LILY ALLEN: Smile
The soundtrack to the summer — and it wasn’t even the best track on her album.
THE UPPER ROOM: All over This Town
Three and a half minutes of brutally effective pop brilliance: few other songs in 2006 came as close to the songwriting summit as this Brighton quartet’s “should-have-been-a-hit-but-wasn’t”.
SCRITTI POLITTI: The Boom Boom Bap
We can only lament the huge intervals between Scritti records when Green Gartside comes up with treasures such as this — a homage to hip-hop that owes more to the Beach Boys than the B-Boys.
GRACE: Stand Still
The debut single from the London band contains a chorus so addictive, so punch-the-air pop-perfect, it should be a set text for wannabe hit-making songwriters everywhere.
Rock
THE KILLERS: When You Were Young
Back they came, to sold-out tours, a No 1 chart position and lukewarm ritical notices. But whatever the doubts about the album Sam’s Town, nobody else returned to the fray with such energy and panache: this song positively springs out of the traps, dragging listeners in its foot-to-the-floor slipstream.
THE RACONTEURS: Steady as She Goes
Colour-co-ordinated uniforms are all very well, but some of us reckon that when Jack White swapped them for a tighter drummer, a bass-player and another excellent songwriter, that was a pretty good deal.
ORSON: No Tomorrow
Soft rock made a return, which, depending on your viewpoint, was either unwelcome news or a good excuse to party like it was 1985. These LA newcomers went straight to No 1 with this sensational throwback, and the purists ran for the hills.
THE LIKE: Mrs Actually
The Californian three-piece ended the year infamous for their partying ways as much as respected for a fine first album. But, as this fem-rock stunner demonstrates, there is a lot more to “Z” Berg and co than diaphanous frocks and late-night ligging. Much of the album was written when Berg was just 15. She’s only just begun.
PLACEBO: Follow the Cops Back Home
Few bands veer as close to self-parody as Placebo, yet lurking beneath the image is a songwriting talent capable of creating a song that could live quite happily on REM’s Automatic for the People.
RICHARD BUTLER: Good Days, Bad Days
The Psychedelic Furs front man returned with a glorious solo album, on which this intensely moving track back through past highs and lows was the standout.
Alt-rock and pop
BAT FOR LASHES: The Wizard
Ostensibly, Natasha Khan is from Brighton. This weird and wonderful song, which sounds like Benjamin Britten rescored by Kate Bush, suggests otherwise: a faraway planet, perhaps, dedicated to the left-field creative arts.
THE ORGAN: Sinking Hearts
The catchiest slice of alt-pop from the Canadian band who combine the lyrical bite of the Smiths with the musical bounce of Blondie.
LONEY, DEAR: The City, the Airport
Emil Svanangen flew the flag for Scando pop with this glittering gem, polished up in his Stockholm bedroom. All swirling curlicues, choruses and bridges chasing each other’s tails, the whole thing adds up to a glorious update on what Brian Wilson patented all those years ago — pop that takes the breath away and leaves you numb.
SERENA-MANEESH: Drain Cosmetics
The flamboyant Norwegian rockers re-create My Bloody Valentine’s double whammy of lovingly textured guitar noise and floating vocals.
GUILLEMOTS: We’re Here
Here’s how to do it: write a succession of pop singles (We’re Here, Made-up Lovesong # 43, Trains to Brazil) so searingly, spine-chillingly, life-affirmingly beautiful that choosing between them is almost impossible ... but not quite.
GRAHAM COXON: I Can’t Look at Your Skin
The spirit of Blur lives on in the exuberant riffing and wry vocals of their former guitarist.
YEAH YEAH YEAHS: Honeybear
Karen O’s fashion-icon status and the trio’s general air of coolness meant that many people judged the image rather than the songs. Honeybear exemplifies the band’s raucous, in-your-face appeal.
SOL SEPPY: Slo Fuzz
The former Sparklehorse collaborator Sophie Michalitsianos created this slow and indeed fuzzy song that suddenly conjures up a light and fluffy chorus.
THE GOSSIP: Standing in the Way of Control
Her gayness and 10-ton-Tessie size surely lay behind her elevation to the top spot in NME’s increasingly ludicrous Cool List. But Beth Ditto doesn’t need such affirmation to convince us she’s a star: songs as angry, savage and pell-mell as this beauty are persuasion enough.
PETER BJORN AND JOHN: Young Folks
No matter how advanced the recording technology, sometimes it’s the simple things that work the real magic: whistling, in the case of this beguiling collaboration between the Swedish trio and Victoria Bergsman, formerly of the Concretes. A contender for the year’s best single.
SWEET BILLY PILGRIM: Stars Spill out of Cups
Slow, delicate yet somehow frisky pop from a band who should appeal to fans of the Blue Nile, Talk Talk and David Sylvian.
MOHAIR: Talk of the Town
One of the year’s best pop singles, Talk of the Town found this Watford band filching from the Britpop till while Kaiser Chiefs were busy out the back. Surely due a re-release in 2007, and surely destined for a spot near the top of the charts when it happens.
POLYTECHNIC: Won’t You Come Around
With far too much indie rock in thrall to the Libertines and their dubious legacy, it took this Manchester band to wrestle the genre to the floor and twist it into new shapes. A yearning lyric, ooh-ooh-ooh harmonies and jangly guitar to die for: 2006’s most swoonsome song.
THE SPINTO BAND: Oh Mandy
An ode to, of all things, a mandolin, this hurtling, infectious indie stomper from the Delaware group was one of those songs where everything — lyrics, guitar part, snare sound, structure, harmonies — came good at exactly the same moment. A song that defies you not to dance like a loon.
Folk, country and roots
JENNY LEWIS: Rise up with Fists
The Rilo Kiley front woman teamed up with the gospel duo the Watson Twins to create some transcendent Americana.
FIONN REGAN: Put a Penny in the Slot
So fragile you felt that one breath would blow it away, this standout track from the Dublin pop-folk troubadour made reference to Paul Auster and Saul Bellow, but got away with it thanks to a tune and confessional intimacy.
ISOBEL CAMPBELL AND MARK LANEGAN: Honey Child What Can I Do?
The brightest and breeziest combination of Campbell’s angelic voice and Lanegan’s devilish one from their wondrous album Ballad of the Broken Seas.
RODDY WOOMBLE: My Secret Is My Silence
The title track from the Idlewild front man’s solo folk album draws on Highlands and coastal imagery to explore our struggles to make sense of life. If you’ve had a tough day, expose yourself to Kate Rusby’s harmonies at the earliest possible opportunity.
JAMES ROBERTS: I Knew
The former singer with Sea Urchins and the ill-fated Delta released a brilliant album in January that went almost completely unnoticed. This heartbreaking ballad is reason enough for record-buyers to make good that omission.
DAMIEN JURADO: I Had No Intentions
One of the most incisive lyricists around unfolds a haunting tale of jealousy and gunfire.
THE LAST TOWN CHORUS: Modern Love
This complete reinvention is a reminder of just what a great songwriter Bowie could be, and a great advertisement for the interpretative powers of Megan Hickey’s band.
JOAN AS POLICE WOMAN: Real Life
Joan Wasser was the lover who inspired Jeff Buckley’s Everybody Here Wants You. Of course, that doesn’t define her: the smoky-voiced, violin-playing New Yorker is too special for that. But this track certainly has the ghost of Buckley’s ethereal singing style hovering within it.
STEVE ADEY: Shelter from the Storm
You’d have to be a fool to cover one of Dylan’s best-loved songs. Either that, or a singer with the presence — and presence of mind — to slow it right down, exposing the beauty of every syllable.
EXTRA GOLDEN: It’s Not Easy
Musicians from a Washington DC rock band and a Kenyan benga band combine their talents, offering spidery guitar lines, soulful vocals and that backbeat, the one Chuck Berry sang about, the one you can’t lose.
Hip-hop, R&B and soul
GNARLS BARKLEY: Crazy
Nine weeks at No1 for Cee-Lo and Danger Mouse — and a timely reminder that music that is innovative, passionate and meaningful can also be hugely commercial.
SWAY V LILY ALLEN: LDN
Not content with releasing one of the year’s great albums, the London rapper delivered a wry, spry riposte to Lily Allen on this cheeky mash-up, an account of life in the capital seen through eyes even more jaundiced than hers.
NNEKA: Confession
The best hip-hop/soul made this year didn’t come from the West Coast or the East Coast; it didn’t come from Philly or Atlanta. It came from Germany, courtesy of the Nigerian-born Nneka. This mellow groove, with its gymnastic vocal line, showcases her talent.
YUMMY BINGHAM: Come Get It
A god-daughter of Chaka Khan, this Queens, NY, singer burst onto the hip-hop/soul scene with a song that was, well, yummy in the extreme — a Sam & Dave brass sample heated up for the 21st century. Hot stuff indeed.
AMY WINEHOUSE: Rehab
To paraphrase Homer Simpson, it’s funky because it’s true. Here, Winehouse’s addictive personality translates into addictive R&B.
CAT POWER: Living Proof
The always intriguing Chan Marshall raised her game this year on the aptly titled The Greatest album. This intense, soulful ballad is the highlight.
Agree or disagree with our selection? Vote for your favourite, telling us why, and win the entire Culture Top 40 as iTunes downloads
"stand still " by Grace is the one for me, ive seen these guys live not only are they great performers but the rest of there songs were awsome can`t wait for the album i am sure we will be seeing and hearing a lot more of these guys in 2007
peter, portsmouth, hampshire england
peter, portsmouth, hampshire england
Stand Still by Grace gets my vote. So good to see a fresh band in the Times list with such a huge sounding track. Go Grace!
Peter Thomas, Cardiff, Wales
Peter Thomas, Cardiff, Wales
And the winner is ..."Grace - Stand Still" great songwriting, yes!
great tune, yes! and live...AWSOME!
Kevin Dolton, Brighton, East Sussex
Kevin Dolton, Brighton, East Sussex
Amy - Rehab
Big North 'n' South, Big Hair, Big Tune - Sorted
Bob Neish, Aberdeen, UK
Bob Neish, Aberdeen, UK