Poor Seamus. I think he’s been reading too much Pitchfork. I actually thought 2006 was a great year for music. I got to listen to some fantastic new bands and meanwhile some of my favorite groups put out excellent new albums that I actually bought! Also 2006 may have been the first year my top 10 list hasn’t completely changed after 2 months; I may trade out one of these for Silversun Pickups’s Carnavas or the Hockey Night CD, but the list below contains the albums I picked in January as my favorite from the Year of the Dog.
My Top 10 Bitchin’ Albums of the Year
10 Danielson – Ships 
What We Said Then:
Danielson, like the Fiery Furnaces, is an acquired taste for some. Either you love it or you hate it. But you’d be hard-pressed to hate the album’s single, ‘Did I Step On Your Trumpet?,’ which is sure to enter the indie lexicon as a slacker mea culpa for accidentally offending someone.
- Listen to Did I Step On Your Trumpet
9 Islands – Return to the Sea
What We Said Then:
The more I listen, the more I likey. Fans of Rhymin’ Simon era Paul Simon, the Elephant 6 collective, the soundtrack to Delicatessen, and even the Polyphonic Spree should enjoy this big time.
- Listen to Volcanoes
8 Band of Horses – Everything All The Time
What We Said Then:
Everything All the Time came out in late March and I’ve been spinning the shit out of the CD ever since. It’s the perfect album for listening to just before bed, or while drinking tea after a satisfying meal. It’s good for the digestion and easy on the nerves.
- Listen to The Great Salt Lake
7 Pigeon John – …And the Summertime Pool Party
Pigeon John is unique for creating fun, sunny-day, buddy hip-hop. The tracks on …And the Summertime Pool Party, his 4th LP, are about enjoying life, talking up ladies, and “let[ting] the sun shine in” despite everyday difficulties. It’s the perfect Los Angeles soundtrack, perfect for a town that’s frequently sunny but laced with smog. The beats bop along coaxing your mouth into a smile, and Pigeon John’s delivery isn’t tough or bored; he sounds like your goofy buddy rhyming about your unemployed life.
- Listen to Do The Pigeon
6 The Flaming Lips – At War With The Mystics
I think for many people, myself included, the Flaming Lips have become a great go-to band. I don’t often buy multiple albums by artists, even those I really like, but experience has taught me that when a Flaming Lips album comes out, the purchase will be well worth it. And Wayne, Michael, and Steven (and Dave) put out another awesome album in 2006. At War with the Mystics is weird, weirder yet if you read Wayne’s liner notes, but mostly full of pop genius. You can relax when you listen to this one; there’s no need to think about how Mystics will compare to Yoshimi or The Soft Bulletin; just enjoy. And back to those lyrics and the liner notes: they’re weird, but actually profoundly meaningful.
- Listen to Mr Ambulance Driver
5 Belle & Sebastian – The Life Pursuit
What We Said Then:
An album chock full of sensitive lads reflecting on girls and the local vicarage. What’s great about this album, though, is that it has so many appealing songs on it….I’ve yet to listen to the album less than twice in one sitting and I always end up with a different song stuck in my head.
- Listen to Sukie in the Graveyard
4 Archie Bronson Outfit – Derdang Derdang
What We Said Then:
Gahbless those twangy guitars and persistent bass lines, those crashing cymbals and frequent yelps. Whenever I listen to this album, I wonder why more singers don’t just bark when they have nothing better to say.
- Listen to Cherry Lips
3 The Fiery Furnaces – Bitter Tea
What We Said Then:
…at first listen though the recent Bitter Tea just didn’t hold up. But I worked at it, listening diligently, trying to figure out the difference between “Nevers” and “Nevers Again”; and then I heard the brilliance. Bitter Tea is a sophisticated morsel. Inhale the aromas. Let it mingle on your palate.
- Listen to Police Sweater Blood Vow
2 Electric President – Electric President
What We Said Then:
Electric President produces tasty soundscapes with notes of preciousness, like the Notwist fronted by Kermit’s nephew Robin…Isn’t this the stuff of a better life?
- Listen to Insomnia
1 Baby Dayliner – Critics Pass Away
What We Said Then:
At first listen, I thought, okay, it’s sorta like Har Mar. But the songs are much more polished and really catchy. Critics Pass Away is one of the few albums that my wife (who loves herself some hip-hop) and I can appreciate together. And it actually may prove to be one of my favorite albums of the year.
- Listen to At Least
If you’ve read this blog before you might remember that we at (((withoutsound))) enjoy ourselves some Lily Allen. Well, yesterday, Capitol Records finally released Lily Allen’s debut album stateside.
Read the previous post.
Buy Alright, Still from Insound.
Music blogs can introduce you to a wealth of fantastic music, which is really one of the main reasons Seamus and I started (((withoutsound))). Prior to last February, I learned about new music from music blogs about 50% of the time. Since then that percentage has grown to about 75%. However, as you have probably realized by now, most of the blogs out there (or is it in here?) are full of shite, overloaded with tracks with little to no discussion of the music. There must be some who find such a posting-style perfect; I’m guessing these folk are just looking to fill their DAP with free tracks; but I’ve found that this just leaves me with a surplus of mediocre songs. And since most publicly available music is mediocre, I need some sort of filtering system to help me separate the tasty tasty wheat from that nasty nasty chaff. So I’d like to thank the good soul behind *SixEyes for introducing me to Toronto-based rawk band Femme Generation, my new wheat (not to be confused with Wheat).
Listen to Hearts in Stitches.
In the last couple of years some great bands have sprouted up seemingly from a love for the jangly guitars, driving beats, and clever songwriting of classic English indie rock from the 80s. Canada spawned the Dears, England sired Bloc Party, and now the US has given juicy birth to Soft Complex. Soft Complex currently hails from D.C. and claims members from atmospheric psychedelic group Phaser and the more aggressive rock outfit Burning Airlines, but knowing this may provide little introduction to what this quintet sounds like.
Listen to Barcelona.
I‘ve liked Franz Ferdinand since I first heard Darts of Pleasure a couple of years ago, but after this weekend, they’ve settled into an even cozier section of my heart. I was listening to the syndicated radio show the Splendid Table on my local NPR station. This is one of my favorite reasons for owning a radio. My brother Craig introduced me to the food show a year ago saying “it doesn’t matter what it is, the way the host speaks just makes me want to eat anything she talks about it.” I tuned in soon after and understood immediately. I’ve since been hooked. When the host, Lynne Rossetto Kaspar, discusses recipes or restaurants, she imbues each word with the comfort of creamy mashed potatoes. It’s almost like she’s describing a Calgon bath or a luxurious spa treatment. And Craig’s right: it doesn’t matter what she’s talking about.
Anyway, this weekend Lynne interviewed Franz Ferdinand singer Alex Kapranos. As it turns out, he’s somewhat of a foodie. Since touring with the band, he’s had the opportunity to try many different local cuisines from around the world and his palate seems quite adventurous; perhaps, as discussed on the show, this is due to having a Greek father and growing up in Haggis Central. At some point, the Guardian tapped Alex to write some food articles about the places he’s been. The articles must have been stimulating enough that a book seemed inevitable and that book, Sound Bites: Eating on Tour with Franz Ferdinand, came out earlier this month. I never imagined I’d hear Franz Ferdinand discussed on NPR, at least not the band, let alone on a food show, and Alex came across as rather charming and down-to-earth.
If you get a chance, listen to the Splendid Table. Here’s a link to this past weekend’s episode: January 13th, 2007
Buy the book from the NPR store.
Listen to What You Meant