The (Very) Best Songs of 2006

Here we go with the my list toppers. Or see my previous post for 30 through 15.

15. Cheated Hearts - Yeah Yeah Yeahs  
The YYYs have filed down some of their edges, but countered that by sharpening their production and songwriting. Karen O puts a leash on her histrionics allowing guitarist, Nick Zinner, to take the spotlight with his haywire licks.

14. Whoo! Alright! Yeah ... Uh Huh - The Rapture
You wanted more cowbell, well you got it, buster. WAYUH is one of the most fun dance tracks of the year, and commendable in its critique of hipster posturing: "People don't dance no more, they just stand there like this. They cross their arms, and stare you down and drink and moan and diss."

13. Let's Make Love and Listen to Death From Above - CSS  
Brazilian grrrl group (plus a token male) take all the right cues from Le Tigre, Karen O, and MIA to combine funky bass, dance punk, and--to simulate a DFA 1979 cameo--metallic bass riffs.

12. Van Helsing Boombox - Man Man
Jaunty like a carny's crooked smile, this ragtime romp is the perfect accompaniment to a tumbler full of rye. FYI they use pots and pans on stage...how fucking cool is that.

11. Boy from School - Hot Chip
Perhaps one of the only ballads you can dance to.

10. Postcards from Italy - Beirut
Horn section plus ukulele is the new -fill in the blank with something rad-.

9. Funeral - Band of Horses
An elegiac beard-rocker that alternates from weepy nostalgia to a raucous Irish wake.

8. Sunset Rubdown - Stadiums and Shrines II
Melodic guitar and crashing cymbals play off the best of Spencer Krug: romantic lyrics, strained vocals, and pulsing keyboards. Think Wolf Parade's "I'll Believe in Anything" with more of Krug's melancholy and less of Dan Boeckner's swagger.

7. In the Morning - Junior Boys
Cold arpeggiated blips, thick with sexy basslines, but easy on the bombast. The kind of music Timbaland would make if he were from Canada.

6. My Love - Justin Timberlake featuring T.I.
"My Love" is fascinating in its contradictions: a castrato falsetto so brazen that it's ballsy; ridiculously saccharine lyrics that somehow get you singing along; and a white-bread Southerner that manages to channel the soul of a black Michael Jackson. The only thing that's not a surprise is the virtuosity of Timbaland's galactic beats.

5. Wolf Like Me - TV On The Radio
A propulsive rally cry, fists raised, "Wolf Like Me" is the climactic scene in the epic that is Return to Cookie Mountain. This, along with "Staring at the Sun", will be viewed amongst the milestones of Post-rock.

4. Star Witness - Neko Case
"Star Witness" showcases Case's masterful storytelling as her golden voice opens even the most stolid ears and floods them with sepia-soaked Americana. Beyond her country croon, it's her cadence and poetic sensibilities that enchant, especially when she strings together gems like this: "Nickels and dimes of the Fourth of July, Roll off in a crooked line, To the chain-link lots where the red tails dive, Oh how I forgot what it's like".

3. Crazy - Gnarls Barkley
This year's "Hey Ya", a song that everyone liked regardless of what scene they were attached to, Crazy's genre-melting retro cool accelerated it up the charts where it reached its saturation point more quickly than I would have liked. Danger Mouse's wayward production combined with Cee-Lo Green's soulful stylings excited music listeners by sounding both new and old.

2. The Greatest - Cat Power
This first track off her album of the same name leads old fans into new territory while welcoming in the uninitiated. Chan Marshall's breathy voice is still there, gorgeous as ever, but the brooding singularity of her earlier work has been replaced with a more sweeping and accessible songcraft, marked by languid drumming, weeping strings, and Memphis blues. It's the most heartbreaking, smouldering, and beautiful song of the year.

1. Young Folks (featuring Victoria Bergsman) - Peter Bjorn and John
Dancing uncontrollably with friends to your favorite song; Having a conversation with someone that's so natural, the party around you fades away: These are times when you forget about acting cool and just enjoy the moment (which, ironically, is when you're at your coolest). "Young Folks" captures that carefree feeling with bongos, maracas, and an irresistible whistle, while Bergsman's pouty voice represents the ennui that is being left behind. It's crystalline indie pop that releases people from their poses and gets them out dancing with everyone else.


Here's to 2006, a brilliant year for music. Established artists continued to push their sound in new directions, forcing music media to reassess the invented genres with which they had previously labelled them. And new bands avoided being overshadowed by their own hype by simply making great music.

From the brooding and serious, to the light and lively, there were so many good songs that I couldn't keep track of them all, which makes me all the more excited to go and explore everyone else's best-of lists.