Top Songs of 2006.

UPDATE: Links for the top 20 now posted.

First of all, Happy New Year to everyone out there! 2006 was a great year for power pop, and I'll ring it out with my final year-end list: the top songs of 2006. Even if many of these weren't the purest, most ambitious expressions of songcraft out there, they were tracks I enjoyed the most. Favorite songs ebb and flow throughout the year, so I'm not going to rank them in order; instead, I'll list my 20 favorite in alphabetical order and list quite a few honorable mentions thereafter. And yes, my eligibility requirements are a lot more lax than on the top 100 album list, so that explains the Pop Is Art track.

Absolute Powerpop's Favorite Songs of 2006:

"All Dressed Up"-The Yayhoos (listen)
"All My Rivals"-Chris Brown (mp3)
"Always Almost"-Mark McAdam (mp3)
"Asking Annie Out"-Willie Nile (listen)
"Blue Sky"-Supraluxe (listen)
"Chatterbox"-David Mead (sample)
"Comin' Around"-Bob Evans (listen)
"Did You See Her Dance"-Rob Laufer (listen, but use IE, not Firefox)
"Don't Let It Go"-L.E.O. (listen)
"Friend"-Bob Evans (listen)
"Help Me Suzanne"-Rhett Miller (sample)
"I Don't Feel Like Dancin'"-Scissor Sisters (sample)
"Inches and Falling"-The Format (sample)
"Louisville"-The Damnwells (listen)
"Love Sweet Love"-Supraluxe (listen)
"River to Ocean"-Phil Ayoub (listen)
"Smile!"-Pop Is Art (listen)
"Something to Hide"-Tommi Zender (mp3)
"The Way It Goes"-Paper Airplane Pilots (mp3)
"We're #1"-The World Record (listen)

Honorable Mentions (in artist alpha order):
"Sunflower", "For Dear Life", "Spotlight"-Andrew LeDrew
"Crank It Out"-Ari Shine
"Something Must Be Wrong"-Arthur Yoria
"Sadness & Whiskey"-Bob Evans
"By The Window"-Bryan Estepa
"Heart Don't Say"-Buva
"Done So Secretly"-Champagne Francis
"O Claire"-Cheap Trick
"Slave No More"-Chris LeDrew
"Bigger They Are The Harder They Fall"-Chris Murphy
"Good Morning Radio"-Codaphonic
"The Royal Standard"-Corin Ashley
"Myopic Day"-Craig Bartock
"I am a Leaver"-The Damnwells
"Cricket Scores"-Dave Stoops
"Hard to Remember"-David Mead
"Satellites"-David William
"Vespa Girl"-David Wolfenberger
"Somebody Leave The Lights On"-Don DiLego
"Feel for You"-Doug Powell
"Feet on the Ground"-Edmund's Crown
"Shattered (You Left Me)"-Exploding Hearts
"Kettle's On", "Fill My Little World"-The Feeling
"I'm Actual", "Time Bomb"-The Format
"Curded Wheys"-Fresh Mowed Lawn
"She's an Elevator"-Galore
"The Coast Is Clear"-Gary Henson
"So I'm Writing"-Geoff Smith & The Tonewheels
"Bric-a-Brac"-Grapeland
"Kissy Kissy (New York City)"-Greg Hoy
"Already All Ready"-Grey Does Matter
"One Man Wrecking Machine"-Guster
"Talking to Lisa"-Hotel Lights
"You Remind Me of the Sun", "Southaways"-Jeff Larson
"Angelita"-Jon Auer
"It Looks Like Love"-Josh Rouse
"This Is What We Are"-The Junior League
"On The Wind"-Kenny Roby
"Goodbye Innocence"-L.E.O.
"Eye Eye", "Me and Barbara Stanwyck"-The Lolas
"Two in a Million"-The Mains
"I'm Okay"-The Mellowmen
"Rat's Alley"-The Mendoza Line
"She Arrives"-Mike Elgert
"The Man In My Head"-Monkeeman
"Hard Luck", "Darkening Sky"-The Nines
"Bright Idea", "Downtown"-Orson
"Somerville", "Grudge F*** (2006)"-The Pernice Brothers
"I'm In Love (with Arthur Dove)", "You Blanks"-Portastatic
"V-Day", "Beauty Will Save The World"-Red Guitar
"My Valentine"-Rhett Miller
"Could It Be That Bad"-Rick Oliver
"On and On"-Ryan Calhoun
"A Good Day"-Ryan Coughlan
"Peter Shilton", "Chocolate"-The Sails
"Parachute"-Sean Lennon
"Acrobat Ache"-Shane Nicholson
"Lindbergh"-Skytone
"Fading Into Obscurity"-Sloan
"No Love 4 The Loser"-Spyderbaby
"You Were Looking"-Status Green
"Boyfriend"-Supraluxe
"Sara Jean"-The Sw!ms
"Lonely City", "Always Dragging Me Down"-Third Floor Story
"Never Knows Your Name"-Tide
"Tietze Park", "Four Pictures"-Travis Hopper
"Jr's Bag of Tricks"-Warren Zanes
"Roam"-The Yayhoos
"Tonight"-Yesen Damen