With All the Poise of a Cannonball -- My Favorite Music of 2006

I had three different music posts planned but due to problems with my laptop I lost most of what I had written. And now due to time constraints (New Baby is coming this weekend) I will just put out what I could recover/remember and let that be the end of it.

Favorite Albums

1. The Crane Wife - The Decemberists
With a new record label they were able to ratchet up the sound and make it fuller and more meaningful than ever before. Colin’s stories and lyrics are masterful as always, but the music behind the words really sets this album apart. I knew these guys were great musicians from seeing them live, but it really all comes together on The Crane Wife. It’s a damn-near perfect album.
2. Rabbit Fur Coat - Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins
This is a beautiful album about faith and loneliness backed by the gospel harmonies of the Watson Twins. The talk of faith is pessimistic and the talk of loneliness sounds reconciled. “And it’s a surefire bet I’m gonna die / So I’ve taken up praying on Sunday nights / And it’s not that I believe in your almight / But I might as well as insurance or bail”
3. The Minus 5 - The Minus 5
The absolute catchiest songs of the year are on this album. All of the firearm mentions are mainly metaphorical and delivered with a shrewd sense of humor. “I’ll kick your sister’s ass” is one of the best lines of the year.
4. Fox Confessor Brings the Flood - Neko Case
Oh, that voice. Most musicians I like do not have a traditionally great voice. Neko has a voice that’ll make you believe in a higher power. Combine that voice with the struggling characters mentioned in these songs and you’ll ache along with them.
5. St. Elsewhere - Gnarls Barkley
6. Ole! Tarantula - Robyn Hitchcock & the Venus 3
7. At War with the Mystics - The Flaming Lips
8. The Greatest - Cat Power
9. Boys and Girls in America - The Hold Steady
10. The Animal Years - Josh Ritter

Honorable Mention

Other People's Lives - Ray Davies
Modern Times - Bob Dylan
Boneclouds - Mason Jennings
The Dust of Retreat - Margot & the Nuclear So and So's
Big Iron World - Old Crow Medicine Show
Highway Companion - Tom Petty
Broken Boy Soldiers - The Raconteurs
Begin to Hope - Regina Spektor
Under the Covers, Volume 1 - Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs

Miscellaneous

Most Morrissey-Sounding Song Title, Not By Morrissey:
“Lloyd, I’m Ready to Be Heartbroken” – Camera Obscura

Winner of the Sufjan Stevens Award aka
The We’ll Just Have to Agree to Disagree Award:
Ys - Joanna Newsom

Favorite Band Name:
Margot & the Nuclear So and So’s

Aden’s Favorite Songs:
"Sons & Daughters" – The Decemberists
“The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song” – The Flaming Lips

Most Disappointing Album:
Get Lonely – The Mountain Goats

Best Introduction to a Band I Wasn't Very Familiar With:
Hit By a Train: The Best of the Old 97's

Favorite Ukulele-Based Album:
My Favorite Place to Drown - Michael Leviton

Music-Related McSweeney's Lists from 2006:

“Love” Songs Replaced with Danny Glover

Brian Wilson’s First Five Suggestions for the Name of the Album That Would Be Called Pet Sounds

Hit Songs of the 1970’s and 80’s if the South Had Won the Civil War

Other Names Sting Could Go By, As Suggested By My Thesaurus

Titles of Songs I Could Credibly Write If I Became a Rap Star

Song Ideas For My Next Album

Popular Musicians If England Had Won The Revolutionary War

Prior Miles Davis Albums

Reasons Not to Fear the Reaper

Alternatives, Should You Not Like Pina Coladas and Getting Caught in the Rain

They Might Be Giants, They Might Not – Who Knows

Reasons I Disagree With the Premise of the Song “A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes”