2006 Year in Review by Luron Wright.

This year has meant so much to so many people. This was the year stock brokers will remember as the year London took the lead from New York as the leading city to do business. The year George W Bush reaches out to states he accused of being contributors to terrorism and divide within Iraq to help stop terrorism and bring Iraq together. The year Terrorist managed to ban bottled water on flights. The year people in New Orleans will remember as the year 90% of their city was rebuilt by charity and not public funds while public funds are used to support military development within a country that is 6000 miles away. The year Britain had to evacuate citizens from Palestine and could not contribute to Peace Keeping efforts because of their over stretched Armed Forces. The year the G8 realises that the Kyoto agreement was worth the paper it was written on, as economists state that climate change will affect every economy drastically within the next 15 years. The year Montegonians are cursed with the fact that crime within Montego Bay (Jamaica) has become more frequent and worse than that of Kingston (Jamaica). The list of historical events within the year 2006 could go on till you say when...when!

2006 to me was the year I became 21, the year I stepped into manhood. This year is a year I will remember for its music. The year Nina Simon, The Notorious BIG, Simon and Garfunckle, Jimi Hendrix, Dennis Brown, Duke Ellington along with other late greats sprung back to life and enriched my music collection with their timeless contributions to the music world. This has also been another great year for black music. Although urban music seems to have leveled with its success during the turn of the millennia the fruits of the seeds sewed during this time and prior can be heard in many records released during 2006. The change of styles and attitudes towards production of Urban Music can be heard within some of the most successful selling POP and ROCK albums in this year. With the collaboration of so many artists 10 years ago would not have even mentioned the name of their collaborates much less to allow them to collect 50% of the proceeds on a record. This year gave me great collaborations of Nas and Jay-Z, and The Game and Snoop Dogg. The year a German born reggae artiste is booked within the international music circuit as that and not a POP or ROCK singer singing reggae. This has also been the year of some disappointments, such as the cancelled release of the Fuggees new album and Lauryn Hill’s album. The fact that Beenie Man and Bounty killer are at it again in some minds is a disappointment but to me it means the music is still alive and through competition it will grow.

For the better part of this year I have been living on HMS Cornwall, a type 22 Frigate in Her Majesty’s Navy. While onboard living in 33 man berth accommodation and with the possibility that I might be sent off to Afghanistan or Iraq at any time I kept myself grounded by listening to music. I purchased a 30 GB IPod in February and threw my portable CD player in the north sea and started ripping all my cds to my computer. I used to make mix CDs in MP3 format and play them on my CD player. With the IPod that changed and I started making playlists. I had a playlist for every occasion, any compilation I could think of and with a collection that spread across 482 albums and 23 Genres the possibilities were endless. The following songs are my most played or most loved songs of this year. These tracks was the soundtrack to my 2006 whether it was playing in the background while I was reading, while I worked, when I went for runs or walks, during moments of passion or disappointment , one of these songs could be heard playing in the background.

My 2006 playlist is as follows;
1-3. Solitude by Duke Ellington, Solitude by Louis Armstrong and Solitude by Nina Simone. The first time I heard this song it was the Billie Holliday version, I heard it and all I could think about is the death of a loved one who was close to her. The sadness within the lyrics can be heard within all four versions of the song but Nina Simone’s version is the one that brought it home to me- how sad can you get really being all alone? This song says it all.
4. Here Comes the Sun by Nina Simone. This was my welcome the summer song this year. When I saw my mother this summer after not seeing her for over 6 months all I could think of were the words “it seems like years since you’ve been here, and its all right now”. A short song that says all it needs to with wonderful, as I now call Nina Style Piano, within 2 1/2 minutes.
5. How Long Will I Wonder This Time by Nina Simone. With lyrics that is brought to life by such a ‘terribly terrific singer’ and music that allows you to wonder as you listen to the out of this world piano rifts, it is a song that does exactly what it says on the tin... How long will I wonder?
6. Black Is the Colour of My True Lover’s Hair by Nina Simone. A song that allows classical and R&B to collide in ways unknown to me prior to listening to this song. It also allowed me to think about what exactly true love is, with a woman that is not necessarily the most beautiful physically created a string of notes and lyrics dedicated to her true love making her to me the most desirable woman in the world as she closes with an applause. I love her.
7. Sinner Man by Nina Simone. Jazz and Gospel, a sinner cursed by God and told to go to the devil. I heard this song as score within so many movies but I have never listened to it. What manner of evil must I have committed to be rejected by both God and the Devil? Emotion within this song is evident and the hairs on my back stand up every time I listen to it.
8. Amor Ti Vieta by Andrea Biccelle. I’ve listened to the entire album Andrea Spec Edition and no other song has brought so much emotion to my heart. I have never listened to opera before so I was quite excited when i was given this album by a friend. I listened to it intently and fell in love with this song. I told the person who gave the album to me that I found it quite boring but their was one song, Amor Ti Vieta, that I could not stop playing, she offered to tell me what the words to the song were but I told her not to because I was enjoying my ignorance. Though my reason for not knowing did not go down well I still stand by that conviction, Amor Ti Vieta.
9. Dancing Shoes by The Arctic Monkeys. I just feel great every time I listen to the song, full stop. I listen to it when I go jogging, before I go out, even when I am in the club. Its simply just a great track, though there are other songs on the album that are better than this one I’ve listened to this one according to my computer 76 times since getting the album, so there you go.
10. Dancing Alone by Ashley Simpson. In my opinion POP music should be banned from the bed rooms of 10 to 16 year old girls. With that done probably DJs wouldn’t have as many requests for the crap and thus a genre will be scratched from the airwaves. Yes I listened to this song...point!
11. Wouldn’t It be Nice by the Beach Boys. The discovery of the Beach boys was one of my proudest moments this year. I was watching Love Actually (for the 50th time) and I heard this song so I went to the record store in search for this song. When the attendant told me it was by the Beach boys I refused to purchase it but he made me listen to the entire Pet Sounds album and by the last song I gave him my three pounds and told him to bronze the entire Beach Boys collection to save it from extinction. This song to me was the best on the album, great harmonies and adorable lyrics.
12. From me to You by the Beetles. John Lennon wrote this song when the Beetles were on tour in the USA during the 60’s after he listened to a song by the Beach Boys which is why it has a clear surfer rock tone to it. I try not to listen to it but I played it for a friend who was away from home and told her it was a message from her family. I got her to smile which made me know that the effects of music on emotions are endless.
13. If Not For You by Bob Dylan. If not for you, then who? I have been listening to Bob Dylan for a year or so now and this song along with, Like a Rolling Stone are always on my playlists. I guess I fell in love sometime this year and this song was on repeat. The harmonica in this song with the one strum guitar sounds if the definition of American 60’s folk music.
14. Only Man by Buju Banton. From the Till Shilow album released in 1993, 13 years ago and I still listen to the song like it was released yesterday. It is about a woman who is so beautiful that is out of his league. He is basically pleading with her to be his and only his, but being who she is it seems extremely unlikely. ‘She doesn’t want a man with problems and stress’ and Buju is just that. What’s going to happen now? Will she stop for a minute to listen to his words? Will she find him adorable or pity him and walk off even though he took off his shoes to show that he is a nice guy? What sensational lyrics.
15. Who Have It by Buju Banton. Every song on the Too Bad album reminds me of the Buju Banton who wrote Till Shilow. This song speaks to everyone, who gave them the guns, who has the money, who has the knowledge and is hiding it? This song speaks to the brain drain within Jamaica, but all we do as Jamaicans is talk about it. This song shouts the questions Jamaicans have been asking for years, it offers no solution but to me that is the solution. It is found within the questions.
16. Ill Do It All by Busta Rhymes. The vocals in this song is astonishing. I listened to the entire album, The Big Bang, but this song stood out to me. This is Busta telling a woman how much he appreciates her company not as a gangster rapper (that could for some seem offensive) but as a calm and seductive man. Unlike I Love My Bitch, which is on the same album, this song says more and is allot clearer than I Love My Bitch and I am extremely unhappy that Ill Do It All was not released. If you didn’t purchase this album you would probably skip through this song as the tempo was slower than both songs on either side of it but ‘from me to you’ this song is worth listening to. Allow yourself to find Busta’s oasis in the middle of his dessert where he is at his best.
17. Boys Will Be Boys by The Ordinary Boys. The Ordinary Boys is found in all record stores under rock but why not Ska? This song is as equally Ska as that of Yeovilton Ska released in the 1970’s so why not? The song’s title describes exactly what the song is about, boys drinking, sleeping around, practical jokes, irresponsible and not caring. exactly what I was during my teenage years. All together with the great Ska music in the back ground the song meshed perfectly to create a song that is like no other out at the time. This not only goes for this song but for the entire album.
18. Lie Here With Me by Snow Patrol. A song I would listen to over and over. The use of music that coincides so greatly with lyrics that will stand the test of time is what this song is. I saw the performance of the song on TV where everyone in the audience had their eyes closed both male and female, and as the song came to the climax everyone was jumping. I wanted to know why, so an hour later i down loaded it and knew exactly why. Its wonderfully, uncomplicatedly timeless piece of music.
19. God is a DJ by Faithless. When I hear this song I imagine Vatican City being transformed into a huge party where God came down and saw to his people. Giving out Rum and Cokes as his blood and ‘E’ as his body. The vocal makes me think its God himself only to hear him say tonight God is a DJ and ironically the DJ who composed the song is a 36 year old woman. With her being as beautiful as she is and both of us at our sexual peek I can’t help but close my eyes, dance to this song and beg forgiveness for thinking about having sex with God Herself.
20. Essence Of Your Love by Feeder. Feeder has established themselves a good band in the last year. Essence of your love is a song I would listen to and think of Simone and Garfunckle, the subtle tones of the song with a semi-psychedelic background makes you believe its a dream you don't want to wake up from.
21. Crazy by Gnarls Barclay. Where do I start? I have purchased this song in every way it was available, I purchased the 45’ single, the CD single, the album and undoubtedly I downloaded it. Gnarls Barclay stapled in my head Crazy. Who would have thought Cee-Loo and Danger Doom could come together to create such a great song? But, when I bought the album it wasn’t just this song it was an album full of unclassifiable R&B, ROCK, HIP HOP and SOUL. Danger Doom the creator of the Grey album (combination of The Beetles White Album and Jay-Zs Black Album), an album that stapled his importance in the music industry as an unprecedented producer of great music has confirmed this by his collaboration with Cee-Loo to make ST. Elsewhere.
22. Who Cares by Gnarls Barclay. I’ve had this song on replay for a day and a half. The lyrics appealed to me at the time and even though I tried to listen to other songs this one kept on coming up on my playlist. It reminds me of a world where you have to be two people, one person according to company and the other according to yourself. The question of why we can’t be ourselves whenever we want to be came in my head then the line by Danger Doom comes in- WHO CARES?
23. With You by Jamie Fox. Jamie Fox released the wrong songs from his debut alum. I stand by that to the depth of the earth. This album was more than what I read about it in magazines; Jamie Fox has a very unique set of talents, a wonderful actor and a wonderful singer making him a great `entertainer’. With You Features Snoop Dogg and The Game and the beat thing is that it is produced by Dr. Dre, this song could have been the HIP HOP song of 2006 for many people but for the people who didn't listen to the album it was just another song on the Jamie Fox Unpredictable album.
24. Lost One by Jay-Z. ‘This is not a good song it’s a real one’ the statement that greets you when you press play on this track. I beg to change this a little, my intro to this track is ‘this is not a good song it’s a really great one’. This album was released later than expected but to be honest it was worth waiting for by any Jay-Z and west coast rap fan. By the star rating review given by the London Times I noticed that the reviewer wanted Jay-Z to stop writing and producing albums and to allow his black album to be the last album he produced. I guess I understand that point of view but then that point of view detracts from the obvious truth that this song/album is worth releasing. This song in particular is the plight of a man who has done well in life but blames himself for so many mishaps in his life. Sad but as the intro said, real.
25. Voodoo Chile by Jimi Hendrix. I only started listening to Jimi Hendrix this year after reading a biography on him. Voodoo Chile has little or no lyrics and yet it doesn't matter because Jimi speaks with his guitar and so many words could be heard during the play time of this song. From start to finish this song is pure electronic guitar talent. I saw a DVD of him performing this song in France where he conducted a ‘play’ voodoo ceremony on stage where he lit his guitar on fire in hope he out did his competitors. Who could out do Jimi? The man who could play while making love to his guitar-pelvic thrusting and using his teeth? A wonderful contributor to music and from 15 April 2006 till the end of my life I will have a Jimi Hendrix track on my playlists.
26. Save Room by John Legend. What a great discovery. John Legend is a sensational musician with everything on top. Save room, is the best composition in R&B for the year of 2006. Following up to his debut album Once Again is phenomenal, a man that knows emotion and how to express it through music and is not afraid to do so. This is John Legend, Save Room.
27. I Write Sins Not Tragedies by Panic in The Disco. Panic in the Disco gave this song a great arrangement with fresh writing. Haven’t you heard of closing the God damn door? This song is Britain’s social behavior summed up in 3 minutes 8 seconds, first celebrate because of the necessity to do so whether it be the birth of a child or the union of two people, then create drama either by trying to say the groom is gay or the bride is a whore, then when that is over and done with, get drunk.
28. Air on a G Sting- by the London Symphony Orchestra. Erotic and Sexy. I know what you are thinking, they mean the same thing, but said together they describe every single note of this piece of music, Erotica and Sexy.
29. Love Should by Moby. Lazy, sexy and wonderful. When I listen to this song I imagine being in bed with a beautiful woman who I am in love with. The chorus, oh how it rains and oh how it pours, are the words of a true relationship. Anyone who has ever been in love knows exactly what those lines represent.
30. Promiscuous by Nelly Furtado. If you did not shake your head to this song at least once this year you are either deaf or living in a cocoon where contemporary music is banned. Nelly Furtado has taken the celebrity make over to another level. She managed to not show any of her belly button for the release of her first 2 albums and now she has and its like I’ve never seen a belly button before. When other female artistes show their belly buttons I take it for granted but when Nelly Furtado does it I savour every single second it is exposed to me. Oh, the song? Great club banger. Her album? I bought it because she told me to when she was on MTV with her belly button staring at me. I by no means was disappointed with her album. With a few productions by Timberland she took the clubs by storm and with a few soft toned Latin tracks that made her famous.
31. Hold Your Head by Notorious BIG. Hold your head would not be the same to me if it was John Legend singing the chorus, Bob Marley’s voice made this song what it is. This song was played in a club when I was home in Jamaica where the DJ played the full Bob Marley song without the P Diddy contemporary version in the back ground. The version that this DJ played was better than BIG rapping in-between. I still love the Notorious BIG version and I still listen to the duets album quite allot from start to finish not just selected tracks. This track however resurrected two great entertainers and teamed them up to create a harmony we can only dream what would sound like if they were still alive.
32. Chronometrophobia by Outcast. Idle wild was released this year, I am very sorry to say I have not seen this film yet but I have listened to the sound track. The sound track is incredible, well as far as Outcast goes it is wonderful. The production talents of André 3000 improves with every album Outcast releases even though I think his musical influences are a bit too evident within his style. Chronometrophbia is the fear of time, or in some cases progression, the need to live in the here and now and no looking toward the future. In my eyes Outcast in the future will come to represent what NWA and Public Enemy represents now, icons within Hip Hop who are totally irreplaceable.
33. Hollywood Divorce by Outcast. The quirky rapping styles of André 3000, Snoop Dogg, Big Boi and the infamous Lil’Wayne made this song stand out to me. When the name Lil’ Wayne is mentioned now a days the response is more or less oh the guy who invented the ‘Bling Bling’ slang. That is what this song speaks to, the necessity of Hollywood to be constantly entertained and when you stop entertaining you are either forgotten about or Hollywood finds its entertainment through your private life. When this gets boring you are forgotten about and the next phase moves in. Though the song does not dispute that this is necessary for the progression of entertainment, it disputes the culture that surrounds this, the necessity of information creating Paparazzi.
34. P. Diddy Rock by P. Diddy. Press Play has hocked me really. I never expected P. Diddy to do a contemporary album where I could love as much as I love Press Play. This song especially, I love the verse in the song that is sung by Twista. As Twista raps at 2000 words per minute the beat’s tempo is slowed down and Twista’s vocals is used to keep the tempo of the song going. Simply brilliant! The press play album however should be called- P. Diddy Featuring, there is only one song on the album that does not feature a well known artiste. Saying that, that one song, Future, is really one of the best tracks on the album.
35. Number One by Pharrell Williams. When I heard of this song I was anxiously waiting for its release. Then to my disappointment it wasn’t what I expected. Imagine this; two of the best young producers in Hip Hop meet heads and release a song together, Number One is not the song that comes to mind. Number One being what it is I will say I love it, didn’t get as much air time as Angel (on the same album) but by far was worth being released.
36. Skk 2 Def. by Plan B. Britain’s own Eminem, but with allot more literary talent and musical ability. This you man rap’s and plays his guitar in this song like his life depended on it. He has clearly been influenced by american rap artistes as he pays homage in this song to Nas but his passion takes all Grime musicians off the pedestal they thought they were on to look up and take notice that Plan B is here on a higher level than any current Grime artiste.
37. Wait a Minute by The Pussy Cat Dolls. These 5 girls and 1 transvestite have done very well over that last 2 years. Their production by Will I AM from the Black Eyed Peas and Timberland has elevated them from just dancers miming, as most POP groups seem to be in my eyes, to a POP group I would pay to see live over the Spice Girls. I have no idea what any of the girls in this song say but the hypnotic tones of Timberland as he did his verse is what kept this track on my playlists. The video of them pole dancing in the subway had a small part to do with it as well.
38. Snow (EH Oh) by Red Hot Chilly Peppers. Jupiter and Mars has lived up to the expectations of what fans have come to expect of the Red Hot Chilly Peppers (RHCP). With a guitarist who plays the guitar like no other in toady's main stream ROCK world, a drummer who knows exactly what he is doing and a bassist that plays the bass like a guitar, the RHCP has no competition. The song snow makes memories in my mind that I haven't even experienced as yet, this is what good music it about; the ability to connect with an audience on incomparable levels. With lyrics I make up when I don't know the words and a cracking chorus that is simple but stays true to the words I have mumbled ‘EH OH listen to what I say oh’ - or something to that effect. Great song, great album and a wonderful band that will never die.
39. Sister by Rhymfest. Sister is rapped over a beat composed by Alicia Keys and features a young artiste from mid west USA Mike Payne. If I am ever asked in the future why I listen to RAP music I will refer the inquisitionist to this song. True poetry, which makes rappers true poets, Rhymfest is the truest poet for the year of 2006. This song is about him trying it on with a girl in a club only to realize that she has problems he didn't need to know about, but instead of walking off and trying someone else he stayed and listed to her cries. In the second verse he raps; ‘love don't love nobody, drugs don't love no body, so why do you put that needle in your body?’ .Words that will live on forever, a question asked by many people who has seen the suffering of drug addiction, but instead of the usual frowns, his voice offers help and in some degree sympathizes. Timeless words.
40. Music is Power by Richard Ashcroft. Richard is known for the timeless album he wrote while he was in the Verve, Urban Rhythms. He is known especially for Sweet Symphony. Which is why I thought his album, Keys to the World was effortless to him. The Lyrics to Music id Power brought home to me the power of music, listen to it made me feel like a flower in the deep sunshine. I recommended this album to other music lovers but it didn’t get the reception I was looking for. They seemed quite disappointed. I suspect they were looking for timeless pieces of music but got an okay album a great song writer. I guess I can see where they are coming from but this song remained on my playlists for a majority of the year and it still makes me feel the same way I did the first time I listened to it.
41. Cry Baby Cry by Carlos Santana. Listening to any Carlos Santana song one would wonder why is it that a vocalist is necessary. However Cry Baby Cry features Joss Stone and Sean Paul. Hold on a second, Joss Stone and Sean Paul. No matter how many times I say it in my mind I still can’t believe it, Sean Paul a traditionally Jamaican Dance Hall artiste and Joss Stone an incredible singer with absolutely no ends to her talent have teamed up with one of the greatest guitarist from the 60’s to present day to create a musical master piece. Each collaborate on this track contributed equally in my eyes, Santana gave rifts that were great, Sean did his thing and Joss Stone did her thing, making me cry at the end of the song. This is the type of music in my mind that should be up for song of the year at the Grammy’s, beautifully written beautifully performed and wonderfully arranged pieces of music, not the most popular, though if this song was released I guarantee the record companies they would have made their money back plus gained a Grammy.
42. Temperature by Sean Paul. Every club in this world played this song at least once a week since its release early this year. I listened to this song in all areas of scandinavia, within Eastern and Western European countries and when I was home it Jamaica I am sure I heard it (well i think so). Sean has done Jamaica very proud, he has taken the music from a surrounding that he was not very familiar with (lower class Jamaican Dance Hall) and he has made it his own. Making Dance Hall music cool to listen to by all the classes all over the world. The fact of the matter is that he is not the first person to do so, Shabba, Shakka Demus and Pliers, Super Cat, Sizzla, Junior Ried (featured on One Blood by The Game) not to mention Beenie Man and so many other Jamaican Dance Hall artiste. Yes Sean Paul is good but their are so many other DJs (Jamaican term for Dance Hall Artistes) in Jamaica who are even better, it’s a shame to see that Sean Paul is all our country can afford to market as our best. (A word to Record Companies and Producers).
43. That Heat by Sergio Mendez. Will I Am transformed Sergio Mendez from a great Samba Pianist to a Latin Hip Hop musician. Timeless by Sergio Mendez features the song; Mas Que Nada by Sergio Mendez and the Black Eyed Peas, was merely an introduction for me to the plethora of greatness the album had to offer. That Heat was by all accounts the best song on that album, it featured Will I Am and Erykah Badu and the wonderful piano solo by the one and only Sergio Mendez. I can now still feel the heat Erykah radiated with her distinct Jazz voice. Sergio transported me to Rio and everything Samba. While Will I Am took me to Flat Bush Brooklyn to feel Hip Hop. Even though Will I Am was featured on almost every song, his voice never got monotonous especially on this track it kept the song moving in a medium familiar to me and yet I was introduced to contemporary Samba. This track defines Metro Music in my mind, music taken from different parts of the world and blended in one blender to create a Metropolitan sound that is different every time you listen to it.
44. America by Simon and Garfunckle. Who would have thought a Jamaican, surrounded by all the culture within his own country would ever listen to Simon and Garfunckle. I first heard this song when I saw the movie Almost Famous. I never took notice of the song until I purchased the DVD where the sister of the lead (never good with names) explained to their mother why she was leaving by playing this song. I didn’t realize until that moment that, like me, people used music to explain complicated situations. I went out the day after I purchased the DVD and purchased the Soundtrack when America by Simon and Garfunckle was on my continuous playlist. I have not looked back since. The genius of this track along with so many by the group is phenomenal and goes to show the timelessness of great music.
45. Conversation by Snoop Dogg. Snoop Dogg raps well when there is a singer or other rapper to switch his tempo. Conversation features the Legendary Stevie Wonder, and what better person to team up with to sing the hooks of your song. Conversations is about Snoop and Stevie asking when was the last time you spoke to God. ‘When you feel your life too hard, just go have a talk with God’, words by Stevie Wonder and the Rap that always gets a smile on my face is ‘Mamma don't have, Papa don't have, God Bless the Chile who got his own’. What Snoop is rapping are words sung by Billie Holiday over half a century ago that seems so fresh coming from the lips of a West Coast Gangster Rapper.
46. Make Some Music by Ziggy Marley. Ziggy Marley, son of the great Bob Marley has been releasing music since early 90’s but since the Melody Makers he has been getting some bad reviews. I decided not to listen to anything prior to purchasing this album for a day (despite the odd, loud car stereo and the office stereo), to ensure when I listened to it for the first time it was fresh and I didn't have any other influences to help make my decision on whether I liked the album or not. This method worked, I found that this album brought to me what I missed from reggae. The easy listening of his acoustic guitar and the simplicity of his lyrics wasn’t reggae at first, it seemed like Jack Johnson or Damien Rice. Then I realized that Jack Johnson and Damien Rice were trying to do what Ziggy Marley did effortlessly. His voice is great during this song. He whispers through the verses on this song while singing on the chorus. His whisper wasn’t a new idea in music but it was so refreshing to hear this different way of bringing across his message. In this case it was chatting up a girl (lets make some music- do I honestly have to spell it out?).
47. Love is my Religion (acoustic) by Ziggy Marley. There are two versions of this song on the album, the second, the acoustic version, is the better. I don’t like comparing artistes but in some occasions I can’t help but do so. I felt the lyrics in this song as he strummed the tune very similarly to the way I feel when I listen to Bob Marley singing an acoustic version to one of his songs (redemption song). So real, so tangible, so what music should be to everyone.
48. Just Like... by Corrine Bailey Rae. Have you ever loved some one so much and you try to explain what it feels like but cant? If that has ever happened to you, listen to this song. Corrine came on the scene out of nowhere, when she released this song I instantly fell in love. She sung to me exactly what I needed to hear at the time. Her album is what I still listen to when I can’t sleep, her melodic gently voice rocks me gently to sleep so matter what my emotional state. Corrine is a musician.
49. Dreams by Lilly Allen. She made my summer this year. With her cute cockney accent and her kind of raspy voice is exactly what I expect an ordinary girl from London to sound like. She sells herself as just that an ordinary girl singing about ordinary things. Dreams was one of the first songs I fell in love with on the album. The simplicity of things in a relationship you take for granted until you break up then all those things seem so important though back then they were so simple. There is no shortage of realism within this piece of writing and her television performance of this track is another reason why it is important to my playlist. The way she closes her eyes and pressed against the microphone at the precise moment when you expected her to, showing how sincere this song is. (Unless she has taken some kind of acting classes I am yet to find out).
50. Two Nations by The Streets. Mike Skinner is one of the world’s greatest living poets. ‘The Hardest Way To Make An Easy Living’, album where this song is from, is the confessions of an artiste who has seen success. Unlike his previous albums where I felt they were the confessions of a struggling artiste, this album brings the problems involved with success to musical artistry. He wrote about his battles with drug and alcohol abuse and the childhood that made him who he is. Two Nations is not about drugs or partying, or is it about his child hood. Two Nations is his detest for Americans who are too arrogant to try and understand they were not the ones who invented the English language. They were in his minds the ones who corrupted it. Peotry on a beat, lovely.

There you have my 50 songs that kept me going through 2006. There were many more I would love to mention such as Bob Sinclair’s very well composed album, Damian Marley, Gentleman, and other Jamaican artistes, and then Shakira and Gwen Stefani and the likes of The Killers and the Kooks... but the list had to stop somewhere. I leave with you my deepest thoughts of the music that carried me to the places I wanted to be, soothed my cries and placed a smile on my face throughout the year. My Playlist 2006.