2006 was an interesting year for music.  I’ve read a lot of “Best of” lists at the end of the year, and it startled me how diverse they all are this year.  In fact, I think you’d have a hard time finding two lists that feature four of the same albums in their respective top tens.  After many, many hours spent listening to to music while traveling and checking out recommendations from other sites, I feel comfortable saying that these twenty albums were my favorite of 2006.

20. 

Lily Allen – Alright, Still

This is one of those rare albums in which half the songs would fit right on on pop radio and actually happens to be deserving of it.  Unfortunately, she didn’t really get too well known to anyone outside of the non-hipster crowd for some reason.  While most female pop artists only sing about how bad they want to sleep with you, Lily sings about why she won’t.  Maybe that’s what’s holding her back, I don’t know.  Either way, this debut from a woman who was discovered off of MySpace is pretty solid.

19.

Camera Obscura – Let’s Get Out of the Country

These guys created a really great album of poppy tunes that sound like they deserve to be played on both an indie rock station and an oldies station.  The music is so catchy and the album has a real classic feel to it throughout.

18.

Beck – The Information

Beck is among a very small list of modern day musical “geniuses” who still create quality, relevant material.  The man has covered just about every genre you can think of, and his latest album somehow fuses his past works together to create a really solid album.  If it weren’t for a few sloppy songs in the second half I’d rank this one even higher. 

17.

Band of Horses – Everything All the Time

I’ll be the first to admit that I didn’t quite understand the hype behind these guys at first.  People kept saying they were a cross between My Morning Jacket and The Shins yet I just found them to be a little on the bland side.  This one really grew on me, though, and I think I realized after seeing them live just how good so many of the songs on this album are. 

16.

Shearwater – Palo Santo

Shearwater is a side project of Okkervil River’s Will Sheff and, after listening to this album a bunch this year, I think I may like Shearwater even better than Sheff’s original band. 

15.

Destroyer –Rubies

Despite Dan Bejar being my least favorite New Pornographer vocalist, I still pull for his regular band, Destroyer, to succeed.  Though his voice is quirky and quite polarizing, this is one undeniably quality album with lyrics that are second to none.

14.

Regina Spektor – Begin to Hope

Regina Spektor reminds me of what Tori Amos would sound like if you added a little more flavor to her music.  Her latest album, her most accessible to date, is a very diverse collection of songs that will stay in your head for a while.  I’d never really gotten into her stuff much before, but I’m definitely a fan after listening to this one.

13.

Cat Power – The Greatest

There’s not a whole lot to say about Chan Marshall that hasn’t been said before.  Her voice might be one of the most recognizable in music, and I personally love it.  The Greatest finds the artist known as Cat Power, a woman who has battled both personal demons and insecurity, with a new level of confidence.  It’s her most upbeat album yet.

12.

Archie Bronson Outfit – Derdang Derdang

Singer Sam Windett might have one of the worst voices I’ve yet to hear in a rock band.  He tries, though, and when you back his yelping with a band as tight and rocking as this it doesn’t really matter all that much.  It’s pretty powerful stuff.

11.

The Strokes - First Impressions of Earth

It’s funny to me how this is the only album by The Strokes I’ve ever really, really liked even though “true” fans argued that they’ve gone downhill since their first one.  This is the first album where they start showing a little passion with their music instead of sounding like they were able to fall asleep while playing their instruments or singing.  They’ve talked in interviews how they wanted to turn it up a notch, and I am really glad they did.

10.

Built to Spill – You in Reverse

Another solid album from Doug Martsch and company.  It’s not as polished as Keep it Like a Secret  and not as meandering as some of their others.  Instead, they found a middle ground and it sounds great.

9.

Joanna Newsom – Ys

If someone were were tell me that one of my favorite albums of the year would be by a female singer with a quirky voice who sings ten-plus minute songs while playing the harp I would have punched them in the throat.  Lo and behold, it ended up being the case.  Listening to Ms. Newsom is an acquired taste, and I definitely had to listen to it a few times before the melodies began to unfold.  Once they did, the result was very satisfying. 

8.

Snowglobe - Oxytocin

I’m really pretty surprised that not one “best of” list I’ve seen has mentioned this album among their favorites.  These guys sound like a cross between Neutral Milk Hotel, The Boy Least Likely To, and some really catchy pop band.  It’s a great album to listen to on the road, as well. 

7.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Show Your Bones

Some people criticize the Yeah Yeah Yeahs for shifting their sound so dramatically from their debut.  I personally think it was a great move, in many ways for the same reasons I liked the shift The Strokes made in their sound this year.  Frontwoman Karen O pretty much set out to make herself a Blondie record, and it rocks pretty darn hard.

6.

Mew – And the Glass Handed Kites

This album must be played in its entirety from beginning to end to be fully appreciated.  I don’t think there’s a single song that could make it on the radio yet the whole thing is really excellent.  They’ve been categorized as dream pop/post-punk music, but I think their sound is a little too epic and dense to be confined to just that.  Either way, it’s good stuff.

5.

Malajube – Tromp-L’Oeil

This French-Canadian band is easily my favorite new band to break out this year.  The vocals are excellent (even though they’re sung in French) and they really rock out hard.  After hearing “Le Crabe” and “La Monogamie” (songs 4 and 5, respectively) in a row, you can’t help but think that these guys would be incredible live.  Really just an amazing debut.

4.

Neil Young - Living With War

I think it’s impossible to be a music fan and not love Neil.  He’s done a lot in his day, but this time he manages to create a protest album that ends up being a very patriotic statement.  In a time when our president has attempted to brainwash us into thinking that if we disagree then we don’t love our country, it’s impressive to hear Neil plug in his guitar and sing some great songs about the state of our country.  The amazing thing about this album is that, once it’s over, you find yourself loving your country even more than you did before. 

3.

Belle and Sebastian – The Life Pursuit

These guys tried switching up their drab, dreary sound that they’ve been known for by creating an upbeat sound on their last album.  I, for one, loathed their last album, though.  This time around, they’ve perfected the upbeat sound they’ve shifted towards and it works like a charm.  The melodies are great, the music is upbeat, and the band really has never sounded better.  I once preferred their earlier stuff because it all sounded like it could fit perfectly in a Wes Andersen film.  I must say, I think I prefer this version of them more now.

2.

The Decemberists – The Crane Wife

When I first heard that The Decemberists were going to make an album consisting primarily of progressive folk music, I was obviously bracing for something pretty bad.  This is The Decemberists, though.  They’re a band that doesn’t seem to know how to create anything bad.  Although they scaled down some of the grand sound from their previous album, this is still one fantastic collection of songs.  In fact, I think it could be their best yet.

1.

The Frames – The Cost

Technically, I’m cheating a bit by including this on my 2006 list.  This album was released overseas back in October but isn’t scheduled to be released in the U.S. until February of 2007.  Either way, it WAS released this year and I feel obligated to put it at the top of the list.  The new album by The Frames is flat out incredible.  I’m anxious to see if critics agree with me.  My interest in The Frames has been spotty over the years due to the fact that some of their stuff is just too boring and slow.  The new one, though, captures the excitement of their live shows and the result is really quite amazing.  I knew this was the best album I’d heard all year the first time I listened to it, and I still feel the same after listening to it countless numbers of times.