alright, this was harder than I thought it was going to be... But here are my cchoices. I'd be curious to see what other folks pick. If you can, write a little blurb about it to say why you like it so much



1. Modern Times – Bob Dylan
Continues his late-career renaissance with writing as good as anything he's ever done. Timeless.



2. The Diaries of Private Henry Hill – Blow Up Hollywood
For me this will be the most vivid and important album inspired by the Iraq war. Based on diaries of a soldier tragically killed in Iraq, the album traces his development from naive enlistee to numb and confused soldier who has no clue what he is fighting for. Amazingly powerful.



3. Rather Ripped - Sonic Youth
Possibly my favorite Sonic Youth album. Some of the best tunes they have ever written. Worth it just for "Do You Believe in Rapture?"



4. Fear is on Our Side - I Love You But I’ve Chosen Darkness
Dense and hard to penetrate. Would not have been out of place in the post-punk era alongside bands like Joy Division/early New Order, Section 25, A Certain Ratio, Wire, etc. Also harkens back somewhat to My Bloody Valentine. "According to Plan" is one of the most hypnotic rock tracks you'll ever hear.



5. Living with War – Neil Young
A sad album for a sad war. It's a last gasp from a prior generation, wondering why the current generation failed to learn anything from history. Neil let it burst out raw and immediate, and it's a messy affair - as is the norm with Neil - and he wears his heart on his sleeve, and it's not particularly artful..... but it has real feeling and passion.



6. Fundamental – Pet Shop Boys
Razor-sharp as ever. "Fundamental" has some of the PSB's best tunes since early-90's classics "Behavior" and "Very." Trevor Horn's production shines, especially on "Minimal.'



7. Powder Burns – The Twilight Singers
Drug-addled and anguished. Greg Dulli - formerly of Afghan Whigs - has never been written more powerfully. It's a shame so few seem to be noticing, as the Twilight Singers seem to operate mostly in the shadows.



8. Thunderbird – Cassandra Wilson
Sumptuous and gorgeous as ever. Cassandra has the kind of voice that taps right into your soul and doesn't leave.



9. The Captain and the Kid – Elton John
The much older and wiser sequel to "Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy". Not going for pop artifice, it's all about looking back over a long career as it winds to its close. Elton can be so clownish in his public persona, it's a surprise sometimes how great he can be when he really puts his mind to it.



10. In Bocca al Lupo – Murder by Death
A sorta demented netherworld occupied by the likes of Tom Waits and Nick Cave. Best listened to in the dark.



11. Highway Companion – Tom Petty
One of the comeback albums of the year. Solid throughout, "Highway Companion" made it clear that Tom Petty still has a place in rock 'n' roll in 2006 as a wizened elder-statesman.



12. The Eraser – Thom Yorke
Thom York sits at his laptop and emits some gurgles, bleeps, and blips... and it's all so beautiful.



13. Nine Times that Same Love Song – Love is All
Post-punk revival. Not particularly unique, just damn good. Romeo Void meets X-Ray Spex meets Yeah Yeah Yeahs... a bridge between 1980 and 2006, and it rocks.



14. 3121 – Prince
The man is a genius but so fucking frustrating. Brilliant moments alongside lackadaisacal tripe, but even his most throwaway moments are better than 99% of anything played on pop radio.



15. Everything All The Time – Band of Horses
Gorgeous songwriting, melancholy and sentimental. Great driving music. Reminds me of my trip to Cape Cod this year. We listened to it in the car, along with Grace Jones and Avenged Sevenfold. Fun trip!!



16. Sam’s Town – The Killers
Bombastic and wonderfully over-the-top. "When You Were Young" is one of the best pure pop pleasures of the year.



17. The Flaming Lips – At War with the Mystics
A woeful disappointment after the brilliance of "Yoshimi", but still a great record. Space-rock, suitable for zoning out into the stratosphere.



18. Give Me a Wall - Forward Russia
Demented new wave revivalists with great songs that go off in all sorts of different and odd directions. Not sure why they had the gimmick of all song titles being numbers, but I don't mind... 'Thirteen' is the best of the bunch.



19. I’m Not Dead - Pink
Great pop/rock album. Pink is so much ballsier than her contemporaries. I saw her live at the 930 club in DC, and it was basically a rock show. She's an amazing performer and vocalist, and she's HOT. I think she'll be around for a long, long time.



20. Under the Influence of Giants (self-titled)
"In the Clouds" is the most insanely singable song of the year, and it just won't leave my skull. But I don't mind very much





.
[Edited 12/21/06 6:47am]

I missed out this year.

Diana Ross - "I love you"



I think this is one of the best albums of 2006. I`m not saying this just because i`m a fan of Ross, but because it`s a good album with many interesting song choices. One of my favorites is a song from the stage production of "The color purple", titled "What about love". There`s ballads ("Remember", "To be loved","I love you" and "I want you") and uptempo feel-good songs like "More today than yesterday", "Lovely day" and "Crazy little thing called love"...

Diana Ross manages to give new life to all the songs, no matter how many times they have been recorded before by various singers.

GangstaFam said:

Me too. I haven't had a year when I bought so little music

Van Hunt -- On The Jungle Floor: My favorite album of the year. Much like those funk-rock balladeers who preceded him -- Sly, Stevie, Curtis and Prince -- Van finds a way to put an interesting twist on different genres of music in the same album. "Being A Girl" may be the best song of the year (for my .02).

The Roots -- Game Theory: A troubled, urgent album from a pillar of the hip-hop community.

Corrine Bailey Rae -- Corrine Bailey Rae: A good songstress, soul with a cockney twist.

Marc Cary -- Focus: A refreshing modern jazz album that sparkles with the energy heard in the early days of bop.

J Dilla -- The Shining: J Dilla's swan song. A great collection of instrumentals and bangers. "Love" is one of the finest songs of the year, and "E=MC2" is a real banger.

Beck -- The Information: An amalgamation of prior work, but still unique.

Donald Fagen -- Morph The Cat: You can't ever get enough of a pop master. "H Gang" is stellar, vintage Fagen.

Ghostface -- Fishscale: Same Tony Starks formula, same unique style, but with Doom behind the boards much of the way. More Fish is supposed to be even better.

I'll remember more later.

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

Same. Most of my exciting purchases were remasters.

i´ll have to sleep on this one. there were a fair amount of discs
that i really liked but all in all this was a pretty slow year in
music for me as well.

i have to admit that i downloaded quite a few albums but i´ve not
bought anything at all except for like 5 or 6 cd´s this year.

that´s probably the lowest count since i got my first cd player
back in 1988.

IstenSzek said:

same.

GangstaFam said:

This is kinda sad if some of the biggest music whores on this site can't really say much for what happened in the last year.....

NorthernLad said:

Could not agree with this ranking and assessment more!

the raconteurs album was pretty good, and stadium arcadium

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

toad. maybe we're old.

GangstaFam said:

I don't think so. Music is just shit I mean look at what the kids nowadays are being conditioned to I still get wild when I discover someone really talented and new but it seems not to happen as much.

And what's toad? Is that short for totally?

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

Yes. It's an Endo-ism. I love it.

Dont have much for this year but these stood out for me...


-CORRINE BAILEY RAE-Self titled
Such a great album from beginning to end. She's my pick for Best New Artist. She's great live as well. The perfect 'it's Sunday and I just wanna kick off my shoes and chill' type album..makes me smile.

-MARK KNOFFLER/EMMYLOU HARRIS-All The Roadrunning
I love my Emmy more than I can say and they both have made just a wonderful melodic album the whole way through. They're voice match perfectly. Reminds me of her harmonizing with the late great Gram Parsons. Emmylou is a true musical treasure!

-LILA DOWNS-La Cantina...Entre Copa Y Copa
I love her voice and the way she revamps old classic Mexican songs and makes them entirly new. Her originals are amazing as well. This album is a tribute to all the sad songs sung at Mexican cantinas and some are so sad they bring on the tears...especialy..'Pa Todo El Ano'...check this one out!

-GOLDFRAPP-Supernature
Okay...it was released in '05 but I popped this in more than any other record this year...it is the best electro pop record in years and some of the sexiest tunes I've ever heard! Ooh La La!

-NELLY FURTADO-Loose
Such a great album! Fun dance songs and beautiful ballads...this was the best all around POP record of the year...forget Fergie, Beyonce, Justin & Gwen...this one really delivers!

more to come

...

there were a few really good ones. NOTHING outstanding. Even my Favorites Goldfrapp and Beck's albums were good but nothing standing out as outstanding.

Bob Dylan
Goldfrapp
Nelly Furtado

Damn other than Prince's 3121 and Teena Marie's Sapphire album I can't think of other albums this year that I like. I too listen to some newer albums this year but they didnt interest me.

I basically shut myself out on newer mainstream music for years now.

i fammed out HARD over the peaches album, but i'm finally burnt out on it and i don't want to talk about it anymore. but if i weren't totally tired of it, i'd be singing its praises right now.

Top of my list 4 this year
David Gilmour - On an Island. So listenable my Dad even likes it! The most awsome guitar work I've heard him ever do. Beautiful is the only way I can describe it!
Equal second Prince - 3121. 4 me this is a 50/50 album. 50% sounds like Prince! 50% sounds like any manufactured RnB artist. Lollita is the standout track 4 me.
Santana - All I am. Not as good as the previous 2 albums. But has some great
tracks regardless.
A close third Yello - The Eye. hella cool Electronica. As per usual lots of fun from Yello.

Okay, I'll play by the rules for this one. I'll post a top 20 soon.

sextonseven said:

It was real hard for me to think of 3. How is that Camera Obscura record?

VoicesCarry said:

It's on the list. All will be explained very shortly. I bought tons of crap this year. I could have easily made a top 30.

1. Goldfrapp - Supernature
Is it really a surprise that this is my number one album of 2006? Near perfect new-wave-electro-glam backing up Alison Goldfrapp's sultry voice means sonic bliss.


2. Camera Obscura - Let's Get Out Of This Country
When I think of the term 'chamber pop', I think of this record. Beautifully quaint in its retro-ness, these songs are wonderfully otherworldly.


3. Neko Case - Fox Confessor Brings The Flood
I love how somber this entire album is. Neko is feeling a lot of pain here. If only mainstream country sounded more like this.


4. Joan As Policewoman - Real Life
Former Antony and The Johnsons and Rufus Wainwright musician finally does her own thing and it's fantastic. It's another downbeat record, but the minimal instrumentation and Joan's seductive vocals are a killer combo.


5. The Pipettes - We Are The Pipettes
Listening to this album of sunny 60s-styled pop is like eating the best cake in the whole world. The amount of times I've played this record would normally earn it an at least top two ranking, but you can only live so long on cake.


6. Joanna Newsom - Ys
In my mind if Kate Bush and Björk went to the Renaissance Faire and recorded an album of what they saw, it would sound like this. Majestic, epic, meandering, excellent.


7. Hector Buitrago - Conector
The less visible half of the Aterciopelados duo released a surprisingly challenging and unique 'solo' record. And in 'solo' I mean guest vocalists abound including Aterciopelados vocalist Andrea Echeverri multiple times. It's a delicious Colombian/electronic/world music stew.


8. Van Hunt - On The Jungle Floor
Van's Hunt second album is big improvement over his first which was no loser either. The different styles seem to blend together better and the songs are a lot stronger. His weak point is still his vocals (made obvious when diva Nikka Costa shows up on "Mean Sleep"), but that's a minor complaint. It's the best funk/soul/rock record in years.


9. Nelly Furtado - Loose
I tried not to like this one when I heard Nelly had recruited Timbaland as producer, but I succumbed. Every song is a winner really. Selling out never sounded so good.


10. Deadsy - Phantasmagore
The songs here overall are better than on 1999's 'Commencement', but the apocalyptic futurism is toned down a little (too bad). The ghost of Gary Numan is still rampant thankfully and Elijah Blue Allman and company can really rock when they want to.


11. Aterciopelados - Oye
My favorite Latin-alternative artists are back after a few years off with a very solid collection, probably their best yet. In any other year, this would have been in my top five, but the unusually large amount of musical gold I found this year pushes it down.


12. Regina Spektor - Begin To Hope
Russian-Jewish pianist Regina improved a lot on this, her second major album. The songs are fuller and more accessible, but there's still nothing that comes close to the pure perfection of "Us" from 'Soviet Kitsch'.


13. Nellie McKay - Pretty Little Head
Here's an example where more accessible is a little bit of a negative. I loved the zaniness of Nellie's debut album 'Get Away From Me' (my #1 record of 2004) and kind of miss it now that her style is more focused and reined in. I still like this album a lot and the silliness shows up sometimes like on the cute, goofy "Pounce".


14. Saint Etienne - Tales From Turnpike House
I think the U.K. version flowed a little bit better as the album theme of a day in the life of one apartment building went from dawn to dusk on that one. On the U.S. release the order is rearranged somewhat and the overly British tracks are replaced with more America-friendly sounding ones. Great concept though.


15. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Show Your Bones
This is a slower, rockier record than I would have expected from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. I hear a lot of early Siouxsie And The Banshees on this one and that's never bad.


16. Gnarls Barkley - St Elsewhere
This album gets points for the concept even if I don't find some of the songs that appealing. The insane lyrics, film reel segues--more albums should be this well thought out.


17. Fields Of The Nephilim - Mourning Sun
Goth veteran Carl McCoy is back with a more mature, epic, complex sounding Nephilim record than ever before. My one criticism is the drums sound a little light. On a powerful album like this, they should be booming. Even if Carl is practically solo now, the Nephilim still sound like one of the best goth bands ever.


18. Cat Power - The Greatest
A change of pace for Chan Marshall as this was recorded with veteran Memphis soul musicians which frame Chan's velvety voice surprisingly well.


19. The Raconteurs - Broken Boy Soldiers
Yeah, I bought this because of Jack White, but the songs are that good--many of them have a familiarity like I had heard them before on the radio in the back seat of my parent's car during the 70s. Never underestimate the power of nostalgia.


20. Prince - 3121
Prince sounds like he's trying to win back some fans with this album--it's remarkably accessible. The trade-off is however, that except for maybe "Black Sweat", there isn't anything that challenging--just a good collection of pop songs.

Bubbling Under:
21. Juana Molina - Son
22. AFI - Decemberunderground
23. Peaches - Impeach My Bush
24. Morningwood - Morningwood
25. Original Motion Picture Soundtrack - Marie Antoinette
26. Damone - Out Here All Night
27. Julieta Venegas - Limón Y Sal
28. The Bellrays - Have A Little Faith
29. Lacuna Coil - Karmacode
30. My Brightest Diamond - Bring Me The Workhorse

grammar edit
[Edited 12/20/06 18:58pm]

Moonbeam where is your year-end thread?

sextonseven said:

Nicely done...wasn't that Saint Etienne album out in 2005. though? I seem to recall it being in consideration for my top 10 last year...or are you just referring to the US release?

CinisterCee said:

I was gonna post it on New Year's Eve to give every album a chance, but it looks like I may have to start it early!

CinisterCee said:

He's probably waiting until the year is officially over. A really good record might still be released on December 26th!

damosuzuki said:

Yeah, these are all 2006 U.S. releases. Both Saint Etienne and Goldfrapp were released in the U.K. last year.

As usual, women outnumber the men 13-7.