top 2006

1the like young: last secrets
appropriately the like young called it quits after releasing last secrets. and it is a shame b/c last secrets is probably their best album so far. of course, it took me a while to realize it - at first i thought it lacked the energy of their previous efforts but a few more listens revealed a different kind of energy. less power-pop than they normally produce but more of an emotional rollercoaster. for some reason it reminded me of what music sounded like when i was seventeen. not in terms of what the music actually sounded but how i perceived it and how important it all seemed. or maybe people have just stopped pouring their souls into the music and spend their time learning to play the banjo instead. at any rate, the most listened to album of the year.

2tv on the radio: return to cookie mountain
i was very disappointed with tv on the radio's debut album b/c it followed a splendid single and a fantastic show at airwaves. the album just didn't click. the vocals sounded fine. the guitars sounded fine. but somehow it was if they were playing in different rooms. so return to cookie mountain was a stunning surprise. punk-soul at its best (not that there really is anything to compare them to...)

3sunset rubdown: shut up i'm dreaming
i was very very skeptical about sunset rubdown. the sounded like a poor imitation of frog eyes to me. and, again, it took a live show to convince me otherwise. though, of course, i maintain that they are influenced by frog eyes. but the guy from wolf parade virtually outshines wolf parade on this album.

4ratatat: classics
classics is simply a shinnier, more layered version of their debut album. and i thought things couldn't get much better...

5man man: six demon bag
i completely misunderstood this band the first few times i listened to them. it wasn't until i saw them live that this was just pure party music. that is, for people that like ukrainian folk music and tom waits. and everyone else will also get it when you crank it up loud enough.

6cadence weapon: braking kayfabe
braking kayfabe is cadence weapon's debut album (discounting the ...is the black hand "mix-tape") and it is a hell of an album. and thank god, because 2007 was not really the year for rap/hip-hop. braking kayfabe is probably less about the beats and more about the sound and the rapping. in some ways it reminds me of dalek shed of its metallic sound. and you might want to check this out even if you don't like rap 'cos the guy used to write for stylus and pitchforkmedia.

7detachment kit: +
this really is a disappointment compared to detachment kit's previous output but you have to give them credit b/c the call the album an ep despite containing 13 songs and it is self-released and some of the songs could have used a bit more studio time. but still it stands head and shoulders above most of what released this year. it is an outrage that these guys are signed - 18 yrs. should rightly be a huge hit. at any rate, + takes the dk in a poppier direction, which is interesting but being an old fart i hope they'll return to the post-rock fold again. this is enought to qualify as one of this year's best albums - there other stuff would top the list almost any year.

8malajube: tromp l'oeil
i suspect these guys jumped on the montreal/arcade fire bandwagon b/c their previous (first?) album sounded like someone had jumped on the strokes bandwagon. but what the hell, if the result are this good i don't really care why. as an added bonus they sing in french and my friend tells me the lyrics are bit dirty... they get an extra point for that.

9clark: body riddle
clark used to be chris clark who released the brilliant clarence park in 2000 (1999?), which sounded exactly like something that should be released on warp (as it was). on body riddle the clark has dropped most of the chopped up beats along with his first name and what remains is what sounds like detuned synths that makes the album a little sinister sounding. which, of course, was always what made clark special to begin with. for some reason i think of ian banks when i listen to him.

10beach house: beach house
it is never really fair to bands to describe by referencing other bands but, as you can tell, i'm too lazy to actually try to describe the music. so: galaxie 500, mazzy star, shannon wright. soft music and very very very nice. that's really all i can muster.

& some other albums i wouldn't have wanted to miss:

*the blow: paper television
a strangely brilliant non-recognizable mixture of r'n'b, eighties electronic sounds, and messed-up relationships. and if you haven't heard it, it probably doesn't sound at all like what you think. or like what i just described. it reminds me in some ways of how ratatat's reworking of hip-hop songs added a new dimension to the songs. another point of reference might be mirah.

*final fantasy: he poos clouds
well, i can hardly think of a worse album name this year. so final fantasy had a large hurdle to overcome. but this is the best violin pop i've heard since shelleyan orphan

*benoit pioulard: precis
precis gets on the list almost on the merit of its cd cover. a very next of ambient electronics and guitar. a little bit like tim hecker mixed with joze gonzales - although there is no guarantee that you will like this album if you like either of those two (or both).

*chad vangaalen: skelliconnection

*fiery furnaces: bitter tea
i've fluctuated from liking to disliking the fiery furnaces. bitter tea managed both but at this point in time i like it. who knows whether it would be on my list tomorrow.

*max richter: songs from before
just very quiet and very pretty. don't really know what else to say.

*tapes'n'tapes: the loon
i guess it was released in 2005 but i didn't hear it until this year. really should be in the top 10.

*the very hush hush: mourir c'est facile
pop gems buried under sheets of hi-hats, organs and static. it is actually a little hard to listen to at first but once you just give upon trying to hear the words it is fine - perhaps that is exactly the point. the music has a sort of tragic quality and burying the vocals beneath the music adds to that feeling. but i have a feeling that there are even greater things to come from this band.

*red sparrows: every red sun...
in short, i listened a lot to this album in 2006. and live they are even better. and b/c it is kinda impossible to describe post-rock i'll just stop here.

*trentemoller: the last resort
people have referred to this as dance music but it doesn't strike me as a very accurate description. the beats are quite minimal and in some ways it is a very ambient album. but without being boring as there is always enough going on to keep you interested.

*mogwai - mr. beast
not everyone agrees but i thought mr. beast was a return to form. in fact, i think mogwai has rarely rocked this much. i even went back and listened to some of their old stuff to make sure i wasn't wrong. and, of course, i wasn't. mogwai certainly aren't breaking new ground any more, there are plenty of worthy post-rock challengers out there and the quite-loud-quite formula doesn't work quite as well as it used but music has always been about formulas anyway and we don't really complain if a song goes verse-chorus-verse, which sort of serves the same purpose (i.e. to break up the boring parts :-) ). i guess the bottom line is that there are some damn good songs here.

*the M's: future women
usually when i hear a band i can picture what they look like - and usually i'm not all that far off. with the M's i'm kinda clueless. or rather, i change my mind from song to song. right now i'm leaning towards the walkmen. a more melodic and happy walkmen.

*subtle: for hero for fool
indie hip-hop all grown up and it is neither particularily indie nor particularily hip-hop. doseone's rants are recognizable throughout the album but each song is a rollercoaster ride. within a single song you may be reminded of mike patton, the danielson family and mercury rev but you have probably never heard anything like this.

*cursive: happy hollow
pitchforkmedia described cursive as a sort of hold steady for high schoolers. which i takes a proof that i'm young in spirit. but i don't really like the album for the words - to be honest i can't really bother to listen to lyrics any more. most of the time i listen to music i'm working. what i like about about cursive is that tim sings like he means it even though he doesn't scream as much as he used to. however, the greater departure here is the use of brass that to me sort of takes the place of the screaming. so i guess this is sort of big band emo...

*cat power: the greatest
the greatest is a bit of misnomer is far from cat power's greatest album. the titlesong, however, is a different story and is possibly the best song i've heard all year. or the prettiest. the rest of the album is probably a bit too country for my taste but the half of the album that are slower makes for a splendid mini-album.

*charlotte gainsbourg: 5:55
just strangely pleasant. especially because charlotte and her collaborators seem to take their inspiration from sarge, which really is asking for it. so i don't know if it is a gutsy or a foolish move but it turns out to be quite enjoyable. and in the absence of any decent output from air in recent years this is a nice substitute (air being on of the aforementioned collaborators).

*the paper chase: now you are one of us
sort of like man man on a bad trip, which might sound something like nick cave before he became, well, a little boring. at any rate, the paper chase do their best to convince you something is wrong, which almost certainly it is. a healthy dose of paranoia.

*the blood brothers: young machetes
oh, how i wish there were more bands doing this. musicians are getting to damn polite and quiet. it's sad when having a tif with stephen colbert counts as rebellion. or was that a publicity stunt. actually that was entertaining so i shouldn't be taking a piss. at any rate, loud, spastic, and inventive counts for something in my book. on young machetes, the blood brothers get a little too close to the faint for comfort but, hell, it is still very enjoyable.

*mahogany: connectivity
the shoegazing revival subsided a bit this year. although there were some good efforts like asobi seksu. mahogany gets it right though and sound a lot better than a lot of their influences.

and this is where i have run out of steam. there are probably a dozen more albums that should be on the list but, damn it, the idea of putting together a list is a lot more fun than actually doing it. however, the absence of sufjan stevens, joanna newsom, junior boys and the knife is not an accident. just thought i'd make that clear...

benoit pioulard

don't be fooled by the name - this frenchie is actually a michiganite. of course, his name isn't benoit but it sounds much better than his actual name. a couple of more from his album precis: triggering back and ash into the sky

beach house

beach house kinda reminds me a little of galaxie 500 and, therefore, i like 'em.

trentemoller

there is plenty to hate about trentemoller - at first it sounds like flaccid house music and, frankly, i don't know how many times i skipped over his songs after listening to the first few beats. but laziness clearly pays b/c yesterday i was too lazy to get up of the couch so i was forced to listen to a whole song and, well, it was a bit like having a hamburger that tastes really good. the ingredients are kinda boring/normal but for some strange reason it actually tastes really good. and, yes, it is a hamburger with a generous helping of cheese. not everything on the album, the last resort, is equally good, but the standout tracks are really quite tasty. if i weren't so prejudiced against house music i might even say it was a great album.

thee more shallows

san franciscans thee more shallows have been growing on me. the album is pretty solid but in a sort of quite way that you might not notice if 2am wasn't there to catch our attention.

a few random tracks...

it's been a while and, well, i figured i should throw something up here to dispell any notions that this blog is dead. or that i am dead. still alive, just not kicking. so some random new-ish stuff.

golem - warsaw is khelm

midnight movies - patient eyes

repellent - low earth orbit

clap your hands say yeah! - love song no. 7
clap your hands say yeah! - underwater

the shins - phantom limb

the thermals - here's your future

okkervil river - the president's dead

menomena - wet and rusting

viva voce - when planets collide

what made milwaukee famous - i decide

black sunday - this heart is now aluminum

mystery jets - elizabeth