Tis the Season...
Every year about this time the various tastemakers of our fair land release their annual "Best of" lists. I am a "Best of" list junkie. I love to see how my taste matches up with those of the various tastemakers. I love the building suspense as I move my way toward #1. I have a feeling I am not alone in this mania.
The proposition: let's compose "the virtual porch top ten albums of 2006." In the comments for this post, each participant will nominate ten albums he or she feels should make the list. Deadline for voting is Wednesday, December 13. Then I will tally up the votes and post our official list.
Happy Chawanzmas, bitches!
17 Comments:
My criteria is repeated listens.
10. Brightblack Morning Light, s/t
9. Comets on Fire, Avatar
8. Bob Dylan, Modern Times
7. Magnolia Electric Co., Fading Trails
6. TV on the Radio, Return to Cookie Mountain
5. Destroyer, Destroyer's Rubies
4. Califone, Roots & Crowns
3. Yo La Tengo, I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass
2. Sonic Youth, Rather Ripped
1. Band of Horses, Everything All the Time
my cd player got stolen.
drew... great job. this is fun.
Darren. bummer man. big fat bummer.
10. Guster, Ganging Up On The Sun
9. M. Ward, Post War
8. Beck, The Information
7. Cold War Kids, Robbers And Cowards (Their friends, but damn good too)
6. Bob Dylan, Modern Times
5. My Morning Jacket, Okonokos (live album, does that count? but its so good)
4. TVOTR, Return To Cookie Mountain (was personal album of the month for sept -- oct)
3. The Decemberists, The Crane Wife (all i listend to in India, and that trip was the shit, so its #3)
2. Raconteurs, Broken Boy Soldiers (cause its just so good)
1. Belle and Sebastian, The Life Pursuit (Got me through some tough months in Colorado... got fired... etc.)
I'm giving it some thought. For the time being here's someone else's.
1. Boris, Pink. Face shredding, mind breaking heavy psych from Japan. Combines the best shoe-gaze wall-of-sound drone with light speed riffage.
2. Band Of Horses, Everything All The Time. Just so damn good.
3. Mammatus, Mammatus. An awe inspiring debut straight out of Santa Cruz. Classically Californian stoner doom.
4. Belle and Sebastian, The Life Pursuit. A perfect pop album that answered my question, "What are B&S really capable of?"
5. Yo La Tengo, I am not afraid of you and I will beat your ass. A superb return to form. 10+ minute rockers, gentle dance numbers and sensitive ballads. It's like three amazing albums slammed together.
6. Om, Conference of the Birds. Two songs that are more than enough music for a single LP. Thick, hypnotic drone riffs with psychedelic imagination.
7. sunnO))) & Boris, Altar. A collaboration of volcanic proportions. Beyond heavy.
8. Comets On Fire, Avatar. A more controlled, yet still totally nuts album from California's psych-out masters. The addition of Ben Chasney pushes this album over the top. Totally crucial.
9. Islands, Return to the Sea. Fantastic indie pop. Great melodies in epic songs that contain just the right amount of humorous turns of phrase to make this way better than the Decemberists.
10. Earth, Hex: Live In A Large City On The North American Continent. Unbelievable counterpart to Hex. Recorded in NYC with everything in the red. Ultra heavy country doom drone from this seminal band. The soundtrack to a grimm western.
Classy, and sassy....
10. Decemberists- The Crane Wife
9. Ghostface Killah- Fishscale
8. Beck- The Information
7. Yeah Yeah Yeahs- Show Your Bones
6. Phoenix- It's Never Been Like That
5. Sean Lennon- Friendly Fire
4. Thom Yorke- The Eraser
3. Flaming Lips- At War with the Mystics
2. Cat Power- The Greatest
1. Belle and Sebastian- The Life Pursuit
well said, gramps. see you at the elks lodge.
so I guess ABBA passes the "weight" test?
Who's wasting money on music? Don't throw the baby out with the bath water. Plenty of the older music we like was diaper baby crap that somehow made it onto the radio for about 50 years straight. The Eagles greatest hits is absolute shit but it's the biggest selling album of all time. Music that rules now will always rule now. This year there are some great new albums. Next year, there will be more. Some of them will eventually suck (ie Beck) but some of them will be classics (ie Yo La Tengo). Being music dorks will inevitably result in us owning way too much music and boring the shit out of our children by regaling them with tales of shows past by bands that only released 2 singles and an ep. Our record collections will bear no resemblance to VH1s "I love the 00s" but so fucking what. We know we're cool.
I love that you are a crochety old man.
golfing and booze? sounds intriguing. explain.
Golfing?
Did your shuffle-board game get pushed back?
This is Amanda:
Okay, I understand the concept of best albums of THIS year, but, well, I have no excuse.
10. Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass- Whipped Cream & Other Delights
Seriously, have any of you given this a listen? Get you down to the local thrift shop. Wakes me up in the morning...not an easy thing to do. It's one of the best abums of MY two-thousand and six.
9. Bonnie "Prince" Billy-The Letting Go
8. Califone- Roots and Crowns
7. Monade-A Few Steps More (Laetitia Sadier-of Stereolab fame)
6. Joanna Newsom-Ys
5. Yo La Tengo-IANAOYAIWBYA.
Not just three amazing albums, but four, maybe five.
4. The Necks-Sex
So it came out in 19--, I've been trying to get my greedy little hands on this for 5+ years, I've finally got it.
3. Cat Power-The Greatest
Did she go through therapy or something? I cannot get enough of the title track.
2. M. Ward- Post-War
Not only one of my favorite albums but new favorite artists from the last few years. Best live shows EVER. Ever.
1. Bright Black Morning Light-BBML
Love it love it love it....mmmm. Sigh.
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I've been giving this a lot of thought, and there just haven't a lot of albums that have really hit home this year. So, in keeping with the original task (with absolutely no harm meant towards Amanda's abandoning of said task - I'm just too particular [read:obsessive compulsive] to allow myself that freedom) here are my top ten albums of 2006, in no particular order, with short reasoning.
10. Cat Power - The Greatest
The cover alone should warrant a place on the list.
9. Johnny Cash - A Hundred Highways
Often I base my film judgments on whether or not it makes L. cry. Sometimes albums get the same criteria.
8. TV on the Radio - Return to Cookie Mountain
I didn't like this as much as Desperate Youth, Bloodthirsty Babes, but that's ok, I didn't hear it first. I don't like Sergeant Peppers as much as Abbey Road for the same reason.
7. Belle and Sebastian - The Life Pursuit
Man I love those twee little effers. They could put out a whole album of tv theme song covers and I'd probably love it (Come to think of it, that's probably an album Gloyd would actually buy).
6. Cold War Kids - Robbers and Cowards
Sexy, sexy, sexy.
5. Tom Waits - Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers, Bastards
I just got this and haven't even listened to the whole thing yet, but I'm sold.
4. Juana Molina - Son
Me encanta Juana Molina. Si fuera una mujer desearía ser ella.
3. Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins - Rabbit Fur Coat
I don't even like Rilo Kiley all that much. This album kills.
2. Decemberists - The Crane Wife
Hands down my favorite album of the year. If I had to sum it up in 21 words I would say, "Face shredding, mind breaking heavy psych from Japan. Combines the best shoe-gaze wall-of-sound drone with light speed riffage."
1. And a four-way tie between albums that I like, but can't fit in anywhere.
Band of Horses - Everything all the Time, Built to Spill - You in Reverse, The Raconteurs - Broken Boy Soldiers, Nouvelle Vague - Bande a Part.
And for an added bonus, The Top Ten Albums According to the 16 year-old me if He Was Here Now
10. Pearl Jam - Pearl Jam
9. Phish - Live in Brooklyn
8. Me First and the Gimme Gimmes - Love Their Country
7. Dave Matthews Band - The Best of What's Around Vol. 1
6. Beck - The Information
5. Weird Al Yankovic - Straight Outta Lynwood
4. Cursive - Happy Hollow
3. The Living End - State of Emergency
2. The Strokes - First Impressions of Youth
1. The Red Hot Chili Peppers - Stadium Arcadium
I like that category- Here is what the 16 year-old version of me if He was Here Now would've picked:
10. Beck- The Information
9. Morrissey- Ringleader of the Tormentors
8. Paul Simon- Surprise
7. Phish- Live In Brooklyn
6. Soul Asylum- The Silver Lining
5. Tom Petty- Highway Companion
4. R.E.M- And I feel fine
3. Dave Matthews Band- The Best...vol. 1
2. Paul McCartney- Ecce cor Meum
1. Beatles & George Martin- Love
Awesome... what the 16 year old version of me if he were here now would have picked
10. dave matthews band...
9. newsboys, go
8. wow hits 2006
7. wow christmas 2006
thats all of i would have listend to.
awesome.
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