If all the
cool kids are doing it, then I'll do it too!
Yes, it's me also going on about my favourite albums of 2006!
Originally, when I decided to copy Mirza's post, I thought I might just talk about my favourite albums that I
discovered in 2006, but then I realised that I actually could, for once in my life, make a list of just albums that were actually
released this year! Egads!
Anyway, my top five of that variety would have to be, in... Chronological order:
Sparks - Hello Young Lovers
Final Fantasy - He Poos Clouds
Destroyer - Destroyer's Rubies
Rogue's Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs, & Chanteys
Joanna Newsom - Ys
Unfortunately, I was a cheapskate, and only actually purchased the first two of those albums. But anyway, to be honest, I'd have to agree with a random comment I read somewhere that 2006 was a very good year for music. All of these albums blew me immediately, and got played excessively for at least a month after my first hearing them.
Hello Young Lovers I had been eagerly awaiting for months before finally finding it cleverly hidden behind Britney Spears in Broadway HMV. Amazingly, it completely met my exceedingly high expectations. I wouldn't say it surpassed them, but they were pretty damn high. Most surprisingly, unlike every Sparks album since
Kimono My House (1974), I find there is not one single bad, or mediocre, track on this album.
He Poos Clouds also earns that merit! Unlike his last album, which had a few excellent songs in with a whole load of filler, this rather shorter album is absolutely solid with fabulous tracks. It had me air-violining for months.
Destroyer's Rubies is probably the closest thing to straightforward rock on this list. And... I think I forget exactly how damn good this album is whenever I'm not listening to it. It's very open to a charge of being pretentious, and I wouldn't even bother trying to work out exactly what most of the lyrics are on about, but, frankly, I like that kind of stuff. (It beats arithmetic.)
Rogue's Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs, & Chanteys was an absolute joy to stumble across. Made loosely in connection with the new Pirates Of The Carribean movie, it's a huge collection of traditional Sea Chanteys, performed by a bunch of artists ranging from Lou Reed and Bryan Ferry to Jarvis Cocker and Akron/Family. And so, as you might expect from such a project, a fair amount of it is lousy. Most predictably, Bono's piece. But, besides the very concept being inherently fabulous, most of the album is pretty good, and a decent amount is absolutely brilliant. Particularly Van Dyke Parks' piece, perhaps the only single song I've ever played on repeat. And all this talk of Van Dyke Parks brings me naturally to:
Ys! Yep, I loved it.
Emily alone would be enough to make this list, in all its face-melting beauty, and I thoroughly enjoy all the other songs too. Obviously not an album for every season, but absolutely extraordinary when I'm in the mood.
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How's about some honourable mentions too!?!:
Well, Charlotte Gainsbourg's
5:55 deserves a mention, with a fair number of very distinct, and wonderful tracks, but it also has more than its fair share of dull filler, so it's not making my highly exclusive list.
Awoo, by The Hidden Cameras, gets a mention as well. I discovered two other albums by this band,
The Smell Of Our Own and
Missisauga Goddam, about halfway through this year, and completely loved their giddy, upbeat indie pop. Either one would definitely find a place in my list. Unfortunately
Awoo, which came out a few months later, really didn't grab me to the same extent. All things considered, it's pretty good, but not one of the songs is quite as compelling or addictive as half the stuff from those previous two albums.
Shut Up I Am Dreaming by Sunset Rubdown has a hearty bunch of wonderful songs, and only doesn't make my list because I haven't actually heard the entire album yet. Ditto, though to a greater extent for both wonderfulness and not-heardness, for
Making Dens by Mystery Jets.
And finally,
Are We Not Horses? by Rock Plaza Central is currently in the process of completely blowing my mind. Because I can't be bothered trying to avoid comparing it to Neutral Milk Hotel, it reminds me of them, only more light-hearted. In a good way! I'm dying to get my hands on this album, but it doesn't make my list because: a) I am a tad obsessed with it right now, and b) I have, alas, only heard 4 songs from it so far.
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And, what the hey, lets have a dishonourable mention!
This goes to The Scissor Sisters, for
Ta-Dah! Some people have covertly suggested I should be ashamed for liking their debut, but, frankly, I really did. Sure, Comfortably Numb was pretty annoying, but the album had a good number of quite excellent songs, covering a decent range of styles. And some great falsetto to boot. But, though I have perhaps not given it enough of a chance, or, for that matter, heard the entire album, I found most of
Ta-Dah! to be particularly dull, and monsterously sameish. So: Blaeergh.
So anyway, as I said, I think 2006 was a pretty damn excellent year for music! Also, note that a disproportionately large number (5) of artists mentioned here come from Canada. What's with that?
Also, I guess Mirza is posting again! Woo!
