Mancrush Alert

Vince Young is the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year. Hook'em!

As my wife once said, if Vince Young and Neko Case have a child, that child shall rule the world. Or at least my world.

Best of 2006

So shoot me. I was laid out with the whatever-has-been-going around hacking and coughing for the past week and I didn’t get around to posting my top albums and songs for 2006.

My problem with putting together these lists is this: half the stuff I want to put on the list is actually from 2005. And a lot of stuff is from 1995. Or 1985. I’m just running that far behind. And then there’s the stuff I never even get around to.

Then there was the stuff I was disappointed in: like the Yo La Tengo and Medeski, Martin and Wood. But I won’t dwell on that.

Here are my lists. But to bottomline it for you: It’s all about Neko.

My Top 10 Songs
1. Neko Case – “Hold On, Hold On”
2. Gnarls Barkley – “Crazy”
3. Cat Power – “The Greatest”
4. Broken Social Scene – “Superconnected”
5. Badly Drawn Boy – “Born in the UK”
6. Tom Waits – “Nirvana”
7. Camera Obscura – “Lloyd, I’m Ready To Be Heartbroken”
8. The Decemberists – “O Valencia!”
9. Rhett Miller – “The Believer”
10. Asobi Seksu – “New Years”

My Top 5 Albums
1. Neko Case – Fox Confessor Brings The Flood
2. Badly Drawn Boy – Born in the UK
3. Tom Waits – Orphans
4. Broken Social Scene – Broken Social Scene
5. Rhett Miller – The Believer

10 Albums I Wish I Had Listened To
Stuff I’ve heard bits of and liked but didn’t get a listen in ’06:
1. Bobby Bare Jr. – The Longest Meow
2. Midlake – Trials of Van Occupanther
3. Band of Horses – Everything All the Time
4. Bob Dylan – Modern Times
5. Gnarls Barkley – St. Elsewhere
6. The Black Angels – Passover
7. Beck – The Information
8. Mew – And the glass handed kites
9. M. Ward – Post War
10. Josh Ritter – The Animal Years

Neko Case Esta Bueno

Neko Case. Is there anything more to say? Her voice is amazing, clear and haunting. Her new album, Fox Confessor Brings Flood is my album of the year pick. But, my, she has a little bitterness toward her parents. But don't we all.