2006 favorites

No real surprises this year — though I didn’t expect much out of Game Theory given how awful Tipping Point was. I’d hoped that Modest Mouse would be on the list, but then there’s always 2007.

top songs of 2006

1. Thom Yorke – Analyze
2. The Knife – From Off to On
3. TV on the Radio – Wolf Like Me
4. Califone – the Orchids
5. Neko Case – Star Witness
6. Calexico – Letter to Bowie Knife
7. Pearl Jam – Life Wasted
8. Sonic Youth – Incinerate
9. the Thermals – Returning to the Fold
10. Wolfmother – Joker and the Thief
11. Eagles of Death Metal – I Like to Move in the Night
12. Ghostland Observatory – Vibrate
13. Ghostface Killah – Be Easy (feat. Trife)
14. the Roots – Here I Come (feat. Dice Raw & Malik B.)
15. Spank Rock – What It Look Like
16. Band of Horses – the Great Salt Lake
17. Les Savy Fav – Rage In The Plague Age
18. Tapes ‘n Tapes – In Houston
19. Built to Spill – Mess with Time
20. the Decemberists – When the War Came
21. the Twilight Singers – Forty Dollars
22. Neko Case – Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
23. M.Ward – Rollercoaster
24. Tapes ‘n Tapes – 10 Gallon Ascots
25. Jose Gonzalez – Down the Hillside
26. Califone – A Chinese Actor
27. Ghostland Observatory – Sad Sad City
28. Built to Spill – Conventional Wisdom
29. the Thermals – I Hold the Sound
30. Spank Rock – Bump
31. the Roots – Game Theory (feat. Malik B.)
32. Ghostland Observatory – All You Rock & Rollers
33. These Arms are Snakes – Horse Girl
34. Wolfmother – Colossal
35. Mission of Burma – Birthday
36. Yo La Tengo – Watch Out For Me Ronnie
37. Thunderbirds Are Now! – Why We War
38. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Way Out
39. Yo La Tengo – Beanbag Chair
40. the Twilight Singers – Underneath the Waves
41. Mission of Burma – Donna Sumeria
42. Pearl Jam – Come Back
43. Calexico – All Systems Red
44. Cat Power – Love & Communication (acoustic)

Two albums that extremely disappointed me this year were both purchased without listening to — you’d think I’d learn my lesson the first time — DJ Shadow’s The Outsider and …Trail of Dead’s Worlds Apart. Also a mite let-down by the new Thunderbirds Are Now! album — at least I can hear his voice now, not sure if that’s a good thing or not — and the Eagles of Death Metal disc. It sounds to me like Josh Homme (aka, Carlo Von Sexron) is taking himself a bit too seriously in some places.

Discovered Jose Gonzalez, thanks to that Sony Bravia commercial, and Spank Rock at SXSW this year, thanks John Gross. 2006 was also the year that Ghostland shows starting selling out, good for them. Surprised by how much I liked the Pearl Jam and Built to Spill albums, but I really shouldn’t have been.

Enjoy the tunes, y’all.

ps. My favorite albums this year were Fox Confessor Brings the Flood, Game Theory, Garden Ruin, I Am Not Afraid Of You And I Will Beat Your Ass, Paparazzi Lightning, The Body, The Blood, The Machine, The Loon, Pearl Jam, Wolfmother, The Obliterati and You in Reverse.