Paste Magazine's "Top 100 Albums of 2006"

Paste Magazine
"Signs of life in music, film, and culture"

"Best-of lists are notoriously problematic. Despite their flirtation with math/science in the form of numerical rankings, there is a vague arbitrariness pervading even the most meticulously constructed example. The difference between spot #47 and #93 might as well hinge on how seamlessly an editor’s fast food breakfast is digesting that particular morning. Still, we make our lists, if only to have an excuse to let our minds wander back over the year and remember which pieces of art caused us to forget the world, or simply appreciate the complexity of it.

Sometimes, after walking into the Paste office’s music library and seeing the mailbins piled four-high and spilling over because the vast rows of shelves have filled up yet again (weren’t they just cleared off?), I wonder if the world really needs any new music. Maybe every artist should just take a few years off so we can all get caught up on our listening. But then I look over this list and find myself amazed at how many great records have come out in just one year’s time. Because it’s true: You can never have too much of a good thing. And let’s be honest. Some records are ‘gooder’ than others."

- Jason Killingsworth