USSM Endorsed 2006 Albums
Because it’s the off-season and nothing’s happening. Also, this seems to come up in conversations at Feeds and baseball fans seem to be disproportionately music freaks. Hopefully Jeff (at least) will join in and update this here post with his. Here’s what I’ve been listening to this year while posting/doing site work/tearing my hear out trying to keep USSM up.
Anyway, feel free to comment/complain/add. I tried to do ten and found I’d done 15 before I stopped myself. In no particular order:
Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
Fishscale
Mr. Beast
The Loon
The Greatest
Blood Mountain
Game Theory
Taking The Long Way
Everything All the Time
A Blessing And A Curse
Let Me Introduce My Friends, I’m From Barcelona (no link, this ‘CD’ is copy-protected).
Magic Potion
Night Ripper
The Audience’s Listening
So This Is Goodbye
Silent Shout
Nine Times That Same Song
(And now I’m tagging them with Amazon links because I’m unemployed. Hee hee hee.)
Dave’s Additions: I’m not a big music guy, but these two guys are friends of mine, and if you’re a Christian, you’ll like their CDs. If you’re not, not so much, so don’t say you haven’t been warned.
The Awakening – Jonathan Helser
Closer to the Burning – Stephen Roach
Jeff’s additions
I won’t duplicate anything Derek or Dave have already mentioned except to say that Neko Case does rock. With all the hip-hop I’ve been listening to lately, I’m surprised there is so much indie rock on my list, but I guess I was disappointed by a lot of the releases I was highly anticipating from my favorite MCs (Mr. Lif’s “Mo’ Mega,” anyone?).
A lot of records missed the list either because I like them, but not enough (the RJD2 and Aceyalone disc), or I like them, but not as much as everyone else seems to (“Return to Cookie Mountain” by TV On the Radio). I swear I did not plan for exactly 15 albums to be on this list, but it mirrors Derek’s list, so there. Maybe I’ll add two more later to mirror Dave’s list.
The Coup, Pick a Bigger Weapon
M. Ward, Post-War
Asobi Seksu, Citrus
The Brazilian Girls, Talk to La Bomb
Golden Smog, Another Fine Day
Jenny Lewis with The Watson Twins, Rabbit Fur Coat
The Long Winters, Putting the Days to Bed
Loose Fur, Born Again in the USA
Madlib, Beat Konducta, Vol. 1-2
Mates of State, Bring It Back
Nouvelle Vague, Bande a Part
The Pernice Brothers, Live a Little
Snow Patrol, Eyes Open
Soul Position, Things Go Better with RJ and Al
Viva Voce, Get Yr Blood Sucked Out
Stuff you might not have heard that is worth picking up: Pigeon John’s album “… and the Summertime Pool Party” is uneven, but has some really fun high spots if you like feel-good hip-hop; The Hold Steady’s “Boys and Girls in America” sounds like the halcyon days of Bruce Springsteen updated for the indie kids; I wish Of Montreal’s “The Sunlandic Twins” and “Caravane” by Raphael had been released in 2006 so I could include them; I must confess I haven’t heard the new Mason Jennings record (hard to find in Okinawa), but if it’s anything like his previous folk-rock work, it’s awesome.
The Black Angels – Passover
Joanna Newsom – Ys
Tom Waits – Orphans
Sera Cahoone – Sera Cahoone
Pleaseeasaur – The Amazing Adventures of Pleaseeasaur
The Black Heart Procession – The Spell
You’d like Isis if you like mastadon.
If you have kids you would have to add the “High School Musical” soundtrack.
Get, Get, Get, Get, Get in the Game.
I have been fully brainwashed by Disney.
I got to see Pleaseeasaur play once. It was one of the stranger experiences in my life.
Yeah, you’ll like Isis if you like Mastadon, and you might like Pelican if you like Isis. Some of that progressive stuff that I wouldn’t really call Metal as I like to avoid that tag, no vocals in Pelican.
My girlfriend has me hooked on Regina Spektor. Begin to Hope is her new album, but not as good as her last release, Soviet Kitsch.
…and if you’re looking for some quality Seattle hip-hop, look no further than Blue Scholars and/or Common Market.
I just don’t “get” Joanna Newsom. I can’t overcome her voice enough to give her music a proper chance. I also feel like I’m missing something regarding The Knife.
glad you dig Band of Horses, though, DMZ.
I just don’t “get†Joanna Newsom. I can’t overcome her voice enough to give her music a proper chance.
Agreed. Many covet it, I just don’t see it. And she pronounces things funny.
Good call on the black angels zackr, I love that album. I’d have to add:
TV on the Radio – Return to Cookie Mountain
The Rapture – Pieces of the People We Love
Built to Spill – you in reverse
Silversun Pickups – Carnavas
Hot Chip – The Warning (If only for the song “Over and Over” which may be the best single of the year).
Jenny Lewis – Rabbit Fur Coat
I love the Blue Scholars, but there’s no album for 2006 to put on the list.
There’s a Silversun Pickups album after Pikul? Excuse me for a second (scampering)
In the other benno land, music is an addiction. Alas, for visitors to that land, it is also a place where the artists listened to are obscure. So instead of commenting on those albums listed, or listing an array of cds that will need to be ordered off of obscure Finnish music sites, I will just recommend one album that has had me captivated for the last several weeks and is far and away my favorite release of the year:
‘Archaeopterix’ by La Ira de Dios
The band is from Peru, the lyrics are in Spanish (buried deep in the mix), and the music a fantastic hard psych-metal blend. Melodic, not thrash and no ‘vocal chords about to fly out of his mouth’ singing. (Sorry DMZ, I’ve bought the last two Mastodon CDs but no matter the praise, I just can’t get into them.) For those among us who still have a turntable, the double-LP version comes with a 23-minute extended jam that is not on the CD release that is perhaps the best track on the album. This is not an album to be missed.
It is available domestically from the All That’s Heavy store on http://www.stonerrock.com or in the space rock store at
http://www.aural-innovations.com.
katal,
I got hooked on the knife when I heard “heartbeats.” There’s just something about Scandinavian electronic music that gets to me. Of course everything pales in comparison to Sigur Ros.
what…no gwar?
DMZ,
yes there is. “Carnavas” is amazing. Just put the song “Lazy Eye” on repeat for a while.
Cant believe you didnt mention the Decemberists. I never heard of them until I read about them on this blog. Then I downloaded one of their albums and I really like it. Been listening to it for a couple months now.
I also really like the new Red Hot Chiil Peppers album, even though it sounds pretty much the same as every other RHCP album, except much much longer.
11 -
I just downloaded and started playing Heartbeats, and it’s really good! I might have to download some more from Silent Shout and see what I think about it.
Oh, and no one’s even mentioned Modern Times yet. Easily the best (new) blues album I’ve heard in years.
I knew Regina in NY when we were a little younger. She’s adorable
Pleasseasaur signed to Comedy Central.
Joanna Newsom is art personified. Her record is incredible – you just have to get into the right ‘mood’ to get it – at first. The guy who arranged strings for Brian Wilson’s first ’smile’ project worked with her.
Zero Gravitas,
I do like the Decemberists, but wonder if they will ever top “Her Majesty.” I feel the same way about …And You Will Know us by the Trail of Dead. There last two albums have been good, but compared to “Source Tags and Codes” they are not that special. You feel kind of let down when you know they are capable of so much more.
Here is what I have been listening to:
Ogre Tones — King’s X
Size Matters — Helmet
Come Again — Thornley
Octavarium — Dream Theater
Home — Sevendust
Redefined — Sonnier Brothers
Throwin’ Bones — Podunk
Left Hand Brand — Gales Brothers
Chronicle — CCR
For Madmen Only — Atomic Opera
If you can get past the not-entirely-accurate “Christian rock” label, I think “Good Monsters” by Jars Of Clay is one of the best albums I’ve heard all year. Not one clunker track on it.
Katal,
funny story about “Heartbeats.” I first heard it performed by Jose Gonzalez. I thought that it was their song, and downloaded a bunch of other stuff. I didn’t like anything else by Jose Gonzalez. Then I heard the Knife original version on KEXP and was blown away.
Yell Fire, Michael Franti and Spearhead. Strident political protest mixed with peace/love/brotherhood urgings, mixed up into an ear-pleasing blend of reggae and hip-hop beats. I love his voice, and his band kicks ass.
Wow, I didn’t recognize a single artist on that list! The best CD I bought this year was the soundtrack for the show “Rescue Me”.
I may have to check out “Modern Times”, since I’m a huge blues fan.
Unfortunately, I seldom have the time to actually listen to any new music.
#1 Pornopop – …And the Slow Songs About the Dead Calm in Your Arms.
#2 The Long Winters – Putting the Days to Bed.
#3 Band of Horses – Everything all the Time.
#4 Alexi Murdoch – Time Without Consequence.
#5 Built to Spill – You in Reverse.
Honorable mentions:
David Bazan – Fewer Moving Parts.
Rocky Votolato – Makers.
Mellowdrone – Box.
Calexico – Garden Ruin.
dredg – Live at the Fillmore.
Gomez – How We Operate.
Lisa Germano – In the Maybe World.
By the way, Derek, I’m with you on the Dixie Chicks. Though I get tired of correcting people who think they wrote “Landslide.”
Great CD, great group. Natalie Maines for president!
Calexico disapointed me – the fidelity wasn’t there on Garden Ruin. I also wanted Califone’s ‘Roots and Crowns’ to be better than it is.
The Blue Scholars are fishing for a deal. it’ll be a bit before we hear from them again.
Strapping Young Lad – The New Black (BC love)
Amon Amarth – With Oden on Our Side
John Petrucci – Suspended Animation
BTW, boys listen to Isis. Men listen to Nile.
For a bit of interesting cross-pollination, here’s a similar list from Ragnar Tørnquist (Anarchy Online, The Longest Journey, Dreamfall).
Shout Out Louds — How How Gaff Gaff — “the comeback” “very loud”
Clap you Hands and say Yeah — Clap your Hands and Say Yeah
and from the classics file:
Suicidal Tendancies – Prime Cuts — Institutionalized
Merry Christmas.
I prefer the hip hop stylings of optimus rhyme… nerdcore for life baby!
…Tendencies
#25 – I think Calexico felt they had to use the momentum they had after the EP with Iron & Wine to jump into a new cd. Garden Ruin isn’t the greatest cd….but it’s still better than most.
M zen,
You can’t put Clap Your Hands Say Yeah on your list because it came out in 2005.
It was on my list last year though.
Crap…I missed the premise of this thing.
It happens here all the time.
The Killers?!?! Fer chrissake.
Hey – That singer is so scared of flying He drives to Letterman or Leno from home – in Salt Lake City (the Killers are Mormons). What a pain.
I’m not as in the game as I used to be music-wise, but I gotta second the TV on the Radio endorsement. I’m actually surprised, really surprised, that it didn’t make your list, since it seems very much in line with what did. They’re a little airy and weird at times, even to the point of distraction, but when they bring it…hoo boy. Amazing energy live too.
#31 – Go see them live. They’re amazing, but have a hard time with their studio approach. Jon is my favorite drummer on the planet.
I’m taking the Decemberists’ Crane Wife as my album of the year. Yes, I’m a nerd.
I’ll eventually list my ten favorite albums to my own blog. But here’s a list of some of my favorite songs of 2006 (in no order):
“Wolf Like Me,” TV on the Radio (the best Smashing Pumpkins song ever)
“Roscoe,” Midlake (the best Blue Oyster Cult song not named “Don’t Fear the Reaper” ever)
“Crazy,” Gnarls Barkley
“We Are Sleepyheads,” Belle and Sebastian
“Fraud In the 80s,” Mates of State (they’re just so cute!)
“Great Salt Lake,” Band of Horses
“Sister Winter,” Sufjan Stevens
“My Love,” Justin Timberlake (totally blows my indie cred, but man, what a great pop song)
#26 – Liking the new Amon Amarth here too…
36 – I’ve seen them live, I’ve seen everyone live
My concert ticker is over 150, and I’m 27.
I’m not as in the game as I used to be music-wise, but I gotta second the TV on the Radio endorsement. I’m actually surprised, really surprised, that it didn’t make your list, since it seems very much in line with what did.
Personally, Cookie Mountain was too inconsistent. Kinda like Daniel Cabrera.
Here is my first draft, I will be doing the final and small review of each on my blog after I spend the week after Christmas listening and making sure this is the right order. It’s an annual tradition of mine.
1. Dainelson – Ships
2. The Decemberists – The Crane Wife
3. Starlight Mints – Drowaton
4. The Stills – Without Feathers
5. Milake – The Trials of Van Occupanther
6. Sufjan Stevens – The Avalanche
7. Indigo Girls – Despite Our Diffrences
8. The Flamming Lips – At War With the Mystics
9. Ben Harper – Both Sides of the Gun
10. The Essex Green – Cannibal Sea
Honarable Mentions:
Ani DiFranco – Reprive
Thom Yorke – The Eraser
Half-Handed Cloud – Halos and Lassos
Jars of Clay – Good Monster
Top 10 is too limiting – I listen to much more than that.
These aren’t all 2006 releases (or even recent releases), but of the discs I’ve added to my collection this year these are the one getting WinAmped most frequently:
Laverne Butler – Blues in the City
Billie Holiday – Lady in Satin
Bettye LaVette – I’ve Got My Own Hell to Raise
Ann Hampton Calloway – To Etta With Love
Gillian Welch – Time (The Revelator)
Ithamara Koorax – Serenade in Blue
Patricia Barber – Nightclub
Mahalia Jackson – In Concert Easter Sunday 1967
Otis Spann – The Blues Never Die
Por Vida: A Tribute To The Songs Of Alejandro Escovedo
Lillian Boutt̩ РMusic is my Life
Mavis Staples – Have A Little Faith
Neko Case (already covered by DMZ)
Linda Ronstadt and Ann Savoy – Adieu False heart
Ruth Brown – Fine and Mellow
Sister Rosetta Tharpe – Gospel Train
Ton̩x РOut the Box
The only topic that I love more than baseball is music.
-My Morning Jacket-Okanokos (I butchered the spelling on that) Live album/DVD
-Silversun Pickups – Carnavas
-Built to Spill – You in Reverse
-Ben Kweller’s newest
-Some By Sea – On Fire
-The Long Winters newest
-Black Rebel Motorcycle Club – Howl not sure if this came out in ‘05 or ‘06
-Mute Math newest
Glad to see good music is liked around these parts.
I also want to give nods to:
David Bazan – Fewer Moving Parts
Calexico – Garden Ruin
As honarble mention canidates.
I just don’t hear the Decemberists thing. They take me to Shakespeare like Death Cab takes me to Mr. Rogers. ugh. Also, man Colin Malloy’s voice is grating.
Agree with #45. I have the same issue with The Postal Service, too.
I forget if the last Go-Betweens albums was released in this calendar year, but as usual, their songs shimmer with melodic jangle-rock brilliance.
Do you kids ever use http://www.last.fm ?
This is the crap I listen to http://www.last.fm/user/Goodpain/
Fox Confessor Brings the Flood, Neko Case
Childish Things, James McMurtry
Ammunition, Tim Easton
Living With War, Neil Young
Live at The Fillmore East, Neil Young
The Boxing Mirror, Alejandro Escovedo
Modern Times, Bob Dylan
The Road to Escondido, JJ Cale & Eric Clapton
The Garden Ruin, Calexico
West of the West, Dave Alvin
Carnival, Kasey Chambers
Last FM!, right on, add me!
http://www.last.fm/user/JarCaines/
Someone should make a USSM group.
And, The Decemberists are brilliant, naysayers.
Ganging Up On The Sun — Guster
Light Grenades — Incubus
Not Ready To Make Nice — Dixie Chicks
10,000 Days — Tool
A Fever You Can’t Sweat Out — Panic! At the Disco
Broken Boy Soldiers — The Raconteurs
The Rising Tied — Fort Minor
Liberation Transmission — Lostprophets
Pearl Jam — Pearl Jam
zackr,
His voice is easy to get used to if you were a neutral milk hotel fan. Colin Malloy sounds eerily similar to Jeff Mangum.
I’ll make a group for USS Mariner if it’s ok with the fellas to pirate their name. I’ll email them now….
Finally! I’m starting to see some names I recognize! Shows how out of touch I am with the music scene in the past few years!
I wonder if Malloy and Jeremy Enigk speak with the english accent, or just sing with it. Strangely opposite of the Brits, who speak with it, but don’t necesarily sing with it.
#55: No, they’re just unbearably pretentious.
Colin is from Montana. His voice is just crazy, I’ve talked to him and his voice is just super nasally, and it comes across in his vocals.
#52 – your right, and ‘In the airplane over the sea’ is one of the top 5 records of the last 20 years.
I must have some strange bias.
my lastfm page
http://www.last.fm/user/bennoj61/
Maybe am partial to insanity over pretentiousness.
http://www.last.fm/group/U.S.S.%20Mariner
USS Mariner last.fm group
Wow. I feel old. I’ve never heard of most of the music listed here. I just got hooked into XM, and am finding myself listening to music that I wouldn’t've normally listened to (I think I’ve seen some of those band names on the display before). Well, when I pull myself away from the Christmas music stations, that is (I’m a Christmas music junkie for a few more days anyway)…
For those with more ‘normal’ music interests, Paul Simon’s “You’re the One” is a fantastic album. Much better than Graceland, IMHO. It’s definitely not an album you listen to only once. The more you listen, the more it grows on you. Kinda like a good IPA, I suppose. That album got me from September until the beginning of December. I must’ve listened to it 100 times. I’ll probably play it a few more times next week. With all the crap the M’s have been pulling, I keep finding myself pulling up Senorita With A Necklace Of Tears…
I too find refuge mostly in rock music’s past, and have dedicated myself to finding unjustly overlooked gems of the last 30-plus years.
My tastes are probably too esoteric to share publicly, but if you feel similarly, e-mail at thomsen1965@gmail.com and we’ll swap the names of some songs and artists.
1. Oh These Troubled Times”> by The Sea Navy. I don’t know but I thought this was a concept album about the 2006 Mariners.
2. “Crane Wife” by The Decemberists – The duet with Laura Viers is awesome
3. “Putting The Days To Bed” byThe Long Winters – Another solid release
4. “The Obliterati” by Mission Of Burma – “Nancy Regan’s Head” was stuck on repeat for weeks
5. “Meadow” byRichard Buckner – RB never goes wrong
I’ve heard that “You’re the One” is a great album, but I haven’t had a chance to hear it yet. Can’t really go wrong with Paul Simon though..
By the way the Dixie Chicks movie, Shut Up & Sing, is great. I just saw it at the Uptown on lower Queen Anne. May not be playing there much longer.
I’d also add Eliza Gilkyson’s Paradise Hotel…best songs about Iraq and Bush that anyone’s sung–kind of like an Austin-based Neko Case (who’s also one of my faves).
This probably isn’t the greatest comparison in the world, but if you like Neko Case, I’d suggest Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris’ release All the Road Running this year. I enjoyed both, anyway.
I thought that The Information was a solid Beck offering, and I especially liked the track Neausea. I haven’t gotten around to purchasing The Mountain Goats’ latest offering, either, but I’ve liked pretty much all of their stuff.
Good to see some Drive-By Truckers love. They’re great.
1. Sonic Youth:Rather Ripped
Sonic Youth has finally aged a bit. Those looking for massive feedback and endless jamming might be a bit disappointed. Those looking for a groove heavy pop album with hooks will be pleasantly surprised that it is Sonic Youth delivering your request. I listened to this album non-stop for about three months and as I listen to it now it’s hard for me to believe these fresh sounding riffs and short jams were created by some forty-something year-old musicians.
Stand out tracks: Incinerate, Sleeping Around, and Pink Steam
2. The Raconteurs: Broken Boy Soldiers
My hetero-man-worship of Jack White is not a secret. I am jealous of everything he plays the same way I used to marvel at Jimmy Page.
This isn’t the White Stripes of course and that is just fine. Jack White playing with a bass player and another competent guitar player/singer in Brenden Benson just raises the rock bar another level. It’s a fuller and poppier sound compared to the Stripes and this album does not sound like it’s just a side project at all. The harmonies are priceless as are the dueling lead guitars. If anything, I hope Jack continues to bounce between the two bands in the future because the Raconteurs are that good.
Standout tracks: Hands, Intimate Secretary, and Level.
3. Beck: The Information
I’ll keep this brief. If you like Beck you’ll love this album. It sounds like Guerro, Sea Change, Mellow Gold, and Odelay all in one. The Information demands headphones due to all the layers of sound effects in each song.
Standout Tracks:Elevator, I Think I’m in Love, and Nausea.
4. Artic Monkeys: Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not
Like The Clash, the Artic Monkeys mix classic rock, punk, pop, and reggae all together and still create their own sound. I honestly think the most apt comparison is Sublime minus the rap influnce. Most songs are two-three minutes long and switch tempos and genres multiple times. It’s hard to believe these guys are only in their early 20’s.
Standout tracks: I Bet You Look Good on the Dance Floor, A Certain Romance, and Fake Tales of San Fransisco.
5. Built To Spill: You In Reverse
‘Goin’ Against Your Mind’ doesn’t even have any vocals until the 2:04 mark and it still demolishes everything on the last Built To Spill record and pretty much trashes any other rock song released this year. This song has melody, a hook, and some amazing fuzzed out jamming courtesy of Doug and company. It is essentially two chords and yet they can still make it sound exciting for 8:41. Fantastic.
The rest of the album cruises along nicely with pop songs like ‘Saturday’, riff powered songs like ‘Conventional Wisdom’, and the reggae vibe of ‘The Wait’. Most jam bands turn me off because their songs turn into masturbatory guitar excercises in excess or the excess of too many instruments receiving equal billing (“Ok boys, let’s give the violin guy his turn. Now the Obo. Great. Keyboards? Sweet.”). Built To Spill gets in and out at perfect times on You In Reverse and it’s their first album that really showcases what a great live band they can be on most nights.
Standout tracks: See Above
Alright, there were so many good records I get to list the five records I loved that didn’t make the top five.
6. Pearl Jam: Pearl Jam
Their best since Yield, maybe since ten.
7. Wolfmother: Wolfmother
Combine Zep and Sabbath with large hair.
8. Neko Case:Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
I am in love with her and her voice.
9. Yeah Yeah Yeahs: Show Your Bones
Punk, pop, and Avant Garde Rock.
10. The Rapture:Pieces of the People We Love
Their rock disco starts where Franz Ferdinand stops. Catchy and moveable.
Hey USS Mariner fans: Feel free to list your top albums on my website as well. I had no idea there were so many of us with similar musical tastes.
http://kickeditinthesun.blogspot.com/
One more thing to add (#52 and #58)…Neutral Milk Hotel is amazing.
Jar #41
I’m just glad someone mentioned the goddess. I’m a huge Ani fan!
I love Neko Case’s Tacoma song. Need to get more of their stuff.
Cat Power is wonderful, as well.
The best album that came out in 2006 to me was Belle and Sebastian’s “The New Pursuit”. Ellegarden’s “Eleven Firecrackers” and Garnet Crow’s “The Twilight Valley” are close behind it.
I’m really behind on music in general, though, and I tend not to buy albums until they’ve been out for a while anyway… I’m not sure I can think of ten albums I’ve bought this year that actually came out in 2006, even though I still bought a ton of CDs.
I’ve always appreciated Cut Chemist’s work, especially the work with Ozomatli. Ozomatli will have a new album out in 2007, “Don’t Mess with the Dragon”, BTW.
Anyway, my Top 5 Albums of 2006:
1. Tool “The Pot”
—I don’t mind if Tool takes 5 years to release an album. As long as it’s good. And yes, “10,000 Days” is good.
2. Iron Maiden “A Matter of Life and Death”
—If only Maiden toured the South.
3. Gnarls Barkley “St. Elsewhere”
—As good as “Crazy” was, I’m a bigger fan of “Smiley Faces.”
4. Pearl Jam “Pearl Jam”
—The opening track, “Life Wasted”, told me that Pearl Jam was back. And thank God for that.
5. Rebel Meets Rebel “Rebel Meets Rebel”
—David Allan Coe and Pantera (minus Phil Anselmo). Who knew?
Re: #73: I meant “10,000 Days.”
But “The Pot” was my favorite song of 2006.
#73 – Pick up Boris’s Pink album (comes with blotter paper in the J card). In….sane.
Music List! What a great diversion from yet another off season of perplexing, crushing moves by the M’s.
Black Flag, Blue Cheer, Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band, Charles Mingus, Chris & Cosey, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Dead Kennedys, Devo, Drunk Horse, Eagles Of Death Metal, Elvis Costello, Galaxie 500, Gary Numan, Howlin’ Wolf, Ice Cube, Kinks, Kurtis Blow, Kyuss, Lou Reed, Lydia Lunch, Madonna, Mark Lanegan, Mekons, Minor Threat, Mission of Burma, Modest Mouse, Neil Young, New Order, Nico, Nirvana, Peaches, Plasmatics, Psychic Ills, Roscoe Holcomb, Sebadoh, Siouxsie & The Banshees, Sonic Youth, Soundgarden, Stooges, Suicide, T.S.O.L., The Beastie Boys, The Dils, The Normal, The Ramones, The Slits, The Stooges, The White Stripes, Thelonious Monk, This Heat, Throbbing Gristle, Wipers
I’m old.
I was at Sasquatch when God unleashed all his fury upon Neko Case. Check out a pic I took right before the heaven’s opened up http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v192/goodpain/IMG_0247.jpg
#76: I’m old.
But young nevertheless when compared with my list.!!
Mine:
1. Bob Dylan – “Modern Times”
2. Saves The Day – “Sound The Alarm”
3. Tom Waits – “Orphans”
4. Sparta – “Threes”
5. Lady Sovereign – “Public Warning”
6. Moondog – “Moondog” (the Walter Schreifels dude…gorilla biscuits, quicksand, rival schools, walking concert)
7. Beastie Boys – O-Scope Cam (not an album but fun to watch them record their next album for 2007 or for their standards 2012 O-Scope Cam
I have to say that I used to love, love, love Sonic Youth, even through the Washing Machine/Thousand Leaves/etc period, but I cannot stand the fact that because their albums are crippled by design, I can’t listen to them on my computer, which is where I do the vast majority of my work.
Good call on the Soul Position addition. Anything RJD2 touches is gold.
Zion I & The Grouch – “Heroes in the City of Dope” is another hip-hop album of the year for me.
FYI – Neko Case is a fellow alum of Stadium High School in Tacoma. Who knew that she had all that talent.
I second the Ozomatli recommendation. I produced their first live DVD and have not met a better group of guysin the music world.
I only loaded “Reena” and “Incinerate” to my iPod from the newest Sonic Youth…my all-times faves are still “Dirty”, “Goo”, “Daydream Nation”, and “Experimental Jet-Set” was ok. All this music talk reminds me that my very own facedownfall.com is in dire need of some attention & updates by me. My top 10 albums was last updated in 2003.
77-
I was at that show…all three days…but up on the hill during that day. Couldn’t find cover and me and the pregnant wife got blasted with hail that put my camera out of commission until I got home. I have pictures of the hail, but me and posting links don’t mix.
Great show, but last year’s was better IMO.
My favorite set was from We Are Scientists
BTW…Silversun Pickups will be performing with Snow Patrol here in awhile in Seattle.
#76 great bands!! needs some Minor Threat though. Also it’s just Beastie Boys not The Beastie Boys…the bio ..sorry I’m a huge fan.
80 –
Washing Machine and Thousand Leaves are both on oink in mp3 format
So this is why the front office doesn’t take USSM seriously. You all are a bunch of unemployed, scooter-riding, tight-jeaned hipsters!
I’ve always regreted that I’ve never been to one of the feeds, but now I know that I have neither the black-rimmed glasses, nor the vintage clothing needed to fit in.
I don’t even have an obscure band name to drop here
#80 and #83-
I also enjoy the old Sonic Youth as well, specifically Daydream Nation, Dirty, and Washing Machine. It’s all good stuff. But it’s really nice that this new album is quite a change for them in song structure and song length. They still sound like Sonic Youth but, much like My Morning Jacket did last year with Z, they really wrote songs this time instead of just jams.
(Again I like both forms of course)
By the way, the MMJ live album is fantastic.
Umm, I don’t think I’ve seen any tight-jeans, black rimmed glasses people at any of the feeds. And I’m probably as far from that as humanly possible.
You can’t put USSM in a box. You can’t even put the authors in a box. Between Derek, Jeff, Jason, and I, you have every possible political/religious/social extreme you can imagine. The only way we could be any more diverse would be to have a member of Al-Qaeda start blogging with us.
#87
Here is the best album compilation list from many national critics. You will see that many of these bands are not even close to obscure nationally.
http://www.metacritic.com/music/bests/2006.shtml#topten
Sonic Youth lost me with Washing Machine. I’m more of a Sister, Daydream Nation fan. Psychic Ills are from NYC, I think, and are new and are working in the same vein as the Youth. Look for them on Emusic, a great source for indie music. And that’s indie music of every race, creed and color. Bluegrass, jazz, rock, hip hop, country, dance, whatever.
#75 – Boris is awesome. I even paid through the nose for a copy of Vein.
#87 – 45 y/o, employed with a comfortable salary, and never been considered hip by anyone.
Have to say that the Black Keys and Raconteurs are amazing! Magic Potion is a great album and if you like it, you’re gonna love Rubber Factory. Also, you guys should all try The Bigger Lovers… kind of a Who inspired band and they rock. You can’t download a lot of their stuff (except single mp3’s), but buying one of their albums would be well worth it. More additions: Jurassic 5, The Islands, Supercreep, Dispatch (Bang Bang is probably my favorite album of all time), The Pixies, The Replacements… I don’t know, I’m trying to put stuff here I don’t think everyone has heard of…
The only way we could be any more diverse would be to have a member of Al-Qaeda start blogging with us.
Derka derka der, mohammad, jihad.
So this is why the front office doesn’t take USSM seriously. You all are a bunch of unemployed, scooter-riding, tight-jeaned hipsters!
Odd, considering I’m only one of the three, and it’s because I’m fat.
The only way we could be any more diverse would be to have a member of Al-Qaeda start blogging with us.
HOW COULD THE INFIDEL BAVASI TRADE DOYLE (PEACE BE UPON HIM) FOR A WASHED-UP GUY WHO COULD NOT EVEN MAKE THE HAJ IF THE ANGELS CARRIED HIM? DEATH TO HIM AND HIS ZIONIST CONSPIRACY TO KEEP THE MARINERS IN BAD PITCHING! OSAMA HIMSELF HAS PRONOUNCED A FATWAH UPON THIS FRONT OFFICE FOR HE IS TIRED OF THEIR UNHOLY WISHY-WASHINESS!
The older I get, the more difficult it is to absorb what I’ve already got in the collection, much less keep expanding it. Plus for semi-professional reasons I keep buying really, really old stuff like Mary Lou Williams and Lester Young (I recommend the Aladdin Sessions on Blue Note).
My favorite 2006 release:
Metheny/Mehldau, Pat Metheny & Brad Mehldau, two masters in peak conversational form. Two tracks with rhythm section of Larry Grenadier and Jeff Ballard are excellent, and the last tune, “Make Peace,” is emphatic and ecstatic at the same time.
And Jeff, it is nice to know that one of you is a Pernice Brothers fan. Haven’t heard the new one yet, but I’ve got all the rest and have caught them live a couple of times.
Re 87: Just poking a little fun at the many indie fans here. I’ve heard a good amount of the music mentioned, and most of it is really good (though not my taste).
I’m a progressive metal fan.
Opeth
Dream Theater
Pain of Salvation
Ghost Reveries was a huge disappointment.
Still Life is still their best metal work to date.
Some of the best albums I heard this year:
Ray LaMontagne, Till the Sun Turns Black
Built to Spill, You in Reverse
John Mayer, Continuum
Built to Spill, You in Reverse
Shawn Colvin, These Four Walls
Lindsey Buckingham, Under the Skin
Gomez, How We Operate
Golden Smog, Another Fine Day
Cat Power, The Greatest
The Black Keys, Magic Potion as well as Chulahoma
Some that just didn’t work for me:
The Decemberists, The Crane Wife
David Gilmour, On and Island
Arctic Monkeys, Whatever….
The Raconteurs, Broken Boy Soldiers
Belle and Sebastian, The Life Pursuit
Josh Rouse, Subtitulo
Jeremy Enigk, World Waits
Finally: Baseball and music? How about:
Dave Matthews Band, Live at Fenway Park
-Anything Incubus. I’m a tool like that. Light Grenades is my album de jour. And S.C.I.E.N.C.E. will be on my gym playlist for the rest of my natural life.
-Simon and Garfunkel. I saw Paul Simon play on Doubleday Field in Cooperstown last 4th of July and I’ve been unusually into them since. Me and Julio hate Bill Bavasi
I can’t believe no one’s mentioned Yo La Tengo – I Am Not Afraid Of You And I Will Beat Your Ass. One of my favorite records of the year, and easily the best title.
Some others that haven’t already been mentioned:
Brightblack Morning Light – s/t
Liars – Drum’s Not Dead
Destroyer – Rubies
Thao Nguyen – Like The Linen
Ms. John Soda – Notes And The Like
Psapp – The Only Thing I Ever Wanted
Sparks – Hello Young Lovers
Lansing Dreiden – The Dividing Island
White Magic – Dat Rosa Mel Apibus
Lavender Diamond – Cavalry of Light
Fiery Furnaces – Bitter Tea
King Khan & BBQ Show – What’s For Dinner?
And if reissues count, Pavement’s Wowee Zowee and Dead Meadow’s self-titled.
Ah..washing machine by Sonic Youth..I’ve always preferred the radio edit of “Diamond Sea” then the 25 minute album version…..I think The Mars Volta is doing the very long jam songs these days….their new opus was not as good as Frances The Mute….well at least I’ll get to see Doyle when the Nats play the O’s in an exhibition game here in Norfolk in March 2007. The Orioles have affialiated with the Norfolk Tides this year.
Don’t feel bad Paul, I’m not old and I’ve never heard of about 98% of the bands listed here.
For you hip hop fans, my top three albums of the year…
Cunninglinguists – A piece of Strange
Lupe Fiasco – Food & Liquor
Ghostface – Fishscale
Dave, we should talk Christian rock … it’s virtually all I’ve listened to all year. Casting Crowns, Caedmon’s Call, Third Day, Audio Adrenaline, Todd Agnew … not so much Switchfoot, though ….
Jim – the Newsboys are right up there on my list. They’re probably too commercial for some folks and too disposable pop for others, but man it seems like they put out a new album every year, and have a different approach to every album. They’re pretty sweet. I’m pretty sure PFR is still retired, but they put out some pretty good stuff, too.
God I’m old. Way old. Unbelievably (expletive) old.
If you guys like Fishscale, you should check out Ghostface’s new album “More Fish”. I really liked Fishscale, but More Fish is amazing.
Wow – “Blood Mountain”? I’m impressed. This is probably the best metal album of the last five years, and my Album of the Year, just edging out “Return to Cookie Mountain” and Stadium Arcadium”. And please do give “Rather Ripped” another listen on whatever format you have to listen to it on, because it’s their best album since “Daydream Nation”…
drew,
You’ve gotta be kidding me… Does it rank up with with Supreme Clientele and Ironman?
What other albums do you like this year? Did you hear the new Nas or the Roots or anything else?
110-
Yes, Rather Ripped is fantastic. Play it on 8 track if you have to.
Mostly solid non-controversial picks, but, c’mon, what is this, a Peter Gammons column? I almost can’t read the man for fear of having to suffer through glowing praise of 3 Doors Down’s latest. Then there’s Bill Simmons and his frat boy infatuation with Pearl Jam (which, in combination with all the hollywood/celebrity crap, accounts for 85 percent of his word count these days). This kind of shootin-the-shit post doesn’t incense me too much on a blog, but I can’t stand it when paid sportswriters write about their misguided aesthetic tastes.
PLEASE HELP
http://www.musicforamerica.org/node/113316
The city of Seattle is trying to shut down all ages shows.
Sammy:
Kiss my ass. It’s the off-season, it’s slow, it’s been a depressing slog since the season ended, and we wrote something kinda happy and cool, and then we had a pleasant enough discussion going. No one put a gun to your head and made you read this, and the headline should have warned you off it if it’s not your thing.
Let us have a reasonably happy post.
Jim,
Honestly, the two CDs linked, that’s literally about all I listen to. I’m just not a big music guy. The Jonathan Helser album was in my car CD player for about four months straight before I got Stephen’s album last week.
So, that conversation with me would be pretty short. I will agree, however, that Switchfoot isn’t very good.
113-
Frat Boys know two or three Pearl Jam albums tops and most fans cannot stand it when the Frat Boy fans show up at the shows. (They are the ones screaming “Play Jeremy or Evenflow.”)
Associating Pearl Jam and their fans with frat boys is beyond insulting to the band and their fans.
DMZ, I don’t have a clue what any of that music you listen to is, but I am still Your Fan.
Actually, Jim, you and I ought to talk, too — sounds like we probably have some similar listening patterns. (And PositivePaul — PFR isn’t really retired, except from touring; they’ll put out another album when they feel like it.) I’m looking forward to Good Monsters, but then I’ve always been into Jars.
(Incidentally, in re that and the vote above for Sufjan’s latest {which I was glad to see} — did y’all know that there’s a connection between Sufjan and Jars? Sufjan was a fellow English major at Hope, a couple years behind me, and Dan Haseltine’s younger brother Matt was I think the next year behind him. Matt played {keyboard?} in Sufjan’s first band, Marzuki, and I know of at least one occasion where Dan Haseltine showed up to help set up for a concert of theirs.)
As for obscure band names, I’d be tempted to throw a few out there, but they’re all Scottish groups with names like Shooglenifty and Bongshang.
I am breaking the rules by mentioning a 2005 album, so I’ll compromise by making it the only one I bring up.
Andrew Bird – The Mysterious Production of Eggs
Check it out, it’ll win you over.
First, I’ll get right to the name-dropping: I knew Neko Case back in the day before she was even singing. She was a Tacoma music scenester/groupie and hung out with my buddies that I was in a band with back in the early 90’s. The Girl Trouble song “Neko Likes to Rock” is about her. It’s just a trip (and VERY cool!) that that young, aimless girl turned into such an excellent singer.
I recently heard the band +/-, and really liked what I heard. I’m asking for their CD for Christmas.
Lastly, I’m sorry but Sonic Youth suck ass live. I like their catchier songs, but the two times I’ve seen them live it was just an hour-long noisefest. Not my cup of tea, unfortunately.
Jimmie
Jim and Ancient, you guys should check out Derek Webb. He is an amazing indie singer-songwriter who writes wonderfully blunt, passionate, and honest songs.
http://www.myspace.com/derekwebb
I have become a huge fan in recent years.
Wosrt of the year?: “You keep running for another place. To find that saving graaaaaaaaaacce!”
Re: Jar — can’t speak for Jim, but I’ve been a fan of Caedmon’s Call since their indie days, so I’m well familiar with Derek Webb (and also his wife, Sandra McCracken — imho, she’s the better artist of the two, if less well known). Did you take the chance to download Mockingbird for free while it was available on his website?
I actually paid pull price for it about a year earlier, but I love that album.
And yes, Sandra is great, I can get into her live much more then on the albums though, they seem to make her more “pop/rock” in the studio then the raw live sound that she does so well.
It’s great stuff, no question. With Sandra McCracken, she has a new one out recently — haven’t picked it up yet, but it sounds like maybe not her strongest work; I’d go back a couple of years and start with Gypsy Flat Road.
Sorry, Jar, replied too soon. That seemed to be the complaint about her latest, especially.
If you like sacred and you’re also into folks/bluegrass, Gospel Live from Mountain Stage is an excellent selection.
If you’ve got more of a gospel bent, the Paula’s Greatest Gospel Hits compilations have some real fine but obscure pieces, such as an Aretha Franklin rendition of “While the Blood Runs Warm in Your Veins”, accompanying herself on the piano and probably recorded when she was in her early 20’s.
Yeah, we actually have that one. My wife is a bigger McCracken fan then I am. I really liked The Builder and the Architect, if you haven’t you shoud find that one. It actaully made #6 on last years top 10 list.
Oh man, I had no idea we had so many indie fans on here, that’s outstanding.
DMZ mentioned some of my faves from this year (Love is All, I’m from Barcelona), but here are some others:
Casiotone for the Painfully Alone: Etiquette (awesome good)
Beirut: Gulag Orkestar (awesome pseudo-slavic good)
Figurines: Skeleton (awesome Danish good)
The Whitest Boy Alive: Dreams (awesome Norwegian good)
The Mountain Goats: Get Lonely (holy cow good)
Regarding Yo La Tengo: I love, love love them (and the name being a baseball reference is a plus!) but I’ve only heard one song off the new record. I have been listening to older YLT stuff quite a lot.
Regarding The Pernice Brothers: the new record is great, and I think I might even like it better than the shimmering brilliance that is “Yours, Mine and Ours.”
Alt-country aficionados might also enjoy Joe Pernice’s earlier band, the Scud Mountain Boys. They do a tremendous version of the classic tune “Wichita Lineman,” which you might remember from Glen Campbell’s rendition.
See? I dropped Glen Campbell’s name! I’m old, too!
Gob Iron (Jay Farrar & Anders Parker): Death Songs For The Living
I can’t believe no one mentioned:
Never Slow Down, Never Grow Old – Peter Gammons
The unintentional comedy is off the scale!
taro,
I don’t know about More Fish being one of his all time greats. I haven’t sat down and taken the whole album in, but from what I have heard of it I have liked. I guess saying it was amazing was too strong, my bad on that.
As for other stuff this year, I haven’t heard much. I didn’t even know Nas had new stuff, now I really want to hear it. I picked up Kingdome Come and I have to say it was wildly over hyped and not that good, but there were a few tracks I liked.
Also,
Cunninglinguists are awesome…
What about you? What is some stuff you like?
I gave up on Christian rock sometime in the mid 1990s. Jars of Clay still sounds too much like a Toad The Wet Sprocket covr band.
About the only Christian artist I listen to is Mark Heard.
As for the Hold Steady, I liked them more when they were trying to channel the Fall and not the E Street Band. The new album just isn’t doing it for me.
And since Sonic Youth and Sister have been mentioned, I feel obliged to link to this YouTube video.
I don’t listen to a lot of new stuff, but if you like power blues Chasing the Sun by Indigenous is really good.
121-
Sonic Youth has performed some of the best live shows I’ve ever seen (and I have been to 300+ shows, big and small). If you aren’t into their records it probably is not enjoyable, but if you like their music it’s very entertaining.
By the way, I don’t think the title of the post was “Ripping on Bands.” Man we aren’t even talking baseball and the posts turn negative…
I love Sonic Youth. They have performed two of my top 20 live shows of all time.
Also, one of my worst. They’re like Dylan, I think — capable of both bringing one to transcendence and inflicting utter misery.
The Girl Trouble song “Neko Likes to Rockâ€
Pedantfilter: It’s called “Neko Loves Rock n Roll”. Girl Trouble are the best band to ever come out of Tacoma, and that includes the Wailers.
As for 2006, I feel like a poser saying it, at the age of 37, but My Chemical Romance put out one of my favorite albums this year. It’s angsty teen emo meets Wall-era Pink Floyd meets Meat Loaf, and it’s really damn good.
Another candidate for my favorite 2006 record is Bruce Springsteen’s We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions. A moire joyful noise than Jacob’s Ladder, you will not hear.
Obligatory Mission of Burma plug here.
Sonic Youth: I like the new album far, far better than anything since Washing Machine, but it’s still no Sister. Which is not a bad thing at all – the new album’s quite good.
I love, love, love my fiancee to death, but if Neko Case somehow lost her mind and said she’d marry me, I’d drop the future mrs. pdb like a flaming bag of dung. I have said as much to the lovely fiancee, and she wholeheartedly agrees with me (her exact words: how can I compete with a gorgeous woman who writes great songs, has an otherworldly voice, tells great jokes, and drinks scotch straight up?), as long as she gets free records out of the deal. This is why I love my fiancee.
I love Sonic Youth. They have performed two of my top 20 live shows of all time. Also, one of my worst.
Was the worst one the show at Bumbershoot in the late 90’s? After seeing them at the Paramount in about `93, and being so blown away I called it the most revelatory experience an atheist can have, I saw the Bumbershoot show and left after about 35 minutes, it was that awful.
Yes, that was the one! I also left early, after the skronky 12 minute rendition of “Six Hits of Sunshine.” Unlistenable.
Oh my god, that was a horrid show. I spent weeks beforehand hyping that show to a friend, then hours afterwards apologizing for how bad it was…
Well, I knew I should have Googled it.
Counting on my memory of things from 15+ years ago is sketchy at best.
Also, #138 my intention wasn’t to rip on Sonic Youth in general. Heck, I like their records. I was just stunned (not in a good way) when I saw them; I guess they didn’t live up to the expectations I had from reading about their shows before ever seeing them.
A perfect example of this phenomenon is my favorite band of all time, The Replacements. I saw them quite a few times, and they put on one of my favorite shows ever, and were also one ot the worst bands I ever saw at a different show during the same year. I did cut them some slack, since I worshipped Paul Westerberg at that time in my life.
Jimmie
Well I feel young now…
Muse – Black Holes and Revelations (I love Muse)
Brand New – The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me (I swear I’m not an emo kid, they’re just making really good music these days)
Metric – Live it Out (it came out in ‘06 in England, k)
Shiny Toy Guns – We Are Pilots (nice dancy electroindie)
BRMC – Howl (I don’t even remember if this came out last year or not but it’s really good).
Natalie Maines for president!
Noooooooooooooooooooo!
The Dixie Chicks were good back in the day. I really haven’t listened to their most recent album because it hasn’t been getting play on country radio (their old music gets played regularly). My assumption is that they abandoned country music, which sucks if that’s true.
Cripes.
Reading this thread is making me tempted to run out and spend an unreasonable amount of money at Easy Street.
darc mind
cold war kids
both excellent. darc mind was made in 96 but due to various disputes with artists, label, etc didn’t get released until 2006. great stuff.
cold war kids, i don’t know how to describe them, indie rock maybe.
1. Dixe Chicks are courageous and Rock
2. Alison Krauss & Union Station – Live
3. Best of Chris Isaak
4. Alvin Lee & Ten Years After – “Pure Blues”
5. Hound Dog Taylor and the Houserockers
Probably a little old school, some serious blues.
Long time reader, first post: I must confess it is because I see Mason Jennings’ name mentioned.
1. Ooberman – Carried Away
Pure dreamers with glorious melodies.
2. Mason Jennings – Boneclouds
Not as good as Use Your Voice, but Jennings still has that rare ability of being both cool and warm at the same time. Moreover, to a cynic like me, his simple stories and messages are astonishingly touching.
3. Frank Black – Fast Man Raider Man
Black Francis goes to Memphis. Overlong, but at least the first half is great. Pixies fans will probably hate it, though.
4. David Kitt – Not Fade Away
Irish songwriter’s comeback album. Similar to Jennings in temperament, just with more fire. “Up to You” is the most catchy song of the year.
5. Mark Pickerel – Snake in the Radio
Solo debut of Screaming Trees’ former drummer. Pickerel does not have a characteristic dark voice like Nick Cave, but his singing is really suitable to this well-written, low-key country/blues-tinged album.
The rest of my 2006 choices.
141 and 142-
Was that show in like 97 or 98? That WAS bad and I am a huge fan.
The 2002 show at Bumbershoot during the Murray Street was much better.
Anyone catch them at Western during the Washing Machine tour?
God, I messed up the links:
Ooberman
Mason Jennings
David Kitt
Mark Pickerel
I think the Sonic Youth show was in 1998. It was brutal. I’d rather listen to Rick Rizzs announce a benefit car wash.
I saw the WWU show, though, which was quite good.
It’s also good to know that Mason Jennings’ newest is good. “California” and “Butterfly” are two of my favorite songs of the last five years.
TIF’s definitions:
Old – noun – When you stop liking the music they’re playing on the radio.
Or “you listen to the radio”
Jeff – the new YLT is brilliant. I thought they were losing it with Summer Sun, but they’ve rebounded nicely.
Neko fans – the New Pornographers are selling a live CD on their website that you should check out. It includes a hidden cover of Fleetwood Mac’s Dreams, and she apparently screws up the lyrics and starts laughing half way through (I don’t know the original well enough to know the difference), but she pulls it off. It’s a great show and recording overall, except that Carl Newman shouldn’t be allowed to sing in public.
Neko Case could ask me to buy Mariners season tickets and I’d do it.
DMZ:
I totally understand where you’re going with this post. And, hey, it’s nice to know that you listen to the same musika that I listen to. I’m not trying to start anything.
That said, I was just trying to comment on this weird trend of sportswriters talking about non-topic issues (i.e. music, sex-pot celebrities, etc.) as a way of filling the space. I actually feel kinda bad bringing it up in this forum because I 100% respect your baseball analysis and, besides, I like most of your music picks (which is more than I can say for any other baseball writer that I regularly read(.
I just thought it was a weird trend, and thought to comment on it. I’m not trying to diminish the conversation in any way.
Fun post and discussion, though I don’t recognize a lot (I’m born 1969 so I guess I’m one of the more senior readers).
I guess I really need to check out Neko Case.
I think the Scissor Sisters deserve to be mentioned.
With as depressing as this offseason has been, I think Derek’s trying to lower the potential suicide rate.
Speaking of which, both the Wipers original song “Potential Suicide” and the Napalm Beach cover from “Eight Songs For Greg Sage and the Wipers” are tremendous.
So Jeff, I guess I have to make the Okinawa comment of: did you hear Orange Range’s new album yet? I haven’t, though I actually like the singles off it I’ve heard so far. They’re pretty hit-or-miss with me in general; I find half of their stuff absolutely brilliant and the other half to be complete garbage, so the albums are often frustrating. I saw them interviewed a while back, during which one guy in the group was singing parody lyrics to their hit song Shanghai Honey, and the leader’s just like, “Dude, we’re from Okinawa. Of *course* we’re weird.”
159
Scissor Sisters at the Showbox this year was a blast. Fun band!
Maybe I am getting old, but there were precious few releases in 2006 that I thought were outstanding. But, there were a few songs that instantly made my all-time top 50:
Flaming Lips – The Sound of Failure
TV On the Radio – Wolf Like Me
Black Angels – Bloodhounds on My Trail
Sparklehorse – Shade and Honey
Favorite CDs:
Grandaddy – Just Like the Fambly Cat
Sonic Youth – Rather Ripped
Built to Spill – You in Reverse
Highly anticipated CDs from my favorite groups that, sadly, mostly sucked:
Yo La Tengo – I Am Not Afraid of You and Will Beat Your Ass
Sparklehorse – Dreamt For Light Years in the Belly of a Mountain
Lindsey Buckingham – Under the Skin
Nick Cave – Abbatoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus (2004 release, but I just got it)
I see where two of these are mentioned on best-ofs above. YLT may be, after early Radiohead, my favorite right now, but this one continued where Summer Sun left off – lifeless melodies. Mark Linkous of Sparklehorse hasn’t been the same since he kicked his drug habit. And, Buckingham has lost his ability to write a hook.
That said, for anyone who’s a fan of Radiohead, the Replacements, REM, Patti Smith, PJ Harvey, Elvis Costello and the Clash would probably love previous YLT and Sparklehorse efforts (check out Flaming Lips and Mercury Rev if you haven’t already as well). If you want a taste, there are a few videos of each on Youtube.
Of course if you want to check out the Flaming Lips, you really should be buying a copy of “The Soft Bulletin.” It’s one of my top five albums of all time.
Also, for all of you who like the Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, do yourself a favor and buy the first two Jesus and Mary Chain albums.
This is completely off topic but….. Happy Holidays everyone!!!!!!!!
Here we go (in alphabetical):
Band of Horses – “Everything All the Time”
Black Heart Procession – “The Spell”
Built to Spill – “You in Reverse”
Mono – “You Are There”
The Shins – “Wincing the Night Away” (I know it comes out in 2007, but it’s so good, it needs to be mentioned here)
Tenacious D – “The Pick of Destiny”
I would have had to throw out my Who collection long ago if, personally, I had such a policy.
I’m racking brain to think what music I bought this year that was labeled “2006.” Lets see, The new Pearl Jam was great (I bought to copies 1 vinyl, 1 CD), as was the Springsteen Seger Sessions, the new Who record was quite good too. I was disappointed by the new Petty album… The new Audioslave record was ok, actually similar to their last in structure: filler in the center bookended by strong opening and closing tracks. Oh– and– the Chili Peppers record blew. Other then, I don’t know, I’m not with it.
Deanna, I don’t have the new record, though I plan to get it soon. And — as I’ve been meaning to tell you — I’ve driven by the park the Fighters play at during spring training twice. I’ll try to get some pictures in february.
boy, have I not been listening to anything new. I think the closest I come is the Elvis/Allen Toussaint Katrina album, The river in reverse …
I’m still unsure of how I feel about it. Most of the bands I like aren’t exactly rolling in the money. A little bit of extra cash from licensing probably helps them out a lot. That being said, hearing Outback do a version of Of Montreal’s “Wraith Pinned to the Mist (And Other Games)” is a bit surreal.
Re #136: dw, I have to say, I think you’re too hard on Jars (makes me wonder what of their stuff you’ve heard), but anyone who’s a fan of Mark Heard is a friend of mine. (Fortunately, I do have other friends as well, or I’d be a very lonely man; I’ve never understood why he was so little known.) If it weren’t for the unfortunate fact that he’s been dead for fourteen years, I would have been sure to mention him.
Re #150: Haven’t heard Not Fade Away yet, but I’m glad to hear it’s out — David Kitt’s great.
Did I really just write that?
(Closes bedroom door, hides in shame…)
Pretty Interesting!
I admit I started skimming after awhile but I didn’t notice any mention of
The Raconteurs – ” Broken Boy Soldiers”- a really excellent collaboration between Jack White and Brendan Benson with the Greenhornes.
Also loved Michael Franti & Spearhead -”Yell Fire”
Yo La Tengo’s newest I really like and while it’s maybe not as good as some of their earlier stuff it does sport the years best title ” I’m not afraid of you and I will beat your ass”
The Black Keys-”Magic Potion” YES!
163: Sparklehorse? Wow, I saw them open for a decline phase Matthew Sweet in 1995 or 1996 and thought I would never hear that name again.
Dude, it sucks being late to the party.
The only album I have to offer at this point in the conversation, the only one I listened to substantially and hasn’t yet been mentioned:
Jolie Holland, Springtime Can Kill You
If you like Cat Power or M. Ward, it’s in the same ballpark.
173: Matthew Sweet and Sparklehorse? That would be a hell of a show. Sweet put out some of the best stuff around a decade or so ago. Some of his new stuff is okay, but not up to Altered Beast standards.
Sparklehorse is definitely still around, and up to this last release, going strong. I first heard one of their songs on an internet radio station and was hooked. They (actually he – Mark Linkous *is* Sparklehorse) can do gentle ballads and heavy rockers equally convincingly, which most bands can’t pull off. I could live without the Mr. Microphone vocals they do on almost every song, but that’s a minor quibble. I’d have to list Good Morning Spider as their best.
And, I agree on Soft Bulletin. Absolutely fantastic – a classic.
Can anyone tell me if Clipse lives up to the hype?
petec,
My problem with Matthew Sweet is that he always has 1-2 good singles on each album. And those singles are just about perfect (“Girlfriend”, “Sick of Myself”, etc). The problem is that the rest of the album just doesn’t stand up.
Of course there is nothing better than rocking out to “Girlfriend” on Guitar Hero 2!
arbeck,
I tend to agree, with the exception of his incredible 3 album run in the early ’90s: Girlfriend, Altered Beast and 100% Fun. After that, and especially his most recent two efforts, they have been 2 great singles + filler.
Muse’s latest, Black Holes and Revelations, is absolutely fantastic. I liked muse a lot before but this album is on a completely different level.
Why hasn’t anyone mentioned Sand Frog or Ben Broussard? Maybe we can arrange a duet with Neko Case and get some chart action for these fellas.
Whoa, way late to this…
but I’d add Centro-Matic’s ‘Fort Recovery’ to the list. Great band, great live show, very good record (though not up to the standards of All the Falsest Hearts Can Try). Derek, if you liked the Drive By Truckers, you’ll like Centro-Matic more.
Band of Horses deserves all the plaudits they’ve received; too bad they’re moving out of the area. Maybe Dave can catch them now, though.
In all, I thought many of the records I looked forward to disappointed a bit (incl. Cat Power, Jenny lewis, YLT, Camera Obscura)… but some small little releases partially made up for that: Voxtrot’s Mothers, Sisters, Daughters and Wives; The Awkward Stage’s Heaven Is for Easy Girls.
Petec, honestly, the only thing I remember about Sparklehorse’s performance was the name of the band, most of the songs were slow or mid-tempo, and the main guy was in a wheelchair.
Matthew Sweet was thoroughly enjoyable, but he was an angry, angry man. As someone fighting approaching “has been” status, he was playing a large club but apparently felt that an artist of his stature should be playing arenas. He complained that the crowd was only there to hear his old stuff, but then ripped into each one. And yeah, his albums were always hit or miss.
I’m old.
pdb:
Although I think K.P would probably argue that the Wailers are better, I think it’d be modesty on his part. Girl Trouble are tops.
On the loud rock front, Big Business carry on the northwest’s proud legacy of noisy sludge with their “Head for the Shallow” LP, despite the fact that they now live in L.A. And speaking of L.A. and Big Business, their other band, the Melvins, totally returned to form with “(A) Senile Animal,” which is easily their best album since the early 90’s. Adding a second drummer helped them get out of the rut (which was still better than 99% of bands in the world on their best day,) they’d been mired in for a while.
Also recommended are the Old Haunts “Fuel on Fire” LP on Kill Rock Stars, which is dirty, swampy garage in the tradition of all great northwest punk bands. And speaking of great northwest punk bands, the greatest northwest punk band of all time (and, some would argue, the greatest BAND of all time, this reader included,) the Dead Moon “Echoes of the Past” anthology is absolutely essential, even if you alread have all their stuff on vinyl. Especially now that they’ve broken up.
Oh yeah, I almost forgot! The Hands “So Sweet” EP is proof positive that they’re the one of the best bands in Seattle right now, and hopefully they’ll start getting the attention they deserve.
dw, I have to say, I think you’re too hard on Jars (makes me wonder what of their stuff you’ve heard),
I remember when everyone in my college group was just ga-ga over the eponymous first album. “This is the BEST CHRISTIAN ROCK EVER!” And I sat there, as they were playing it, thinking that it was Toad’s Fear album with Christian lyrics. And since then, I just haven’t shaken the thought that they sound exactly what I think Toad would sound like if they hadn’t effectively broken up after Dulcinea.
The more recent Christian music just doesn’t do it for me. It’s weird — I went through a phase where I bought a lot of Christian music because it didn’t suck… and then started to suck again. I think the only Christian artist I’ve been able to tolerate other than Sufjan is Fernando Ortega. In small doses. And I’m still in the church.
but anyone who’s a fan of Mark Heard is a friend of mine.
There aren’t a lot of us, are there? One of the best songwriters of the last 25 years.
and in one of those synchoronistic moments, today I look up and see that Neko Case will be opening for Merle in Feb
!!!!!!!!!
Arcade Fire has a new album coming out, which is the best news ever, given that Funeral may have been my favorite album since OK Computer.
Also, they’re playing five nights at a tiny club in Montreal in early February (and will be touring wider, I’m sure). Ergo, I will be in Montreal in early February.
and in one of those synchoronistic moments, today I look up and see that Neko Case will be opening for Merle in Feb
USSM Pizza Feed at the Moore!
#77
I was at that day of Sasquatch, just to camp, and ended up getting in for free after the hail storm, and in a bizarre confluence of events, ended up on stage in a Santa Claus suit during the Flaming Lips closing set. Must say that was my favorite musical moment of 2006, though it was also hard to beat the second TV on the Radio show at the Showbox, Wolf Parade at the same venue, and Pearl Jam’s Gorge shows. I also have to mention Sufjan Stevens at the Crystal Ballroom in Portland.
My favorite albums of the year are “Return to Cookie Mountain” by TVotR, “Carnavas” by Silver Sun Pickups, “The Eraser” by Thom Yorke, and Jose Gonzalez’s album, though that might have been 2005. Honorable mention for Drive-by Truckers and Neko Case. And by the way, I have black horn-rimmed glasses and wear tight jeans, and I’m not afraid to admit it. I’m wearing a scarf as I type.
#189
Jonah, is there a definite release date yet for the Arcade Fire? It seems like that rumor has been around for a while. I hope it’s true. Best live band I’ve ever seen. Saw them in New York and Seattle within a week in September of ‘05.
I only had two of the albums DMZ listed: I randomly selected Mastodon and Neko Case to download from iTunes, to try out.
Tom Waits is a Master of the Universe, and Orphans shouldn’t be missed. Sophe Lux is nice and interesting. Regina Spektor is wonderful. Ookla the Mok, I’ve had for a while but started listening to them again when they should up on iPod random play.
And I plug cdbaby.com, if that won’t piss anyone off (I don’t work there). With their perpetual $5 CDs sale, I’ve bought a dozen or more at a time, and found out about a lot of nifty bands, like Pesky, Radio Noise, Treephort, the Fenwicks, Munk, and Brian Lovely & the Secret. I’ haven’t found a new completely favoritist band EVAR there, but lots of good music nevertheless. And 50 Foot Wave sells cds through them: the Kristin Hersh stamp of approval, that says something.
And, apropos of nothing, the blog looks fine on the Wii, but commenting with the Wiimote is a pain.
CSG,
New album comes out in March, per wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Arcade_Fire#Neon_Bible
The 5 shows in Montreal closely follow a few in London as the first time they’ll be playing new stuff live, which is good enough for me, especially since I’ve never seen them live (which shows how far out of touch I’ve become with my hometown, argh).
I may or may not be in possession of a terrific song from the new album. I may or may not be willing to share said mp3 if you want to email me off-line.
Ah, thank you for the scoop Jonah. You’re really in for a treat if you’ve never seen them before. I would love to hear said mp3. What’s the best way to contact you?
jonahkeri@gmail.com
So reading this thread has made me create an account so I could post. I am a big fan of most of the music discussed so far, but I am surprised that no one has mentioned The Blakes CD of the same name or The Thermals – The Body, The Blood, The Machine. I played both of those albums just about non-stop when I first got them.
The cool thing about checking out music on itunes is the panel on the right showing music other people also bought. It’s a lot of fun to check out those bands and you see a lot of the same groups that people are listing here as there faves. Well done Apple.
#155-
Right on DMZ. They don’t play good music on the radio, if you want good music, turn it off.
DW – I am with you about “christian rock”. I hate the whole idea that it is a seperate lable. What makes a song “christian” exactly. There are a lot of “secular” bands who write songs that would be called “christian” if they where on another record label. I like good music by good musicains whether they profess to be Christians or not. Good music is good music.
Also, if you like Sufjan you should check out Danielson. Sufjan use to play with them when they went as The Danielson Famile. Danielson’s Ships is my album of the year. It’s not the most assesable ablum ever, but if you value creativity and originality in your music you might like them.
197-
I teach high school video production in Shoreline and we had The Blakes in for a live studio performance. You can watch it at http://www.audiovisible.tv/.
There are also performances by the Cops, Speaker Speaker, and a few others that you might enjoy.
Dead thread but…
One of the two best gigs I’ve ever seen (out of several hundred mostly 1987 – 1998) was Sonic Youth playing Belfast in August 1990.
They’d just signed to Geffen and released Goo and were a week away from headlining Saturday night at Reading Festival in front of about 50,000 people, yet somehow they were playing in the Connor Hall in the bar of Belfast art college. This venue was slightly bigger than my living room. It was a fucking epic, two and half hour jam/racket. I didn’t care for Sonic Youth going into the gig and I came out loving them. I also kicked over Lee Renaldo’s mic stand. Sorry Lee.
Not that you’re wondering but the other best ever gig was Mano Negra at the Sheffield Leadmill a month later.
Recommened listening for 2006:
Fujiya and Miyagi “Transparent Things”
Micah P Hinson “Micah P Hinson and the Opera Circuit”.
I saw Micah Hinson playing support to Dave Bazan at the Tractor a few months back. He was quite a bit better than Dave.
On the theme of “music by christians that’s actually interesting”, the new album by David Crowder Band (A Collision) is fantastic. Creative, great musicianship, well produced but not syrupy at all. it’ll stand the test of time, which is all too uncommon with the christian rock genre.
Dave:
I hereby nominate this as Quote of 2006!
What I would find just as interesting as the music we like is the history (and aesthetics) that inform our tastes.
I’m 41. I grew up in Christian suburbia (Bainbridge Island), went to nothing but Christian schools through two years of college (in keeping with rebellious-teen spirit, I rejected all Christian music and embraced punk, classic rock, Goth and New Wave in bewilderingly equal amounts before settling into New Romantic singer-songwriters like Lloyd Cole, The Blue Nile). After transferring to Western in the mid-80s, I embraced alterna-Eighties like Husker Du, The Replacements, Mission of Burma, Echo and the Bunnymen, etc.)
By virtue of where I lived, I also got into Canadian music quite a bit, and artists like Bruce Cockburn and Tom Cochrane helped me settle into a singer-songwriter mode through the early 90s (Peter Himmelman, Dar Williams, Graham Parker, Warren Zevon, Robbie Fulks, Red House Painters, etc.) That led me to my “103.7 FM The Mountain” period in the late 90s … and then the Balkanization of music got to be so enormously splintered that no one radio station could keep my interest any longer, and I fell out of listening to new music for several years.
Recently, in rediscovering my Christian self somewhat, I’ve discovered some fine Christian artists whose sound runs along the lines of popular alternative today without outright mimicking or lick-ripping. There are plenty of treacly, crappy artists out there in CCR (Conetmporary Christian Radio), and there are some great artists who are marginalized because of their faith — or because their faith is insufficiently mainstream for conservative radio programmers. (And I don’t mean ideologically conservative … I mean, conservative as in unwilling to take risks outside of focus-group-approved material.)
No one artist bridges and encompasses every step of my musical journey like Jars Of Clay. They rock hard without being abrasive or unmelodic, they practice faith in their songs without overt preaching, and they can weave a dense tapestry of sound around a killer hook and crochet effortless great timeless songs like I’ve never heard before.
I don’t wear glasses (contacts rule), I haven’t driven a scooter since 1982 and I don’t wear black to the exclusion of all else. I’m gainfully employed, graying at the temples, scornful of Starbucks, usually vote Democrat … and am, well, just some guy.
And I love the Mariners with all my irreparably broken heart.
One artist I’ve stuck with steadfastly during my musical exile in the New Millennium, however, is the Pernice Brothers (I go back with Joe Pernice to his Scud Mountain Boys days). “Overcome By Happiness” was the soundtrack to many, many nights of banging out news stories in the Bainbridge Island Review newsroom. Nice, airy, sweet, melodic pop that bridges the Brill Building era with the 90s singer-songwriter movement.
Good call, Jeff.
If you’re interested in a few explanatory notes, I just put up a post at my Okinawa blog with my personal list.
good call mentioning the Live at KEXP CD, Jeff. I was among the people on this thread who had given up on radio, until I found KEXP a couple years ago. It’s the only station worth listening to.
Glad you like it, too. I thought about plugging it here, but there’s something about compilations … anyway, KEXP does consistently great stuff, and while many similar “Live on the Radio” appearances don’t seem to work, the hit rate at KEXP is really high. That Death Cab track is fantastic.