Top Ten Albums of 2006

#10 - Strokes - First Impressions of Earth

It's hard to think of this record as coming out this year, as it's been out awhile, but upon relisten (and re-re-relisten, as the case may be), you'll be hard-pressed to not acknowledge the Strokes' sublime brilliance in their guitar-driven (almost to the point of percussion) rock. Glorious songwriting, and some definite classics in "Ize of the World", "You Only Live Once" and "Electricityscape".

#9 - Midlake - The Trials of Van Occupanther

Oh yes, another one I featured here before. A lovely record. Its melodies and emotions flow from one song to another, from the feeling of old, scratched records to the newest music being downloaded via iTunes, Midlake has truly surpassed their roots from their first record, "bamnan and silvercork." You won't be disappointed with this one.

#8 - Destroyer - Destroyer's Rubies

Not an easy CD to recommend, but easy to love. Destroyer is Dan Bajar's brainchild and his deft (if not somewhat scattered) brilliance is everywhere. One of the things I love about this CD is that it has a few flaws, and doesn't try to hide them with studio slickness. Missed a note? Pick it up next time around. And he always does.

#7 - ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead - So Divided

A rock record that will blow you away with its first two powerful tracks and keep you enthralled the rest of the CD. This is one of those great records that gets better on each listen, as you begin to understand that the first few tracks were merely obvious brilliance, and the rest needing multiple listens to find it. Fun stuff.

#6 - John Mayer - Continuum

Wow, wow, wow. That's all I kept thinking listening to Mayer's effortless follow-up to Heavy Things, where he takes on social issues, more on the nature of love, and chanelling blues legend after blues legend. The soft harmonies and delicious melodies are a dime a dozen here, and it includes Mayer's killer cover of Hendrix's "Bold as Love". An awesome listen from top to bottom. Favorite tracks: "Heart of Life", "Belief", "Vultures".

#5 - Sparklehorse - Dreamt for Light Years in the Belly of a Mountain

Ah, another one of those "Who the hell is this again?" records, and yet I simply can't stop listening to it.  Mark Linkous is a popular producer who pumps out a Sparklehorse record every now and again (it's been 5 years since his last). However, when he does, the world needs to listen. This is some damn fine songwriting, from top to bottom. A subdued pop, but still pop and still wonderfully deep. I'm enthralled and can listen to it over and over and still find something new.

#4 - Regina Spektor - Begin to Hope

The best pop album of the year. Sure Mr. Timberlake's record is impressive (what I've heard of it, anyway), but no CD is as instantly lovable as this one. The world finally woke up to Spektor this year, and I'm happy for her. "Fidelity" is the mere icing on this cake of extravagance. You have the deep "Field Below" to the quirky "That Time" to the emotional depth of "Samson". Just stellar.

#3 - My Chemical Romance - The Black Parade

Unbelievably well done from the guys who screamed "I'm not okay" just last year. I know I was doting on this just last week, and it's grown on me since. It's been a long time since a rock record has impressed me this much. I mean, sure, Wolfmother rocks the socks off virtually any competitor, but again this is about the body of work and not about "good songs = good record."

I don't know what else to say about this one other than "If you like rock, you'll love this record." It's pompous, full of itself, and brilliant.

#2 - Neko Case - Fox Confessor Brings The Flood

Don't know what the title means? Neither do I. But inside is a mere 36 minutes of songwriting bliss. Neko has the ability to do pop ("Maybe Sparrow"), meld drama and pop ("Margaret vs. Pauline") and even non-ironic sentimentality ("That Teenage Feeling"). Again, I stress how short yet fantastic this record is. Since it's so short you can take it en masse many times and still be surprised at its nuance. Neko rocks!

#1 - Decemberists - The Crane Wife

A truly groundbreaking work for these guys. I'm a huge fan of records as a fully-fleshed ideal and not just a collection of songs. Even when the songs are all on one "theme" you need the cohesion between them to make them more than the sum of their parts. The Decemberists certainly do that here. There are no less than three songs on the second track, named "The Island: Come and See, The Landlord's Daughter, You'll Not Feel the Drowning" (and they're all awesome)

The Runner-Ups

I probably should include Tom Waits' new record on here, but I haven't had time to take in 3 CDs at once. I also left off Mates of State, Dan's favorite record of the year, along with Built to Spill's new one and Belle & Sebastian's "The Life Pursuit" burning up the best-of lists.

I also didn't mention the Raconteurs, who rock beyond belief but whom I thought didn't have quite a cohesive package (at least, not as much as those listed above).

And of course, there are plenty of albums I'm sure I'm overlooking. TV on the Radio, for example, is a bit "much" for my taste, and I simply don't like Bob Dylan's new stuff very much. I'm sure it's brilliant in its own way.

In deep far beneath all the dead sailors
Slowly slipping to sleep