2006 The Year In Music

I had a hard time picking the best albums of this year. Honestly, there were so many great ones to chose from and I never had the chance to fully digest them. I mean, I just got the Clipse's Hell Hath No Fury yesterday. Of course, it was awesome, but did it make the top five? When I sat down to write this entry, I didn't know. I needed more time with it. Other notable missing albums from my list included I Am Not Afraid Of You and I Will Beat Your Ass by Yo La Tengo and So This Is Goodbye by Junior Boys. Of course there were many others, but really, there were only so many albums I could digest in one year.

Here were ten great albums that did not make the top five:

St. Elsewhere by Gnarls Barkley
Bang Bang Rock & Roll by Art Brut
Nine Times That Same Song by Love Is All
Rather Ripped by Sonic Youth
Night Ripper by Girl Talk
Blue Collar by Rhymefest
We Are The Pipettes by the Pipettes
Happy Hollow by Cursive
Futuresex/Lovesounds by Justin Timberlake
Boys and Girls in America by The Hold Steady

and my top five:

#5 Fishscale by Ghostface Killah
#4 The Loon by Tapes 'n Tapes
#3 Alright, Still by Lily Allen
#2 Food & Liquor by Lupe Fiasco
#1 The Crane Wife by the Decemberists

I was much more confident on my favorite five songs of the year. That may be because I began posting individual tracks in 2006. Also, sites like AmpCamp's mp3 of the day and Hype Machine helped me consider individual songs more instead of albums. Whatever the reason, there were definitely some iconic tracks that I listened to over and over again. After all, this was the summer "Crazy" came out.

#5 "Whoo! Alright - Yeah...Uh Huh" by The Rapture
Back in September, I declared this to be my favorite dance song of the year, and that still rings true. No other song this year compelled me to involuntarily shake my hips more than this one. Even the video was an instant party.

#4 "Pull Shapes" by the Pipettes
People referenced Phil Spector and 1960's girl groups when they talked about this band, but in this track I also heard perfect ABBA-esque arrangements and Junior Senior's sense of unselfconscious rock-and-roll fun. It was perfect pop. When the Pipettes asked "what do you do when the music stops?" I really didn't want to find out.

#3 "Kick, Push" by Lupe Fiasco
This was ultimate rebel/stoner anthem. Lupe Fiasco romanticized skateboarding, setting his story to the lush string arrangements of modern hip-hop. Nothing appealed more to my inner slacker college kid.

#2 "Crazy" by Gnarls Barkley
Of course this song was overplayed, but it deserved to be. What can I say to defend it? You've all heard it and already made you decision about it. Personally, I loved it.

#1 "Formed A Band" by Art Brut
This was the most iconic song of the year. Many considered the film "This Is Spinal Tap" to be the greatest rock-and-roll movie of all time, because it simultaneously celebrated the genre while calling attention to rock's excess and ridiculousness. Art Brut did the same in under three minutes. The song was a statement of unconditional love for rock-and-roll itself, successfully capturing the band's enthusiasm while knowingly winking at the audience. When vocalist Eddie Argos sang "It's not irony. It's not rock-and-roll," he most certainly meant it was both, and yes, he was just talking... to the kids!