Singles

In keeping with my calendar rule and lasting impact rule for best music of the year, here are my selections for best singles of 2006. Please buy these on iTunes or better yet, buy the album too! In no particular order these singles are:


"Ooh La La" Goldfrapp
Goldfrapp’s album Supernature gets the Moby award of the year. This song was in a Diet Coke commercial and several other tracks were also in commercials for Motorola and throughout Target’s holiday TV campaign. Ultra slick & hip production gives Goldfrapp a unique sound that has made them popular all over the world.

“How We Operate” Gomez
As this one builds and builds to the first chorus, it actually sounds like three songs in one. Hailing from the UK, Gomez grows up with this song and on their third album- great vocals and songwriting.

“Steady As She Goes” The Raconteurs
Great riffs and catchy vocals and hooks. Makes me wish I played guitar. What do you expect from Benson & White? Also check out Brendan Benson’s solo work, especially “The Alternative to Love” which is an underappreciated rock classic.

“Crazy” Gnarls Barkley
This song is on everyone’s list because it is just that good. It could have been recorded 20 years ago or 20 years from now and it will sound as hip and fresh. You can’t help but sing along. And no one will think that makes you crazy.

“Dear Mr. President” Pink Featuring the Indigo Girls
Pink gets very personal with this one and taps into the best harmonists recording today, The Indigo Girls, to help her get the story across. With the power of a 1960s protest song, this song gives me chills because of its honesty and how accurately it depicts the world. It’s just a shame that no corporate-owned radio stations let this one become a hit.

“I Don’t Know Why (I Love You)” The Brand New Heavies
A great slice of soul. One listen and it’s in your head and you’re walking around telling your coworkers you don’t know why you love them. BNH get the award for sounding most like Jackson Five, in a very good way

“Ain’t No Other Man” Christina Aguilera
I’m thrilled Aguilera finally earns that best new artist Grammy from a few years ago. Wow, an amazingly catchy song that really showcases her super talented white-girl pipes. “Back to Basics” is a good pop album, but she really should have kept it to one disc instead of two. As one disc I think she could have had a sensational pop album.

“I Need To Wake Up” (Theme to An Inconvenient Truth) Melissa Etheridge
The female Boss. One of Al and Tipper’s best friends gives them a song that tells the story of global warming- in a humbled way as only ME can do. She admits she’s human and asks us to do the same and make a difference. Buy some CFLs!

“The Song of the Heart” Prince
From Happy Feet, which if you have not seen please do yourself an entrainment favor and go directly to the theatre. It’s like Moulin Rouge, only animated and with penguins. Prince has not sounded this accessible in years.

“When You Were Young” The Killers
This one could be called “When You Were Born to Run” as the influence of The Boss in this song is uncanny. It rocks and makes me want to be a drummer. This is from the just-OK second album from The Killers, with the best song on the album being “Read My Mind," actually better than this single.

Album(s) of the Year

I believe these to be the best albums released in 2006. I consider a "best album" to be one that makes an impact as a package, not just one song. That said, my eligibility rules are far more simple than the Grammy Awards. And I hope you find these selections more tasteful. Buy them today and support these artists. In no specific order....

Blowoff "Blowoff"
If there were a gay bar that played great rock and roll, this would be on the playlist. An 80s music hero, Bob Mould (Husker Du & Sugar), makes great butch dance music with some dynamic rock and roll. His best in years. Plus, these men are not hard to look at.







Pet Shop Boys "Fundamentalism" (bonus disc)
Back together with uber-producer Trevor Horn, as it should be. A great political statement, and it’s easy to dance to. “In Private” is among the gayest songs ever recorded and timely considering all the political and religious "outings" we've seen in 2006. And PSBs are SO fun in concert-- thanks Pat and Dave.





The Hold Steady “Boys & Girls in America”
This is the band we all drank to in college as they covered songs by other bands. Only better. And they write their own songs. Great rock and roll and harmonies to humm along to. As Jan would say: good clean fun.







TV on the Radio “Return to Cookie Mountain”
Simply put, nobody makes music like this. Nobody. And David Bowie sings back-up. You can't go wrong.











Carbon Leaf “Love, Loss, Hope, Repeat”
The best album title of the year. And hooks and folkish guitars abound. Sounds like The Fray meets Foo Fighters meets The Cranberries.








Scissor Sisters “Ta-Dah”
Speaking of great album titles, here’s the gayest one of the year. And it contains, hands down, the best song of the year that never saw the light of day: I Don’t Feel Like Dancin’ featuring Elton John. Why was that song not a hit? More fun. Just not always clean.






Corinne Bailey Rae
THE breakout artist of the year. Amazing voice. Great songwriting. And hooks that make me breathless. And she's just 24 years old. Girl, put your records on. And hopefully win a Grammy.




















A tie: John Mayer “Continuum” and Elton John “The Captain & the Kid” John Mayer grows up. And writes the album to be played at the DNC in Denver. Mayer finally realizes that he’s not Jimi Hendrix, but that he’s one great songwriter. And thanks to Elton John, which is why “Captain and the Kid” is tied here because if Elton did not exist, Mayer would be a working security at rock concerts instead of having women's underwear thrown at him when he performs.


Mark Knopfler & Emmylou Harris “ All The Roadrunning”
This couple was born to make music together. Songs that move you.










"Taking the Long Way” Dixie Chicks
Not only are they talented, but they’re right. But left. Forget everything you think you know about country music. And remember everything you know the First Amendment.









"Begin to Hope" Regina Spektor
Why has Starbucks not discovered her? Spektor shares more of herself in one song than most artists do in a career. Intimate. Amazing. Goes great with a latte. I hope we've only began to hear the impact this album will have. Stay tuned for Regina Spektor.






Coming up next, the best singles of the year.

Winter Wonderland.

My first Christmas this decade with the family in New Jersey was just not meant to be. As you've no doubt heard by now, Denver got some snow yesterday and today. OK, we got lots of snow. Nearly two feet in the city. It never snows like this in the city. In fact, this is just the fourth time in the history of Denver that so much snow has fallen in one storm. Unheard of.

My original plan was to leave Denver on Friday. Ever so brilliantly, Jon woke me up at the crack of dawn on Wednesday. Actually, dawn had not cracked just yet. Jon’s thought was get me out early, ahead of the storm. It sounded like a great idea, it had only been snowing for a little while. Besides, a few extra days in New York City is never a bad idea. I think Jon just wanted to get rid of me before two feet of snow fell from the sky. He knows I tend not to like snow.

I quickly packed my carry-on bag, called the airline to book another ticket and off to the airport we went in Jon’s four-wheeler. Even though it had been snowing for just a few hours, the white stuff was falling three inches an hour so the roads were pretty bad. We made it to the airport uneventfully. Jon is a patient driver.

At the airport, I learned that many others had the same idea as Jon. The airport was a zoo, almost like Madrid’s airport from the level of confusion. Thanks to the wonderful affinity program from Frontier Airlines (Denver’s Favorite Airline), I made my way to the shortest line at the airport. Love that. A smile got me into an exit row Love that, too. Jon and I said our goodbyes and I was off to visit that wonderful federal beauracry know as TSA.

I chatted with one of the TSA employees checking my boarding pass- he mentioned that he would probably be spending the night at the airport. I grimaced and told him it can always be worse- you could be outside instead of in here. He quickly agreed. He gets it, I thought.

Once at the gate, A38, I did what I could to save the charged battery of my PowerBook. It always makes me smile when I experience the automatic, human etiquette of the electric outlets at the airport. Most travelers know how to share, not to take too many outlets, and how to mind the toys of fellow travelers. There I sat on the floor, headphones planted in my ears, reading The New York Times on-line. And this is where that human etiquette ended.

Why is it that people feel it’s OK to beat up on airline employees? I watched dozens of frustrated travelers abuse these defenseless Frontier Airlines employees. I reminded myself how much I enjoyed TiVo-ing the Flight Attendant School program on The Travel Channel. I reminded myself how these airline employees were taught how to not only predict the weather but also how to control the weather. I thought how that must make it OK to be so mean and nasty to these working folk.

On the floor with me were Lisa from Castle Pines and her three charming sons, the oldest of whom was sharing with me an electric outlet. I played with The four of them were also headed to NYC to meet dad, who was working in the city this week. Lisa and I shook our heads at the unfriendly passengers. Her oldest rolled his eyes several times, displaying wisdom way beyond his years. It made me smile. He even helped me figure out my new cool camera, purchased especially to take hundreds of pictures of my adorable nephew, Donovan.

It really looked like we were going to leave. An entire crew had arrived. We had a plane at the gate. But there was still this snow. When the gate employee announced that the flight had been cancelled, she preceded the announcement by asking, “Please don’t throw anything at me.” And she was serious. Wow. And to think she was probably going to miss the holidays with her family too.

As luck would have it, I think I got myself on the last RTD bus out of DIA. Scott, the driver was a total professional. A load of not-so-shiny-happy-people boarded the bus, in the cold blowing snow. He drove, ever so patiently and not much over 20 MPH, and expertly delivered us to the Stapleton Transit Center where Jon was waiting for me in that same heated four-wheeler. As the driver removed our bags from the baggage bins under the bus, passengers picked through the bags, complaining to him to hurry. He was so very patient and kind. As he handed me my bag, I pressed a ten-dollar bill into his hand. He tried to give it back to me, stating he was not allowed to take it. I pressed the bill back into his hand, and asked him just to do something good with it. I know, too Oprah-esque. But I meant it. And I was confident he would do something good with it. Thanks to him, I did not spend 48 hours at DIA like more than 5000 others did on that snowy Wednesday. Thanks Scott. I’m sure not enough people tell him that.

There Goes The Neighborhood.

OK. Full disclosure. The large Denver-based non-profit is Colorado AIDS Project. I chair the board of directors. As I mentioned in my previous post, we are having some, well, challanges with trying to serve our clients and eliminate homelessness in Denver.

Colorado AIDS Project, working with the City & County of Denver and Del Norte Real Estate Development, is working on a project to develop and support a wonderful new apartment building to help house those living with AIDS who are chronically homeless. The project is called Juan Diego. The project has been in development for over a year and will house 22 people at a time. The amazing staff of CAP has taken exhustive steps to ensure that the project will impact our clients and leave a lasting fingerprint on the greater Denver community.

Just last month a group of neighbors have come out in opposition to eliminating homelessness. These neighbors have voiced concerns regarding parking, zoning, historical correctness, and traffic, each of which have been addressed. Some members of the group have also chosen to make some pretty evil and judgmental statements about the clients who would be living at Juan Diego, and created misleading arguments and inaccuracies to make their case.

The amazing staff at CAP has decided to act. By going to www.supportjuandiego.org and clicking on to a quick email link, you can help us support the clients who need this housing. You can also get a quick set of facts to confirm what we already know: Juan Diego is the right thing to do. Also, if you can tell other thinking people who you know will support this important work, please do so.

I'm asking you personally to please take the time to go to the website and click on the email link. The email will go to city council members, who will be voting on a crucial piece of funding for this issue within the next few weeks. The opposition is also contacting city council, so it is vital that they hear our side as well.

Thank you for your support of helping people who really need us.

Life Uncommon

It’s been too long since my last post. Thanks for hanging in there. As the year comes to a close, I am doing lots of thinking about life and our common humanity.

Our dog Chaplin goes to doggie day care at Barkway. He goes there at least every other week, when our cleaning lady comes to the house. For the day, Chaplin is in a heated playroom, complete with other fun dogs, TV to watch, sofas to jump on, an outside jungle gym, and webcams. His dads spend more work time than we should watching Chaplin frolic on the webcam with his day care pals. As I was driving to pick up Chaplin the other night it got me thinking about how lucky Chaplin is, and how lucky we are to be able spoil him in this way.

There are two large shelters on the way to Barkway, the Rescue Mission and Samaritan House. I stop by to each one several times a year to drop off clothes and household things we don’t need anymore. There are always lots of people standing in lines for a meal or a place to sleep. On this particular Friday the temperature was a bit on the cold side. It is winter in Denver. These people spent the day outside, and probably much longer, while Chaplin was at Barkway. I pondered how different the day was for these fellow human beings than it was for Chaplin. I was thankful that I increased my donation to United Way this year and that my employer matched my United Way donation. I was proud of the great work the folks at the Mayor’s program Denver's Road Home are doing in their project to end homelessness in Denver. But how will we get people on the road to a home if the concept of Not In My BackYard (NIMBY) is so front of mind to many of our fellow human beings?

A large Denver-based non-profit is ready to break ground on a new building that will help its clients living with AIDS to not be homeless and to better care for themselves. This building will be built on a vacant lot in Denver’s Highland neighborhood, around the corner from Denver’s infamous Midtown Spa. Partnering with a real estate developer and with the City and County of Denver, this non-profit has the approval from every city agency and historical review board. This non-profit is receiving a grant from the city as part of the funding to build this apartment building. The plans show for it to fit in with the neighborhood. Since most of the residents do not have cars (remember, they were just homeless) it will not add traffic to the neighborhood. The neighborhood residents are fighting the city to make this grant. These residents would rather have “those people” living on the street than in a building in their neighborhood.

It made me sad to read some of the public comments about people living with AIDS that these neighborhood residents made to city council. Fearful and hateful. Even today. Bill Clinton recently told us that the biggest problem facing the world today was that our differences are viewed as more important than our common humanity. It could not be more true in this instance. And it made me so proud that this non-profit is working with the real estate developer and with city council to make this happen in the neighborhood. Hopefully, a road home.

OK, in the spirit of full disclosure, I chair the board of directors of this large Denver-based non-profit and will present to City Council on 12/26. Board of directors aside, I hope that if I were one of these neighbors that my interest in common humanity would guide my response. Everyone should have a Life Uncommon.