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Top 50 CDs from 2006

(in alphabetical order)

Tony Allen, Lagos No Shaking (Honest Jon's Records)
reissue: Ray Barretto, Acid (Fania/Emusica)
Mary J. Blige, Reflections (A Retrospective) (Geffen)
Brightblack Morning Light, Brightblack Morning Light (Matador)
Carbon/Silicon [collected online music]
Chooglin', Chooglin' (self-released)
The Clash, The Singles (Sony BMG)
Clipse, Hell Hath No Fury (Zomba)
Ben Connelly, Over You (AD/CD Records)
The Coup, Pick a Bigger Weapon (Anti-/Epitaph)
mixtape: DJ Stage One, X-Mas Mix 2006
reissue: Brian Eno + David Byrne, My Life in the Bush of Ghosts (Nonesuch)

The Evens, Get Evens (Dischord)
Gnarls Barkley, St. Elsewhere (Downtown/Atlantic)
The God Damn Doo Wop Band, Broken Hearts (Afternoon Records)
The Good, the Bad & the Queen, Herculean (Parlophone/Honest Jons Records)

Heartless Bastards, All This Time (Fat Possum Records)
The Hold Steady, Boys and Girls in America (Vagrant)
John Holt, I Can't Get You Off My Mind (Heart Beat)

J Dilla/Jay Dee, Donuts (Stones Throw)
Juvenile, Reality Check (UTP/Atlantic)
KRS-One, Life (Antagonist)
Lady Sovereign, Public Warning (Def Jam Records)
Mission of Burma, The Obliterati (Matador)
Juana Molina, Son (Domino Records)
New York Dolls, One Day It Will Please Us to Remember Even This (Roadrunner Records)
reissue: Orchestra Baobab, African Classics, The Cantos Collection of World Music Legends (Sheer Sound)

P.O.S., Audition (Doomtree/Rhymesayers)
Pitbull, El Mariel (TVT Records)
Prince, Ultimate (Warner Bros.) (though it really should have "Erotic City")
Nina Simone, Forever Young, Gifted & Black: Song of Freedom and Spirit (RCA/Legacy)
Stereolab, Fab Four Suture (Too Pure/Beggars Group)
T.I., King. (Grand Hustle/Atlantic)
Trama, "Trama Dusa: The Ugly Album" (K.E.P. Inc.)*

Trampled By Turtles, Live at Luce (Banjodad Records)
TV on the Radio, Return to Cookie Mountain (Interscope)
Unknown Prophets, The Road Less Traveled (www.unknownprophets.com)
Van Hunt, On the Jungle Floor (Capitol)
various artists, Afro-Punk Vol. 1 (Museum of African American Music)
various artists, Big Apple Rappin': The Early Days of Hip-Hop Culture in New York City 1979-1982 (Soul Jazz Records)

various artists, Duluth Does Dylan Revisited (Spinout Records)
various artists, DUNation.com - Volume Won (DUNation.com/Noiseland Industries)
various artists, Fifth Annual Twin Cities Celebration of Hip Hop 2006 Back to the Foundation
various artists, New Orleans Christmas (Putumayo)
various artists, Now Esto Es Musica Latino: 20 Chart-Topping Hits!
various artists, Revolution Rock: A Clash Jukebox (Trojan)
various artists, Roots of Rumba Rock, Congo Classics 1953-1955 (Ryko)
various artists, Shite 'n' Onions Volume 2: What the Shite (Omnium)
various artists, The Best of Smoke-Free Saturday Nights Volume 3 (Pulse of the Twin Cities/Disc Burn)
various artists, The Rough Guide to West African Gold (World Music Network)

(For my Top 10 albums and singles, see my my Pazz and Jop ballot.)

Other national CDs worth hearing from 2006 (in alphabetical order):

2Mex & Life Rexall are $martyr (Cornerstone RAS)
reissue: Aretha Franklin, Life at Fillmore West (Atlantic/Rhino)
Bouncing Souls, The Gold Record (Epitaph)
Bow Wow Wow, We Are the '80s (RCA/Legacy)
Demolition Doll Rods, There Is a Difference (Swami Records)
Devotchka, How It Ends (Cicero)
The Dixie Chicks, Taking the Long Way (Sony)*
Dolly Parton, Love Songs (BMG/Legacy)
Exene Cervenka and the Original Sinners, Sev7en (Nitro Records)
Ghostface Killah, Fishscale (Def Jam Recordings)
Hugh Masekela presents the Chisa Years, 1965-1975 (Rare and Unreleased) (BBE Records)
J Dilla, The Shining (BBE)
reissue: Johnny "Guitar" Watson, Johnny "Guitar" Watson and the Family Clone (Shout! Factory)
Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash, The Hits (Legacy)
reissue: Johnny Cash, At San Quentin (Legacy Edition) (Legacy)*
Jolie Holland, Springtime Can Kill You (Anti-)
Jon Langford, Gold Brick (ROIR)
LCD Soundsystem, Introns (Capitol)
Lupe Fiasco's Food & Liquor (Atlantic)
Macka Diamond, "Money-O" (Greensleeves)
Mama Digdown's Brass Band, Acona (self-released)
Mastodon, Call of the Mastodon (Relapse Records)
mixtape: DJ Cool Kev! Fastlane Reggae Vol #26
mixtape: DJ Jamsha Presenta Reggaeton Divas
Motorhead, Kiss of Death (Sanctuary)
Old Time Relijun , 2012 (K)
Otep, Otep (Capitol)
Pere Ubu, Why I Hate Women (Smog Veil)
Priestess, Hello Master (RCA)
Psalm One, The Death of Frequent Flyer (Rhymesayers)
Ray Davies, Other People's Lives (V2)
Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars, Living Like a Refugee (Anti-)
Sizzla Kalonji, Ain't Gonna See Us Fall (VP)
Sizzla, Waterhouse Redemption (Greensleeves)
Solillaquists of Sound, "As If We Existed" (Anti-)
Sonic Youth, Rather Ripped (Geffen)
Soul Position, Things Go Better with RJ and AL (Rhymesayers)
Spank Rock, Yo Yo Yo Yo (Bib Dada)
Tego Calderon, The Underdog (Jiggiri Records/Atlantic)
reissue: The Jesus and Mary Chain, Psycho Candy (Rhino)
The Killers, Sam's Town (Island)
The Robert Cray Band, Live Across the Pond (Nozzle Records)
The Slackers, Peculiar (Hellcat Records)
The Streets, The Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living (Vice/Atlantic)
The Walkmen, A Hundred Miles Off (Record Collection)
The Wedding Present, Search for Paradise: Singles 2004-5 (Manifesto)
various artists, 2006 Southern Music CD Oxford American
various artists, American Hardcore: The History of American Punk Rock 1980-1986
various artists, Classic Railroad Songs Smithsonian Folkways (Smithsonian Folkways Recordings)
various artists, Electric Gypsyland 2 (Ryko)
various artists, Grammy 2006 Nominees (Sony/BMG)
various artists, Greensleeves Rhythm Album #80: Sweat (Don Corleon/Greensleeves)
various artists, Greensleeves Rhythm Album #83 Petty Thief
various artists, Greensleeves Rhythm Album #85: Inspector (Stainless/Greensleeves)
various artists, the Return of Mudd-Up 2006 Greensleeves Rhythm Album #79 (Greensleeves)
various artists, The Rough Guide to Urban Latino (World Music Network)
various artists, Trash! The Roots of Punk! (Mojo CD)
various artists, Wassup Rockers (Record Collection)
various artists/Easy Star All-Stars, Radiodread (Easty Star)

Other local CDs worth hearing from 2006 (in alphabetical order):

Alpha Consumer, Alpha Consumer (self-released)*
Atmosphere, The Fun EP (Happy Clown Bad Dub Eight) (Rhymesayers)
Bob Dylan, Modern Times (Columbia)
Cadillac Kolstad, Standards of the World (Wampus Cat)*
Carbon Carousel, The Some of All Things or: The Healing Power of Scab Picking (a.k.a. self-titled) (carboncarousel.com)
Cave Deaths, Glacier on Fire (Modern Radio)*
Charlie Parr, Backslider (Eclectone Records)
Curtis & Loretta, Just My Heart For You (Haymarket Music)
DJ Stage One, Twin Cities Live
Done Been, Gettin' To It (self-released)
Dosh, The Lost Take (Anticon)
Dot-Ten, Mega Watt V 1.5 (Def-fidelity)
Doug Spartz & Friends, American Stories, Lies & Tales (Diamond Music Group)
Faux Jean, Light It Up/Burn It Down (New Fidelity Records)*
Gay Beast, Gay Beast EP*
Haley Bonar, Lure The Fox (Afternoon Records)*
Heat, Heat Vol. 1 mixtape (especially "True Colors," which jacks the beat by Joe Budden and producer Scram Jones, which samples the 2001 track "Outside" by Staind)
Ill Chemistry (Carnage & Desdamona), Symbiosis (self-released)
In Defence, In Defence (TCHC)*
Indigenous, Chasing the Sun (Vanguard)
Irv Williams and Peter Schimke, Duo (Ding-Dong Music)
Jack Brass Band, You Don't Know Me (www.jackbrassband.com)
Jelloslave, Touch It (Sugarfoot Music)
Jenny Dalton, Fleur de Lily (Glossy Shoebox Productions)*
Jeremy Messersmith, The Alcatraz Kid (Princess Records)*
John Swardson, Ablaze*
Kill the Vultures, The Careless Flame (JIB)*
Kip Blackshire, The Eleventh Hour (FS Music)*
K-Salaam, The World Is Ours (Rex / Koch Dist.--soon to be re-released on VP?)
Leroy Smokes, Love Hustle Theater (Smokesignyl Productions)
Likehell, Famous Orgies (Rekords Rekords)
Mark Mallman, Between the Devil and Middle C (Badman Recordings)
Mason Jennings, Boneclouds (Epic)
Mazta I, Thank the Lord and the Sword! (Copycats)*
Michael Yonkers with the Blind Shake (pre-release available at Roadrunner, Treehouse records, and Go Johnny Go! See also Learning Curve)
Mike the 2600 King, Heavy Session (Litterthugz)
Minnesota Orchestra, Beethoven Symphonies No. 3 & 8 (BIS Records)*
mixtape: Emazin, The City Pages (Trakhouse Productions/It's Been One Entertainment)
mixtape: Street Kingz Entertainment Presents The Best Kept Secret Vol. 1 Murderapolis Underworld Mixtape
Moochy C, "R.A.S.B." (Self-Explanatory Records)*
Ol' Yeller, Good Luck (SMA Records)
One for the Team, Good Boys Don't Make Noise (Afternoon Records)*
Prince, 3121 (Umvd Labels)*
Prof and Rahzwell, Absolutely (Alamo Yard Productions)
Roy Haynes and the Fountain of Youth Band, Whereas (Dreyfus) (recorded live at the Artist's Quarter)*
Sara Softich, Pipe Dream (self-released)
Saturday Morning Soundtrack (Ecid, Capaciti, Impulse, and Kristoff Krane of Abzorbr), Saturday Morning Soundtrack (Fill in the Breaks/Hecatomb)
Scottie Miller, Livin' Between the Black and White*
Soul Asylum, The Silver Lining (Columbia/Legacy)
Superhopper, "Party Killers" (Guilt Ridden Pop)
The Alarmists, A Detail of Soldiers (Instrument Control)*
The Awesome Snakes, Venom (Crustacean Records)*
The Belles Of Skin City, You Do The Company Proud (Totally Gross National Product)*
The Brass Kings, The Brass Kings (Dream Horse Records)*
The Chambermaids, The Chambermaids (Modern Radio)*
The Gleam, Lookout for Evils (SMA)*
The Mad Ripple, Sink and/or Swim (Eclectone Records)
The Maps of Norway, Sister Stations (Guilt Ridden Pop)
The New Congress, Everybody Gets Up!*
The Pink Slip, Party on Jackrabbit Mountain (Chop Shop Records)
The Randy Lee Orchestra, A Christmas by the Lake with the Randy Lee Orchestra (Arffytunes Records/Duluthrocked)
The South Side Aces, The South Side Aces (KGC Records)
The Suburbs, High Fidelity Boys - Live 1979 (Garage D'Or)
The Twin Cities Playboys, Texas Memories (Loop Start Music)
Tim O'Reagan, Tim O'Reagan (Lost Highway)*
Total Fucking Blood, Blaze the Lord (Freedom Records)*
Truthmaze, Expansions + Contractions Psoems 1:1 (Tru Ruts/Speakeasy Records)*
U-Joint, Cars Make Lovely Cages (Splung Music)
various artists, Candy Floss: The Lost Music of MidAmerica 1967-1969 (Weekend Records)
various artists, City Pages Picked 2 Click: Local Grooves Local Artists (Copycats/Heineken/Cheapo)
various artists, Down by the Riverside
cassette: various artists, Life of Monotony: Six Bands Minneapolis (c/o Tim Lunning P.O. Box 6371 Minneapolis, MN 55406)
bootleg: various artists, Live in Town
various artists, Traditions in Country (Showcase Records)
various artists, Twin Cities Hardcore: Bring It Together (TCHardcoreJournal.com)
various artists, We Will Bury You: A Tribute to Killdozer (Crustacean Records)
various artists, We'll Inherit the Earth... A Tribute to the Replacements (1-2-3-4-Go! Records)
various artists, West Bank Boogie: Forty Years of Music, Mayhem and Memories book and CD (Triangle Park Creative)
Venus, Trashed and Broken Hearted (SkinDog)
Willie Walker and the Butanes, Memphisapolis (Haute Music)

2006 local music DVDs:

DJ Stage One, Street Cinema Vol. 10

2005 national:

Africanism Allstars, Africanism III (Tommy Boy)
Daddy Yankee, Barrio Fino en Directo (El Cartel/Interscope)
Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley, Welcome to Jamrock (Tuff Gong/Universal)
George Clinton, How Late Do U Have 2BB4UR Absent? (The C Kunspyruhzy, LLC)
reissue: Grandmaster Flash, The Message (Runt/DBK/Elektra)
reissue: Grandmaster Flash, They Said It Couldn't Be Done (Runt/DBK/Elektra)
Hot 8 Brass Band, Rock with the Hot 8 (Louisiana Red Hot Records)
Kanye West, Late Registration (Roc-A-Fella Records)
Lady Sovereign, Vertically Challenged (Chocolate Industries)
Madonna, Confessions of a Dance Floor (Warner Bros.)
Mary J. Blige, The Breakthrough (Geffen)
Neko Case, Fox Confessor Brings the Flood (Anti)
reissue: Run-DMC, Raising Hell (Arista/Legacy)
reissue: The 101ers, Elgin Avenue Breakdown Revisited (Astralwerks/EMI)
The Mighty Sparrow, First Flight: Early Calypsos the Emory Cook Collection (Smithsonian Folkways Recordings)
reissue: The Stooges New Orleans Brass Band, It's About Time (Limited Edition 2005-06 North American Tour for Rebuilding after Hurricane Katrina)
reissue: The Stooges, Funhouse (Elektra/Rhino)
reissue: The Stooges, The Stooges (Elektra/Rhino)
The Wedding Present, Take Fountain (Manifesto)
various artists, Broken Flowers: Music the Film (Decca Records)
various artists, Our New Orleans 2005: A Benefit Album (Nonesuch)
various artists, The Rough Guide to Dub (World Music Network)

2005 local:

Andy Sullivan, "Private Wars" (www.andysullivan.com)
cassette: Faggot (demo cassette)
Golden, "It Ain't Me" 12-inch single
Power Struggle, Arson at the Petting Zoo (New Disorder Records)
Tapes 'N Tapes, The Loon
The Flamin' Oh's, Long Live the King (SMA Records)
The Keep Aways, The Keep Aways (Chairkickers)
The Roe Family Singers, "Andronicus" (Roe Family Singers)
Tori Fixx, Mary Me (www.torifixx.com)
various artists, Twin Town High Music Yearbook Volume 08 (Pulse of the Twin Cities/Copycats)
Young Pluky, Dodging the Rico EP (Brickboy2 2 Entertainment)

Pre-2005 national:

Adolescents, Adolescents (Frontier)
Bembeya Jazz National, The Syliphone Years (Stern's)
Black Flag, The First Four Years (SST)
Devin the Dude, Just Tryin' Ta Live (Rap-A-Lot)
Eternel Docteur Nico 1967, Orchestre African Fiesta (Sukisa/African/Sonodisc)
King Sunny Ade, The Best of the Classic Years (Shanachie)
Scream, Still Screaming/This Side Up (Dischord)
The Clash, Rude Boys (bootleg)
The Mighty Sparrow, Volume One (Ice Records)
The Mighty Sparrow, Volume Three (Ice Records)
The Mighty Sparrow, Volume Two (Ice Records)
various artists, African Jazz 'N Jive: An Authentic Selection of South African Township Swing Classic the 50s & 60s (Gallo Record Company)
various artists, Calypso: The Best of Trinidad, 1912-1929 (Carib Net)
various artists, Calypso: The Best of Trinidad, 1930-1939 (Carib Net)
various artists, Calypso: The Best of Trinidad, 1940-1052 (Carib Net)
various artists, Genocide in Sudan (Waxploitation Records)

Pre-2005 local:

Strange Brew (Aaron Wade and Jay Bee), Bitches, Brews, & Beats (LNH Entertainment) (White Shadow of Norway)

(* = I either never bought it, or my copy has gone missing.)

Other year-end fun:

Nate's 2006 CDR-Go
Minnesota Mixtape 2006
ILX's Good albums left out of most year-end lists
NPR's "Overlooked 11" of 2006
Top 10 MN music video moments of 2006
Top Albums of 2005
Danny Boy's best photos of 2006
Britt Robson's 100 best CDs of 2006
Slate Year in Music
The Current staff Top 10s
Fimoculous 2006 list of music lists
Rex's own top albums

Posted by Peter S. Scholtes at February 27, 2007 7:15 PM

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