2006 TOP 10

1. Centro-matic, Fort Recovery

2. Kristy Kruger, Songs From a Dead Man's Couch

3. The Cut*Off, The Rorschach E.P.

4. The Theater Fire, Everybody Has a Dark Side

5. The Drams, Jubilee Drive

6. Auto Escape, Turn It Off

7. Boys Named Sue, The Hits Vol. 1

8. Thorn vs. Side, Arson

9. Spector 45, We Wanna Go!

10. The Hourly Radio, History Will Never Hold Me

TOP 10 ARTISTS I WANTED AN ALBUM FROM, by Merritt Martin

I heard tale of studio work, was teased with demos and was both impressed and seduced by live performances of new material from these folks. I pined for a full-length release from each of these bands/artists—something I could cuddle up to, or have my pants sufficiently rocked by. And something tells me if they'd turned out the merch, this would just be a flat-out Top 10 list.

1. Record Hop

2. Pleasant Grove

3. Sean Kirkpatrick

4. St. Vincent

5. Dove Hunter

6. The Great Tyrant

7. Blood on the Moors

8. 100 Damned Guns

9. Shiny Around the Edges

10. Mission Giant

TOP 10 REASONS THE THEATER FIRE IS THE BEST BAND IN NORTH TEXAS, by Noah W. Bailey

1. Mariachi trumpets

2. That unreleased song about testicles

3. "I Heard About You"

4. You can't use the term "'80s band" to describe them.

5. "These Tears Could Rust a Train"

6. They don't sound like Coldplay, Radiohead or Interpol.

7. "Barrel Riders"

8. Midlake sounds like Bread. (Bread!)

9. "Civil Warrior"

10. Will Johnson lives in Austin now.