Albums of the Year

2006 was another great year for music. Here are the top 20 albums I purchased (or downloaded) of the year:

20. The Mars Volta, Amputechture
What used to be my favorite band of all-time has regressed to be releasing my 20th favorite album of the year. I think that says it all right there.

19. The Strokes, First Impressions of Earth
No longer the "It Band," the Strokes still are capable of creating good music, minus the buzz.

18. Mates of State, Bring It Back
Energetic synth-pop from the happy couple.

17. Thom Yorke, The Eraser
Not phenomenal, but still a solid effort.

16. Destroyer, Destroyer's Rubies
I liked them better when they were with the New Pornographers. But I still liked this album.

15. Islands, Return to the Sea
A truly hit-or-miss record that has a few misses, they make the list due to the sheer genius of songs like "Rough Gem," and "Where There's a Wheel There's a Whalebone." One of the more versatile albums out there.

14. Band of Horses, Everything All the Time
A solid listen that only gets better with multiple plays, this ethereal album is sure to cheer up even the most depressed Conor Oberst fan.

13. Built to Spill, You In Reverse
A must for any indie rock fan, Built to Spill are at their best (which is saying a lot) on this record.

12. Tenacious D, The Pick of Destiny Soundtrack
The hilarious, power-packed half hour of entertainment that you would come to expect from the D. The movie may have flopped at the box office, but the soundtrack is phenomenal.

11. Sufjan Stevens, The Avalanche
With this release of b-sides to the widely acclaimed "Illinoise," Sufjan has proven that his table scraps are better than most artists' main courses.

10. The Arctic Monkeys, Whatever People Say I Am, I'm Not
Probably not worthy of all the buzz and hype flying across the pond, they nonetheless crafted a dynamic debut album. They win the award for "The Strokes of 2006."

9. The Pippettes, We Are the Pipettes
A fun band that hearkens back to a time before most of us were born, you will not be disappointed by the catchy tunes coming out of this CD (or the jukebox, as would seem more appropriate).

8. The Decemberists, The Crane Wife
A slight departure from the genius of Picaresque, The Crane Wife is nevertheless a great listen, and a good album to own if you wish to bolster your indie rock cred. Bonus points for their appearance on The Colbert Report in a rock-off with Peter Frampton.

7. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Show Your Bones
Karen O at her best, as a screeching, passionate, sexy frontwoman for this uber-chic New York outfit. No pretentious album list would be complete without The YYY's.

6. Pearl Jam, Pearl Jam
Their best album in a long time, this self-titled release reminded everyone why they had been such huge Pearl Jam fans during the first Clinton Administration.

5. Jenny Lewis With The Watson Twins, Rabbit Fur Coat
Jenny steps out of the shadows of her Rilo Kiley bandmates with this this sensational album that features country influences, rock sensibilities, and a lot of soul.

4. The Raconteurs, Broken Boy Soldiers
Jack White proved that he could make good music in a more traditional format, and exposed a wider audience to the talents of Brendan Benson.

3. I'm From Barcelona, Let Me Introduce You To My Friends
Ironically titled band (they're actually from Sweden, not Catalan) finds their groove as a pop-rock powerhouse with catchy tunes even the Pipettes can't match.

2. The Hold Steady, Boys and Girls in America
I admittedly have only discovered this band very recently, but they have already jumped into my favorites pile, with a sound reminiscent of Bruce Springsteen. If there was a music category for "disgruntled classic suburban rock" they would occupy that shelf.

1. The Killers, Sam's Town
I did not see this one on many of the top albums lists, but it is too good to pass up. Every bit as good as their seminal debut, replete with more energy. Don't you dare mention the phrase "Sophomore Slump" in their presence.

NFL Power Rankings (Week 15)

1. San Diego Chargers
I don't think there is any debate here. Even when Rivers has an off game, they still dominate.

2. Indianapolis Colts
I still think that they are the team that has the best shot at beating the Chargers in the playoffs.

3. Baltimore Ravens
They better hope McNair is okay.

4. Chicago Bears
What happened to their defense?

5. New England
I know they're not playing as well this year, but they may just catch everyone by surprise if they get hot.

6. New Orleans
One week they destroy the Cowboys, the next they lose to the lowly Redskins. Not sure what happened there.

7. Cincinnati Bengals
Did Carson Palmer get more than two seconds that whole game? Thanks a lot Chad Johnson for not getting any garbage yards at the end.

8. Dallas Cowboys
Their defense has been allowing way too many points to be a serious Super Bowl contender.

9. Denver Broncos
That throw by Jay Cutler was just amazing. They better hope Javon Walker heals up though.

10. Philadelphia Eagles
This team seems to be moving along fine without McNabb, but I wouldn't count on them going very far in the playoffs.

11. New York Jets
Too inconsistent.

12. Jacksonville Jaguars
See New York Jets.

13. Seattle Seahawks
This is not the same team that dominated the NFC last season.

14. Buffalo Bills
I never thought I'd be so excited for the Buffalo/Tennessee matchup this weekend.

15. Tennessee Titans
See Buffalo Bills.

16. Pittsburgh Steelers
Just imagine if they would have beaten Oakland.

17. Kansas City Chiefs
When will this team get a dominant receiver.

18. New York Giants
This team just shouldn't be playing so poorly.

19. Atlanta Falcons
How are they still in the playoff chase?

20. San Francisco 49ers
I'd like to see this team make the playoffs. Frank Gore is fun to watch.

21. Miami Dolphins
Well, Joey was due for a terrible game.

22. Carolina Panthers
What a disaster this season has been.

23. St. Louis Rams
Let's see if this team can finish on a high note.

24. Green Bay Packers
This team is somehow still alive.

25. Minnesota Vikings
I didn't understand why people thought this team would win the NFC North at the beginning of the season.

26. Washington Redskins
Ladell Betts is playing great. Could Mr. Portis be on his way out?

27. Cleveland Browns
Another close loss.

28. Arizona Cardinals
This team still has a ways to go.

29. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Tim Rattay led the Bucs to 31 points against Chicago? Get out of here.

30. Houston Texans
That was pathetic.

31. Detroit Lions
I'm 100% positive that Millen will be fired shortly after the Lions lose their 14th game this season.

32. Oakland Raiders
This team is still a mess.

NFL Power Rankings (Week 14)

1. San Diego Chargers
Will this team be able to stay hot in the tough AFC come playoff time?

2. Baltimore Ravens
I still say this team has early playoff exit written all over it. They can help their chances by clinching a first round bye.

3. Chicago Bears
I think teams are going to start kicking away from Hester. Just a theory.

4. New Orleans Saints
This team may be the most fun team to watch.

5. Indianapolis Colts
It will be interesting to see how they bounce back from that loss against a red hot Bengals squad.

6. Cincinnati Bengals
This team is on fire and Monday's game could be a classic.

7. New England Patriots
The offense better wake up quick.

8. Jacksonville Jaguars
When they show up, they can beat anyone.

9. Dallas Cowboys
Back to reality for Tony Romo, but I think he should bounce back fine against the Falcons.

10. Seattle Seahawks
This team is turning into the Jaguars of the NFC.

11. New York Jets
Going into Sunday, everyone thought they would get a wildcard spot. I don't know if I see that happening anymore.

12. New York Giants
Huge game this week for this team. This should really show what they're made of.

13. Kansas City Chiefs
You almost have to wonder what they're record would be if Huard was still playing.

14. Philadelphia Eagles
The Eagles offense is obviously pretty talented if Jeff Garcia is doing well.

15. Miami Dolphins
I think Jason Taylor would get my vote for defensive player of the year.

16. Buffalo Bills
With a few key additions, they could be a playoff team next year.

17. Tennessee Titans
Never did I think this team would be this high.

18. Denver Broncos
Still not sure why they went to Cutler so early.

19. Atlanta Falcons
This team won't make the playoffs.

20. Carolina Panthers
What a disappointment.

21. Pittsburgh Steelers
I wouldn't want to play this team in the next three weeks.

22. Arizona Cardinals
Will this late season run save Dennis Green's job?

23. St. Louis Rams
The offense woke up against the league's best, but the defense is still awful.

24. Minnesota Vikings
The fact that they still could make the playoffs is pathetic.

25. Washington Redskins
Ladell Betts is making Clinton Portis look less important to this team.

26. Green Bay Packers
Well, they've gotten more wins than I expected.

27. San Francisco 49ers
They're still playing hard and Frank Gore is a stud. They just aren't there yet.

28. Cleveland Browns
I give up on figuring this team out.

29. Houston Texans
David Carr is better off on another team.

30. Oakland Raiders
Their defense is really solid, I don't care what anyone says.

31. Detroit Lions
Losing Kevin Jones sure doesn't help their chances of getting win number three.

32. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
This team needs some fresh new faces on both sides of the ball.

NFL Power Rankings (Week 13)

1. Indianapolis Colts
I am well aware that they just lost to the Titans, but I still feel they are better off than they were last year.

2. San Diego Chargers
This team is as close as it gets to being in that top spot.

3. Chicago Bears
I'm not one who usually believes in switching a quarterback this late in the season, especially on a team with a winning record. This is the rare exception.

4. New England Patriots
They're still relying too much on Tom Brady.

5. Baltimore Ravens
The offense was nowhere to be found against the Bengals this week.

6. New Orleans Saints
They really destroyed the 49ers this week. HUGE game this week.

7. Dallas Cowboys
They still seem to be underachieving at times. Tony Romo is the real deal though.

8. Seattle Seahawks
It's never easy to win in Denver, even against a rookie quarterback making his first start.

9. Cincinnati Bengals
This team is getting hotter and hotter. They are definitely proving me wrong so far about that playoff spot.

10. New York Jets
When they play smart, this team is capable of knocking off some superior teams.

11. Kansas City Chiefs
Not sure what happened against the Browns. I don't think anyone expected the Chiefs to give up 31 points.

12. Denver Broncos
Here is a case where I do not support the quarterback change this late.

13. Jacksonville Jaguars
Can this team just be consistent?

14. Philadelphia Eagles
I wrote this team off when McNabb was injured, but it looks like they have some fight left in them.

15. Carolina Panthers
If they don't wake up soon, they're going to miss the playoffs in the weak NFC.

16. Atlanta Falcons
All it takes is one win and you're back in the NFC playoff race.

17. New York Giants
They played tough against Dallas, but losing 4 straight is unacceptable.

18. Miami Dolphins
Just when I thought this team would make a playoff push, they play poorly.

19. Tennessee Titans
Jeff Fischer may get some coach of the year votes if they can continue to win against teams they shouldn't beat.

20. Buffalo Bills
That was a tough loss to a very good San Diego team. I like the way this team plays.

21. Pittsburgh Steelers
What a disappointing year this must be for Steeler fans, and I'm saying that after a win.

22. Minnesota Vikings
They have an 1,000+ yard rusher and their offense is still horrible.

23. San Francisco 49ers
They're not quite there yet, but I expect them to be contending for a wildcard spot next season.

24. St. Louis Rams
What happened to this offense? I won't even mention the defense.

25. Cleveland Browns
Surprising win against the Chiefs. I'm still a big Romeo Crennel fan.

26. Washington Redskins
I'm glad I had Ladell Betts on my team this week.

27. Arizona Cardinals
Is this team finally realizing that they should be at least a 7-9 team?

28. Green Bay Packers
That was a pathetic loss at Lambeau this week.

29. Houston Texans
32 yards passing? How?

30. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
I think we'll see Tim Rattay soon.

31. Detroit Lions
They're at least trying hard. Although I still don't get why they don't at least give Mike Williams a shot.

32. Oakland Raiders
This team is as awful as the person who sent the terrible comment to me on my last post.

Monday Night Rant

Alright, so I know you all missed my rant the past two Fridays, so I'm here to offer a special Monday Night edition, with two excuses. Tryptophan lasts a long time, and I took the LSAT last Saturday morning. This rant is about the BCS voters.

There is an inherent flaw in any system that contains computers and human voters. It's not the computers. It's the damn humans. And I'm not just saying that because the computers said Michigan was tied with Florida and the humans put Florida ahead.

Most people trust computers. We put ATM pin numbers in them. I write stuff on them that is damaging to my future political future on it. And we view a variety of pornographic images/videos on it. Seems pretty trustworthy. But we can't trust it to decide who are the best two teams in the nation? I'm sorry but Louis Armstrong did not consult biased ex-football coaches before he took one small step for a man, did he? No, he used his fancy NASA formulas. Last I checked, they worked pretty goddamn well. But they are worth only 1/3 of the BCS. Instead we have yahoos like Jim Walden voting. He actually had the balls to put Florida first! At least computers are consistent. The computers don't mind seeing rematches, or a game featuring two Midwestern teams. Rematches? Try Ali v Frazier. Or Rocky vs. Apollo. The rest of the country doesn't like watching the Midwest? The first game drew the best ratings of any regular season college game in 13 years. 21 freaking million people.

But are those idiots in the Harris Poll and Coaches Poll justified? Let's forget for a minute my lovable computer rankings, and focus on some of their reasoning:

You already had your chance at the title.
Oh, really? We already played in the BCS Title game? I must have forgotten to set my Tivo for that one.

Florida won the SEC, and you didn't even win your conference.
So, what? Why don't we match up Louisville against Georgia Tech, then? Is that what you want to see? I don't remember seeing it written anywhere that a conference title was required to make it to the final game. The Big Ten doesn't even have a conference championship game, so Michigan had no chance to beat the other top team, like Florida did. Put U of M in the SEC, and I guarantee we would have beaten Arkansas a lot better than Florida did.

Florida won 12 games. Michigan only won 11.
Big deal. You tell me what's more impressive: One point wins over South Carolina(unranked) and Tennessee and a 7 point win over FSU (unranked) along with a 10 point loss to a mediocre Auburn team. Or take Michigan's closest games: a 7 point win at Penn State, a 8 point win over Ball State (a horrible performance, but any game when the starters are out by the third quarter cannot be used against said team), and a 3 point loss at Ohio State. Those are the only games all year that Michigan didn't win by at least two touchdowns. That is pure domination of the Big Ten, and a tough Notre Dame team. Looking at the three or four most important games of each team, can you really say Florida was more impressive? No, you can't. In 3 games against the BCS Top 12, Michigan outscored them by 37. In Florida's 3 games against the BCS top 12, they outscored them by 13. Oh, and if you give the top team in the BCS 12 points, the second team 11, and so on, Michigan's total score is 20, more than Florida's 13. A much harder three games. Screw you, Urban Meyer. Urban Meyer is the kind of guy to invade a foreign country with no exit strategy and a lack of international support.