The wide-spread availability of digital camcorders and the arrival of YouTube meant anybody with some talent and six treadmills could make a life-changing music video in 2006. But the sheer amount of footage out there meant that artists had to really step it up to truly stand-out, and our year-end list reflects a heated battle between indie and pop that can be seen as nothing but healthy for the future of the music video as an artform.

10. Christina Aguilera “Hurt” - Among the more visually sweeping videos of the year, Aguilera and director Floria Sigismondi also accomplish what is rare in music video – they show and tell us a gripping story. Using multiple old-school film genres and styles to heighten the impact of the memories we see on the screen, Sigismondi underlines the narrative with references to Aguilera’s own celebrity status. It’s this pairing of high-drama with the soul-shattering voice of the pop star that is most affecting throughout. Yet it’s the final sequence, moving quickly from a mid-level shot to an extreme close-up on the singer’s beautifully shattered expression that secures the emotional weight of this work.

9. My Chemical Romance “Welcome to the Black Parade” – Spilling the ink of Dr. Caligari and Persona all over sheets of Queen-like epic posing, what emerges is one pitch-black rebellious mess of haunting imagery, high-strung emotional impact and pop video at it’s best. The social critique is evident but the artistic touches are perhaps more subtle, from shot to shot there is so much going on in this video, and one can’t help but applaud the sheer depth with which it attacks its’ subject matter.

8. OK Go “Here It Goes Again” – This video will never be as cool as it was the first time you stumbled upon it through YouTube, but it remains one of the more creative and simple applications of the music video form in years. What other video this year inspired thousands of highly-uncoordinated indie-rock fans to actually try and dance to music, even if it was on crazy dangerous treadmills? For that alone it deserves some recognition, the subsequent Internet revolution that it seemed to spark is just gravy.

7. Arctic Monkeys “Leave Before the Lights Come On” – When the lights do come on the seemingly suicidal jumper that Paddy Constantine heroically rescues is in fact a desperately lonely woman looking for love in all the wrong places and ways. But his violent reactions to her annoying pursuit are almost equally disturbing, and so director John Hardwick paints a humorous yet thought-provoking portrait of the distance, fear and miscommunication that exists between people today.

6. The Streets “Prangin’ Out” –Mike Skinner is engulfed in nightmares of addiction and vice represented through the vibrant horror of a red-rum hotel a la The Shining in this trance-inducing video. The camera only stops briefly as it cascades and floats around corners and through doorways, creating an ominous sense of presence and mystery that leaves one guessing right up until the final disturbing scene.

5. Justin Timberlake “My Love” – For the most infectious beat of the year the directors create one of the more addictive videos of 2006 and among the best mainstream dance videos in years. Not since Michael Jackson’s heyday have I spent so many hours in front of the screen trying to meticulously copy an artist’s particular dance (I’m only slightly ashamed to admit that), but thus is the power of this black and white minimalist video. Yet more than JT and his back-up dancers it’s the flying love-notes, the wonderfully spinning final shot and the constant juxtaposition of lust and love throughout - between serenade and seduction, dance and sex, flying rubber bands and cellos – that captures the hypnotic dualism of this street-ready ballad so perfectly.

4. Emily Haines “Dr. Blind” – It’s one of the more frightening scenes imaginable; being stuck all alone in a supermarket under the shadows of sale aisles and greed-inducing consumerism. It’s the type of thing that could lead one to a medicated drug-addiction - and that’s precisely what’s being battled in this dark, brooding and elegiac work. The human dominoes are sublime.

3. Juvenile “Get Ya Hustle On” – Juvenile wants us to forcefully see what the mishandling of Katrina really means for the people still living in the city. Beginning with high-pitched strings and an angelic porcelain statue, in the next minute it becomes immediately clear that there are no saints marching in the streets of New Orleans. Instead there is a desperate scavenger-like mentality that permeates the air left in the wake of America’s hyper-capitalist dreams.

2. I Love You But I’ve Chosen Darkness “The Owl” – This brilliant video subtly develops a complex world of jailed emotions and growing terror from the inside out. The animation is startling, beautifully detailed and yet so simple in its use of colors and sharp lines. The focus on the crow’s dilated pupils is a masterstroke, emphasizing the emotion from the opening shots while echoing the horror-flick soundtrack of the song. Yet it’s clear that what we fear is not just the owl, but also the unknown – the external light towards which the crow is flying. And thus we have an existential crisis on our hands that makes for the most suspenseful video of the year.

1. Mew “Special” - Though this video was originally released in 2005, Mew’s glorious new album was not available in the U.S. until 2006, so we’re keeping it right at the top of our list. This stunning treatise on the state of the modern romance is both transcendent and kitschy, reflecting the stirring power of Mew’s music itself. Beautifully shot and overzealously performed in black and white hues that recall Antonioni and B-grade horror in the same breathe – this is one of the most unforgettable collisions of love, fear, music and video, that you are likely to see this or any year.