Saturday, December 02, 2006

Tracking Tuneage: Towards a 2006 Top Ten 

Been trying to make a top ten songlist for the year, but the pickins are slim. Plenty of albums by great musicians this year just never stuck a track in my ear. Ray Lamontagne's new album? Eh. Madeline Peyroux? Neko Case? Good, but nothing quite so catchy as their last few. Emmylou Harris and Mark Knopfler, Bruce Springstein and a house full of banjo players? Worth having for posterity's sake, but not worth featuring.

More frustrating, I find to my chagrin that much of the music I discovered since January was actually released in 2005. Feist's Mushaboom, Jose Gonzales' Heartbeats, an amazing half an album by Teddy Thompson, even the newest Death Cab For Cutie singles first showed up a year ago or more. So much of my overplayed 2006 favorites have been out for ages, there's little competition for the top spots.

Makes you wonder what's out there already, just waiting to be loved.

I'll post full mp3s once I've finished the list. In the meantime, since it would embarrasing to end up with a top ten list with only nine items on it, feel free to drop me a comment with any must-have suggestions I might have missed. And don't be afraid to point out the obvious. I don't get out much.

posted by boyhowdy | 6:25 PM |

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Comments:

Off the top of my head:

Joanna Newsom, Ys

Vetiver, To Find Me Gone

Niobe, White Hats

Tobias Froberg, Somewhere in the City

Hmm. Like you, I'm finding a lot of my 'this year's favorites' were released last year or before (Iron & Wine/Calexico's In the Reins, for example).

# posted by  Nora : 7:50 PM, December 02, 2006

 

Just started getting into Ys, but I don't think it'll make the short list in the few weeks we've got left.

Never heard of the others, though -- so thanks, a huge amount, for three solid recommendations. I'll see what Hype Machine has on 'em and get back to you.

And that Iron and Wine / Calexico masterwork is on my "older than I thought" list, too. Either it was a slow year for the indie world, or by definition, this stuff takes a while to rise into the consciousness.

# posted by  boyhowdy : 8:26 PM, December 02, 2006

 

You just went on my "Best of 2006" mix CD list. Will send it out with the kids cd. Something for everyone in the mail next week!

# posted by  Idaho Dad : 1:05 AM, December 03, 2006

 

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