - Idlewild (LaFace) 40. BE YOUR OWN PET - Be Your Own Pet (Ecstatic Peace!)