Favorite New Band of 2006

Revival - both local and excellent.

For me there is some really great new music coming out but there is a lot of over-hyped and or derivative stuff that is just truly forgettable beyond a couple of listens.

I'm excited by the fact that bands/artists like Voxtrot, The Music Lovers, Skye, etc are just setting about to write great songs. Nothing fancy, edgy, arty, or "groundbreaking".

Artists like Van Hunt and Alice Smith are hearkening back to the soul and r&b of the past, which interests me more than contemporary stuff I've heard.

Birdmonster, The Cold War Kids are prime examples of being over hyped and just not very good.

The Lashes, The Pink Spiders, Big City Rock are prime examples of being putting out derivative releases that sound great due to production but fall flat once you realize just how lame the songwriting is…. This is the sort of thing LaLa is great for as you can dump as soon as you receive it.

For me, there were more GOOD albums this year than in recent years. Though there was nothing that I consider "great".

I wasn't highly impressed by any of the debut albums this year. All of my favorite albums were by established artists, though some of them I had not taken a liking to until their recent efforts.

Originally posted by brennser:

Originally posted by Buck Satan:
Nobody.

of course this raises another issue and Venereal Bede will probably slap my wrists for taking the thread even more off topic but did people think 2006 was a good year for music? Me, maybe I'm getting old but I listened to more music this year than I've ever listened to and I thought alot of it was a bit 'eh'……

Originally posted by kosmo vinyl:
[QB] For me there is some really great new music coming out but there is a lot of over-hyped and or derivative stuff that is just truly forgettable beyond a couple of listens.

Birdmonster, The Cold War Kids are prime examples of being over hyped and just not very good.

Wow! So Pitchfork doesn't like them and already jumping on the bandwagon. Ill assume that you listened to their album or better yet saw them live. Maybe if you lived in SF and were smackie and you said that, I might believe it, because in SF there is a lot of press about them (although far from being overhyped). They might be blogger darlings, but when I think of overhyped - id clearly be thinking of someone like arctic monkeys who were all about the hype (or maybe the kooks), but sorry birdmonster clearly hasnt gotten to that stature, yet?!

Birdmonster puts on an awesome live show, that clearly has a lot of heart put into it. Pete is an amazing frontman, putting so much energy into EVERY show. I have seen them a handful of times, and each time it has as much energy. Justin on bass and David on guitar - show the amazing chemistry the boys have while playing on stage. It only adds to the greatness of their album! Oh and clearly they have a sense of humour - Pete did dress up as Bruce Springsteen for halloween!

Originally posted by kosmo vinyl:
Big City Rock are prime examples of being putting out derivative releases that sound great due to production but fall flat once you realize just how lame the songwriting is.

I've heard of social climbing, and I've heard of bad timing, but I haven't heard it all before.

Somebody clearly doesn't know how to party.

Wow, Bruce Springsteen for Halloween. That's downright funny!

Originally posted by Weird Little Self Loathing Man:
Wow, Bruce Springsteen for Halloween. That's downright funny!

well pitchfork does say - hes a rip off of bruce springsteen (and no, those werent the exact words they used, obviously) - and thats clearly one of his influences. forgot who the other guys dressed up as, all influences for the band.

Originally posted by xneverwherex:

Originally posted by kosmo vinyl:
[QB] For me there is some really great new music coming out but there is a lot of over-hyped and or derivative stuff that is just truly forgettable beyond a couple of listens.

Birdmonster, The Cold War Kids are prime examples of being over hyped and just not very good.

Birdmonster puts on an awesome live show, that clearly has a lot of heart put into it. Pete is an amazing frontman, putting so much energy into EVERY show. I have seen them a handful of times, and each time it has as much energy. Justin on bass and David on guitar - show the amazing chemistry the boys have while playing on stage. It only adds to the greatness of their album! Oh and clearly they have a sense of humour - Pete did dress up as Bruce Springsteen for halloween!

i have this general rule – plenty of exceptions, to be sure – that if a band's best feature is that they have lots of heart and lots of energy, it means they are covering up for something else. mainly that they have shitty songs. i've not seen birdmonster, but i've heard the album, and they have some pretty shitty songs.

Originally posted by Weird Little Self Loathing Man:
For me, there were more GOOD albums this year than in recent years. Though there was nothing that I consider "great".

have you heard Camera Obscura's "Let's Get Out of This Country"?

I own it, and it's definitely on the GOOD list.

The Belle and Sebastian album on the other hand was a real stinker save for a song or two.

Originally posted by HoyaSaxa08:

Originally posted by Weird Little Self Loathing Man:
For me, there were more GOOD albums this year than in recent years. Though there was nothing that I consider "great".

have you heard Camera Obscura's "Let's Get Out of This Country"?

For me, there were more GOOD albums this year than in recent years.

like?

Originally posted by Weird Little Self Loathing Man:
I own it, and it's definitely on the GOOD list.

i'm impressed by your discriminatory taste … if that isn't a great album then i don't know what is

Originally posted by HoyaSaxa08:

Originally posted by Weird Little Self Loathing Man:
For me, there were more GOOD albums this year than in recent years. Though there was nothing that I consider "great".

have you heard Camera Obscura's "Let's Get Out of This Country"?

I'm down with WLSLM on this one - good but not great

Originally posted by brennser:

Originally posted by HoyaSaxa08:

Originally posted by Weird Little Self Loathing Man:
For me, there were more GOOD albums this year than in recent years. Though there was nothing that I consider "great".

have you heard Camera Obscura's "Let's Get Out of This Country"?

I'm down with WLSLM on this one - good but not great

i'll go with very good, but not great. the best songs are a lot better than the, uh, not best songs. so i find myself skipping over half the album most of the time. i listened to it a bunch when it came out, haven't found myself going for it too much lately. it's still one of the better albums this year, which does say more about this year.

bahhh to all of you old bastards, this year wasn't any worse or better than any recent year (except for 2003, which owned this century!)

I thought Neko's was the closest to "great". But moreso in an artistic, I have to be in the right mood way rather than an I can't stop listening to it way.

Originally posted by HoyaSaxa08:

Originally posted by Weird Little Self Loathing Man:
I own it, and it's definitely on the GOOD list.

i'm impressed by your discriminatory taste … if that isn't a great album then i don't know what is

Originally posted by Weird Little Self Loathing Man:
I thought Neko's was the closest to "great". But moreso in an artistic, I have to be in the right mood way rather than an I can't stop listening to it way.

i don't think an album has to be addicting or "good for any mood" to be great … camera obscura's (and neko's, i guess) is a big-time downer (outside a couple of upbeat tracks), definitely takes the right frame of mind to dig into it

Originally posted by pdx pollard:
Essex Green also opened for Delgados a couple of years ago at Black Cat

Thank you!!!! This has been driving me crazy for months and months now. I absolutely knew that I had seen them open for someone at the Black Cat several years ago but couldn't for the life of me remember who. I kept thinking that it may have been either Ash or The Chameleons yet knew neither was correct.

My very, very short list would be:

The Daysleepers
Fleeting Joys
Hearts Of Black Science

My extended list is way too long to put together now. I think it's been a fantastic year for music! Granted, most of the music I like is probably never, ever even given a fair listen by the Pitchdorks let alone an informed critique. Most of the stuff that makes it on to the Mainstream Indie charts has very much disappointed me.

My extended list would definitely include:

Twangirl's The Black Angels
and Sir HC's Psychic Ills

I agree. I guess time will tell if either goes down as "great" for me, but right now I'd say they probably won't.

I agree that 2003 was a standout year (I think we've already had this discussion.) The best of the 2000's so far for me.

Originally posted by HoyaSaxa08:

Originally posted by Weird Little Self Loathing Man:
I thought Neko's was the closest to "great". But moreso in an artistic, I have to be in the right mood way rather than an I can't stop listening to it way.

i don't think an album has to be addicting or "good for any mood" to be great … camera obscura's (and neko's, i guess) is a big-time downer (outside a couple of upbeat tracks), definitely takes the right frame of mind to dig into it

Originally posted by Weird Little Self Loathing Man:
I agree that 2003 was a standout year (I think we've already had this discussion.) The best of the 2000's so far for me.

i think we've had every discussion possible on here about 4-5 times a piece