I purposely titled this one ‘best tracks’ because some of these songs have been floating around for a couple of years or longer, but have been released in the past year as live tracks or, in one case, a compilation release. While some people might argue that they should therefore be out of the running for a 2006 best-of list, I simply couldn’t help myself. Some truly outstanding live albums came out this year and I can’t justify leaving them off of my list simply because the songs aren’t new. Also, I had an extremely difficult time trying to select just one song from each album or artist, a rule I imposed on myself to keep the list from being eight pages long and including an obscene amount of Marc Broussard and The Wood Brothers. So, with that said, here are what I consider the top tracks of 2006 in no particular order, except to say that this is how I think they would sound best on a mix.
Best of 2006 - The Tracks
This Girl That I Know - Beck “The Information” (bonus track)
Let The Music Play - G. Love with Ben Harper & Marc Broussard “Lemonade”
Chocolate on My Tongue - The Wood Brothers “Ways Not to Lose”
You Can Leave Your Hat On - Marc Broussard “Sail Away - The Songs of Randy Newman”
Old Plank Road - Robin & Linda Williams “Prairie Home Companion Soundtrack”
Me & Jiggs - Josh Ritter “In The Dark - Live @ Vicar Street”
In Between Days - Ben Folds “Supersunnyspeedygraphic - The LP”
Simmer Slow - DJ Logic “Zen of Logic”
These Photographs - Joshua Radin “We Were Here”
Everybody’s Talkin’ - Madeleine Peyroux “Half the Perfect World”
Postcards From Italy - Beirut “Gulag Orkestar”
Waking Up in the City - The Ditty Bops “Moon Over the Freeway”
The Devil’s Paintbrush Road - The Wailin’ Jennys “Firecracker”
Consolation Prizes - Phoenix “It’s Never Been Like That”
I Gotta Get Drunk - The Little Willies “The Little Willies”
Sweat Pea - Amos Lee “Supply & Demand”
No Regrets - WeakSauce “Nightmares & Daydreams”
Coconuts Feeding Birds - Billy Martin “Solo: Live @ Tonic”
What a Difference a Day Makes - Jamie Cullum “Live @ Ronnie Scott’s“
January 3rd, 2007 at 3:30 pm
Hey, Great to see our cut, “Old Plank Road,” on your top tracks for 2006.
It’s made our day.
Robin Williams