Best of 06

December is here! Listmaking season is upon us!

Favorite Albums:
1. Cat Power - The Greatest
2. Mission of Burma - The Obliterati
3. Robyn Hitchcock - Ole! Tarantula
4. Bob Dylan - Modern Times
5. Yo La Tengo - I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass
6. Viva Voce - Get Yr Blood Sucked Out
7. Asobi Seksu - Citrus
8. Archie Bronson Outfit - Derdang Derdang
9. Juana Molina - Son
10. Mojave 3 - Puzzles Like You


Singles (or whatever):
1. TV On the Radio - Wolf Like Me
2. Camera Obscura - Lloyd, I'm Ready to Be Heartbroken
3. Morningwood - Nth Degree
4. Sleepy Brown - Margarita
5. Decemberists - O Valencia
6. Neko Case - Maybe Sparrow
7. Ben Kweller - Penny on the Train Tracks

Reissue:
1. The Triffids - Born Sandy Devotional
In a year where we lost one of the all-time great Aussies in Grant McLennan, it was appropriate to be reminded of another who died way too early - glad the world is getting the chance to rediscover the magnificent David McComb.

2. Tears for Fears - Songs From the Big Chair Deluxe Edition
TFF are one of the many bands unfairly dismissed these days as 80s cheese. I never liked this album as much as THE HURTING and never would've expected to love a two disc special edition of it as much as I do. But it's great.

Comeback of the Year
Really no way to nominate anyone other than the New York Dolls, although Radio Birdman at least makes it a contest.

Live:
1. Ben Lee @ Blackburn College, Carlinville, Illinois
Saw him opening for a quite good Nickel Creek (who I was surprised to discover consisted of two midgets and a beanpole - never knew the Watkins siblings were only about three feet tall) and he blew them away with a mixture of great songs and aw shucks charm. On par with Jonathan Richman on a very good night.

2. Wreckless Eric @ some bar in St. Louis
Giants still walk the earth. With a welcome cameo from Amy Rigby and a great opening band (with a lousy name), Memphis' River City Tanlines.

3. Son Volt & Big Star @ A Taste of St. Louis
The single best performance I've ever seen by any Jay Farrar vehicle. Big Star was sloppy as hell, but they're Big Star, dammit.

4. Flaming Lips, Sonic Youth & the Magic Numbers @ the Pageant, St. Louis
The Lips never disappoint live, the Magic Numbers were fun and from back by the bar Kim Gordon looked kind of sexy.

5. Gentleman Auction House, Bunnygrunt & Red Water Revival @ Schlafly Tap Room, St. Louis
See Most Intriguing Newcomers, below

Pisser of the Year:
The aforementioned demise of Grant McLennan, an event that still makes me randomly shout obscenities at the universe.

Disappointment of the Year
Nelly Furtado, previously one of the more intriguing mainstream popsters, jettisoning everything that made her interesting to become one more indistinguishable pop tart ala the Pussycat Dolls and any Simpson. Some saw the malignant hand of label head Jimmy Iovine at work and I don't doubt it. He's spent most of his career identifying the best aspects of an artist's work, eliminating it and replacing it with bombastic crap. (See the Motors and Simple Minds as the most appalling examples)

WTF of the Year:
The New Cars - Todd Rundgren forming a band with Elliott Easton and Greg Hawkes? That's an intriguing idea. Todd Rundgren joining Elliott Easton and Greg Hawkes in a new version of the Cars? Who the hell thought that was a good idea?

Most Intriguing Newcomers:
St. Louis' own Gentleman Auction House, a smart baroque-pop outfit whose performances have already become legendary even as their debut EP, THE RULES WERE HANDED DOWN, has become the toast of the town. If they play their cards right, they'll be the next Decemberists, but if they get carried away with their own adorableness they'll be the next Poi Dog Pondering. For now, they're a great new band and here's hoping they keep their heads on straight and tame the troubling preciousness that's already lurking at the edges of their music.



Post Edited (12-03-06 08:53)

Albums :

1. Steve Wynn & The Miracle 3 -"tick...tick....tick"

The rest are just records that gave me some pleasure - in no particular order :

Cat Power

Arctic Monkeys

Bob Dylan

Dirty Pretty Things

Joseph Arthur

The Hold Steady

Mission of Burma

The Nice Boys

The Strokes (for 2/3 of the album anyway - 1/3 of it is an unwelcome homage to Grunge)

TV on the Radio

Scott Walker

Neko Case

Tom Waits

>
> 1. Steve Wynn & The Miracle 3 -"tick...tick....tick"
>


2005

It's a 2006 US release though (January '06). The European release was late '05.

Hopefully this won't hurt its chances for a Grammy.



Post Edited (12-03-06 06:19)

mats84 wrote:

> It's a 2006 US release though (January '06). The European
> release was late '05.
>
> Hopefully this won't hurt its chances for a Grammy.
>


cool, does the us release have the same nifty packaging?

I like a lot of the albums people have mentioned -- with the exception of Dylan...yuck -- but I think Ghostface Killah's Fishscale is the the best album of the year and yielded the best single: "Back like That".

Best "indie rock" record: Sunset Rubdown album "Shut Up I Am Dreaming".

I thought the Mountain Goats record, Get Lonely, was a real downer but I didnt know about this Babylon Springs EP. I will have to hunt it down. Thanks Paganizer.

Joanna Newsom, anybody?

The Top Five

Brightblack Morning Light - Self Titled (This one is really starting to grow on me)
Howie Gelb - Sno Angel Like You
Grizzly Bear - Yellow House
Tactics - The Sound of the Sound Vol - 1 (re-issue)
The Album Leaf - Into The Blue Again

have only had this a week or so, but WOW!

international sad hits, volume one

not sure whether it should be nominated in the best reish, best various artists comp or best danged thing ever category, though...

please oblige your top ten here Ira...

I'm holding my breath.

While I know they've never been a TP fave (with some justification), the single Easy by The Church off this year's album Uninvited Like the Clouds is outstanding.

Blue Diamond Shine - Shrimp Boat Town
Portastatic - Be Still Please
the M's - Future Woman

i'd like to hear more bands. last year's best of was very helpful for knock-out presents, which means an excuse to spread the sound that family and friends are craving.

The Best...

-10 Long Plays-
Art Brut - Bang Bang Rock n Roll
Built to Spill - You in Reverse
Danielson - Ships
Lemonheads - s/t
+/- - Let's Build a Fire
Mission of Burma - Obliterati
Sonic Youth - Rather Ripped
Starflyer 59 - My Island
Thermals - The Body, The Blood, The Machine
Yo La Tengo - I am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass

-Thank the Gods They Walk Amongst Us-
Robyn Hitchcock - Ole! Tarantula
Morrissey - Ringleader of the Tormentors
Tom Waits - Orphans, Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards
Church - Uninvited, Like the Clouds

-Red Herring/Overlooked-
Asobi Seksu - Citrus

-EPs-
Mountain Goats - Babylon Springs
Returnables - s/t
Mojave 3- Breaking the Ice

-Singles-
Morningwood - Nth Degree
Portastatic - Arthur Dove
Damned - Little Miss Disaster

-Re-ish-
Clash - Singles Box (devalues my rare Capitol Radio EP, still leaves a few out, ungodly tres cher)

-Newcomer to Watch-
I'm From Barcelona - Let Me Introduce My Friends

-Surprise-
Viva Voce - Get Yr Blood Sucked Out

-Aerial Tramway Over Frozen Hell-
Replacements issue new material

-Box/Retrospective-
Young Gods - XXY (released late?)
Delgados - The Complete BBC
The Life and Music of Richard Thompson

-Return to Form-
Loud Family/Anton Barbeau - What if it Works?

- Disappointment/Overhype-
Sparklehorse - Dreamt for Light years
Dylan - Modern Times (Springsteen Award)

-Slow Burn-
Curt Kirkwood - Snow

-Live-
Yo La Tengo (touring with grand piano)
Built to Spill (freaking talented musicians, this bunch)
Fall (irascible, tangible, a wink and a nod)
Flaming Lips et al. (hit and miss; but hit)
Art Brut (fun/smiley)

-Indifference-
Who

-WTF?-
New Cars



Post Edited (12-31-06 00:17)

Satch - I am pretty sure the packaging is the same between the two standard versions, I have the "limited deluxe" edition Wynn made available on his website which has a different booklet.

Best Reissue : The La's complete BBC Sessions .

Which I guess most people would simply find redundant of their one great album, but I thought it made a nice companion piece to it and shed new light on those songs.

WORST song I heard this year:

Sandi Thom - "I Wish I was a Punk Rocker"

Dreadful.

I'll put a vote down for James Blunt's "You're Beautiful" which I guess is a 2005 song worldwide but broke here and I think was released in the US in 2006.

It's an easy target, but damn if it doesn't feel right to hate on that song.


Still.

Side note : The gap between US & UK releases is really messing up what I recall as the best releases of each year now. Art Brut I must have had in mid 2005, but it is a 2006 US release and would be a top 10 for me easy - in any year. Maybe top 5.

"WORST song I heard this year:

Sandi Thom - "I Wish I was a Punk Rocker"

Dreadful."

AGREE
AGREE
AGREE
AGREE

yeah, that is some weak shit.

Billboard sez:

4] Zeitgeist - R. Stevie Moore
3] Tell Laura I Love Herbert - R. Stevie Moore
2] Hear Lies - R. Stevie Moore
1] Unpopular Singer Vol. 6 (hits comp) - R. Stevie Moore

- you kids been livin under a rock?

Welcome to the board, RSM. Cool website!

Check it out, kids - he's got a sale going: [www.rsteviemoore.com]