Do the Dirtywhirl: Top 10 from '06

I can't believe this year is over. It has come and gone in a haze of concerts, martinis, deadlines, endings, beginnings, highs and lows.

Goodbye 2006. You came and went like a 30-second john trying to get blown for half price. Hello 2007. What surprises will you bring?

Pencopal's top 10 albums of 2006:

1. TV on the Radio: Return to Cookie Mountain. Aside from the fact that after meeting Kyp Malone inside the Tweeter during TVOTR's summer tour opening for NIN, I wanted to play a little game called Seven Hours in Heaven (minutes wouldn't be enough), there are a ton of reasons why I totally dig this band. This album was basically my anthem from September on, and truth be told, was my anthem before that because I had a bootleg pre-release copy. These guys have taken passion--for love, life, politics, self, family, and humanity--and translated it into bass lines, drum blasts, tambourine beats, and guitar riffs. Yum.

2. Yeah Yeah Yeahs: Show Your Bones. My girl crush on Karen O can not be denied. One song says it all--"Phenomena." You have to either break shit or drive fast while listening to that song. It's a moral imperative.

3. The Decemberists: The Crane Wife. Eight minute songs. Sad, lilting high-pitched voices. Songs that make you feel happy to be sad or happy to be happy. More please.

4. Corinne Bailey Rae: Corinne Bailey Rae. If I could sing, hers would be the voice I'd want. When she sings, I hear the ghost of Billie Holiday warring with the spirit of Nina Simone. Plus, you've gotta love those ringlets.

5. Thom Yorke: The Eraser. Thom keeps finding out different ways to ask "What's it all about?" The answer comes in the form of bleeps and blips. I dig that.

6. Cat Power: The Greatest. Chan Marshall came into her own with this album. I still like her when she's fragile and antisocial, but sober, confident, and contemplative Cat Power is just as captivating. (Way too many Cs.)

7. Gnarls Barkley: St. Elsewhere. Almost didn't put this album on the list, because it was like crack. I OD'd on it at first, then I was walking around acting insane, not doing my hair and shit. I went into rehab, so I've left it alone for a while. Did anyone else listen to this CD about 142 times and then abruptly stop? Does that make me crazy?

8. Raconteurs: Broken Boy Soldiers. Jack White + Classic Rock Obsession = this album in constant rotation for a few months. Then I got bored. It's a little too short.

9. Pearl Jam: Pearl Jam. Poke fun at me for being stuck in the '90s if you want to, but I stand by this choice--these guys put on a great show in Camden, and this album reminds me of summertime and sneaking into the good seats. I love that after all these years, Vedder and Co. put out a self-titled album, as if to say, this is who we are, now.

10. Tie: Scissor Sisters: Ta-Dah! and Ray Lamontagne: Til the Sun Turns Black. For the Scissor Sisters, love the Elton John homage that runs throughout the album (and the fact that he actually plays on it). But for some reason the sophomore effort is a little less fun than the debut. Which is why it's tied with Ray Lamontagne. "Til the Sun" begs to be played in the background while getting ur freak on. Go try it. Right now.