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January 1, 2007

Music I Bought and Enjoyed in 2006

In the interests of brevity, I'm keeping this to five (5) and only five (5) albums

Really meant to fire this off last week, but I was on an extended East Coast jaunt and wasn't really spending much time at the puter. At least I wasn't typing too much. My carpal tunnel syndrome was thrilled. Still, I wanted to do some sort of year-end music review, as it tends to be my second-favorite topic for extended orations this time of year (and if you don't know what number one is, you really don't spend a lot of time around me). Also, I did one of these last year and a couple people actually made a point of telling me they liked it. When you only have seven readers, you need to keep at least two of them happy at all times!

So I put together a little top-five albums list. My ground rules/ criteria for selection:

Was it released this year? Windows Media has to believe that it was released in CY2006. Check.

Is it different? The albums that resonate for me are the ones that surprise me and lead me to discover new bands, new sounds, new genres. So this list is skewed in that direction over records from bands I know I'm going to like ahead of time.

Is it durable? This is really a test of how much time it spends on my iPod and in heavy rotation on my PC and in the XBox. If I'm listening to something seven months after I bought it, chances are that I really liked it.

It can't be too obvious. Sort of a corollary of #2, this just means I'll assume that you know about/ already own Gnarls Barkley, Wolfmother, and the new Pearl Jam album. They're all great, I liked them a ton, but you've probably seen enough commercials featuring them at this point -- you don't need my random blog to point you their way.

Right. So those are my rules. Here's what I've got:

(1) Catfish Haven, "Tell Me": right, so I'll show my dork credentials upfront and admit that these guys were on the cover of CMJ a couple months back. I'll also admit that Catfish Haven (the band is named after a trailer park where someone in the band used to live -- I looked it up) are a little out of genre for me: I don't have the proper vocabulary and comps to adequately describe them. If pressed, I'll say that they play sincere rock music? I dunno. I think it might be "rootsy" and even "garage-y", but, again, I don't really know who they sound like or the right way to describe it. All I know if that I keep listening to it, and it makes me want to sing along, in a shouting and belting-it-out kind of way. Also, they played in C@L at Chop Suey this past weekend and I missed it. BOOOOO. Assuming that you enjoy rock music from America, I can't imagine not liking this record.

(2) The Ark, "State of the Ark": I know I've mentioned these guys already, but the Ark are to 2006 what Fountains of Wayne were to 1999 for me. That is, they're extremely clever songwriters who have the whole catchy thing completely nailed and who make me want to shout along to their music. Sure, after seeing them in person it finally clicked that they just might be Abba in sheep's clothing (they have a lot of, um, flair and, um, theatrics), but hey, it's a pretty fun party. Mostly I'm cheesed off that it's tough to find their first couple records in the U.S. (note: would make an excellent gift!).

(3) Lady Sovereign, "Public Warning": I tried to buy this album a bunch of times this year. And by that I mean that I tried to buy a poppy hip-hop record that would actually be catchy and sneakily high-end all at once. Something with some bounce that would have some staying power and for which I wouldn't have to apologize. I struck out with the Pharrell record (which was really dull -- sounds like 2002), Aceyalone (tough to argue with RJD2, but it's a little uneven -- essentially, I think I would have done just as well with the instrumental version that they released as a followup), The Streets (it was fine, but it wasn't memorable), and Lupe Fiasco (just sounded too much like Kanye West without actually being Kanye West). The S-O-V completely hit the spot. She has the wink-wink chip on her shoulder of 2001ish Eminem and the production is high-end without being overdone. Also, she does a nice job of introducing her own vocabulary words and catchphrases ("gathering, "midget mansion," the S-O-V). AND she writes songs about how much she likes wearing hooded sweatshirts. Sigh. She opened for the Streets in C@L a couple months ago, and I regret being late for her set (just caught the last couple songs). Shame on me. And no, I didn't expect that one of my favorite hip-hop records of the year would be from a 19-year-old British woman.

(4) Belle and Sebastien, "The Life Pursuit": file under "guilty pleasures." Or, file under "I'm confident enough in my masculinity and music street cred to admit that I think this record is phenomenal and I listen to it more often than I realize." I guess I was vaguely familiar with Belle and Sebastien before I started listening to this record, but I really didn't know what they were supposed to sound like or why I might like them. Now I realize that I like them because they're another band that's mastered the whole poppy-but-literate thing, and are pretty effective with their music as well. This album lingered in my iPod for a few months before I realized how attached I'd become to it, and that I knew most of the words ("Another day in June, we'll pick eleven for football/ We're playing for our lives, the referee gives us fuck-all"). And yes, I'm well aware that this renders me a "complete wuss." So be it.

(5) Dabrye, "Two/ Three": a week after I bought this record, I wouldn't have guessed that I would at some point deign to write about it. It was pretty nerdy hip-hop that was heavy on the beats and light on the continuity and accessibility. I was pretty unfamiliar with most of the featured MCs, and didn't really get what the hell was going on with all the instrumental tracks. It was fine, but I wasn't immediately wild about it. Two months later, I find myself randomly humming the instrumental tracks and looking up the featured MCs so I can buy their records. I guess that counts. This makes the top five solely because it's going to push me into new genres of music (and you just can't put a price on that).

Also on the list, just not at the top:

Phoenix, "It's Never Been Like That": this is me shaking my head and sheepishly admitting that I like European power-pop bands more than I probably should.

The Secret Machines, "Ten Silver Drops": yup, I've gone on and on about these guys in the past. Did you know: they played behind Bill Gates at the Zune launch event here in C@L? Secret Machines? Zune? GET IT? DO YOU GET IT? SECRET MACHINES? YES? YES?

Smoosh, "Free To Stay": umm, it's like a couple fourteen-year-old girls from C@L. And it's shockingly good. Drums and keys and little-kid voices. And delightfully non-sexualized! They're actually talented!

Spankrock, "YoYoYoYoYoYo": cheesed off I missed this guys a couple weeks ago. BOOOOOO. Also, they have some song about Lindsay Lohan flashing her innards getting out of cars (it's on their Myspace page). Perhaps!

Soul Position, "Things Go Better With RJ & Al": I've covered this before as well. Just wanted to keep it on the list.

The Raconteurs, "Broken Boy Soldiers": for an album that feels like it's half an hour long and doesn't really have many remarkable songs, I really found myself listening to this one a ton this past year. I guess Jack White is who we thought he was?

The Decemberists, "The Crane Wife": there's no way I can do this sort of a list without a proto-Pacific Northwest fave. These guys edged Band of Horses out of this spot, even if they are a little soft and whingy.

And, of course, MERRY NEW YEAR! Looking forward to a big 2007 -- which apparently will include Eagles playoff football!

Posted by thatkid at January 1, 2007 5:41 PM under Stuff To Buy

January 1, 2007

Music I Bought and Enjoyed in 2006

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