Records of the year: 2006

As sure as there's the end of the year, there's end of the year lists. These tend to take the form of top 10s, 50s and 100s, so I thought I'd go a bit out there, because I'm mad I am, and make this the Olympic Records. Geddit? Oh yes, I'm on fire today.

ALBUMS


Gold | FutureSex/LoveSounds by Justin Timberlake
I never thought I'd be giving a gold medal to Justin Timberlake, and there really is so much wrong with this record, but you simply can't fault the level of ambition, effort and natural rhythm. For an artist at his level of popularity, it's a dangerous album to make, full of changes and weird mixing and superb, stupid lyrics. Each copy comes with a block of cheese. I love it.


Silver | Waterloo To Anywhere by Dirty Pretty Things
Yes, yes, there's a man called Pete and he's in the papers a lot and he makes this guy Carl look really boring and, well, plain in comparison. Still, I bet he wishes he could bash out a tune like Bang, Bang, You're Dead and still have enough in the can to pen Gin And Milk and Wondering. It's not groundbreaking, it's not quite the Libertines, but it's better than it had any right to be, and as a collection of songs it's the best I've heard all year.


Bronze | Modern Times by Bob Dylan
Listening to recent efforts by The Who and The Rolling Stones, it's incredible to think that Dylan is a contemporary of theirs. This is the sound of an old man playing music with the same passion and intensity that he did as a youngster.

Honorable mentions | The Eraser by Thom Yorke, Sam's Town by The Killers, Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not by Arctic Monkeys.


SINGLES


Gold | Crazy by Gnarls Barkley
There's been much player-hating surrounding this single in recent months, but remember: its ubiquity has been earned through being such an amazing, singular soul moment of a tune. This is the dark loner brother who sat in his room whilst Hey Ya! went out to party. The only niggle I have is that a great deal of its success is probably down to soundtracking an advert for Zane Lowe's radio show. I hate Zane Lowe.


Silver | My Love by Justin Timberlake
When you're arguably the biggest male solo artist on both sides of the pond, the best course of action is to release a song like this. Simultaneously a total cheese-fest and the coolest thing you've ever heard (see: Like I Love You, Cry Me A River) there's little the talent behind this record could have done to make it any better. Except maybe a cameo by Prince.


Bronze | Chelsea Dagger by The Fratellis
Unsophisticated, raucous, and probably as much fun to record as it is to listen to, Chelsea Dagger is destined to accompany thousands of New Year's Eve indie parties this year. It's the best singalong record since I Predict A Riot, and if they keep this standard up they should be making headway into the Kaiser's territory right around the time next summer's festivals get going.

Honorable mentions | Harrowdown Hill by Thom Yorke, Over And Over by Hot Chip, Steady As She Goes by The Raconteurs, Tripping by Robbie Williams, When You Were Young by The Killers.


ARTIST OF THE YEAR


Bob Dylan
It felt wrong to have Dylan as my artist of the year. Firstly, he's been picked in several other lists, and secondly, shouldn't it be someone from our generation? After sitting down for a few seconds I realised this reasoning was total bollocks, and declared him the worthy winner of this quite extraordinary accolade. Thanks to some small Italian-American director, Dylan was catapulted back into the public consciousness this year, and everyone came to the conclusion that not only was he best ever, he's still the best ever and he probably won't stop being the best ever until he keels over. So yes, I wish we had someone to rival him, but no, I'm not bitter. You don't get too many of his kind coming along, and when he's on form it's impossible to deny his genius. All hail Bob.