Since it seems that everyone else does it, I do it
too. The following are the albums that I just keep
coming back to this year for my own personal listening
enjoyment.

Here they are - the Top 10 albums of 2006 according to
the woodsmeister:

1) Bruce Springsteen - The Seeger Sessions: Easily the
most important folk album of the new century.
Supercharged folk songs in a folk/rock/Dixieland
melange that transcends easy categorization played by
top-flight musicians.

2) Bob Dylan - Modern Times: The best album by Dylan
in well over a decade, maybe two.

3) Ashley Maher - Flying Over Bridges: Intriguing mix
of folk/singer/songwriter/Afropop/worldbeat/jazz with
catchy, difficult syncopation and an incessant groove.
Maher's smooth voice also helps.

4) Brett Dennen - So Much More: The best pure
singer/songwriter album I heard all year. It's no
wonder that Dennen is getting all kinds of buzz and
his tunes placed on TV shows. It's all that good.

5) Diana Jones - My Remembrance of You: A little bit
country, a little bit folk, a little bit old-timey, a
little bit Iris DeMent, a little bit Gillian Welch,
but a whole lot of good. Jones' songs are first-rate,
and her voice is arresting.

6)Red Molly - Never Been to Vegas (live): This
all-female trio features tight harmonies, instrumental
chops (particularly Abbie Gardner), and well-chosen
cover tunes, and should appeal to anyone who likes the
Dixie Chicks and/or murder and death ballads.

7) Mark Erelli - Hope and Other Casualties: Erelli's
best yet features some of his best songwriting so far.
Here's what I said in April: "It's no accident that
the cover of this album is an homage to Dylan, because
this album is very Dylanesque - a little personal, a
little political. And while several songs do chronicle
Erelli's disappointment with the way things are going
(hence the title) he title of the album, he does offer
an album of pragmatic hope in "The Only Way" : 'So I'm
gonna love/And I'm gonna believe/And I'm gonna
dream/But I'm gonna roll up my sleeve/And give
everything until there's nothing left to give./That's
the only way I know how to live.'"

8) Hem - Funnel Cloud: Hem keeps expanding their
musical pallette, and the result is their best album
yet. Sally Ellyson sings with a little more passion on
this disk, and the production and arrangements are top
notch as always.

9) John Flynn - Two Wolves: Flynn is as much a
philospher as a great storyteller, and songs like the
title track about the effects of revenge on the one
seeking vengeance, and "Trust the Rope" bear this out.

10) Chuck Brodsky - Tulips for Lunch: Another great
album of story songs from a master storyteller.

Honorable Mention (in alphabetical order):

Dave Carter and Tracy Grammer - Seven is the Number
Bruce Cockburn - Life Short Call Now
Crooked Still - Shaken by a Low Sound
The Duhks - Migrations
Tommy Emmanuel - The Mystery
The Queensberry Rules - Black Dog and Other Stories
Paul Simon - Surprise
Solas: Reunion
Brooks Williams - Blues and Ballads

Honorable mention 2006 releases for Christmas:
Over the Rhine - Snow Angels
Sarah McLachlan - Wintersong
Moya Brennan - An Irish Christmas
Disclaimer: The above list is entirely subjective
based on the taste and whims of Greg Grant, aka
woodsmeister. It is not based on airplay, listener
feedback or any other scientific measurement.


Greg Grant
Online Folk Festival
http://www.onlinefolkfestival.com
I blog now! http://www.folk-blog.com

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