The Top 160 Songs of 2006

For one strange reason or another, I always see 2006 as a down year for music, but apparently it wasn’t because I found many great tunes.  Here we go:

160.  Show Me What You Got – Jay-Z

I’ll admit that this just made it because Jay-Z samples Public Enemy. 

159.  Mud City – Trey Anasataio

158.  Do You Want To – Franz Ferdinand

157.  Citrus – Hold Steady

I’ve had kisses that make Judas seem sincere

156.  SOS Rescue Me – Rihanna

Is sampling “Tainted Love” worthy of qualifying?  If you’re name is Rihanna … yes.  My question is, what the hell does she do to her boyfriends to make them violently crazy? 

155.  My Humps – Black Eyed Peas

I have no choice but to include this, right? 

154.  Ribs & Whiskey – Widespread Panic

Ribs, Whiskey, and a ho-down, what’s not to love?

153.  Islands – Cat Power

152.  Who Cares – Gnarls Barkley

151.  What You Meant – Franz Ferdinand

150.  Magic Trick – M. Ward

149.  Your Touch – The Black Keys

148.  Springfield – Sufjan Stevens

So what’s the deal with this outtakes album anyway, did the Illinois recording sessions produce over 3 hours of incredible music and Suffy still made cuts?  I’m pretty certain there’s no outtakes album in the history of life that doesn’t have new songs not included from the outtaked album  this good, of course, most bands just use those songs for the next album, like the Doors did with Strange Days. 

147.  Our Swords – Band of Horses

146.  Party Pit – The Hold Steady

145.  No Complaints – Beck

144.  Cowbell – Tapes ‘n Tapes

143.  You’re the One – The Black Keys

142.  St. Augustine – Band of Horses

I love songs about cities in Florida … at least I think they may be referring to our St. Augustine … honestly, I have no clue. 

141.  Sons and Daughters – The Decemberists

140.  Southtown Girls – The Hold Steady

139.  Could We – Cat Power

138.  Bubbles in My Beer –Willie Nelson

So Willie started writing songs in the late 50s, and here he is in double aught six, nearly 50 years later.  I’m pretty certain I can’t say that about any other musician, well, except Johnny Cash, but his songs are after his death, so it’s a little different. 

137.  Alfie – Lily Allen

136.  Addicted – Amy Winehouse

135.  Just Drums – Tapes ‘n Tapes

134.  Fuck It Man – Mellowdrone

133.  Rollercoaster – M. Ward

I love this song, but it seems a little too short and gimmicky. 

132.  In Hidden Places – Mountain Goats

131.  The Devil – The Rapture

130.  Goodbye Head – Trey Anastasio

Am I really supposed to rank a song with actual movements lower than Lily Allen talking about her kid brother smoking pot? 

129.  Just a Thought – Gnarls Barkley

128.  Four Leaf Clover – Mellowdrone

127.  Incinerate – Sonic Youth

126.  When You Were Young – The Killers

This has one of those 70’s style slow downs in it, so I have to rank it, even though these guys don’t look a thing like Jesus. 

125.  Jakovis Suite – Tapes ‘n Tapes

124.  The Avalanche – Sufjan Stevens

I wonder if Illinois outtakes will be the last good thing Sufjan ever does. 

123.  Requiem – M. Ward

122.  When You Wasn’t Famous – The Streets

Little did the Streets know at this time, that in a couple years he’d be clamoring for people to take a photo of him doing a line with their camera phone. 

121.  Maneater – Nelly Furtado

Watch out for her, she’ll chew you up. 

120.  Everything’s Just Wonderful – Lily Allen

119.  Host Across the Potomac – Trey Anastasio

118.  Pompeii Am Götterdämmerung – The Flaming Lips

117.  Lloyd, I’m Ready to be Heartbroken – Camera Obscura

116.  The Crane Wife Parts 1 & 2 – The Decemberists

It’s really good, it’s just really really long. 

115.  Manitoba – Tapes N Tapes

114.  Together – The Raconteurs

113.  Free Radicals – Flaming Lips

This song of the Lips sounds great in headphones, but without them, this almost sounds like a Joan Jett re-incarnation … which maybe isn’t so bad. 

112.  We Dance Alone – Beck

111.  Consolation Prizes – Phoenix

110.  The Room Got Heavy – Yo La Tengo

109.  Saving Grace – Tom Petty

108.  Worldwide Suicide – Pearl Jam

The fact that Pearl Jam and Tom Petty both released decent albums more than 10 years after their last good albums is just one of the oddly scented chips in the fish bowl of 2006 potpourri. 

107.  If You Could Read My Mind – Johnny Cash

I’m always a fan of artists releasing songs after they’re dead.  Especially when they’re good.

106.  Gone Daddy Gone – Gnarls Barkley

105.  Slippery Dick – Peaches

You may be saying to yourself, what makes one Peaches song better than another?  Not really sure quite honestly, and though this isn’t the reason why I like this one more than others, she actually gets the word “queef” in here, and you don’t even think twice when you hear it.  That’s something Peaches has accomplished that no other musician could (or would). 

104.  Beanbag Chair – Yo La Tengo

103.  Soldier Jane – Beck

102.  In the Morning – Junior Boys

101.  Vans – The Pack

100.  Yankee Bayonet – The Decemberists

99.  The Golden Rose – Tom Petty

98.  Stick It to the Pimp – Peaches

97.  The Funeral – Band of Horses

Angi just came in and said she loves this song, so I guess it’s gotta be at least this high on the list. 

96.  Fidelity – Regina Spektor

95.  Sexyback – Justin Timberlake

This song sounds good, hard to critique, but it’s impossible to take Timberlake seriously.  On the plus side, he’s a pretty funny guy so it kinda works in other facets of life.  Maybe it’s the whole “dick in a box” thing. 

94.  Country Girl – Primal Scream

93.  Half Dead – The Mountain Goats

92.  Outsiders – Franz Ferdinand

91.  Downtown – Peaches

This Peaches album was stronger than her debut, and I’m guessing better than Fatherfucker because I never listened to it because either a) I heard it was terrible, b) it was named Fatherfucker or c) all of the above. 

90.  The Perfect Crime No. 2 – The Decemberists

At this point in their career, it was a little weird to hear them turn it up a notch. 

89.  Woke Up New – Mountain Goats

88.  Traces – Built to Spill

87.  The Ruling Class – Loose Furr

Jeff Tweedy and some other guy. 

86.  Over and Over – Hot Chip

85.  Chillout Tent – The Hold Steady

The theme song for music festivals, though the one time I saw them at a festival, there was no chill out tent, just a few beer tents which led to me needing a chill out tent, and not just a clever Hold Steady song. 

84.  Love Me Or Hate Me – Lady Sovereign

83.  Did I Step on Your Trumpet – Danielson

82.  We Share Our Mother’s Health – The Knife

The sounds are great, but how the hell is this suppose to make me feel? 

81.  Wherever You Go – Built to Spill

80.  Parachutes – Pearl Jam

79.  Cellphone’s Dead – Beck

It’s lost in a desert. 

78.  Smile – Lily Allen

In retrospect, even though I thought she wasn’t too much more than a brat at the time, Lily Allen hasn’t aged too poorly.  A tragic death would help her record sales a lot. 

77.  Julia – Medeski, Martin & Wood

I’m a complete sucker for the mellow MMW cover song.

76.  Shankill Buthers – The Decemberists

75.  The Fallen – Franz Ferdinand

74.  Liar – Built to Spill

She don’t mind, she don’t care. 

73.  No Man’s Land – Sufjan Stevens

72.  Nausea – Beck

71.  Modern Times – The Black Keys

70.  Dear Mr. Supercomputer – Sufjan Stevens

I’m not exactly sure why this one missed the cut for Illinois.  As far as “outtakes” go, it’s one of the best I’ve ever heard.  It even ends with a note that would’ve been perfect to go right into “Chicago.”

69.  The Information – Beck

68.  Like the 309 – Johnny Cash

67.  The Island – The Decemberists

It’s quite rare that songs this long, and this proggy earn several listens, let alone enjoyment but this is indeed a classic.

66.  Long Distance Call – Phoenix

Crisp French fries. 

65.  Don Gon Do It – The Rapture

64.  Standing In the Way of Control – The Gossip

Not sure what they offer that Karen O doesn’t, but I’m judging them simply off this one single song. 

63.  Knights of Cydonia – Muse

I played this on Guitar Hero so many times, I have no choice but to love it, despite is bombasity, which I’m pretty sure isn’t a word cuz Word gave me the red squiggly. 

62.  When the Sun Goes Down – Arctic Monkeys

61.  Just a Little Heat – Black Keys

Though the Keys are still a little monotonous in 2006, Dan still has about 50 levels on anyone else trying to play guitar riffs that year. 

60.  Broken Boy Soldiers – The Raconteurs

Even though all of Jack White’s side project bands are good, they still don’t seem serious to me. 

59.  Littlest Things – Lily Allen

It was initially the “Wild World” melody, which became the “Don’t Speak” melody for No Doubt, and here’s Lily’s version, which for some reason or other, is my favorite incarnation of a melody that I have to go out of my way to say is not hers. 

58.  Think I’m in Love – Beck

57.  Mess With Time – Built to Spill

56.  Something Isn’t Right – Herbert

2006 was the year of that Russian website allofmp3.  That was good times until Obama destroyed it for everyone that same year with his regulations and tax hikes on us gun owners.   Fuckin Obama. 

55.  Poison Cup – M. Ward

54.  Gone – Pearl Jam

This album was quite a surprise.  Don’t get me wrong, there’s a lot of crap on it, but it does have some good tunes.

53.  Just Got To Be – The Black Keys

On Magic Potion, the Keys made their last “we’re not a big band” album and you can tell.  From here on in, it’s better at times, but they’ll never be this raw again. 

52.  Omaha – Tapes ‘n Tapes

Yes, apparently there was a time you could’ve asked me a musical question and I would’ve responded, “Yes, definitely get the new Tapes ‘n Tapes album!”

51.  Elevator Music – Beck

50.  Empty House – Trey Anastasio

I hate the fact that heroin is probably the influence, but I’m starting to feel I need to revisit Bar 17 more often because there are several good tunes on this.  Hunh.  What’s so fucked up though, is I saw Trey in 2007 at Langerado, divorced all my friends at the festival in fact,  and he laid an adult contemporary egg.  They were almost right to leave me for Sound Tribe for Sector 9 (they weren’t, that shit was even worse). 

49.  Wild Sage – Mountain Goats

48.  Cheated Hearts –Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Sometimes I feel that I’m bigger than the sound.

47.  The Wait – Built to Spill

It’s a simple G-C chord progression rock formula, but I still love it.

46.  Empty – Ray La Montagne

45.  Big Weekend – Tom Petty

When’s the last time there was a good pop rock song?  Not sure if this qualifies, but if this isn’t my theme song, I don’t know what is.  Okay, okay, it’s Loverboy’s “Working for the Weekend” I’ll admit it. 

44.  Steady as she Goes – The Raconteurs

43.  Strange Desire – Black Keys

If you’re scoring at home, the Keys have “Strange Desire”; “Strange Times” and “Modern Times.”  I don’t think they have “Modern Desire” but there’s still opportunity for that. 

42.  Wolf Like Me – TV on the Radio

41.  Phenomena – Yeah Yeah Yeahs

The changes are a little awkward, but otherwise, this is a PHENOMENAL tune. 

40.  Mr. Tough – Yo La Tengo

More of the world’s problems should be settled on the dance floor … though that would mean I would probably never win aside from narrowly edging a totem pole, and even then I’d still lose to that evil one from Creepshow 2.  That one would go Boogie Nights on my Leaves of Grass dancin’ ass. 

39.  Gone – Built to Spill

Sometimes I forget some of the great songs on this album which is a testament to how good of an album it is. 

38.  Young Folks – Peter Bjorn and John

37.  Post-War – M. Ward

So mellow.  So so mellow. 

36.  Insistor – Tapes ‘n Tapes

These guys put out a few good indie tunes in the Aughts, but I’m pretty sure they’re already forgotten that is if they were remembered in the first place. 

35.  The Sound – The Rapture

34.  Roscoe – Midlake

I completely missed out on this band and am regretful.  This is a nice tune. 

33.  I Feel Like Dancing – Scissor Sisters

This was their follow up song to the earlier fun they had and I didn’t know until today that’s at least this song was quite good. 

32.  Silent Shout – The Knife

I love when electronic songs make me feel like I’m cooler just for listening to them. 

31.  Cincinnati – Trey Anasatasio

It’s hard for me to judge Trey songs because I’m obviously a huge Phish fan, and that tends to make me rank Trey songs higher than I probably should, but this is really an incredible song.  Much better than anything Phish did since 98’s “Guyute” through 2006.  Perhaps the most astonishing factoid about this song is, I actually drove from Tampa to Cincinnati in 2011, and didn’t listen to this song once. 

30.  Going Against Your Mind – Built to Spill

Yes, it’s a bit long winded, but when I see them again in September, it’s probably the song I want to hear 2^nd most.  (They didn’t play it the first time and see below for the first most). 

29.  You Know I’m No Good – Amy Winehouse

Man, this album is really good. 

28.  Beautiful Day – Mellowdrone

27.  Stuck Between Stations – The Hold Steady

26.  Chinese Translation – M. Ward

25.  Should Have Known Better – Yo La Tengo 

24.  Down South – Tom Petty

I’m still in shock Tom Petty releases an album 30 years after his debut with a few great tunes on it.  The guy has it. 

23.  Pull Shapes – The Pipettes

2006 seemed to be the year the recording industry tried to bring back that wonderful “Girl Band” sound of the early 60s. 

22.  Chips Ahoy – The Hold Steady

Horse racing is always so much more interesting when there’s a Triple Crown threat.  Before I die, I swear, either a horse or baseball player needs to win the triple crown.  My generation has not had this. 

21.  Oh My – Mellowdrone

I love that they have a song called “Beautiful Day” and this one goes “Oh my, what a wonderful day”.  After this album, they probably had many … (I hate saying shit like that, it sounds like something a news anchor would say after a fluff piece). 

20.  To Go Home – M. Ward 

19.  Don’t Call Me Whitney, Bobby – Islands

I freaking love this song and I’ll probably never hear from this band again. 

18.  Dark Star – Beck

For one reason or another The Information wasn’t very well received and I never understood why.  I could make a case for this being Beck’s finest work.  It probably wouldn’t be the best case, but I could make a case. 

17.  Fashionably Uninvited – Mellowdrone

This is a rare example of a friend turning me onto a band.  This Mellowdrone album (at least the first half), kicked ass.  The trick is not trying to get me to a secluded area to listen to a song.  I can’t possibly enjoy a song if I’m trying to be lured into listening to it. 

16.  Maybe Sprout Wings – Mountain Goats

These guys are what lured me to the Antiwarpt festival in St. Petersburg this year.  I went with a buddy who loves them and he left midway through the set … so naturally, I didn’t stick around too much longer.  If they played this song, I may have watched their whole set. 

15.  Moving Like a Train – Herbert

This song is the way disco music should be, as it has the happiness and strings of disco, but is ELECTRONICALLY put together in a much more unique way than disco ever was. 

14.  Strange Apparition – Beck

The piano is a beautiful Stones throwback.  Amazing.  Beck never ceases to impress. 

13.  Me and Mr. Jones – Amy Winehouse

This almost sounds like freegin’ Fats Domino and it mentions Slick Rick, and yet so many musical literati don’t like Amy Winehouse.  Very few artists could deliver what this song delivers. 

12.  Yeah Yeah Yeah Song – Flaming Lips

This is the perfect song for an aspiring one hit wonder band.  It was really strange to hear the Flaming Lips try to adapt to the fact that they were finally a successful rock band in 2006.  Perhaps that’s the biggest reason why this album was so subpar.  Yes, the build right before it goes into “With all your power” at the end is quite bad ass. 

11.  The Race is on Again – Yo La Tengo

There are songs these guys make that make me say, “Yeah, I see why people don’t get down with the Yo La.”  More importantly, they have songs that make me say, “Why the hell don’t people like Yo La Tengo?”  This is the king of those songs. 

10.  God’s Gonna Cut You Down – Johnny Cash

This has to be the best song ever released after an artist has died, that is until the next Beastie Boy album. 

9.  Back to Black – Amy Winehouse

8.  The Movers and the Shakers – Herbert

This song had me with the questioning of how Christian bones could orchestrate shock and awe.    

7.  Right in the Head – M. Ward

Finding this guy in double aught six was my favorite find of the year.  Sure there was Amy, but everyone had that, sure there was Built to Spill, but they also had been around forever.  M. Ward, who did have previous work, reached is apex, and I was glad I found him at that time rather than Supergroup time with Yim Yames and Colin Oberst. 

6.  Rehab – Amy Winehouse

Though her death isn’t nearly as tragic as MCA’s, it’s one of a few rock deaths that has bummed me out over the past few years.  We all saw it coming, but I was quite excited for that “next” Amy Winehouse album.   C’est dommage. 

5.  The Crane Wife 3 – The Decemberists

Just when I reach a point where I talk myself into “Los Angeles, I’m Yours” as being the best song of theirs, I hear this one. 

4.  Whoo! Alright-Yeah … Un Huh – The Rapture

This song blows me up and I love that feeling.  That’s probably most what I miss about jogging is being almost done with a run, and having a song like this come on thee ol’ ipod and make my hair stand up. 

3.  Square One – Tom Petty

The fact that one of Tom Petty’s best songs comes out 30 years after his debut album is one of the most magnificent feats I’ve ever seen in music.  Dylan in ’83?  Sounds terrible no?  Stones in 93?  Not so good.  Aerosmith nowadays … AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!  I still don’t think Steven Tyler could ever destroy “Sweet Emotion”, “Walk this Way”, “Dream On”, or “Back in the Saddle” though. 

2.  Conventional Wisdom – Built to Spill

The only one negative thing I can say about this song is that they didn’t play it when I saw them live.  It amazes me that a band could have a song this good in their arsenal and not play it at every single live show. 

1.  Crazy – Gnarls Barkley

Perhaps the most fun part of the whole “Crazy” phenomenon was the fact that so many bands would play it live randomly at their shows.  A great thing about certain songs is no matter what type of music fan you are, a great song transcends all of that, and this is the perfect example.  If you don’t like this song, you’re retarded and hate America.