Early to mid-February of the following year is probably way, way too late for a "Best of..." retrospective, but enough has kept me busy (or procrastinating) that it's only now that I finally started writing this look back at musical highlights and lowlights of 2006. I've been mulling this over for well over a month now (I've got an initial batch of notes dated January 4th), so I should have some sense now of what to pick.
As I've said in previous "Best of..." posts, a lot of what's here was not necessarily new in 2006, but new to me. And now, the music. Links, by the way, point to iTunes, so you can listen to samples, unless otherwise noted.
Favorite Albums
Musically and lyrically, Starfield is not nearly as refined as some other artists that made this list, but they're still a clear winner for my favorite album of the year. I first heard the album in late July, and no other has endured as long in my regular rotation. Favorite tracks: Great is the Lord, Unashamed, Captivate, Obsession
Above link goes to an official James Morrison podcast, since it seems Undiscovered won't arrive in the United States till this March. Update: Morrison's first single, "You Give Me Something," is available as the free download of the week over at iTunes until 02/13/07. I guess this guy is causing something of a stir in the UK, and people are calling him the male version of Joss Stone -- whatever that means. His music, influenced by the likes of Van Morrison and Stevie Wonder, has greater musical range than Stone, and his singing-- well, if you could ever say whooping cough did anything good, it would be giving James Morrison's voice its gravelly texture. Favorite tracks include "Better Man," "Under the Influence," "This Boy," and "Call the Police."
I was really, really hesitant to include Tenderfoot as a contender at all, since it was such a late entrant, having been downloaded from iTunes in late December. Even the concept sounds weird -- alt-country from Iceland? Yet somehow it works, and works beautifully. Lead singer Kalli's voice is gorgeous in songs like "Teardrops," and nearly heartbreaking in "Beautiful Son." Other standout tracks: Without Gravity, Waterfall, Moving on Backwards.
Honorable Mentions
Coming Up to Breathe, MercyMe; The Everglow, Mae; I Wish We All Could Win", The Afters; Out of Nothing", Embrace
Favorite Songs
1. Great is the Lord, Starfield
No surprise here, probably, given my list of favorite albums. This is unabashed worship music, with great lyrics and terrific soaring guitars.
2. Beautiful Son, Without Gravity
When I first heard "Beautiful Son" on Pandora, I stopped what I was doing and just listened. After it ended, I sat there a little stunned, taken in by Kalli's mournful refrain, "Where did you go? / What have you done? / My beautiful son / Where did you go? / What have I done?." This song holds the unusual distinction of being one of the five most played songs on my iPod in 2006, despite the fact that I downloaded it in early December.
3. Suspension, Mae
The Everglow is a great album, and it was hard weeding it out as a favorite for 2006. "Suspension" is easily my favorite song on the album.
4. Someday, Embrace
5. Better Man, James Morrison
6. Civilian Affairs, Cross Movement
7. Captivate, Starfield
8. The Scientist, Natasha Bedingfield covering Coldplay
9. Call It Clear, Halloween, Alaska (iTunes has it marked as explicit, but it's not)
10. Something About You, MercyMe
Favorite Surprises
1. The Scientist, Natasha Bedingfield covering Coldplay
Link is to a video of her performing the cover. This will sound like blasphemy to Coldplay lovers, but I like Natasha's version better than the original. I'm not a huge fan of Bedingfield, and I think she does err toward histrionics a little in this song, but it's still a really good cover.
2. Lord Give Me a Sign, DMX
My brother and I got a good laugh a couple years ago when DMX said he was leaving the music industry to spend more time with his family and his church. This from the guy who has an album cover of himself drenched in pig's blood. Judging just from the titles of the other tracks on Year of the Dog ... Again (which is the second or third album since his "retirement"), DMX hasn't changed much. That said, "Lord Give Me a Sign" is a remarkably good, gospel-infused track with clean lyrics, and is genuinely inspirational. Certainly not the most theologically-deep music out there, but (perhaps, sadly) on par with most contemporary Christian music.
3. "The Life of Chris Gaines," Chris Gaines (aka Garth Brooks)
Link is to Amazon. (Garth Brooks isn't on iTunes? Odd.) There seems to be a generally negative reaction to this alter ego project by Garth Brooks, who wanted to put aside the country and try some alt-rock. I finally got around to giving it a listen and -- it's not that bad. Actually, some of it is pretty good. It's certainly typical adult soft rock (and I'm a little embarassed that I admit to listening to that -- I must be getting old). Favorite tracks are "That's the Way I Remember It," the Babyface-like "Lost in You," and "It Doesn't Matter to the Sun."
Favorite Soundtrack
Battlestar Galactica, Season 2, Bear McCreary
I've given up telling people this show is the best on television because, as of Season 3, it's gotten all weird (with the Cylon baseship thread) and somehow managed to make many of our human heros unlikable. Season 2, on the other hand, was awesome, as was the music. Favorite tracks are "Allegro" and "Prelude to War," which -- between its frenetic strings and tribal drums -- was one heck of an action cue for the great showdown between Galactica and Pegasus.
The Milli Vanilli "What was I Thinking?" Award
These are the artists and albums which I bought, and after multiple listens, wondered how I could have better spent the money.
The Invitation, Thirteen Senses - I tried to like them. I really did. This is yet another Coldplay-esque British band. They're not bad, really, but after a listen, there's nothing really memorable.
On the Ropes, Mint Royale - Based on one track of theirs I liked ("Show Me"), I downloaded a few tracks off of this album. It's upbeat stuff that would work great as part of the soundtrack to "Robots." And nowhere else, really.
Emerson Drive, Emerson Drive - A couple listens on Pandora had me convinced that this was pretty good country music. After some more listens, it's kinda bland.
Heroes and Villains, Paloalto - Meh.
Favorite Lyric
"I reckon I'd say so sometime / My delicate slip of sunshine"
From Halloween Alaska's "Call It Clear." Say that out loud. The alliteration slides like silk off your tongue.
Worst Lyric
"Butt"
From Lonestar's Mountains. This is actually a pretty good song about overcoming adversity and long odds, and has some decent lyrics throughout. However, on the bridge, as the song reaches its climax, Lonestar drops the word "butt" (to rhyme with "get on up"), and it totally deflates the entire song. What a waste.
