speed of dark

These are my final five choices for the best songs I heard that were released during the year that was 2006. Check out 6-10, 11-15, 16-20, and 21-25. I have been reading other blogger's best of and favorites lists and I have discovered really excellent music that I missed somehow during the year. There are some tracks that I wished I had heard before I finalized this list, but these artists, if not the songs, were always secure of their top five status on my list.

I could have featured almost any song on the top four albums as being in my top four (the song at number five was clearly the best song on the album, in my opinion). I am fortunate and elated to have seen the top four of five live this year (one of them, twice!).

5. tv on the radio: wolf like me
when the moon is round and full/gonna teach you tricks that'll blow your mongrel mind

buy the album | official website | myspace

When I heard this song for the first time, the buzzy guitar sounds and thumping drum and bass of the werewolf-themed tune grabbed me and didn't let go. I discovered that this song is best heard at top volume while careening down the freeway in a speeding automobile. I immediately bought the Return to Cookie Mountain album that all the blogs were praising, but I found it a tough listen. Upon repeated listens to the other songs on the disc, I have grown to like them, but this song is the centerpiece of a fine release. Look for TVOTR on tour, since I hear they put on an amazing live performance:

select dates: (see myspace page for complete list)
Mar 3 Olympia Theater Montreal, Quebec
Mar 4 Koolhaus Toronto, Ontario
Mar 12 Metro Chicago, Illinois
Mar 23 Roseland Portland, Oregon
Mar 24 Commodore Ballroom Vancouver, BC
Mar 25 Moore Theatre Seattle, Washington
Mar 28 Fillmore San Francisco, California
Mar 30 Henry Fonda Hollywood, California
Mar 31 Henry Fonda Hollywood, California
Apr 1 Belly Up Solana Beach, California
Apr 4 Gypsy Ballroom Dallas, Texas
Apr 5 La Zona Rosa Austin, Texas
Apr 13 Variety Playhouse Atlanta, Georgia
Apr 18 930 Club Washington DC, Washington DC

4. the decemberists: the crane wife 1 and 2
there's a bend in the wind and it rakes at my heart

buy the album | official website | myspace

I love The Decemberists, and I fully believe that Colin Meloy can do no wrong. That said, I struggled with this album too, most because I still actively listened to and adored their excellent and highly recommended Picaresque, Castaways and Cutouts, and Her Majesty the Decemberists. The Crane Wife was none of those albums, but instead is a concept album partly based on a Japanese folk tale and almost totally based on the themes of love and death and the kind of longing we feel in both situations. One song is based on Shakespeare's The Tempest, another a story of two star crossed gang youths. So it was at first difficult to become as enamored with this album as I am with their previous releases.

But then I saw The Decemberists live, and that all changed for me. The band displayed a screen and lovely red lanterns, and performed much of the album when I saw them in October. The other band members (although it was clearly the Colin Meloy Show) are so musically talented, each with several instruments mastered between them, that you stop and think, oh that's what that noise is...it's a hurdy gurdy! The sing-a-long that occurred during this song and many others sealed the deal for me - I love this sad, two part, hindsight-is-20/20 love song and The Decemberists, without question.

3. the dears: i fell deep
the kind of hell i'm in just ain't enough to keep me down

buy the album | official website | myspace

At this point, I realized that all of my top three songs, and virtually any song on their 2006 releases, could have substituted for each other. I absolutely adored Gang of Losers and I debated with myself for a very long time which song to put on this list. Alt-gramma chose "Hate Then Love" as her favorite early on, so I knew that song wasn't eligible. Finally, I let the decision be made by which song I listened to the most, as tallied by iTunes. "I Fell Deep" is a pretty solid representation of the album, of Murray Lightburn's haunting wails and the rest of the band's excellent musicianship. I was lucky enough to see this band twice this year, and they were fantastic both times. If you're lucky enough to be in one of the cities on their tour in January, give yourself the opportunity to be blown over by this band.

January 16 Paradise Rock Club, Boston
January 17 TLA, Philadelphia
January 19 Webster Hall, New York
January 20 9:30 Club, Washington
January 22 Cat's Cradle, Chapel Hill
January 23 Jack Rabbits, Jacksonville
January 24 Studio A, Miami
January 25 The Social, Orlando

2. thom yorke: the eraser
the more you try to erase me the more, the more that i appear

buy the album | official site | at ease web [radiohead site]

Even more so than Colin Meloy, Thom Yorke can do no wrong. As with all of the Radiohead albums, I bought this on the day it was released and listened to it nearly non-stop for over a month until finally I had to hear something else for a while. His melancholy, soft voice, the strange noises, and the odd beats come together in a short but absolutely solid album in which there is something for everyone. Alt-gramma adores the tracks I like, I adore the tracks she merely likes. I love the title track, but for a while I thought I might post "Skip Divided", on which Thom admits he (or the narrator) is someone's "lap dog".

1. silversun pickups: lazy eye
i've been waiting for this moment all my life/but it's not quite right

buy the album | official website | myspace

My mind is still reeling from seeing them in concert last weekend. Silversun Pickups' 2006 release, Carnavas, is a stellar album on which every song is a masterpiece. I cannot praise this album highly enough, nor their live show, which is a spectacle of raw energy and excitement. I was so lucky to be right up front and be able to interact with lead singer Brian Aubert during the show (OMG! He touched me! OMG! He gave me his guitar pick!) and after (OMG! He signed my poster and thanked me!). The rest of the band were excellent, but it was Brian Aubert who put on the show, jumping all over and performing with a ferocity that I haven't seen matched, ever. Do yourself a favor and buy this album and play it non-stop as I have. Every song on the album could have been my number one song of 2006. Snow Patrol better be warned that their opening band might overshadow them.

Silversun Pickups opening for Snow Patrol
select dates (see myspace page for complete list):
Feb 26 Memorial Coliseum Portland, Oregon
Feb 27 Key Arena Seattle, Washington
Mar 1 Bill Graham Civic Auditorium San Francisco, California
Mar 2 Gibson Amphitheater Universal City, California
Mar 3 SDSU Open Air Theatre San Diego, California
Mar 6 The Fillmore Auditorium Denver, Colorado
Mar 10 Stubb's Bar-B-Que Austin, Texas
Mar 21 The Arena At Gwinnett Center Atlanta, Georgia
Mar 26 Theater At Madison Square Garden New York, New York
Mar 28 Agganis Arena At Boston University Boston, Massachusetts
Mar 30 Metropolis East Montreal, Quebec
Mar 31 Canada Ricoh Coliseum Toronto, Ontario
Apr 1 State Theatre Detroit, Michigan
Apr 2 Aragon Ballroom Chicago, Illinois
Apr 4 The Pageant St. Louis, Missouri
Apr 5 Eagles Ballroom Milwaukee, Wisconsin

And that's all, folks...I'll put out my "Best Songs That Didn't Make The List" soon.