You Had Me At Track 1 (2006 Wrap-up Part 3)

Next, in the “You Had Me At Track 1” category, trolling through the back catalogues of artists I’ve recently gotten into:

• Neko Case - Furnace Room Lullaby / Blacklisted
• The Decemberists - 5 Songs / Her Majesty The Decemberists
• Iron & Wine - The Creek Drank The Cradle / The Sea And The Rhythm EP
• My Morning Jacket - At Dawn / It Still Moves / The Tennessee Fire
• M. Ward - Transistor Radio / Transfiguration of Vincent / End of Amnesia

Three of these artists were mentioned back here. These were all cases, though, of hearing an album, and immediately wanting to hear more from the artist. Luckily, in all of these cases, the back catalogues were equally rewarding. I managed to see all of these artists live over the past year or so, and all put on awesome shows (although I only saw part of My Morning Jacket’s set when we arrived late to a Wilco show).

And finally, albums that don’t fit in any of the previous categories, but that I first heard this year and really liked:

• The American Analog Set - Set Free
• The Be Good Tanyas - Blue Horse
• Hayden - Live At Convocation Hall
• Kings of Leon - Aha Shake Heartbreak
• The Mountain Goats - The Sunset Tree
• Martha Wainwright - Martha Wainwright
• Rufus Wainwright - Want Two

Looking at this list, and some of the previous ones, makes me realize that I’m listening to a lot of “quiet” music, and not nearly as much balls-out rock as I used to. I’m not quite sure why that might be.