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So come all ye faithful, send us your own faves in the tradition of critical dialogue that is so nurtured in this age of the blogosphere. Hey, it's better than having to pay for content!!

FANS LISTS: THE BEST OF 2006

Dreamgirls Is an Oscar Dream Come True;
Plus Top 10s From Here, There and Everywhere
TRAKIN CARE OF UNFINISHED BUSINESS: YEAR-END SELF-CONGRATULATORY EDITION
The Awards, Top 10 and Best of seasons are upon us, so we're making our own list and you can check it as often as you want. So come all ye faithful, send us your own faves in the tradition of critical dialogue that is so nurtured in this age of the blogosphere. Hey, it's better than having to pay for content!!

Dreamgirls: Now that I’ve had a chance to see it, I believe Dreamgirls is definitely the film to beat for Best Picture Oscar, a traditional backstage musical with a modern political/racial twist that harks back to kinder, gentler times, when the Academy would often reward big crowd-pleasing road shows like The Sound of Music, West Side Story, Oliver! and, of course, Chicago. Although he penned the screenplay for the latter Oscar winner, there’s nothing in director Bill Condon’s previous resume (Gods & Monsters, Kinsey) to prepare you for the rousing staging he gives this non-stop hoofer, with superb performances by Award shoo-ins Jennifer Hudson as the Flo Ballard of the group and Eddie Murphy’s marvelously sleazy, drug-addicted James Brown/Jackie Wilson/Sam Cooke soul singer, who has a great scene trying to add politics to his music after donning a Marvin Gaye “What’s Going On” knit cap. But there’s also nice work by Beyonce, who eerily echoes Diana Ross in all her many guises, as well as relative newcomers Anika Noni Rose and Sharon Leal as the “other” Dreams, and Power Rangers alum Keith Robinson as a disillusioned Smokey Robinson-style songwriter. There are at least three show-stoppers, and while the story is a little thin, like most Broadway musicals, you gotta love a narrative that hinges on payola for a crucial turning point. The story recalls a day when the music business was filled with wild-eyed hustlers and schemers, like Jamie Foxx’s Berry Gordy-inspired label head, who uses proceeds from his inner city Detroit Cadillac dealership to fund his own vision of the crossover American dream. The technical categories—from production design to art direction and costumes—are all the kind of stuff the Academy eats up, and in a year when films were a little too real and downbeat, this is a feel-good alternative that will leave most everybody feeling they got their money’s worth—though I wonder about those paying $25 a seat for the exclusive 10-day engagement at theatres in N.Y., L.A. and S.F., starting this Friday (12/15). —Roy Trakin

Trakin Care of Business Oscar Predictions
(winners in bold)

Picture
Babel
United 93
Dreamgirls
The Departed
The Queen

Actor
Forest Whitaker
(The King of Scotland)
Ryan Gosling (Half Nelson)
Leonardo DiCaprio (Blood Diamond)
Brad Pitt (Babel)
Peter O’Toole (Venus)

Actress
Helen Mirren
(The Queen)
Annette Bening (Running With Scissors)
Meryl Streep (The Devil Wears Prada)
Kate Winslet (Little Children)
Penelope Cruz (Volver)

Supporting Actress
Jennifer Hudson
(Dreamgirls)
Rinko Kikuchi (Babel)
Sylvia Sims (The Queen)
Abigail Breslin (Little Miss Sunshine)
Shareeka Epps (Half Nelson)

Supporting Actor
Eddie Murphy
(Dreamgirls)
Jackie Earle Hailey (Little Children)
Alan Arkin (Little Miss Sunshine)
Jack Nicholson (The Departed)
Michael Sheen (The Queen)

Director
Alexandro Gonzalez Inarritu (Babel)
Stephen Frears (The Queen)
Martin Scorsese (The Departed)
Bill Condon (Dreamgirls)
Clint Eastwood (Letters from Iwo Jima)

SCOPPA'S SONGFILE: Top 20 Albums
1. Bob Dylan
, Modern Times (Columbia)
2. Neil Young & Crazy Horse, Live at the Fillmore East, March 6-7, 1970 (Reprise)
3. Lindsey Buckingham, Under the Skin (Reprise)
4. Ray LaMontagne, Till The Sun Turns Black (RCA)
5. Decemberists, The Crane Wife (Capitol)
6. Joseph Arthur, Nuclear Daydream (Lonely Astronaut)
7. Paul Simon, Surprise (Warner Bros.)
8. New York Dolls, One Day It Will Please Us to Remember Even This (Roadrunner)
9. Beck, The Information (Interscope)
10.John Mayer, Continuum (Columbia)
11. Cat Power, The Greatest (Matador)
12. Los Lobos, The Town And The City (Hollywood)
13. Tom Petty, Highway Companion (American/Warner Bros.)
14. Donald Fagen, Morph The Cat (Reprise)
15. Thom Yorke, The Eraser (XL)
16. Pernice Brothers, Live a Little (Ashmont)
17. Gomez, How We Operate (ATO)
18. Red Hot Chili Peppers, Stadium Arcadium (WB)
19. KT Tunstall, Eye to the Telescope (Virgin)
20. Brett Dennen, So Much More (Dualtone)

2006 TOP 10 LISTS
Nelly’s Top 10 Albums
1. T.I., King
2. Rick Ross, Port of Miami
3. Jibbs, Jibbs Featuring Jibbs
4. Justin Timberlake, FutureSex/LoveSounds
5. Lupe Fiasco, Lupe Fiasco’s Food & Liqour
6. Mary J. Blige, The Breakthrough
7. Chamillionaire, Sound of Revenge
8. Gnarls Barkley, St. Elsewhere
9. Lil’ Wayne, Tha Carter II
10. E-40, My Ghetto Report Card

JoJo’s Top 10 Fruits!
1. Pineapple
2. Banana
3. Strawberry
4. Orange
5. Pear
6. Apple
7. Peach
8. Blueberry
9. Clementine
10. Passionfruit

Marshall Crenshaw’s Top 10 Albums
1. Spongebob Squarepants, Best Day Ever
2. Gnarls Barkley, St. Elsewhere
3. Various Artists, A Case for Case (Peter Case tribute)
4. James McMurtry, Childish Things
5. The Who, Endless Wire
6. Will Kimborough, Americanitis
7. Richard Julian, Slow New York
8. Jerry Lee Lewis, Last Man Standing
9. Elvis Costello, My Flame Burns Blue
10. Sonny Landreth, Grant Street

James Hart, Eighteen Vision’s Top 10 Singles
1. Buckcherry, "Crazy Bitch"
2. Avenged Sevenfold, "Seize the Day"
3. Chamillionaire, "Ridin'"
4. Hinder, "Lips of an Angel"
5. Dem Franchize Boys, "Lean With it/Rock With It"
6. Juvenile, "Rodeo"
7. Buckcherry, "Next to You"
8. Lamb of God, "Redneck"
9. Lostprophets, "A Town Called Hypocrisy"
10. Breaking Benjamin, "The Diary of Jane"

Mya’s Top 10 '80s Movies
1. Breakin'
2. Beat Street
3. E.T.
4. Back to the Future
5. Karate Kid
6. Benji
7. Flight of the Navigator
8. Rocky
9. Star Wars
10. Nightmare on Elm Street

Mya's Top 10 '80s TV Shows & Cartoons
1. Punky Brewster
2. Small Wonder
3. Webster
4. The Cosby Show
5. Diff’rent Strokes
6. Jem
7. Dennis the Menace
8. Family Ties
9. He-Man
10. In Living Color

Mya's Top 10 '80s Toys/Games
1. Etch-a-Sketch
2. Cabbage Patch Kids
3. My Little Pony
4. Atari
5. Easy Bake Oven
6. the Squirt Gun
7. Twister
8. Carebears
9. Leggos
10. Candyland

Carl Palmer's Top 10 Highs Of 2006
1. Event: My daughter's graduation from university and obtaining her degree.
2. Seeing my girlfriend Katie recover from a major assault earlier this year.
3. Seeing the progress deaf and blind children make as they learn rhythm.
4. Touring with my own band in the United States.
5. Meeting Les Paul.
6. Playing my music (and ELP classics) with a guitarist and bassist (The Carl Palmer Band CD and the Carl Palmer Live in Europe DVD)
7. Film: The Devil Wears Prada
8. Book: The Early Years, Winston Churchill
9. Food: Sausage Butties from Hufkins Pufkins, in the Cotswolds, England
10. Reconnecting with Asia, and seeing how well everyone has grown over the past 25 years.

Michael Azerrad, eMusic Editor’s Top 10 Independent Label Albums of 2006
1. Danielson, Ships (Secretly Canadian)
2. Tom Waits, Orphans (Anti)
3. The Hold Steady, Boys and Girls in America (Vagrant)
4. Scott Walker, The Drift (4AD)
5. Adult Swim & Stones Throw, Chrome Children (Stones Throw)
6. Etran Finatawa, Introducing (World Music Network)
7. Lovely Feathers, Hind Hind Legs (Equator Records/Alpha Pup)
8. So Percussion, Amid the Noise (Cantaloupe Music)
9. Sufjan Stevens, The Avalanche: Outtakes and Extras from the Illinois Album (Asthmatic Kitty Records/Touch & Go)
10. Jay Dee aka J Dilla, Donuts (Stones Throw)

Shaun Morgan of Seether’s Top 10 Albums
1. Deftones, Saturday Night Wrist
2. Flyleaf, Flyleaf
3. Breaking Benjamin, Phobia
4. Beck, The Information
5. PJ Harvey, The Peel Sessions 1991-2004
6. Tool, 10,000 Days
7. Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Show Your Bones
8. Muse, Black Holes and Revelations
9. Audioslave, Revelations
10. Pearl Jam, Pearl Jam

Todd O’Keefe of the 88s
1. Loose Change 2nd Edition: A real blow to the establishment served up by a couple 20-year-old kids.
2. The Pantry: Do you want an honest meal? DO YOU?! This downtown LA restaurant has been open every day 24/7 since its opening in the ‘20's or something. I recommend the country-fried steak and home fries. Now THAT'S honest.
3. America: From Freedom to Fascism: Please watch this.
4. Terrorstorm: A History Of Government-Sponsored Terror: Just humor me and watch this, too.
5. Good Intentions, Paving Company: The return of the power ballad! These guys are amazing. I'm amazed!
6. 9/11 Symposium: A two-day gathering of the so-called "truth movement" that took place at the Sheraton in downtown Los Angeles. It was great to be there. Very inspiring.
7. Roger Waters at the Hollywood Bowl: The songs were brilliant and the stage show gave one goose-bumps. I can't believe I missed it. Shit.
8. Muse Singer Speaks Out: Well-done
9. Charlie Sheen Speaks Out: Well-done
10. The Internet: The free flow of information: Great for humanity, terrible for CD sales.

Emilio Castillo of Tower of Power
1. Best book: The Bible
2. Best movie: Chronicles of Narnia
3. Best movie: One Night With the King
4. Best TV food show: Iron Chef America
5. Most dynamic personality: Joel Osteen
6. Best singer: Yolanda Adams
7. Best singer: Kelly Price
8. Best singer-songwriter: Fred Hammond
9. Best group: Alison Krauss & Union Station
10. Best Author: Phillip Yancey (What’s So Amazing About Grace…)

Shawn Mullins’ Top 10 Movie Songs
1. “Mrs. Robinson” from The Graduate
2. “If You Want To Sing Out, Sing Out” from Harold & Maude (Ruth Gordon’s version).
3. “Love Me Tender” from Love Me Tender.
4. “Never Did No Wanderin’” from A Mighty Wind.
5. “Man Of Constant Sorrow” (instrumental) from Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?"
6. “Stuck in the Middle With You” from Reservoir Dogs.
7. “Take it Back” from Rocky VIII.
8. “The Rose” from The Rose.
9. “On the Dark Side” from Eddie and The Cruisers.
10. “One Tim Soldier” from Billy Jack.

Edwin McCain’s Top 10 Truck Stop Foods (in order of which will give you the most gas)
10. Giant Jumbo Beef and Bean Burrito
9. Extra Large Pepperoni Hot Pocket
8. Sausage Egg and Cheese Biscuit
7. Pickled Eggs
6. Pickled Pigs’ feet
5. Giant Turkey Legs
4. Extra Large Hot Dogs baked in fake croissant bun.
3. Summer Sausage and Cheese stick combo
2. Coffee
1. 5 lb. bag of Teriyaki Beef Jerky

Sick Puppies
Top 10 Reasons Not to Take Up Telemarketing

1. No one likes you or cares what you have to say.
2. Every tenth call is a granny w/a two-week-long life story, and you don't get a commission for "listening."
3. No one has sympathy when you complain about your life.
4. Every cubical around you seems to contain random freaks and smells.
5. Every 20th call is an accidental re-dial.
6. The buildings you work in are always very depressing.
7. If there was a living hell on earth, it would look like a call center.
8. It's the only place you could catch something nasty from the computer keyboards.
9. You will for the rest of your dreary life answer the phone with "Hello my name is...."
10. You will actually start to get numb from the rejection.

Top 10 Ways to Annoy Your Co-workers:
1. Grab a labeler and label EVERYTHING from the computer, pens, pencils to stray paper clips.
2. Sing Neil Diamond at the top of your lungs whenever a phone rings.
3. When talking to your boss, don't look into his/her eyes, but just to the right, nod and smile like you’re listening, but repeatedly brush your shoulder as if swatting a fly.
4. Try and gather a collection of coffee cups at your desk and if anyone asks for a spare cup, just tell them you have "Bower Bird Syndrome"
5. Arrive late for a meeting and tell them your dog peed on your BlackBerry.
6. Paint your whole face in "pink highliter" and when people look at you funny, launch into a monologue on discrimination.
7. In the mornings, instead of saying "Morning" simply salute them.
8. When answering company calls, whisper and tell them that Johnny's taking a nap.
9. When speaking to a co-worker, pick up your cell phone and dial their number and proceed to talk to them on the cell as if nothing has changed and then walk away still talking to them.
10. Spread honey really thin all over the photocopier and sit by watching everyone who comes and uses it just for laughs.

Nancy Griffith’s Favorite Albums
1. Jackson Browne, (Saturate Before Using)
2. Paul Carrack, Satisfy My Soul
3. Patti Smith, Dream of Life
4. Elizabeth Cook, This Side of the Moon
5. The Kennedys, Songs of the Open Road
6. David Bowie, Hunky Dory
7. The Beatles, Revolver (U.K. version)
8. Tom Waits, Heart Attack and Vine
9. Mary Gauthier, Mercy Now
10. U2, The Joshua Tree

Akon’s 10 Favorite Albums of All Time (no order)
1. Bob Marley and the Wailers, Legend [Deluxe Edition]
2. R.E.M., Best of R.E.M.
3. Phil Collins, Best of Phil Collins
4. The Fugees, The Score
5. 50 Cent, Get Rich or Die Tryin’
6. Lauryn Hill, Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
7. Eminem, The Marshall Mathers LP
8. OutKast, Stankonia
9. Young Jeezy, Let's Get It: Thug Motivation 101
10. Michael Jackson, Off the Wall

Mike Retondo of Plain White T’s Top 10 list
Nintendo DS Lite
Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion
Resignation of Donald Rumsfeld
The Strokes, First Impressions of Earth
Dragonquest VIII- Journey of the Cursed King
Regina Spektor, Begin To Hope
Little Miss Sunshine
Saves the Day, Sound the Alarm
The Advantage, Elf Titled
The Prestige

Aaron Barrett of Reel Big Fish’s Top 10 albums of '06
1. Reel Big Fish, Our Live Album is Better than Your Live Album
2. Westbound Train, Transitions
3. The Matches, Decomposer
4. Head Automatica, Popaganda
5. Maxeen, Hello Echo
6. The Pink Spiders, Teenage Graffiti
7. Morningwood, Morningwood
8. The Ordinary Boys, Brassbound
9. Cannibal Corpse, Kill
10. Plain White T's, Every Second Counts

Troy Sanders of Mastodon’s Top 5 Albums of 2006
1. George Jones /Merle Haggard, Kickin Out the Footlights… Again
2. Isis, In the Absence of Truth
3. Mars Volta, Amputechture
4. Tool, 10,000 Days
5. Converge, No Heroes

Brent Hinds of Mastodon’s Top 5 Albums of 2006
new melvins with big business
new isis
new mars volta
new tool
new wolfmother

Daryl Palumbo of Head Automatica's Top 5 Albums of 2006
Cage
, Hell’s Winter
We Are the Fury, Infinite Jest EP
Men Women and Children
Converge, No Heroes
Hatebreed, Supremacy

Eisley’s Top 10 Albums of 2006
New Found Glory, Coming Home
Jeremy Enigk, World Waits
Kashmir, No Balance Palace
Midlake, The Trials of Van Occupanther
The Decemberists, The Crane Wife
Taking Back Sunday, Louder Now
Sparklehorse, Dreamt for Light Years in the Belly of a Mountain
Sean Lennon, Friendly Fire
Thom Yorke, The eraser
Beyonce, B’Day

Augustana’s Top 10 Albums
1. The Damnwells, Air Stereo
2. Margot & the Nuclear So & Sos, The Dust of Retreat
3. Mute Math
4. The Kooks, Inside In/Inside Out
5. Jeremy Enigk, World Waits
6. Mew, And the Glass Handed Kites
7. Primal Scream, Riot City Blues
8. Camera Obscura, Let's Get Out of This Country
9. The Working Title, About Face
10. Head Automatica, Popaganda

Ryan Carroll of Saturna’s Top 10 Northwest Albums
Hypatia Lake
, ...And We Shall Call Him Joseph
Viva Voce, Get Yr Blood Sucked Out
Antlerand, Branches
The Purrs
Band of Horses, Everything All the Time
The High Violets, To Where You Are
The Thermals, The Body, The Blood, The Machine
Voyager One, Dissolver
The Blakes, Let It Loose
The Melody Unit, Songs for New American Century

Vienna Teng's Top Teng
10. Real Food Daily in Santa Monica: Made my one-month experiment in vegetarianism easy.
9. MissDoxie.com: That rare personal blog worth reading even if you have no connection to the author. Reliably gets me laughing out loud with each new post.
8. Damien Rice finally releasing a second full-length album. Ditto Joanna Newsom.
7. Freakonomics: Steven Levitt's book on applying economic principles to other phenomena, like standardized testing and the KKK. Makes me want to go back to school and pore over mountains of data (how the *$^& does any book do that?).
6. A shout-out to great audio engineers: Those unobtrusive, good-natured, highly musical individuals who stay alert through hours/days/weeks of tedium, are lightning-fast with bewildering arrays of equipment, and somehow create, through their knob-twiddling and fader-sliding and quiet mind-reading, that magical "feel" that a good record has. Thanks, guys.
5. Bonnaroo: Fantastic lineup this year. Not just saying that because I got a ringside seat for Gomez and Radiohead. Also great to see all the environmental initiatives, including the solar-powered stage.
4. Local bands trickling back to the Maple Leaf Bar in New Orleans. In particular, I'm so glad that Papa Grows Funk and the Rebirth Brass Band are back in residence.
3. Ang Lee winning Best Director at the Oscars: Well-deserved, not just for Brokeback Mountain; the diversity and quality of his movies is so impressive.
2. The Red Campaign for solutions to the AIDS epidemic in Africa: The Make Poverty History campaign in general is impressive in its ambition, and its staying power.
1. An Inconvenient Truth: Loved how much information this lecture-mentary packed into 100 minutes. The most affecting work of nonfiction I've encountered in a long time.

Sarah Kelly's Top 10 Things I Just Threw Away on My Quest To Holiday Clean!
1. About a million burned CDs of demos I get on the road.
2. Chinese carryout from two weeks ago in my fridge.
3. 13 dried acrylic pain tubes....(I paint in my free time).
4. Countless receipts from McDonald's reading "one large diet coke."
5. About 30 half-empty lotion bottles I bought thinking "I need this."
6. At least 25 VHS movies .....when I only have a DVD player.
7. Five "pinkish" shirts with tags on them that I bought on impulse... thinking I need to dress more "feminine"...
8. Four pairs of jeans that cost me a fortune...but somehow still go out of style!
9. At least a hundred old pictures of old relationships that I am trying to leave behind.
10. Garbage bags full of old lyrics sitting on my piano... time for a fresh start!

Ed Pettersen's Top 10 Albums
Black Rebel Motocycle Club, Howl
Kris Kristofferson, This Old Road
Shawn Colvin, These Four Walls
Joanna Newsom, Ys
The Who, Endless Wire
The Beatles, Love
Will Kimbrough, Americanitis
Bob Dylan, Modern Times
Malcolm Holcombe, Not Forgotten
TV on the Radio, Return to Cookie Mountain

The rest/honorable mention (It was VERY tough to pick a top ten)
The Hellacopters
, Rock n' Roll is Dead
Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am That's What I'm Not
Willie Nile, Streets of New York
Gary Heffern, Consolation (This would've been higher but not sure it "officially" came out this year)
Primal Scream, Riot City Blues
Imaad Wasif
Jeff, Castle Storm
Be Your Own Pet
BR549, Dog Days
Oppenheimer

Neil Young, Living With War

Dave Chavarri of Ill Nino’s Top 10s
Albums:
1) Queen, News of the World
2) Metallica, Master of Puppets
3) Santana, Abraxas
4) Michael Jackson, Off the Wall
5) Rush, Moving Pictures
6) Slayer, Reign in Blood
7) Korn, Life is Peachy
8) Deftones, Around the Fur
9) Sepultura, Roots
10) Seal, Seal (’94 Version)

Movies:
1) Ben Hur
2) Empire Strikes Back
3) Halloween
4) Terminator 2
5) The Matrix
6) The Godfather (complete series)
7) Goodfellas
8) Old School
9) The Exorcist
10) Blazing Saddles

Events:
1) First Concert Attended: Iron Maiden & Queensryche
2) Playing my first arena show: Dynamo Festival, Holland 1996 before 90,000 people
3) Doing a co-headline tour of Australia with Static-X in 2006.
4) Ozzfest 2002
5) Tour of Japan in 1992 with Laaz Rockit
6) Seeing my grandmother in Lima, Peru after 15 years, on Dec., 2004 (Maybe not an event, but it definitely was for me)
7) Attending the America Music Awards in 2006
8) Releasing my debut CD with Ill Nino, Revolution… Revolucion in 2001.
9) Since I was 10 years old until now: Christmas in New York Ciry
10) Visiting the Acropolis Museum in Athens, Greece

Foods:
1) Ceviche (Peruvian dish)
2) Arroz con pollo (Cuban style)
3) Fettucini Alfredo
4) Chicken Parmigiana
5) Vegetarian sushi
6) Chinese Food
7) Pizza
8) Chicken Wings
9) Crème brulee
10) French Onion Soup










NEAR TRUTHS: SPRING BLOOMS
Here come the big guns. (3/28a)
THE COUNT: COLDPLAY IS HOT, COUNTRY'S COOKIN' IN THE U.K.
The latest tidbits from the bustling live sector (3/28a)
CITY OF HOPE TAPS MARCIANO FOR TOP HONOR
This year's philanthropic model (3/28a)
TRUST IN THE TOP 20
Hip-hop is no longer hibernating. (3/28a)
UMG BROADENS SPOTIFY OFFERINGS
Sir Lucian and Daniel are in harmony. (3/28a)
THE NEW UMG
Gosh, we hope there are more press releases.
TIKTOK BANNED!
Unless the Senate manages to make this whole thing go away, that is.
THE NEW HUGE COUNTRY ACT
No, not that one.
TRUMP'S CAMPAIGN PLAYLIST
Now 100% unlicensed!
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