One Chord To Another: Faves 2006

Another end of the year list. Maybe not needed by anyone else than myself. It was again extremely difficult, but also rewarding. The most important conclusion is that I should stop buying records if I don't have enough time to listen to them. Because among the 94 (ridicilous amount) full-lenght albums that I own, there were several that I hadn't listen more than a few times. Michael McDonald and Ilona were definitely the biggest things for me.
TOP 40 ALBUMS:

	1. Michael McDonald: Finally I suppose this really should be the album of the year 2007, because it hasn't been officially released yet. However, it was my favourite album by a huge margin and therefore I have no other choise than just put it here. Michael is an amazing pop troubadour and the album is a gem.

	2. Jon Auer: Songs From The Year Of Our Demise Pretty much every guitar pop freak waited this one for years and now it finally arrived. The album was obviously fabulous and Jon's tour in Finland was certainly one of the highlights of the year.

	3. Anthony Atkinson: Loyalty Songs One of my biggest finds during the year was australian Anthony Atkinson. Eventhough this wasn't filled with instant killers, it still easily won my heart over. By lifting this above Rose during the final minutes I was able to make this list even more boring. Three male pop singer-songwriters in my top 3. Not so surprising I'm afraid...

	4. Rose Melberg: Cast Away The Clouds Something beautiful and something heartbreaking. I really loved The Softies and I definitely love solo Rose as well. What a voice.

	5. The Zebras: Worry A Lot Australian The Zebras made one heck of pop album. Despite not being in the top three, this is probably the album that I listened to the most during the whole year. It made me feel so good. Still does. They might be coming to Finland in february.

	6. The Phonies: Gran Tourettes They always had a place in my heart, but in 2006 I noticed that they deserve a bigger share of it. This happened when I first heard Gran Tourettes.

	7. Jolly Jumpers: Mobile Babylon Time for pilgrimage to Tyrnävä perhaps. Jolly Jumpers is still one of the best bands in Finland.

	8. Calexico: Garden Ruin Everyone didn't love Calexico's new direction, but I certainly did. Garden Ruin might even my favourite Calexico album as a whole. Especially the first half is so amazing. Bisbee Blues, Cruel and Panic Open String.. oh my..

	9. Sparklehorse: Dreamt For Light Years In The Belly Of A Mountain Again a huge favourite of mine. This was not Mark Linkous' finest work, but a really strong album nevertheless and one hell of a comeback.

	10. The Lemonheads: S/T Another comeback that was more than welcome. In the end, I didn't get as excited about it as I expected. Great stuff still.

	11. The Crayon Fields: Animal Bells Ok, it kind of depends on your mood. It's almost sickeningly sweet album. Listening to it sometimes feels like eating six boxes of candy and a hattara kiosk. Usually Animal Bells still works perfectly. Well crafted and beautifully arranged pop music.

	12.TV-Resistori: Serkut Rakastaa Paremmin If I could remove a couple of songs, Serkut Rakastaa Paremmin might be even higher. 3/4 of this perfect, rest only ok. It does contain some of the finest songs of the year.

	13. Samae Koskinen: Vol 1 Live concerts were perfect, the album wasn't. Close enough though.

	14. Mojave 3: Puzzles Like You Did they change. Maybe a bit. But the quality didn't change. It still sounds perfect.

	15. Pants Yell!: Recent Drama Wonderful indiepop album.

	16. Camera Obscura: Let's Get Out of This Country We might get even greater things from them in the future, but how can you be dissapointed if it's still one of the best albums of the year.... I'm afraid that I'm still slightly dissapointed, because It feels that they might be able to write the best album of the decade or something and this was not it. I'm such a stupid boy.

	17. Lemonator: At The Presence of Great Beauty A beautiful pop album.

	18. Joose Keskitalo: Kaupungit Puristuvat Puristimissa Kind of a surprise, but I do love this a lot. For example those last three songs are truly amazing.

	19. Jason Molina: Let Me Go, Let Me Go, Let Me Go Again a marvellous effort from Jason Molina.

	20. Lady & Bird: S/T A children's story for adults. Sad and Beautiful. Beautiful voice of Keren Ann.

	21. Justin Rutledge: The Devil on a Bench in Stanley Park Canadian country troubadour. I fell in love with Justin's few years old debut album in the summer and this new one arrived a couple of months later. The debut would have been in the top 5 if it was a 2006 release, but this new one is a strong album as well.

	22. Math and Physics Club: S/T Lovely debut album. Darling, Please Come Home is such a great indie pop song.

	23. The Hazey Janes: Hotel Radio A damn good pop record. Power pop, alt country. Me loves. A couple of fillers, but me do not care. Greatness.

	24. Andreas Mattsson: The Lawlessness of the Ruling Classes Popsicle man is still making great music. No sunny pop hits, but lots of great moving pop songs.

	25. Jenny Lewis & The Watson Twins: Rabbit Fur Coat I had doubts but then I heard Melt Your Heart and it melt my heart.

	26. Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan: Ballad of Broken Seas Milkwhite Sheets was a dissapointment, but this was definitely a great album.

	27. Bookends: Seventh for the Song A great debut album. Lots of harmonies and some songs even brought The Posies to my mind. That's never a bad thing.

	28. Treeball: I Dream of Eclectic Sheep (+Liars in Love) This will cover both Treeball albums of the year. Perhaps I rate the new mp3 album I Dream of Eclectic Sheep slightly higher, but Liars in Love would have fitted in the top 40 as well.

	29. Darren Hanlon: Fingertips & Mountaintops I expected a masterpiece, but I only got a really good album. In the end, Fingertips & Mountaintops might even be his best album as a whole, but it didn't bring any new songs to my imaginary Darren Hanlon top 5 songs list. But I still love this guy.

	30. Bears: S/T Such a lovely band. The first six songs are absolute wonderful. The magic fades away a bit towards the end, but the latter half is still good as well.

	31. Pipas: Sorry Love Another long time favourite that didn't release the best album of their marvellous career, but didn't let me down either. And seeing Pipas live at dynamo was one of the highlights of the year.

	32. J. Karjalainen: Lännen-Jukka Kind of a tricky one. Maybe it should be higher, maybe it shouldn't be even on this list. I do think it's wonderful, but do I really listen to it that often. Not really. If I'm honest I prefer listening to less challenging pop and country songs. Sormus Se Kulki Itteksensä and Maailman Matti are truly fantastic.

	33. Starflower: Moments in the Sun A great debut album.

	34. M.Ward: Post-War Kind of dissapointment eventhough it still easily deserves a place on this list. I loved about half of it, but the other half wasn't much more than ok. Some truly stunning songs like Chinese Translation.

	35. Stuart A Staples: Leaving Songs Stuart is getting back to his best form. Leaving Songs is not on the same level as the finest Tindersticks albums, but it got very close.

	36. Cheerleaders United: Motorcade City It's a shame that I haven't yet praised this one at onechord.net, because this is a really good album.

	37. BMX Bandits: My Chain BMX Bandits are still a great band.

	38. Mid-State Orange: Odds There seem to be a lot of aussie pop on this list of mine. This will be the last one that made the list. Especially Million Years and Rivers are truly great songs.

	39. Essex Green: Cannibal Sea Penny & Jack is a perfect song. The rest of it is really good too.

	40. Baby Sweetcorn: New Low This came out in mid-december, so it's kind of early to make final conclusion. First impression is that it is a really good album.



That's it. I first thought I make top 50, but I suppose that would have been even more pointless than top 40. Several good albums needed to be left out, but this is how it went now. Also there are several that I don't own. I believe I might love 2006 albums by Lambchop, Tom Waits, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Daniel Wylie, Weepies, Faintest Ideas, Karine Polwart... etc but I haven't bought them (at least yet). I did recently order Sufjan Stevens and Ollabelle albums, but those haven't yet arrived.


TOP 50 Songs
Impossible list to do, but at least these were truly wonderful. No more than three per one band/artist. I wanted to change that rule though, because now I was forced to rule out several wonderful Michael McDonald songs. I know I forgot several, but here we go anyway: 1. Ilona: Neverever 2. Michael McDonald: I Go Blind 3. Anthony Atkinson: She Let Him In 4. M.Ward: Chinese Translation 5. Jon Auer: Bottom of the Bottle 6. Ilona: Fall Song 7. The Zebras: Science Competition 8. Michael McDonald: Carmelina 9. Cats on Fire: Draw in the Reins 10. Ilona: Good Morning 11. TV-Resistori: Numerot on meidän puolella 12. Math and Physics Club: Darling, Please Come Home 13. Michael McDonald: A Song to Sing 14. Samae Koskinen: Hän asuu näillä kulmilla 15. Midlake: Roscoe 16. Mojave 3: The Mutineer 17. The Zebras: I Have Decided 18. Joose Keskitalo: Kilpa-ajaja 19. The Hazey Janes: This Place is Just Not My Kind 20. The Phonies: Between the Worlds 21. The Raconteurs: Steady as She Goes 22. Jenny Lewis & The Watson Twins: Melt Your Heart 23. Montevideo: Storytelling 24. Jolly Jumpers: Slow Town Rules 25. Camera Obscura: Lloyd, I'm Ready To Be Heartbroken 26. Calexico: Panic Open String 27. Andreas Mattsson: This Is Where the Wave Breaks 28. Anthony Atkinson: Bleeding Hearts Are Back 29. The Essex Green: Penny & Jack 30. Hello Saferide: Quiz 31. Jon Auer: The Likes Of You 32. Broken Family Band: Alone in the Make Out Room 33. Treeball: I Was an Innocent Bystander 34. Lucky Soul: Lips Are Unhappy 35. Calexico: Cruel 36. Darren Hanlon: Don't Bogart My Heart 37. Tim O'Reagan: River Bends 38. The Crayon Fields: Living So Well 39. Justin Rutledge: I Am With Her When the Avalance Begins 40. Cat Power: Greatest 41. Pipas: Boxes 42. Lady & Bird: See Me Fall 43. The Guillemots: Blue Would Still Be Blue 44. Julian Nation: We Are All Writers 45. Mark Pickerel & His Praying Hands: Graffiti Girl 46. The Hazey Janes: Always There 47. Laurila: Endless Summer 48. BMX Bandits: Not Knowing You 49. Karine Polwart: Hole in the Heart 50. Jill Barber: Don't Go Easy


TOP 10 Little Discs (ep, cd5, mini-album etc)

	1. Ilona: S/T Oh how I love her songs. I first even thought that my top 3 songs of the year were all Ilona songs. I changed that, but still Ilona easily took the first place in two categories. Really looking forward to more Ilona songs.

	2. Cats On Fire: Draw in The Reins -EP Well this contains the same songs as my last year's pick + the title track. But of course I had to include it now as well, because I still love it. And the new song Draw in the Reins was a perfect one as well.

	3. Samae Koskinen: Hän asuu näillä kulmilla -single One heck of a pop song.

	4. T.Toiviainen & Treble: S/T Maybe this could have been on the album list as well, but this great record lasts only 19 minutes. And it's less crowded in here anyway. A gorgeous record.

	5. Hello Saferide: Would You Let Me Play... EP Hello Saferide's album was released in 2005, otherwise it would have been in my top 10. But at least I can praise Annika Norlin by adding this gorgeous new ep to the list. I love her music, I love her lyrics.

	6. Voxtrot: Mothers, Daughters, Sisters & Wives I'm hip and I'm cool. I like Voxtrot. I hope they will make it and become huge.

	7. Norfolk & Western: A Gilded Age -EP Much more than just M.Ward's backing band. This year's releases didn't seem as perfect as Dusk at Cold Parlour, but I still like them a lot. Just got the new album a few days ago, but haven't had the time to listen to it enough.

	8. Laurila: S/T -EP It didn't contain the best Laurila songs I've heard, but it was still great.

	9. The Royal Piss: Waterfront -EP Ove (Graceskull) and Andy J (The Sugarrush) went towards indie rock and shoegazing with their new band. Not totally my cup of tea stylewise, but it was still really good effort.

	10. Postal Blue: Road to Happiness -EP There always has to be some brazilian pop on the list (yes I'm an expert, I know two brazilian pop bands). And Postal Blue was back in good form with this EP.