Best Albums of 2006

nah… just thought i'd touch a nevre by dismissing a bunch of "buzz" records :)

Originally posted by Señor Carlos:

Originally posted by SalParadise:

Originally posted by Glass Arm Shattering:

10. The Beatles - Love

i'm officially on the 5.1 bandwagon after hearing the mix for this disc.

I'll have to check this out maybe….everytime I give multi-channel music a go I always go back to good old stereo for music. Nothing like a good left and right speaker.

I've also heard that the approach taken on this disk is pretty interesting…in the way that the tracks are sequenced ans segue into one another.

Aside from the good 5.1 mix do you think it's worth a listen? The beatles are a hard group to boil down to 20-odd tracks.

you're the first person i've heard say they actually prefer L/R to surround. i assumed everyone just didn't feel like buying the new soundsystem or re-buy the same music in the different format.

it's definitely worth a listen. it's kinda like a mixtape… all blended together, intros/outros will randomly have little bits and pieces from several other songs that aren't on the 20-odd tracklist. then they toy around with the actual songs… like putting the "within you, without you" vocals over the "tomorrow never knows" instrumental (my favorite track on the album). it's a different version of "strawberry fields" too

This in www.dcist.com

Cedars top 5:

Brian: Trentmoller -"The Last Resort"
Admittedly, one of my guiltiest pleasures is minimalist electronica - the kind of sound necessary for late night drives or cross country flights. Trentemoller's "The Last Resort" is an electronic record that embodies warmth, emotion, and beautiful instrumentation. Consider it the perfect soundtrack for the shores of Ibiza, or in my case, a warm, overcrowded train ride to Metro Center.


Ed: Junior Boys - "So This is Goodbye"
Very chill but layered record, great for dinner parties and sex. What else can you ask for?

Fico: Elbow - "Leaders of the Free World"
Along with Doves, Elbow is one of those bands we all look up to. Guy Garvey's voice is as honest as it gets in my opinion. I've heard them being described as a "drinking man's Coldplay", I can see some of that. Chockfull of fantastic melodies and lyrics that describe beautifully different scenarios such as the streets of Manchester, the self-doubt of meeting an ex-girlfriend's new beau, the post break-up bravado and subsequent vulnerability phase…and yes, even our idiot leader and his kin. This record has it all, a tour de force as pro-journalists like to say.

Luke: Youth Group - "Casino Twilight Dogs"
Pays proper homage to the notion of a "tune." Guitars, drums and vocals are rarely glossed over with walls of effects, yet the music still shimmers and soars as if it were meant for a higher calling. The music starts in the clouds- and dips into the canyons of isolation and simplicity. You can listen and not apologize for being a member of the bleeding hearts club. Youth Group does what U2 and James used to do with music and wordplay.

Collective Plug: Cedars - "Another Season"
It's our record and we luv it. It starts with "This Century" which was the first song we wrote as a 4-piece, a total stomper. "Holiday" follows with us at our most "U2ish" moment as some have said. Our collective favorite track is "Arrivals/Departures", it's different from most of the stuff we have done, the outro has some great atmospheric stuff and when we play it live we luv reaching that part of the song and just going with it and havin' it, know what I mean?

the grading system is good, especially in such an unremarkable year. i listened to all of these albums at least twice, i'm sure there are more than i'm missing. there are a bunch that i'm sure i'll like but seem like ones my parents would be more into, so i've tended to hold off on those for now (neko case, josh ritter, etc.). and i pretty much know what to avoid at this point, although i did give the decemberists another try, for whatever reason.

A
Destroyer

A-
Lily Allen
Mission of Burma

B+
Camera Obscura
Dan Sartain
Espers
Ghostface Killah
LCD Soundsystem

B
Adam Arcuragi
Belle & Sebastian
Blood Feathers
Bonnie "Prince" Billy
Brightblack Morning Light
Califone
Cat Power
Clipse
Pink Mountaintops
Portastatic
Skygreen Leopards
The Thermals
Vetiver

B-
Archie Bronson Outfit
Be Your Own Pet
The Black Angels
Bob Dylan
Catfish Haven
Clinic
The Evens
Ladyhawk
The Lilys
Mojave 3
Nina Nastasia
Oneida
Oxford Collapse
Psychic Ills
The Rapture
Viva Voce
Voxtrot
Young People

C+
Band of Horses
Beirut
The Coup
Evangelicals
The Hold Steady
The Legends
Swan Lake
TV on the Radio
The Walkmen

C
The Concretes
Human Television
The Long Blondes
The Pipettes
The Strokes
Tapes 'n Tapes
White Whale
The Spinto Band

C-
Flaming Lips
Wolfmother

F
The Decemberists
Metric
We Are Scientists

The Xgau-style list takes up too much space…

Liars- Drum's Not Dead
The Thermals- The Body, the Blood, the Machine
Thom Yorke- The Eraser
My Morning Jacket- Okonokos
Girl Talk- Night Ripper
Joanna Newsom- Ys
Bob Dylan- Modern Times
Secret Machines- Ten Silver Drops

Those were the only '06 albums I purchased as well as 'Cookie Mountain,' which is on its way from amazon.com.

late to the party but fwiw….some might be 05 and there are about 10-15 I haven't even gotten around to listening to (does this mean I have taste like Booker T's parents??!) :)


A+

Destroyer

A

The Essex Green
Joseph Arthur
Belle and Sebastian

A-
Neko Case
Islands
Gogol Bordello

B+

Alejandro Escovedo
Mark Lanegan and Isobel Campbell
Wolfmother
Chris Whitley and the Bastard Club
Camera Obscura
+/-
Centro-Matic
Josh Ritter
Jon Dee Graham
Heartless Bastards
Margot and the Nuclear So and So's
Midlake
The Weepies

B

Arctic Monkeys
Drive by Truckers
Calexico
The Black Keys
Paul Kelly and the Stormwater Boys
Howe Gelb
Bruce Springsteen
Gomez
Danko Jones
Nick Kelly
Oakley Hall
Tapes n Tapes
The Black Angels
Yo La Tengo
The Whigs
Dirty Pretty Things

B-

The Twilight Singers
Clearlake
Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova
The Hold Steady
Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs

C+

Eef Barzelay
Cat Power
Ray Davies
Film School
Asobi Seksu
Califone
deadboy and the Elephantmen
Hem
Radio Birdman
The Weather Machines

C

Neil Young
Ministry
Band of Horses
Grandaddy

D

Josh Rouse

F

Rhett Miller

Since we are sharing:

1. Bob Dylan Modern Times
2. Drive-By-Truckers A Blessing and a Curse
3. Belle & Sebastian The Life Pursuit
4. Morrissey Ringleader of the Tormentors
5. Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins Rabbit Fur Coat
6. The Knife Silent Shout
7. Beirut Gulag Okestar
8. Art Brut Bang Bang Rock & Roll
9. Camera Obscura Let's Get Out of This Country
10. Neil Young Living With War

I always love reading this thread. I'm surprised more people haven't posted their picks. Thanks in part to Tower Records, I purchased a whopping 72 albums this year. No doubt I'll never come close to that number again. So for this year only, I extended my list from a top 10 to a top 20.

1. Neko Case-Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
2. M. Ward-Post War
3. Joseph Arthur- Nuclear Daydream
4. Camera Obscura-Let's Get Out of This Country
5. Ben Kweller- Ben Kweller
6. My Morning Jacket- Okonokos
7. Gotan Project- Lunatico
8. Cibelle- The Shine of Dried Electric Leaves
9. Strays Don't Sleep- Strays Don't Sleep
10. Pernice Brothers- Live a Little
11. Josh Ritter-The Animal Years
12. Vetiver- To Find Me Gone
13. Bobby Bare Jr.-The Longest Meow
14. Joan as Police Woman- Real Life
15. Drive By Truckers- A Blessing and a Curse
16. Jolie Holland- Springtime Can Kill You
17. Jim Noir- Tower of Love
18. Be Your Own Pet-Be Your Own Pet
19. The Sadies-In Concert, Volume One
20. Juana Molina-Son

Biggest dissapointments: Belle and Sebastian, Calexico, Nellie McKay, Josh Rouse. Drive By Truckers were a disappointment as well, but even a disappointment from them is still better than what most bands had to offer.

1. Neko Case - Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
2. Decemberists - The Crane Wife
3. Jenny Lewis/Watson Twins - Rabbit Fur Coat
4. The Dears - Gang of Losers
5. Sparklehorse - Dreamt For Light Years in the Belly of a Mountain
6. Josh Ritter - The Animal Years
7. Rosanne Cash - Black Cadillac
8. Drive-By Truckers - A Blessing and a Curse
9. Joseph Arthur - Nuclear Daydream
10. Pernice Brothers - Live A Little
11. Snow Patrol - Eyes Open
12. Editors - The Back Room
13. Centro-Matic - Ft. Recovery
14. Hem - Funnel Cloud
15. Belle and Sebastian - The Life Pursuit
16. Cat Power - The Greatest
17. Phoenix - It's Never Been Like That
18. Mates of State - Bring It Back
19. Silversun Pickups - Carnavas
20. Joan Osborne - Pretty Little Stranger

A

Band of Horses
Silversun Pickups

A-

Jenny Lewis w/ The Watson Twins
Camera Obscura
Belle and Sebastian
Islands
The Essex Green
Art Brut
TV on the Radio

B+

The Decemberists
Muse
Damien Rice
Cedars

B

We Are Scientists
The Subways
Arctic Monkeys
Gnarles Barkley
Nouvelle Vague
Justin Timberlake
Snow Patrol

B-

Morrissey
Ambulance LTD
Beck
Dears
Keane
French Kicks
The Hold Steady

C+

The Mountain Goats
Destroyer

C

Calexico
Secret Machines
Pearl Jam
The Elected
The Killers
Gwen Stefani

C â??

She Wants Revenge
Elefant
The Flaming Lips
The Living End
The Fiery Furnaces
Mission to Burma
Sunset Rubdown

D

Beirut
Wolfmother
Liars