My Top 35 Songs of 2006
Yes, it’s way too late to be doing these lists. Suck it up, man.
Part of the reason for this list is to give shout-outs to bands who didn’t make my top 10 albums. It was sad excluding so many good records.
The only rule with this list is one song per artist.
35. Losin You - Amy Millan
34. Beautiful Dreamer - Mates of State
33. Deadwood - Dirty Pretty Things
32. Rehab - Amy Winehouse
The most white, Jewish, British soul singer you’d think came out of Tennessee in the 60s.
31. Way Out - The Yeah Yeah Yeahs
30. The Like Young - Something Fell Through
A minute-long burst of boy/girl punk. The best track off an okay album, destined to be their last.
29. Intentions - Whispertown 2000
I first heard this song when the singer performed it solo and acoustic at The Black Cat during a Rilo Kiley show. I’ve since purchased the album and it’s pretty disappointing — maybe I just haven’t given it a good enough listen. But this song resonates as the best one on the album, the one that makes Morgan Nagler’s fragile voice work.
28. Rise Up With Fists - Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins
27. The Rhino - Quasi
A really unexpected song from Janet Weiss’ other band. It’s piano-driven with lots of free-form, crashing drums. It’s bouncy and fun, almost Ben Folds-y. Almost.
26. Anti-Anti - Snowden
25. Shine - Alexi Murdoch
He’s so cute and Scottish. Nick Drake comparisons? Feh!
24. Cupcake - Nellie McKay
Nellie McKay is way talented, but her albums are packed with novelties. Both Pretty Little Head and Get Away From Me have a million tracks each and a good portion could be weeded out. Cupcake, though, is worthy of mention not only for being a gay-friendly anthem, but because it’s a fun technicolor stroll in the park.
23. Oh Yeah - The Subways
22. Busy Doing Nothing - Love is All
21. The Freest Man - Tilly and the Wall
20. Lily Allen - Alfie
Just wait for the beat to kick in on this one. It’ll knock you flat on yer ass.
19. Yankee Bayonet - The Decemberists
A great song on an album I’m have a hard time caring about.
18. Sukie in the Graveyard - Belle and Sebastian
17. Love Show - Skye
Skye is Skye Edwards — the former singer for Morcheeba. She’s left the band and gone the solo route and I like her now album a lot more than the more recent Morcheeba stuff. It’s a lot like the poppier stuff on “Big Calm” as opposed to the forced funk of latter-day Morcheeba. No guest rappers, no huge showy beats. The star on this record, as it should be, is Skye’s honey sweet voice. Love Show is the first single and has a very nice, soft melody.
16. Peace and Hate - The Submarines
15. Cast A Hook in Me - Laura Veirs
I put this one in — a selection from the Kill Rock Stars compilation The Sound the Hare Heard — mainly because I’m bitter that I didn’t get to include Laura Veirs’ Year of Meteors on my top 10 list (it came out in 2005 and I didn’t get into it until this year). However, that’s not meant to diminish the quality of this song. It’s very much in the vein of that album, mixing acoustic and electronic elements and vivid lyrics.
14. Melatonin - Silversun Pickups
13. Stay Ups - Most Serene Republic
It’s hard to just pick one song from Phages, but if I had to pick one it would either be this or Annhoi Polloi. In fact, as I just typed that sentence, I switched the songs around. Stay Ups is probably the saddest MSR song to date — weary piano and a rousing third act.
12. Dusty Flourescent/Wooden Shelves - Talk Demonic
11. Adventure - Be Your Own Pet
10. Exposure - Get Him Eat Him
I don’t actually own this album, but this is a really good track. Fun and full of synthesizers. It’s available for free on the GHEH Web site right here.
9. Because I Want You - Placebo
8. It’s a Hit - We Are Scientists
7. Lisa, Make Love - Oh No! Oh My!
A pretty solid debut album for a very Pitchforky, music bloggy band. This is the song I wound up listening to the most — a sappy, sentimental ode to a misfit girl.
6. Emily - Joanna Newsom
5. Iwe - The Noisettes
4. Pull Shapes - The Pipettes
3. Life of Leisure - Rainer Maria
I learned to love this song when they started playing it at shows before the release of Catastrophe Keeps Us Together.
2. Waverly Steps - Roddy Woomble
This song really should have been a hit for the adult alternative demographic. But then again, they would have put it on Greys Anatomy and I would’ve grown to resent it. So maybe it’s better this way.
…and…
1. Pillar of Salt - The Thermals
From the moment this songs starts, it never lets up momentum. The verses and the chorus are both equally turbo-charged, propelled by chugging guitars and a squawking organ. A great song to run to, if you’re so inclined.
Download this song and the second-best song on the album, Here’s Your Future, for FREE on the Sub Pop Web site. You have no excuse to not have these songs on your iPod.