Have you ever wanted to learn about classical music without first having to absorb all the theory or wade through lots of tedious music? Well, your most effective introduction to classical music may be the intensely passionate and highly tuneful music of Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky. AMG's Blair Sanderson explains why this great Russian composer might be your ideal guide.

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Everyone remember Sally Shapiro, the icy Swedish disco duo? They had a couple albums that were blogged to death, including one that was released this year. Well, if you read the small print on their records, you'll see the name Roger Gunnarson as the composer of many songs, including "Anorak Christmas." Turns out he's also responsible for a whole bunch of very good pop music during the past decade. Gunnarson's own group, Nixon, made a few really good electro pop albums in the early 2000's; he was a member of the noisy indie pop groups Free Loan Investments and The Garland; and best of all, he has his own Shapiro-esque set up with a duo called Cloetta Paris. Roger writes the sweet and gentle Italo disco-inspired tunes, wraps them in cheerfully frigid synth pop arrangements, and a female friend of his (not named Cloetta) sings them in a simple but very effective manner. If you like Sally Shapiro at all, you need to check out Cloetta Paris because, confidentially, they are way better! It's like Roger snatched back the formula and perfected it while nobody was watching. He's my indie pop hero!

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Sure, it was only three years ago, but we are still crazy about 2006's debuts (Lily Allen, Arctic Monkeys, Burial), breakouts (Amy Winehouse, Gnarls Barkley), bold makeovers (Christina Aguilera), and early farewells (J Dilla), not to mention the less eventful but nonetheless excellent releases from the established veterans (Ghostface Killah, Jarvis Cocker, Sonic Youth). Over a couple hundred favorite albums and singles of 2006 are listed by our editors. Maybe you'll discover, or be reminded of, a few that you missed. The AllMusic Loves series will continue to roll through this first decade of the 2000s during the next few weeks, as we will revisit 2007 and 2008 prior to looking back at 2009.

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