Welcome to the big finale! After more than 2 and a half weeks of counting stuff down, it's time to wrap up TC's top 120 singles and top 20 albums of 2006. It's been a lot of fun to do this best of 2006 list. Before I get to my top 2 albums, here's the recap...
Radio stations: WOXY (The station that will never die), WSWD (Cincinnati's new alternative station)
Concerts: Desdemona Music Festival (Cincinnati, OH), Foo Fighters (Philadelphia, PA)
Artists to watch: Arcade Fire, LCD Soundsystem, Meg & Dia, Chris Cornell, Pixies, Smashing Pumpkins
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I've been doing a top 120 singles list for 4 years now, and this is the last one ever to be compiled from The TC 10 stats! The 4 color blocks you've seen throughout my entire best of 2006 lists represent songs that were
never on The TC 10,
only premiered,
debuted on the top ten, or
retired on The TC 10. Let's take a look back at the entire list...
120. Evanescence - Call Me When You're Sober
119. Weezer - This Is Such A Pity
118. (+44) - When Your Heart Stops Beating
117. Incubus - Dig
116. Fall Out Boy - It Ain't A Scene, It's An Arms Race
115. Me First and the Gimme Gimmes - East Bound And Down
114. Stone Sour - Through The Glass
113. Beyoncé - Irreplaceable
112. Christina Aguilera - Hurt
111. Avril Lavigne - Keep Holding On
110. Panic! At The Disco - The Only Difference Between Martyrdom...
109. Chamillionaire - Ridin'
108. Prototypes - Who's Gonna Sing?
107. Incubus - Anna Molly
106. Foo Fighters - Miracle
105. Muse - Starlight
104. Kasabian - Empire
103. The Killers - Bones
102. Audioslave - Revelations
101. Lady Sovereign - Love Me Or Hate Me
100. CSS - Let's Make Love And Listen To Death From Above
99. The Sounds - Tony The Beat (Push It)
98. Muse - Knights Of Cydonia
97. Evanescence - Lithium
96. Dixie Chicks - Not Ready To Make Nice
95. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Cheated Hearts
94. Depeche Mode - Suffer Well
93. Wolfmother - Woman
92. Corinne Bailey Rae - Put Your Records On
91. OK Go - Here It Goes Again
90. Foo Fighters - No Way Back
89. Morrissey - You Have Killed Me
88. Panic! At The Disco - I Write Sins Not Tragedies
87. Phoenix - Long Distance Call
86. U2 - Original Of The Species
85. Pearl Jam - Unemployable
84. Mates of State - Fraud In The '80s
83. The Flaming Lips - Yeah Yeah Yeah Song
82. T.I. - What You Know
81. Ladytron - Destroy Everything You Touch
80. Bloc Party - The Prayer
79. Muse - Supermassive Black Hole
78. Lily Allen - Shame For You
77. Red Hot Chili Peppers - Tell Me Baby
76. Metric - Poster Of A Girl
75. My Chemical Romance - Welcome To The Black Parade
74. Lacuna Coil - Our Truth
73. Rihanna - S.O.S. (Rescue Me)
72. CSS - Alala
71. Jenny Lewis with the Watson Twins - Handle With Care
70. The Sounds - Song With A Mission
69. Hilary Duff - Play With Fire
68. Fiona Apple - Not About Love
67. Franz Ferdinand - Eleanor Put Your Boots On
66. Cat Power - Lived In Bars
65. The Raconteurs - Level
64. Lupe Fiasco f/ Jill Scott - Daydreamin'
63. The New ****ographers - Sing Me Spanish Techno
62. The Decemberists - Sons And Daughters
61. Hard-Fi - Cash Machine
60. Lupe Fiasco - Kick, Push
59. Death Cab For Cutie - I Will Follow You Into The Dark
58. Sheryl Crow - I Know Why
57. Thom Yorke - Harrowdown Hill
56. Dixie Chicks - The Long Way Around
55. Depeche Mode - Martyr
54. AFI - Miss Murder
53. Regina Spektor - Fidelity
52. The Concretes - Chosen One
51. Neko Case - Hold On, Hold On
50. Jewel - Again And Again
49. Norah Jones - Thinking About You
48. Lacuna Coil - Closer
47. Weird Al Yankovic - White And Nerdy
46. Audioslave - Out Of Exile
45. Christina Aguilera - Ain't No Other Man
44. Beck - Think I'm In Love
43. Nelly Furtado - Do It
42. The Black Keys - 10 A.M. Automatic
41. Belle & Sebastian - Funny Little Frog
40. Morningwood - Nth Degree
39. Nas - Hip Hop Is Dead
38. The Pipettes - Pull Shapes
37. Beck - Cell Phone's Dead
36. Johnny Cash - God's Gonna Cut You Down
35. KT Tunstall - Suddenly I See
34. The Decemberists - O Valencia
33. Lacuna Coil - Enjoy The Silence
32. Metric - Monster Hospital
31. The Killers - When You Were Young
30. Franz Ferdinand - The Fallen
29. Editors - Munich
28. Death Cab For Cutie - Crooked Teeth
27. Audioslave - Original Fire
26. The Flaming Lips - The W.A.N.D.
25. Gnarls Barkley - Crazy
24. AFI - Love Like Winter
23. The White Stripes - The Denial Twist
22. Nine Inch Nails - Every Day Is Exactly The Same
21. Chris Cornell - You Know My Name
20. Pearl Jam - Life Wasted
19. Cat Power - Love & Communication
18. Feist - One Evening
17. Outkast - The Mighty O
16. KT Tunstall - Black Horse And The Cherry Tree
15. Nelly Furtado - Maneater
14. Gnarls Barkley - Smiley Faces
13. Thom Yorke - Black Swan
12. Jenny Lewis with the Watson Twins - Rise Up With Fists
11. Lily Allen - LDN
Like I said before, "Dani California" was important in many ways this year, from marking the epic return of the Red Hot Chili Peppers to being an addiction during my summer road trip. It's one of the most memorable songs of the year and easily one of the songs I anticipated the most. Make no mistake about it, "Dani California" is my #1 single of 2006.
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Back in 2005, I added a top 10 albums list to my year-end countdown, and for 2006, I doubled it and made it 20. This list was all hand-picked, so it really represents the music I loved the most in 2006. Here's the recap and the long-awaited top 2 albums!
Why I chose The Greatest
At the beginning of 2006, all I knew of Cat Power was a few songs, like "He War" and "Cross Bones Style," and some other stuff I saw on Subterranean. I liked them, but had yet to become a fan, so to speak. All of that changed around the beginning of February, when I got her new album,
The Greatest (which is all new material, not a greatest hits compilation). Instantly, the album won me over, and I went back and listened to Cat Power's older music as well. All of it was just so amazing, and I became a huge fan of everything Chan Marshall. She has one of the most amazing voices in music today, and her subdued, calm style of music is perfect for relaxing.
The Greatest is an extremely personal look at Chan Marshall and her trip from an extreme low point in her life to a much better one. From her lowest point ever, "Hate," to a much better place, "Love & Communication," the album covers it all. Throughout the year, she apparently made a lot of improvements in her life, which is great to hear. I hope she tours again and stops somewhere around here. Anyone who's listened to my show, Half Hour of Power, can assure you: for me, 2006 is the year of Cat Power. Easily,
The Greatest earns one of the top spots on my favorite albums of the year.
My favorite tracks from The Greatest
8. The Greatest - "
Then came the rush of the flood, stars of night turned deep to dust"
7. Lived In Bars - "
We've lived in bars and danced on tables, hotel trains and ships that sail"
6. Could We - "
Thank you, it was great, let's make another date real soon, in the afternoon"
5. Willie - "
Memories have now planted seeds of a field I now want to reap and sow"
4. The Moon - "
The moon is not only beautiful, it is so far away... it is here to stay"
3. Hate - "
I said I hate me myself and I... I said I hate myself and I want to die"
2. Living Proof - "
You're supposed to have the answer, you're supposed to have living proof"
1. Love & Communication - "
Learning more and more about less and less and less"
Why I chose Alright, Still
After all the praise for Cat Power, you may be surprised that her album wasn't #1 on my list. While the stunning Chan Marshall is most likely the artist who impacted me the most this year, there's one album that stands above everything else, even Cat Power. That album is the masterpiece
Alright, Still by the upstart singer/songwriter from the UK, Lily Allen.
Once again demonstrating how great altcast (the music podcast network featuring my show, Half Hour of Power, and more) can be, I first heard her single "Smile" on Ben's show, Benjammin'. I loved what I heard, so I checked out her entire album as soon as I could.
Alright, Still is my clear choice for #1 album because it's the only album from which I never skipped a track. Not even once. I love the whole thing from beginning to end and never got tired of a single track on the whole thing.
Lily Allen is incredible in every way, from her vocal style, to her attitude (she's a straight-up bitch, and I love it), to her ability to have fun with otherwise serious topics. Her songs aren't all about the typical subjects either, as she tackles everything from a glamourized city ("LDN"), to her brother smoking weed ("Alfie"), to joking about AIDS in order to get away from a suitor ("Knock 'Em Out"), to a failed attempt to buy a place to live ("Everything's Just Wonderful"). It's possibly the widest variety of topics I've heard in song form, and every line is delivered in top notch style, with her aforementioned attitude that I love dearly.
I've listened to the album all the way through countless times, and there's no doubt about it, in my opinion it's the best overall work released this year.
Alright, Still is my #1 album of 2006.
My favorite tracks from Alright, Still
11. Friend Of Mine - "
What did you expect? Have you got no self respect? Reputation to protect? Soon you'll be a nervous wreck"
10. Littlest Things - "
Sometimes I wish we could just pretend, even if for only one weekend, so tell me, is this the end?"
9. Not Big - "
I never wanted it to end up this way, you've only got yourself to blame"
8. Friday Night - "
I don't know who you think you are, but making people scared wont get you very far"
7. Alfie - "
Now how the hell do you ever expect that you'll get laid, when all you do is sit and play on your computer games?"
6. Take What You Take - "
Take the highs with the lows, dear, you'll get what you're given and everything's gonna be alright"
5. Knock 'Em Out - "
Nah I've gotta go, my house is on fire, I've got herpes, no I've got syphilis... AIDS, AIDS, I've got AIDS!"
4. Shame For You - "
Shattered the lie but you think I don't already know, don't try to deny 'cause my fuse is ready to blow"
3. Smile - "
I couldn't stop laughing, no I just couldn't help myself, see you messed up my mental health, I was quite unwell"
2. LDN - "
When you look with your eyes, everything seems nice, but if you look twice, you can see it's all lies"
1. Everything's Just Wonderful - "
Oh Jesus Christ almighty, do I feel alright? No, not slightly"
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Thanks so much to everyone who has supported this thread over the last few weeks, and also to anyone who made their own best of 2006 list. All of you have made Popfusion's best of 2006 effort a
huge success and easily the highlight of the year at PF. For about 2 weeks, the best of 2006 forum was more active than the rest of the site combined. I'll see you all back here in December for the best of 2007!