9th Green’s Readers Top 25 of 2006

Now it is time to unveil the 2006 9th Green’s Readers Top 25 and if you disagree with the list, you only have yourself to blame. For the most part I was pleased with this list because only one song from my Worst Songs of 2006 made the list and a few songs that I hyped here on the 9th Green but didn’t really catch on in the mainstream mad the list. Hopefully this means some of you have taken my advice thought the year. As for the list, Gnarls Barkley blew everyone away to take first out of the over sixty songs that were submitted. If I were to nit-pick I would say that Weird Al's parody out shined Chamillionaire's version and if I were to include a song by The Fray it would have been How to Save a Life. But anyways. Now unto the list, thanks to everyone who participated and be sure to check back out tomorrow to see where, or if, any of these songs show up on my Top 100 of the year.


1. Crazy - Gnarls Barkley

2. Chasing Cars - Snow Patrol

3. Bad Day - Daniel Powder

4. When You Were Young - The Killers

5. Promiscuous - Nelly Furtado and Timbaland

6. Steady, As She Goes - The Raconteurs

7. Smile - Lily Allen

8. Ridin’ - Chamillionaire & Krayzie Bone

9. Temperature - Sean Paul

10. SexyBack - Justin Timberlake

11. Black Horse and the Cherry Tree - KT Tunstall

12. Hips Don't Lie - Skakira & Wyclef Jean

13. Over My Head (Cable Car) - The Fray

14. Put Your Records On - Corrine Bailey Rae

15. God's Gonna Cut You Down - Johnny Cash

16. Three More Days - Ray LaMontagne

17. Here it Goes Again - Ok Go

18. Be Without You - Mary J Blige

19. When the Sun Goes Down - Artic Monkeys

20. Ain’t No Other Man - Christina Aguilera

21. White and Nerdy - “Weird Al” Yankovic

22. Not Ready to Make Nice - Dixie Chicks

23. Save Room - John Legend

24. In the Rough - Anna Nalick

25. Fidelity - Regina Specktor

Best Mash-Ups of 2006

One of the coolest musical innovations in recent memory is the mash-up. For those that may not be familiar with the term, it can best be described when you take the vocals from one song and place them over the instrumental from a different song. The artform didn’t get as much press this year as it has in past years but that doesn’t mean there aren’t some great new mash-ups floating around the internet. And since last year’s list (see Best Mash-Ups of 2005) still brings in decent traffic here naturally I would do another list this year. I tried to give credit to the creator of the mash-up, but due to some poor labeling, some have gotten lost and I even had to create a name for a few mash-ups that I discovered nameless. Also some of these songs may have been created ealier than 2006 but this is a list of songs I’ve found this year. Please do not ask for me to send you any of these songs because for legal reasons I cannot confirm or deny that any of these songs actually exist not that I would illegally download copyrighted material even though that material has been altered from any version that could be bought anywhere. If you want the unaltered album version of the songs, on the second line I will list the main songs that make up the mash-up:


1. Johnny Cash's Allstar Band's Gonna Cut You Down - DJ Schmolli
Johnny Cash - God's Gonna Cut You Down (vocals), Led Zeppelin - When the Levee Breaks (drums), Beastie Boys - Sabotage (bass), Ted Nugent - Cat Scratch Fever (guitar), The Beatles - Come Together (lead guitar)

2. Regulate Dust in the Wind - DJ Erb
Kansas (Dust in the Wind) vs. Warren G (Regulate)

3. Light Your Fat Bottom on Fire - Aggro1
Busta Rhymes (Light Your Ass On Fire (Radio Mix) - Light Your (Explative Deleted) On Fire) vs. Queen (Fat Bottom Girls)

4. Crazy Times - Team9
Gnarls Barkley (Crazy) vs. Prince (Sign O' the Times)

5. All of My Sublime Life - Aggro1
Foo Fighters (All My Life) vs. Sublime (Doin' Time)

6. Papa Was a Clock - Go Home Productions
The Temptations (Papa Was a Rollin' Stone) vs. Coldplay (Clocks)

7. Always With You - Divide & Kreate
Willie Nelson (Always on My Mind) vs. U2 (With or Without You)

8. Hurts Like Teen Spirit - Dangerous Orange
Johnny Cash (Hurt) vs. Nirvana (Smells Like Teen Spirit) vs. Blue Oyster Cult (Don't Fear the Reaper)

9. The Money Song - team9
Hard-Fi (Cash Machine) vs. Jay-Z (Money, Cash, Hoes)

10. Walk Away and I'll Wait - Aggro1
Kelly Clarkson (Walk Away) vs. Van Halen (I'll Wait)

11. For the Love of C.R.E.A.M. - DJ BC
Wu-Tang Clan (C.R.E.A.M.) vs. The O'Jays (For the Love of Money)

12. Kelly's Smelly Behind - Divide & Kreate
Kelly Clarkson (Behind These Hazel Eyes) vs. Nirvana (Smells Like Teen Spirit)

13. Casbah Wonder - Dunproofin'
Stevie Wonder (Uptight (Everything's Alright)) vs. The Clash (Rock the Casbah)

14. Crazy Wish - DJ Nicky T
Skee-Lo (I Wish) vs. Gnarls Barkley (Crazy)

15. Smokey and the Yeah! - Pheugoo
Usher (Yeah!) vs. Jerry Reed (Smokey and the Bandit Theme)

16. Relm and Josie with Attitude - Relm
N.W.A. (Something 2 Dance 2) vs. the Outfield (Your Love)

17. Summer Digger - (Artist Unknown)
Mungo Jerry (In the Summertime) vs. Kanye West (Gold Digger)

18. The Next Fool's Gold - Hi-Fi
The Stone Roses (Fool's Gold) vs. Dr Dre, Snoop Dogg (The Next Episode)

19. I Wish My Doorbell Rang - Sam Flanagan Mix
Skee-Lo (I Wish) vs. The White Stripes (My Doorebell)

20. Water Lilly (Extended V3) - Sam Flanagan Mix
Lily Allen (LDN) vs. The Stone Roses (Waterfall)

21. Michael Feels Like Green Onions - corporation
Michael Jackson (The Way You Make Me Feel) vs. Booker T & the MG's (Green Onions)

22. U Been Throwing It Away - StvD
Kelly Clarkson (Since U Been Gone) vs. Genesis (Throwing it All Away)

23. Crazy, as She Goes - The Legion of Doom
Gnarls Barkley (Crazy) vs. The Raconteurs (Steady, As She Goes)

24. Dirty Deeds Will Rock You - Aggro1
ACDC (Dirty Deeds) vs. Queen (We Will Rock You)

25. In My Hazel Eyes (Kelly's Playing in the Cold) - Bobby Martini
Kelly Clarkson (Behind These Hazel Eyes) vs. Coldplay (In My Place)

50 Best Albums of 2006

This year I was able to give a listen and review almost all the albums thanks to the record companies doing something right for the first time in years by letting fans listen to albums even before they are released. So here are the best albums I heard this year. And where most other music blogs unroll their best albums of the list full with artist you have never heard of, here is my list of pretentious free albums (okay the list is actually only 82% pretentious free, just had to put the Artic Monkeys on my list). Click on the album to buy the album in iTunes. If you like feeling the CD in your hands check out this list at My Amazon Store (including last year's list). Also if you want to read my orginal review, click the link below the album's name. Agree with my list? Disagree? Feel free to list your favorite albums of the in the comment section:


1. Continuum - John Mayer
It's Not a Silly Little Moment, it's Not the Storm Before the Calm

2. Eye to the Telescope - KT Tunstall
Her Face Is the Map of the World

3. We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions - Bruce Springsteen
Oh Mary Don't You Weep

4. Eyes Open - Snow Patrol
The Final Word in the Final Sentence

5. Taking the Long Way - Dixie Chicks
It's Been Two Long Years Now Since the Top of the World Came Crashing Down

6. Stand Still, Look Pretty - The Wreckers
The Radio's Playing Old Country Songs

7. American V: The Hundred Highways - Johnny Cash
He Said "John Go Do My Will"

8. The Believer - Rhett Miller
Sex in Wartime Is Sweeter Than Peace

9. Modern Times - Bob Dylan
Sing a Little Bit of These Workingman Blues

10. Blue Collar - Rhymefest
Who Rapper You Know Before His Album Drop Is a Grammy Winner

11. 9 - Damien Rice
She May Rise if I Lay You Down

12. Once Again - John Legend
Tonight I Wanna Groove and Let the Music Make You Move

13. Nothing Left to Lose - Mat Kearney
All I Had Was Just a Vision, All I Had Was My Ambition

8. Whatever They Say I Am I'm Not - Artic Monkeys
(Never Goot Around to Reviewing, Sorry)

15. Hip Hop Is Dead - Nas
If You Asking Why IS Hip Hop Dead There's a Pretty Good Chance You're the Reason it Died

16. Corinne Bailey Rae - Corinne Bailey Rae
Girl Go Ahead Let Your Hair Down

17. Broken Boy Soldier - The Raconteurs
You've Found a Friend That Knows You Well

18. The Road to Escondido - J.J. Cale & Eric Clapton
If You Can't Hear the Music, Turn it up Loud

19. Stadium Arcadium - Red Hot Chili Peppers
California Show Your Teeth

20. Game Theory - The Roots
I'll Make it Hotter Than Shaft in Africa

21. Bleeding Heart Graffiti - Nina Gordon
I Will Sing This Song and All My Friends Will Sing Along

22. The Greatest - Cat Power
No Wind or Waterfall Could Stop Me

23. Ten - Brian McKnight
When Was the Last Time You Were Truely Satisfied

24. Living with War - Neil Young
Let's Impeach the President for Lying

25. Like Blood for Honey - Holly Brook
Though I'm Young and Cynical it's Not My Only Crime

26. Love Their Country - Me First and the Gimme Gimmes
Yippee-I-Yay Yippee-I-Yo

27. Who I Am - Alice Peacock
Trust the Power in My Voice

28. Acoustic Extravaganza - KT Tunstall
I Don't Have to Raise My Voice

29. High & Mighty - Gov't Mule
Musings From the Back 9: Music Edition II

30. Pearl Jam - Pearl Jam
If I Keep Holding Out Will the Light Shine Through

31. Food & Liqour - Lupe Fiasco
Come in Hip-Hop We've Come to Resurrect You

32. Both Sides of the Gun - Ben Harper
The Only Songs to Sing Are Those Sung Again

33. Highway Companion - Tom Petty
If You Don't Run You Rust

34. Nightcrawler - Pete Yorn
Walk Me Out in the Morning Sun

35. Revelations - Audioslave
The Orginal Fire Has Died and Gone but the Riot Inside Moves On

36. Bird on a Wire - Toby Lightman
You're a Flower Blooming in the Desert Sunshine

37. Sing-A-Longs & Lullabies for the Film Curious George - Jack Johnson and Friends
There's No Stopping Curiosity

38. Year of the Dog… Again - DMX
We Gon' Get it, Get it Started Again

39. Move by Yourself - Donavon Frankenreiter
Don't Stop Doing What You Believe In

40. Coming Home - Lionel Richie
You Feel it, I Feel it, Let's Not Pretend

41. On the Outside - Starsailor
I Hear Them Screaming on the Radio

42. Feedback - Jurassic 5
We Would Say Our Rhymes to the Beat Right

43. Till the Sun Turns Black - Ray LaMontagne
Musings From the Back 9: Music Edition II

44. When Your Heart Stops Beating - (+44)
The Past Is Only the Past with the Lights On

45. Kingdom Come - Jay-Z
When I Come Back Like Jordon Wearing the 4-5

46. Show Your Bones - The Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Sometimes I Think I'm Bigger Than the Sound

47. The Evolution of… - Robin Thicke
Don't See the World Through Someone Else's Eyes

48. Sam's Town - The Killers
Nobody Ever Had a Dream Round Here

49. Under the Iron Sea - Keane
Love Is Just a Lyric in a Children's Rhyme

50. Loose - Nelly Furtado
I've Been Hurt by My Past but I Feel the Future

Best Videos of 2006

For today’s end of the year spectacular I will be counting down the best music videos of the year. And thanks to YouTube we saw a return to the art form and more videos may be getting viewed that the heyday of MTV when they actually showed them. Unfortynately some record labels are not fond of the idea of free advertisement so some videos have been take off the site yet they always seem to find their way back on the site. I have embedded the top five videos, after that you can click on the title to go to YouTube and view it if available. Also if you are interested in buying the video (or the song) click the iTunes tag, again if available.



1. God’s Gonna Cut You Down - Johnny Cash




2. White & Nerdy - “Weird Al” Yankovic




3. Crazy - Gnarls Barkley




4. Boston - Augustana




5. Not About Love - Fiona Apple



6. Bones - The Killers

7. Rollin’ with Saget - Jamie Kennedy and Stu Stone

8. Wind it Up - Barenaked Ladies

9. When the Deal Goes Down - Bob Dylan

10. Work it Out - Jurassic 5 & Dave Mathews Band

11. Here it Goes Again - OK Go

12. When You Were Young - The Killers

13. I Wish I Was a Punk Rocker (With Flowers in my Hair) - Sandi Thom

14. Crooked Teeth - Death Cab for Cutie

15. Fidelity - Regina Spector

16. Smile - Lily Allen

17. Touch the Sky - Kanye West

18. Dani California - Red Hot Chili Peppers

19. Gone Daddy Gone - Gnarls Barkley

20. Waiting on the World to Change - John Mayer

21. Where’d You Go - Fort Minor

22. Hips Don’t Lie - Shakira & Wyclef Jean

23. Learn to Live with What You Are - Ben Folds

24. Before He Cheats - Carrie Underwood

25. How to Save a Life (Mark Pellington Version) - The Fray

R.I.P. James Brown

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and received everything you wanted and more so everything you needed. My festivities were damped a little at hearing the news that we lost one of the greats earlier today, James Brown. He was a little before my time but he left his stamp on the music during my formative years as he was a staple among rap sample in the early years. I was supposed to see him live back in college but unfortunately the concert got canceled as he was arrested a couple days before for beating his wife. But for all his pitfalls he will always be remembered as the Godfather of Soul leaving us with some great music, my personal favorite being Papa's Got a Brand New Bag.

Foe more on the life of James Brown check out: "Godfather of Soul" James Brown Dead at 73

Worst Songs of 2006

It’s no secret that the Top 40 radio is dieing off thanks to shrinking playlists and more specialized stations. So in honor of that I present to you the 40 Worst Songs of 2006. And you know you have compiled a list of some crappy songs when Kevin Federline doesn’t crack the Top 10. It’s disturbing how many of the “artist” on this list come from reality television (for those keeping track at home, fifteen songs were from reality stars which beats out songs that “feature” by one) showing that record executives are too lazy to find nor market good artists. And not surprisingly the same artists that topped the Worst Albums of the Year list do the same here taking up three of the worst three songs of the year. Download these songs from iTunes at your own risk and feel free to let me know what songs of the past year that you dislike in the comment section:


1. Nothing In This World - Paris Hilton
2. About Us - Brooke Hogan featuring Paul Wall
3. London Bridge - Fergie
4. Stars Are Blind - Paris Hilton
5. Wind it Up - Gwen Stefani
6. I'm N Luv (Wit a Stripper) - T-Pain featuring Mike Jones
7. My Love - Justin Timberlake featuring T.I.
8. I Write Sins Not Tragedies - Panic! at the Disco
9. Fergalicious - Fergie
10. Welcome to the Black Parade - My Chemical Romance
11. U & Ur Hand - Pink
12. Show Stopper - Danity Kane
13. Lose Control - Kevin Federline
14. Lips of an Angel - Hinder
15. Come to Me - Diddy featuring Nicole Scherzinger
16. Do I Make You Proud - Taylor Hicks
17. Stupid Girl - Pink
18. The Real Thing - Bo Bice
19. Invisible - Ashlee Simpson
20. Goodbye My Lover - James Blunt
21. Ms. New Booty - Bubba Sparxxx featuring Mr. ColliPark & Ying Yang Twins
22. The Kill - 20 Seconds to Mars
23. Shoulder Lean - Young Dro featuring T.I.
24. Hood Boy - Fantasia featuring Big Boi
25. Control Myself - LL Cool J featuring Jennifer Lopez
26. Chain Hang Low - Jibbs
27. Let U Go - Ashley Parker Angel
28. It's Goin’ Down - Yung Joc featuring Nitti
29. Land of Confusion - Disturbed
30. Lean Wit It, Rock Wit It - Dem Franchize Boyz featuring Peenut & Charlay
31. SexyBack - Justin Timberlake featuring Timbaland
32. Maneater - Nelly Furtado
33. Hate Me - Blue October
34. What's Left of Me - Nick Lachey
35. I Belong to Me - Jessica Simpson
36. Sideline Ho - Monica
37. Unpredictable - Jamie Foxx featuring Ludacris
38. So Excited - Janet Jackson featuring Khia
39. Hanging On - Cheyenne Kimball
40. Buttons - Pussycat Dolls featuring Big Snoop Dogg

Worst Albums of 2006

Throughout the last twelve months I have reviewed over a hundred albums and sadly some of them were not exactly good thanks to record executives using non traditional ways to find new artist in recent years like reality shows. Plus they unwisely thought that just because an artist had a lot of friends on MySpace means that they can make good music. Now my list is only of albums that I reviewed since there way too many American Karaoke contestants that didn’t even win releasing albums and the My Chemical Romance album was so bad I couldn’t even make thought the whole album. So here’s the worst of the worst and if you are interested in reading my original review, click the link below the album, the album link goes to iTunes if you enjoy torture:

1. Paris - Paris Hilton
Since I'm Already Screwed, Here's a Message to You

2. Undiscovered - Brooke Hogan
Musings from the Back 9: VH1 Reality Albums Edition (third item)

3. The Dutchess - Fergie
Toss Up: Clay Aiken vs Fergie

4. Taylor Hicks - Taylor Hicks
I Got My Degree in Crying

5. I’m Not Dead - Pink
It's Hypocritical of You

6. Playing with Fire - Kevin Federline
I'm Kevin Federline, America's Most Hated

7. A Thousand Different Ways - Clay Aiken
Toss Up: Clay Aiken vs Fergie

8. FutureSex/LoveSounds - Justin Timberlake
Go 'Head Be Gone with It

9. Danity Kane - Danity Kane
Musings from the Back 9: Music Edition (second item)

10. What’s Left of Me - Nick Lachey
Musings from the Back 9: Music Edition (forth item)

11. Cassie - Cassie
It's Not that Deep

12. The Sweet Escape - Gwen Stefani
This Sounds like Disco Tetris

13. Press Play - Diddy
I'm from the Eighties NYC Five Percent of Culture

14. On an Island - David Gilmour
It's Just the Dice You Roll

15. The Day Has Come - Cheyenne Kimball
This Is Gonna Rock Until it Rolls

16. Blowin’ Up - Jamie Kennedy & Stu Stone
Goodnight Michelle

17. B’Day - Beyoncé
I Could Have Another You in a Moment

18. A Public Affair - Jessica Simpson
If You Want to Impress a Hick Then Make it Go Tick

19. In My Mind - Pharrell
I Know this Part Ain't Pretty but You Know I'll Be Busy

20. We Don’t Need to Whisper - Angels & Airwaves
Everyone Will Listen Even if it Hurts Sometimes

21. The Phoenix - Lyfe Jennings
Musings from the Back 9: Music Edition (third item)

22. Goodbye Alice in Wonderland - Jewel
I’m Embarrassed to Say the Rest Is Rock n Roll Cliché

23. The High Road - JoJo
Your Chance Has Come and Gone

24. Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster Is Loose - Meat Loaf
There Were Moments of Gold and Flashes of Light

25. Release Therapy - Ludacris
Musings from the Back 9: Music Edition III (first item)

Best Free Songs of 2006

You can’t get better than free, right? That’s why every Tuesday the first thing I do is open up iTunes because ever week they have two or three free songs to download. Most of the songs are at most mediocre but everyone once in a while you can find a gem. In fact, the number one downloaded song of 2006 on iTunes, Bad Day by Daniel Powder, was a song you could have gotten free back in 2005 (same for number seven Over My Head (Cable Car) by The Fray). Now here are the best free songs that iTunes offered up this year but are still worth the .99 if you didn’t pick them up when they didn’t cost a thing. Of course if you don’t believe my judgment - you can click the link and it will open iTunes directly to the song and you can pull a Michael Scott and just play the 30 second sample over and over again.


1. Smile (Radio Edit) - Lily Allen
2. Dynomite (Going Postal) - Rhymefest
3. Steady, As She Goes (Acoustic Version) - The Raconteurs
4. Cash Machine - Hard-FI
5. Put Your Records On (Acoustic) - Corinne Bailey Rae
6. Mr. Sunshine - Lori McKenna
7. Mama’s Room - Under the Influence of Giants
8. Travelin’ Thru - Dolly Parton
9. Blush (Only You) - Plumb
10. How Many Times - Zack Hexum
11. Satisfied - Ashley Monroe
12. Ooh La La - Goldfrapp
13. Hell or High Water - Tinsley Ellis
14. New Shoes - Paolo Nutini
15. Grace (Album Version) - Phil Wickham
16. What’s the Use - Jamie Lidell
17. Ain’t No Reason - Brett Dennen
18. Suzie - Boy Kill Boy
19. Never Saw Blue (Full Length Drums Mix) - Hayley Westenra
20. Crowded (Radio Edit) - Jeannie Ortega featuring Papoose
21. Love Me like You - The Magic Numbers
22. Hide Away - Rock Kills Kid
23. Back Home to Me - Sophie Milman
24. Bad Things - Jace Everett
25. True Affection - The Blow