In the coming days I’ll be posting a top 10 list of my favorite albums of 2006. Before I do so, I wanted to comment on something I found to be odd. I’m a subscriber of No Depression magazine, perhaps the top print magazine dedicated to Americana related music. Every issue is chock full of great articles by some of the most inspiring music writers in the business. At the end of every year, they produce an exit poll much like most other music mags. I’ve always found theirs to be great not only because their music covers a very unique blend of americana and roots musicians, but also because it is an aggregate of a good number of editors and writers of the magazine.
Anyway, I wanted to take a moment and comment on how surprised I was when I saw this year’s list and how different it turned out to be from my own. I’ve known that my tastes skewed more to the alternative side than No Depression’s typically do, but still I expected to see more of the albums I fell in love with this year make the list. Here are a couple of observations I made by comparing the No Depression Top 60 with my own Top 10. I apologize in advance for the teasers but you’ll just have to wait for my list.
- My #1 album could not be found anywhere in the TOP 60 ND list. What?!
- The highest position an album made from my top 10 was #12. What?!
- Only 3 of my top 10 made the entire list of 60. What?! That’s 5% (Momma, always told me I was good at math).
This is not to bash the ND60, more personal perplexity than anything. Among the artists that did make the list that I consider some of my favorites of the year include: Bruce Springsteen (8), Hold Steady (11), Drive-By Truckers (12), Josh Ritter (15), Old Crow Medicine Show (23), Todd Snider (25), Chris Knight (31), Drams (37) and Ray Lamontagne (38). I liked many if not most of the ND60, but I only seem to have fallen in love with about 9 albums.
Going further, let me briefly comment on the ND Top 5 and explain why you won’t find them in my list:
- Bob Dylan, Modern Times (Columbia)
Don’t get me wrong, I love Bob Dylan. In my mind, he goes beyond legendary status. I thought it was a really good album. But it just didn’t move me the way it seems to have done so for so many others. I have seen very few top lists that have not included Modern Times. - Neko Case, Fox Confessor Brings the Flood (Anti-)
Neko Case confuses the heck out of me. On the one hand, I don’t feel like I’ve heard her true voice. It always seems like she’s got some echo effect on her vocals. What is that? Is that really her? If so, then I’m wrong and she’s been blessed by angels. On the other hand, every time I hear her sing I become more fond of her. Almost like she’s got some subliminal mind meld going on. And dang there were some good songs that came off this record. - Rosanne Cash, Black Cadillac (Capitol)
This is an album that I immediately fell in love with. There are so many great things about it. The reflection of a legend’s daughter. Respect and rememberance without overshadowing an artist that really just wanted to make a great record and get a few things off of her chest. I think she deserves every music award in the book for this album. I loved it early on, but my love for it faded as the year went on. - Elvis Costello & Allen Toussaint, The River in Reverse (Verve Forecast)
I can’t tell you how glad I am that this album exists. Costello is an all-time favorite of mine from way back and I hold the genius Toussaint in high regard. But again, it just didn’t make it into high rotation for me. - Solomon Burke, Nashville (Shout! Factory)
I never got to hear more than a couple of songs off Nashville. I recognize the importance of this one. Hopefully, I’ll get to hear the full album soon.
The one thing that I do think is so great about the ND Top 5 is that 4 out of the 5 records were so important to music because the artists making them mean so much to Americana both from a historical and modern viewpoint. If that were truly a theme, I would have subsituted either Johnny Cash or Bruce Springsteen for Neko Case.
Anyhow, thanks for reading my rant. I hope you’ll enjoy my forthcoming picks for best albums of 2006.
About the author: Washington, D.C. area creative by day. Music is my muse. I host Twangville’s weekly Readers‘ Pick.