The Top 55 Songs of 2006 : An Exercise in Moderation, Sort of

First let me start with a disclaimer. This list is entirely my own, no outside sources joined in the voting process*. This list is as complete as I could make it. Obviously with having a full time job and going to school full time I was unable to listen to every single song that came out this year, thus this list is a little bit incomplete. Within a few months I’ll definitely hear a song I’ll wish I’d put on this list or feel that I overrated and/or underrated certain songs, ect. But as of the time of writing/posting, this list is as complete as I can make it.

More then any year I can remember this was much more a year of great songs then of great albums. Not to say this year’s albums were bad, because there were quite a few spectacular ones. It’s just that after last year’s handful of amazing/epic albums, this year’s albums sort of paled in comparison. Yet overall this year’s crop of songs might be better then it’s ‘05 counterparts.

Anyways, I was going to do a long drawn out list in which I‘d do a short review every song, but I’m lazy and I kinda need to get this list out while it’s still semi-relevant. So instead I’m just going to give you my list as is, sans anecdotes. The albums in which these songs can be found is in parenthesis after the song title**. I realize how much of a cop-out it is to just list the songs and not saying anything about them, so if you want to know more about these songs or want to discuss this list then you can stop me in the streets and talk to me about it. Seriously that wouldn’t be weird at all… Ok it would annoy and creep the living sh*t out of me, but that’s the sacrifice I’m willing to make for the 3-5 people who read my blog. Anyhow here’s the list:

55.) Polyphonic Spree – Sonic Bloom (Wait EP)
54.) Rhett Miller – Meteor Shower (The Believer)
53.) Justin Timberlake – Lovestoned/I Think That She Knows (Future Sex/Love Sounds)
52.) Gym Class Hereos – Clothes Off! (As Cruel as School Children)
51.) Guster – One Man Wrecking Machine (Ganging Up on the Sun)
50.) Decemberists – Sons and Daughters (The Crane Wife)
49.) Badly Drawn Boy – Time of Times (Born in the UK)
48.) Hawksley Workman – When These Mountains Were the Seashore (Treeful of Starling)
47.) The Flaming Lips – The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song (At War with the Mystics)
46.) Figurines – Race You (Skeleton)
45.) Eric Bachmann – Man O’ War (To The Races)
44.) Ghostface Killah (Featuring Trife) – Be Easy (Fishscale)
43.) Grant Lee Phillips – Age of Consent (Ninteeneightes)
42.) Eef Barzlay – I Wasn’t Really Drunk (The Ballad of Bitter Honey)
41.) Band of Horses – St. Augustine (Everything All The Time)
40.) Willie Nelson – Songbird (Songbird)
39.) Calexico – Cruel (Garden Ruin)
38.) Angels and the Airwaves – The Adventure (We Don’t Need to Whisper)
37.) Beyonce – Irrpalceable (B-Day)
36.) Mewithoutyou – A Glass Can Only Spill What It Contains (Brother, Sister)
35.) The Killers – Read My Mind (Sam’s Town)
34.) Lily Allen – Smile (Alright, Still)
33.) Ben Kweller – Sundress (Ben Kweller)
32.) Lupe Fiasco – Sunshine (Food and Liquor)
31.) Casiotone for the Painfully Alone – New Years Kiss (Etiquette)
30.) Snow Patrol – You Could Be Happy (Eyes Open)
29.) Paris Hilton – Nothing in this World (Paris)
28.) Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Cheated Hearts (Gold Lion)
27.) Divine Comedy – A Lady of a Certain Age (Victory for the Comic Muse)
26.) Hellogoodbye – Here (In Your Arms). (Zombies! Aliens! Vampires! Dinosaurs!)
25.) M. Ward – Chinese Translation (Post-War)
24.) The Sleepy Jackson – You Need More (Personality)
23.) Mason Jennings – To You (If You Need a Reason EP)
22.) Built to Spill – Going Against Your Mind (You In Reverse)
21.) The Walkmen – Louisiana (A Hundred Miles Off)
20.) Bruce Springsteen – Pay Me My Money Down(We Shall Overcome)
19.) Starflyer 59 – Ideas for the Talented (My Island)
18.) Josh Ritter – Thin Blue Flame (The Animal Years)
17.) The Strokes – You Only Live Once (First Impressions of Earth)
16.) Camera Obscura – Lloyd, I’m Ready to Be Heartbroken (Let’s Get Out of This Country)
15.) I’m From Barcelona – Barcelona Loves You (Let Me Introduce My Friends)
14.) Destroyer – European Oils (Destroyer’s Rubies)
13.) Sparklehorse – Shade and Honey (Dreamt for Light Years in the Belly of a Mountain)
12.) Annuals – Sway (Be He Me)
11.) Scissor Sisters – I Don’t Feel Like Dancing (Ta-Dah)
10.) Regina Spektor – Fidelity (Begin to Hope)
9.) Cat Power – Lived in Bars (The Greatest)
8.) TV on the Radio – I Was a Lover (Return to Cookie Mountain)
7.) M. Ward – Poison Cup (Post-War)
6.) Destroyer – Rubies (Destroyer’s Rubies)
5.) The Hold Steady – Citrus (Boys and Girls in America)
4.) Sunset Rubdown – Stadiums and Shrines II (Shut Up I Am Dreaming)
3.) Rogue Wave – Eyes (Publish My Love EP)
2.) Belle and Sebastian - Dress Up in You (The Life Pursuit)
1.) Josh Ritter – Girl in the War (The Animal Years)

Once again I listen to way too much music and I apologize for my laziness and not writing at least a little blurb about all these songs. Anyhow, hope you enjoyed it and check back next week, when there’s potential for multiple updates!!?!?!?!!?!?

Until We Meet Again


* Ok I lied, I don’t actually have a voting process. But if I did it would probably be similar to the BCS, only not entirely f*cked up.
** The lone exception to this is the Hellogoodbye song, which has parenthesis in the song’s title. I’ve placed the album name afterwards in parenthesis, hope that’s not too confusing.