Best Indie Music of 2006
Last year, I pointed out a few Best Indie Music of 2005 lists to help tie the year’s indie music scene into a neat little bow for you. Well, it’s time for the best indie music of 2006. (No, there’s no such thing, yes, it’s all relative, but who cares.) Here’s a random smathering of opinions:
- Metacritic’s Best Albums of 2006: Metacritic picks the best 30 albums of the year. I haven’t heard of many of them, which I like. Bob Dylan’s #1 (ok, it’s not really indie I suppose), which I’m a little hesitant about, but a few of my favorites like Yo La Tengo and The Decemberists made it, so all’s good.
- BestMusicPoll’s National Indie Acts of 2006: BestMusicPoll asked the fans what they thought…(but not me, the jerks). Arcade Fire, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, and Belle & Sebastian, make the list, among others. (Gorillaz won the general music category.)
- NPR’s Best CDs of 2006: The top ten albums as picked by NPR listeners. I’m a big fan of All Songs Considered, and fully trust the show’s listeners to pick a few goodies. The Decemberists are #1, awesome.
- Pitchfork’s Top 100 Tracks of 2006: It’s hard to go wrong with Pitchfork, right? #100 is "Southern Comfort" by Hyperdub, interesting. #1 is "My Love" by Justin Timberlake…egad. Hopefully everything in between is better — btw, mp3s are included with each listing, which is good. Bam, that’s another meg on the ol’ iPod.
- PopMatters’ 10 Best Indie-Pop Tracks of 2006: Ok, that’s a much more digestible list. I’ll admit, I am completely unfamiliar with all of what’s listed, and will have to do some digging…
- Modern Music’s Best Indie Rock of 2006: The top ten indie rock albums of 2006, according to a Blogger blogger.
But why should we only consider the past?
- About.com’s Top 10 New Albums to Covet in Early 2007: A list of the potential best albums of next year.
So, there you have it. You no longer need to decide what music is best; several music editors have done that for you…with a little free will wiggle room, since opinions vary.
But seriously now — NAME YOUR TOP 5 BAND DISCOVERIES of the year below. Share so the rest of us can check out what you’ve discovered — I recently dove into 20 Minute Loop, The Russian Futurists, and Optimus Rhyme, for example…
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Top five band discoveries of the past year for me were: Rocco Deluca and the Burden, Josh Ritter (I know, I’m a little late to the party there), Real Space Noise, James Christensen and, well, I think that’s it off the top of my head for new discoveries this year. I’ll have my list of my favorite albums of the year (indie and otherwise) up on my MySpace site within a day or so.
Great list and sites! Glad NPR made it as a resource. :)
Okay, I guess this isn’t someone who’s terribly indie or who is newly discovered…but it’s newly discovered for me! Emiliana Torrini. She’s got some great modern folk/indi sounding music.