The rundown of my favorite songs of 2006 continues…

“On The Radio” | Regina Spektor | Begin to Hope | Sire | 6/13/06 | 3:22 | buy disc/mp3s
As documented earlier, I got past some initial prejudice about Regina Spektor and came to really dig Begin to Hope. “On The Radio,” with its bouncy beat, plucked strings and amiable feel, was the first Spektor tune to work its way into my heart.

The “November Rain” reference might’ve really fallen flat–too much kitsch not enough Soviet?–but it’s sung so lovingly that it’s clearly more an homage than a slight to St. Axl, who’s had a hard enough time this decade without indie rock chanteuses piling on. I mean, we all love GNR a little, don’t we?

By the same token, a young woman trying to take on the totality of life and experience in song (”this is how it works…”) risks awful, awful pretension. “On The Radio” isn’t the even the only song on this record to swing big like this, proffering words of wisdom.

Maybe I’ve just been thinking too much about life and death this year, or maybe I’ve been brainwashed by Spektor’s pixie-ish charms, but I love her ambition, and I think it’s pulled off with the right amount of humor and humility.

“LoveStoned/I Think She Knows (Interlude)” | Justin Timberlake | Futuresex/Lovesounds | Jive/Zomba | 9/12/06 | 7:24 | buy disc/mp3s
Sometimes it’s a little tough for me loving Justin Timberlake’s music. I end up interrogating myself. Am I listening because he’s sort of the approved pop star of the undie intelligencia (except when he ain’t)? Is my fave-of-year nod to “LoveStoned/I Think She Knows” some sort of contrarian thing, when everyone else is bananas for “My Love”?

I plead guilty, give up, and submit to you that “LoveStoned,” if you can bring yrself to forgive a goofy lyric here or there, comes the closest in its loose-limbed feel and almost improvised spirit to rekindling the charms of Justified without simply rehashing old territory.

Let me further submit, that “I Think She Knows,” and seriously perk up those ears around 4:55(!), is one of the most beautiful pieces of music I’ve heard this year. That vaguely indie-ish processed guitar, the borderline glitch-pop beat, something about the combination fucking floors me. It’s almost too much when the spacey keyboard comes in around 5:42.

It’s been said better elsewhere, but dude’s come a hell of a long way, and certainly far enough to pack away the cheese of his boy band past. I’ll be paying attention when his next joint hits.