Happy New Year! 2006! Can you believe it already? Here's hoping everyone has a good year!

Anyway, back to my top ten albums list that was supposed to be up "tomorrow." Holidays are murder on my blogging.

7) Set Yourself on Fire - Stars (Arts & Crafts)

The second Canadian indie band on the list (also from Montreal). This band took me quite by surprise, as I hadn't heard any of their earlier efforts. But it turned into one of my most listened to albums of the year, as its unique blend of indie pop, melodic male and female vocals, electronic noises and atmospheric production was irresistible to me. I especially found the lyrics interesting, and I'm not normally a lyrics person; emotional, but not verging into self-pity as many bands do. Overall, it's an excellent album and one of my favourite discoveries of the year. Standout Tracks: "Set Yourself on Fire," "Ageless Beauty," "Calendar Girl"

6) Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (Self Released)

This album is one of my favourites that I discovered in the last little bit of the year. The band not only produced and recorded all the music themselves, but also somehow managed to put the album out without the help of a label. This is a rock that is a little bit weird, a little bit catchy; distorted guitars, tortured vocals (my little brother hates the lead singer's voice). But nonetheless I've listened to this album non-stop and it's got surprising depths and is very listenable. The first track is bizzare and not really representative of the album as a whole, but if you can get past that you're in for a real treat. For all those reasons it's one of the best albums I've heard all year and makes the list. Standout Tracks: "Over and Over Again (Lost and Found)," "Details of the War," "The Skin of My Yellow Country Teeth"

5) X&Y - Coldplay (Capitol)

I'm sure putting this on my year's best may discredit my taste in the eyes of some, but honesty compells me to say that this is one of my favourite albums of the year and one that I've listened to incessantly since I got it on "Super Tuesday" back in June (when it was released on the same day as new albums by the Black Eyed Peas and The White Stripes). Almost everyone knows what to expect from a Coldplay album, so I don't need to describe them to you, but is that such a bad thing? They do what they do, which is write catchy, beautiful, arena rock songs, better than almost anyone. A lot of people don't like this album as much as the last one, but I wasn't as big a fan of A Rush of Blood To the Head as some. I still think Parachutes is their best album, but this is probably second. Is there a more triumphant pop song than "Fix You" (I'll tackle that question later in my list)? I love Coldplay and I'm glad I'm going to get to see them in 25 days! Standout Tracks: "Fix You," "Talk," "Swallowed By the Sea," "Kingdom Come"

4-1 of my favourite albums coming soon.