Twelve From: Best of 2006 List

This is The Crutch's Top 12 of 2006 - in no order. Needless to say, several great albums were not included.

SSM - SSM (Alive)
[mp3] The freshest and best rock and roll this year.

The Raconteurs - Broken Boy Soldiers (V2)
[live mp3] Probably won't be the best album they'll inevitably create, but this debut blows away the majority of the field.

Archie Bronson Outfit - Derdang Derdang (Domino)
[mp3] Arctic who? Franz who? You should know Archie Bronson Outfit.

The M's - Future Women (Polyvinyl)
[live mp3] The drumming alone makes this album a must listen, but the over all craftsmanship puts it on this list.

Comets on Fire - Avatar (Sub Pop)
[mp3] The heaviest of the bunch, but it's just more to love.

Jay Reatard - Blood Visions (In the Red)
[mp3] The best thing Jay Reatard has done - and that's a statement within itself.

King Khan & the BBQ Show - What's For Dinner? (In the Red)
[mp3] If you've forgotten what rock and roll sounded like, listen to this album.

Soledad Brothers - The Hardest Walk (Alive)
[mp3] The last album this band may ever put out, but it's an impressive one.

Catfish Haven - Tell Me (Secretly Canadian)
Simple, soulful, and passionate - not much else is needed.

Functional Blackouts - Severed Tongue Speaks For Everyone (Criminal IQ)
[mp3] This isn't your average punk album - it'll put hair on your chest.

The Black Angels - Passover (Light in the Attic)
[mp3] Psychedelia done right.

The Drones - Miller's Daughter (Bang!)
[mp3] The Drones are the best band from down under since Radio Birdman.

Four From: a live setting

T. Rex - 20th Century Boy (German TV - Musikladen - 1973)
If not for Marc Bolan, David Bowie would've never been David Bowie.

The Reigning Sound - We Repel Each Other (Goner Fest - 2005)
The best band that the general public has never heard of.

The White Stripes - Hello Operator/Baby Blue (Peel Sessions - 2001)
This version of "Hello Operator" (minus the cover of Gene Vincent's "Baby Blue") is what made them popular in England (before the U.S.), and this session impressed John Peel so much that he touted them as the most exciting live act since Jimi Hendrix.

The Beatles - Money (Swedish Radio - 1963)
If I heard this in 1963, I'm sure I would've shit my pants as well.

Three From: 1989

The Pixies - Tame (Doolittle)
If the timing was right, The Pixies would've been Nirvana.

The Gories - I Think I've Had It (House Rockin')
Thank god for Mick Collins.

Lenny Kravitz - Let Love Rule (Let Love Rule)
Kravitz had some real talent before he became a "rock star."