Top Albums of 2006
I have absolutely no qualifications for creating a list of great music. This puts me on par with roughly %99 of so-called "music bloggers" when it comes to the ability to objectively evaluate what may or may not constitute "good" music. For the most part I think music bloggers follow the lead of a few influential websites (Pitchfork Effect anyone?) and a chain reaction is created from there. That being said, there are a two DC bloggers I read quite a bit that are producing some decent writing about music. One devotes quite a bit of space to music and music news, and one writes about all things local and just happens to have really good taste in music.
My list is shorter and less well researched than almost every other list you're likely to run into on the internets. If you want a more informed opinion you should really check out the two sites I mentioned.
I spend a lot of my music buying budget catching up on albums I missed in previous years because I tend to do a lot of purchasing after reading lists like this one. Not like this one per se. But other lists that are longer and are backed by better research. The point is that I don't buy that many albums the year they are released. I wait until somebody else tells me that I'm likely to enjoy a particular album and then I purchase it. This results in one of two reactions. I'm either pissed that I listened to some stupid tastemaker when I don't like a supposedly great album, or I kick myself for not having discovered a band when they were at the peak of their coolness. Why couldn't I have owned this album when casually dropping the title of the obscure gem at the end of the record would have made me sound hip and in the know? But I just can't justify buying 100 albums a year when I'm not getting paid to sit and listen to them all, so this system will just have to do.
I do get lucky with the 15 or so new albums I buy every year, so here are the 5 albums of 2006 I would take with me if I were stranded on a desert island and had the time to pack music before I was marooned. If it's too short or not informative enough or the records aren't that good, well, you get what you pay for.
1. Boys and Girls in America - The Hold Steady
Now I know how people in Jersey felt when Bruce Springsteen was coming up. These guys would be my favorite band even if they weren't singing about my hometown. It doesn't hurt that The Hold Steady makes music about places that I used to hang out, drink, and get into some of the same kind of trouble as their characters (on a greatly reduced scale). What really matters is that they can play the hell out of their instruments and they tell great stories.
Craig Finn sings a little more than he did on the previous albums, and some of the songs are more anthemic, but the basic goal seems to be the same. Create a good rock album by focusing on a very specific and detailed set of circumstances and people. It's pretty much the same old rock stories; a clairvoyant girlfriend that can handicap horse races, a love story set in the detox tent at a rock festival, and a drunken poet that tosses himself into the Mississippi River because Minnesota winters suck and his brain isn't firing on all cylinders. You know, the standard stuff.
2. The Monthly EPs - Bishop Allen
While not technically an 'album', I'm including these EPs because this is a cool idea that required more creative energy every month than some bands summon every three years. When they put out the first one of these (one 4 song EP every month for a year) I figured that the quality of the EPs would taper off or the band would simply collapse under the weight of self imposed deadlines. I didn't love every EP, they sometimes skew a little sweet for me, but there are tons of catchy sing-in-the-car songs throughout the months. My favorite EP, February, has three tracks that stand alone as great singles. People are sleeping on these guys. If they have anything left in the tank when they finish with this experiment they probably have at least one really good album in them.
Any band that can write a good song about The Battle of the Ironclads and their favorite winter coat is OK in my book.
3. Fox Confessor Brings the Flood - Neko Case
Oh Neko. Your voice makes me think impure thoughts. Come run away with me to Barbados. We will lounge by the sea and drink Magaritas while I feed you peeled grapes. You can serenade me with epic songs devoted to our love while I earn our simple living robbing tourists of their travelers checks. One day our children will wear grass skirts and play in the sand.
4. The Loon - Tapes 'n Tapes
Another band with Minneapolis roots, I caught these guys at the Black Cat on Halloween. Not only do they put on a good live show, but Josh Grier was dressed as Dave Chapelle's crackhead character.
I have no idea what half the songs are really about, but I can still feel the emotion. They sound like throwbacks without sacrificing any originality. I have a feeling their sophomore album is going to be totally awesome or utterly terrible. I have nothing rational to offer as support for that conjecture.
5. Ten Silver Drops - Secret Machines
I debated this one for a while. I almost went with The Decemberists, but I just bought that album, so I'm not sure how well it'll hold up yet. I thought about Dylan, but I've already got two bands with Minnesota roots on my list. I didn't want to be that much of a homer, and anyway, I really like this album. It wasn't all that well received critically, and I'd be surprised to see it on very many end of the year lists, but I dug it.
Honorable Mention: Modern Times by Bob Dylan, The Crane Wife by The Decemberists, and The Obliterati by Mission of Burma.
So there you have it. Poorly researched advice from some guy you shouldn't trust. Don't blame me if you buy one and don't like it.
Labels: tunes
posted by DC Viking at 7:45 PM
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