Welcome.
This is when I announce my favorite albums & singles of the year.
10. It’s Never Been Like That -
This French trio must have taken the common “French pop music sucks” insult personally, because they came out blazing with this 10 track, non-stop rock cookie. Cookie? Ok, so it’s more “rock-lite” than rock, but the tunes are definitely rock solid. The singer just had a baby with Sofia Coppola. It’s hard not to imagine her as the subject in many of these songs.
HIGHLIGHTS: “Rally”, “One Time Too Many”
9. The Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living – The Streets
Mike Skinner’s “boo hoo celebrity is hard" album. Sounds instantly like a turn off, but it’s not. Skinner has one of the most unique writing styles in pop history, so he’s privy to rewriting all of the clichés and making them sound fresh. To give the listener a breather, he saves his best stuff for a couple of personal songs (“All Goes Out The Window” & “Never Went to Church”).
HIGHLIGHTS: “All Goes Out The Window”, “Two Nations”
8. The Black Parade – My Chemical Romance
Not as tight as it needs to be (it’s a little too sprawling), but any doubters that thought MyChemRom were a flash that wouldn’t get past the 2 hit wonders of “Helena” & “I’m Not Okay (I Promise)” are wrong. Hey, if you’re not a fan, you’re not fan. I understand. But if you are, the progression of songwriting on this album means pudgy little Gerard is here for the long haul. Power ballads haven’t sounded this good in years.
HIGHLIGHTS: “I Don’t Love You”, “Disenchanted”, “Famous Last Words”
7. Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not – Arctic Monkeys
With MySpace and the blogworld being such a dominant force in our pop culture, the life of an “it band” can be even shorter than when the NME rollercoaster was the ultimate gauge. It’s interesting, how the bloggies kind of serve as a briar patch for new artists. If you can get through with only minor injuries, then you’re set to be a major player for years to come. The Arctic Monkeys survived the hype because of Alex Turner's spot on social observations and wit (he reminds me of Morrissey mixed with Mike Skinner) and because the band can actually play well! I really like their drummer.
HIGHLIGHTS: “Still Take You Home”, “Red Light Indicates Doors Are Secure”, “From the Ritz to the Rubble”
6. B’Day - Beyonce
Cheers to everyone who collaborated on this one. And cheers to Beyonce for avoiding two errors that commonly befall the hip-hop/r&b album: skits and song quantity. B’Day gets in and gets out so quickly, you don’t even mind the duds. Speaking of duds, The Neptunes sound lifeless on their 2 tracks (Is their run over?). But newbie Rich Harrison (he of Amerie’s “1 Thing” and Beyonce’s previous “Crazy In Love”) takes control and makes B’Day some of the most danceable 38 minutes of the year.
HIGHLIGHTS : “Upgrade U”, “Freakum Dress”, “Irreplaceable”
5. Rubies - Destroyer
The sometimes tedious theatrics of Destroyer’s Your Blues are gone, just leaving these great songs in all their glory. 10 tracks, and not a skipper (man, I LOVE albums that have 10 songs. It’s so symmetrical!). Supposedly there's been entire blog-a-thons and sleepovers dedicated to figuring out the subtext of Dan Bejar’s lyrics. I don’t get that. He’s not Nabokov! His lyrics are great because you can choose your own adventure (they remind me of the style of Beck and Stephen Malkmus). Bejar is also shaping into a pretty nice guitar player.
HIGHLIGHTS : “European Oils”, “3000 Flowers”, “Watercolors Into the Ocean”
4. Boys and Girls of
I don’t mean this as an insult to the players in THS, but Craig Finn could front a klezmer band and it would be brilliant. I thought this album had a shot at much wider commercial appeal, but it appears not. It’s a shame because Finn is so tuned into the kids. Now if only the kids would tune him in, their worlds would explode. He could be their savior. Maybe he’s too shlubby. Maybe he’s really for adults that still wanna be kids. But I know he gives lots of good people some good feelings, and that’s awesome.
HIGHLIGHTS: “Hot Soft Light”, “First Night”, “Citrus”, “Chillout Tent”
3. Fundamental – Pet Shop Boys
Quietly, The Pet Shop Boys unleashed a megaton of an album this year, but nobody (at least in the
HIGHLIGHTS: “I Made My Excuses and Left”, “Twentieth Century”, “Indefinite Leave to Remain”, “Integral”
2. Night Ripper – Girl Talk
This album has so much cross-over potential. I passed it to my cube mate and she was into it. It’s the ultimate DJ accomplishment. Back in
HIGHLIGHTS: The whole album.
1. Rather Ripped – Sonic Youth
I never thought this would happen. Never, ever, ever, never, ever, ever, ever! I really liked the atmosphere of Sister and Daydream Nation - I thought those were great albums. Sonic Youth were sound sculptors. But in 1990, with Goo, they tried to start writing “songs”. This failed attempt lasted until Washing Machine. Then from 1995 to 2002 they crawled up their butts, started hanging out with the boring Jim O’Rourke, and looked like they were lost forever in self-indulgent experimental rock land (one note: They did release a really good album in A Thousand Leaves during this period).
But then 2004’s Nurse came out. What was this?? Had they found a happy medium between their sound sculpting and their songwriting? Was it luck? Whatever it was, it was great. One of the greatest albums of the year, in fact. When I heard that Rather Ripped was “a return to their straightforward song albums” I was bummed.
It was a return to their straightforward song albums alright, but with the newly refined approach they achieved on Nurse. There were no extended jams on Rather Ripped. There were no extended noise fests. There were jams and noise fests, but they were controlled. They made sense, they had context, finally. The guitars are crisp, the grooves are locked, they’re listening to each other, Kim Gordon finally knows how to ride a melody…after 25 years, Sonic Youth are at their peak. Rather Ripped is their greatest album.
HIGHLIGHTS: “Reena”, “Incinerate”, “What a Waste”, “Jams Run Free”, “Lights Out”, “The Neutral”, “Pink Steam”
20 GREAT SINGLES FROM 2006
“S.O.S. (Rescue Me)” – Rhianna
“Check Up On It” – Beyonce
“Be Without You” – Mary J Blige
“Funny Little Frog” – Belle and Sebastian
“Temperature” – Sean Paul
"The Funeral" - Band of Horses
“What You Know” – T.I.
"You Only Live Once" - The Strokes
“Hips Don’t Lie” – Shakira
"Adventure" - Be Your Own Pet
"Steady as She Goes" - The Raconteurs
"My Love" - Justin Timberlake
"Back Like That" - Ghostface Killah
"Call Me When You're Sober" - Evanescence
"When You Were Young" - The Killers
"Morris Brown" - OutKast
"Take Me Back To Your House" - Basement Jaxx
"Leave The Pieces" - The Wreckers
"Show Me What You Got" - Jay-Z
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UPDATE:
Here is my friend Mandy's Top 10 (and stuff) list.
1 comments:
Although a good bit late I agree with Rather Ripped being number one. I've loved most of the Youth's discography regardless of some being mediocre. Murray Street to me is their best new cd though.
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