Best Music of 2006

I had fully intended to do this at some point. But here it is, 6 months into 2006. But what better way to get some distance and evaluate the best music of last year?

Besides, Bryan wouldn't stop bugging me.

So here it is. 2006 was an interesting year. Lots of solid stuff but little that was just absolutely amazingly spectacular, and it made the ordering of the albums tough. I did actually make the list at the end of last year, and it was tempting to rearrange, but I left the order intact. So, here we go.

Best Albums of 2006

1. The Hold Steady, Boys And Girls In America: I wavered on this one for a bit. I wondered about its longevity. But I still listen to it frequently. The Hold Steady, ladies and gentlemen, are America's best bar band, fronted by a great poet who takes those alcohol drenched nights and extracts their meaning, half-singing, half-reading them (if there's any justice in the world) from scrawlings on a cocktail napkin. This is a band that rocks, and a band that writes songs about the beauty within every drunken teen and twenty something. If they can combine the masterful craftsmanship of this album with their ability to construct a story arc like they did on their previous Separation Sunday, they may put out a truly phenomenal album one day. But you don't have to hit a home run every time if you can just get it to the outfield, and if the Hold Steady has a few more albums this good in 'em, they will have made more great music than most bands can hope for.
2. Band Of Horses, Everything All The Time: Stunningly beautiful, and an impressive combination of the big guitar sound of bands like Built to Spill with the country rock leanings of bands like My Morning Jacket. I haven't quite figured out what it means, but unlike Joanna Newsom's album, I'm not sure I have to. There's raw emotion here, and it's expertly projected through the music. It's an impressive album that grabs me quickly and still gives me goosebumps a year and a half later. It's the kind of album that you just have to turn on sometimes and let wash over you like a wave on a moonlit beach.
3. Joanna Newsom, Ys: This one has still has the potential for the kind of greatness that I like to see in a number one album. I almost considered it for the top spot. But that would have been a leap of faith, and I think it will be years before I know for sure how good this album is. Let's move beyond the fact that I once likened Newsom's vocals to a retarded chipmunk. Start with Van Dyke Parks' beautiful orchestration. Then on Joanna Newsom's beautiful harp playing. Then keep looking past the vocals to the carefully constructed lyrics of this five song cycle. Once you've done these things, you may find yourself starting to appreciate Newsom's strange vocal tics and inflections. That's what I did, anyway. Seeing her live helped too, and it's almost a shame that the sparse arrangements her band backed her with live aren't the ones that ended up on record. So my doubts about the album? I haven't cracked the subject matter yet. Newsom has said that this is very much a reflection of her personal life, and there are pangs of loss that pervade the album. But the whole thing's kind of obtuse, hidden behind the adornments of the lyrics. Time will tell, hopefully, what's there, and maybe one day I'll know what this album really holds.
4. Bound Stems, Appreciation Night: A beautiful jumbled mess. As the music flows by like a river, every bit different, don't worry about where it's been or where it's going, just appreciate what it is. To mix my metaphors, it's a great big cookie with a whole lot of little hooks spread throughout like so many nuts, chocolate chips, and dried cherries. As unstructured as it is, the hooks take some time to sink in, and you still may be lost as you jump from hook to hook, but the hooks are there, something to hang your hat on as you absorb the rest of the album. When "Excellent News Colonel" starts with it half sung/half spoken introduction, and a girl says "I've fallen for someone in New York. It's something that I hadn't expected, though I think it's so much better for us both. The timing was abysmal but we tried. I hope you still find the time to write, to tell me about how school ended, and if you've fallen in love. I hope we can keep it up...", I feel like it's me that's just been dumped, no opportunity to defend myself, just... dumped. It's amazingly affecting. And it's just one moment among many.
5. Beirut, Gulag Orkestar & the Lon Gisland EP: Beirut. This album is an accomplishment. For a kid from the American West to so perfectly make sounds that are so... foreign... is astounding. It's mariachis meets Eastern European folk meets the electronic stylings of the Magnetic Fields, and it's beautiful. But there's no emotional connection. It's nifty music but it doesn't connect to me. The musical accomplishments of this album put it this hi, but the lack of any lasting emotional impact keeps it from being even higher.
6. The Decemberists, The Crane Wife: The Decemberists do it again. These guys are on a role, but maybe they're starting to show signs of needing a break. The highs are still there, but the little moments, the ones that surprise you when you sit down and listen, they're not quite there. But that's nitpicking. The band has managed to deftly incorporate some of the prog and metal influences from their Tain EP, with such multi-part bits as "The Crane Wife" and "The Island". And any band that can make a song like "The Crane Wife pt. 3" so immediately captivating certainly shouldn't be calling it quits any time soon. So Decemberists, rest up and come back with something that ranks up there with your best work. And, while I've got your attention, please, please come back to Houston. What did we do to be the redheaded stepchild?
7. I'm From Barcelona, Let Me Introduce My Friends: Wow, this one came out of left field. Take the Polyphonic Spree's huge size, replace the vaguely scary cult-like optimism with wide-eyed child-like optimism, and make something less new age self help and more simple, infectious fun. Fill it with songs about collecting stamps and building treehouses. What a breath of fresh air this one was.
8. Tapes 'n Tapes, The Loon: Another out of left field, easy to enjoy, fun album. Darker in tone than Barcelona, but yet still breezy and fun. Just put it on and enjoy. Don't overanalyze.
9. Gnarls Barkley, St. Elsewhere: Thank you, Danger Mouse, for making hip hop interesting enough to be palatable to me. Thank you Cee Lo for keeping it weird, yet soulful. And thank you both for putting out a song that everybody can love and that will never get old. And thanks for making the rest of the album a blast to listen to as well.
10. M. Ward, Post-War: Like The Decemberists and the Hold Steady, M. Ward keeps the hits coming. He does his gravelly voice old-time folk thing consistently and well. This one may be my favorite yet, although none of them really stick out. If it's not the best thing I've ever heard, it's certainly impressive enough that I'm proud to share a name with this man.
11. Beck, The Information: Beck's attempted return to Odelayishiciousness with Guero was forgettable, but this time he stops it with the quirky folk, stops trying to out-Prince Prince, and stops making the heart-breaking breakup album and writes a kick ass, fun album of the kind of quirky rock hop that made him famous in the first place. As good as some of his other material was, it's good to have the original Beck back.
12. Centro-Matic, Fort Recovery: Centro-matic slows down the metronome, turns up the volume, and slow jams it with lots of starkly beautiful songs set to Will Johnson's scratchy pack-a-day voice. Turn it on, hear the guitars soar and feel the deep foundation of the bass, and enjoy.
13. The Pipettes, Meet The Pipettes: Liquid crush in a bottle (and not like the orange soda). The girls are cute, the sassy british voices are cuter, and girl group pop makes a surprising return forty years later. Charming and beautiful. Suspend disbelief, forget they probably didn't write the songs, and give yourself over to the thinking man's Spice Girls. I can't put this on without getting a smile on my face. Bonus points for the harmony.
14. Lily Allen, Alright Still: Speaking of sassy British chicks, Lily Allen makes an album that also oozes personality, is consistently funny and entertaining if maybe a bit guilty of trying too hard in spots ("Oh my gosh you must be joking me if you think that you'll be poking me"). The music doesn't bore you but doesn't get in the way of the songs either. If only all rich girls that decided they wanted to make a pop album put this much hard work and talent into it, the world would be a better place.
15. Guster, Ganging Up On The Sun: Guster's back, and I'll forgive them if they don't reach the heights of Lost & Gone Forever and particularly Keep It Together. It's still consistently good and consistently Guster, and they can keep making albums like this for as long as they want.
16. Voxtrot, Raised By Wolves, Mothers Daughters Sisters & Wives, & Your Biggest Fan: I have Dan to thank for this one. I figure two EPs and one single count as one album, right? Take some good indie pop, add some competent Smiths-aping, and age it up a bit. Voxtrot put out fun, bouncy, extremely competent pop, and it's the sort of thing everybody should be enjoying.
17. Islands, Return to the Sea: Turns out that it's not so bad that the Unicorns broke up, because ex-Unicorn Nick Diamonds has surpassed them with this album. Extremely quirky, well-arranged and played, lots of hooks. But yet, I never really felt like it grabbed me the way it should have, hence the relatively low rating. Still, it's good; there's no denying that.
18. TV On The Radio, Return To Cookie MountainNow here's a band I only sort of get. I can tell that this is a good, solid album, but like the Islands disc, it doesn't quite grab me. Still, I know enough to tell you that these guys are doing neat, original stuff that nobody else can come close to, and that makes them worth a look.
19. Built To Spill, You In Reverse: Wow, it's been five years since Built To Spill put out an album? It has been a while. Spin the disc up, and as "Going Against Your Mind" stretches out to 8:42, it's entirely reasonable to be thinking that they're back and kicking ass. But that momentum doesn't keep up, and the rest of the album is pretty much forgettable, with the exception of the single-ready "Conventional Wisdom". So in "Going" you have a song that would fit perfectly on Perfect From Now On, and "Wisdom"'s bounce would sit well across from "Sidewalk" on Keep It Like A Secret. I'll cut Doug some slack, and he makes this list rather than the disappointments list on the strength of two songs that rank among his best work. But then I recall that Ancient Melodies of the Future had pretty similar problems. So Doug, bring it back full on hard core next time, OK?
20. Figurines, Skeleton: Nice competent indie rock that fits well alongside Modest Mouse and Built to Spill. So why did I never really go head over heels for this one? No accounting for tastes, I suppose. Could be that months from now I'll pick this up and not put it down for weeks.
21. The Magnolia Electric Co., Fading Trails: Another band who just keeps turning out good albums, but this one lacks the fire of their self-titled debut, and is too soft and depressed to have the emotionally devastating impact of, say, What Comes After The Blues. I can't complain too much, but I hope for more next time.
22. Beach House, Beach House: I get to here and wonder a bit why I didn't put this up higher. Maybe because it's a bit samey, but musically these dusty, rotting, sepia-toned memories are impressively, devastatingly beautiful. But maybe it's not something that I'll find myself listening to all that often.
23. Girl Talk, Night Ripper: Another one that, maybe, should have ended up higher, but maybe it just didn't have staying power. It's an impressive tour of pop music, and it's fun to play "spot the sample" as Girl Talk mixes rock and hip hop hits from the last couple decades. Technically very impressive, fun in its familiarity, but I haven't listened to it in over a year.
24. Camera Obscura, Let's Get Out Of This Country: Out-Belle-&-Sebastianing Belle & Sebastian with this nice disc of twee pop. Fun, consistent, but it didn't blow me away. Still, in a year when Belle & Sebastian disappoint, good to see someone pick up the baton and run.
25. The Beatles, Love: Stuck near the end of the list because, in some senses, it's nothing new. Still, it's fun to hear the Beatles in a different context. It feels fresher. It sounds fresher too, thanks to new mastering. Makes me thing I'll throw down a whole lot of money to grab the remastered Beatles discs when they show up next year, and, honestly, that's the best thing about listening to this disc. Except for one thing. One of Anthology's biggest selling points was its 3 juxtaposed demos of "Strawberry Fields Forever". Here they chronologically make up different sections of the song (along with the final version), and the end result is like time lapse photography. It's amazing, and does a great job of showing how the songs are great at their core, and how the incredible production that the Beatles were famous for in their later years makes them even better.
26. Ben Folds, Supersunnyspeedgraphic, The LP: Stuck on here for completion's sake, because all of this material has been put elsewhere. There are some nice moments here, though, and anyone who's a fan should have it if they don't have everything where it was originally published.
27. Hotel Lights, Hotel Lights: Pleasant, pretty, blippy, and totally not what I would have expected from former Ben Folds Fiver Darren Jesse. Not super memorable but likable. A bit samey, perhaps.

Disappointments & Other "Meh"s

• Belle & Sebastian, The Life Pursuit: This is not why I listen to Belle & Sebastian. This bores me. Sorry guys. This happy funky 70s stuff is just not the right direction.
• Junior Boys, So This Is Goodbye: Cindy said this was too "gay" for me, but I dunno. Cold and innorganic; just totally not my thing.
• Sufjan Stevens, The Avalanche: Sufjan, I love you, I made Illinois my #1 album of last year, but sir, you need an editor! As if Illinois wasn't overlong already, we don't need another 80 minutes of forgettable outtakes. There's some nice stuff on here, but I just don't feel like slogging through all this crap to get to it. Brevity, sir, Brevity.
• Summer Hymns, Backward Masks: These guys have gone from endearing, clever, quirky, memorable psychedelic indie rock to completely boring alt country. 2003's Clemency had me worried, and this one confirmed it. Whoever did the interesting shit needs to come back, and fast.
• Tenacious D, The Pick Of Destiny: There are two good songs on this album: "Kickapoo" and "The Metal" (which I'm looking forward to playing in Guitar Hero III). There are even a couple other decent tracks. But after six years, I expected better. The rest of this album is just lame. And if the music's this bad, the movie must be complete crap.
• The Flaming Lips, At War With The Mystics: Guys. I expect better. You've got your moments here, but man, this is just so mediocre. This is the band that brought me Soft Bullettin and so much other brilliance?
• The Walkmen, A Hundred Miles Off: "Louisiana" is great. The rest of this album, it's just boring. Sorry.
• The Raconteurs, Broken Boy Soldiers: Not bad, but just not all that great. If it hadn't been Jack White, these guys wouldn't have gotten much press. Except for "Intimate Secretary". That one's good. That one can stay. I was hoping seeing White outside of the Stripes would reveal new things, especially when before this year it seemed like the Stripes might have run out of ideas. But now I've heard the new Stripes album, it's decent, and it's certainly better than this.

Undecided & Underlistened

• Badly Drawn Boy, Born In The U.K.: If I'd gotten through this one more than once, I'm guessing it'd end up on the disappointments list. From brilliance to this.
• Neko Case, Fox Confessor Brings The Flood: Cindy loved this. I listened to it once and never picked it up again. Points for being super hot, though.
• Destroyer, Destroyer's Rubies: Tried listening to it once. Didn't go so well.
• Danielson, Ships: I was not impressed.
• Final Fantasy, He Poos Clouds: Owen's music just gets boring, I think. Did I even get through this one once? I'm not sure.
• Ben Kweller, Ben Kweller: Forgettable.
• Sean Lennon, Friendly Fire: Didn't get around to listening.
• Liars, Drum's Not Dead: When I tried to listen to it, it was too weird. Never got back to it.
• Malajube, Trompe-L'Oeil: Picked this one back up towards SxSW time. Pretty good. Would have ended up on the list, in the back third, if I'd gotten to it sooner.
• Mates Of State, Bring It Back: I saw them live. I don't remember much of it.
• Rock Plaza Central, Are We Not Horses: Picked this up on Jeff's urging. Seemed OK but only listened a couple of times.
• Jason Molina, Let Me Go Let Me Go Let Me Go: Didn't finish listening to this one in time, but since then I've decided it's a little flat. With so much more interesting work that the man's put out, I don't see listening to this one much. Not that it's bad...
• Ms. John Soda, Notes And The Like: Didn't grab me the way the last one did.
• Peter Bjorn And John, Writer's Block: Also picked this one up around SxSW time.
• Secret Machines, Ten Silver Drops: Never even listened.
• Sunset Rubdown, Shut Up I Am Dreaming: This one's probably pretty good but I never listened to it that consistently.
• The Divine Comedy, Victory For The Comic Muse: Decent but not all that great, certainly not as brilliant as the last one. Still deserves more listens.
• The Advantage, Elf-Titled: OK but not best-of material. Rock interpretations of video games music are not something I pull out often, but I guess I'll add this to my go-to albums for that genre.
• The Gothic Archies, The Tragic Treasury: Need to give this one more listens. Stephin Merrit's quiet indie goth project takes on Lemony Snicket's dark books. On paper it makes sense.
• Scott Walker, The Drift: Now this one has some potential. But it's so dark and so slow I'm never in the mood for it.
• …And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead, So Divided: Only made it through once or twice. Got bored. Maybe Pitchfork was right in calling their slow decline. I still think Worlds Apart was OK though.
• Youth Group, Casino Twilight Dogs: Picked it up this year. Good, but didn't capture my attention the way their last one did.
• Thom Yorke, The Eraser: Decent, but I'll just listen to Radiohead.
• Two Gallants, What The Toll Tells: Love these guys live but their albums never quite grab me. Not sure why; they're not all that different. Again, no accounting for taste.
• The Strokes, First Impressions Of Earth: Listened once. Wasn't impressed.

If those last two lists were too critical or too depressing for you, go back and reread the "Best Of" list. There, that's better, isn't it? 2006 was a great year for music; 2007 is shaping up quite well also. Last week I was feeling overwhelmed by the large amount of new music that I try to take in; going back it's nice to see so many gems that I pick up and can go back to whenever I want. Quite refreshing.

I'll also add that I discovered Art Brut's first album from 2005 and that it was phenomenal. Maybe something else from '05 got left out too; can't quite remember. Best single was probably "Crazy". Not sure I picked up any interesting mainstream singles beyond that. I'll end by noting that Okkervil River put out a solid EP, Overboard & Down, with a great single, "The President's Dead", and an absolutely, incredible, phenomenal song, "Love to a Monster".

See you next year. Preferably a whole lot earlier. Or maybe even late this year!

Oh, and Bryan wants me to turn my list into a mix. I'll probably still get around to that.