aww, dude, there is so much metal near the top of the list... you have to be stopped...

I got my tickets to Lake City. Be there from the wednesday after xmas (late) until the wednesday after new years (late). Plan fun stuff. can't wait to see you guys.

i agree with z about the metal

thank you bethany. you are a woman of taste.

06 was an awesome year for metal. Bad for pop music. Awful for hip hop and electronica. On the other hand, I could just be extremely cranky now, which would explain it.

2005 was also a great year for Metal if where counting. I think it will be the next driving force in rock. I returned to it about 4 years ago after swearing it off after middle school. People are tired of indie rock that doesn't rock. If you have been out of the loop for a while I highly recommend High on Fires release from a few years ago Surrounded by Thieves--amazing. I was a bit sad to not see Blood Mountain on your list, it is not without it's missteps, but what a feat!

Love the Metal, There will be even more next year. It's because the world is cranky.

I had #65 down to Emily Haines and Mastodon. The first two tracks of the Emily Haines were the tiebreaker.

A couple of those Mastodon tracks, would break anything. Anyway, if you want to go see Mastodon and Converge in the mainroom let me know. I will be going.

Oh man, Jane Doe-era Converge is tough to beat.

Unless you are Through Silver In Blood-era Neurosis

\m/

i'm not going to pretend I don't want something to rock a bit, but metal? come on.

i no longer follow these types of music that closely, but my meager 2 cents:
BPB was my favorite song-based album of the year. i haven't gotten that deep into a set of songs in a long time. and i'm still nestling in, good luck ever getting to the bottom of that one.
no sense in disputing joanna newsom since she divides crowds like moses parted the red sea (i'm mostly anti-JN except the lst song on MEM), but you thought she was 60 albums better than cat power? and no josephine foster?
don caballero? that album was so one-dimensional, lacking the textures that used to complement their rhythm. why aren't zebulon pike blowing up? so good. they need a publicist.

Josephine Foster's worst album, a collection of traditional german folk songs, sorry, not on the list. It was barely an album at 7 songs, anyway. I can't quite see how somebody could like Foster but not understand Newsom. You need to listen to that Don Cab again. Shallow it is not. You can't deny it doesn't sound fuller and denser than their lower quality recordings from the mid 90s. Bonnie Prince Billie's record was nearly ruined by the singer from Faun Fables, who is Joanna Newsom without musical depth.

with regards to josephine foster: if you are going to make an album of german folk songs, you might want to learn how to pronounce german first.

Maybe it's Chicagoan german? They're not so hot at english, either.

There is a type of german that they teach opera singers who don't really speak german. I think that's what she's using. I doesn't work well in folk singing (or opera for that matter, but you aren't supposed to be able to understand that).

Yay, four overlaps with my list (I think). (That Call of Mastodon's an olde album right? Isn't it Blood Mountain what should be there?)

I actually thought the Gnarls Barkley was the most overrated record of the year (which is why I'm not surprised it's so low in your list). Not because I am a backlash slut, but because it's just kinda boring.

Yeah I agree that the Gnarls Barkley was mostly weak. It made the list on the strength of only three songs, and was helped by a lack of noteworthy 06 albums. I noticed there wasn't much overlap on your list. We'll have to do something about that.