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=> GENERAL DISCUSSION => Topic started by: Vas Deferens on December 01, 2006, 01:03:00 pm

Title: Best Albums of 2006
Post by: Vas Deferens on December 01, 2006, 01:03:00 pm
Cat Power - The Greatest
 Belle & Sebastian - The Life Pursuit
 Camera Obscura - Let's Get Out of this Country
 Hot Chip - The Warning
 Josh Ritter - The Animal Years
 The Mountain Goats - Get Lonely
 Pernice Brothers - Live a Little
 Sonic Youth - Rather Ripped
 Neko Case - Fox Confessor...
 Herbert - Scale
 TV on the Radio - Return to Cookie Mountain
 Shearwater - Palo Santo
 Tapes 'n Tapes - The Loon
 
 Discovered in 06 but released in 05:
 
 Jamie Lidell - Multiply
Title: Re: Best Albums of 2006
Post by: terry on December 01, 2006, 01:06:00 pm
Mission of Burma - The Obliterati
Title: Re: Best Albums of 2006
Post by: Charlie Nakatestes, Japanese Golfer on December 01, 2006, 01:38:00 pm
Too early for this category
Title: Re: Best Albums of 2006
Post by: ggw on December 01, 2006, 01:39:00 pm
I bet Joe M. bought his Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving.
Title: Re: Best Albums of 2006
Post by: nkotb on December 01, 2006, 01:41:00 pm
I got mine on Thanksgiving Day.  Thank Santa for in-laws who have Christmas-tree-farm-owning parents.
 
 
Quote
Originally posted by ggwâ?¢:
  I bet Joe M. bought his Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving.
Title: Re: Best Albums of 2006
Post by: vansmack on December 01, 2006, 01:45:00 pm
I thought we alrady had  this thread? (http://www.930.com/cgi-bin/ubb-cgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=014281)
Title: Re: Best Albums of 2006
Post by: ggw on December 27, 2006, 06:39:00 pm
I'm bagging the "Top XX of 2006" format and going for the vintage Robert Christgau "report card" style.
 
 This isn't everything I've gotten in 2006, but it is everything that I've listened to multiple times and feel is worthy of mention.
 
 A
 Black Angels
 Comets on Fire
 The Thermals
 Yo La Tengo
 
 B+
 Arctic Monkeys
 Beirut
 Black Keys â?? Chulahoma
 Clearlake
 Clinic
 The Hold Steady
 Silversun Pickups
 The Sword
 Tokyo Police Club
 TV on the Radio
 Voxtrot
 
 B
 Band of Horses
 Brakes
 Built to Spill
 Calexico
 Bob Dylan
 The Elected
 Essex Green
 Figurines
 Film School
 Love is All
 M. Ward
 Neko Case
 Neil Young â?? Living with War
 Oxford Collapse
 Secret Machines
 
 C+
 Belle & Sebastian
 Camera Obscura
 Decemberists
 Destroyer
 Mission of Burma
 The Sounds
 
 C
 Black Keys â?? Magic Potion
 Drive-By Truckers
 Human Television
Title: Re: Best Albums of 2006
Post by: helicon1 on December 27, 2006, 10:54:00 pm
No paticular Order
 
 1. Juana Molina - Son
 2. David Gilmour - On an Island
 3. Imogen Heap - Speak for Yourself
 4. Ned Collette - Jokes and Trials
 5. Tool - 10,000 Days
 6. Mono - You are There
 7. Beirut - Gulag Orkestar
 8. Thom Yorke - The Eraser
 9. The Knife - Silent Shout
 10. The Beatles - Love
 11. Mogwai - Zidane (A 20th Century Portrait)
 12. The Album Leaf - Into the Blue Again
 13. Wolfmother - Self Titled
 14. Dead Heart Bloom - Self Titled
 15. Cedars - Another Season EP
Title: Re: Best Albums of 2006
Post by: SalParadise on December 28, 2006, 12:41:00 am
Quote
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.
Title: Re: Best Albums of 2006
Post by: Herr Professor Doktor Doom on December 28, 2006, 01:22:00 am
My god, how many different ways can they rehash the Beatles?
Title: Re: Best Albums of 2006
Post by: Jaguar on December 28, 2006, 03:52:00 am
It certainly beats another wank-ass McCartney release.
Title: Re: Best Albums of 2006
Post by: kosmo vinyl on December 28, 2006, 08:50:00 am
Thanks GGW, you've just made it easier to compile my  list.  No one or two records stood out as a clear favorites and grading them makes it easier to organize the years releases.  
 
 I'm still hearing great stuff from the year like El Goodo, Sam Roberts Band, and The Bellrays.  
 
 I'd have to agree with the C+ given to Camera Obscura, fantastic single but the full length is lacking...
Title: Re: Best Albums of 2006
Post by: Bombay Chutney on December 28, 2006, 10:15:00 am
Quote
Originally posted by They call me Doctor Doom.:
  My god, how many different ways can they rehash the Beatles?
Have you heard it?  It's terrific.
Title: Re: Best Albums of 2006
Post by: chaz on December 28, 2006, 10:16:00 am
Quote
Originally posted by SalParadise:
   
Quote
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. [/b]
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.
Title: Re: Best Albums of 2006
Post by: Relaxer on December 28, 2006, 11:14:00 am
I like GGW's approach, as it's more revealing about what you think of each record. But I also like the spirit of competition, and that's how I've been thinking of my list. So here it is in order.
 
 Best.
 1. Howling Bells â?? S/T
 2. The Sword â?? Age of Winters
 3. Cat Power â?? The Greatest
 4. Priestess â?? Hello Master
 5. Heartless Bastards â?? All This Time
 6. Secret Machines â?? 10 Silver Drops
 7. Comets on Fire â?? Avatar
 8. TV on the Radio â?? Cookie Mountain
 9. Arctic Monkeys â?? Whatever People Say
 10. Radio Department â?? Pet Grief
 
 11. Slayer â?? Christ Illusion
 12. The Beatles â?? Love
 13. The Knife â?? Silent Shout
 14. Sleepy Jackson â?? Personalityâ?¦
 15. Middle Distance Runner â?? Plane in Flames
 16. Essex Green â?? Cannibal Sea
 17. Phoenix â?? Itâ??s Never Been Like That
 18. Radio 4 â?? Enemies Like This
 19. Belle & Sebastian â?? Life Pursuit
 20. Margot & the Nuclear So Sos â?? Dust of Retreat
 
 Disappointments:
 Muse â?? Black Holesâ?¦
 Hold Steady â?? Boys and Girls
 Mastodon â?? Blood Mountain
 Futureheads â?? News and Tributes
 Band of Horses â?? Everything All the Time
 The Dears â?? Gang of Losers
 Grandaddy â?? Just Like Fambly Cat (my opinion on this might change)
 Silversun Pickups - Carnavas
 T.I. - King
Title: Re: Best Albums of 2006
Post by: kosmo vinyl on December 28, 2006, 11:26:00 am
Based on my recollection i've heard 70+ new albums...  At this moment here are what I think are the most and least essential of those.  Many more need more listening time and for the most part fall in the B range.
 
 A
 Alice Smith
 Girl Talk
 Phoenix
 Mew
 
 B+
 As Fast As
 Middle Distance Runner
 Skye
 Voxtrot
 Keene Brothers & Robert Pollard
 The Loud Family
 St. Etienne
 The World Record
 Brazilian Girls
 The Sails
 
 B
 Cheap Trick
 Deadboy and the Elephantmen
 The Hard Tomorrows
 Van Hunt
 Earl Greyhound
 The Tyde
 Belle & Sebsteine
 Gnarles Barkley
 Ray Davies
 Margot and the Nuclear So&So's
 The Format
 Don Dixon
 
 B-
 Goldfrapp
 Under The Influence of Giants
 Madeleine Peyroux
 Sia
 Primal Scream
 The Czars
 Beth Orton
 
 
 C+
 The Pipettes
 Wolfmother
 
 C
 Camera Obscura
 The Rakes
 
 C-
 Raconteurs
 Pink Spider / Tower of London
 Black Nine Alps
 
 D
 We Are Scientists
 Birdmonster
 Dirty Pretty Things
 
 Still under evaluation Amp Fiddler, Roddy Frame, Beach House, Danko Jones, Jon Auer, The Cassettes, Tommy Keene, El Goodo, Sam Roberts, Bellrays, Victorian English Gentlemen's Club, Black Angels, etc
 
 On wish list John Legend, Solomon Burke, The Dears, Isobel Campbell, Jenny Lewis
 
 Best Reissues
 
 Soul Sides Vol One
 Panama! Latin, Calypso And Funk On The Isthmus
 Thievery Corporation - Versions
Title: Re: Best Albums of 2006
Post by: Cock Van Der Palm on December 28, 2006, 11:57:00 am
Here's my two cents for what it is worth:
 
 A
 We Are Scientists
 Birdmonster
 Dirty Pretty Things
 
 B+
 Raconteurs
 Pink Spider / Tower of London
 Black Nine Alps
 
 B
 Camera Obscura
 The Rakes
 
 C+
 The Pipettes
 Wolfmother
 
 C
 Goldfrapp
 Under The Influence of Giants
 Madeleine Peyroux
 Sia
 Primal Scream
 The Czars
 Beth Orton
 
 C-
 Cheap Trick
 Deadboy and the Elephantmen
 The Hard Tomorrows
 Van Hunt
 Earl Greyhound
 The Tyde
 Belle & Sebsteine
 Gnarles Barkley
 Ray Davies
 Margot and the Nuclear So&So's
 The Format
 Don Dixon
 
 D
 As Fast As
 Middle Distance Runner
 Skye
 Voxtrot
 Keene Brothers & Robert Pollard
 The Loud Family
 St. Etienne
 The World Record
 Brazilian Girls
 The Sails
 
 F
 Alice Smith
 Girl Talk
 Phoenix
 Mew
 
 Enjoy!!!
Title: Re: Best Albums of 2006
Post by: kosmo vinyl on December 28, 2006, 12:00:00 pm
and here i am looking at GGW and Relaxer's list realizing there is a bunch more I'd like to hear and some missing from my under evaluation list.  got Priestess, TVOTR, Figurines, etc.
Title: Re: Best Albums of 2006
Post by: kosmo vinyl on December 28, 2006, 12:01:00 pm
must resist urge to edit... have you even heard most of the albums your are "slamming"?
Title: Re: Best Albums of 2006
Post by: Cock Van Der Palm on December 28, 2006, 12:08:00 pm
Feel free to edit.  I was just having fun!
Title: Re: Best Albums of 2006
Post by: kosmo vinyl on December 28, 2006, 12:14:00 pm
nah... just thought i'd touch a nevre by dismissing a bunch of "buzz" records  :)
Title: Re: Best Albums of 2006
Post by: SalParadise on December 28, 2006, 12:18:00 pm
Quote
Originally posted by Señor Carlos:
   
Quote
Originally posted by SalParadise:
   
Quote
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. [/b]
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. [/b]
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
Title: Re: Best Albums of 2006
Post by: Fico on December 28, 2006, 12:21:00 pm
This in www.dcist.com (http://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?
Title: Re: Best Albums of 2006
Post by: BookerT on December 28, 2006, 01:08:00 pm
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
Title: Re: Best Albums of 2006
Post by: palahniukkubrick on December 28, 2006, 06:55:00 pm
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.
Title: Re: Best Albums of 2006
Post by: brennser on January 05, 2007, 12:49:00 pm
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
Title: Re: Best Albums of 2006
Post by: renton007 on January 05, 2007, 12:53:00 pm
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
Title: Re: Best Albums of 2006
Post by: Charlie Nakatestes, Japanese Golfer on January 08, 2007, 10:18:00 am
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.
Title: Re: Best Albums of 2006
Post by: wxdude on January 08, 2007, 05:09:00 pm
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
Title: Re: Best Albums of 2006
Post by: vansmack on January 08, 2007, 05:55:00 pm
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