déjà vu all over again : the best songs of 2006

Will you forgive me for doing this? When I started making my two Best of 2007 mixes last December, it struck me as a good idea to revisit 2006 and revise my list of 20 songs I had uploaded as the best of the year. I always felt it rather incomplete, and truth be told, I put very little thought into it. Beth Orton's Safe in Your Arms, for example, was a cursory addition. I was simply recognizing her effort to release a new album, even though it was wholly underwhelming. The idea of a creating new compilation excited me, even though I knew it wasn't going to be too difficult, since I already knew my favorites. The only challenge was whittling them down to 34 and trying to see how to best group them in two. Thirty-four is not a number I picked for the sake of being random. I make these mix tapes (...because "mix CDs" just doesn't roll well off the tongue...) with the intention of sharing and sending them to friends, and 17 just happens to be the average number of songs I can burn in a normal CD. Double the fun, et voila, you have the opportunity to create two distinct compilations.

In this list, you'll plainly see that the first puts together songs that rock, and the second, songs of a more folksy nature. Now, the more diligent mix tape nerd will disregard the fact that most people now listen to music in shuffle mode, and take pains in putting the songs in proper sequence. You just don't throw them into a pot, you have a whole set of issues to think about. Do you start with a bang or do you gradually build up the mood? Can you follow a song that ends abruptly with one that starts slowly? How do you make a transition between – horrors! – two completely different genres? Can you build a story out of your song choices? Admittedly, I factored all these when I made my 2007 mixes, but for this 2006 set, I left it up to the wisdom of iTunes: I sorted them by song length, shortest first. And you know what? I'm happy with the way it turned out. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did putting them together.

As in the 2007 list, you can listen to the songs in one click, or individually.



Best of 2006 Mix 1
click here or on the image above to stream the entire list, or
click on the titles below to listen to the songs individually

1. Red Light Indicates Doors Are Secured : Arctic Monkeys
2. Nausea : Beck
3. Portrait : Upper Room
4. Long Distance Call : Phoenix
5. You Only Live Once : The Strokes
6. You & I : Graham Coxon
7. Have A Good Time : Morning Runner
8. Stadiums & Shrines II : Sunset Rubdown
9. Into The Ocean : Blue October
10. Mr. Tough : Yo La Tengo
11. Somewhere Down The River : Elf Power
12. Typical : MuteMath
13. Dead Funny : Archie Bronson Outfit
14. The Clock : Thom Yorke
15. Postcards From Italy : Beirut
16. The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song : The Flaming Lips
17. Young Bride : Midlake



Best of 2006 Mix 2
click here or on the image above to stream the entire list, or
click on the titles below to listen to the songs individually

1. Summertime : Josh Rouse
2. Yours And Mine : Calexico
3. Love You More : Alexi Murdoch
4. Irene : Rose Melberg
5. This Voice : Ane Brun
6. Thief About To Break In : Teitur
7. Born In The 70s : Ed Harcourt
8. Half-Assed : Ani Difranco
9. Lucile (Where Did The Love Go?) : M. Craft
10. Oh People : Tim Easton
11. Yellow Taxi : Matt Costa
12. Splendid Isolation : Pete Yorn
13. Forget About You : Cary Brothers
14. Rootless Tree : Damien Rice
15. Brighter Discontent : The Submarines
16. It's Beginning To Get To Me : Snow Patrol
17. Young Folks : Peter Bjorn & John