December 26, 2006
2006 Albums
Some good stuff from the past year:
Sam Roberts Chemical City - Probably the best thing I bought all year, certainly the disc I listened to most. Melodic, mid-60’s to mid-70’s influenced rock - basically a really well written bunch of songs with some self-assured melodies that are getting rarer and rarer these days. You can stream 4 tracks from the album on his site if you’re interested.
Headlights Kill Them With Kindness - Full-length debut after their excellent Enemies EP last year. An Illinois band that alternates between male and female vocals, loud and soft melodies.
Nouvelle Vague Bande a Part - French band covering songs we all know and love (e.g., New Order’s “Blue Monday”), in a lounge/jazz/swing style. Gimmicky, sure, but real easy on the ears.
Thom Yorke The Eraser - Continues the electronica side of Radiohead by himself. Some great music made with the most basic sounds and beats.
Belle and Sebastian The Life Pursuit - Their best effort yet, in my mind. While the Smiths influence is still intact, the songs expand into louder (for them anyway), more psychedelic territory.
Asobi Seksu Citrus - There’s derivative, and then there’s a band that essentially picks up where Lush and the Cocteau Twins left off. I am not the person to criticize these chicks for carrying this eternal flame. Just happy they pull it off.
Guillemots Through The Windowpane - Veers into a lot of musical territory, not the least of which is the English Beat/Jam-influenced standout single “Trains to Brazil.”
Phoenix It’s Never Been Like That - A Kinks-like vibe runs through this French band, making them almost irresistible. Listen to “Consolation Prizes” and you’ll see.
The Coup Pick a Bigger Weapon - Fun hip-hop mixed with politics looks bad in print, but sounds much better musically. They’re even better live. Favorite song title: “Baby, let’s have a baby before Bush do something crazy.”
Gnarls Barkley St. Elsewhere - Speaking of “Crazy,” I was pleased to see an emphasis on old soul vocal stylings make a comeback here, in a popular way.
Camera Obscura Let’s Get Out of This Country - A wonderful record by some girls with soft sensibilities and clever lyrics. No way?
Truthfully, I gravitated more towards downloading/purchasing singles this year than albums. Such a great thing, the single. The smallest amount of commitment and immediate gratification out of something you really like. These are some excellent songs of a wide variety:
French Kicks “Knee High”
Built to Spill “Goin’Against Your Mind”
Hot Chip “Boy From School”
Junior Boys “In The Morning”
Goldfrapp “Number 1”
Foreign Born “It Grew on You”
VHS or Beta “You Got Me (Baby Daddy Remix)”
Lily Allen “LDN”
Comets on Fire “Jaybird”
White Whale “Nine Good Fingers”
Midlake “Young Bride”
Clearlake “Far Away”
Have a happy rest of your holiday.
Posted by k-pho at December 26, 2006 12:27 PMTrackBack URL for this entry: