Tops of 2006...a little late, I know.

This naturally goes into the better-late-than-never category. While just looking for an old text file on my computer, I came across this. And I'm pretty surprised at how much my picks have held up. I'm still pretty much listening to all of these a good amount.

So here goes....
I put things into little categories so it's easier to digest, and these are in no real order.

The return of the 70's:
Midlake - The Trials of Van Occupanther
Comets on Fire - Avatar (how this hasn't been on any lists disturbs the hell out of me)

Great heavy metal:
Mastodon - Blood Mountain
Boris - Pink
Light This City - Facing the Thousand

Rune Grammofon's sweet 2006:
Huntsville, Susanna and the Magical Orchestra, Humcrush and Thomas Strønen's albums

Jim O'Rourke's sweet 2006:
Loose Fur - Born Again in the USA
Beth Orton - Comfort of Strangers

Music that just feels plain ol' American:
Califone - Roots & Crowns
American Princes - Less and Less

Favorite meandering fuzzy guitar song records:
TV on the Radio - Return to Cookie Mountain
Function - The Secret Miracle Fountain
Mono with World's End Girlfriend

Electronic music for being in my car alone:
Junior Boys - So This is Goodbye
Jan Jelinek - Tierbeobachtungen

A completely amazing year for percussion records:
the aformentioned Thomas Strønen record
Glenn Kotche's Mobile
So Percussions' Amid the Noise

A great year for deconstructing other genres and making it your own:
Ekkehard Ehlers - A Life Without Fear
Mats Gustafsson & David Stackenäs - Blues (late 2005)
Rafael Toral - Space

Not new, but new to me:
Captain Beyond - s/t (so unbelievably good) (UPDATE: found it on vinyl recently!)
Franco Battiato - everything
Egg - everything
The Action - Rolled Gold (instantly on my all-time top 10)
Mighty Baby - s/t
Arthur Russell - First Thought Best Thought

Close calls:
Final Fantasy - He Poos Clouds
Parts and Labor - Stay Afraid