Top Five Albums of the Year
When I try to list my favorite albums at the end of each year I usually look at my ITunes, hit arrange by year, and start scrolling down. Some albums jump right out at me and others hit me with an "Oh yeah, I remember that. Was that this year?" response. Then I need to decide on my criteria for the list. Should they be the best critical received albums or the ones I listened to the most? For example, in 1991 I would have listed AC/DC's The Razor's Edge as one of the best albums. That might inspire a chuckle since AC/DC essentially remade all of their own songs after Back in Black was released. But damn if the intro to Thunderstruck doesn't just make me want to scream "Snyder!" (long story). Anyway, the point is that everyone has their own taste in music, guilty pleasures or not.
My list this year is made up of the albums I listened to the most on my IPOD and in my car. The list includes a combination of old and new bands with one common theme: the albums want to make me rock out, dance, or sing. In other words these albums really make me want to move.
My Top 5
1. Sonic Youth:Rather Ripped
Sonic Youth has finally aged a bit. Those looking for massive feedback and endless jamming might be a bit disappointed. Those looking for a groove heavy pop album with hooks will be pleasantly surprised that it is Sonic Youth delivering your request. I listened to this album non-stop for about three months and as I listen to it now it's hard for me to believe these fresh sounding riffs and short jams were created by some forty-something year-old musicians.
Stand out tracks: Incinerate, Sleeping Around, and Pink Steam
2. The Raconteurs: Broken Boy Soldiers
My hetero-man-worship of Jack White is not a secret. I am jealous of everything he plays the same way I used to marvel at Jimmy Page.
This isn't the White Stripes of course and that is just fine. Jack White playing with a bass player and another competent guitar player/singer in Brenden Benson just raises the rock bar another level. It's a fuller and poppier sound compared to the Stripes and this album does not sound like it's just a side project at all. The harmonies are priceless as are the dueling lead guitars. If anything, I hope Jack continues to bounce between the two bands in the future because the Raconteurs are that good.
Standout tracks: Hands, Intimate Secretary, and Level.
3. Beck: The Information
I'll keep this brief. If you like Beck you'll love this album. It sounds like Guerro, Sea Change, Mellow Gold, and Odelay all in one. The Information demands headphones due to all the layers of sound effects in each song.
Standout Tracks:Elevator, I Think I'm in Love, and Nausea.
4. Artic Monkeys: Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
Like The Clash, the Artic Monkeys mix classic rock, punk, pop, and reggae all together and still create their own sound. I honestly think the most apt comparison is Sublime minus the rap influnce. Most songs are two-three minutes long and switch tempos and genres multiple times. It's hard to believe these guys are only in their early 20's.
Standout tracks: I Bet You Look Good on the Dance Floor, A Certain Romance, and Fake Tales of San Fransisco.
5. Built To Spill: You In Reverse
'Goin' Against Your Mind' doesn't even have any vocals until the 2:04 mark and it still demolishes everything on the last Built To Spill record and pretty much trashes any other rock song released this year. This song has melody, a hook, and some amazing fuzzed out jamming courtesy of Doug and company. It is essentially two chords and yet they can still make it sound exciting for 8:41. Fantastic.
The rest of the album cruises along nicely with pop songs like 'Saturday', riff powered songs like 'Conventional Wisdom', and the reggae vibe of 'The Wait'. Most jam bands turn me off because their songs turn into masturbatory guitar excercises in excess or the excess of too many instruments receiving equal billing ("Ok boys, let's give the violin guy his turn. Now the Obo. Great. Keyboards? Sweet."). Built To Spill gets in and out at perfect times on You In Reverse and it's their first album that really showcases what a great live band they can be on most nights.
Standout tracks: See Above
Alright, there were so many good records I get to list the five records I loved that didn't make the top five.
6. Pearl Jam: Pearl Jam
Their best since Yield, maybe since ten.
7. Wolfmother: Wolfmother
Combine Zep and Sabbath with large hair.
8. Neko Case:Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
I am in love with her and her voice.
9. Yeah Yeah Yeahs: Show Your Bones
Punk, pop, and Avant Garde Rock.
10. The Rapture:Pieces of the People We Love
Their rock disco starts where Franz Ferdinand stops. Catchy and moveable.
There were many good bands and singers that made wonderful albums that did not make my list including Cat Power, Flaming Lips, Band of Horses, Black Angels, Dirty Pretty Things, Gnarls Barkley, and the Decemberists. Thank for the tunes.
What are your favorite albums? Please list your Top Five in the comment section. Please include any sub-categories you feel necessary.
18 comments:
I hope you don't mind if I post my top 10 25...
1. Pearl Jam – Pearl Jam
This is the band that originally got me into music, so it’s fitting they take the #1 spot in my best of 2006 list. While reviewing PJ’s eponymous LP, many critics wrote, “Pearl Jam are back!” The interesting part is, they never really left. With this album they did, however, bring back some of the hard hitting, angst ridden music that made them larger than life icons in the early 90’s. Songs like Life Wasted, Severed Hand and Comatose remind me why I fell in love with the band in the first place. At the same time Marker in the Sand and Unemployable prove that Pearl Jam remains fresh. But when all is said and done and the record reaches it’s final minutes, Inside Job left me wondering why Mike McCready hasn’t been writing more lyrics over the past 15 years.
2. Band of Horses – Everything All The Time
For the past few years there have been buzz bands that seemed to rise above all the other buzz bands. In 2004 marked the arrival of Arcade Fire and 2005 saw Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! rule the music blogs. In 2006 that nod has to go to Band of Horses and their stellar debut, Everything All The Time. Often mentioned in the same sentence as My Morning Jacket and The Shins, BoH carved a loyal following and distinct niche in music this year. Seemingly to come out of nowhere BoH hit a home run with their album. Here’s hoping for only more and better to come!
3. The Black Angels – Passover
It’s no surprise The Black Angels took their name from the Velvet Underground hit “The Black Angels Death Song”. Much of their sound is owed to Lou Reed and company. That’s not to say this album is derivative. In fact, it’s quite a refreshing and unique take on psychedelic rock. With reverb heavy vocals, front man Alex Maas often recalls the the classic voices of Grace Slick and Marty Balin of Jefferson Airplane. Whether this album was released in 1966 or 2006, it’s sure to be a gauge for future bands of similar sound.
4. Mogwai – Mr. Beast
An early favorite as my album of the year, Mogwai’s Mr. Beast is the bands most accessible and complete album to date. Gone are the 10 minute marathons and in are songs that have structure, stability and urgency. Post-rock is a sub genre where experimentation and meandering are expected. Mogwai doesn’t lose that focus or aesthetic, but they’re getting closer and closer to perfecting it.
5. Silversun Pickups – Carnavas
For me this was the surprise album of the year. Especially since I wasn’t too fond of Silversun Pickups’ debut EP, Pikul. But with Carnvas the Pickups stuck with what they do best; Rock and Roll. The guitars are heavy and the vocals are fierce. It all ads up to one of the best albums of the year!
6. Sonic Youth – Rather Ripped
Like Mogwai, Sonic Youth has the uncanny ability to confuse listeners with distortion, experimentation and meandering (not that those are necessarily bad). With Rather Ripped, Thurston and Kim wrote the album many casual listeners have been craving for years. It’s an album packed with powerful indie pop songs that are catchy and easy to sing along to. And they do all of this without, for one second losing any of their well-earned musical integrity.
7. The Decemberists – The Crane Wife
This was one of my most anticipated albums of the year, especially with how much I loved Picaresque, The Decemberists’ 2005 masterpiece. The Crane Wife definitely did NOT disappoint! It’s packed with stories and narratives that only Colin Meloy could muster. Two Songs on the album are in excess of 11 minutes long and both captivate me the entire way through. The music is fresh and tight and the vocals are intriguing and emotional. The song The Perfect Crime #2 is the biggest surprise as it could have been pulled off the Talking Heads classic album, Fear of Music.
8. Built to Spill – You In Reverse
Built to Spill have had a soft spot in my heart since I covered a few DJ shifts at KUGS FM in Bellingham. The strange guitar work and odd, yet beautiful voice of Doug Martsch just resonated with me as it does still today. You In Reverse starts with Goin’ Against Your Mind, a long track at 8:30, and proves that you don’t need a catchy 2:30 minute song to start an album. Each track has the BtS sound, but you can also sense they wanted to try new things. This is one of their finest!
9. Belle and Sebastian – The Life Pursuit
Twee Pop. What is it? I really can’t describe it, but you know it when you hear it. It’s fun…whimsical…and often very simplistic and playful. Belle and Sebastian took their twee-pop roots and make a rock n roll record complete with electric guitars and punk riffs. I didn’t think it could be done, but B&S made one of the best twee-rock records ever…in fact, it might be the only one!
10. Islands – Return to the Sea
In the wake of (I hate that phrase) of indie-pop band the Unicorns, Nick Diamonds and J’aime Tambeur started Islands, another innovative indie-art-pop band. I have a hard time describing the sounds, but it’s definitely contagious. Meshing the pop sensibilities of Elephant Six groups, The Apples in Stereo and The Olivia Tremor Control, with the artistic side of Arcade Fire, Islands brand of indie rock is both strangely familiar yet refreshingly unique. This might be one album you overlooked this year…if that’s the case, I strongly recommend picking up Return to the Sea.
and to round out my top 25...
11. Cold War Kids – Robbers and Cowards
12. The Raconteurs – Broken Boy Soldiers
13. Flaming Lips – At War With The Mystics
14. The Purrs – The Purrs
15. The Album Leaf – Into the Blue Again
16. Tapes n Tapes – The Loon
17. Wolfmother – Wolfmother
18. TV on the Radio – Return to Cookie Mountain
19. Destroyer – Destroyer's Rubies
20. Fugiya & Miyagi - Transparent Things
21. Beirut – Gulag Orkestar
22. Starlight Mints – Drowaton
23. Oh No! Oh My! – Oh No! Oh My!
24. Irving – Death in the Garden, Blood on the Flowers
25. Grizzly Bear – Yellow House
Lena from the Bahamas:
Justin Timberlake, FutureSex LoveSounds
Damien Rice, 9
Grey's Anatomy Soundtrack Vol 2
Anna Nalick, Wreck of Day
Imogen Heap, Speak for Yourself
Raconteurs - Broken boy soldiers.
Chili Peppers - Stadium arcadium.
Zero 7 - The garden.
Beck Beck Beck!!!
KT Tunstall - Eye to the telescope.
It's me, Cari, here goes:
The Raconteurs, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Muse, Wolfmother, Gnarls Barkley, hmmm...let's throw in Justin Timberlake and Beyonce for some good old fashioned pop.
Dan Peterson
1. girl talk "night ripper"
retarded name for a band...or a DJ in this case...but an absofukinlutely awesome album. pittsburgh DJ who mashed up about 100 songs - from every genre: TV themes, hip hop, rock, whatever and made an unbelievably listenable party album. i realize that it sounds super gimmicky, but somehow the whole thing works. it reaches it's apex with biggie rapping over the top of elton john's "tiny dancer." of course, the whole record is illegal - he doesn't have the rights to use any of the records he uses, so i have no idea how he can put this out in stores - but he has. go buy a copy before somebody sues him.
2. beirut "gulag orkestar"
finally somebody has made indie gypsy music. the leader of this troupe is some 19-year-old guy from new mexico (now lives in new york). how the fuk he started making music like this, i do not know. but it's great stuff. lots of trumpet, accordion, ukelele, violin etc. very unique instrumentation - and really unique results. i saw them at the crocodile a few months ago and was blown away. i can't bestow the next "neutral milk" tag on them yet - but there's something going on here that's worth checking out. look around and i think you should be able to find this album packaged with their new EP.
3. band of horses "everything all the time" unbelievably solid debut.
4. tap tap "lanzafame" - clap yer hands meets arcade fire, 'cept british.
5. swan lake "beast moans" - destroyer/wolf parade/frog eyes collaboration.
6. ratatat "classics" - second album - same sorta stuff as the first. still good.
7. destroyer "destroyer's rubies" - his sound is an acquired taste. took me a long time. but now i'm sorta obsessed by this band. i don't think this is his best album though - even though it's gotten the most press.
8. sunset rubdown "shut up i am dreaming" - one of the guys from wolf parade
9. the decemberists "the crane wife" - i used to hate these guys. but on this album they seemed to have shed some of the pretentious-theatre-kids bullshxt in favor of 70's sounding production. good album.
10. bonnie prince billy "little lost blues" - this was a bonus disc with his new album, and i actually like it better than the regular release.
11. tv on the radio "return to cookie mountain" - dense album. it's really good, and i still don't think i have fully gotten my head around it
Marshal
Hey Trent- here are my top 5 albums. none are new this year but they are the ones I listened to most often. (#1 being highest)
1. J.B's: Funky Good Time: anthology
2. Trey Anastasio: Plasma
3. REM: Reckoning
4. Frank Zappa: Halloween NY 1978
5. Jeff Beck: Blow by Blow
I visit blogs at work (fucking feds..) so thats why I'm emailing them to yo
Jon Skoog
1. Pearl Jam – Pearl Jam
They made their best album in a long time. There are probably 6 songs (Down, Inside Job, Marker in the Sand, Life Wasted, Comatose, Worldwide Suicide) on this album that will go down in my top 20 PJ songs of all time. Unbelievable album, blows me away every time I listen to it.
2. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Show Your Bones
Every song is great. Their ability to rock out on every song combined with Karen O’s incredible voice are unstoppable.
3. Raconteurs – Broken Boy Soldier
This disc can’t play its way out of the rotation.
4. Built to Spill – You in Reverse Continue to evolve and put out incredible music, a pretty good combo.
5. The Strokes – First Impressions of Earth
So rockin’. “I’ve got nothing to say, I’ve got nothin’ to say”.
Couldn't do just 5, so...
Honorable Mention –
Bruce Springsteen – The Seeger Sessions
Band of Horses – Everything All the Time
Ben Harper - Both Sides of the Gun Snow Patrol - Eyes Open
The Rapture - Pieces of the People We Love
Jet - Shine On
The Secret Machines - Ten Silver Drops
TV on the Radio???
I have it via download and I have tried to get into it. I have seen them perform a few times live and they are very dynamic, but I still can't get into it.
What am I missing? What does everyone else hear that I do not?
Josh Nordland
1.) Burden Brothers - Mercy
Former Toadies frontman Todd Lewis and Rev Horton Heat drummer Taz Bentley hit #1 for me of 06 with their sophmore album Mercy. Todd Lewis could probably play in a band with my mom and still sound entertaining. Why won't Burden Brothers tour the Northwest?
2.) The Killers - Sam's Town
The only "popular" cd I bought this year. What can I say? It can't compare to Hot Fuss, but if you haven't heard the CD and you enjoy a band infuenced by Duran Duran, The Pixies, and Depeche Mode you are missing out on some great music. Read My Mind is an incredible track.
3.) Supersuckers - Paid
If you have ever seen the Supersuckers live there is no need to explain or describe this incredible band from Seattle. Paid isn't as good as some prior albums (Motherfuckers Be Trippin, Must of Been High, Sacrilicious) but it's still the sucks doing what they do best.
4.) Muse - Black Holes and Revelations
If you like The Killers, you will probably enjoy Muse. Starlight reminds me of listening to the Cure back in Highschool. Knights of Cydonia takes me back to middle school playing AD&D as a kid every single time I hear it. Good stuff.
5.)Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Show Your Bones
I remember first hearing them on Sirius this summer with Gold Lion. I bought the CD that weekend. Great CD.
1. Pearl Jam, Pearl Jam
2. Band of Horses, Band of Horses
3. The Ractonears, Broken Boy Soldiers
4. Bruce Springsteen, The Seegar Sessions
5. A hats off to the many other albums that came out this year, amazing all the good music coming out!
My Top 5, in alphabetical order:
Lily Allen - Alright, Still
British pop phenom is poised to own 2007.
Llama - Llama
Extremely satisfying local powerpop from the former Flop + Pure Joy frontman, Rusty Willoughby.
Racetrack - Go Ahead and Say It EP
Bellingham 3-piece powerpop band called it quits in October, simultaneously releasing this EP, which happens to be heartbreakingly fucking awesome.
Sparklehorse - Dreamt for Light Years in the Belly of a Mountain
New Sparklehorse album sounds remarkably like old Sparklehorse albums, but fortunately for Mark Linkous old Sparklehorse is really good.
Two Ton Boa - Paraciticide
Sherry Fraser is an intimidating artist (from Olympia), and her dark, heavy rock songs make the same bold impression. I have a crush.
My (Almost) Top 5, in alphabetical order:
The Lights - Diamonds and Dirt
Seattle band's 2nd album is consistently attention-grabbing post-rock that gets a lot of spins in my windows media player at the office.
The Raconteurs - Broken Boy Soldiers
In my opinion, this project never really got heard on its own terms because everyone was freaking out about Jack White being in a "supergroup." It's good farking music.
The Roots - Game Theory
Did you see these guys on the Tonight Show? They destroyed. It gave me chills.
Say Hi To Your Mom - Impeccable Blahs
Clever pop album about vampires. No shit. These guys just moved to Seattle.
Shorthand for Epic - Shorthand for Epic EP
My new favorite band. Is it a coincidence that they are also a power pop band? Unlikely. Their drummer is killer. Also from Seattle.
Happy New Year!
Top 5 Albums of '06:
1. Dr. Dog - Easy Beat
2. The Black Angels - Passover
3. Andrew Bird - Andrew Bird & the Mysterious Production of Eggs
4. Cold War Kids - Robbers and Cowards
5. Band of Horses - The Funeral
Marty B
...as in stu dog.
Wow, lot's of great leads to check out. Here's mine:
1. M. Ward - Post War
2. Calexico - Garden Ruin
3. Neko Case - Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
4. Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins - Rabbit Fur Coat
5. Cat Power - The Greatest
Big year for the females as you can see. Honorable mentions: Band of Horses, The Decemberists, The Raconteurs, Hot Chip, and Beck.
Hey Chris (Stu)!
The M. Ward record is really cool. I've been diggin on that for a few months now.
Pearl jam
Pearl jam
wolfmother
Wolfmother
Fuck off
Fuck off
The Shins
Wincing the Night Away (technically a 2007)
80's hits stripped
Band of Horses
Everything all The Time
I Love Goin Against Your Mind, but didn't hear the whole album. Just a fun footnote foor ya.
Oh yeah, the above is from Hot Shot.
Lance
Band of Horses
Roots
Wolfmother
Built To Spill
Children of Bodem
1. the hit song by Death Cab for Cutie
2. I know it's lame, but I like James Blunt
3. Again lame, but I like the Curious George soundtrack by Jack Johnson
4. Bruce Springsteen We Shall Overcome
5. Joe Purdy I think the album is self titled.
I'm honestly not much into music these days, except for The Wiggles, Barney, and The Laurie Berkner Band. How times have hcanged.
Laurie
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