My top ten album picks
1 - Brian Wilson - SMiLe: While not the masterpiece that a finished Beach Boys' SMiLe could have been, it still sounds like an excellent follow-up to Pet Sounds. Ornate, orchestrated pop bubblings with harmonies and assorted noises - if only it had been released in the 60s.

2 - Finn Brothers - Everyone Is Here: The Finn Brothers, whether it be with Split Enz, Crowded House or on their solo projects, have always had a knack for vocal harmonies. For a Finn fan like myself, the album delivers. This is perfect pop from two songwriters nearing the tail end of their careers.

3 - The Futureheads - The Futureheads: I've always been a sucker for punk-pop with heavy English accents. This is messy and full of energy. And they have a song called "Robot!"

4 - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Abattoir Blues / The Lyre Of Orpheus: I was surprised at how this came out, being that it was the first album in a Long time without essential Bad Seed Blixa Bargeld. It's powerful, a bit dark and has just enough pop in it to keep me happy. In the two-disc set, I prefer Abattoir, but Lyre has some nice stand-outs, too.

5 - The Ponys - Laced With Romance: Post-post-punk with a vengeance, Chicago's Ponys put out a loud album bristling with tunes that make you want to sing along above the guitar noise. This also features a couple heapings of God's favorite instrument - the Farfisa organ.

6 - The Hunches - Hobo Sunrise: Feedback is the new melody. The Hunches, a punk 'n' roll outfit from Portland, take the torrents of noise that the Jesus and Mary Chain wrapped their songs in, adds even more distortion, a guttural howl and a little bit of Rolling Stones-inspired blues. This is probably the loudest thing released all year.

7 - TV on the Radio - Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes: Doo-wop and post-punk, Jazz, a dab of electronica and a bit of gospel. After the great Young Liars EP, TV on the Radio show they can pull off an entire album. Tunde Adepimbe's lyrics are wry and incisive in their social commentary. This is one of the CDs I bought this year that I liked loads on the first listen.

8 - Clinic - Winchester Cathedral: So most music critics complained about this album, because Clinic haven't traded their distorted trademarks for some grandiose artistic statement. Personally, I thought this is just as good as the rest of the band's output. A few songs have interesting Arabic overtones, but most of the material doesn't stray from what, by now, is a sound unique to just Clinic.

9 - Drive-By Truckers - The Dirty South: More ruminations of the Southern lifestyle and its myths. Patterson Hood, Jason Isbell and Mike Cooley all show how solid they've gotten as songwriters. The Drive-By Truckers are quickly becoming the only alt.country/Southern rock band that matters today.

10 - Wilco - A Ghost Is Born: A few songs - the bouncy "Theologians" and the tuneful "Hummingbird" - save this from being the worst Wilco album. Kraut-rock influences helped some tracks but led to artistic indulgences that made this album more than an hour Long. Jeff Tweedy is still capable of writing some great songs, if he doesn't bury them in noise and repetition.

Honorable mentions:
The Cure - The Cure and Morrissey - You Are The Quarry for showing that both have the energy to make solid records as they near the twilight of their careers.

Kasabian - Kasabian

Interpol - Antics

Ian Brown - Solarised

The Von Bondies - Pawn Shoppe Heart

Mark Lanegan - Bubblegum

My top three are:

The Vines - Winning Days

The Libertines - The Libertines

Franz Ferdinand - Franz Ferdinand

I generally wait until the end of the year proper before I do these sorts of lists, but I'm interested to hear your opinion of the Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds album(s). I tend not to listen to Nick Cave because I often get sad when I do, but I think I might be able to brace myself. Hurrah.

The Dandy Warhols-black album, Franz Ferdinand-Franz Ferdinand, The Von Bondies-Pawn Shoppe Heart, Interpol-Antics, Brian Jonestownmassacre-Tepid Peppermint Wonderland: A retrospective,The Cure-The Cure

From what I've heard of their new album I don't think you will get too depressed. The new songs actually sound a bit cherrier compared to his earlier work.

the vines - winning days
franz ferdinand - franz ferdinand
the libertines - the libertines
interpol - antics
the killers - hot fuss
le tigre - this island
taking back sunday - where you want to be

i can go on forever....

i like the older tbs cd better.
they sound a lot like eachother but, i don't know. just liked the older one better.

Winning Days is no1 to me. And only it I wanna mention. Because the nexts are many, and similar.

same with me, and then there is
Evig Pint by Kaizers Orchestra

aye..i agree. the new one is more slow and toned down. but the first one got you going a bit more.

the vines: Winning Days
franz ferdinand: franz ferdinand
REM:Around the Sun
the zutons: who killed the zutons?
the strokes:Room on Fire,
scisors sister: scisor sisters
the killers: hot fuss
luke: la tête en arrière

I agree with these...and I need to check out The Hunches' latest album because, you know, I love them.

I'm probably the only one who cannot tolerate The Futureheads

the killers: hot fuss
the libertines: the libertines
the vines: winning days
lostprophets: start something
greenday: american idiot

thats all for now and they aint in order

franz ferdinand
the vines- winning days
the hives- tyrranasouras hives
cradle of filth- nymphetomine
killswithch engage- end of a heartache
le tigre- this island
megadeath- the wsystem has failed
black angel (my bands first release on a very, very ,very small record company porbaly never find it)