My 2006, in brief:
Number of blog posts (visible to me!):
157: This was my first full year of blogging, and I kind of really liked it, plus I like the looking-back-at-the-year thing that it affords (yes, it really took me five years to get blogging, but so I'm kind of slow).
Favorite used purchase:
Maddy!
Favorite photo of Maddy:
Favorite concert:
Justin Timberlake at Roseland
Favorite album:
Ghostface Killah, Fishscale
Favorite book:
Michael Pollan, The Omnivore's Dilemma
Favorite Songs:
They may be singles, and if they're not, they should be. These were, for me, the 13 most absolutely incredible songs of 2006 [1]:
Beyoncé, "Irreplaceable"
Full of the simultaneous vulnerability & confidence that (one imagines) can only come when you're kicking someone out the door, & this time for good; that slight tremor in her voice at "and keep talking that mess, that's fine" gets me every time. (listen)
Butch Walker & the Let's-Go-Out-Tonites, "When Canyons Ruled the World"
Second-hand LA nostalgia. (listen)
Cat Power, "The Greatest"
As before I am so, so impressed with Chan Marshall & her newfound Dusty-isms. (listen)
CSS, "Music is My Hot Hot Sex"
In a year in which I listened to more new music than ever: yes, well, it really is, isn't it? (listen)
Destroyer, "Looter's Follies"
It just builds, & it builds, & it builds, and even at just 3 minutes into this 7-minute song, it sounds like it'll explode from overblown la-la-la's--and so, yes, it's a little ridiculous in places ("I looked up, I looked around / a famous Toronto painter shot me down"), but I can't help but love it. (listen)
Ghostface Killah, "Underwater"
From the most consistently great album of 2006, one of the most haunting & strange songs of 2006. (listen)
Honeycut, "Exodus Honey"
This reminds me of Spandau Ballet via PM Dawn, and I really, really like that. (listen)
JC Chasez, "Until Yesterday"
First heard/seen at JT's show at Roseland, where JC walked out on stage to thunderous applause, this is easily the most under-appreciated single of the year: it's some sort of modern power ballad that just keeps working, inexplicably. (listen)
Justin Timberlake, "My Love"
"Sexyback" was, well, a little disappointing--and then I heard this, and it was like the whole world was right again. My favorite song of the year. (listen)
Nelly Furtado, "Promiscuous"
The assorted sins I had associated with Nelly Furtado--mainly terribly bland & insincere light folk--have all been erased because of this song. (listen)
Office, "Dominos"
A summer happiness song. And I'm sure it's all in the name, but it's like the song from a really happy, funny musical put on by the folks from "The Office"--every time I hear it, I see Jim, Pam, Michael, Dwight, &c. singing along to a big musical production wherein they celebrate the coming of the new week, and the associated romantic tension therein, and that just makes me smile. (listen)
Scritti Politti, "The Boom Boom Bap"
The greatest unexpected surprise of 2006, without a doubt: a new Scritti Politti album, and this moving ode to old-school hip hop. (listen)
TV on the Radio, "I Was a Lover"
In the end, the album left me sort of cold, and "Wolf Like Me" was my favorite Power Song of 2006 [2], but not much more; but "I Was a Lover", with its Dirty Projectors-esque strange horn sounds, was truly amazing. (listen)
And that was 2006.
That's it. Hello, 2007.
[1] And this time, as opposed to last, I actually bothered to try writing something about each.
[2] Not that I actually really exercised much during 2006, but still.