Is there anybody out there?

Wow. Do I even have any readers left? Sorry to have disappeared for a year, but it's been a busy one... it was my first one as a full-time editor and work deadlines seemed to take precedence over my blog (and, subsequently, my life). But since it's the season for resolutions and there are so many big changes afoot for me right now (like the big move I'm undertaking on Saturday), I figured now was as good a time as any to get back in bloggy spirit.

I see that my last little post was a Best-Of list for 2005, which will make an excellent segue to my Best-Of list for 2006. This year marked a lot of firsts for me. It was the first time I was invited to participate in the Pazz And Jop Poll. It was the first time I think I actually heard enough of the albums that came out this year--thanks to my new job--to make an informed decision about what the cream of the crop was. And it was the first time that I didn't love the crop of pop hits that came out this year. That is not to say that it was a bad year for music--just the opposite, some amazing albums came out this year--but this was the first time in recent memory that the super big pop hits didn't do it for me.

I could write a diatribe about what was missing for me in songs like Nelly Furtado's "Promiscuous," Justin Timberlake's "SexyBack," Gwen Stefani's "Wind It Up" and any big hit released by Fergie. Sure, some of those songs had some great beats (many courtesy of Timbaland who might just be having the best year ever!), but most of them just made me want to gouge my eardrums out. Not all musicians must be able to write music. Not all of them must be able to sing. But one or the other would be nice. (I realize that this disqualifies much of Madonna's early career, but she is a God to me and is therefore exempt from this discussion.) And I don't mean that in a rockist way, but what the hell is Gwen bringing to the table with "Wind It Up?" It's just a lot of her bleating insipid, name-dropping lyrics over a beat that is so delirious that it gives me vertigo.

It's not that I'm a total rockist. I LOVE pop music. Check out last year's list. I got crap for supporting My Chemical Romance and my number one song of the year was Kelly Clarkson's (a song, I must add, I still think is the best single of the millennium so far). In year's past I've cheered on Beyonce and Jay-Z nd Mariah Carey. But this year's batch of pop confections just didn't do it for my sweet tooth. Maybe I'm bored by what is becoming a name-brand producer's medium. Or maybe I'm just tired of hearing my pop stars try and be something that they're not (Justin, you ain't no Prince and Fergie, please never rap again).

That said, there was some great music that came out in '06. I hunkered down with a bunch of Canadians pop weirdos and Brit rappers and Brooklyn rockers and the year just sort of flew by. So here is the list of my favorite albums and songs of the year. (What, you didn't think I was going to actually type them out again, did you?)