The Listen

2006 was a year of some really great albums (especially by some women), but a lot of over-hyped ones as well.  We’ve sifted through them and these are the albums we think are worthy of your hard earned money.  They made our lives better and we think they will make yours too.

Top 10 Albums of 2006 (Really Top 17):

1. M. Ward- Post-War
2. Jenny Lewis with The Watson Twins- Rabbit Fur Coat
3. Rodrigo Y Gabriela- Rodrigo Y Gabriela
4. Damien Rice- 9
5. Tapes N Tapes- The Loon
6. The Raconteurs- Broken Boy Soldiers
T- 7. Gnarls Barkley- St. Elsewhere
    7. Neko Case- Fox Confessor Brings The Flood
    7. Midlake- The Trials of Van Occupanther
T- 8. Editors- The Back Room
    8. The Decemberists- The Crane Wife
T- 9. Cat Power- The Greatest
    9. Belle & Sebastian- The Life Pursuit
    9. Sonic Youth- Rather Ripped
    9. The Rapture- Pieces Of The People We Love
T- 10. Joseph Arthur- Nuclear Daydream
    10. Ben Kweller- Ben Kweller

Other Albums Receiving Votes: Artic Monkeys- Whatever People Say I Am, I Am Not, Beck- The Information, Bernard Fanning- Tea & Sympathy, Mogwai- Mr. Beast, The Boy Least Likely To- The Best Party Ever, The Grates- Gravity Won’t Get You High, Tilly & the Wall- Bottoms of Barrells.

Top Singles of 2006 (in no particular order):

• "Young Folks"- Peter Bjorn & John
• "Get Myself Into It"- The Rapture
• "LDN"- Lily Allen
• "Trains To Brazil"- Guillemots
• "Be Gentle With Me"- The Boy Least Likely To
• "Crazy"- Gnarls Barkley
• "F*#k Forever"- Babyshambles
• "Also Ran"- French Kicks
• "Munich"- Editors
• "i bet you look good on the dancefloor"- artic monkeys
• "Sciene is Golden"- The Grates
• "Awoo"- The Hidden Cameras
• "The Greatest"- Cat Power
• "You Are What You Love"- Jenny Lewis with The Watson Twins
• "Chinese Translation"- M. Ward
• "Burning"- The Whitest Boy Alive
• "Multiply"- Jamie Lidell
• "The Animals Were Gone"- Damien Rice
• "Star Witness"- Neko Case
• "Over and Over"- Hot Chip
• "Enough To Get Away"- Joseph Arthur
• "Steady As She Goes"- The Racontuers
• "Lazy Eye"- Silversun Pickups
• "Salvador"- Jamie T
• "Giver"- Patrick Watson
• "Knife"- Grizzly Bear
• "We Used To Vacation"- Cold War Kids
• "The Morons Are Winning"- The Awkward Stage
• "Bad Education"- Tilly & The Wall

Click here to listen to some of these singles.

Top Shows We Attended in 2006 (in no particular order):

• Jenny Lewis with The Watson Twins @ The Vista Theater
• Damien Rice @ The Orpheum
• Radiohead @ The Greek
• Wolf Parade @ The El Rey
• The Boy Least Likely To @ The Roxy
• Rodrigo Y Gabriela @ The Echo
• Devotchka @ The Troubadour
• Lily Allen @ The Troubadour
• Editors @ Cinespace
• The Grates @ Spaceland
• Ben Lee @ The Silent Movie Theater
• M. Ward @ The Henry Fonda
• The Go! Team @ Coachella
• Stars @ Avalon
• Bloc Party, Broken Social Scene, & Mew @ The Greek
• Ray LaMontagne @ The Troubadour
• Modest Mouse @ The Wiltern

Click here to read reviews of a few of these shows.

As we say goodbye to 2006, we look to 2007.  It is already shaping up to be a pretty awesome year in music with releases from Lily Allen, The Shins, Modest Mouse, and Bloc Party to name a few.  We here at The Listen thank 2006 for its music contributions.

Happy New Year!