Hall of Awesome 2006: Top 10 Albums of the Year

10


GRIZZLY BEAR
Yellow House







9


MARITIME
We, the Vehicles







8


BAND OF HORSES
Everything All the Time







7


THE RACONTEURS
Broken Boy Soldiers







6


BELLE & SEBASTIAN
The Life Pursuit







5


GUSTER
Ganging Up on the Sun







4


CAMERA OBSCURA
Let's Get Out of This Country







3


THE DECEMBERISTS
The Crane Wife







2


GNARLS BARKLEY
St. Elsewhere







1


THE FLAMING LIPS
At War with the Mystics






For some reason, most critics were quick to dismiss The Flaming Lips' 2006 release, angry that they had seemingly abandoned the style they had set in stone on 1999's epic masterpiece The Soft Bulletin and its 2003 follow-up, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots. If only these people had listened to the album a few more times, they would have heard the Lips' most psychedelic and surprisingly consistent album since Bulletin was released seven years ago (has it really been that long?) Of course, no Best Of list would be complete without mentioning Gnarls Barkley, who exploded onto the scene with that one song no one can seem to get out of his or her head (you know the one). The Decemberists had another excellent year, topping the success of 2005's Picaresque with their Atlantic Records debut, in addition to a well-publicized battle with Comedy Central news pundit Stephen Colbert. Camera Obscura was shamefully omitted from Stereogum's list, a glaring omission considering that they not only out-Belle-and-Sebastian'd Belle & Sebastian, they gave this shy person the strength to get up and do what needed to be done.

It was totally an impulse buy when I stumbled across the new album from Guster at a Borders bookstore, but it was a lucky find, as Ganging Up on the Sun contains some of the catchiest melodies ever set to disc, and Belle & Sebastian did an excellent job of breaking new ground on The Life Pursuit, an album that not only contained '60s throwback R&B and Japanese hyper-pop references, it (dare I say it?) rocked my f*ckin' socks off! Speaking of rock, why are so many bloggers turning a cold shoulder to The Raconteurs? Not only was it a great side project for all those involved, it spawned some infectious hit singles, and a couple awesome non-singles (fav track: "Yellow Sun"). I was already a fan of Band of Horses back when they were opening for Iron & Wine and only had a few demo tracks to their name. Now, their Sub Pop debut is out and everyone's finally caught up. And, finally, we have Maritime and Grizzly Bear, two bands that released solid debut albums, but now they're in the big leagues. Time to pull out all the stops and go for the gold with their sophomore releases...and Indeed They Did.

Here are all my Honorable Mentions of the year, too:






Congrats to those that made the list. You are now eligible for a roundtrip for two to Butte, Montana.

Also, even though I totally picked Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin as my fav new artist of '05, and although Broom "officially" came out that same year, it's still on my list. Deal with it.

P.S. This is prob'ly gonna be my last post before Christmas, so a very Merry Christmas to you and yours. Nustle up by the fire, pour yourself a cup of hot chocolate, and put some music on. I highly recommend Sufjan Stevens' Songs for Christmas EP box set, containing not only some of the best renditions of old holiday classics, but also some of the best original Christmas music ever written. I'm serious, folks. It's nog-tastic!