Best Albums of the Decade

Rather than be guided by the top-ten convention, I let the music be my muse for this list. Six albums stood out clearly from the pack, followed by nineteen albums that merited an honorable mention, for a total of twenty-five albums offered in two tiers and otherwise listed by release date. I believe the top six are, artistically, the highlights of the decade; the remainder of the list is made up of albums whose artistic merits I would gladly defend, but my connection to many of them is more personal. (Note: No artist could make the list more than once.)

Top Tier:
Kid A - Radiohead (2000)
Love and Theft - Bob Dylan (2001)
Yankee Hotel Foxtrot - Wilco (2002)
Funeral - Arcade Fire (2004)
Van Lear Rose - Loretta Lynn (2004)
Sound of Silver - LCD Soundsystem (2007)

Tier Two:
Gold - Ryan Adams (2001)
Vespertine - Bjork (2001)
A Rush of Blood to the Head - Coldplay (2002)
Turn on the Bright Lights - Interpol (2002)
Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots - Flaming Lips (2002)
Chutes Too Narrow - The Shins (2003)
Dear Catastrophe Waitress - Belle & Sebastian (2003)
Failer - Kathleen Edwards (2003)
Want One - Rufus Wainwright (2003)
Eveningland - Hem (2004)
Our Endless Numbered Days - Iron & Wine (2004)
Scissor Sisters - Scissor Sisters (2004)
Extraordinary Machine - Fiona Apple (2005)
I Am A Bird Now - Antony and the Johnsons (2005)
The Forgotten Arm - Aimee Mann (2005)
Black Cadillac - Rosanne Cash (2006)
Boxer - The National (2007)
The Con - Tegan and Sara (2007)
In Ghost Colours - Cut Copy (2008)

One Decade, One Disc--Sort Of

Looking for your best of 2009? Probably not, considering how infrequently I post and how little commentary I've made about music of late. Go get Grizzly Bear and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, that's my advice about 2009. Or just watch Bad Romance over and over until you know all the words and all the moves and all the outfits by heart. Not that I've done that...

Anyway, what I do have for you is a decade-spanning compilation. One song per year, though not necessarily from that year--the songs are all from this decade, and they're matched up to something that happened in a particular year. But of course, in recognition of the fact that blogging is really just navel-gazing, the things that happened, well, they happened to me. So if it doesn't all make sense, you can be forgiven for just listening to 10 pretty good songs and not trying to figure it all out. Enjoy!

Tracklist:
Take Your Mama Out - Scissor Sisters (2000)
New York, New York - Ryan Adams (2001)
Minneapolis - Lucinda Williams (2002)
Optimistic - Radiohead (2003)
Fistful of Love - Antony and the Johnsons (2004)
In the Backseat - Arcade Fire (2005)
Someone Great - LCD Soundsystem (2006)
Even If It Kills Me - Motion City Soundtrack (2007)
Call It Off - Tegan and Sara (2008)
31 Today - Aimee Mann (2009)

Want it? Click here.

Addendum

Change of mind: In Ghost Colours by Cut Copy is my favorite album of 2008.

So far this year it's Grizzly Bear and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, but we shall see...

If you're reading this and haven't been by the blog in a while, the Amazon reviews feed has some new stuff in it, including South of Broad by Pat Conroy, The Man Who Made Lists: Love, Death, Madness and the Creation of Roget's Thesaurus by Joshua Kendall, and Past Imperfect by Julian Fellowes.

Best Music, 2008

Every year I say a little less about music, don't I?

This year I'll keep it super short-and-sweet. My favorite album of the year? Robyn, by Robyn. No one is more surprised by this than me. I also loved @#%&*! Smilers by Aimee Mann, Oracular Spectacular by MGMT, Santogold by Santogold, and A Piece of What You Need by Teddy Thompson.

But the mix of songs I made for 2008 is what really sums the year up for me. Previous years saw a CD-only affair distributed to about five people, but in 2008 it's gone completely digital. No half-steps for me! You can download it here.

And here's a tracklist:
1. The Weepies - Can't Go Back Now
2. MGMT - Time to Pretend
3. Aimee Mann - Freeway
4. Santogold - L.E.S. Artistes
5. Alphabeat - Fascination
6. Robyn - Be Mine!
7. Cut Copy - Lights and Music
8. Wood Brothers - Buckets of Rain
9. Duffy - Rockferry
10. MGMT - Electric Feel
11. Aimee Mann - 31 Today
12. Martha Wainwright - Love is a Stranger
13. Santogold - I'm a Lady
14. Robyn - With Every Heartbeat
15. Teddy Thompson - Jonathan's Book
16. Sigur Ros - Gobbledigook
17. Nada Surf - See These Bones

Next year I'll write a haiku.

Best Music 2007

About a month ago, my friend Paul wrote about 2007 being a down year for music. I have to agree. I’ve been buying fewer CDs, and enjoying the ones I do buy less, than at any point I can remember. Part of this, I am sure, is my fault; I’m getting older, more set in my ways, and less willing to give new things a chance. But how to explain that I got plenty excited about a lot of songs, but not about very many albums? This is completely out of character for me. It makes me think that maybe, in an iPod world, musicians have stopped trying to make those other ten tracks on an album count. For people like me, who live for those ten tracks no one else ever hears, this is a major blow.

Still, there were a few albums this year that managed to rattle my cage. So, in no particular order, here are my top five of 2007. (Visit 3 Minutes, 49 Seconds for Paul's top ten.)

Arcade Fire: Neon Bible
If I listened to this album every day I think I would have driven off a cliff by now, but there’s no denying the power of Arcade Fire’s second full album. The lyrics and music capture the paranoia and fear of living in Bushworld ’07, a land of bogeymen propped up by liars competing with actual threats that pop up seemingly around every turn. The killer track is “Windowsill,” in which lead singer Win Butler concludes a long list of things he doesn’t want with the tear-inducing (for me, at least) words, “I don’t want to be an American no more.” For a man who considers the Constitution a holy document, them’s fightin’ words—but who can blame Butler?

The Shins: Wincing the Night Away
Even this gem wasn’t perfect enough for me—Chutes Too Narrow really had me expecting divinity—but “Australia” and “Phantom Limb” are so darn good and the connective tissue of the rest of the album is very strong. Also, give this enough spins and I think you’ll begin to suss out a theme!

Spoon: Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
Not the deepest title, is it? But for half an hour this is just one big happy rocker, and, like a large penis, that is always welcome. (That joke will make sense only to those who have watched Rome. But isn’t it true regardless?) Yet there are moments of depth, and this was one of two albums on the list to feature a song with minimal lyrics that absolutely mesmerized me: “It’s just my Japanese cigarette case / Bring a mirror to my face / Let all my memories be gone.” I’m no drug user, but who hasn’t had a day that made you feel like that?

Iron and Wine: The Shepherd’s Dog
Sam Beam continues to astonish me at every turn. To go from the whipering bard of his first album to this bold experimental work and not drop a single clunker along the way is no mean feat! Here he pulls out steel guitar and jazz piano and yet his whisper is still the star of the show. Tremendous.

LCD Soundsystem: Sound of Silver
I bought this on a whim because I remembered playing the last LCD Soundsystem album during a dinner party two years ago and finding that everyone seemed to dig it. Little did I know that James Murphy had concocted a meditation on growing up set to danceable beats. One song has only the following lyrics: “Sound of silver, talk to me/ Makes you want to feel like a teenager/ Until you remember the feelings of/ A real live emotional teenager/ Then you think again.” Madness—but so true!

A list of only five albums doesn’t mean I didn’t like anything else in 2007! Amy Winehouse made a fine album with a few transcendent cuts; I can only hope people who are waiting for her next album are giving Dusty Springfield a chance while they wait.

“Four Winds” by Bright Eyes just about puts tears in my eyes every time I hear it; this is what people were talking about when they called him the next Dylan back at the turn of the millennium.

Parts of the Modest Mouse album thrilled me, and I can’t help singing along to “Effect and Cause” at the end of the new White Stripes album. “Radio Nowhere” kicks off the new Springsteen album with a shot, and even after hearing it during the World Series about a thousand times I still like it.

Kelly Clarkson’s album flopped, but “Never Again” was filled with a gleaming rage that I just get. And another Idol alum, Elliott Yamin, made a pretty good album, too, that actually seemed to get the radio airplay it deserved. Take that, Taylor and Katherine! (And Jordin, and Blake, and...why am I still watching that show?)

Ryan Adams returned after more than a year without an album and delivered a strong one, though it did more to make me re-listen to all his old stuff than to get me to play it.

Oh, and Rufus Wainwright made an album that held my interest, at least for a while. I still can’t get enough of “Release the Stars,” in which I swear he slurs the lyric “So why not just release the gates and let them all come out?” so that you hear “release the gays.” What a joke on Hollywood in a year when letting the gays out was a big topic of conversation! Oh, and “Between my Legs” is so deliciously naughty and derivative of Phantom of the Opera to boot that I can’t help but recommend it.

What did I miss? Feel free to give me grief in the comments…

Best of the Rest, 2007

Traditionally this would be where I'd give you a list of my favorite music in a variety of categories. (Paul has the whole deal up on 3 Minutes, 49 Seconds.) But, as you'll see when you read the Best of 2007 post, this was no ordinary year. And so, I have but one recommendation to offer in this space this year. It's about my best concert experience--but you can share it with me, even though it took place way back in May.

It was my first time hearing Bernard Haitink conduct the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and the program was a doozy: Bruckner's 7th Symphony. I arrived excited to see Haitink, enthused about our seats (we'd finally made the switch from the upper balcony to the lower and expected a better view and better listening experience), and delighted with the piece about to be performed.

Wouldn't you know it? For once, I went into something with high hopes and was still completely blown away. Haitink had me at hello, and for almost 70 minutes I was enraptured. I've been going to more and more classical concerts every year since I moved back to Chicago in 2003, and over time I've had plenty of great experiences; I chronicled one transcendent night at Ravinia in 2006 and I can remember plenty of others (Marin Alsop's rendition of Tchaikovsky 4, Pierre Boulez's Mahler 7, Paavo Jarvi's night of two Concertos for Orchestra, one Bartok, the other Lutoslawski...). But on May 12 of this year, for the first time, something incredible happened.

I cried.

Those who know me know that I cry easily; the wrong song on the radio, or a sad ending to a movie or TV show, is all it takes. But at a concert? Of music that ostensibly has no set meaning?

And yet, when the piece drew to a close, there the tears were, in my eyes, welling up even through thunderous applause.

And why, you ask, do you care? Because for once, I can share my concert experience with you. The CSO has released a recording of that very performance. It's the second release on its new CSO Resound label, and the first to be released as a Super Audio CD. You can buy it here. I cannot promise that it will bring tears to your eyes, but if it does, you've been warned.

Dream Job

A Look Back at Jon Stewart's Greatest Gay Moments | AfterElton.com

The link above leads to a long article filled with clips from, as the headline says, the "greatest gay moments" on the Jon Stewart show. The banana episode is so funny even Stewart and then-correspondent Stephen Colbert can't control their laughter; I spent most of my time watching the collection in similar stitches.

The link also points to a larger theme of late. I've been realizing, while reading liveblogs of each new Nuke episode of As the World Turns, that AfterElton's team of writers and editors have one of my dream jobs.

I was contacted recently by the editor of a left-leaning publication, who said, "Saw your blog. I like the way you write. If you ever want to do anything for insert magazine here, give me a shout." Ever since, I've been pondering what I could write for this publication. But every topic I conceive is a better fit for AfterElton. Sure, I care about a lot of liberal causes--but I don't bring anything special to the table in writing about them.

But gays on television and in movies? Now that is something I know, something I care about. I've seen every Will & Grace, every Queer as Folk, every Six Feet Under, every Desperate Housewives, every Brothers & Sisters, every How I Met Your Mother (even before Neil Patrick Harris came out). I read The Advocate and Out. I have oodles of thoughts on what it means that Dumbledore is gay and the propriety of mentioning it after the books have all been published.

So, Michael Jensen, if you're reading, and you like what you see, give me a shout. Because you and your publication are living my dream.

UPDATE, 4:53: After I posted this, Michael went and posted something that sums up why I think the mission of his site is important (and thus why I would want to be a part of it):

BTW, Dennis Miller totally cracked me up when he commented, "I'm bored with people's sexuality. I don't care if Dumbledore is gay." Spoken like a straight man who can go to a movie any day and see straight people, can turn on the TV any night and see straight people, and can kiss his wife anywhere in the world without a second thought. Idiot.

Exactly.

Dig Doogie

Meet Mother Please | The New York Observer

In honor of Neil Patrick Harris being nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Emmy--well-deserved recognition for a guy whose hilarity is the glue holding the show together--I'm linking to the article above, which explains why you should be watching How I Met Your Mother. I hope it convinces you to rent the DVDs this summer and catch up with the only network sitcom I can be bothered to watch.

Oprah's On

Last night I did something I haven't done since college. I watched Oprah.

I had recorded the show to see Cormac McCarthy talk about The Road, but as luck would have it Michael Moore was also on the show, and I got to see several clips of Sicko. I'm paid not to like insurance companies very much, but Moore's argument that there is no place for a profit motive in health care should prove compelling to a lot of people.

Oprah's interview with McCarthy, however, wasn't very compelling. In fact, I was surprised to discover that for all her cultural primacy, Oprah isn't especially good at what she does. Her speech included several bizarre accents, as if she were reading from a teleprompter and didn't know the words she was reading. And the interview itself was quite odd. When McCarthy told Oprah that he hadn't minded being dirt poor for part of his life, and that he didn't care much how well his books sold, the billionaire striver in her seemed not to know what to do.

She also didn't really get into the book at all. I understand that she can't assume everyone watching has read it, but other than getting McCarthy to recollect a moment years ago that provided the impetus for his writing, Oprah pretty much left the book itself alone. She touched on a few themes, sure, but I would have liked to see McCarthy talk more about the levels on which it can be read. He also might have pushed her off the ledge of specificity; my reading of the book was that much of what went before and all of what comes after it are meant to be somewhat opaque. I am sure, though, that the movie version, already in the works, will insert all manner of detail and thus get the mood of the thing completely wrong.

In any case, despite her flaws as an interviewer I have to give Oprah credit. She may not be the best at discussing books, but she often makes bang-up choices. Her next pick, Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides, is one of my top ten books of the new millennium (along with The Corrections, another Oprah pick). If you haven't read it, now's the time!

Strike!

Last night before dinner I bowled a 235 game, shot four over par for nine holes, and beat a very strong opponent in tennis thanks to a solid backhand and skill at the net. And I did it all in the living room of my house.

As you've probably guessed, I got myself a Wii for my birthday. So far, it's the best $200 I've ever spent. (I was able to save $50 using a 20% off President's Day coupon which the cashier kindly pointed out as I bought one of the last consoles he had in stock only 40 minutes after calling at 8:30 Sunday morning and being told the store had enough to last well into the afternoon. Having tried seven other stores already, I knew better than to believe it.)

For me, the Wii is quite literally a dream come true; I've been trying to find a consistent tennis partner since I started playing the game with a wooden racket sometime in the late 1980s. My racket has gotten lighter over the years, and my quest for a playmate had been getting more difficult, but now the racket weighs almost nothing and the partner is available whenever I want. I am sure a more full-featured tennis game will come out for the Wii soon, but for now the Wii Sports version, which comes with the console, is keeping me occupied.

The Wii has also restored to me a pursuit I abandoned a few years ago due to smoke, noise, grease, and germs: bowling. Without the smokers, the disgusting rented shoes, and the general hell that is other people--especially the people at a bowling alley--bowling is actually a lot of fun. And when a round of golf doesn't cost more than a steak dinner and take longer than the Super Bowl, it can be a joy as well. We're spending a lot more time standing up--and running around--in front of an old tube TV and a lot less time in front of the flat screen HDTV right now. If you can find a Wii, buy it!

Oh, and don't expect as much content here for a while. I'll be trying to beat the new Zelda game.

Light Speed

DVR Users Skip Commercials, Right? Wrong - New York Times

I am sure there is truth to this article--for someone. But not in our house! The only time we let the commercials play during a prerecorded program is to get up and use the bathroom or clear the dishes. (Yes, we eat in front of the TV--doesn't every childless couple?) And the only time we watch something that isn't prerecorded on our DVR is...is...

OK, live sports (though sometimes we'll record it, go out to lunch or dinner or shopping, start watching an hour late, and finish on time). But otherwise, nothing. If I am aware of a commercial, it is because (a) it was on during a football game or tennis match, (b) I heard it while I was in the kitchen rinsing the dishes and loading them into the dishwasher, or (c) I sat and watched it while waiting for my viewing companion to return from the bathroom. You try watching Rome, Extras, Desperate Housewives, Brothers & Sisters, How I Met Your Mother, Studio 60, House, Boston Legal, American Idol, The O.C., Real Time with Bill Maher, and Meet the Press--plus five episodes of The Young and the Restless--each week and still find time for commercials!

I've Been Tagged

Via quite a meandering chain, I've been tagged to tell you five things you may not know about me--and tag five others to do so as well. So, Paul, Jon, James, Michele, and Zaki--you're it!

1. My favorite morning beverage is coffee--but I do not drink it. Since August I've had terrible bouts of heartburn, and eventually I realized that under the circumstances drinking coffee in the morning is very much like starting the day with a column of burning acid in my chest. But I still love the smell of brewing coffee!

2. I have put up the same Christmas tree every year since I was a boy. I bought it at Osco for $20 of hard-earned paper route money, and I still decorate it with the same ornaments and bead garland I've been using for almost 15 years. The lights, alas, have been changed a few times.

3. Before I became a staunch Democrat, my nickname was "Richard the Republican." This was in sixth grade, when I was probably the only person who even knew what a Republican was. (Though at the time I did not know that they ate babies and killed the poor in their sleep.) This folly lasted long enough that I even had a "Speaker Newt" placard on the wall of my first dorm room in college.

4. Speaking of politics, I also had an odd habit as a child of naming houseplants. This was important because I named one of them George Bush in 1991, during the Gulf War, when everyone loved him. Some time later, my mother ripped George from his pot with the cord of the vacuum cleaner--pity the fool who stands between her and a clean house! Quite soon thereafter, Bill Clinton became president. (Yes, I considered naming another plant George Bush and killing it in 2004.)

5. My life is one big sing along. When I am alone in the house or the car, I sing along with whatever music I'm playing--and often dance as well. I may refuse to bust a move at a wedding, but I am a freak in my own home.

Happy New Year!

Top Ten Albums of 2006

And here we have it: my picks for the ten best albums of 2006. Paul will have his picks up at 3 Minutes, 49 Seconds as well.

1. Teddy Thompson: Separate Ways
I’ve been raving about this album since the spring and still feel strongly about it. After discovering Teddy Thompson on the Brokeback Mountain soundtrack, I couldn’t wait to hear more of his music, and he obliged by releasing this album early in 2006. It’s filled with wry, dark lyrics and catchy music that is as appropriate to a drive with the windows down as a quiet evening at home. The best song on the album may be “I Wish It Was Over,” but I’ve never had that feeling listening to this one.

2. Belle and Sebastian: The Life Pursuit
It took a while for this album to grow on me after I bought it in February, but I am now thoroughly convinced of its majesty. It takes the good things about past B&S albums and turns up the volume and the rock. The result is endlessly entertaining, hyper-literate, and will stick in your head for months.


3. Scissor Sisters: Ta-Dah
This album is, in words lifted from it, a party that ain’t over ‘til it’s through. I have no idea how I have avoided a wreck while dancing and singing in my car. If “I Don’t Feel Like Dancin’” isn’t the song of 2006, I don’t know what could be; it protests against toe-tapping but is guaranteed to incite full-body motion. “Paul McCartney” is a riot, “Might Tell You Tonight” a very pretty but up-tempo falling-in-love song, and closer “Everybody Wants the Same Thing,” while quite vague, is sure to be played in heavy rotation at gay marriage rallies. A rough patch in the middle precludes ranking this number one, but nothing closes the deal more effectively.

4. Yeah Yeah Yeahs: Show Your Bones
Talk about defying expectations. While their debut album did lay a trail toward this one, the shifts are still shocking. The band took “Maps” and exploded the concept of the song into an album, with a remarkable centerpiece in “Cheated Hearts” and a closing song, “Turn Into,” that manages to make the guitar sound like it’s actually weeping. Slays me every time.

5. Rosanne Cash: Black Cadillac
While other albums on this year’s list toyed with sad, this one dives in and swims around in it. Writing in the wake of the death of her mother, stepmother, and father, Cash poured out her feelings about loss, pain, anguish, memory, and moving on, and the results are so tender yet tough that I found them inspiring in a year when death touched our house. If you reach the clip of baby Rosanne talking to her father at the end and don't tear up a bit, I'm not sure you're human.

6. Bob Dylan: Modern Times
You've been expecting this one, haven't you? Another latter-day masterwork from Bob, whose catalog since 1989 has been almost uniformly brilliant. Not number one because, well, I got more excited by some other discs this year, and this isn't quite as splendid to my ears as Love and Theft was. But that's judging Bob against himself. From the hip "Thunder on the Mountain" to the soulful "When the Deal Goes Down" to the apocalyptic closer, "Ain't Talkin',"this is a rock-solid album.

7. Brahms: The Piano Concertos
Nelson Freire, piano
Riccardo Chailly, conductor
Gewandhausorchester
This one I bet you weren't expecting! And yet I'd bet that a survey of my daily habits would show that this two-disc set accompanied me to work more days than any other entry on this list. The recording quality is crisp and clean, the orchestra sounds remarkable, and Freire's piano is elegant and powerful. Oh, and I suppose some credit is due to Brahms...

8. John Mayer: Continuum
On this, his third proper solo album but fifth studio release, John Mayer grows up. No longer pondering his quarter-life crisis, Mayer is thinking bigger. The opener, "Waiting on the World to Change," laments his (and my) generation's difficulty in making an impact on the political and social culture, while later songs lament difficult relationships, the pain of living with a broken heart, and, in the album's most universal song, "Stop This Train," the ache he feels each time he pulls out of his parents' driveway knowing they won't be around forever. With his Trio album last year, Mayer proved he has chops. This one shows he's got staying power.

9. Neko Case: Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
Oh, to have the voice of Neko Case. On this short album, which Amazon called the top disc of 2006, she uses it to full effect, singing dark songs that suit her to a T. In 35 minutes, there isn't a moment of filler, just 12 songs that touch on small, everyday concerns and through the sheer force of voice make them grand. Best listened to in the dark...



10. KT Tunstall: Eye to the Telescope
It took me a while to accept just how much I like this album, which American Idol brought to my attention when Katherine McPhee sang "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree." A pop-star cover, thank-yous in the liner notes that look like they were written under a desk during math class, and even an odd name (KT?) were working against it. But that's all marketing, I think. With a raspy voice, lyrics with depth (that she actually had a hand in writing!), and music that sounds like it was played by actual musicians rather than a computer, this album continues to amuse and surprise me just by being as good as it is. It will be interesting to see where Ms. Tunstall goes from here!

2006 Best of the Rest

Welcome to the "best music of the year" portion of the blog. As usual, we begin with choices in some special categories. Paul Allen will have his choices in the same categories at his blog, 3 Minutes, 49 Seconds. Our top ten lists are coming soon!

Best Surprise
The Wood Brothers: Ways Not to Lose
One day this summer, this album appeared on my screen as one of the most recent releases at yourmusic.com. The cover intrigued me (see below), and the reviews were interesting. For $5.99 plus tax, I figured, why not? It was a good risk to take. This album may not be everyone’s cup of tea—the arrangements are sometimes spare, sometimes weird, and the tempo can be slow at times—but the lyrics are thoughtful and the music plays along. I haven’t tested the theory yet, but this seems like the perfect album to play while sitting on the porch on a day a bit too chilly to be out there, drinking a cup of tea—or something stronger.

Biggest Disappointment
The Flaming Lips: At War With the Mystics
I was so excited for the follow-up to Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots. The Flaming Lips were on a two album roll (after 1999’s masterpiece, The Soft Bulletin) and a third seemed like a sure thing. But this isn’t what I waited for. Some of the songs work, some don’t, but the big problem is that the album sounds like crap. At first I thought this was just me, but recently I read in SPIN that Wayne Coyne and company decided to mix the album loud. Lots of bad bands do this—it makes their albums sound more forceful coming out of your speakers by decreasing the volume difference between the mid-range sounds and the loudest ones. That may be fine for a song or two, but over the course of an album it all begins to sound the same, with no sonic variation, no way for big moments to stand out—and no way to enjoy listening.

Best Cover Art
The Wood Brothers: Ways Not to Lose


Simple, understated—just like the album itself—but this cover dangles the hand of fate, has you begging to see what card it’s holding, and thus sucks you into asking the question every cover should: I wonder what the music sounds like?

Best Album Title
At War With the Mystics
Hey, just because the album isn’t very good doesn’t mean the name isn’t!

Best Cover Version
Jenny Lewis and company: "Handle with Care"
Lewis is joined by Conor Oberst and Ben Gibbard in a remake of the Traveling Wilburys hit song. It should be a mess—what right do these indie wunderkind have tackling a song handed down by the masters?—but it works perfectly. Proof of the talents of both the songwriters and the ones singing.

Guiltiest Pleasure
Muse: Black Holes and Revelations
This band is supposedly a successor to Radiohead, but I don’t see it. They do, however, make for quite the car ride, even if the lyrics are either nonsense or liberal propaganda. (And you know, if I think something is liberal propaganda, it’s off the deep end.) Bombast and catchy guitar riffs—I know I should bring something else with me, but I can’t stop myself!

Best Discovery
I’ve noted this on the blog before, but 2006 was the year that living with a classical music fan finally started to penetrate my rock and roll defenses. But the fun thing I discovered is that, while he prefers symphonies, I have a yen for concertos. Hearing the rollicking interplay between an orchestra and a virtuoso pianist or violinist unlocks something in my brain. No wonder I don’t leave for work in the morning without some Beethoven, Brahms, or Mendelssohn in my bag.

Best Trend
Does my short candidate list yield any “trends?” Not really. But its very shortness points to one: new albums by old favorites that are so roundly panned as to free me from buying them. The trend began with last year’s new Sheryl Crow album, which debuted to middling reviews. This year, Everclear, Jet, The Killers, the Magic Numbers, Damien Rice, Starsailor, Robbie Williams, and Pete Yorn have all done my checking account a favor by pushing out discs that didn’t meet with much critical acclaim. Not to mention Oasis and U2 and other bands that put out greatest hits albums that fail to live up to the job description. (Not including “Whatever” on an Oasis compilation? Are they kidding?) These bad albums are like money in my pocket!

Best Concert
As I profiled here, the best concert experience of the year for me happened at Ravinia in July. The stars aligned to give us a crowdless, quiet night to enjoy what many consider Mahler’s prettiest symphony, the fourth. It was preceded by a jazz-infused piano concerto written by Erwin Schulhoff (for which my Amazon order was recently canceled after five months of waiting). Both pieces were lovely, as was the evening. Even Bob Dylan couldn’t top it.

Hardest Album to Leave Off the Top Ten
Elton John: The Captain and the Kid
It kills me to have to deny Sir Elton; he could have made the list a little bit gayer. But while I catch myself whistling the opening track, "Postcards From Richard Nixon," and admire the storytelling that goes on over the course of this sequel to Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy, some of the songs just don't do it for me. The Scissor Sisters also have a hard time slowing it down, but the songs I docked them for were merely B-level material. "Wouldn't Have You Any Other Way (NYC)," "Blues Never Fade Away," and "The Bridge" are three pieces of D-level cheese, and that's too many on a disc with ten songs. Sorry, sir. Maybe next time.

Etes-vous Prete?

This week will see a lot of lists. Are you ready?

First, Paul will finish posting the top songs of the '90s. After that happens tomorrow, he and I will each post, on Wednesday, the first portion of our lists of the best music of 2006. Thursday will bring the actual top ten lists. And, given that it's the second week of December, you can probably count on a few professionally composed best-of lists as well.

So, as I asked before, are you ready? And what are your top music picks of the year?

Books for Sale

The 10 Best Books of 2006

Tis the season for lists! The link above leads to the list from the New York Times. It includes one book that I've read this year and can recommend highly: The Emperor's Children by Claire Messud. It would make a good gift for the book-lover on your list!

I can also recommend The Book Thief, listed right now on the right as one of the books I'm currently reading. So far it's engrossing and beautifully written. It's set in World War II Germany and narrated by Death. (It's also perched atop Amazon's top ten teen books of 2006, but don't let that dissuade you.)

Have you read any of the books on the Times list? And what was your favorite book you read during 2006?

Let the Fun Begin

Looking for gift ideas for the music lover in your life? Amazon has posted its "Best of 2006" list. As usual, I'm gratified by how nicely my tastes and Amazon's match; without giving anything away I can only say that there is substantial overlap between my top ten, due to appear here next week, and theirs. What do you think of the list? And what are your favorite CDs of 2006?

Top Ten Albums of 2005

Here they are: My choices for the ten best albums of 2005. Don't forget to check out Paul Allen's list at PopLife, and remember, there's always a chance I'll make a few revisions before making the list final early in 2006.

1. Fiona Apple: Extraordinary Machine
From the first spin of the Jon Brion version, there was little question in my mind that this record would make the top ten, but it has more than earned the top spot. Weeks have gone by when I've had a hard time listening to anything else. I know all the words (pity the poor person who rides in my car when this is playing). Apple has done something remarkable here, stripping down her sound and her previously inflated language and arriving at something that still communicates all the emotion she needs to convey. Catchy couplets, great beats--this record has it all. Which is why Fiona is the first artist to capture the crown for two different years of my top ten list.

2. Antony and the Johnsons: I am a Bird Now
The first song on this album will give you chills. Antony's story of gender confusion (in Britain, the statement "I am a bird" can be taken to mean both the creature that flies and a woman) is dramatic and bold, and he has the voice to match, a trembling instrument that unites the record amid multiple guests, including Boy George and Rufus Wainwright. Not everyone will enjoy this--"Fistful of Love" is probably the most accessible song and even it might throw people for a loop--but those who enjoy it will adore it.

3. Sufjan Stevens: Illinois
In breadth and depth, this record outshines everything else on this list, and it's tough not to give Sufjan the top spot based on effort alone--so many lyrics that so specifically evoke something about Illinois, so many instruments both written into the music and then played by one person. The research for this album, which is the second of a proposed 50 (one for every state), was clearly voluminous. And the music itself is sheer beauty, so much of it that it can sometimes be hard to listen to the whole album in one sitting. But it all flows, and it pretty much all works, too. When you see this somewhere on every critic's list in the country (it's already number one on the Amazon.com editors' list), don't say I didn't warn you.

4. Bright Eyes: I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning
Conor Oberst had the audacity to release two new albums not in one year, but on one day this January. Digital Ash in a Digital Urn was good but uneven, but this album is flat-out great. He's found a folksy style that works with his odd voice, and even the partly stuttered storytelling he uses to open the album works better here than it did on Lifted. The final song, "Road to Joy," aping Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, is one of the year's true delights.

5. Martha Wainwright: Martha Wainwright
Apparently the Wainwright family is determined to dominate my CD shelves and my top ten lists for years to come. While the stunner on this album is the shocking and beautiful "Bloody Mother Fucking Asshole," I think of it not in terms of songs but as a whole experience: haunting and lyrical and aflame with passion.

6. Garbage: Bleed Like Me
OK, this pick has none of the artsy cred of my first five, but it's still something special: a good, solid rock record that gets into your head and jangles around for months. I knew I loved this album when I was on a flight from D.C. to Chicago, equipped with my discman (I know, how retro of me) and several CDs, and I chose to plug my headphones into the armrest instead because United was featuring this album and I hadn't packed it.

7. Iron and Wine: Woman King EP AND Iron and Wine/Calexico: In the Reins
Releasing a six-song EP and a seven-song mini-album is about the same as releasing a full album, right? Mr. Consistency Sam Beam has made three solid records in the last two years, and as a result he finds himself at number seven on this list for the second year running. The EP is probably the better of the two, but in combination, these thirteen songs make a statement: Iron and Wine has the potential to be on this list for years to come.

8. Franz Ferdinand: You Could Have It So Much Better
An album that at first doesn't seem like an album at all, because every song could be on the radio. This is weird because it doesn't "build" to anything--it just keeps going strong for 13 songs. Folks who talk of a sophomore slump haven't actually listened to this record more than once or twice; it digs in and takes hold in a way their debut, for all its shiny songs and perfect beats, never did.

9. Aimee Mann: The Forgotten Arm
This wasn't supposed to be on this list. But as I listened to it again to pick a song for my possibly-to-be-produced compilation of the year, I found myself crying during the song "I Was Thinking I Could Clean Up for Christmas" and I knew I couldn't ignore that. This album tells the story of a relationship between a boxer, John, and his lover, Caroline. Like the last Aimee Mann record, Lost in Space, it dwells on addiction issues and the difficulty any two passionate people have in making it work with one another. And while some of the songs sound wispy at first, in the end the power of the album, when given a chance, is undeniable. For a lyrics person like myself, I guess there's no way to leave this album out of the top ten.

10. Sigur Ros: Takk
And yet, I can pick this album, sung in Norwegian, to follow Aimee Mann. I don't know what Jon Thor Birgisson is singing about, but I know that he sings with emotion and power. Those qualities come through in any language.

2005's Best of the Rest

It's that time of year again--time to unveil my choices for the best music of the year. The top ten albums list will appear on Friday; today I'll note my choices in some special categories. A similar list appears on Paul Allen's music blog, PopLife.

Best Soundtrack:
TV Series: Six Feet Under, Volume 2: Everything Ends
TV Movie: Bob Dylan, No Direction Home
Motion Picture: Brokeback Mountain

Six Feet Under, Volume 2: Everything Ends: An excellent collection of songs from the last three seasons of a great show. If you’ve seen the final season, you’ll want to own this just for the recording of Sia’s “Breathe Me,” though songs from Radiohead and Arcade Fire that closed pivotal episodes in the show are also included, as are the songs used in the show’s stylish pre-season promos.

Bob Dylan, No Direction Home: A great portrayal of Dylan’s growth during the most “important” part of his career. The most accessible of the seven volumes of the Bootleg Series, though volume 4 is also indispensable.

Brokeback Mountain: A very recent album, and haunting to hear even without seeing the movie that it accompanies. The tender “I Don’t Want to Say Goodbye,” sung by Teddy Thompson, will put tears in your eyes. Original songs written by Elton John lyricist Bernie Taupin, including that one, add to the experience of an album that conveys a remarkable amount of emotion. Gustavo Santaolalla’s acoustic contributions are also excellent, as is Rufus Wainwright’s “The Maker Makes.”

Best Greatest Hits:
Melissa Etheridge: Greatest Hits--The Road Less Traveled

A strong retrospective of Melissa’s career that focuses most of its attention on her early work, much to its benefit. A few too many brand-new songs mean a few too few old ones, including none from the underrated Skin, but if you were to have only one CD from her in your collection, this would definitely be the one to get.

Best Reissue:
Belle & Sebastian: Push Barman to Open Old Wounds

I’ve taken quite a liking to B&S recently, and this neat double album gave me a cheap and easy way to get seven of the band’s EPs for less than $15. Not quite If You’re Feeling Sinister, but still well worth having!

Best Live Album:
Morrissey: Live at Earls Court

I feel bad for the new Bob Dylan bootleg recording, Live at the Gaslight 1962, and for the new Wilco live album that is still growing on me, but this Morrissey album is incredible and would probaly win this category no matter what the competition. It gives new life to a bevy of songs from his most recent album and revives several old Smiths songs as well. Indeed, while I’d usually push a studio album over a live one any day, this might be the best way to really get into Morrissey. It’s done the trick for me!

Biggest Disappointment:
Weezer: Make Believe AND Dave Matthews Band: Stand Up

When I saw these two albums scheduled for release on the same day this spring, I thought, “Wow! It’s a late-‘90s revival!” Turns out it was a chance for two artists who did great work and attracted great followings in the ‘90s to put out some less-than-stellar stuff that almost immediately found itself sitting on the shelf.

Best Cover Art:
Aimee Mann: The Forgotten Arm

This isn’t cover art—it’s a book! Complete with painted illustrations of the story told by this concept album, this is the most attractive CD package of the year. And the music isn’t half-bad, either.

Best Album Title:
Franz Ferdinand: You Could Have It So Much Better

Considering that the band initially planned to call this Franz Ferdinand, just like their last album, this certainly wins the award for most-improved!

Best Surprise:
Fiona Apple, Extraordinary Machine

The surprise isn’t that it’s good, it’s that it exists at all. After all the record company drama surrounding this album, it was a pleasant surprise to learn that it would finally see the light of day a few months ago. How pleasant a surprise? Find out Friday!