Re-sent, since it never made it through before…

 

1. Robyn Hitchcock and the Venus 3, Ole! Tarantula (Yep Roc)

 

That Robyn Hitchcock is still capable of putting out pretty decent albums
this far into his career is hardly a surprise, but the fact that 2006 found
him releasing arguably his best album in two decades is still
remarkable…much like the album itself.

 

2. Willie Nelson, Songbird (Lost Highway)

 

The Red-Headed Stranger teams with Ryan Adams and drops the gloss of his
recent albums. Suddenly, it’s like the Atlantic years all over again…which
means it might not sell, but at least the critics are happy.

 

3. Doug Powell, Four Seasons (Paisley Pop)

 

Mr. Powell might argue with calling this collection of “oddities” (a.k.a.
demos, unreleased songs, and hard-to-find tracks) a proper album, but damned
if it doesn’t hold together like one.

 

4. Don Dixon, The Entire Combustible World in One Small Room (125 Records)

 

An album’s worth of folk-pop brilliance from one of the major players of the
Southern jangle-pop scene of the ‘80s. Don’s gone and gotten mature on his
fans. Oh, well, it happens to the best of us. 

 

5. Wisely, Parador (Not Lame)

 

Which is more depressing: that this album didn’t inspire mass adoration of
Willie Wisely, or that the label that released it has now ceased operation?
It’s a tough call…but either way, Parador is definitely one of the best
pop…that’s right, pop…albums of 2006.

 

6. James Hunter, People Gonna Talk (Rounder)

 

Thank you, Van Morrison, for espousing the name of James Hunter and, in the
process, raising his profile enough to get him signed to Rounder. This is a
phenomenal collection of blue-eyed soul, one that sounds like it was
recorded in the early ‘60s and only recently unearthed. It’s sweet, sweet
stuff.

 

7. Arctic Monkeys, Whatever You Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not (Domino)

 

Debut of the year? Sure, why not. Certainly, it’s the debut of the year by a
band virtually no-one in the States knew anything about when 2005 ended.
Oddsmakers in Vegas will have a field day as their music critic clients bet
on whether or not the band has a second album in them that’ll come anywhere
near this one, but while you’re listening to Whatever You Say I Am, you
won’t care if they or don’t.

 

8. Roseanne Cash, Black Cadillac (Capitol)

 

Johnny’s daughter and June’s stepdaughter works through her grief over the
deaths of her parents and stepmother by producing a melancholy but
ultimately uplifting album.

 

9. L.E.O., Alpacas Orgling (Cheap Lullaby)

 

An indie-pop supergroup, featuring Bleu playing with various members of
Jellyfish, the Candy Butchers, Chicago, the Black Crowes, Self, Papas
Fritas, Hanson, the Cautions, and the Argument, pays tribute to the spirit
of Jeff Lynne and ELO by lovingly ripping off everything he’s ever done. And
doing it damned well.

 

10. The Now People, The Last Great 20th Century Love Affair (Bird Song)

 

I only gave it 3.5 stars when I reviewed it, but the more I spin this album,
the more I fall in love with it; its charms, which are already pretty strong
even after your first listen, only grow with future plays. It’s truly a
soft-pop masterpiece

 

11. Belle & Sebastian, The Life Pursuit (Matador)

 

They’re not just a punchline any more, kids. Stuart Murdoch isn’t nearly as
twee as he used to be; now, he’s just making really good pop music, period.

 

12. Johnny Cash, American Recordings V: A Hundred Highways (American)

 

Only Johnny Cash could perform Gordon Lightfoot’s “If You Could Read My
Mind” and bring a tear to my eye. That the Man in Black is no longer walking
the earth is still really, really depressing, but at least this brings a bit
of solace.

 

13. Def Leppard, Yeah! (Mercury / Universal)

 

Covers albums are, as Duran Duran will gladly tell you, a dicey proposition.
Def Leppard, however, chose their songs wisely and only changed the
arrangements enough to make them fit their sound…and since the selections
tended toward material that inspired them in the first place, the results
kick ass.

 

14. The Feeling, Twelve Stops and Home (Interscope)

 

Okay, maybe I was a little hasty with the claim about the Arctic Monkeys
having the debut of the year. Any band who channels 10CC and Supertramp in
this day and age deserves just as many kudos.

 

15. Gin Blossoms, Major Lodge Victory (Hybrid)

 

You know, I’ve been a fan of these guys since the first time I heard “Hey
Jealousy,” and I’ve stayed that way ever since, but I gotta say, I really
never expected to see another album from them. And I definitely wouldn’t
have foreseen that it would be as good as this one is.

 

16. Gnarls Barkley, St. Elsewhere (Downtown)

 

I resisted the charms of this album until I found out that they covered a
Violent Femmes song on the same day that I saw the Raconteurs cover “Crazy.”
After that, I settled in and embraced it as strongly as I should have from
the get-go.

 

17. Roger Manning, Jr., The Land of Pure Imagination (Cordless)

 

It’s not the return of Jellyfish, but it’s the return of one of the band’s
major contributors…and, frankly, it’s long overdue. Not entirely worth the
wait…but, then, it was a really, really long wait, so don’t take that to
mean that it isn’t quite good. Because it is.

 

18. Pet Shop Boys, Fundamental (Rhino)

 

I wouldn’t begin to claim that it’s their best work, but, as the old cliché
goes, even a just-okay album by these guys is better than a great album by a
lot of artists. “The Sodom and Gomorrah Show” and “I’m With Stupid” are
instant classics, that’s all I know.

 

19. The Pipettes, We Are The Pipettes (Naïve)

 

Fair warning: this trio of lovely ladies is veddy, veddy British, my
friends…but while the accents are up front and utterly unabashed, the songs
are straight out of Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound and the harmonies are
wonderful. 

 

20. Right Said Fred, For Sale (Ministry of Sound)

 

As God as my witness, I hereby state for the record that A) yes, this is for
real, B) yes, they really are still together, and C) it’s really, really
good. P.S. Stop laughing, you bastards!

 

 

Best,

 

WiLL

 

William Harris
Associate Editor
Bullz-Eye.com
1403 Earle Ave.
Chesapeake, VA  23324
Ph. (757 624-1390
E-mail NonStopPop@cox.net