Top Five Albums Of 2006
2006 was a rather skimpy year in new music purchases for yours truly. I mean, sure, I bought quite a few CDs, but most of them are old discs. Very few are 2006 releases, which makes the effort needed on my end to put this list together that much easier. And even then I’m going by the copyright date more than the actual release date so some of these may have been late 2005 releases that I picked up in 2006 but, hey, it’s my list so deal with it. Also, I suck at reviews. So pardon the fanboyish tone of some of these. Just go listen to ‘em and love ‘em yourself. I promise, you won’t be sorry.
So the Top Five of 2006, in order of greatness in my very humble opinion:
 Damien Rice – “9″Ah, a fix of new Damien Rice. His first album, “O”, is an amazing work and a constant in my music rotation. Low key, acoustic, moving work and “9″ is on the same track. It might sound depressing to some but to me it’s uplifting and just really good music. |
 o’death – “o’death”Early November found me up in New York City for the annual CMJ convention, nearly a week of seminars, free concerts, and drinks to go along with it all. One of the acts I caught up there was o’death and they put on an amazing show. Their self titled album is a great listen but really doesn’t do this band’s live performance justice. I say grab the album, get a listen and gear yourself up for catching these guys live the first chance you’ve got. |
 Jose Gonzalez – “Veneer”Even more low key than Damien Rice but still moving, “Veneer” is another acoustic-guitar-and-guy production. It’s a bit more depressing than most of the top five here but it really fit the mood and resonated with a good portion of the year for me. |
 Deadboy And The Elephant Men – “We Are Night Sky”Mmmm… Tessie Burnette is cute. She makes up the drummin’ and background vocal half of what is Deadboy And The Elephant Men. This year’s Top Five is really hanging on this for any sort of indy cred so I guess I should hype it up well. Let’s see. It’s got this guy who plays the guitar and sings. And this cute gal who does the drumming and background vocaling. And the whole minimal thing’s pretty sweet. It sounds nothing like White Stripes so don’t think you’re walking into another Jack White wannabe. Good minimal rock numbers with a couple acoustic and just great all around pacakge. And, if I recall correctly, the CD comes with a moneyback guarantee. Which you won’t need to use. But it’s certainly nice to have. |
 Gnarls Barkley – “St. Elsewhere”This puppy’s gonna be the top of a few lists and rightfully so. Forget the first single “Crazy” or the cover of the Violent Femmes’ “Gone Daddy Gone”. No, there’s better yet to come. “Just A Thought” with it’s building nature and drums from nowhere. “Smiley Faces” with its catchy tune and just the layers and depth to it. The whole thing, with Cee Lo’s vocals and Danger Mouse’s production, you can’t beat it. Danger Mouse shows why he’s one of the best DJs and producers out there today and Cee Lo shows why he’s been deserving a hell of a lot more respect for his work for years now. You haven’t listened to music this year until you’ve listened to “St. Elsewhere”. |
| Best Album I Bought This Year:
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Bonnie “Prince” Billy – “Master And Everyone”
I have to tell you that I have never heard of any of these artists but my nephew’s name is Damien Rice. Does that count for anything?
Maybe he’s the same Damien Rice!
Actually, you may have heard the first song off of Rice’s album in some car commercial making the rounds these days. But I don’t know which one so the reference is lost. Ah well…
Very nice choices for top cds. I unfortunately don’t feel the same about Gnarls Barkley though. I had the cd and really dug it at first but later found the layer upon layer of weird sounds to be grating on my nerves. Like I said though, good choice of music. Take a listen to Midlake, you might like them. (They’re who I had to listen to after I saw your list, a sign?)