Best Music of 2006.

Hello everyone, and welcome to the first of a couple "Best of" countdowns. I'm holding off on the movies until I see a couple more I need to see (ROCKY! ROCKY! ROCKY!) but I'll be posting it soon.

But! enough about movies, we are now going to get into the meat of the post. This post is seperated into two sections: Top Songs and Top Albums. Top album of the year is the biggest achievement.

THE TOP 10 SONGS OF 2006.

The Top 10 songs of the year are those songs that are (mostly) off of albums that I hard time getting into. These songs are fantastic, but the albums simply weren't good enough to make the top album list. However, this does not mean that this is an exhaustive list of the best songs of the year. In fact, many, many of those on the album list and will be noted.

10. The Watson Twins - Southern Manners.

This little Southern ditty by Jenny Lewis back up band (see below), is something of a conundrum for me. Either they crave a man to be partriarchical and sort of controlling, or well, I'm not sure. Are they being funny? I can't quite tell. However, this song is really sort of catchy, and I would love to have a slice of pie with the Watson Twins, whom I have spoke to and are very friendly, let me tell you.

9. The Black Keys - Modern Times.

This song has sort of a WAKKA WAKKA guitar thing going. I love a good WAKKA WAKKA guitar thing. The album was sort of a let down. The Keys are sort of stymied in their whole HEY, WE'VE GOT A GUITAR AND A DRUM, LET'S PLAY SOME BLUES! I'M A LONELY GUY! HERE'S A REPETITIVE SONG ABOUT IT. If that is your bag, fantastic. I, however, am a man who craves pianos and tamboreens (sp) and soundscapes! Variety! Still, if you like blues at all and WAKKA WAKKA guitar, you cannot go wrong with this song. That is why it is on the list.

8. My Chemical Romance - Teenagers.

As far as I can tell this is the only redeeming song off of their new album, in which they try to be sincere instead of full of stupid bravado, the stuff that makes that them so cool. This is full of false bravado, a good chorus to SCREAM along too. It makes you want to punch authority, really hard, in the face. So, to recap: Bad new album, Bitchin' new song. Come back next year with more songs about being criminals.

7. Jay-Z - Beach Chair.

I've written about this song before, and, well, it didn't grow on me like I expected it to. The album after the first four tracks or so got stuck in a rut and I usually just skipped to this song and the last. Still, Hova is displays some of his stongest lyrics on this song, and Chris Martin from Coldplay puts together a really interesting beat. The song has mood. It has depth. It's ominous. It makes you imagine an black, overcast afternoon. Waiting for a big storm. Great stuff, wish you could have kept it up. Go get 'em next time Jay.

6. Michael Leviton - Summer is the Worst.

Summer really isn't that bad, and I think that Mr. Leviton understands that. Still, he has written a charmingly depressing song here. It was definately my theme song of Summer '06. It also features a duet with a woman I do not know. This duet is the first of many that I like very, very much. That's sort of a weird theme of the year, my stumbling upon duets that I love. Oh well, this song is totally worth downloading for next summer. It really has a cotten candy center inside a shell of cynicism.

5. Bob Dylan - Thunder on the Mountain.

This is sort of a perfect example of my kind of Dylan song. It's weird, sprawling, awkward rhymes that you do not questiong because, well, it's Dylan, and has that little line that you wait the whole song for ("I'm gonna raise me an army of tough sonabitches/I'll recruit my army from the orphanages (sp)"). This song swings, which is kind of unexpected from the oldest musician in the world. At one point he is going to make an album that sucks, then he will promptly die. DON'T DIE BOB.

4. Bruce Springsteen - Jesse James.

Speaking of old guys who still R-O-C-K, Bruce released this weird little country album thingie this summer, and this is the standout track on it. It tells the story of Jesse James, and how he was shot by a coward. There is a movie coming out next year telling a similar story. I promise you, this song will be more fun, better written, and less, well, Brad Pitt-y (can anyone name a celebrity who went from COOL to UNCOOL faster? Marrying Angelina turned Brad boring). YOU JUST LET JESSE ROB THIS TRAIN!

3. Guster - Dear Valentine.

"Ohhhhhhh, I'm on my way to a holiday in real time!" I didn't love Guster's new album. I did love this song. This is the only song where they let the guy who doesn't normally sing lead vocals sing lead vocals. I like that guy a lot. He has a fantastic sort of tone. I love this song. It has a weird ambient sort of quality that I cannot get enough of. I tend to just sit and listen to it over and over and over, lossing myself in the horns and harmonies. Hooray harmonies!

2. Sufjan Stevens - The Mistress Witch from McClure (or, The Mind That Knows Itself).

This song is about Sufjan and his brothers and sisters chasing their dad who is cheating with a woman who wears an ankle brace. There are fits in the snow. There are also banjos. This is literally one of the most heartbreakingly sad songs I've ever heard. Not sad in the way like, "oh man, my life is a bummer," but actually super depressing real life experience. Well, it also made me cry once. That earns it a spot on the list.

1. Say Anything - Total Revenge.

I've listened to this song 68 times on my computer alone. This does not count times on my iPod. This is easily my most listened to song of the year. It's simple, it's sad, it's personal. Best song of the year, regardless of what CD it is on.

(This song is on the extended version of a 2004 album, but wasn't released until 2006).

Top Albums of 2006.

The order doesn't matter that much, they're pretty much interchangable.

HONORABLE MENTION: Sufjan Stevens - The Avalanche.

Yeah, yeah, I know it's a B-Sides collection. I know it represents the songs that weren't GOOD enough for Illinois, and it has three versions of the same song. Still, better than most other albums that anyone put out last year. I mean really, I think it starts a little slower than Illinois and ends stronger. Of course, it includes the same song three times. Dispite some repetition issues, this is such a great album to drive around to. Not as coherent as Illinois, but still damn good.

Top Songs: The Avalanche, "Springfield, or Bobby Got a Shadfly Caught in His Hair," the song mentioned above.

5. The Dreden Dolls - Yes, Virginia.



Kind of scary, kind of funny, kind of depressing, kind of awesome. Amanda the Pianist/Singer/Yeller and Brian the drumer put out a really solid sophomore effort that improves about their self-titled debut. This album lacks only a few intangibles, which means I can't explain what is wrong with it. I listened to it solidly for, like, a month, and then it wained on me. I can't say why. It's a little soggy in the middle, but not THAT soggy. Easily the best pianoing of the year, which is really, really important. I love the Dresden Dolls, and on the strength of this album and another solid one they could easily sneak into the Top 5 of All-Time.

Top Songs: Backstabber, Mandy Goes to Med School, Me & the Minibar, Sing

4. The Hold Steady - Boys and Girls of America.



It still may be a little too soon if this ranking was a mistake or not, but I like this album a lot a lot. I read about them in Esquire in November and was intriqued by the Bruce Springsteen circa 1975 comparison. I picked it up to find out that the guy sounds NOTHING like Bruce Springsteen, but the music sort of does. That, to me, makes it an okay comparison. I love Bruce Springsteen, and I really like this band. It's really the only pure "rock" album on the list, which means that I'm getting to hipster and boring for my own good. Still, the lyrics are fantastic. It has that sort of dirt poor poetry that is vaguely Kerouacian, it makes you want to drive around and drink and meet women you should not get into adventures. It also includes the best back up line of the year, "There's usually one or two-hoo!"

Best Songs: Stuck Between Stations, Massive Nights, Citris, Chillout Tent

3. Format - Dog Problems.



Okay, so, funny story. This record would be much higher up on the list (it is really very good, they're are harmonies, angst, roaring pick ups, the spelling out of words [that is not how you spell, “Because”], fast songs, slow songs, and only a couple of annoying songs!), except I made a mistake. I went to their rock show expecting some catharsis (a good example of this ACTUALLY happening: The Say Anything show in August) and what I got was a shit load of 15 year old girls. I immediately had a really had time identifying with music that 15 year old girls identify with. I’m not sure if I can listen to this band anymore. Fun Fact: When I listen to the song "Dead End," I can smell sunscreen.

Top Songs: Dog Problems, Dead End, Snails, Inches and Falling, If Work Permits.

2. The Decemberists – The Crane Wife.

This is easily the most depressing CD I think I have ever owned. Top to bottom, every song is about death. However, it's not like one of those terrible emo, "Argh, I'm going to kill myself because so and so doesn't like me." No, this one is about real death, stupid, brutal, ugly death. There is murder (a lot of murder), rape, war, and real terrible emotion. It is true, harrowing, haunting, beautiful, and well written. It is a very fine record. Though it is the most depressing, it is also one of the best.

Top Songs: The whole thing, except "The Perfect Crime #2."

1. Jenny Lewis with the Watson Twins - Rabbit Fur Coat.

From the time I first heard it in January, I had a sneaking suspicion. Hearing an album that long ago and having it stick with you for 12 months a rare thing. The only analogy I can come up with is that it is comparable to when Shawn Michaels won the Royal Rumble by being the first man in and the last man out. It was an epic achievement. Rabbit Fur Coat was the first album in and the last album out. I love everything about this album from the harmonies, the lyrical content, the builds. It's just stunning in everyway. "Rabbit Fur Coat" is one of my favorite songs of all time. If you can find a bootleg of their live show, get it. They play the entire album plus some fantastic, FANTASTIC new songs. The only problem is that this was just a side project, which means we will have to wait a long time before the next album. I know the wait will be worth it.

Top Songs: Every one, including bootlegs.