posted
My personal favourite would have to be Scribbled In Chalk by Karine Polwart. Though it's musical style lies somewhat out of my normal range of preferences, it moves me. It's fairly calm pop music, but the some of the lyrics agree with me in a deep manner.
"Truth is a story, scribbled in chalk, just an hour before the flood"
Some of the other albums I purchased this year:
Thea Gilmore - Harpo's Ghost Pearl Jam - eponymous The Raconteurs - Broken Boy Soldiers
BTW the song Steady As She Goes was voted single of the year over here, it ended just above Crazy by Gnarls Barkley. This poll was conducted by one of the most respected broadcasting companies of the country, seeing as they have a reputation for independence and taste and usually don't hold with commercially driven music.
So much for my two bits on this subject. Rock on!
Posts: 993 | Registered: Jul 2006
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For me, every time Brahem releases an album, it makes for a good year for music. He's not nearly as prolific as most of his peers, but when he does get around to putting a disc out he's always got a good reason for it.
This disc was recorded with the same trio as his last album, with Brahem on oud and two other musicians on piano and accordion. But whereas the last album had a somewhat piano-centric compositional style, this disc has an organic, democratic mix of the three instruments. I can't say it's objectively a better choice, but moving the harsh piano sound deeper into the mix makes it (for me) significantly more accessable. Le Pas du Chat Noir took quite a while for me to appreciate, and this disc had me hooked almost immediately.
Every one of the musicians on this disc is an absolute virtuoso, but there's no sense of competition. And although they will go fast in places, there are no ego-driven displays of pyrotechnics. The instrumental lines fade in and out, with any one musician going from lead, co-lead, accompanist, and dropping out completely, in a way that serves the music so well you must pay very close attention to even notice.
The result is a haunting, intimate performance in which the communication seems so direct that it's surprising to occasionally step back and realize that these emotions are being produced by something as common as musical notes.
2006 marks the 15th year that Brahem has been producing discs available in America. In that time he's made 7 discs, of which I have 6. I keep waiting for him to make something (other than his soundtrack compilation) that isn't absolutely essential. The wait continues.
Posts: 563 | Registered: Feb 2006
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posted
"Steady As She Goes" is a great song (although "Levels" is better), but it's pretty standard alternative rock. "Crazy," on the other hand, is about as unconventional as you can get and still get radio play. In my book, Gnarls Barkley get the nod over the Raconteurs because they dodged the beaten path and still created an incredibly infectious tune. It's as if Radiohead had managed to top the charts with "Everything in its Right Place" rather than "Creep."
Posts: 1321 | Registered: Sep 1999
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posted
Paul Kelly and the Stormwater Boys -- Foggy Highway.
Australian songsmith Paul Kelly puts out the best Bluegrass album of recent memory. Fantastic from beginning to end, especially the heartbreaking "They Thought I Was Sleeping."
Posts: 45 | Registered: May 2006
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This is my pick for hip-hop album of the year. And just in the interest of full disclosure, I should mention that I haven't heard the new full albums from Roots, Lupe Fiasco or Rhymefest, so it might not be a fair fight. But I got the latest Ghostface and Pigeon John (both of which I like), and the new DJ Shadow (which was a bit of a disappointment), and this is for me the best of the lot.
These guys throw off a lot of the crutches and cliches of modern hip-hop to create something as unique as anything I've heard in years. There are no guest MCs or singers. There are no skits. There is absolutely no filler. The whole disc comes entirely from two people, and it never seems like it needs anything else.
The lyrical subject matter and the musical styles change with such speed and intensity that it's hard to keep up, and the entire 50+ minutes fly by like a whirlwind. It's impressive enough to see seamless transitions from latin to soul to psychedelia to traditional hip-hop to techno to heavy metal. But the range of styles isn't nearly as impressive as the freshness and dead-on accuracy they bring to every one of them.
There isn't any way of knowing where they're going from one track to the next, and there isn't a skippable track, or a song that sets the hooks on auto-pilot or goes on any longer than its ideas can sustain it. This is the kind of hip-hop that gives me faith in the genre.
Posts: 563 | Registered: Feb 2006
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quote:They're absolutely gorgeous- as haunting and melodic as anything Radiohead has ever done.
Not even close, in my opinion. I mean, I know Thom Yorke writes most of Radiohead's songs too -- so it's not a dig against Thom Yorke... But he needs his band. If 'Eraser' were a Radiohead album, it would be by far the weakest Radiohead album ever released. It's a good album, but it's not up to the standard.
Just my opinion. Others may disagree. (And do, I know.)
Posts: 2267 | Registered: May 2005
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posted
Just a couple more selections. I start work again tomorrow, so I'm going to have to get a lot more brief if I want to even get through my favorites. So here goes:
Saint Etienne: Tales from Turnpike House
A concept album about a day in the life of a Londoner, this is another album I've listened to a seemingly infinite number of times this year without coming to the end of my fascination with it. This is a very English album, and a very glossy one. It's immaculately produced, and if you like rough edges to your albums, this isn't the one for you. But from the first delicate notes to the last two tracks (which form one of the most chillingly satisfying endings to any album I've ever heard), I'm sucked into the world it creates. I can never listen to the first track unless I have 50 minutes to spare, because I just can't seem to hit "stop" once I enter the London that this album creates. A truly immersive experience.
Yo La Tengo: I Am Not Afraid of You, and I Will Beat Your Ass
I have a great deal of respect for this group, and I love the two albums of theirs that I've had for several years. But whenever they release a new album, it never seems to make it to the top of my list. So I was interested when I heard about their new album, but I never seriously intended on picking it up. Then I heard the entire first track on the All Songs Considered website. It was the most intense 11-minute jam I've heard in ages. It was full of burning, swirling energy that would have overwhelmed a lesser band, but was held in perfect control by this group. My jaw dropped, I sat stunned through the duration of the track, and the second it was over I went to Amazon to place my order.
The entire album is just as good. It covers a great deal of stylistic ground, and showcases these masters of indie-rock at the top of their technical and creative game. Yo La Tengo is sort of the antithesis of Saint Etienne, but if you do like rough edges in your music, this album is just as stunning as my previous pick in a very different way.
John Legend: Once Again
John Legend drops any pretense at hip-hop and makes a straight soul album. My pick for make-out record of the year. If you wish that Otis Redding or Marvin Gaye were still around, this will come as close as you could reasonably expect to fulfilling your wish.
The Flaming Lips: At War With the Mystics
This album got a lot of crap because it's not as much of a revelation as Yoshimi or The Soft Bulletin. But if this is a step down, it's only in the same way that Physical Graffiti was a step down from Led Zeppelin IV. An album doesn't have to be up to the standards of one of the greatest album of a decade to still be freaking great.
In this case, they decided to try some new things. There was a lot more variety on this disc than would have worked on either of their last two, and considering how many targets they aim for, the success ratio was very good. There's about half a song on here that's really annoying, and the rest ranges from quite good to brilliant.
And they still do one of the best live shows in the world. I saw them this summer and they blew The Who off the stage. That may explain part of the affection I have for this disc.
John Mayer: Continuum
John Mayer explores his Clapton fetish, and in so doing makes a disc that I like more than just about anything Clapton himself has ever done.
I know there are a lot of very polar opinions about John Mayer, so some people won't agree with me on this one. I can't argue, as I spent some time in those peoples' shoes. I got his first album as a birthday gift, and the first 10 times I heard it I assumed that my friend was playing a joke on me. But once I got it he grew on me in ways I never would have guessed possible.
This new album has pretty much everything I've ever liked about him without sounding anything like a rehash of his last two studio albums. It's not the album of the year, but I never thought he'd last three discs without turning stale, and he really proved me wrong.
Basement Jaxx: Crazy Itch Radio
These people are still making the type of club techno that should have gone stale 10 years ago. And for some people, maybe it did. But these particular group does it with such an irresistable sense of fun, of joie de vivre, that it's impossible not to like. If nothing else, this is my workout album of the year. There's so much energy here I can run for an hour without even noticing whenever this album is on.
This is all I've got time for right now. It isn't a comprehensive list of good albums from 2006. But maybe, combined with my previous entries, it will make a case for why I found this year to be such a good one for music. Or maybe it will just demonstrate what a looney I am.
Posts: 563 | Registered: Feb 2006
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