2006...A Year in Review.

Here's my tribute to the year that was 2006:

Most Annoying/Overused Sports Comment:
A Tie!!
"Did you know that Notre Dame WR Jeff Samardzija also plays in the Cubs farm system?"
and
"Bob Knight: A Season on the Brink"

Best Sports Moment:
George Mason going to the Final Four

My Favorite Personal Event:
Playing the STAND! for Darfur benefit at George's, which allowed famous in may to play for a huge audience and let us lend our music to a great cause.

Best Book:
The Road - Cormac McCarthy (I actually haven't finished it, but it's McCarthy.)

Most Politically Satisfying Moment:
Dems take the House and the Senate!/Mike Beebe is elected governor! ...or, simply, Election Night 2006.

Favorite Film:
Little Miss Sunshine

Favorite New Band:
Band of Horses

Five Favorite Songs:
5. "Oregon Girl" - Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin
4. "Crazy" - Gnarls Barkley
3. "I'm Safer on an Airplane" - Copeland
2. "The Funeral" - Band of Horses
1. "Wolf Like Me" - TV on the Radio

and finally....

Top Ten Albums
10. Neko Case - Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
I'm sort of a sucker for female alt-country. In fact, Neko is just the first of 2 female alt-country singers on this list. This is a great album, and it's just so easy to listen to it from beginning to end. It's not incredibly diverse, and it's not as creative as Jenny Lewis. However, it's a great album. Neko definitely has her own thing going with her solo work, and she doesn't have to rely on the success of her band The New Pornographer's to earn acclaim. Fox Confessor is probably one of the easiest albums to listen to of 2006, and--should you purchase it--you'll find that it delightfully makes it's way into one your mellow playlists.
Track Most Worth Noting: "???"

9. Jenny Lewis & the Watson Twins - Rabbit Fur Coat
Jenny Lewis, leading lady of Rilo Kiley, put out a great album. She doesn't differentiate herself too much from her band with this album, but she definitely strikes out on her own. There's not the difference of, say, Ben Gibbard in Death Cab and Ben Gibbard in Postal Service (who does make an appearance on the album, just as Jenny did on Postal Service's Give Up). However, Jenny still displays her own songwriting ability with a little more alt-country flare than Rilo Kiley. This album is very pleasing and is worth your money.
Track Most Worth Noting: Rise Up With Fists!!


8. The Flaming Lips - At War With the Mystics
The was the early runner for #1. However, with time, better stuff came out. I've got to give my Oklahoma-neighbors serious credit, though. They didn't do the obvious album to follow-up Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (one of my Top 10 all-time favorites). While this album is filled with typical Flaming Lips weirdness, it is a different weirdness from Yoshimi. There's a little more guitar rock in there--a nod back to their rockin' past. There's a little bit of psychadelia in there as well. This was a delightful album. If it had been released in September or October, it might have made a stronger case to be higher than #8. Unfortunately, I've been listening to this album for like 10 months now, and it's lost some of it's initial appeal--not to say I don't still love it. It's a good album from a great band.
Track Most Worth Noting: "My Cosmic Autumn Rebellion (The Inner Life as Blazing Shield of Defiance and Optimism as Celestial Spear of Action)"

7. Thom Yorke - The Eraser
Let's be honest for a second: Thom Yorke could record an album of fart sounds, and I would probably call it genius and put it in my Top 10 (probably somewhere around #8 or #9). I feel of Thom (and Radiohead as a whole) a sort-of "they can do no wrong" attitude (with the obvious exception of Pablo Honey, but they were young and naive when they recorded it). Nonetheless, Thom Yorke made a really cool album. Sure, it's simple. The songs don't develop from electronic trickery into Radiohead-grandiose. That's what makes it so likeable. It's not a Radiohead album, it's a Thom Yorke album. Maybe Scott Stapp should take solo-album lessons from Thom Yorke.
Track Most Worth Noting: "Skip Divided"

6. Sunset Rubdown - Shut Up I Am Dreaming
Honestly, this album (in my opinion) isn't as good as Wolf Parade's Apologies to the Queen Mary. Unfortunately, since both are projects of singer Spencer Krug, there has to be a comparison between the two. It's inevitable. However, Susnet Rubdown presents a much darker sound than Wolf Parade, and it works very well. This is a great album, just don't expect it to be Apolgies to the Queen Mary--if only because that's unfair to try and make almost any album to have live up to that. Let me end by saying it again, this is a great album.
Track Most Worth Noting: "Us Ones In Between"

5. Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin - Broom
These neighbors to my north (Missouri) have created one of the better pop albums of the millenium. If you've never heard of 'em, you better find out. What's crazy is that these guys are essentially a local band from Springfield. However, once Chris Walla of Death Cab for Cutie called their album the best pop album of 2006 (early in the year), people started taking notice. They had a song on Fox's The O.C., signed a record deal with Polyvinyl (home of The Polyphonic Spree), released their album nationally, and began making waves in national music publications. They're worth listening to if you love you some good indie pop fun.
Track Most Worth Noting: "Oregon Girl"

4. Sufjan Stevens - The Avalanche
This was a freakin' B-Sides collection!! This was all the songs that Sufjan wrote or started recording during the Illinois sessions. That album was initially slated to be a 2-disc set, but Sufjan figured it was a bit pretentious to release it as a double disc album. He was probably right. Maybe Foo Fighters and Red Hot Chili Peppers should subscribe to that thought. Nonetheless, Sufjan took some of those songs and alternate takes from the Illinois sessions. He did more work on them. He tried some new tricks--like adding more electronic elements and electric guitar and allowing someone else to produce the drums on 6 of the tracks. All in all, the album is great. It's not as great as Illinois, but few albums are that good.
Track Most Worth Noting: "The Mistress Witch from McClure (Or, the Mind That Knows Itself)"

3. Band of Horses - Everything All of the Time
I saw this album as a reccomendation on iTunes, but I never thought much of it. The review looked good and I liked the clips, but (at the time) I didn't want to take a chance paying $10 for this. Unfortunately, the band is on Sub Pop who--despite being one of the most important indie labels in America--is not available on eMusic. Finally, I went to Columbia, MO for the weekend. I checked out my friends favorite record store, which stocks an amazing selection of music. I wanted to buy something, because I couldn't go into a store like that and walk out empty handed. I decided I'd finally try out this CD. Well, it was worth it. This CD is not far from being my favorite of the year. I hope to hear more from Band of Horses in the future, because they are by and far the best new band of this year.
Track Most Worth Noting: "The Funeral"

2. TV on the Radio - Return to Cookie Mountain
What can I say about this album? Critics have been raving about since May. I picked it up over the summer after reading an article in Paste Magazine and hearing "Wolf Like Me." First off, that song is amazing. The video is amazing. This album is eclectic and amazing. The opening track "I Was a Lover" screams hip hop while "Wolf Like Me" is a straight forward rock song. the album's production is amazing. If you haven't picked up this album yet, go get it. Don't be the last person on your block to realize that TV on the Radio is the new it band.
Track Most Worth Noting: "Wolf Like Me"

1. The Decemberists - The Crane Wife
This isn't the critic's choice for number one. I believe it was #41 on Pitchfork. Nonetheless, I freakin' love it. It's everything The Decemberist's first major label album should be. It sounds like The Decemberists but with the ability to afford more studio time. They took chances with their sound. They expanded what they had done in the past. It's a great album, and it's fun to listen to it. That's all that needs to be said.
Track Most Worth Noting: "The Crane Wife 1 & 2"

Here's a few albums that might should have been in my Top 10, and I highly recommend:

Destroyer Destroyer's Rubies
Gnarls Barkley St. Elsewhere
Shapes & Sizes Shapes & Sizes
Alexi Murdoch Time Without Consequence
Mute Math Mute Math
My Brightest Diamond Bringing Down the Workhorse
Tapes 'N Tapes The Loon
The Yeah Yeah Yeahs Show Your Bones
Danielson Ships
Peter and the Wolf Peter and the Wolf
Beck The Information
The Mountain Goats Get Lonely
The Long Winters Putting the Days to Bed

Goodbye 2006. Welcome 2007.