everyone and his mother is doing these best of lists for 2006. i have bought eleven albums this year. the last year with less entries in my database is 1961 with eight. and of those eleven only the thom yorke, the yo la tengo and the cat power (the first half at least) did something for me. so i started listening to songs (of albums) people found outstanding. what did i miss? according to the very limited sample more than i thought.

motel de moka had a band in the top twelve with the terrible name grails. instrumental atmospheric stuff from portland. simple and haunting. slow and dark. probably a must-buy.

fujiya & miyagi from brighton were featured several times (thanks to phil where i read about them first). krautrock with an often motoric - electronic i suppose - beat à la neu!. great but not exactly new. at least as good as stereolab ca. 1991.

emily haines from metric, the daughter of paul haines, had a very personal album out this year (marcello). she is on piano and sings a little bit like the girl from elysian fields. jennifer charles was her name if i remember well. emily's voice is maybe not quite as sexy but still very intense and totally captivating. our hell and crowd surf off a cliff are the two songs of hers that knocked me off my feet.

i listened to one song by barbara morgenstern (phil again), called the grass is always greener which i liked a lot. an electronic minimal pop ballad on a wistful note. i doubt that the rest of her album is as good. i am a pessimist, didn't you know?

the same goes for beck. i heard elevator music. i really dig that guy when he is in that quirky mood. not in gainsbourg-nick drake or whatever derivative mode. that is how i like my rap. i still don't usually.

beirut had a phantastic song (sean put it on his top spot) called postcards from italy. which is also number one in the zündfunk charts of november. the voice is a little too plaintive for my likes (that's what i don't like about a lot of the otherwise pretty elaborate indie these days). but the instrumentation with horns and banjos (apparently ukuleles) is glorious. and that trumpet tune after the two minute mark is absolutely fabuluous.

and again the wailing squeaky voice. dan bejar's. i got kind of accustomed to it. destroyer's rubies was on many lists. it seems to have a couple of great songs. painter in your pocket is one.

casey dienel's doctor monroe (phil and sean, i think) was a nice surprise from nowhere. light and tuneful. the kind of girlish natural voice i fall for.

i have to listen to charlotte gainsbourg's 5:55 again. marcello put it quite high, i dismissed the songs i heard as shallow easy listening in the beginning. the operation is definitely a killer tune.

i didn't know juana molina (phil) from argentina at all before. río seco is a very smooth and sensuous whispered guitar ballad with some spooky background howls.

there must have been more good songs out there. but i didn't have enough stamina to listen through all the boring stuff you have to before finding the jewels.

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