Putting the Year to Bed: Favorite Albums and Songs of 2006

This blog is not about music. Neither is the baseball blog I contribute to, although you might have seen my list of favorite albums from 2006 over there.

This blog isn't about Christmas, either. But it is Christmas, at least over here, (and have a merry one, by the way). As my Christmas present to myself, I'm taking a few minutes to catalog my favorite albums and songs of the past year.

Don't take the list as canonical (not that anyone would). How does one evaluate whether M. Ward's post-rock, soulful storytelling is "better" than The Coup's funky, rollicking political rants? It's impossible. Best to think of this as a snapshot of my writing and running soundtrack.

For the singles, I'm not allowing myself to use any songs from the top 15 albums. It's a way of writing about the best bits of the albums that didn't make the cut, or just discussing a song I really like.

TOP 15 ALBUMS OF 2006

15. The Long Winters, Putting the Days to Bed

A rock album in the best sense of the word, The Long Winters' latest isn't afraid of big guitars or quiet moments. There's some great songwriting here, especially on the upbeat but restrained "Clouds." Just when you think you have the warm major-scale chords read as indicators of happiness, though, they'll flip it on you. Catch yourself singing along with "Ultimatum" (you will: "my arms miss you, my hands miss you/the stars sing i've got their song in my head"), but be prepared when the rug gets pulled out from under you lyrically.

14. Loose Fur, Born Again in the USA

The first of two alt-country supergroups involving Jeff Tweedy listed here, Loose Fur are the more experimental of the two. At least, they were. This record is much more song-focused, and that's a good thing, since it leads us to a song like "The Ruling Class." It's good to know that handclaps haven't totally fallen out of fashion. It's unfair to say that this is merely going to tide me over to the next Wilco record, since it's a fine effort in its own right. It's true, though.

13. Madlib, Beat Konducta, Vol. 1-2

For some reason, Madlib hasn't won the hearts of literati in the same way that DJ Shadow did some years back. His output is certainly more impressive, more eclectic (he remixed the Blue Note catalog, put out a reggae disc, collaborated with MF Doom, and sucks down helium to rap as Quasimoto) and weirder. If there's a criticism of this CD, it's that the beats don't last as long as you might like them to -- just as you're into the groove, often times, the groove shifts you right out of it. But you're still happy the groove was there, and that's the test.

12. Nouvelle Vague, Bande a Part

A multilingual French music collective that recasts new wave and punk hits in bossa nova fashion. If you're not sold yet, what's the matter with you? Go out and get this, even though it's not quite as good as their previous release. Amazing musicianship cut with a good-time ethic.

11. The Pernice Brothers, Live a Little

This may be the perfect pop band, or at least the perfect bittersweet pop band. The songs, replete with shimmering guitars and sweet vocal harmonies, are gorgeous. They sound like the soundtrack of summer love and hugging a warm puppy until you listen to the lyrics. Smart, sardonic and tuneful music. Plus, I hear a Pernice song was featured on something called "The O.C.", so they gets the seal of approval from at least one of my pals.

10. Snow Patrol, Eyes Open

As I hint at in the previous entry, not having a television or listening to much radio means you avoid drinking from the same cultural stream as most. This is good and bad. It means you miss out on many in-jokes and shared referents, but it also means you don't get sick of things that others have shoved down their throats. I haven't had a TV for nearly 10 years, so the fact that one of these songs was evidently featured on a popular show means little to me. What matters: there is no song here to rival "Run," but it's an endearing album from stem to stern.

9. Viva Voce, Get Yr Blood Sucked Out
I'm a sucker for husband-and-wife bands (see Mates of State, below), and Viva Voce fill the bill. This is their strongest effort yet, although I've got to say that I prefer individual songs on their earlier releases to any one track contained here. The subject matter is darker, but all the elements I love about this band still survive -- fuzzy guitars, alternating male and female vocals, catchy hooks that drag you in and won't let you leave.

8. Soul Position, Things Go Better with RJ and Al
I already name-checked "Things Go Better," the title track of the record, on this blog. The song is Blueprint's personal narrative of the group's career, and it's confessional, inspiring and is powered by a bass-heavy RJD2 beat. The catchiest song, though, is "Hand Me Downs," which features well-placed horns and a perfect Flavor Flav sample. Their best effort to date, it's a complete album that features two big winners.

7. Neko Case, Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
Neko Case is the real thing. "Hold On, Hold On" is probably the best track she's recorded yet, and with a voice like that, you can't help but wonder what else she's capable of. If this is it, it's enough.

6. The Brazilian Girls, Talk to La Bomb
My gut tells me to rank this higher, but I just don't see what it's going to bump. This multilingual combination of rock and electronica might well be the most interesting disc I've heard this year, and I don't mean "interesting" in the value-neutral sense you use to describe your buddy's awful poetry. The sonic terrain they explore is different on each song, and the vocals from Sabina Sciubba are more prominent than on their mellower, eponymous previous record.

5. Asobi Seksu, Citrus
Call it shoegaze. Call it twee. Call it another term I don't understand. Call it a name in English, call it a name in Japanese (it's another record with vocals in more than one language). Just listen to its landscapes of sound and find that it's rewarding in the background and even more so with an intent listen.

4. Mates of State, Bring It Back
The consensus best track from this album is "Fraud in the 80s" (the catchiest tune Mates have recorded), but there are easily four other songs that approach its charms. For the first time, the piano-and-organ duo use guitar to flesh out their sound, and it works. The added element isn't overused, and the harmonic strengths are still in play on tracks like "Like U Crazy," "Beautiful Dreamer," and "For the Actor," a personal fave. "Nature and the Wreck" is a ballad that makes me melt every time. 

3. Golden Smog, Another Fine Day
Golden Smog are a collaboration among alt-country stars featuring one of rock's signature voices, Gary Louris, late of The Jayhawks. After loving the last two records, I picked this up with some trepidation, knowing that there would be less of Wilco's Jeff Tweedy than last time.

Months later, I think that this is a spectacular record, as different from earlier Smog efforts as the Smog itself is from the members' individual bands. It has rockers ("Hurricane," a Dan Murphy song) tender ballads ("Cure For This," featuring vocals from Muni Loco, wife of the album's producer), a cover ("Strangers," originally composed by Dave Davies of The Kinks) and more. "Corvette" is simply one of the best songs of the year, and the only one I'm actually going to post. When the chorus hits ("The dream is never over"), you actually believe it.

This is American music in the best sense of the word.

05-Corvette

Golden Smog

2. The Coup, Pick a Bigger Weapon
Everyone is ready to hand Ghostface the hip-hop album of the year crown, and some are ready hand him two crowns, one for "Fishscale" and one for "More Fish." Where is the love for the latest from Boots and Pam? The beats are funky, the skits mercifully short and relatively amusing, the verses equal parts political and party-riffic. The album opens with the blistering "Bullets and Love," where Boots declares "I'm a walking contradiction, like bullets and love mixin'/slur my words with perfect pitch and I'm guilty of my convictions."

I love Ghost, but if you get only one hip-hop disc from 2006, get this one.

1. M. Ward, Post-War
When I got this record, I would never have guessed it would be No. 1 on my list. I liked it immediately, but I didn't think it compared to "The Transfiguration of Vincent," Ward's 2003 opus. That's still his best work in my opinion, but with songs like "Chinese Translation," opener "Poison Cup" and follow-up "To Go Home," Post-War still beats everything else released this year in my estimation.

My favorite track, though, is "Requiem." Ward's greatest strength is his ability to take spare, simple lyrics and make them resonate. Requiem's refrain -- "He was a good man, and now he's gone" -- is a heartbreaking case in point.

15 SONGS FROM 2006

Again, these are songs unrepresented in the top 15 albums.

15. Bruce Springsteen, "O Mary Don't You Weep"
I love Springsteen, and I love Pete Seeger, and you'd think I'd love a record of Springsteen covering Seeger. You'd be very close. I only like the record very much. This is my favorite track, soulful, driving, and engaging.

14. Fujiya & Miyagi, "Collarbone"
This song is only good for dancing, in the same way that a cheesegrater is only good for grating cheese. Not my favorite genre, but boy, does it serve its intended purpose.

13. Jon Auer, "Four Letter Word"
If this world full of bitter breakup songs were a garden, this song would be the goya -- the bitterest fruit of the bunch.  The title comes from the lyric “I’m not ashamed that I treat your name like a four letter word now,” and that's one of the kindest parts. Former Posie goes vindictive. Hide the children.

12. The Mountain Goats, "Woke up New"
People either love or hate John Darnielle. If you love him, I don't need to convert you. If you hate him, I'm not going to convert you, and I wouldn't care to anyway. Try it, and you'll know one way or the other.

11. Jenny Lewis with The Watson Twins, "Handle With Care"
It's an unexpectedly delicious cover of the Traveling Wilburys tune, featuring M. Ward and Bright Eyes' Conor Oberst. The record is good, albeit up and down, but this is the highlight.

10. Aqualung, "Brighter than Sunshine"
A British guy writes a poppy ditty about love. What decade is this?

9. Lupe Fiasco, "Kick, Push"
His disc is good, but this song is the one that makes you want to play it over an over. A hip-hop skateboarding romance, it will help you wash the memory of Avril Lavigne's paean to skateboarding romance out of your yearning ears.

8. The Hold Steady, "Stuck Between Stations"
Besides being a sucker for "Greetings From Asbury Park"-era Springsteen, which is a strong influence here, I have to love any song that includes the lyrics "Sal Paradise was right."

7. Jose Gonzalez, "Stay in the Shade"
Somnolent vocals, gentle guitar, atmospheric music for candlelit contemplation. Lovely.

6. Clipse, "Hello New World"
The half-singing on the hook sells it.

5. Pigeon John, "Do the Pigeon"
Hip-hop that makes you smile. "I know it gets rough, but you gotta let the sun shine in, just a smidgen." Summertime, windows-down music that says don't think too much, it'll only hurt the ballclub.

4. The Decemberists, "O Valencia!"
"The Crane Wife" should probably be in the top 15 albums, but I like previous Decemberists releases so much more, I'm afraid it colored my perceptions. Nevertheless, this is a well-constructed pop song that sounds about as gleeful as any tragic love story can.

3. Denizen Kane, "Lastchild Speaks"
It wasn't a banner year for album-length hip-hop in my ears, at least not compared to 2K5, but a lot of worthwhile tracks got me bobbing my head or shaking my fist. This does a little of both; the beat is smooth and buttery, and while the flow isn't particularly innovative, it does exactly what it needs to to deliver you where you need to be.

2. Peter, Bjorn and John, "Young Folks"
Scandinavian pop music with hand claps. It is the wave of the future. Resistance is futile. If they ever figure out how to incorporate hip-hop into this sound -- and if they do, I presume Busdriver will be involved -- it will all be over.

1. Gnarls Barkley, "Crazy"
Shut up, indie boy, you know you like it too. I prefer Danger Mouse's collaboration with MF Doom (Danger Doom) to this collaboration with Cee-Lo, but it's undeniable that "Crazy" was among the best singles of the year. And remember what I said about not having the same music shoved down my throat as everyone else?  

Let me end by plugging a compilation album, Live at KEXP Vol. 2, that not only supports Seattle's listener-powered radio station, but includes live music that's truly worth having. Versions of some of my favorite songs ("Crooked Teeth" by Death Cab for Cutie, "At the Bottom of Everything" by Bright Eyes), some of which actually outpace the album versions (Common Market's "Connect Four," Lyrics Born's "Callin' Out.")

May 2007 be even better.