So Long 2006

The year 2006 is wanning like nobody's business, and that means it's time to recollect my ten favorite albums from the year. There was actually quite a lot of music this year that caught my fancy. In no particular order, my favorite ten are:

1. Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins, Rabbit Fur Coat: I really got into Rilo Kiley this year, which in turn led me to this. And damn if this isn't some of the best music I've ever heard. Seriously. She's figured out how to make 21st century old-school country (of the Patsy Cline variety) and make it sound freakin' fantastic. Plus, they do a cover of the Traveling Wilbury's "Handle with Care." That takes balls, man...metaphorically speaking.

2. The Flaming Lips, At War With The Mystics: Maybe it's not as earth-shattering a stylistic leap forward as The Soft Bulletin or Yoshimi were, but it's still a damn fine album. "The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song" and "Free Radicals" are possibly the best one-two opening pair you could hope for, and the sonic textures rival their best work here.

3. The Raconteurs, Broken Boy Soldiers: I didn't used to care much for the White Stripes, but listening to Jack White's other band made me change my mind. This disc just rocks, period. The guitar interplay, the variation between Jack White's voice and Brendan Benson's voice, and a solid set of rock songs make this a must-have.

4. Bob Dylan, Modern Times: Hands down my favorite album of the year (it's a Dylan album. What did you expect, hmm?). Dylan digs even deeper into Americana and drags up some juke joint blues, vaudevillian song-and-dance, jazz-inflected pop standard, and anything and everything else he decided would be fun to play that day. His backing band is as sharp as ever (though I really miss Charlie Sexton's presence at the guitar post), and Dylan's lyrics are sharper still.

5. Tom Waits, Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers, and Bastards: Because an odds'n'sods collection is pretty damn lame, Waits scrapped the idea, recorded like 40 new songs, and released it as the three-disc sprawl of Orphans. The three loosely-thematic discs consolidate and reinvent all of Waits's standard styles, hitting the hipster beat poet, boozy crooner, dimestore madman and musichall piano man (and everything in-between).

6. Ray LaMontagne, Till The Sun Goes Black: His first album, Trouble, is a brilliant CS&N-style folk rock collection; for this follow-up, he trimmed all the fat off the arrangements and created a sparse, almost harrowing atmosphere of forlorn lovers, alcohol haze, and gorgeous, delicate vocals.

7. Bruce Springsteen, We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions: Holy. Crap. I didn't know the Boss had it in him. This is one of the most startling sets I've ever heard. The Boss, usually such a perfectionist, abandons his bombastic wall of sound for a bombastic New Orleans/Dixieland Jazz band, horn section, banjo, and all. He takes songs that are decades (or even centuries) old, shouts out chords as they come up to the band, and just tears through these songs like a man half his age with something to prove. In the process, he reinvigorates the songs and himself. If Springsteen decides to pursue this sort of stuff more often, I'm in favor of it.

8. Butch Walker & The Let's-Go-Out-Tonites, The Rise and Fall of...: I know he writes songs for Avril Lavigne and all that, but the man can churn out a catchy song like nobody's business. His new backing band, the Let's-Go-Out-Tonites, keep the songs supple, tight, and energetic. Easily his best work since the end of the Marvelous 3.

9. Pearl Jam, Pearl Jam: Who knew the veteran grunge rockers had it in them to be this straight-forward and badass? They do, and this is their best record in years (and also their most accessible).

10. Tom Petty, Highway Companion: Speaking of "best album in years," this is probably Petty's strongest collection since the mellow perfection of Wildflowers. Sure, The Last DJ had a couple of minor gems tucked away amidst all the angst and rage, and Echo is a better album than I originally gave it credit for (how I hated that album when it came out on the heels of Wildflowers), but neither album felt like he was really putting that much effort into the proceedings (or worse, that he was trying much too hard to make the themes work and make the songs tell stories instead of just letting the stories tell themselves). They lacked the seeming effortless grace of Wildflowers, felt forced and sometimes heavy-handed, and just didn't work as well as Wildflowers. Highway Companion, while not as good as Wildflowers, is still a worthy descendant of that masterwork.

There were a lot of other excellent records put out this year, and honorable mention goes to Sean Lennon, Thom Yorke, Barenaked Ladies, Gob Iron (Jay Farrar of Uncle Tupelo and Son Volt fame), Robyn Hitchcock, Golden Smog, Van Morrison, and The Who. All of their albums were excellent and worth a listen. Go check 'em out.

~chuck

Song of the Moment: Bob Dylan, "Ain't Talkin'"