 | The Life Pursuit by Belle & Sebastian
Buy new: $13.99 / Used from: $7.49 The people who give out music awards are lame, because they didn't give this album anything. Easily the best pop recording of 2006.
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 | Welcome Interstate Managers by Fountains of Wayne
Buy new: $9.97 / Used from: $1.54 FOW had a hit with Stacy's Mom which is funny and catchy but this cd is full of really good songs that span very diferent musical genres, and yet are all pretty great.
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 | In the Heart of the Moon by Ali Farka Touré
Buy new: $14.99 / Used from: $12.68 This guy is amazing and everybody should have this cd which seems to be almost magical. It sounds middle-eastern but with a clear blues/pop/folk tradition behind it. Not like anything I know.
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 | Funkify Your Life: The Meters Anthology by The Meters
Buy new: $28.99 / Used from: $15.95 The most amazing funk band that most people don't know. Put it on, get in the groove, find your inner funk master.
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 | The Rodeo Eroded by Tin Hat Trio
Buy used from: $15.70 Amazingly, this trio of folk musicians generally get categorized in Jazz. Once you hear this cd, that will make sense. An incredible sense of melody and time set to desert folk ethos. A must have for every cd collection.
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 | In Between Dreams by Jack Johnson
Buy new: $7.99 / Used from: $6.50 I like his On and On cd too, but my rule here is one cd per artist, so I pick this as my fave. Johnson is a wonderful songwriter and his music has a profoundly intimate appeal.
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 | Let It Die by Feist
Buy new: $8.99 / Used from: $5.49 This cd is a sensation. In the vein of mellow pop grooviness, Feist gets it all right here. She had a modest hit with Mushaboom, but every track has something to offer. There are no pictures to speak of in the jacket, but it doesn't hurt that she's drop dead gorgeous too.
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 | Wingdale Community Singers by Wingdale Community Singers
Buy new: $16.99 / Used from: $2.09 Okay, this is a shameless plug for my brother's band. But with song's like Rat on the Tracks and Indira's Lost and Found, how can you resist? A truly fine recording.
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 | Pop På Svenska + Plan 714 Till by Komeda
Buy used from: $8.48 My sister-in-law, Amy, gave me this cd and it's a revelation. All the lyrics are in Swedish, which may give pause to some people, but since the melodies are so extraordinary it really doesn't seem to matter.
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 | Yankee Hotel Foxtrot by Wilco
Buy new: $13.99 / Used from: $4.49 Hard for me to pick just one from the incredible Wilco body of work, but YHF is a truly amazing recording and one that blossoms with every repeated listening. One of the truly great American bands of the last 15 years.
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 | Elephant by The White Stripes
Buy used from: $5.50 Not everybody can find the pleasure in their music, but this cd has some really amazing songs on it and nobody puts a tortured soul into music any more than Jack White does. Seven Nation Army is darn near perfect.
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 | Beautiful Freak by Eels
Buy new: $7.97 / Used from: $1.82 I've kept track of this band but have never felt the same way about anything they did since this, their debut cd (I think). A mesmerizing collection of captivating songs.
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 | Odelay by Beck
Buy new: $9.97 / Used from: $1.15 Everyone needs at least one Beck cd and this is the one for me. A groundbreaking salad of folk/hip hop/pop that will do freaky things to your brain and make you smile too.
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 | Tomorrow the Green Grass by The Jayhawks
Buy used from: $17.41 The highwater mark of this now defunct (I think) folk/rock band. A cd that most people who grew up in America find captivating in many ways. Harkens back to simpler times and reminds us of our lost innocence. Gosh, so far lost at this point.
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 | Guiding Star by Vusi Mahlasela
Buy new: $15.98 / Used from: $8.00 Another from the realm of world music that is pretty darn unique. I first heard Vusi on NPR and had to have his music. He's an African vocalist that has blended much from the pop world into his traditional African perspective.
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 | Weezer (Blue Album) by Weezer
Buy new: $7.99 / Used from: $1.55 The debut album from this brilliant pop quartet. Great pop songs that are funny and sad at the same time. Rivers Cuomo is a great songwriter and a tortured soul.
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 | Moon Safari by Air
Buy new: $13.99 / Used from: $5.00 Another atmospheric masterpiece that belongs in every well-rounded music collection. A fave of the director Sophia Coppola.
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 | i by Magnetic Fields
Buy new: $16.98 / Used from: $4.75 The most recent cd by the astonishing Brooklyn based band. Stephen Merrit is one of the great songwriters of our generation. More people should know this music.
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 | And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out by Yo La Tengo
Buy new: $10.99 / Used from: $3.92 I think this is the closest this band has ever gotten to a masterpiece. Atmoshperic, compelling, sad, and lovely.
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 | Have You Fed the Fish by Badly Drawn Boy
Buy used from: $0.55 British flok/rock songwriter who used to have a very distinct style (which is on fine display here) but recently has started to sound like the Boss.
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 | Coast to Coast Motel by G. Love & Special Sauce
Buy new: $11.98 / Used from: $1.97 The one and only G. Love! Since this cd has soda pop on it, I had to pick this one, but I like Yeah, It's That Easy a lot too.
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 | The Great Escape by Blur
Buy new: $7.97 / Used from: $1.20 Since there's a picture of a boat in the ocean on the cover, did they know that this would be their high water mark?
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 | Car Wheels on a Gravel Road by Lucinda Williams
Buy new: $9.97 / Used from: $2.87 If you own only one country/rock cd , this has to be the one. Lucinda at her very best.
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 | Kid A by Radiohead
Buy new: $10.97 / Used from: $4.00 I know everyone picks OK Computer as their classic, but I like this one better.
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 | Buena Vista Social Club by Ry Cooder
Buy new: $13.99 / Used from: $4.99 Simply put, you have to own this cd.
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