Yes, it's the moment you've all been waiting for, and only like two weeks late at that. The DISCONAP TOP 10 TRACKS OF 2006! I know, you can barely hear us for the trumpets wailing and children choirs singing the advent of Nirvana, and yet it is true. Feast your eyes, humble mortal, upon the list below, leave thy comments, and stay tuned in the new year for even more posts of admirable nature right here on this very page...
10. The Kooks "Naive"The most unavoidable Britpop track this year, "Naive"'s instantly memorable chorus ("I know she knows/That I'm not fond of asking") became an anthem at all of their shows. Seriously, we're getting that shit tattooed across our chests. This is one of those songs someone is going to play at a party 15 years from now and we're all going to lose it.
9. TV On The Radio "Wolf Like Me"We never thought that TVOTR could top the content of their debut EP, but this comes damn close. The pounding drums, the fuzzy, driving bassline, the the soulful gleam of Tunde Adebimpe's voice--all make for the most visceral songs of the band's repertoire.
8. Crystal Castles "Alice Practice"This isn't even a real song, and it still made our list. That's how fucking good it is. Basically CC lead singer/crazy person Alice mic-checking over twitch-punk Casio beats, this happy accident (posted to the band's MySpace) attracted label attention and resulted in a sold-out 7". A brilliant slice of futuristic dance punk.
7. Born Ruffians "This Sentence Will Ruin/Save Your Life"Kind of like Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, only the Ruffians don't make us want to gouge our eyes out with dirty sticks. A bonus.
6. Amy Winehouse "Rehab"A year ago, if you had told us British lounge songbird Amy Winehouse would have cracked our top 10, we would have laughed in your face, then made you eat your Norah Jones records and dumped your body in the nearest forest. However, that would have been before Ms. Winehouse won her indie cred badges by going completely nuts, drinking herself to oblivion and remedying the whole mess by chaining herself to her bedframe with nothing but a bucket and a Smokey Robinson record (presumably). The result, anyhow, was "Rehab", a bigger "fuck you" to social respectability than Pete Doherty could ever muster (and better than anything Babyshambles could ever commit to CD). What a waster, but what a talent, also.
5. Morrissey "The Youngest Was the Most Loved"Morrissey was a bit of a cock this year, what with bribing festival audiences to purchase his singles via text message and refusing to tour Canada because of some fucking seals. That said, his antics almost overshadowed the fact that this song is really, really, really fucking good. We forget that only this man could get an Italian boy's choir to chant the refrain "there is no such/thing in life as normal" and make it utterly meaningful.
4. Grizzly Bear "Knife"Remember the gay pagan wedding in
Wet Hot American Summer? Imagine if Otis Redding had been the minister, Joanna Newsome the ringbearer, and Stephen Malkmus the best man. That's the basic idea here.
3. Nelly Furtado "Maneater""Comeback" doesn't even BEGIN to describe this woman. From world-music snoozefest to glammed-up pop vixen, courtesy of God (a.k.a. Timbaland), Nelly Furtado's transformation was this year's most welcome surprise, and "Maneater" was the golden highlight.
2. Peter Bjorn and John "Young Folks"We were sad when Victoria Bergman, the boy-voiced Swedish bombshell from the Concretes, called her former band quits, but if it was a necessary decision in order to lend her vocal chops to this perfect nordic pop anthem, then so be it. Singlehandedly making whistling and bongos cool, "Young Folks" climbed to the top of our iTunes 25 Most Played playlist effortlessly.
1. CSS "Let's Make Love and Listen to Death from Above"Dry humping your eardrums from here to Sao Paulo, 2006 was the year CSS asserted their reign as Queens (and King) of the disco revolution, and "LMLALTDFA" was their unrivaled anthem. Catching your ear from the first trembling theremin, "DFA" gobbled up every dance floor in the universe like a giant rave kid popping E, and in a year where basically all we did was dance, what more could we possibly ask for? The best song of 2006 by a longshot.
Labels: amy winehouse, best of 2006, born ruffians, crystal castles, css, grizzly bear, morrissey, nelly furtado, peter bjorn and john, the kooks, tv on the radio
