The Top CDs Of 2006

Finally! But who cares what the calendar says? Are "best of" lists just something to do around Christmas and New Year's? No, they're guides, reminding you of music you like but haven't listened to in a while and suggestions for albums you should check out. I sometimes stumble on a "best of" list from years ago and find myself pulling out an album I haven't played in ages or -- just as often -- heading to the store. I hope this list will do the same for you. First you get a list of my 50 favorite CDs of the year, then my favorite boxed sets, my favorite singles and my favorite reissues. And for being so patient, you get a quick look at my early favorites for 2007. That's followed by the same lists all over again, but with notes describing the music, what I like about them and so on. Enjoy. (And remember, if you google a band's name and MySpace, you can usually find a website with three or four songs to sample to see if any artist might appeal to you before buying.)

THE BEST CDS OF 2006

1. Corinne Bailey Rae/Corinne Bailey Rae (tie)
James Hunter/People Gonna Talk
2. My Chemical Romance/The Black Parade
3. Bob Dylan/Modern Times
4. Arctic Monkeys/Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
5. Midlake/The Trials of Van Occupanther
6. Roseanne Cash/Black Cadillac (tie)
Johnny Cash/American V: A Hundred Highways
7. Solomon Burke/Nashville
8. Cat Power/The Greatest
9. Bruce Springsteen/We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions -- American Land Edition
10. Drake Bell/ It's Only Time

11. The La's/BBC In Session
12. Candi Staton/His Hands (tie)
Candi Staton/The Ultimate Gospel Collection
13. Duncan Sheik/White Limousine (tie)
"Spring Awakening" Original Cast Recording
14. Howard Tate/A Portrait Of Howard
15. Various Artists/Tropicalia: A Brazilian Revolution In Sound
16. M. Ward/Post-War
17. Regina Spektor/Begin To Hope
18. Teddy Thompson/Separate Ways (tie)
The Strokes/First Impressions Of Earth
19. Toumani Diabate's Symmetric Orchestra/Boulevard De L'Independance
20. Muse/Black Holes and Revelations

21. Ali Farka Toure/Savane
22. The Streets/The Hardest Way To Make An Easy Living
23. James Hand/The Truth Will Set You Free
24. Irma Thomas/After The Rain
25. Various Artists/The Rough Guide To Latin-Arabia
26. Vetiver/To Find Me Gone
27. Cassandra Wilson/Thunderbird
28. "Grey Gardens" Original Cast Recording
29. The Raconteurs/Broken Boy Soldiers
30. Larry Levan/Journey Into Paradise...The Larry Levan Story

31. "Billy Elliot" Original Cast Recording
32. Rahim Alhaj/When The Soul Is Settled: Music Of Iraq
33. Wolfmother/Wolfmother
34. Smokey Robinson/Timeless Love
35. Cast King/Saw Mill Man
36. Lupe Fiasco/Food & Liquor (tie)
The Roots/Game Theory
37. Josh Ritter/The Animal Years
38. Mana/Amar Es Combatir
39. "Sweeney Todd" Original Cast Recording (tie)
"Sunday In The Park With George" 2006 London Cast Recording
40. Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs/Under The Covers Vol. 1

41. Dixie Chicks/Taking The Long Way
42. Elvis Costello & Allen Toussaint/The River In Reverse
43. The Fratellis/Costello Music
44. The Vines/Vision Valley
45. Various Artists/ "Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man" Motion Picture Soundtrack
46. Linda Ronstadt and Ann Savoy/Adieu False Heart
47. Justin Timberlake/Futuresex/LoveSounds
48. Paul Simon/Surprise
49. Beirut/Gulag Orkestar
50. Nellie McKay/Pretty Little Head


THE BEST BOXED SETS OF 2006

1. Tom Waits/Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards
2. Various Artists/What It Is! Funky Soul And Rare Grooves
3. Various Artists/Anthems In Eden: An Anthology Of British & Irish Folk 1955-1978
4. Richard Thompson/The Life and Music of Richard Thompson (tie)
Richard Thompson/1000 Years Of Popular Music
5. Frank Sinatra/Vegas

THE BEST SINGLES OF 2006

1. "Crazy"/Gnarls Barkley
2. "Before He Cheats"/Carrie Underwood
3. "Quiet Town"/Josh Rouse
4. "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree"/K.T. Tunstall
5. "Young Folks"/Peter Bjorn and John
6. "Last Request"/Paolo Nutini
7. "Leave The Pieces"/The Wreckers
8. "Money Maker"/Ludacris featuring Pharrell
9. "The Heart Of The Matter"/India.Arie
10. "We Used To Vacation"/Cold War Kids
11. "Philosophia"/Guggenheim Grotto
12. "Smile"/Lily Allen
13. "I Don't Feel Like Dancing"/Scissor Sisters
14. "Tamacun"/Rodrigo Y Gabriela
15. "Pull Shapes"/The Pipettes
16. "Year 3000"/Jonas Brothers
17. "Stealing Electricity"/Tom Russell
18. "The Bridge"/Elton John
19. "Ain't No Other Man"/Christina Aguilera
20. "Black Sweat"/Prince

THE BEST REISSUES OF 2006

1. Karen Dalton/In My Own Time
2. Fania Reissues -- Celia Cruz & Johnny Pacheco/Celia & Johnny
Fania All-Stars/Live At The Cheetah, Vol. 1
Willie Colon/El Malo
3. Thelonius Monk with John Coltrane/The Complete 1957 Riverside Recordings
4. Various Artists/Chocolate Star: The Very Best Of Gary Davis
5. Merle Haggard Reissues -- I'm A Lonesome Fugitive/Branded Man
Hag/Someday We'll Look Back
Mama Tried/Pride In What I Am
Sing Me Back Home/The Legend of Bonnie & Clyde
6. Miles Davis Quintet Reissues -- Cookin', Relaxin', Workin' etc.
7. Incredible Bongo Band/Bongo Rock

THE MOST TIMID AND UNNCESSARY BUT GREAT-SOUNDING ALBUM OF THE YEAR

The Beatles/Love

THE MOST DANGEROUS, DOWNRIGHT EVIL (BUT SWINGING) ALBUM OF THE YEAR

Ray Charles + The Count Basie Orchestra/Ray Sings Basie Swings

EARLY FAVORITES FROM 2007 (IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER)

Arcade Fire/Neon Bible
The Bird and The Bee/The Bird and the Bee
The Feeling/Twelve Steps and Home
Patty Griffin/Children Running Through
John Hammond/Push Comes To Shove
Darren Hayes/This Delicate Thing We've Made (I've only heard 7 tracks of this 25 tgrack, 2 CD opus, but they're terrific)
The Magic Numbers/Those The Brokes
Mika/Life In Cartoon Motion
Ron Sexsmith/This Time
Signal The Escape/Untitled
Richard Swift/Dressed Up For The Letdown
Amy Winehouse/Back To Black
"Company" Original Cast Album

THE BEST CDS OF 2006 -- THE EXPANDED EDITION

1. Corinne Bailey Rae/Corinne Bailey Rae (tie)
James Hunter/People Gonna Talk

What is the best album of the year? Is it one that will prove most lasting, most influential? Is it the most daring? Sure, you look for all of those things. But ultimately, surely the best album of the year should be your favorite album of the year; the one you turned to again and again, the one you gave as presents to friends, the one by people you had to see in concert. In short, the one you played the most. And so it's a tie. Corinne Bailey Rae is obviously a break-out artist of the year. I've seen her in concert three times and she's grown in confidence each time. From the gentle acoustic "Like A Star" to the breathtaking finale "Seasons Change," this is a quietly ambitious CD. Her album is sort of like early Rickie Lee Jones with soul -- very rooted in a specific time and place but universal in its reach. Rae insists -- without boasting -- that she consciously intended this album to be very commercial, which means god knows what for the future, since her success will only make Rae more confident. Her potential seems boundless. Will we be comparing her to Stevie Wonder or Joni Mitchell or countless other artists in years to come? The only thing I know for certain is we'll be hearing from her.

James Hunter is a journeyman soul singer who has toured with Van Morrison and been on the brink of success for a solid decade now. I've seen him in concert three or four times and he's been a blast every time. You'll check the release date once you listen to this CD: if someone told you this was some long lost gem from the Fifties or early Sixties, a Sam Cooke classic, you wouldn't doubt it for a second. Not that this music is retro -- not at all. Hunter is just steeped in classic, adult soul music and delivers it without breaking a sweat. "People Gonna Talk," "Riot In My Heart," "Don't Come Back" -- rock solid tunes delivered with panache and low-key style. The best news is that he still hasn't quite captured his live magic so the CDs should only get better. (Don't worry; the entries will get shorter.)

2. My Chemical Romance/The Black Parade

I'm driving cross country listening to this crazily theatrical, expansive, world-beating album about death and misery and damned if it doesn't sound like a concept album and one wonderfully bleak song after another (bleak in the way that teenagers are completely and utterly and hopelessly bleak) keeps popping up and I'm loving it and wondering why their faux Goth look and mascara kept me from listening to their last album when suddenly in the middle of a song I hear a voice and is that, could it be...Liza Minelli? My mind is officially blown; these guys are too cool. Anthemic.

3. Bob Dylan/Modern Times

It made me smile but that namecheck for Alicia Keys in the first song had me worried. I like my Dylan timless -- if he's gonna namecheck someone, I'm more comfortable if it's Cleopatra or Billy the Kid. Well, I needn't have worried. In the latest remarkable phase of his career, Dylan has released yet another gem. How much fun is this guy having? His satellite radio show is a hoot (he talks just the way he sings), his autobiography was an acclaimed bestseller and he's in the midst of a run of albums not seen by Dylan since his salad days pre-Big Pink. I won't dissect the lyrics, cause he's tired of that, so how about the music? There's the Ryman Auditorium swing of "Spirit On The Water," the nicely stinging blues of "Rollin' and Tumblin'," the quietly fatalistic drumming on "Nettie Moore," the end-of-the-world party guitars of "The Levee's Gonna Break" and above all the music of that voice, which croons and squawks and yelps and mumbles and confides with boundless charm.

4. Arctic Monkeys/Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not

Every damn band in the UK gets hyped. If I released a single there, I'd probably be hyped too. ("Yank with tuneless vocals! Bigger than the Beatles!" predicts NME.) But of course every once in a while they're right. Great song titles ("I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor," "From The Ritz To the Rubble") and the driving rock to back them up. Utterly infectious, but where the Kaiser Chiefs seem like a singles band, the AM's are definitely an album band. Snarling, funny, they'd get along with the Rolling Stones quite nicely, though without the same soaking in blues. Lots of swagger.

5. Midlake/The Trials of Van Occupanther

The first of a number of bands with a vaguely Seventies vibe. Where the hell did they come from exactly? I hadn't heard a word about them all year and suddenly little mentions here and there popped up all over the place. Ugly, ugly cover; stupid album title; hell, I don't even like their name really. But the songs float into my mind, through some hashish-induced haze, not that they're psychedelic, just...vague. I really haven't a clue what the songs are about, but I'm reminded of Fleetwood Mac and The Band (just because they seem so out of step) and maybe Big Star on a quiet day and it's really quite beautiful.

6. Roseanne Cash/Black Cadillac (tie)
Johnny Cash/American V: A Hundred Highways

I really wanted to give Roseanne Cash her own entry. Her album deserves it. It came out to glorious acclaim, loads of press and then completely disappeared. It's not like any radio station was gonna play it, of course. (Certainly not country radio, God forbid.) Sad, accepting, painfully honest -- this album is steeped in death and the belief that music can provide comfort and redemption or at least something to do until your own black Cadillac pulls up ready and waiting. Has any child of a major artist ever delivered more great music than Roseanne Cash? I can't think of anyone even close. But don't get me wrong: this album is stirring and wonderful and far from a downer. "Long after life there is love," indeed. As for her dad, I remember a brief moment when his American albums seemed to have slipped into formula. Then came that monumental boxed set that contained the stuff he hadn't released and it was better than most people's entire careers. And now this gem. I think Cash had learned how to accept and use the limitations of his painfully strained voice by this time, how to conserve himself to deliver power when he needed it, how to explore the crags and whispers when he didn't. "God's Gonna Cut You Down" is chillingly good, "Love's Been Good To Me" just embracing and only Cash could make me pay attention to Gordon Lightfoot's "If You Could read My Mind." I can't believe that producer Rick Rubin has more albums from Cash ready to go. Can't wait.

7. Solomon Burke/Nashville

Hype's a funny thing. The media loves a comeback and Burke had a great one with 2002's Don't Give Up On Me. Personally, I loved the title track most, but found the rest a little spotty. He got stronger with 2005's Make Do With What You Got and people still wrote about him; hey, another album by Burke. But then he releases a stone-cold masterpiece, the album he was clearly building towards his entire career and by now the media has moved on. Heck, we just wrote about him; we can't do another profile. But not since Ray Charles delivered some Modern Sounds has a soul artist embodied country music so completely and wonderfully as here. Just masterful.

8. Cat Power/The Greatest

Hype's a funny thing. It can color (and discolor) your appreciation of an album. (Witness the furor over that classical music scandal of the pianist who plagiarized music from younger artists and reaped the rave reviews they mostly never got.) The hype for Cat Power's latest had the opposite effect on me. Oh yeah, a masterpiece? Dusty in Memphis cool? Oh I don't think so. It didn't help that earlier albums of hers hadn't wooed me sufficiently. And I played it and shrugged and put it aside. And I played it again later, knowing I should wait till I was in the mood to be more receptive. And I shrugged and put it aside. And I waited and played it again later and ohmigod it's terrific, smokey and assured and accomplished. Dusty in Memphis sort of cool. What the hell was I thinking before? To hell with hype.

9. Bruce Springsteen/We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions -- American Land Edition

We review the albums we're given, not the albums we wish they'd released. I could take this 18 track CD, rejigger the order, remove two or three lesser tracks and have an absolute masterpiece. But as is, this is joyous, kick up your heels, burn down the barn and have us a hoedown music. I've been singing "Erie Canal" since I was a little kid and never had a clue it could have power. "O Mary Don't You Weep," "Pay Me My Money Down," "How Can A Poor Man Stand Such Times And Live" -- all incredibly rousing. Springsteen did Seeger a huge favor -- he ignored the soap box and focused on the people and the stories, which makes their message ultimately have a much bigger impact. When you get to "Bring 'Em Home," it's not just one more rallying song, one more slogan, it's a plea from people you've come to know and walk beside. And the concert! I saw him at Madison Square Garden and he was as good as he's ever been, which is to say he was just about as good as ANYONE'S ever been. This is his best album since Born In The USA and it'll be fascinating to see how he responds to it in his own work.

10. Drake Bell/ It's Only Time

Yep, the kid from Nickelodeon's Drake & Josh has released his second solo album and he's cheek by jowl with Bruce Springsteen and frankly I'm as surprised as you. Bells' first solo album was an Americana album in the vein of Mellencamp and Springsteen and other rockers; nice first effort, kiddo. But this is a sensational, Beatles-esque celebration of pop music that came out mid-December. I was driving down South for the holidays and the first few songs were so infectious I almost got a speeding ticket. (The better the music, the faster I drive; I can't help it.) Did Drake just tell his lover to "roll over?" Someone's become an adult. No one has paid the album the slightest notice; they've got him pegged as a TV personality. But he's the real deal. Maybe he's working through his influences here; heck, Jeff Lyne did that for his entire career. He namechecks Buddy Holly and Bettie Page in the same song and how can you not love that? And if hand-clapping and hook-heavy songs with unbeatable choruses and gorgeous Beach Boys-like vocals are just a stage, I hope he's stuck in it for at least a few more albums.

11. The La's/BBC In Session

Lee Mavers was barking mad; everyone knows that. He spent his time holed up in the studio, obsessively trying to capture the sound he heard in his head, a not-retro, but timeless sound that would present gems like "There She Goes" in exactly the way they should be, deserved to be, had to be. But despite period mikes and analog equipment and anything and everything he could think of, Mavers never came close to releasing any music until the debut album of The La's was pulled from his grasping hands and released to his immediate disdain that was somewhat overshadowed by rapturous critical acclaim. But my God, he was right. BBC In Session includes live recordings of their songs, with nine of the debut albums 12 tracks here in one or more versions that are unquestionably superior to the album version. I'm bitterly disappointed those last three tracks aren't here because then we could program an ideal version of The La's CD that would be even better than that gem. So why doesn't Mavers just record live? Instead he's reportedly holed up working on a followup that we'll see sometime in the next 40 years.

12. Candi Staton/His Hands (tie)
Candi Staton/The Ultimate Gospel Collection

Staton has been happily preaching and singing in the gospel world for many years. But a reissue of her classic soul sides reminded the world of Staton and reminded Staton that God wanted her to use all her talents. So here's this lovely comeback album, with the remarkable "His Hands" (which moves from the hands of a lover to the hands of an abuser with chilling ease), just the centerpiece of a great album. The two CD gospel collection shows the pagans what they've been missing. Typically, I like my gospel old school but in her case, I'll take the trailblazing "Contemporary" second CD.

13. Duncan Sheik/White Limousine (tie)
"Spring Awakening" Original Cast Recording

What a great year for Duncan Sheik. His latest solo CD is another minor key gem filled with wonderful tunes like "Hymn" and "Nothing Fades" that prove his obsession with Nick Drake was time well spent. Plus, he's got the most exciting musical on Broadway and captured it in an unconventional cast album that recorded the songs like a pop album instead of the "as live" quickie recordings that Broadway shows usually get. "The Song Of Purple Summer" is just pacific in its calm and loveliness.

14. Howard Tate/A Portrait Of Howard

I haven't seen ANYONE writing about this sensational album. Tate has had a comeback and here's he's paired with Steve Weisberg to create this musical autobiography. Great covers of tunes by Randy Newman, Burt Bacharach and Hal David, Lou Reed and others sit side by side with Weisberg originals penned to reflect Tate's hard-earned wisdom and life story. It was recorded with a full orchestra, with great arrangements and Tate singing just brilliantly. Absolutely original, this will be hailed as an undiscovered masterpiece in years to come. Fans of classic soul music shouldn't wait.

15. Various Artists/Tropicalia: A Brazilian Revolution In Sound

I've been waiting literally years for this album, long before the people who compiled it had even thought about putting it out. It's a look at Tropicalia, the Brazilian musical uprising led by Caetano Veloso, Gal Costa, Gilberto Gil, Os Mutantes, Tom Ze and Jorge Ben. I've got a lot of music by all these people, but this CD focuses tightly on the music they put out basically in 1968. It's a lot more psychedelic than I expected, a lot more rock but just as thrilling as I hoped. You also get a terrific 51 page booklet that covers the music, the era, the politics, and everything else you could want to know in loving detail. Essential.

16. M. Ward/Post-War

Some people see an artist reach out to a wider audience and get bummed. Me, I love it when they stay true to their vision and bring more people into their sphere. Watching M. Ward sing the wonderfully loopy but engaging "Chinese Translation" on Letterman was a kick. Seeing him live was even better -- this guy knows he's got the goods and shows it. Besides, if he really wanted to sell out, he wouldn't have given his catchiest song the inexplicable title of "Chinese Translation" in the first place. A series of very good albums and he's only getting better.

17. Regina Spektor/Begin To Hope

Another act that won me over live. She charmed the pants off Conan with "Fidelity" and that song's infectious chorus with its hiccuping vocal line probably made a lot of people look foolish as they sang along with their iPods. A very New York record (think Laura Nyro) by an artist just beginning to discover her possibilities.

18. Teddy Thompson/Separate Ways (tie)
The Strokes/First Impressions of Earth

Two albums that got released so early in January that they were lost in the shuffle come year's end. Teddy's album was a real gem, improving on his fine first album and improving mightily on repeated listens. Witty, piercing and wonderfully perceptive (such as the heartbreaker "Sorry To See Me Go," he really came into his own here. Yep, dad will always be the better guitarist (that's gotta suck). But Teddy's voice is better and he really mines bittersweet with just a dollop more sweet than dad. Comparisons to Crowded House are apt. The Strokes rebounded from their too-quick second album and really brought it. But everyone seemed dissatisfied with more of the same. God knows why; it was great the first time.

19. Toumani Diabate's Symmetric Orchestra/Boulevard De L'Independance

A pan-African band takes the music of Diabate and swings it with fervor and grace. Quite gorgeous and the world music album of the year.

20. Muse/Black Holes and Revelations

Yes, music can be listened to intently on your home stereo. But if we're honest music is also very utilitarian. People use it to smooth over dinner conversation and they jog to it and dance to it and so on. And when you're driving down the highway and need some truly epic, anthemic rock a la Radiohead and Queen or prog-rock gods like ELP to blast out of the speakers, when you want to be swept away and feel you're about to conquer the world, that much is at stake and you must ACT by God, well this is the album you want ready to pop into the CD player. And if Muse pulls over and asks for directions, just point them in the direction of the nearest stadium.

21. Ali Farka Toure/Savane

A final grace note from the legendary guitarist. For all the praise it received after his death, the simple truth is that Toure had reached such an acclaimed plateau, Savane probably would have been equally praised if it had been just another release and we didn't realize we would never get to hear from him again. A giant.

22. The Streets/The Hardest Way To Make An Easy Living

His third album is his second album, the one where you rap about the pain of sudden success. And while not quite the winner his first two CDs were, UKer Mike Skinner (who first won me over for good when he explained in rhyme that in the UK they call girls "Birds not bitches") is too funny, too observant to miss the target by too much. "When You Wasn't Famous" is one of the best songs from a genre -- the perils of stardom -- that has precious few worth mentioning.

23. James Hand/The Truth Will Set You Free

I thought Hank Williams was dead. But he lives on in this pure shot of honky tonk delivered by the genuine article. "Baby, Baby, Don't Tell Me That," "In The Corner, At The Table, By The Jukebox," "Just An Old Man With An Old Song." Yep, they're as good as they sound.

24. Irma Thomas/After The Rain

A New Orleans icon raising her voice just a few months after Katrina. Inspiring.

25. Various Artists/The Rough Guide To Latin-Arabia

A great companion piece to "Camelspotting," another terrific world music compilation from 1999. Both contain the impossible-to-resist "Ya Nour El Ein" aka "Habibi." This Rough Guide CD explores the Latin influence on Arabia, with Perez Prado's "Mambo Number 5" just being the most unlikely song to appear. Like all the best compilations, it will send you off in a dozen directions. Perfect for a party with very cool friends who like to dance.

26. Vetiver/To Find Me Gone

Cowboy Junkies and George Harrison are just two of the influences that spring to mind for these San Francisco folkies linked to Devandra Banhart. Mesmerizing and I think I'm gonna regret not placing this higher on my list.

27. Cassandra Wilson/Thunderbird

What a terrible idea, mixing jazz mama Cassandra Wilson with trip-hop effects. But somehow it worked, shaking the singer out of her comfort zone and resulting in her most distinctive album in years. More originals than usual, and all up to snuff, though in a fire I'd grab the greasy, funky cover of Willie Dixon's "I Want To Be Loved" first.

28. "Grey Gardens" Original Cast Recording

This thoughtful, intelligent Broadway musical is dominated by what will clearly be the legendary performance of Christine Ebersole as both Big Eddie and Little Edie. I was certainly fooled by the pastiche numbers in Act One; I actually thoought they were oldies I'd never heard of before. It's all of a piece but two numbers are standouts: the hilarious "The Revolutionary Costume For Today" (probably the number they'll do for the Tonys) and "Another Winter In A Summer Town," a genuine standard.

29. The Raconteurs/Broken Boy Soldiers

It's taken me a while to get my head around this and I still love the White Stripes more. But I know, I know; I don't have to choose. And Brendan Benson has never been better. "Steady As She Goes" is far and away the standout, but this is solid.

30. Larry Levan/Journey Into Paradise...The Larry Levan Story

Any club with a door policy gives me the heebee geebees; I just can't be bothered to wait in line or be judged or take the time to get on a list. And a cover charge to dance? No thank you. So if Studio 54 were operating right now, across the street, I simply wouldn't be bothered. But the disco heaven of Paradise Garage, where everyone mingled easily and openly? That actually sounds appealing, especially if Larry Levan were the dj. This 2 CD set provides a glimpse into the magic Levan would spin nightly at Paradise. With Viny Mania closing its doors (the two were linked inextricably per the excellent liner notes), now is an especially fitting time to say goodbye again to an era and one of its most influential artists. Chaka Khan, Womack & Womack, Lace, all the way up to Yaz and yes, Talking Heads. Irresistible.

31. "Billy Elliot" Original Cast Recording

Elton John has been on a creative roll recently, releasing several of the best albums of his career. That extends to this musical, which is superior to the film it's based on and filled with anthemic gems capturing the workers-of-the-world-unite spirit of the men in the mines who were striking for their livelihood and indeed their lives. The opener "The Stars Look Down" would have been right in place in "Les Miz" and "Merry Christmas Maggie Thatcher" has a venomous bite John rarely employs.

32. Rahim Alhaj/When The Soul Is Settled: Music Of Iraq

It's simple and easy. Buy this CD online with a credit card and you'll be assured of a contemplative, beautiful world music album by an Iraqi-born musician living in the US who has been playing and studying the oud since he was nine AND you'll get put on Bush's terrorist watch list at the same time. QED.

33. Wolfmother/Wolfmother

The Darkness were shtick posing as a band. Wolfmother is the real deal, a bluesy, wailing reincarnation of Led Zep and all the other bands that knew how to wear tight pants and deliver stadium-destroying songs with ferocious passion. Great fun.

34. Smokey Robinson/Timeless Love

I've given up on trying to predict which artists can cover the standards. There seems no rhyme or reason to why, say, Boz Scaggs and the supremely versatile Linda Ronstadt can do it but others like Carly Simon and Rod Stewart are hapless. You would think Smokey could do it; I mean, why not? And indeed, he can, delivering delicate, nuanced, simply lovely versions of "You Go To My Head," "Speak Low" and other gems. What the hell took him so long?

35. Cast King/Saw Mill Man

The musical equivalent of outsider art, with Cast King reluctantly recorded in a tiny town in Alabama. He just hemmed and hawed until Matt Downer just showed up and started picking with the wizened old coot (if you saw the photos of him, you'd know that he simply has to be called an old coot) and then just started recording the songs King would play. All too brief, but filled with rough-hewn country gems that have been classics for forty or fifty years now -- just no one had ever heard them, that's all. If you're an adventurous country or folk fan, this will not disappoint.

36. Lupe Fiasco/Food & Liquor (tie)
The Roots/Game Theory

In a weak year for hip-hop, Lupe Fiasco kept the lights on with this witty, real chronicle of life that has no time for gangsta crap. The Roots must have been listening to a lot of current rap, too -- they seem awfully depressed.

37. Josh Ritter/The Animal Years

Starts out quite delicate and lovely and then it gets a little more forceful and less interesting and then it gets crazily epic with "Thin Blue Flame" and that doesn't really work at all. It's like the album is a tiny boat, just a canoe really, and someone's dropped a massive weight onto one end. But 90% of this is really good and wouldn't you know it animals keep popping up in the lyrics.

38. Mana/Amar Es Combatir

Sometimes listening to music in another language (one you don't speak, that is) can be freeing. Usually it comes with music that is also "foreign," music that sounds like nothing you hear day to day. But Mana could be playing arenas here and the music wouldn't raise an eyebrow; this is rock and you don't even need to say Latin rock. I haven't a clue as to what they're saying, but I believe it.

39. "Sweeney Todd" Original Cast Recording (tie)
"Sunday In The Park With George" 2006 London Cast Recording

Two terrific revivals: "Sweeney Todd" shined with the brooding Michael Cerveris and Patti LuPone and "Sunday" -- which was notable especially for its imaginative design -- is shown here to have been nicely sung as well. Everytime I listen to it I hear a new highlight in this show: today, it's "Beautiful," the poignant duet between George and the Old Lady.

40. Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs/Under The Covers Vol. 1

Chemistry -- it's as mysterious in singing as it is in acting but Sweet and Hoffs have it in spades. They combine on groovy covers like the Beatles "And Your Bird Can Sing," The Who's "The Kids Are Alright" and other songs less familiar...until they sing them. A delight.

41. Dixie Chicks/Taking The Long Way

I miss the country twang a little, but this is a determined record, led by "Not Ready To Make Nice," of course, but it's a credit to them that such a good song doesn't dominate everything in its wake. They're in it for the long haul, even if most of their fans exited a while ago.

42. Elvis Costello & Allen Toussaint/The River In Reverse

Oh for another week and another chance to listen to this one again. Costello rarely disappoints; if something is lacking in a new record of his, it's usually me, not the record. I haven't been overwhelmed by this yet, but I know it's coming and certainly individual tracks keep pulling me back in.

43. The Fratellis/Costello Music

Dumb, fun rock n roll from the UK, with the album cover of the year to boot. A blast.

44. The Vines/Vision Valley

Their debut album was a scatter-brained gem, changing musical genres the way other bands change groupies. Then the lead singer imploded faster than you could say Pete Doherty, the followup album was uninspired and things seemed dire. Now comes their third CD and it's really good. They still have that anything goes aura that means a Beatlesque number can dissolve into feedback and serious rock swagger. It keeps you off-balanced and ready to be knocked over by a melody-rich tune like "Take Me Back," a tune worthy of Crowded House at their best. They might just survive...and flourish.

45. Various Artists/"Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man" Motion Picture Soundtrack

I didn't like the documentary film this is drawn from: the movie was shoddily, sloppily shot, frankly. So what a relief to have this album where I can avoid the visuals, skip the duff track or two (most everything by Nick Cave, surprisingly) and concentrate on the musical higlights, which include Martha Wainwright on "Tower Of Song," Antony on "If It Be Your Will" and Teddy Thomspon's fragile, worth-the-price-of-admission "Tonight I Will Be Fine."

46. Linda Ronstadt and Ann Savoy/Adieu Flase Heart

It's not widely known -- indeed, it should be MORE widely known -- but Linda Ronstadt can in fact do anything. Pop, rock, country, standards, operetta, rancheros, lullabies and to that list you can add cajun music. I don't go in for gender politics, but if Ronstadt were a man, her genre-hopping agility would have her recognized as one of the great talents and surely the most adventurous, making the likes of Paul Simon and David Byrne seem like homebodies. Dip into any track here for proof, starting perhaps with "Go Away From My Window," with Savoy providing marvelous backing.

47. Justin Timberlake/Futuresex/LoveSounds

It's not a dramatic step down from his solo debut, in fact it's even stronger. But this one ranks much lower for me because I expect greatness from Timberlake, a world-beating album, and he hasn't quite delivered yet. Certainly commercially he's done it and I'll admit "Sexyback" has wormed its way into my mind more than I expected at first. But he's leaning too heavily on beats and rhythmic tracks when the old-school soul of closer "(Another Song) All Over Again" proves he can do it all. Don't just be commercial and contemporary, Justin, and don't just give them what they want, give them what they need.

48. Paul Simon/Surprise

The surprise for me is how initially disappointing this album was. A collaboration between Simon and Brian Eno raised delirious expectations for me and this hasn't met them. Yet. Most every Simon album improves on repeated listening, but I fear this will fall closer to You're The One than Rhythm Of The Saints as time passes But other than "Wartime Prayers," there isn't any song I'd call bad -- it's just that the music hasn't lifted up the dependably clever lyrics as easily as usual. But time will tell and certainly closer "Father and Daughter"is one of his most nakedly sweet songs and opener "How Can You Live In The Northeast?" one of his most wittily probing, so clearly Simon still knows what's what.

49. Beirut/Gulag Orkestar

This is crazy, some kid in Middle America churning out music that sounds like the score to a film by Emir Kusturica. But it's awfully convincing and pretty darn irresistible.

50. Nellie McKay/Pretty Little Head

Oh, she's driving me to drink, this Nellie McKay. I've been trying to interview her for the past year, coming up with one excuse for a story after another. But she can't be bothered. And she fought her record label and left because they wanted to reduce her two CD set to a single disc. Are they crazy? Why mess with an iconoclast like Nellie? But then here comes the album and her production is a little flat, hiding the beauty of some of the numbers. Case in point: the opener "Cupcake." In concert, it was a quirky, delightful highlight. On the album, it's disconcerting and unsatisfying. Too many tunes blend together on the CD, but I know she can stamp them individually given the right arrangements and better (more expensive?) production. Maybe she needs the discipline of a single disc. Maybe she needs the firm hand of a producer. Maybe she doesn't care if the wide world doesn't buy her CDs. But I do. She's a genuine talent and every time I've seen her do a gig in New York, she's been utterly winning. Now if only that came through on this album.

THE BEST BOXED SETS OF 2006

1. Tom Waits/Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards
2. Various Artists/What It Is!Funky Soul And Rare Grooves
3. Various Artists/Anthems In Eden: An Anthology Of British & Irish Folk 1955-1978
4. Richard Thompson/The Life and Music of Richard Thompson (tie)
Richard Thompson/1000 Years Of Popular Music
5. Frank Sinatra/Vegas

THE BEST SINGLES OF 2006

1. "Crazy"/Barkley
2. "Before He Cheats"/Carrie Underwood
3. "Quiet Town"/Josh Rouse
4. "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree"/K.T. Tunstall
5. "Young Folks"/Peter Bjorn and John
6. "Last Request"/Paolo Nutini
7. "Leave The Pieces"/The Wreckers
8. "Money Maker"/Ludacris featuring Pharrell
9. "The Heart Of The Matter"/India.Arie
10. "We Used To Vacation"/Cold War Kids
11. "Philosophia"/Guggenheim Grotto
12. "Smile"/Lily Allen
13. "I Don't Feel Like Dancing"/Scissor Sisters
14. "Tamacun"/Rodrigo Y Gabriela
15. "Pull Shapes"/The Pipettes
16. "Year 3000"/Jonas Brothers
17. "Stealing Electricity"/Tom Russell
18. "The Bridge"/Elton John
19. "Ain't No Other Man"/Christina Aguilera
20. "Black Sweat"/Prince

THE BEST REISSUES OF 2006

1. Karen Dalton/In My Own Time
2. Fania Reissues -- Celia Cruz & Johnny Pacheco/Celia & Johnny
Fania All-Stars/Live At The Cheetah, Vol. 1
Willie Colon/El Malo
3. Thelonius Monk with John Coltrane/The Complete 1957 Riverside Recordings
4. Various Artists/Chocolate Star: The Very Best Of Gary Davis
5. Merle Haggard Reissues -- I'm A Lonesome Fugitive/Branded Man
Hag/Someday We'll Look Back
Mama Tried/Pride In What I Am
Sing Me Back Home/The Legend of Bonnie & Clyde
6. Miles Davis Quintet Reissues -- Cookin', Relaxin', Workin' etc.
7. Incredible Bongo Band/Bongo Rock

THE MOST TIMID AND UNNCESSARY BUT GREAT-SOUNDING ALBUM OF THE YEAR

The Beatles/Love

THE MOST DANGEROUS, DOWNRIGHT EVIL (BUT SWINGING) ALBUM OF THE YEAR

Ray Charles + The Count Basie Orchestra/Ray Sings Basie Swings