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Best of 2006 - Real Deal

Best of 2006
Welcome to the 2006 edition. This is not the best songs of 2006 - I don't have that much conceit to make that claim because I am sure six months from now I will discover something from this year that I love. What it is is stuff I discovered or listened to or heard on the radio in 2006. It's really a taste of the flavor of what I was listening too.

New format. Some of you will get the mp3 version. Everyone will get the two disk set (or at least the contents of). Disk 1 is the "best of." Disk 2 is a "theme" - this year's theme being "covers." The two disks sorta loop back on each other, as some of the "best" is represented on the second instead of the first disk, or on both. It is not systematic but I hope y'all enjoy. Comments appreciated.


Top Ten Albums (in no particular order)





The Hold Steady - A cross of either Bruce Springsteen and the Afghan Whigs or Greg Dulli and the E Street Band. I lean to the latter but it could go either way. A great bar band, solid guitar and lyrics go places pop music don't go anymore.






The Strokes - They keep getting better (see disk two).











Neko Case - Quite possibly the best album of the year. Something about her voice sucks me in. Plus not a bad song on the album.









Rhett Miller/Old 97's - Okay he's a model but he writes a great pop song. As lead singer of the Old 97's, he leads the premiere Texas alt-country outfit. The live set, Alive and Wired, is a great overview of the band at its best. The Believer is more poppy, but a must own too.

She Wants Revenge - Joy Division has been reincarnated. If you like that sorta thing, this is a must own album. Every song is solid. And you can dance to it. If you like that sorta thing.





Son Volt - Never cared for Uncle Tupelo or its offspring, but this guy has a great guitar that makes it much more than just an alt country band. Plus he writes a melody that will bring a tear to your eye.




Anything from Ryan Adams - He puts out too much music (a song or two a week on his web site plus an album every quarter or so). He's a train wreck live (but you can't take your eyes off him - good and bad). He's a drunk. But his highs are as good as anyone and his range is awesome. I put the Replacements rocker "France" on but it killed me to cut alt Mexican love song "The sadness"

Gnarls Barkley - Album of the year. Proves that "rap is just a cadence." And I wouldn't describe it as a rap album. But funk doesn't do it justice. "Crazy" has got to be the most catchy song of the year (maybe I'll post Josie's version).





Mountian Goats "Get Lonely"- Perko turned me on to these guys. A folk rocker whose lyrics are amazing. Music rises to the emotion of they lyrics on this one. Not polished enough to be emo.

Twilight Singers "Powder Burns" - Speaking of Greg Dulli, he finally returns to form post-whigs. This is a whigs album start to finish - no covers, no experiments (see disk 2).

Solid but not any better than previous
Bob Dylan "Modern Times"
Beck "The Information "
Red Hot Chile Peppers "Stadium Arcadium" - goldberg variations of the Peppers
G Love "Lemonade" - love this guy
Jay Z "Kingdom Come" - easy listening rap
Matisyahu "Youth" - go with "Live at Stubbs"

Overrated but Respectable
Sufjan Stevens
Thom Yorke "Eraser"
Devotchka
Secret Machines "Ten Silver Drops"
Johnny Cash "American V"

Just Overrated
Tom Petty "Highway Companion" - not bad, but most already released
Outkast "Idlewood" - don't know about the movie, but the album does not stand on its own
Jet "Shine On" - one good song, many bad ones

Best Shout Out to Lloyd Cole
Camera Obscura - Lloyd, are you ready to be heartbroken

Old but ripped off by everyone since and new to me
Wire - Pink Flag

Don't know yet - recent additions
Editors
Army of Anyone

Almost made the cut
Funky Nashville - my favorite country band in all of Scandinavia (they're Danish)

Beyonce - the queen of pop

Ok Go - actually a very good album and two great videos

Ryan Adams "The Sadness" - only one Ryan Adams song, great mexican song, emotional song.

NIN "Not so pretty now / Nonentity" - Live versions of two new songs but NIN was last year. I also got some tracks of Trent's first band Option 30 - truly awful (Lies, der Komissar)

Teddybears "Cobrastyle" - A great dance song but very silly.

Blackalicious "Powers" - Positive rap and always makes me think of comic books.

Los Amigos Invisibles - Wierdest band of the year, genere bending band fron Venzuela.

Iron Hero "Pilot " - Song in the "classic alternative" style - you gotta miss this kind of thing.

Reckless Kelly "Wiggles and Ritalin" - I listened to a lot of alt country and Wiggles this year, but doesn't make the cut.

Decemberists - At the end of the day, emo just doesn't do it for me. This is good but not top twenty good.

Antartica Takes It - It's not folk,it's not emo, but it sure is catchy.

Cat Power - Number one album in Boston with no radio airplay. Female singer-songwriter meets Southern soul. Toss up with Fiona and time won out.

Disk 1
"World waits for You (reprise)" - Son Volt - A stunningly beautiful song.

"Here I come" - The Roots - One of my favorite rap bands. Last album disappointed but this is return to form. Liz denies it but I beleive I get a shout out in "Long Time."

"Cosmopolitan" - Nine Black Alps - A great alternative song that rocks. I have not tracked down the whole CD yet.

"Put your dukes up John" - Artic Monkeys - A great album that rocks in a post-punk, UK way. This is the UK single. The album is actually better.

"Love you in the Fall" - Paul Westerberg - I listened to a lot of alt country this year and while the Replacements are not country, they have a huge influence here. Paul lost the trail post-Singles but lately has rebounded. 2002's "Stereo" (q1 add) does not have a bad song on it. Recent developements. Replacement reunion song/'best of' album sucks. Paul Westerberg wrote the music for kid's cartoon movie Open Season that is represented here; good stuff, but the studio thought "the vocals are too rough" and rerecorded with other bands; ironically, they kept the two songs he recorded when he had the flu. Finally, right before Christmas he put a screwdriver through his hand. He's in a cast and will be in rehab for at least a year. Get well soon, Paul - we need more from you.

"France" Ryan Adams - see above.

"She's just that kind of girl" Lucero - Liz heard these guys on Pandora.com a few weeks ago and passed it on to me. Instant Love. I would describe them as the Memphis version of the Old 97's. A countrified alternative Replacements (whom they cover).

"Singular Girl" Rhett Miller - See above. Great show. This is sorta a cover as the Old 97's have played it live for years.

"Become the Enemy" - The Lemonheads. It's 1987 in Boston again! Pixies touring and Dinosaur Jr. reunited and in the studio. Oh yeah and Evan Dando kept it together for a whole album. Some claim this album is as good as any other Lemonheads. It's not - It's a shame about Ray takes that title. But it is as good as any other title. Solid early 90's Boston alternative rock.

"Magic Trick" - M Ward. I heard him on NPR last year. No one else likes it, but I enjoy his folk throw back style.

"World Waits for You" - Son Volt. The whole thing. See above.

"The Needle has Landed" - Neko Case. Hard to pick one song as they are all good.

"Woke up New" - Mountian Goats. See above.

"Oh well" - Fiona Apple - Another return to form. Whats amazing is she ditched Jon Brion and it got better, which has to be a first. Album full of good songs full of emotion.

"Stoned" - Lewis Taylor. Know nothing about this guy but great funk and musicianship.

"Smiley Face" - Gnarls Barkley. Crazy is the song of the year (See disk 2) but the whole album is great. If this doesn't get your toes tapping I feel sorry for you.

"Charlie Brown" - Ghostface Killa. Only two rap albums sold a million+ this year and Jay Z did in December. But there was more diverse and quality rap than in most years. Gnarls, Blackalicious, Roots, Jay Z, Nas even if it wasn't selling out. Killa actually had two good albums. This is an unreleased single that I found instantly catchy.

"King without a Crown" - Matisyahu. I bought this guy thinking it was Jewish rap music, but it's really Jewish reggae. The emotion and energy of "Live at Stubbs" is amazing.

"I write sins, not tragedies" - Panic at the Disco! These guys get thrown in with the faux punk bands that dominate MTV but I think they are closer to a guitar based Dresden Dolls. First the song titles are all at least five words and two clauses. But that just reflects the singing style. What I don't understand is that they won MTVs video of the year, but not the best new artist video award. MTV givith and taketh away.

"Out of control" - She Wants Revenge. Choosing one song took forever.

"Conventional Wisdom" - Built to Spill. Another classic alternative cut. The vocals are a little annoying but it's a still rocks.

"Apple Tree" - Wolfmother. I heard these guys live on the radio in San Diego. Best 70s rock and they keep it up for the whole album.

"Stuck between Stations" - The Hold Steady. Most Bruce-like track on the album but I love the line about her being a Christian.

"Connecticut" - Jesus H Christ and the Four Hornsmen of the Apocalypse. A novelty song for everyone from the Nutmeg state. They hit all the "high points."

Disk 2 - Covers
"D is for Dirt" - Lenbow. Not a cover, but local Boston DJ Lenbow combines Queen, Public Enemy, Woodstock and others for a rocking mashup.

"Mercy Mercy Me" - The Strokes with Eddie Vedder. The song that gave me the idea for Disk 2. True to the original but with better guitar.

"Heartbeats/Hand on your Heart" - Jose Gonzalez. My favorite Swedish-Mexican (or is it the other way around). His songs are simple and beautiful and he makes Kylie Minogue (who had a tough year) sound cool. Actually, the covers are his best work.

"Against all odds" - The Postal Service. Phil Collins rocks! Maybe not, but this is one of those songs from middle school that was most requested every night. I find it interesting because it was supposed to be recorded on tour and this cut actually sounds like it was recorded in a bathroom somewhere.

"Book of Love" - Peter Gabriel. Peter Gabriel does Magnetic Fields with a symphony. That's better than chocolate and peanut butter. An amzing version.

"Sweet Child of Mine" - Luna. Luna called it quits this year, which is too bad. I always enjoyed their sound, which is sorta a chilled out surfer guitar vibe. I particularly like covers that take the original in a completely different path, like this GnR cover.

"Bed's too Big" - K-OS. K-OS is one of those rappers I was talking about. I would call this verion faithful to the Sheila Hylton cover of the Police version which took a side two cut to the next level.

"Such Great Heights" - Ben Folds. Love this guy. He bascially put out an album of covers this year. This song isn't on it; I got it floating around the internet. It's both faithful to the emotion of the original and better than the original.

"Take me out" - Magic Numbers. A folk version of Franz Ferdinand. A new direction but still fun.

"Gin and Juice" - Gourds. Nate in Texas has been telling me to check this out forever. I got the new album but only scored Gin and Juice last week. Snoop would be proud.

"Crazy in Love" - Snow Patrol. B is the queen but I love how they turn this into a rock song. I like the Jay Z rap part.

"I'm afraid of Americans" - David Bowie/Sonic Youth. Not technically a cover (or is it?), but I always loved it. Originally co-written by Trent Reznor, this version kicks it up a notch.

"Mrs. Jackson" - The Vines. A little loud but this rocks. They take the Outkast song and make it more intense.

"Bizarre Love Triangle" - South. You would be amazed how often New Order gets covered.

"True Faith" Really works as classical music.

"Your Hand in Mine" - Explosions in the Sky. Again, not technically a cover. More of a remake with strings added. This post-alternative instrumental band from Texas should be owned by everyone. Starkly beautiful and emotional. The strings really bring out the "classical music." Blows away techno or jazz as background music anyday.

"Panic" - Puppini Sisters. A completely different version.