2006 is nearly over - musically, at least. Nothing of any note ever gets released in December, so that leaves us w/ just over a month of goodies (and otherwise) to peruse. I'm in the queue for a ltd., deluxe version of that Boris/SunnO))) CD when it hits town next week, and I'm expecting it to slay (either that or I'm just wasting my time and money), and there's still the soon-to-be-released Eddy Current Suppression Ring full-length LP/CD (I heard an unmastered version months back - being down w/ the fucking kids as I am - though I'll give it the full spiel upon release... needless to say, it'll be in this list by year's end, 'k?) and Ornette disc I'll have next week, but other than that I think the bulk of my faves for the year are already set. Then again I'm drawing a blank and my memory is getting faulty these days. Let's see if this list changes and/or expands...

VARIOUS ARTISTS - The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of 2CD (Yazoo)
Super-rare country/blues/roots for the geeks, as collected by the good people at Yazoo
THE NECKS - The Chemist CD (Fish Of Milk)
Not the best from this Australian trio, but still miles ahead of the pack
WILLIAM PARKER - Long Hidden: The Olmec Series CD (Aum Fidelity)
See below
SCOTT WALKER - The Drift (4AD)
Triumphant return from this Yankee-turned-limey elder statesman. Best disc from him since Scott 4, says I
BRIAN TAIRAKU RITCHIE - Ryoanji CD (Thylacine)
Here's one waaay out of left field: a solo (or trio, perhaps) album from the bass player of the Violent Femmes. Am I kidding? Nope. Never been a fan of the 'Femmes, even as a young man, but this is a simply incredible album, self-released by the man. The set-up: Ritchie on shakuhachi (a 2-foot-long Japanese flute, if you will) w/ acoustic bass and drums playing otherwordly "jazz" w/ a heavy Far Eastern bent. Throw in some unexpected covers of both Steve Lacy and John Cage and you've got a hidden gem. I'm beginning to sound like a broken record, but if you're partial to the sounds of Eno, Don Cherry, Alice Coltrane, etc., don't be afraid to take the trip.
TENGIR-TOO - Music of Central Asia Vol. 1: Mountain Music of Kyrgyzstan CD/DVD (Folkways)
I don't mean to be so esoteric, it's just that sometimes it comes out that way. Throw into the blender a steady mix of Jew's harp, village chants, loopy percussion and various stringed instruments I'll never be able to pronounce correctly, wrap it in a package to rival Revenant in its beauty and - hey, what the hell - throw in a bonus DVD disc giving the viewer the history of the given music, and that's this release in a long, convoluted sentence. There's 3 in the series and you need them all.
MOONDOG - The Viking of Sixth Avenue CD (Honest Jon's Records)
Excellent overview detailing the long and eccentric career of NYC's greatest and only Viking poet-musician. A fair bit of this is culled from other, readily available releases, though there's still a good dozen tracks never before encountered, and the sequencing and all-round attention to detail make this a 2006 winner.

Now, tell me: was there any good rock 'n' roll released in 2006? Of course there was... it just didn't manage to reach these ears. I'll update this on December 31st at 11:59, that I promise! Until then, this is a forum, so remind and/or inform me of all the great fucking music I'm blissfully ignoring.