Best Music 2006 - Doug McLaughlin

ok, finally getting off my ass and creating the list.

Chill
The clientele - Strange Geometry
M. Ward - Post War
Midlake
Sparklehorse - Dreamt for...
Astronautilus - The mighty ocean...
Built to Spill - You in Reverse

Rawk
The Sword - Age of Winters
These Arms are Snakes - This Is Meant to Hurt You
Cursive - Happy Hollow
Harlem Shakes - Ep's
Mission of Burma- the obliterati
Erase Errata - Nightlife

Beats
Any Good Dupstep- The latest techno import from england. find
good downloads and podcasts of this bass heavy stuff (an aquired taste)
Beck - The Information
The Coup - Pick a Bigger Weapon
Herbert - Scale
Damian Marley - Welcome to Jamrock
Brazilian Girls - Talk to la Bomb
Bugz in the Attic - Back in the doghouse

Drone
Boris - Pink
the Black Angels - Passover
Darker My Love
Sonic Youth - Rather Ripped
Asobi Seksu

Random
Seu Jorge - Cru
Amadou and Miriam
TV on the Radio - Cookie Mountain
Tom Waits - Brawlers, Baulers...

Discoveries from yesterday
My Old Record Collection in General
Mark Bolan and TRex - yeah, it took me 36years and Jenny's record collection.
John Lennon - Shaved Fish
Los Mutantes
Syd Barrett
Buddy Guy and Junior Wells - Hoodoo Voodoo Man
Neil Young


douglas mclaughlin • ephemerist
http://stinksgood.blogspot.com/

Best Music 2006 - Adam Chrystie

Group - Album

Mediaeval Baebes - Mirabilis (Mediaeval Music)

The Go Fly - Maimo (rock)

Brazillian Girls - Brazillian Girls (house/pop)

Basement Jaxx (house/pop)

Gary Numan - Pure (Goth/Industrial)

Best Music 2006 - Jeremy Zitter

In No Particular Order:

Silversun Pickups: Carnavas

Band of Horses: Everything all the Time

Neko Case: Fox Confessor Brings the Flood

Jolie Holland: Springtime Can Kill You

Devics: Push the Heart

Midlake: The Trials of Van Occupanther

The Decembrists: The Crane Wife

Cat Power: The Greatest

Sunset Rubdown: Shut Up I Am Dreaming

Camera Obscura: Let's Get Out of This Country

Other Things I Liked: The Submarines: Declare a New State, Fiery Furnaces: Bitter Tea, Ferraby Lionheart: EP, Sea Wolf: Untitled/Unreleased, Adem: Love and Other Planets, The Concretes: In Colour, Under Byen: Samme Stof Som Stof, Sebastien Schuller: Happiness

Best Music 2006 - Michael Schwartz

• The Fiery Furnaces - Bitter Tea
• The Decemberists - The Crane Wife
• Sonic Youth - Rather Ripped
• Thom Yorke - Eraser
• Comets On Fire - Avatar
• Deerhoof - The Runners Four
• Nellie Mckay - Pretty Little Head
• The Raconteurs - Broken Boy Soldiers
• Aphex Twin - Chosen Lords
• Flaming Lips - At War With The Mystics
  
• My Morning Jacket - Z
• Sufjan Stevens - Ilinoise
• Clap You Hands And Say Yeah - Clap You Hand And Say Yeah

Best Music 2006 - Chris Poehlmann

my current favs are:

Cat Power -- The Greatest, + older stuff like You are Free and Moon Pix. This is a great stand in for the hole left when Mazzy Star ended.

Dub, Dub and more dub thanks to internet radio.

the song Shanty Town by Mr. Scruff off Keep it Unreal

stereolab -- switched on

Tonya Donelly -- This hungry life

Herb Alpert -- Whipped Cream + Other Delites Re-whipped

cp

Best Music 2006 - Tim Grierson

Happy New Year everybody,

Here's my list -- in order, kinda.

Neko Case, "Fox Confessor Brings The Flood"
Band of Horses, "Everything All The Time"
The Coup, "Pick a Bigger Weapon"
Sonic Youth, "Rather Ripped"
Yo La Tengo, "I Am Not Afraid Of You And I Will
Beat Your Ass"
The Hold Steady, "Boys And Girls In America"
The Decemberists, "The Crane Wife"
J Dilla, "Donuts"
J Dilla, "The Shining"
Todd Snider, "The Devil You Know"
Beck, "The Information"
Drive-By Truckers, "A Blessing And A Curse"
Destroyer, "Destroyer's Rubies"
The Roots, "Game Theory"
The Streets, "The Hardest Way To Make An Easy
Living"
Pernice Brothers, "Live a Little"
Ghostface Killah, "Fishscale"
Camera Obscura, "Let's Get Out Of This Country"
Dixie Chicks, "Taking The Long Way"
Bob Dylan, "Modern Times"

Tim

Best Music 2006 - Bryan Waterman

13 from 2006

13. Tagaki Masakatsu, Journal for People

12. Grizzly Bear, Yellow House

11. Radio Citizen, Berlin Serengeti

10. Vetiver, To Find Me Gone

9. Devics, Push the Heart

8. Silversun Pickups, Carnavas

7. Mountains, Sewn

6. Lambchop, Damaged

5. Bonnie "Prince" Billy, The Letting Go

4. Destroyer, Destroyer's Rubies

3. His Name Is Alive, Detrola

2. Final Fantasy, He Poos Clouds

1. Joanna Newsom, Ys

for commentary and links go to http://www.greatwhatsit.com/archives/1094

Happy New Year! bw

Best Music 2006 - Chris Jess

OK, OK, here I go:

Super long list of bestest music by Chris:

And yes, after a year of remodeling this is pretty much all the music I could come up with.

Best (and only) albums:

1. Dashboard Confessional - Dusk And Summer
Yes I know, it's the going-away fad of Screamo, but Chris Carrabba is actually pretty good (you know, it's all a question of taste...)
2. Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
I actually first heard about these guys as part of a music video segment on a flight back from Germany. Fun album.

Most dissapointing album:
Snow Patrol - Eyes Open
Absolutely LOVED their first album. The single releases Hands Open & Chasing Cars were promising, but the album blew. Very slow & repetitive and just getting slower as the album progresses. The producer did a good job, as this album is clearly set up to convince those listening into the first 3-4 tracks in the store, but not the whole thing.

Due to the shortness of my list, here are two songs I'd like to mention:

1. Chris Cornell - You Know My Name (theme song from Casino Royale)
You go Chris! solid rock song but definatley a Bond song. It' nice to hear that after the whole Madonna let-down.
2. Bosse - Die Irritierten
I want this CD. Haven't been able to get it yet.

Chris =)

Best Music 2006 - Dan Toloudis

Here's some stuff I listened to and remembered in 2006.

Artist, Song(Album)

1. Mardo, Bombs Over Broadway (The New Gun) [retro hard rock. these guys just rock out. they have a myspace page with 4 tracks.]

2. Wolfmother, Woman (Wolfmother) [heavy psychedelic rock. kinda sludgy / sabbathy but happier. also have a myspace page ]

3. Blue October, Drilled a Wire Through My Cheek (Foiled) [modern rock.
disparate, eclectic, accessible thru a couple of pop hits but musically deeper than that. Also check out album "History For Sale"]

4. Gill Landry, Loneliness (The Ballad of Lawless Soirez) [absolutely miserable blues, the best kind!]

5. Hot Tuna, I Know You Rider (live in NYC 11/26/06) [ I saw these old guys play in New York for Thanksgiving. Electric and acoustic blues band spawned from Jefferson Airplane ]

6. Genesis, The Knife (Trespass) [ early 70's progressive rock. One of their heavier/faster/intenser songs. I just think people should check this out. ]

7. Umphrey's McGee, Women Wine and Song (Safety In Numbers) [ Phish-style hippie jam band, these guys are great. this song is just an example. listen to everything ]

In 2006 a good friend inspired me to learn about the Grateful Dead. I'll end with some picks for a sampling of G.D. songs I think people should hear.

8. The Grateful Dead, Franklin's Tower (on Blues For Allah) 9. The Grateful Dead, St. Stephen (on Aoxomoxoa) 10. The Grateful Dead, Dark Star (on Live Dead and many other live
performances)

Their best studio stuff, in my opinion:
-- The Grateful Dead, American Beauty (*whole album) [e.g. Sugar Magnolia, Ripple, Box of Rain, Friend of the Devil, etc.]
-- The Grateful Dead, Workingman's Dead (*whole album) [e.g. Uncle John's Band, Dire Wolf, Casey Jones, Cumberland Blues, etc.]

Best Music 2006 - Juan Devis

here's the list...

nuevos ricos - and indie label from latin america
conector - hector buitrago
x - los angeles
the brat amp fiddler - waltz of a ghetto fly
los abandoned - mix tape
squarepusher - hello everything
panorama - panorama

they are not all recorded last year... but i listened to them all the time....
abrazos,
juan

Best Music 2006 - Lynn Roof

Here's mine - happy new year to you!! There's been some great music out this year. Here's some of my favorites, old and new:

Sean Watkins (guitarist for Nickel Creek) - he released a solo album this year which has one of my favorite songs on it, called "Hello..........Goodbye". It's so bittersweet - it's about 60 seconds long, and in a nutshell, he meets a girl after a show, they get married in his head, and then she says goodbye. It's wonderful. I've seen him play it live many times, and it never loses its sweetness.

Tin Hat Trio - I heard them on Morning Becomes Eclectic for the first time this year. I picked up Book of Silk, and absolutely adore it. They're hard to define, but jazz is the closest you can probably get with generic labels.

Finn Brothers - they released their 2nd album, Everyone is Here, and they're just as good together now as when they were in Split Enz back in the 70's.

People in Planes - I loved the song "If You Talk Too Much My Head Will Explode" so much, I got the album. Which was a great purchase.

Decemberists - they continue to be one of my favorites. I saw them at the Wiltern, promoting The Crane Wife - what an amazing show. The album is SO GOOD.

Oh My by Mellowdrone - this was my "summer" song. It's a great one to listen to while driving, and when my friend Arlene was here this summer for a visit, we must have heard it 5 times over the one weekend. So, it says summer fun to me.

Los Angeles by Wired All Wrong - a rock anthem song that's great to sing at the top of your lungs while stuck in traffic. "Los Angeles...needs a revolution!!"

I can't wait to hear everyone else's picks!

Best Music 2006 - Eric Porter

Dear Robert,

David Crane forwarded me a message about your list, and I'd like to contribute. Here are 10 albums I enjoyed listening to this year.

Jeanne Lee, Natural Affinities

Manu Chao, Clandestino

Seu Jorge, The Life Aquatic

Talk to Her soundtrack

Chris McGregor's Brotherhood of Breath, Live at Willisau

Francisco Aguabella, Ochimini

Maxwell, Now

Miles Davis, Ascenseur Pour L'echafaud

Randy Weston, African Sunrise

Mary J Blige, The Breakthrough (I actually just got this today, but it's making a big impression as I write this)

Look forward to seeing the new list. Thanks for doing this. Best to Tara.

Eric Porter

Best Music 2006 - Alex Sokoloff

My Years Best Albums.

Plastic Garden, Michele Moreno.

A fantastic debut CD. A local LA artist that mixes pop and world influences with beautiful vocals and meaningful lyrics. Check it out at http://www.myspace.com/michelemoreno - you won't be disappointed. Support local indie artists!!!

Also:

St. Elsewhere, Gnarls Barkley

Modern Times, Dylan

At War with the Mystics, Flaming Lips

The Garden, Zero7

Fox Confessor Brings the Flood, Neko Case

Veneer, Jose Gonzalez

How We Operate, Gomez

Best Music 2006 - Chris Manfrin

rob,

sorry i'm getting this to you all late like.

here's my list.

in no particular order.

it's more of a list of things i listened to repeatedly in 2006, which are not necessarily current.

here we go..

1. mastodon - 'blood mountain'

2. meshuggah - 'catch 33'

2a. the bronx - s/t

3. dalek - 'absence'

4. grinderman - s/t

5. sunn o)))/boris - 'altar'

6. rufus wainwright - i only have a comp. cd a friend made for me, but damn, it's all great.

7. drive like jehu - 'yank crime'

8. film school - s/t (yes, they sound like the an 80's manchester band fronted by robert smith, but i don't care.)

9. band of horses - 'everything all of the time'

10. hot snakes - 'automatic midnight'

honorable mention... 3 are irrelevant to music in general

1. a band from l.a. called la rev. they're a little wonky right now, but they'll certainly become great. darkwave garage rock fronted by my furture wife. (i wish...)

2. if you don't already, watch frisky dingo and the venture bros. on adult swim

3. shadow of the colossus for the ps2

4. motogp. check it out.

hope you're well mister. give my best to tara and dex. i miss you man.

-c(w)

Best Music 2006 - Tom Padovan

Tom's Picks are :

1. Gnarls Barkley- St. Elsewhere
2. Tom Vek- We Have Sound
3. Van Hunt - On the Jungle Floor
4. The Flaming Lips - At War With The Mystics
5. Thom Yorke - The Eraser
6. TV on the Radio- Return to Cookie Mountain
7. Zero 7- The Garden
8. Damien Rice - 9
9. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Show Your Bones
10. Beirut - Gulag Orkestra

Best Music 2006 - Scott Higgins

Hi Rob ---

Good to hear from you and thanks for the inclusion in your poll. I'm also forwarding the whole shebang to my pop fan friends (Jay, Paul, and Ethan) in hopes they will contribute.

Here's a mixture of Songs and LP's ---

1) Camera Obscura -- Let's Get Out of This Country
I fell in love with this LP over the fall. The nod to Mr. Cole caught my attention, but the Phil Specter meets indie-pop sound kept me coming back.

2) Pipas -- Sorry Love
This LP is so short you can learn every note within a week. And I did. Their blog is also endearing.

3) DJ Hint -- Portakabin Fever
An "oldie" dating back to 2002, though I didn't discover it until O3. Immaculate. It has the staying power of Every Man and Woman a Star, which for me is very rare company. While Lemon Jelly has run its course for me, DJ Hint continues to flow.

4) Boozoo Bajou --- The First Four Songs on Juke Joint II
I can't really recommend the whole compilation, but the first four songs set an irresistible groove. The two highlights are Boozoo's re imagination of Rainy Night in Georgia (they knew just what to leave alone in the original track) and "The Thing" by Urbs and Cutex. Intelligent downbeat.

5) Belle and Sebastian --- Dress Up in You
Classic B and S --- insanely high syllable count and hardly any repetition in the lyric, but catchy nonetheless. As a particularly cruel promotional stunt, the band posted an instrumental version before the LP was released and invited fans to "sing along" --- but there is no way of figuring out the melody for these words from the backing chords. Plus, I think I rode a bus with one of the band this summer in Glasgow.

6) Adam Ant -- Kiss the Drummer
A B side I hadn't heard until this year and it is a very special song --- a blissfully stupid and incoherent collection of hooks. I played it very loud in the car, and briefly recaptured by blissfully stupid and incoherent adolescence.

7) Nightmares on Wax -- Smokers Delight
Reaching back to 1995, this one brings back the hazy atmosphere of my grad-school apartment but without the pain and pressure. A fine companion for mid summer.

8) Roger Miller -- Do Wacka Do
A song from Bess's bedtime disk that caught my attention this year. Miller is best known for King of the Road, but this song is just much angrier, it has an unexpectedly dark edge for my three-year old daughter's bedtime disk. Catchy as all get out too.

9) Telepopmusic -- Breathe
Another unfashionably dated track (2002). But nice filler and background.

10) Chet Baker in Paris Volume II
At the end of the day, when work is done and kids are in bed, you are in good hands with Chet -- and this has been another favorite since the late 1980s. Everyone should own it.

Regards,
Scott H.

Best Music 2006 - Benjamin Anderson (2 y/o)

Benjamin (age 2) watches the Wiggles' DVD "Top of the Tots" and HBO's "Classical Baby Dance". He likes to sing "Apples and Bananas" although only "eat, eat, apples" comes out.

Best Music 2006 - Brian Anderson

Hey Rob,

Hope your holidays are going well. Here's my list for 2006

- Brian

1. DJ Format - "Separated at Birth" and lots of other songs picked from his last two albums
2. Arctic Monkeys - "Whatever People Say I am, That's What I'm not" - the only album I bought this year

Songs:
3. Jan Delay - "Klar"
4. Sportfreunde Stiller - "'54, '74, '90, 2006" - anthem for Germany fans during the World Cup
5. The Streets - "When you wasn't famous"
6. Sido - "Strassenjunge"
7. Saian Supa Crew - "La patte"
8. Bela B. - "1. 2. 3."
9. Rihanna - "SOS" - I have a guilty weakness for any variation of "Tainted Love"
10. The Wiggles - "Can you dig it" - stuck in my head because of Ben

Silvia would like to add Shemale Trouble.

Best Music 2006 - David Crane

hi rob,

each year i say i'm gonna give you a list -- and this year i decided i had to do it immediately to get it done. and that worked!

i *think* i bought all these this year.... the ranking for 1-6 is serious; the rest are pretty much tied. sorry, couldn't keep it to 20...

1. Deerhoof / The Runners Four

2. Television Personalities / Yes Dear, but Is It Art?

3. Curtis Mayfield / Roots

4. Syd Barrett / Barrett

5. The Roots / Game Theory

6. Kim Jung Mi / Wind [reissued this year! and don't buy that stupid "Korean Francoise Hardy" shit]

7. Francoiz Breut / Une Saison Volee

8. Cheap Trick at Budokan (remastered)

9. Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings / Naturally

10. Numbers / We're Animals

11. Bad Brains / Bad Brains

12. Antony & the Johnsons / Antony & the Johnsons

13. Matmos / The Rose has Teeth in the Mouth of the Beast

14. Sarah Vaughan (w/ Clifford Brown)

15. Broadcast / Tender Buttons

16. Archie Schepp / The Impulse Story

17. Nobukazu Takamura / Hoshi no koe

18. Sun Ra / Sun Song

19. RAIS Kammerchor (dir. Daniel Reuss) / Francis Poulenc: Figure Humaine

20. Ilse Scheer / Bertolt Brecht [1971 Austrian import/vinyl]

21. Animal Collective / Feels

22. Fela Anikulapo Kuti & Roy Ayers / Music of Many Colors

23. Midwest Funk: Funk 45s from Tornado Alley (compilation)

and my current favorite myspace artists: Bunny Rabbit w/ Black Cracker: http://www.myspace.com/loversandcrypts

david

Best Music 2006 - Wendy West

Think I'll do a list of songs again!

so here were my favorite songs of 2006:

1. Life on Mars -- David Bowie
2. Independence Day -- Elliott Smith
3. The Funeral -- Band of Horses
4. Hot Child in the City -- Nick Gilder
5. F**k, Was I -- Jenny Owen Youngs
6. Kissing Families -- SSPU
7. Jealous Guy -- John Lennon
8. Day After Tomorrow -- Tom Waits
9. SOS -- Rhianna
10. You're A Wolf -- Sea Wolf
and my 2 favorite covers:
11. Breakdown -- Grace Jones
12. Straight Outta Compton -- Nina Gordon

yep. that was my year. helllllllllooooo 2007!

thanks again rob, for doing this. happy new year.
W

Best Music 2006 - Adam Kopald

Here goes, in no particular order, some of 2006, some not:

The Capitol Years-Dance Away the Terror

Outrageous Cherry-Stay Happy

Califone-Roots and Crowns

Wheat-Hope and Adams

Super Furry Animals-Songbook: The Singles Vol. 1

Of Montreal-Aldhils Arboretum

Quasi-When the Going Gets Dark

The Long Winters-When I Pretend to Fall

The Elected-Me First

The M's-Future Women

The Concretes-In Color

The Go! Team-Thunder, Lightning, Strike

Solex-Low Kick and Hard Bop

Robbers on High Street-Tree City

The Envelopes-Demon

Grandaddy (just about anything by them)

Rogue Wave-Descended Like Vultures

Electralene-Rock It To The Moon

OK, that's about it. Thanks for putting this together!
Adam

Best Music 2006 - Dexter Knaack (almost 5 y/o)

Mahna Mahna - the Muppets
My Favorite Things - Sound of Music
Car Wash - Rose Royce
Sound System - Operation Ivy
Yellow Submarine - Beatles
Puff the Magic Dragon - Peter, Paul and Mary
Witch Doctor - David Seville
the Candy Man - Sammy Davis Jr
Over the Rainbow - Wizard of Oz
Everybody Wants To Be A Cat - the Aristocats
Bare Necessities - Jungle Book
It's A Small World - Disneyland
Do-Re-Mi - Sound of Music
Oompa Loompa songs - Willie Wonka (original)
I Want It Now - Willie Wonka (original)
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang - CCBB
You Are My Sunshine

Best Music 2006 - Robert Knaack

This year, for the first time, I think I have as many older albums as current ones.

The Best:

Straight To Hell - Hank Williams III : Punk-Rockin' Country without the nauseating modern country-pop sound. Hank Williams I would be very proud of his rebel grandson.

Guitar Romantic / Shattered - Exploding Hearts : Wow. 70s Punk rock style without the cliches. I thought this band was destined for greatness. Guitar Romantic came out in 2003 and Shattered, a compilation of b-sides, retakes, and singles, came out this year. Then I felt, well, shattered when I learned that sometime after recording Guitar Romantic a van crash killed three of their members. The rock-n-roll gods end the career of a young talented band and yet leave Aerosmith...where is the justice?

More Parts Per Million - The Thermals : Ok, so I'm three years behind on this one. An album brimming with energetic, lo-fi, indie rock. While I was enjoying this disc, the band released THIS year's album The Body, The Blood, The Machine. I am hoping that it will be as good. Look for it on next years list.

Boys and Girls in America - The Hold Steady : I really didn't want to like this band. I listened to their album Almost Killed Me and thought they could rock, but something about the sound didn't resonate with me. Over the year I started reading positive reviews of BaGiA and thought I'd give them another shot. After the first play there was still this intangible disconnect. Lucky for them (and myself) I followed my "listen to a new album at least twice" rule and on the second play it connected. I read somewhere that described the Hold Steady as a cross between the Replacements and Bruce Springsteen. A real rock-n-roll album.

The Crane Wife - Decemberists : Some people gasped when news came that the Decemberists were making the big label jump. Luckily, Colin Meloy and the band's sound hasn't jumped. Early Decemberists made me think of sea shanties and gypsies. On this album the gypsies have strapped on electric guitars. Not many bands can sing about the civil war and days of old without sounding silly. Lyrically wonderful and musically satisfying, bravo boys, bravo.

Return to Cookie Mountain - TV On The Radio : Goodness I came to the party late. I started listening to Blood Thristy Babes just recently and loved it. I thought it would be on my list this year, but that changed near the end of the year when I realized that Cookie Mountain was out. This album is one of those that you have to be in the mood for. Catchy, complex and experimental, background music this is not. An engagingly, satisfying album.

Scissor Sisters - Scissor Sisters : OK, I'm an album behind on these kids. When I heard about them and the word "disco" was mentioned I steered clear, then I actually listened to the album. This is definitely a case of 'better late than never'.

Curse of the Zounds - the Zounds : A gritty post-punk from the 1980s.

Destroyer's Rubies - Destroyer : Dan Bejar is talented. When he isn't Destroyer, he's in The New Pornographers and Swan Lake. Fortunately, Dan hasn't spread himself too thin. The name reminds me of a metal band, but this is far from the case. Rubies is an enigmatic indie rock gem (sorry for the pun.)


The Rest :

Savane - Ali Farka Toure : Blues meets African music.

Pick A Bigger Weapon - The Coup : Psychedelic funk and soul. The grooves on this album recall PFunk and the Digital Underground. While sometimes Boots Riley's lyrics feel too forced (much like DU), often trying to be too clever. When it works, the words get you thinking and the music gets you moving.

Ole Tarantula - Robyn Hitchcock and the Venus 3 : Robyn returns to form channeling his Eye-era songs. Not all songs hit this lofty level, but the ones that do like "Adventure Rocketship" realize how much I missed him.

Broken Boy Soldier - Raconteurs : Most musical super-groups never quite live up to the hype, but Jack White and Brendan Benson put together a band that was able to release a surprisingly solid album.

Over the Edge - the Wipers : An underrated 1983 punk rock album from an underrated punk rock band.

Love - Beatles : Having OD'ed on the Beatles in my youth, I was pleasantly suprised by this remix/mash-up. The DVD-Audio version feels fresh.

This Time / Lonesome, Onry, and Mean / Ol' Waylon - Waylong Jennings : Remasters of classic country and western.

Pretty Little Head - Nellie McKay : Normally bubble-gum pop music doesn't agree with me, but something about Nellie makes it seem alright.

Living With War - Neil Young : The old man still has it in him.


Other things of note:

Best Online Music Store: eMusic
Worst Online Music Store: BMG Music Club