The BrokenFM list of our Top 20 Albums 2006. Written quite stupidly in a massive rush, because it's 6pm on New Years Eve. Well, like the Iraqi Prime Minister, we said we'd get it done by the end of the year, and hang the consequences. Eh? Oh. On with the chart, then.

20. Cat Power - The Greatest
Pop fact! We always used to get Cat Power slightly confused with Beth Orton, and weren't sure if they were a band that Beth Orton was in. Yes, we are idiots.

19. Adam Green - Jacket Full Of Danger
Not as tops as his last few albums. Yes, it had Nat King Cole, but that's no Jessica or Dance With Me, is it? (No, it isn't.)

18. The Pipettes - We Are The Pipettes
If all the tracks were as good as Pull Shapes or We Are The Pipettes, this would be nudging the small numbers at the top end of the chart, but as it is, there were just too many faintly annoying tracks to see us putting any higher than this. We'd hope

17. Jarvis - Jarvis
Hurrah. We were suspecting he's change direction into a properly 'serious' (i.e. dull) artist and then not sell many records, but this is a great album. It's even shifting a few copies. Shows what we know.

16. The Sounds - Dying To Say This To You
Sneaking under the wire at the end of the year, because we've only just started listening to this album properly, and it's a grower. In fact, we've just moved it up several places in the list after a few listens to Painted By Numbers and Night After Night.

15. Pet Shop Boys - Fundamental
A welcome comeback, but despite a few standout tracks (I'm With Stupid, Numb), while it's certainly better than Release, this isn't a patch on Nightlife.

14. Ben Kweller - Ben Kweller
More top tunery from the ever reliable Mr Kweller. It's be better if he collaborated more often with fellow Ben, Ben Folds, mind.

13. Hot Chip - The Warning
Mmm. We quite fancy some chips around about now. What do you mean, shut up and talk more about the records?

12. Elke Brauweiler - Twist A Saint Tropez
A nice little collection of French language cover versions, including great ones of Laisse Tomber Les Filles and Joe Le Taxi. Pop fact! April March would be in the top three albums of this year, only we've discovered her Chrominance Decoder album about eight years too late. There's nothing like a good sense of timing, eh our petit amis?

11. Camera Obscura - Let's Get Out of This Country
A rallying cry for the likes of Davidson and Daniels during the pre-election part of 1997. If David Cameron wants to win the 2007 election, he should get them to say it again, only for the Tories this time!!!!1 Sorry.

10. The Flaming Lips - At War With The Mystics
The Lips are back. And while they're performing at slightly less than a Yoshimi level of form, this is still very good indeed. Plus, their drummer wore a T-shirt with 'Cymru' written on it on the Jay Leno show, so bonus points for that.

9. Headlights - Kill Them With Kindness
In a year without albums from The Postal Service or Ms John Soda (that we can blimming well get hold of, anyway), this isn't a bad alternative at all. One of our most pleasing accidental eMusic finds of the year.

8. Various - Pop! Justice: 100% Solid Pop Music
Empirical proof that Pop! (always include that exclamation mark) is back, and better than ever. Yes, we know compilations shouldn't be included here. What are you, Gallup?

7. Chick Habit - More! More! More! More!
Excellent! Loud! Shouty! Girlpunkpop! From! Stockholm! Yay!

6. Grandaddy - Just Like The Fambly Cat
And with that, they were gone. Four (proper) albums in nine years, but four of the best albums in BrokenFM's collection. And what a way to go out.

5. The Russian Futurists - Me Myself & Rye... An Introduction To The Russian Futurists
We weren't expecting much (we'd heard the song Paul Simon in passing, but didn't know who it was by), until this turned up as part of a bargainous 'five random albums for a tenner' from their record label. And even though it's a "Catching Up With..." style compilation of their earlier work, it counts. Not just because it's ace. Well, mainly because it's ace, to be fair.

4. Graham Coxon - Love Travels At Illegal Speeds
Its loudness is matched only by its goodness. His best waxing yet. By this rate, he'll have an album containing twelve tracks every bit as good on Song 2 by 2009, and he'll conquer the world.

3. Babybird - Between My Ears There Is Nothing But Music
A wonderful return, with an album arguably stronger than any of their previous ones. Yes, including the lo-fi solo stuff, because Stephen Jones always spent too long singing in his 'tiny' voice on most of them. What with the entire marketing budget for the album amounting to a ten minute session appearance on 6Music, no-one bought this. We don't think it even got a review in Word. Or a shamelessly crowbarred plug in VideoGaiden. For, as we so often say in such circumstances, shame.

2. Cansei De Ser Sexy - Cansei De Ser Sexy
Might even have been number one if Art Bitch wasn't so utterly shit that it drags the rest of the record down with it. That's the harsh reality of the BrokenFM Good-o-meter.

1. Metric - Live It Out
Yes, look surprised that we haven't made The Best Of Tatu our album of the year. Metric get in there with a record we've been listening to almost non-stop since the summer - it's only the fact most of that was done illicitly at work has prevented it from sweeping the board for BrokenFM's LastFM data. A pacy, tight album of indie rock tunes, it has an accessible and immediate feel without feeling too throw-away, to blatantly steal a quote from Amazon. Well, we've nicked all the cover images from them, so why not, eh?

To think we were thinking of doing full Good-o-Meters for each of these albums, eh? Here's to next year, when Tatu probably will be number one of our best of 2007 charts. But until then: toodle-pip!