My favorite CDs of 2006

When I decided I wanted to do a best-of-the-year list for cds, I had to admit that I don't listen to albums the way I used to - obsessing over a record for weeks, savoring the process of the music changing from new and different to familiar and comforting, puzzling over lyrics.  Albums don't become part of my life the way they used to, due to a lack of time to listen, and the fact that much of my listening is done on my mp3 player.  I listen to an album 3 or 4 times, select the best tracks for my player (I think of this as "fileting"), and rarely listen to the original album again. 

But this change in listening gives me a way to compile a best-of list.  Instead of going over all the albums I've listened to and sweating over whether this one or that one makes the cut, I just asked - what 2006 albums have the most tracks on my mp3 player?  What have I picked the most tracks from, and not got tired of enough to remove?  Never mind what's cool or critically acclaimed - here's the music I listened to most, apparently, arranged in a rough ascending order of preference:

12.  Picking the Decemberists may make me seem hipper than I actually am. But this record reminds me of the new wave days  of the late 1970's and early 1980's (yes, I'm old), when Talking Heads were my favorite band, and the idea that a band could be intellectual and visceral at the same time seemed unusual. 

11. Indie-pop that actually has the some of the qualities of pop music - catchy hooks, good singing, a sense of forward momentum.  Good for driving, or for something toe-tapping when doing household chores.

10.  For once, B&S don't seem too fey and wispy.  This is bolder, more assertive than classic B&S, but still hook-filled and beautifully arranged.  The kind of music that should get played on the radio all the time, but doesn't.

8 & 9.  Two of the best female singer
-songwriters bring a set of smart,

closely observed, somewhat morose songs to producer John Leventhal, who creates dazzling soundscapes that are highly produced, yet rooted enough in folk and acoustic music to avoid seeming cold.  I'm not saying they're the same album, but if you like one, you'll like the other.  For some reason, they are filed in different sections in the record store.

7.  Not quite as good as Rabbit Songs or Eveningland - the use of drums on most tracks make them seem more like a regular country rock band, rather than eccentric purveyors of ethereal Americana.  But it's still gorgeous, the songs are good, and Sally Ellyson as a singer is just amazing.  I recommend seeing them live.  The records can overdo the overdubs of strings and steel guitars, but stripped to 3 instrumentalists and Sally, the songs stand up stronger and deeper.

6. Good to hear Ray working at such a high level, delivering first-rate songs with terrific sounding arrangements.  The Who reunion album got tons more attention than this, but Davies is the British Invasion dude who made an album worth hearing.

5.  Odd & fascinating.  Buckner's folk-rock has the feel of outsider art, hand-made and enigmatic, and he's got a low, burred voice that gets under my skin (in a good way).  In fact, just typing his name makes me hear it, urgent and yearning.  I saw a good concert with Buckner this year, backed only with Guided by Voices guitarist Doug Gillard.   Recommended, if you can catch him.

4. You'll find this in the record store's jazz section, but really it's the soul music album of the year.  Guitars by Mark Ribot are the icing.

3. The perfect example of collaboration - two artists bringing the best out of each other, and making music they couldn't make alone.  The first Costello project I've been excited about for years. 

2.  Sings like Patsy Cline, writes as well as she sings, has a great band.  I now have all of Neko's albums, and recommend them all, but this is a big leap for her as an artist.  It's amazon.com's album of the year, and is close to being mine.

1.  Americana played with joy and youthful exuberance, by a young Dylan-inspired multi-instrument-playing singer-songwriter who could wipe his feet on the sensitive male singer-songwriters clogging the radio.  The production by Steve Berlin of Los Lobos is vibrant and alive - so how come the newest Los Lobos album sounds like sludge?  Just asking.