Hey music man just play something cool

I probably should have written this post a couple of weeks ago if I was going to do it, but I really don't have anything else right now so tough luck. Besides, I know at least two of you like my music taste so maybe this will give you some suggestions.

Over all, 2006 was a sub-par year as far as music goes. At least in my opinion. Most of what I picked up throughout the year was older stuff that I really liked but never ended up getting (e.g., Tool - Undertow; Ween - The Mollusk), or stuff that was released in 2005 but I didn't get until last year (e. g., Clem Snide - The End of Love; Ok Go - Oh No).

That being said, here are some of my favorite music releases of last year:

• Tool - 10,000 Days: A little while ago I talked about how cool it is to rediscover an album or band. This is an album that prompted such a rediscovery. I really liked Tool in the early '90's, but didn't ever own any. After all, why buy the album yourself when all your friends have it and you can just listen to it when you're with them, right? I'll tell you why. Because when you don't live near your friends anymore, you miss out on a lot of your favorite music (of course, this is less of a problem now that everyone has burning capabilities). I listened to this album for several weeks straight, and subsequently picked up a lot of the older stuff that I'd never got around to owning. Good stuff.
• Calexico - Garden Ruin: As my friend Rural Murder said the other day, this is one song away from being a perfect album. He and I disagree on this. I actually like the song that he doesn't. Just because it's sung in French doesn't mean that it's stinky and rude.
• Built to Spill - You in Reverse: I owe my ex-girlfriend big time for introducing me to this band. I picked this album up mostly because I felt guilty about owning burned copies of a lot of their other stuff and felt like I should support the band if I liked them so much. I'm glad I did. It's a good songwriter than can have a song that's 6 or 7 minutes long and still leave you wishing it wasn't over (this also holds for Tool).
• Pete Yorn - Nightcrawler: I think this album suffered a little because I got too much new music at once and therefore couldn't devote enough time to listening to just one album. It's kind of a new sound for him, and he has some really great stuff on here (Splendid Isolation is one of my favorite songs of last year).
• The Raconteurs - Broken Boy Soldiers: This CD has a lot of good songs on it, and the band itself is a side project by two artists that I enjoy (Jack White and Brendan Benson). However, it doesn't seem to have much lasting power with me. It's certainly not an album that I'd listen to over and over again over a short period, but it's fine to pop in once in a while.
• The Killers - Sam's Town: I actually had to listen to this one 4 or 5 times before I liked it. It's a bit different from their first album, which is probably a good thing. Too many bands seem to get stuck in producing music that all sounds the same (I'm talking to you Green Day and Coldplay). I'm just saying don't dismiss this one at first, give it some time.
• Snow Patrol - Eyes Open: I actually feel like this is one of those girlie bands that I shouldn't like, especially since a lot of people compare them to Coldplay, but for some reason I can't stop listening to this album. Most of the songs seem to be about relationships, and not even dysfunctional ones, but I guess sometimes that's ok.

I should note that this isn't meant to be an all inclusive list of the best music released in 2006. Far from it. It's just the stuff that I've picked up and happened to really like. There's plenty that I haven't listened to yet but comes highly recommended (e. g., Califone-Roots and Crowns; Band of Horses-Everything All the Time). I'll let you know how those are when I get them later this week.