Credit: Daniel Robson

2006 – housebound, gigs a thing of the past in Cornwall, so had to rely on CDs and downloads for sustenance. 2006 was the nasal whine of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, and when everyone went to the Balkans - Beirut and A Hawk and a Hacksaw did this the best. It was a year of identity crisis and confusion, the Necks got seriously Morricone on Chemist, the Liars thought that The Swans and early Sonic Youth were the best blueprint for the future on Drums not dead, Sufjan did Illinois for the second time in his 50 state series, Burial pointed dubstep in the direction of Tricky’s most atmospheric outtakes and the best Latin music was to be found on a Congolese compilation CD – Rumba on the River.

Finest moment was the chinstroking prog epic Ys, 5 songs, not one less than 7 minutes, Van Dykes Parks covered it in syrup, Jim O’Rourke rinsed it off again, the elf-queen Ms Newsom can do no wrong even when singing about monkeys and bears. Best comp was CherryStones Words when the overrated DJ stopped poncing about with hoary old 70s rock and rediscovered garage punk and Residents soundalikes. Way to go. Messrs, Lee, Barrett and McLennan checked out, leaving a footnote that perhaps we lost more in 2006 than can ever be put back.

Daniel Robson – Our man in Japan

My favourite musical moment of the year? Christ, that’s hard. I’ll tell you what it wasn’t: it wasn’t the demise of Smash Hits. Being made redundant is bad enough, but to also lose the last honest, irreverent, exciting music magazine in Britain? That was a bad day for me.

But there was good stuff. Personally, I was proud to organise It Came From Japan, a UK tour for three unknown Japanese acts, and to see it pretty much sell out. The Flaming Lips at the Albert Hall was possibly the best show I’ve ever seen, with The Go! Team providing perfect support. And I was excited to see some of my favourite Japanese bands for the first time after I moved out to Tokyo – especially GO!GO!7188, who you should bloody well listen to.