Friday, December 22, 2006
2006
I forgot to do this last year. Won't make the same mistake again.
Roughly:
Top Ten Albums......
1. The Flip Scoldjah - Nazgul Please!
Whew. Mind blown. Flip blew his awesome first record out of the water. What the hell is this? Prog-pop-rap? The recording quality and songwriting went through the stratosphere. The main instrument is... scratching!? Every time I listen to this I think the run of tracks 1-5 is utter perfection. But then I realize there's nothing wrong with track 6, or ANY of the other tracks. Awesome shit.
2. The Bats - At the National Grid (2005)
This might be in consideration for album of the year, but I can't let a 2005 record take that slot. I know this is supposed to be 2006, but I love this record too much and jammed it too hard this year not to include it. I first got into the Bats in when I was 14. I had a few of their late 80's albums and loved them, but then I kind of lost track. They never broke up, but this does feel like a reunion of sorts. After being together for over twenty years, they break out their best album yet. Holy shit. It completely captures the New Zealand ultra-catchy, maybe a little sloppy, totally endearing vibe that I'm a sucker for. They also brought some serious guitar jamming to the table this time around. I hope their next record's even better.
3. Elf Power - Back to the Web
Their best album, hands down. Elf Power goes lush and somehow more dark at the same time. The instrumentation and textures on this carry the record. Lots of psych droning and bits of Automatic For the People-organics. With this cohesive beast, it's no wonder Rykodisc picked them up.
4. Love Is All - Nine Times That Same Song
Pretty rad album title. Fast, rowdy, jubilant tunes. Groove to it.
5. Mahogany - Connectivity!
I'm really surprised this isn't getting the pitchfork jack-off treatment. Hmm. This is really hard to describe, but imagine a ultra fleshed-out Young Marble Giants who love to fiddle with heaps of old electronics and shoegazey guitars and cellos and melodicas and minimal drums on top of the drum machine. Or maybe a more experimental-sounding Stereolab crossed with Crispy Ambulance. I've followed this band for a long time and with this album they've finally honed all of their ARP-synth experimentation into pop music.
6. Peter Bjorn and John - Writer's Block
Three Swedes writing a batch of cool tunes and arranging the hell out of them to get maximum bang for their buck. Let's start a song with shaker/bass/drums and whistling. Alright, let's have some singing. Alright, let's have some female guest singing, but fade in some organ while that's happening. Chorus? Okay, add in some dramatic guitar chords and bongos. Hit song (see top ten songs list).
7. Konono No.1 - Congotronics (2005)
Dudes in Africa make their own electrified thumb pianos and send 'em through handmade amps. Percussion out of car parts. Singing into handmade microphones. Some of the hardest jamming ever. Listen to it.
8. Excalibrah - Excalibrah & the Poon-Tang Clan volume 1.9
Funniest thing I've heard all year. Most quoted thing amongst friends (only quoted thing?). Best party record since Tittania.
9. Human Television - Look At Who You're Talking To
A little dissapointing after their excellent debut ep, but this has some gems on it. Fast, light, 80's-era indie pop a la C86/Wedding Present/early REM.
10. Futureheads - News & Tributes
I don't know why I have this so low, because as a whole I like this better than their first album. On their first album every song sounded the same- fast and catchy as fuck with harmonies exploding off every inch of song. For this one they expanded their palette, slowed it down sometimes, and basically matured. I'm interested to see what they do next.
Honorable mentions:
Islands - Return to the Sea
Liars - Drum's Not Dead
Old Band I Really Got Into in 2006:
Steely Dan, duh
Top Ten Tunes of the Year:
1. Islands - Rough Gem
2. Futureheads - Skip To The End
3. Elf Power - Peel Back The Moon, Beware
4. Excalibrah - Things Brah Created To Keep The Earf Awesome
5. The Bats - Bells
6. Excalibrah - Have You Ever Been This Gangsta?
7. Peter Bjorn And John - Young Folks
8. The Flip Scoldjah - Welcome To My Opus
9. Human Television - In Front Of The House
10. Love Is All - Busy Doing Nothing
Top Concert
1. McDan - Shoreline Amphitheater, Mountain View, CA
1a. The Bats - The Rickshaw Stop, SF
That's it. Let's see some more.
I forgot to do this last year. Won't make the same mistake again.
Roughly:
Top Ten Albums......
1. The Flip Scoldjah - Nazgul Please!
Whew. Mind blown. Flip blew his awesome first record out of the water. What the hell is this? Prog-pop-rap? The recording quality and songwriting went through the stratosphere. The main instrument is... scratching!? Every time I listen to this I think the run of tracks 1-5 is utter perfection. But then I realize there's nothing wrong with track 6, or ANY of the other tracks. Awesome shit.
2. The Bats - At the National Grid (2005)
This might be in consideration for album of the year, but I can't let a 2005 record take that slot. I know this is supposed to be 2006, but I love this record too much and jammed it too hard this year not to include it. I first got into the Bats in when I was 14. I had a few of their late 80's albums and loved them, but then I kind of lost track. They never broke up, but this does feel like a reunion of sorts. After being together for over twenty years, they break out their best album yet. Holy shit. It completely captures the New Zealand ultra-catchy, maybe a little sloppy, totally endearing vibe that I'm a sucker for. They also brought some serious guitar jamming to the table this time around. I hope their next record's even better.
3. Elf Power - Back to the Web
Their best album, hands down. Elf Power goes lush and somehow more dark at the same time. The instrumentation and textures on this carry the record. Lots of psych droning and bits of Automatic For the People-organics. With this cohesive beast, it's no wonder Rykodisc picked them up.
4. Love Is All - Nine Times That Same Song
Pretty rad album title. Fast, rowdy, jubilant tunes. Groove to it.
5. Mahogany - Connectivity!
I'm really surprised this isn't getting the pitchfork jack-off treatment. Hmm. This is really hard to describe, but imagine a ultra fleshed-out Young Marble Giants who love to fiddle with heaps of old electronics and shoegazey guitars and cellos and melodicas and minimal drums on top of the drum machine. Or maybe a more experimental-sounding Stereolab crossed with Crispy Ambulance. I've followed this band for a long time and with this album they've finally honed all of their ARP-synth experimentation into pop music.
6. Peter Bjorn and John - Writer's Block
Three Swedes writing a batch of cool tunes and arranging the hell out of them to get maximum bang for their buck. Let's start a song with shaker/bass/drums and whistling. Alright, let's have some singing. Alright, let's have some female guest singing, but fade in some organ while that's happening. Chorus? Okay, add in some dramatic guitar chords and bongos. Hit song (see top ten songs list).
7. Konono No.1 - Congotronics (2005)
Dudes in Africa make their own electrified thumb pianos and send 'em through handmade amps. Percussion out of car parts. Singing into handmade microphones. Some of the hardest jamming ever. Listen to it.
8. Excalibrah - Excalibrah & the Poon-Tang Clan volume 1.9
Funniest thing I've heard all year. Most quoted thing amongst friends (only quoted thing?). Best party record since Tittania.
9. Human Television - Look At Who You're Talking To
A little dissapointing after their excellent debut ep, but this has some gems on it. Fast, light, 80's-era indie pop a la C86/Wedding Present/early REM.
10. Futureheads - News & Tributes
I don't know why I have this so low, because as a whole I like this better than their first album. On their first album every song sounded the same- fast and catchy as fuck with harmonies exploding off every inch of song. For this one they expanded their palette, slowed it down sometimes, and basically matured. I'm interested to see what they do next.
Honorable mentions:
Islands - Return to the Sea
Liars - Drum's Not Dead
Old Band I Really Got Into in 2006:
Steely Dan, duh
Top Ten Tunes of the Year:
1. Islands - Rough Gem
2. Futureheads - Skip To The End
3. Elf Power - Peel Back The Moon, Beware
4. Excalibrah - Things Brah Created To Keep The Earf Awesome
5. The Bats - Bells
6. Excalibrah - Have You Ever Been This Gangsta?
7. Peter Bjorn And John - Young Folks
8. The Flip Scoldjah - Welcome To My Opus
9. Human Television - In Front Of The House
10. Love Is All - Busy Doing Nothing
Top Concert
1. McDan - Shoreline Amphitheater, Mountain View, CA
1a. The Bats - The Rickshaw Stop, SF
That's it. Let's see some more.
