Top 50 Albums of 2006: 50-26
Well, here we go. I’ve never been so unsure about a year end list in the three years I’ve been doing this blog. Nothing blew me away this year to make my decision for the number one album easy. My top five albums could all be number one, so as you read this list, think of it more as the higher on the list the albums are, the better. Not necessarily that album 15 on the list was 15th best in my mind.
50.
Proud Simon – Shoestring Universe
Brian Keenan, who makes up the core of Proud Simon, was kind enough to send me a copy of his album a few months back and, partly b/c of laziness, but mainly b/c I enjoyed it so much, it stayed in my car stereo for a solid two weeks. Normally, that would make an album get old quick, but in this case I just grew to like it even more. A great album from a very underrated band. RIYL: Banjos, horns, ect. mixed into your rock songs
mp3: American Caskets / Victory March
49. 
Josh Ritter – The Animal Years
Following in the style of Dylan, Josh Ritter’s latest album surprised me at how good not only the lyrics were, but musically as well. Normally this isn’t my cup of tea, but you can’t go wrong with songs like “Girl in the War” and the nine minute epic “Thin Blue Flame”RIYL: Singer/songwriters like Dylan and Tom Petty
mp3: Girl in the War / Thin Blue Flame
48.
Jeremy Enigk – World Waits
This was a late year addition to my collection and normally albums I listen to beginning in December don’t make the list. This is a nice exception to the norm, as it kept me listening intently since I got it in early December. It’d possibly be higher on the list had I had the entire year to let it soak in, but definately full of emotion like only Enigk knows how. RIYL: Atmospheric, emotionally driven rock
mp3: Been Here Before / The Disappointed Song
47.
The Hush Sound – Like Vines
Last year my guilty pleasure band was Eisley. This year it’s the Hush Sound. Normally guy/girl dual vocals drive me nuts, but most this album is pure, catchy pop rock. And not the radio friendly crap. This is genuinely good songwriting with great instrumentation, nice contrast between the guy/girl lead singers, and is always enjoyably upbeat.
RIYL: Eisley with guy/girl singing and slightly more rock
mp3: We Intertwined / Lion’s Roar
46.
Fujiya & Miyagi – Tranparent Things
I can’t tell why I enjoy this album exactly. It’s all over the place as far as style goes, but nearly every song sounds very uniquely theirs. It’s hard to describe their sound, so I’ll just let you listen to the mp3’s for yourself. It definately wins for originality. RIYL: New wave guitar rock (Talking Heads) mixed with 90’s electronica (Aphex Twin, Boards of Canada)?
mp3: Ankle Injuries
45.
Man Man – Six Demon Bag
I may have spoke too soon when I said Fujiya & Miyagi were all over the place stylistically, because Man Man are simply off the map. I saw them live earlier this year and that was quite the experience. Mix their crazy energy with horns and their strange facination with blues, and you get quite the unique album. “Ice Dogs” is my favorite because of it’s ending, but “English Bwudd” is a better representation of their energetic live show.
mp3: Ice Dogs
44.
Bonnie “Prince” Billy – The Letting Go
Will Oldham is a strange character, but the music he makes is haunting and beautiful. While not something I was always in the mood for, The Letting Go is still a great album that I could put on while doing homework or any other task taking a while in my room, and it would instantly put me in a relaxed, calm mood. Plus, there’s a whole lot more string arrangements on this album which is a big deal in my book.
mp3: Cursed Sleep
43.
Ferraby Lionheart – EP
This had two things going against it. I heard about it way too late in the year to warrant any true love for it, and it’s only a five track EP. But those five songs are excellent, with “Tickets to Crickets” being one of my favorite songs of the year. I can only imagine how good his debut full-length is going to be.
RIYL: Upbeat, guitar/piano driven folk with Phantom Planet sounding singer
mp3: Tickets to Crickets / The Fighter
42.
Casiotone for the Painfully Alone – Etiquette
This is easily Owen Ashworth’s best album as Casiotone. Since signing with Tom Lab and gradually getting more money to record on more than his 8-track recorder, his songs have sounded better and better. Fans of Casiotone’s previous work will be surprised at how polished this sounds, and it’s unfortunate its early release left a lot of people forgetting about it.
RIYL: Slightly depressing Casiotone keyboard driven songs
mp3: Nashville Parthanon
41.
Danielson – Ships
From the first time I heard this, I felt in the back of my mind that I’d eventually get annoyed by his voice. While I ended up being somewhat right, the music which I enjoyed from the very first listen never got old. Much like Joanna Newsom, there’s some truely great songs to be found here if you can get past his voice.
RIYL: Sufjan style instrumentation with high pitched singer joined by everyone for the choruses
mp3: Did I Step On Your Trumpet? (middle of post)
40.
Whitest Boy Alive – Dreams
Erlend Oye pulls another fast one on us. First he went the DJ route for his first sideproject from Kings of Convenience, now he’s going straight indie rock. But just like anything he’s involved in, you can bet the songs are as precise as anything out there. I won’t go as far as to say I prefer indie rock Oye over his Kings of Convenience stuff, but it’s great nonetheless.
RIYL: Kings of Convenience gone indie rock
mp3: Don’t Give Up
39.
The Long Winters – Putting the Days to Bed
I really like John Roderick’s singing style. It’s not quite the speak/sing style of The Hold Steady, but it’s still more storytelling than singing. If you have time, sit down and read some of their lyrics. Most times you don’t even need music for the words to be enjoyable, but the fact they can put those lyrics to music is great. This is simply a great, upbeat rock album.
mp3: Pushover
38.
Destroyer – Destroyer’s Rubies
Daniel Bejar definately proved he was just as good solo as he was in the New Porographers with this release. It never grew on me as much as I’d hoped, but it’s still an adventure listening to this album the whole way through. His lyrics are great, and the music behind his singing is disjointed, yet entireably listenable. The opening track flirts with the 10 minute mark and set the tone for the rest of the album. Fans of a crazier, less poppy New Pornos should enjoy this.
mp3: Painter in Your Pocket
37.
Max Richter – Songs From Before
His album The Blue Notebooks made my top 10 in 2004. While this follow up doesn’t match that effort, it’s still some of the best modern classical music out there and I’m guessing you don’t have many albums from that genre in your collection. Do yourself a favor and pick up both his debut album and this new one. This is the epitome of homework music, which is a very good thing. mp3: Harmonium
36.
Ratatat – Classics
If you’re going to name your album “Classics”, it better live up to it. I can’t tell you how many times I read that statement on various blogs. Their debut made such an impression on me that I went into this one expecting to be let down. After all was said and done, I was pleasantly surprised. Sure, they still sound pretty much the same, but stand-out tracks like “Tropicalia” and “Tacobel’s Canon” show there’s plenty to look forward to in the future.
mp3: Gettysburg & Tropicana (#49 album on that list)
35.
M. Ward – Post War
Most of my friends that made year end lists had this one way up there. I’ll admit I didn’t look into this album until everyone was already done raving about it, but for all the great lyrics and instrumentation, it just never grew on me like I imagine it did for everyone else. I’m sure I’ll like it more with more listens, but for now it remains an album I need to be in the mood for. There’s still no reason you shouldn’t look into this album though if you haven’t. The praise is much deserved.
mp3: Chinese Translation (#10 album on that list)
34.
Belle & Sebastian – The Life Pursuit
I had to fight not to put this one higher on the list just on principle alone. I have most of their past albums and EP’s, but for some reason I never got around to listening to this album until year end lists started showing up and I thought I should probably get on the ball and start listening to this album already. Well, it sure doesn’t disappoint, but I’m much more familiar with the albums higher on the list than this, so #34 it shall recieve.
mp3: We Are the Sleepyheads / Song for Sunshine (#1 album on the list)
33.
I Am Robot and Proud – The Electricity in Your House Wants to Sing
For some reason I took a real liking to slightly minimal, eletro-pop albums this year. The ones that are more electronic than The Postal Service, but still have that upbeat feel to them. Shaw-han Liem is the mastermind that is I Am Robot and Proud and his ability to create fun pop songs out of complex electronic blips is impressive. I got new speakers for my computer this Christmas and this album was the first I wanted to hear on good speakers and it sounded just as good as I thought.
mp3: The Places We’re Trying to Find
32.
Kelley Stoltz – Below the Branches
I listened to a lot of music I never would’ve heard about had I not interned at Sub Pop. Bands like CSS and Chad VanGaalen for example, but Kelley Stoltz was always my favorite of the Sub Pop bands I had to promote that I hadn’t heard before. He opened for The Raconteurs and was really good. Every time I listen to this album, I get a pretty strong Beatles vibe, which is probably why I enjoy it so much.
mp3: Memory Collector / The Sun Comes Through
31.
We Will Build – This is Necessary + Unreleased Tracks
I’ve actually kept in contact with Zach and Dan since I first listened to their mp3’s at their site. Couldn’t meet nicer guys and it blows me away that they give all their music away at their site. Do yourself a favor and check out their music. It’s some highly entertaining electronic pop just like I Am Robot and Proud, and they’ve found their style moving more towards live instruments rather than electronics lately, but it’s still all excellent stuff.
mp3: Haselnuss Kass / I’m Feeling Very Unsatisfied / More mp3’s
30.
Bishop Allen – January-December EP’s
I had to make sure that these EP’s were, in fact, released in 2006 because I couldn’t find them on any year end lists and that simply baffled me. I’m including them all as one because it was more of a year long project. Each EP contains a surprising amount of great songs considering they pumped out five or six a month. If you took the best song from each month and made an LP out of them, it’d easily be one of the year’s best.
mp3: Flight 180 / Click Click Click Click / The Monitor
29.
David Bazan – Fewer Moving Parts EP
“Our car’s on fire in the parking lot/And nobody wants it to rain/But God isn’t listening/So all of the windshields glisten/The water and oil mix/ causing the fire to spread / to five or six innocent automobiles/Waiting in their nearby spots/What a cruel God we’ve got”
This is just one of the many brilliant lyrical passages on this EP proving Bazan’s still got it even after Pedro the Lion’s disbanding. I’d put it higher if it weren’t an EP. Can’t wait for a full-length.
mp3: Cold Beer and Cigarettes
28.
Wolfmother – Wolfmother
You can thank my roommate for this one. Rarely does he bother with new music if it isn’t new stuff from old favorites, but after a random recommendation from him, and since that happens very rarely, I looked into them. Easily the best rock album us indie kids could have asked for. They pay tribute to everything that was great about rock in the days of Led Zeppelin without being cheesy about it like The Darkness. Plus, after hearing “Mother” while playing Guitar Hero II, I couldn’t help but love it.
mp3: Woman / Joker & the Thief
27.
Midlake – The Trial of Van Occupanther
I thought the person who wrote in my chatterbox about me giving Midlake honorable mention was joking, but then I double checked and found that I’d left it on the list as I copy and pasted it. Well, I highly agree with that person that this is no honorable mention album. Besides the fact that they’re the best Fleetwood Mac cover band that doesn’t actually cover any of their songs, it’s still a great album that I only don’t rank higher because the songs tend to blend together after repeat listens.
mp3: Roscoe / Young Bride (Cassettes Won’t Listen remix)
26.
Charlotte Gainsbourg – 5:55
Music by Air. Lyrics by Jarvis Cocker and the Divine Comedy’s Neil Hannon, and produced by Nigel Godrich, aka Radiohead’s second hand man. I don’t really need to say much more than that. It’s an all-star cast creating an album that doesn’t disappoint. Think the Air songs led by female vocals, only sounding much bigger with orchestra parts and the works. If you don’t know who she is, you’ll find her in Michel Gondry’s movie The Science of Sleep as the main guy’s love interest.
mp3: The Song That We Sing
Well then. That took freakin forever, so I think I’m going to work on it a bit tomorrow, then finish on Friday, since I feel like doing something tomorrow. I’d repeat the usual schpiel about leaving comments, don’t be too harch, etc…but you’ve all been here before. I don’t take things too personally, so feel free to say whatever you want about my list so far. As long as you’re not needlessly mean of course. Alright, albums 25-1 on Friday. See if you can get all these mp3’s listened to. You should be plenty occupied until then.
hey just found this blog… really love this one!!! great music taste
love it… gives me lots of inspiration!!