In no particular order, here are the albums and artists that dominated my iPod this past year. The Grammys will be announced in about an hour. We’ll see if any of these get a nod.

We Shall Overcome: the Seeger Sessions
Bruce Springsteen

Right up front, let me say, this is not the Bob Seger Sessions. So if your looking for the Boss’ version of “Night Moves” you’re out of luck. No, these tracks compose a fitting and insightful tribute to Pete Seeger, folk singer and political activist from the last century. Springsteen brings a fresh and welcomed take on folk standards like Froggy Went a Courtin’ and The Eerie Canal. But where the album really hits the mark is in spirituals and social justice hymns like the incredible O Mary Don’t You Weep and We Shall Overcome.

Download: O Mary Don’t You Weep, Mrs. McGrath, Jesse James, Froggy Went a Courtin’

Love
The Beatles

This is an hour and 1/2 of Beatles music sewn together with love and care from the fifth Beatle and his son (George and Giles Martin). Some of these songs have never sounded so great. Every listen has brought something new to my ears. Well done. For the Beatles fan, this is as close to a new album as you’re going to get.

Forget Downloading– Do yourself a favor and purchase the 5.1 stereo mix on DVD

Till the Sun Turns Black
Ray LaMontagne

I first heard Ray LaMontagne on The First Kiss soundtrack. His gravel voice and subtle guitar work blew me away. Till the Sun Turns Black is the perfect meditaion album. The guitar gently weeps and the strings ebb and flow throughout the entire album. The music takes you to another place.

Download: Be Here Now, Barfly, till the Sun Turns Black

Grey’s Anatomy Vol. 2
Various

Grey’s is my guiltiest pleasure. I have seen every episode and I have watched all but 2 the night they were aired. I love it. Sure Meredith is the whiniest little girl on TV and, yeah, I wouldn’t want to be checked into Seattle Grace Hospital if I needed surgery but I love this show! One of my favorite things about the show is the great soundtrack that lays the emotional foundation of each week’s episode. This is a great example of the awesome music that keeps me coming back week after week.

Download: Chasing Cars (Acoustic), Monster Hospital, How We Operate, Grace
From the Season: New Day by Kate Havnevik

Live at Fenway // July 7-8, 2006
Dave Matthews Band

Another year, another live Dave album. However, this one is a little bit different. If you are a Dave fan you may very well know about the Live Trax series that is offered exclusivly at the Dave Matthews Band official website. Live at Fenway was supossed to be one of these online exclusives. Instead, RCA decided to pick it up and make it an official release. What I loved about this album was that it was hot off the tour. It was recorded back in early July and it featured some new songs and so great reinterpretations of old standards.

Download: Break Free, Sweet Caroline, Can’t Stop, Crush

Corinne Bailey Rae
Corinne Bailey Rae

This woman wins the award for Best Voice in the World 2006 and this is the smoothest album of the year. Corinne Bailey Rae jumped the pond this summer and arrive on our shores to help cool us off during those hot the summer months. I feel like the album is picking up steam. Over the last few month she has been featured on SNL, Leno, and Studio 60. Check her out.

Download: Live Session- EP (iTunes Exclusive)

Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam

A mere fifteen years after Ten, Pearl Jam return with the same intensity that helped the turn the music world onto flannel and teen malaise. A little older and a little wiser Eddie and the boys craft a musical soundscape that capture their outlook on the war and on life without pushing or shoving but forcing you to listen. This is Pearl Jam at their best.

Download: Inside Job, Army Reserve, Life Wasted, World Wide Suicide

Continuum
John Mayer

John Mayer has traded his fraternity angst for genuine rock ‘n roll roots. This album is incendiary. Every track feels hand crafted to perfection. There is even a Hendrix cover in there. The album’s not perfect but it is the best Mayer album yet and the most accessible. You don’t have to be a drunk sorority chick to get into it. Well…. maybe!

Download: Belief, Slow Dancing In A Burning Room, I Don’t Trust Myself (With Loving You)

American V: A Hundred Highways
Johnny Cash

This posthumous release could have been called Haunted Highways because the ghost of Cash lingers in every track. Producer Rick Rubin pulled out all the stops to make this a great album. As you listen, you can acctually hear how faint Cash’s baratone voice has become. Yet it comes across as strong as ever. There is a sense of finality infused into the album as a whole. A fitting last (?) chronicle to the legend of Johnny Cash.

Download: God’s Gonna Cut You Down, Further Up the Road, If You Could Read My Mind, I’m Free From the Chain Gang Now

Other Greats of 2006 (Updated)

Back to Beldlam by James Blunt
Both Sides of the Gun by Ben Harper
The Open Door by Evanescence
Kingdom Come by Jay-Z
Stadium Arcadium by Red Hot Chilli Peppers
Sam’s Town by the Killers
Once Again by John Legend
The Black Parade by My Chemical Romance