The Best Songs of 2006

It wasn't the most cheerful year, what with the world going to shit and all. Disillusionment, urgency, and confrontation seemed to underline many song themes while other artists chose to escape the fray altogether to craft sparkling pop and dance-floor bangers. As a result, 2006 delivered what is possibly some of the decade's best music.

30. Beautiful Alarms - Wilderness
Wilderness use tribal drums and circular gestures to paint primitive pictures of landscapes and legends. This is insular stuff and the vocals are challenging, but looking deeper reveals an epic story.

29. 45:33 - LCD Soundsystem
By looking at his physique, you wouldn't think James Murphy is an avid runner, but this Nike-commissioned track shows he's got it down to a science. 45:33 synchronizes with a runner's (or dancer's) rhythm, keeping a steady clip while easing through the ebb and flow of an urban hustle via soulful house and brash synth.

28. All Hands and The Cook - The Walkmen
Urgent and tense, from inside a bombed-out cathedral with only the organ intact, frontman Hamilton Leithauser blasts his voice to signal an air-raid that never comes.

27. Farewell - Boris  
Whoah, duuuude. *cough cough* This is like, Japanese, an' shit.

26. Poison Cup - M.Ward
An empty bottle of Jim Beam on a dusty wood-plank floor. The smoky drawl of a lovelorn Southerner never sounded so good.

25. Consolation Prizes - Phoenix
Elastic euro-pop that bounces like a bright-red Superball down the sidewalk. But with just enough jangle to go with its jingle with lines like, "Spit out your lies & chewing gum".

24. Thursday - Asobi Seksu
Whirling shoegaze guitar and twee vocals from frontwoman, Yuki Chikudate, wake you gently on Thursday and sweep you away in a pink snowstorm.

23. Silent Places- Baby Dayliner
Although there's no new ground being broken here (crooning Morrisey vocals, new-wave guitar, soaring synth strings), this track by a one-man band can easily incite a rollicking Hacienda dance party.

22. Smash Your Head - Girl Talk
Greg Gillis stole your older brother's mixtapes and your younger sister's iPod and--with an alchemist's touch--crafted a pilferrific blowout. Biggie Smalls, meet Elton John.

21. Promiscuous - Nelly Furtado feat. Timbaland
20. SexyBack - Justin Timberlake
Timbaland has become a pop juggernaut by sticking to his winning formula of combining top talent (Nelly Furtado, Jay-Z, JT, Missy Elliot) with his signature style (stuttering bass bombs, hi-fi synth stabs, and his own deep murmur). These are really Timbo's songs (feat. the Respective Artist), and getting pop superstars to fill in for sampled vocals further attests to his brilliance as a hitmaker.

19. All Fires - Swan Lake
Supergroups always run into the challenge of having distinct styles compete with each other. Swan Lake solve this by letting each songwriter shine with their own song, in equal measure. Though the presence of Carey Mercer and Dan Bejar is audible, All Fires belongs to Spencer Krug (Wolf Parade, Sunset Rubdown), his strident keyboards and cryptic lyrics involving family and lovers left intact.

18. Your Kisses Are Wasted On Me - The Pipettes
Plucky polka-dotted girl group a la Phil Spector makes for a major crush x 3.

17. Ageing Had Never Been His Friend - Love is All
Sharp indie-pop; dance punk with saxamaphones; the IVAR shelving system. Is there anything the Swedes can't do?

16. Knife - Grizzly Bear
Lush layers of haunting echoes and percussion balanced by sweet harmonies and clean guitar. Be sure to also check out the stripped-down half-drunk version here.


Check out the following day's post for the Top 15...