Who says looks aren’t important? Here’s the verdict from the design staff of Mess+Noise as to the Best Australian Release Artwork of 2006. As with Critics’ Poll and Users’ Poll, previously excerpted on messandnoise.com, the full details are in Monday’s issue of the magazine, out nationally and as ever sure to be quickly snapped up. Read to the bottom for a bonus list: the 10 worst examples of Australian artwork in 2006.

1 Wolf & Cub

Vessels

Andy Irwin, Jamie Brown, Dan Noone

2 Darren Hanlon

Fingertips And Mountaintops

James Hancock

3 My Sister The Cop

Animal Traps

Jeremy Piert

4 Midnight Juggernauts

Secrets of the Universe

Vincent (Midnight Juggernauts)

5 Always

Cruising + Gross Odour

Alex Vivian (Always)

6 Witch Hats

Wound Of A Little Horse

Lauren Bamford

7 My Disco

Cancer

Nathan Gray

8 The Instant

Notes and Errata

Joshua Andrews

9 Sarah Blasko

What The Sea Wants, The Sea Will Have

Sharon Chai

10 The Hi-God People / Dead C

Split CD

Dylan Martorell

11 Mountains In The Sky

Accipio

Cailan Burns

12 Post

Post

Mark Gowing

13 Dappled Cities Fly

Granddance

Cole Gerst

14 Youth Group

Casino Twilight Dogs

Biddy Maroney

15 Seaworthy

Thread vs Needle

Kirrily Walker

16 Art Of Fighting

Eastbound

Ollie Browne

17 Vincent Over The Sink

Vincent Over The Sink 7”

Matthew & Chris (VOTS)

18 Flesh Vs Venom

Tales of the Parrot House

Flesh Vs Venom

19 Hytest

The Little Band That Could

Brad James

20 Faux Pas

Entropy Begins At Home

Tim Shiel (Faux Pas)

And the worst…

1 The Sleepy Jackson

Personality: One Was A Spider, One Was A Bird

2 Tyrone Noonan

Heavy Soul Part 1

3 Grrr

I'm Sorry

4 BeOmega

Outer Edge of Musiverse

5 Dallas Crane

Factory Girls

6 72 Blues

She Like The Fux, Like Electrolux

7 Nik Phillips

Songs From The 4th Floor

8 Mourning Tide

Trash N' Burn

9 Alex Lloyd

The Other Side (Limited Edition)

10 Augie March

Moo, You Bloody Choir

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