Throughout 2006, technophiles continued to predict the imminent
death of the album as we've known it, but several of my choices for
the best recordings of the year qualify as old-fashioned concept
albums, and the majority of music fans still seem to love
collections of songs that take them on a journey, regardless of
whether they're buying a CD or downloading the music online.
One thing that is becoming meaningless, however, is the
release date. My No. 2 album of the year isn't slated for a U.S.
release until early 2007, but tens of thousands of American
listeners downloaded Lily Allen's songs for free from her MySpace
page, and she's already toured this country to considerable acclaim.
In contrast, my album of the year was released in the U.K. in 2005,
but it didn't appear here until May, shortly before Art Brut took
Chicago by storm as a headliner at the Pitchfork Music Festival,
hence their inclusion on my list.
In any event, albums are alive and well, and I had no problem
compiling a list of 70 that I couldn't live without in the preceding
12 months. For my complete rundown of the best of 2006, visit my Web
site at www.jimdero.com. And, happy listening!
1. Art Brut, "Bang Bang Rock & Roll" (Downtown)
"Formed a band / We formed a band / Look at us / We formed a
band!" Few figures in rock history have captured the sheer glory
of making a loud and joyful noise better than Eddie Argos and his
mates. And while they may brag about their primitive talents, few
pop-punk bands have crafted a debut this tuneful and funny.
2. Lily Allen, "Alright, Still" (EMI International)
This petite 21-year-old Englishwoman takes no crap from anyone,
least of all the men in her life. She sucks you in with a seductive
sound that mixes '60s jet-set horns, bossa nova rhythms and New wave
hooks, then lowers the boom: "I'm gonna tell them that you're
rubbish in bed now / And that you're small in the game." And you
have to love her for it.
3. Gnarls Barkley, "St. Elsewhere" (Downtown/Atlantic)
There's no doubt that the rollicking and infectious "Crazy" was the
single of the year, but DJ Danger Mouse and Cee-Lo Green delivered a
whole funk/pop/hip-hop/rock album nearly as strong, a collected
musing on the many factors of modern-day life that conspire to drive
us over the edge.
4. The Decemberists, "The Crane Wife" (Capitol)
The major-label debut and fourth album overall from this
Portland-based orchestral-pop quintet is the best progressive-rock
disc since the late '70s, but unlike, say, Jethro Tull or Yes, Colin
Meloy and his bandmates never skimp on the hooks or the propulsive
rhythms, even when they're singing about arabesque bayonets and
sabers wielded in anger.<
5. Lupe Fiasco, "Food & Liquor" (Atlantic)
The two Chicago rappers who made my list aren't a case of "homerism,"
they're simply two of the most musically enticing and uniquely
personal efforts that hip-hop has produced. In Lupe's case, we meet
a skateboard nerd, "Star Wars" superfan and video game geek unafraid
to buck every stereotype in rap with a sly sense of humor that is
utterly captivating.
6. Grandaddy, "Just Like the Fambly Cat" (V2)
The California psychedelic pop group's fourth and last album is a
haunting, unsettling but consistently tuneful set that includes some
of the best songs it's given us, with singer and songwriter Jason
Lytle veering between the sadness of mourning his band and the
optimism of a pending rebirth.
7. Neil Young, "Living with War" (Reprise)
Drawing on the same anger about the headlines that produced "Ohio"
in 1970, the godfather of grunge turned out this quck and dirty rock
album that represents rock's most furious response yet to the war in
Iraq. "Metal folk protest music," Neil calls it, and as usual, he
pulls no punches: "Let's impeach the President for lying and
misleading our country into war / Abusing all the power that we gave
him and shipping our money out the door."
8. Peaches, "Impeach My Bush" (XL Recordings)
On her third album, Canadian electroclash singer and performance
artist Merrill Nisker augmented the stripped-down soundscapes of her
Roland MC505 beat box with a full band, and her gender-bending
anthems of sexual liberation stood as pop music's answer to X-rated
but artful films such as "Last Tango in Paris" and "Midnight
Cowboy."
9. The Dresden Dolls, "Yes, Virginia ..." (Roadrunner)
Few bands in recent memory have been as successful at creating new,
dark and alien worlds as the Boston duo of singer, songwriter and
pianist Amanda Palmer and drummer Brian Viglione, and this disc
conjures a creepy but alluring world that's a cross between a Weimar
cabaret, a punk-rock club and an opium den.
10. Rhymefest, "Blue Collar" (Allido/J Records)
The other Chicagoan to make this list prides himself on being a
blue-collar Everyman, and the array of minimum-wage jobs he worked
while waiting for his shot inform his sharp portraits of
working-class life. But it takes a keen eye and an agile tongue to
make jams this artful and insightful, and he's a close second to
Young in producing one of the sharpest commentaries on the fate of
our soldiers in Iraq with "Bullet."
'06 TOP 10s
TOP 10 ALBUMS
1. "High School Musical" soundtrack," 3,480,000 units
sold
2. Rascal Flatts, "Me and My Gang," 3,060,000
3. Carrie Underwood, "Some Hearts," 2,460,000
4. Nickelback, "All the Right Reasons," 2,310,000
5. James Blunt, "Back to Bedlam," 2,060,000
6. Justin Timberlake, "Futuresex/Love Sounds,"1,950,000
7. Dixie Chicks, "Taking the Long Way," 1,770,000
8. Mary J. Blige, "Breakthrough," 1,750,000
9. Various Artists, "NOW 21," 1,640,000
10. Beyonce, "B'day," 1,600,000
Source: Nielsen SoundScan
(Data from Jan. 2 to Dec. 10, 2006.)
TOP 10 MOST DIGITALLY DOWNLOADED TRACKS
1. "Bad Day (Album Version)," Daniel Powter, 1,880,000
units sold
2. "Crazy (Album Version)," Gnarls Barkley, 1,525,000
3. "Temperature (Album Version)," Sean Paul, 1,460,000
4. "Over My Head (Cable Car), the Fray, 1,410,000
5. "Unwritten," Natasha Bedingfield, 1,320,000
6. "Hips Don't Lie," Shakira (featuring Wyclef Jean),
1,290,000
7. "Dani California (Album Version)," Red Hot Chili Peppers,
1,200,000
8. "Sexyback (Main Version)," Justin Timberlake (featuring
T.I.), 1,190,000
9. "Move Along," All-American Rejects, 1,180,000
10. "Lips of an Angel," Hinder, 1,120,000
Source: Nielsen SoundScan
(Data from Jan. 2 to Dec. 10 2006. A digital track may come from
an album, a single or a stand-alone recording. Digital tracks are
purchased and downloaded from providers in the U.S., including every
major digital music retailer.)
TOP 10 MOST PLAYED SONGS ON THE RADIO
1. "Be Without You," Mary J. Blige, 395,995 plays
2. "Unwritten," Natasha Bedingfield, 336,276
3. "Temperature," Sean Paul, 324,555
4. "Me & U," Cassie, 312,073
5. "Hips Don't Lie," Shakira (featuring Wyclef Jean), 308,903
6. "Promiscuous," Nelly Furtado (featuring Timbaland),
292,264
7. "Bad Day," Daniel Powter, 291,256
8. "Check On It," Beyonce (featuring Slim Thug), 290,231
9. "So Sick," Ne-Yo, 277,958
10. "Over My Head (Cable Car)," Fray, 276,601
Source: Nielsen BDS
(Data from Jan. 1 to Dec. 18, 2006.)
TOP 10 MASTER RINGTONES
1. Akon, "Smack That," 1,220,000 units sold
2. Justin Timberlake, "Sexy Back," 1,130,000
3. Hinder, "Lips of an Angel," 1,090,000
4. Ludacris, "Money Maker (Pharrell Chorus)," 900,000
5. Jibbs, "Chain Hang Low," 870,000
6. Justin Timberlake, "My Love," 780,000
7. Beyonce, "Irreplaceable," 690,000
8. Lil' Scrappy, "Money in the Bank," 580,000
9. DJ Unk, "Walk It Out," 580,000
10. Bow Wow, "Shortie Like Mine," 570,000
Source: Nielsen RingScan
(Data only available from Sept. 3 to Dec. 10, 2006.)
CAN'T STOP AT 10
Here are 10 more for 2006:
11. Cursive, "Happy Hollow" (Saddle Creek); 12. Beck,
"The Information" (Interscope); 13. Jenny Lewis and the
Watson Twins, "Rabbit Fur Coat" (Team Love); 14. Van Hunt,
"On the Jungle Floor" (Capitol); 15. the Raconteurs, "Broken
Boy Soldiers" (V2); 16. Mission of Burma, "The Obliterati"
(Matador); 17. Tom Petty, "Highway Companion" (American);
18. Neko Case, "Fox Confessor Brings the Flood" (Anti); 19.
Secret Machines, "Ten Silver Drops" (Reprise); 20. the Album
Leaf "Into the Blue Again" (Sub Pop).
Jim DeRogatis