Tuesday, January 02, 2007

Top Songs of 2006.

UPDATE: Links for the top 20 now posted.

First of all, Happy New Year to everyone out there! 2006 was a great year for power pop, and I'll ring it out with my final year-end list: the top songs of 2006. Even if many of these weren't the purest, most ambitious expressions of songcraft out there, they were tracks I enjoyed the most. Favorite songs ebb and flow throughout the year, so I'm not going to rank them in order; instead, I'll list my 20 favorite in alphabetical order and list quite a few honorable mentions thereafter. And yes, my eligibility requirements are a lot more lax than on the top 100 album list, so that explains the Pop Is Art track.

Absolute Powerpop's Favorite Songs of 2006:

"All Dressed Up"-The Yayhoos (listen)
"All My Rivals"-Chris Brown (mp3)
"Always Almost"-Mark McAdam (mp3)
"Asking Annie Out"-Willie Nile (listen)
"Blue Sky"-Supraluxe (listen)
"Chatterbox"-David Mead (sample)
"Comin' Around"-Bob Evans (listen)
"Did You See Her Dance"-Rob Laufer (listen, but use IE, not Firefox)
"Don't Let It Go"-L.E.O. (listen)
"Friend"-Bob Evans (listen)
"Help Me Suzanne"-Rhett Miller (sample)
"I Don't Feel Like Dancin'"-Scissor Sisters (sample)
"Inches and Falling"-The Format (sample)
"Louisville"-The Damnwells (listen)
"Love Sweet Love"-Supraluxe (listen)
"River to Ocean"-Phil Ayoub (listen)
"Smile!"-Pop Is Art (listen)
"Something to Hide"-Tommi Zender (mp3)
"The Way It Goes"-Paper Airplane Pilots (mp3)
"We're #1"-The World Record (listen)

Honorable Mentions (in artist alpha order):
"Sunflower", "For Dear Life", "Spotlight"-Andrew LeDrew
"Crank It Out"-Ari Shine
"Something Must Be Wrong"-Arthur Yoria
"Sadness & Whiskey"-Bob Evans
"By The Window"-Bryan Estepa
"Heart Don't Say"-Buva
"Done So Secretly"-Champagne Francis
"O Claire"-Cheap Trick
"Slave No More"-Chris LeDrew
"Bigger They Are The Harder They Fall"-Chris Murphy
"Good Morning Radio"-Codaphonic
"The Royal Standard"-Corin Ashley
"Myopic Day"-Craig Bartock
"I am a Leaver"-The Damnwells
"Cricket Scores"-Dave Stoops
"Hard to Remember"-David Mead
"Satellites"-David William
"Vespa Girl"-David Wolfenberger
"Somebody Leave The Lights On"-Don DiLego
"Feel for You"-Doug Powell
"Feet on the Ground"-Edmund's Crown
"Shattered (You Left Me)"-Exploding Hearts
"Kettle's On", "Fill My Little World"-The Feeling
"I'm Actual", "Time Bomb"-The Format
"Curded Wheys"-Fresh Mowed Lawn
"She's an Elevator"-Galore
"The Coast Is Clear"-Gary Henson
"So I'm Writing"-Geoff Smith & The Tonewheels
"Bric-a-Brac"-Grapeland
"Kissy Kissy (New York City)"-Greg Hoy
"Already All Ready"-Grey Does Matter
"One Man Wrecking Machine"-Guster
"Talking to Lisa"-Hotel Lights
"You Remind Me of the Sun", "Southaways"-Jeff Larson
"Angelita"-Jon Auer
"It Looks Like Love"-Josh Rouse
"This Is What We Are"-The Junior League
"On The Wind"-Kenny Roby
"Goodbye Innocence"-L.E.O.
"Eye Eye", "Me and Barbara Stanwyck"-The Lolas
"Two in a Million"-The Mains
"I'm Okay"-The Mellowmen
"Rat's Alley"-The Mendoza Line
"She Arrives"-Mike Elgert
"The Man In My Head"-Monkeeman
"Hard Luck", "Darkening Sky"-The Nines
"Bright Idea", "Downtown"-Orson
"Somerville", "Grudge F*** (2006)"-The Pernice Brothers
"I'm In Love (with Arthur Dove)", "You Blanks"-Portastatic
"V-Day", "Beauty Will Save The World"-Red Guitar
"My Valentine"-Rhett Miller
"Could It Be That Bad"-Rick Oliver
"On and On"-Ryan Calhoun
"A Good Day"-Ryan Coughlan
"Peter Shilton", "Chocolate"-The Sails
"Parachute"-Sean Lennon
"Acrobat Ache"-Shane Nicholson
"Lindbergh"-Skytone
"Fading Into Obscurity"-Sloan
"No Love 4 The Loser"-Spyderbaby
"You Were Looking"-Status Green
"Boyfriend"-Supraluxe
"Sara Jean"-The Sw!ms
"Lonely City", "Always Dragging Me Down"-Third Floor Story
"Never Knows Your Name"-Tide
"Tietze Park", "Four Pictures"-Travis Hopper
"Jr's Bag of Tricks"-Warren Zanes
"Roam"-The Yayhoos
"Tonight"-Yesen Damen

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I really enjoy reading this blog page and have you to thank for some exceptional musical discoveries last year, esp. Bob Evans.

However, I couldn't help but notice that Irving failed to crack the top 100 songs of 2006 list. Have you heard Situation from Death In The Garden? It's the kind of song The Dandy Warhols wish they could still write.

Keep up the fantastic work. I assure you your efforts are entirely appreciated. - Duponceau

Steve said...

I'm not familiar with them; I'll definitely check them out.