2006: Best Albums
Submitted by JBones on Fri, 09/22/2006 - 11:14
Tags:
- Joanna Newsom - Ys
- The Knife - Silent Shout
- The Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
- Girl Talk - Night Ripper
- Spank Rock - Yoyoyoyoyoyo
- Islands - Return to the Sea
- Tokyo Police Club - A Lesson in Crime
- Justin Timberlake - FutureSex/LoveSounds
- Lily Allen - Alright, Still
- Clipse - Hell Hath No Fury
- My Chemical Romance - The Black Parade
- TV on the Radio - Return to Cookie Mountain
- Beirut - Gulag Orkestar
- Ellen Allien & Apparat - Orchestra of Bubbles
- Liars - Drum's Not Dead
- Sufjan Stevens - The Avalanche
- Cansei de Ser Sexy - Cansei de Ser Sexy
- Final Fantasy - He Poos Clouds
- The Decemberists - The Crane Wife
- Guillemots - Through the Window Pane
- Lupe Fiasco - Food and Liquor
- The Pipettes - We Are the Pipettes
- The Kooks - Inside In/Inside Out
- Cat Power - The Greatest
- T.I. - King
- Be Your Own Pet! - Be Your Own Pet!
- Nelly Furtado - Loose
- Boris - Pink
- Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Show Your Bones
- Hot Chip - The Warning
I'm happy to see Spank Rock getting attention, and am especially happy to see someone else who loves Return to the Sea.
Seeing how our taste seems to be at least somewhat similar, I would definitely recommend checking these albums out, if you haven't already:
Smoosh - Free to Stay (they seem like a gimick band, but I would [and have] argue that this album eclipses the new Mates of State, who I love, at their own game)
Cursive - Happy Hollow (a terribly underrated album, angsty goodness with brains)
Liars - Drum's Not Dead (not immediately accesible, but if you like Sun 0))), I would imagine this album might do something for you)
Comets on Fire - Avatar (most seem to think this doesn't live up to Blue Cathedral, but BC never really grew on me, and this immediately caught my attention)
Figurines - Skeleton (the nordic countries appear to be really good at this whole indie rock sound)
I've heard everything except Smoosh (which I will definitely check out.)
Cursive is quite good and should probably make the list next time I have time to redo it.
Liars I can appreciate as something brilliant I can't quite crack yet. I'll give it a few more tries I suppose. I'm not sure if it has quite the same camp dramatic value as Sunn O))) (for his performance on one track, they imprisoned the vocalist in a coffin in full corpse make up.)
Avatar and Skeleton I kinda ignored on first listen. I was probably distracted or in a shitty mood or something. But, if you reckon they're worth it, I'll give em another go.
Oh, and Return to the Sea and Yoyoyoyoyoyo are the greatest things in the universe right now. Especially "Swans (Life After Death)" - one of my favourite tracks this decade.
"Swans (Life After Death)" is a fantastic song. My heart still belongs to "Rough Gem" as best in show, but the album is great all around.
I was so into this album for the first half of the year, that I ended up seeing Islands live twice within a month. The first was opening for Metric, the second was headlining their own tour.
On their headlining tour, they brought the lead singer of Why? and Cadence Weapon onstage to do the rap part of "Where There's a Will There's a Whalebone". It was amazing.
ANYways, have you heard the new Hold Steady or Decemberists? As a huge fan of both bands, I am both a little dissapointed and pleasantly surprised. Boys and Girls in America is just too produced, and it lacks the love and heart of Seperation Sunday and Almost Killed Me. Sigh. That makes me sad. However, The Crane Wife is pretty amazing.
Wow, I'm so jealous, none of these bands ever come to Australia. And if they do, they play maybe one show which sells out in 5 minutes every time. Oh well, thank god for the internet.
Although I just bought tickets to Big Day Out (Australia's biggest festival) about half an hour ago where I will see Spank Rock and Violent Femmes and others. Excited
Anyway, I haven't heard Boys and Girls in America, not really a fan of the Hold Steady. It can go on the "must listen" list, but it'll be near the bottom. The Crane Wife was very good (I actually listened to it before on seeing it at the top of your list) and a number of people have recently lectured to me on the brilliance of the Decemberists. But, I dunno, it's not really my thing, maybe it's a little too highbrow for me.
I turned 20 last week and I hear about all the bands I should be listening to, now that I'm not a teenager anymore. The Decemberists, TV on the Radio, Sonic Youth and such. I'll still bypass them all for Girls Aloud and Taking Back Sunday every time.
I feel you on some Girls Aloud tracks. I'm a fan of a lot of their first album.
The Decemberists are actually a high school favorite of mine (I am also recently 20), so it's not neccesarily a highbrow conflict in my case.
By the way, a friend of mine visited Australia recently and told me that the radio is about a billion times better than any of ours. Is it true that Joanna Newsom was getting airplay?
PS: I never got into Taking Back Sunday, but I respect the loyalty.
Well I'm not sure about your radio. Are you American?
Our mainstream radio is pretty piss poor actually. It never really strays out of the Pussycat Dolls/Rihanna region. I must have heard S.O.S. 800 times over the past 2 months. And from looking at the American charts, it's full of Kanye and Lil' Wayne etc. That I would love to hear on the radio.
That being said, there's a few popular alternative stations. Most of the stuff is rubbish, Australian indie-whine. But occasionally you'll hear Come on Feel the Illinoise or Bridges and Balloons or something. I heard Konichiwa Bitches a few days ago and almost crashed my car. It was a good moment.
Australia could use a shot in the arm, culture-wise. (You should see the Australian version of the Grammys...) However, I'm willing to forgive it because of the weather and the beaches. Actually I'm seeing Basement Jaxx playing Bondi Beach for NYE. That will, statistically speaking, be the most fun ever.
PS. You don't like too much rap, hey. Explain?
and - I was really let down by Ys, I thought it was kind of unfocused and non-musical. I need someone to sing it's praises for me so I can appreciate it.
I do enjoy rap, but it's never really been my music of choice. This year has been weak sauce from what I've listened to, except for T.I.'s King and Ghostface Killah's Fishscale. Both of those albums have just the right balance of lyrical content and fun-ass music. Plus, I find that a lot of new rappers have no real personality in their music, but there are, of course, huge exceptions to that as well. Plus, I got into the rap game late.
When I first heard Ys, I was sort of dissapointed, but listening to "Only Skin" about 7 times in a row one night (mind you that this is a 17 minute-long song) really won me over.
The album is all about atmosphere. It practically begs for headphones or a nice leisurely drive. Plus, I am basically in love with Ms. Newsom.
I suppose, she is weirdly charming.
Nevertheless you should check out CunninLynguists. I know they're one of those bands no one takes seriously because of their name. But their stuff is very consistent, technically brilliant and occasionally even moving.
Try the tracks "The Gates" (from their latest album) or "Seasons" (their most famous song).
P.O.S. is brilliant too, although very melancholy and intense, so you have to be in the mood. Try the song "P.O.S. is Ruining My Life" or "Ants".