The Year in Music...: December 2006

2006 Honorable Mentions:

AFX
Chosen Lords
[Rephlex; 2006]
I didn't think it was fair to include this album considering it's a compilation of the 2005 vinyl releases of the Analogue
Lords series.

Sonic Youth
Rather Ripped
[Geffen; 2006]

Herbert
Scale
[!K7; 2006]

Espers
Espers II
[Drag City; 2006]

Kimya Dawson
Remember That I Love You
[K; 2006]

The Dresden Dolls
Yes, Virginia
[Roadrunner; 2006]

Destroyer
Destroyer's Rubies
[Merge; 2006]

Nas
Hip Hop Is Dead
[Def Jam; 2006]

The Ditty Bops
Moon Over the Freeway
[Warner Bros; 2006]

Chad VanGaalen
Skelliconnection
[Sub Pop; 2006]

Squarepusher
Hello Everything
[Warp; 2006]

Grizzly Bear
Yellow House
[Warp; 2006]

Aloha
Some Echoes
[Polyvinyl; 2006]

The Knife
Silent Shout
[Rabid; 2006]

Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy
The Letting Go
[Drag City, 2006]

Scott Walker
The Drift
[4AD; 2006]

Bob Dylan
Modern Times
[Columbia; 2006]

The Whitest Boy Alive
Dreams
[Bubles; 2006]

The Walkmen
A Hundred Miles Off
[Record Collection; 2006]

Mogwai
Mr. Beast
[Matador; 2006]

Matthew Friedberger
Winter Women/Holy Ghost Language School
[859; 2006]

Milosh
Meme
[Plug Research; 2006]

Portastatic
Be Still Please
[Merge; 2006]

A Hawk and a Hacksaw
The Way the Wind Blows
[Leaf; 2005]

Ineligible Releases:

Sufjan Stevens
The Avalanche
[Asthmatic Kitty; 2006]
Pretty much anything Sufjan puts out is nectar to my ears, so it's not surprising I enjoyed his b-sides and extras album enough to put it in my top 50. Despite my aural bias, I decided it was only fair to disqualify a b-side record from an albums of the year list.

Tom Waits
Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards
[Anti; 2006]
A fantastic 3 disc compilation album, collecting the different facets of Wait's talent.

Tortoise
A Lazarus Taxon
[Thrill Jockey; 2006]
Another amazing boxset.

Shortbus
Original Soundtrack
[Team Love; 2006]
With several contributions from Scott Matthew and other starving artist's as well as indie fav's Yo La Tengo and Animal Collective, this was perhaps my favorite soundtrack of the year.

The Science of Sleep
Original Soundtrack
[Astralwerks; 2006]
Jean-Michel Bernard's soundtrack compliments Gondry's film well.

Clint Mansell ft. Kronos Quartet & Mogwai
The Fountain Original Soundtrack
[Nonesuch; 2006]

Mansell teams up with Aronofsky yet again for another great score that drives the film.

Various Artists
The Sound The Hare Heard
[Kill Rock Stars; 2006]
This was a compilation released by the Kill Rock Stars label that featured music from singer/songwriters. Aside from the contributions by Sufjan Stevens and Decemberist Colin Meloy, most of the artist's are emerging artists. Some of my favorites include Laura Veir's "Cast a Hook in Me" and Devin Davis's "When the Angels Lift Our Eyelids in the Morning."

Various Artists
The Complete Motown Singles, Vol. 4: 1964
[Hip-O Select; 2006]

Various Artists
The Complete Motown Singles, Vol. 5: 1965
[Hip-O Select; 2006]

These two collections include over 320 songs from Berry Gordy's hayday and feature some of the greatest songs ever recorded by legends like Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, The Supremes, The Four Tops, Smokey Robinson, and so on.

LCD Soundsystem
45:33
[iTunes; 2006]
James Murphy returned in 06 with this 45 minute long "ultimate workout song" made for Nike. If this is the sound of "selling out" then I'm putting my soul up for auction on Ebay.

Bishop Allen
Monthly EP Project
[Self-released; 2006]
The band initially planned to release an EP a month in 2006, but only the first 10 (January - October) were completed. Nevertheless, it was an ambitious project and the results were solid.