I Kan't Spell

 
Top Music of 2006

Well overall I have to say that 2006 was not a banner year for music, or at least, for me listening to music. As I trolled the online community for more and more all I was left with were dried up onion skins of 2003 and 2004. If it weren't for Sons and Daughters (for your own soul play Johnny Cash real fuckin loud and dance around), Rilo Kiley, and my finding of the Drive-By Truckers last year I probably would have said the same.

Unfortunately this year the pickins were rather slim and while the Internet community turns many people on to new music, it also muddies the water for those of us who like to take as much in as possible. It's as if 2 years ago we had a steady trickle of new music everyday from 20 or 30 sources. It was easy to coil around a new artist and ingest what they were playing. I could take a new 30 song playlist everyday. But Jesus is everyone Pitchfork now? Does everyone aspire to be the next rock critic for their favorite college band? Well more power to you if you do but you are making my fucking ears hurt. I mean how many more myspace guys do I need sending me 2 new songs a day? And around every corner, there is every band with a new .flac, or a new cd and all of them sound pretty much the same (save for the lyrics just absolutely being atrocious). That would be my word of advice to new bands - the sounds are going to be rooted in what you listen to so trying to expound on that can be a shot to the foot so instead of playing pots and pans really try to focus on lyrics from time to time, and for fuck's sake don't rhyme love with dove.

So first we'll start off with local new best band of the year. I have to say that Among Wolves, from what I've heard, is somewhat original if not in its own way sort of Basquiat in it's music. It sounds like hot trash, but, if you are really hungry for anything, well then, hot trash can smell pretty tasty. Overall they have a sound that more than likely won't develop but has that twinge of talent mixed into it. Sort of like watching a kid throw a 90 MPH fast ball against a barn door, you know it's 90 MPH but more than likely you'll never see it in a major league stadium. Also, the name, given the plethora of "wolf" bands that just came out - lacks any sort of separation. But, alas this is Baltimore and good music coming from Baltimore, well, if it ain't named Animal Collective or Cex, then it's probably just a kid with a boring day job. I know this sounds like an underhanded compliment but in all seriousness - this band is from Baltimore, they sound about 2 years too late but it's the best i've heard.

Also on this list for new bands (again don't know how "new" they are but this is what i've found): Caleb Stine and the Break Men, The Lawnchairs meh...I haven't gotten out enough ENOUGH to really SAY ANYTHING about new Baltimore bands. But, from what I see there are some new labels and new open mic nights around. So we'll have to see what that breeds.

For those who don't know, The Waterfront Hotel tends do have a pretty good click of NEW new artists that are beyond open mic but not ready for a label. So, go check it out if you live around here.

So on to the top 10 -

10. The Blow - Paper Television :: This just sneaks in here at the end thanks to Doug's listing on his website. But, I have to give original credit to Mr. Oliver who introduced me to "How Naked" by The Blow a year or so ago. The Blow is simple and pretty and all things that make up New York sex scenes, quiet girls in mittens and wool hats that carry knives, and lord knows what else. This music just reminds me of a cocktail party gone lesbian. If it needed a genre I would say it was Girl Promise March.

9. Ima Robot - Monument to the Masses :: This was my most anticipated release of the year and I have to say it let me down. Their self-titled debut had so much energy that the cd case should have come filled with bouncy balls and ecstasy instead of a cd. I'm sure it was made while the stove was on and the water was boiling over. This CD took 2 years and it sounds like it. The energy is bottled up and the elastic sideburns and neon pants have been replaced with bad LA shit like old converse, and rat tails. This is still the best pop punk I could recommend.

8. The Black Keys - Magic Potion :: The title of the album alone is indicative of the Black Keys themselves. Take 4 parts blues, 1 part 2 goofy white guys, 1 part loud, and 1 part pain and heartache lyrics and you have the Black Keys. Each album from Thickfreakness and the Big Come Up to this one drips of the same soul. Sorry to them though, this is not Rubber Factory quality though. It is good and I do love it but it's not the junior album I was hoping for, it was actually the junior album that you normally get (think Coldplay, Oasis, Blur, really any band...)

7. Yeah Yeah Yeahs' - Show Your Bones :: I love this album. I absolutely adore it. I adore it so much that I started to really listen to it and then I started to not like it. I'll tell you why... Karen O. Karen O is like a rich man's Hedwig. It's kinda edgy and kinda Peaches in her own way but then you start to realize that she's not that edgy and her lyrics aren't that amazing. If she had never released Maps we would not know her. As a matter of fact if it weren't for her whats-her-faces-band mates she would probably be an Egyptian dancer for the Bangles reunion tour. "walk like a girl who wears too much make-up and oddly looks like Marilyn Manson".

6. I'm From Barcelona - Let Me Introduce My Friends :: Like The Polyphonic Spree but without the cult-like tendencies, this album sounds like a cross between pure joy and Weezer. I love joy and I love Weezer, so this album worked wonders for me this year. That's right, I love Weezer. But again this is just another cross breed album. A damn good one though.

5. Arctic Monkeys' - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not :: Yep I went there. It's fucking good. We all know it's good. But the question is, what is it good in comparison to? It was the fastest selling album in British history but are they Zeppelin? Are they the Smiths or even Oasis/Blur? They are cheeky and fun and remind me a lot of the jovial Oasis days but are these guys anything more than a new marshmallow inside of the Lucky Charms box? Me thinks me sees a Christmas tree in that there pot of gold. Me thinks me sees a one album wonder ala BabyShambles and Pete Doherty.

4. The Raconteurs - Broken Boy Soldiers :: Call me a bandwaggoner or whatever it is you want but I've been waiting for the Jables solo side band project for a long time and this is about as good as I could have hoped for. The songs are all short, to the point, unassuming, semi-quirky rock bombs and I appreciate this album for its ill-poshed stance and White Stripes void that it filled. Steady as She Goes is just a great song.

3.Wolfmother's - Wolfmother :: Oh Ye of Sirius Satellite fame and fortune. Let me count the ways that you are good. One you are thus still rockin undergroundish and two you have not changed your sound since your amalgamation from that other band by a lesser cubs name (you'll have to do your own work for that). This is a concrete album taken from the depths of the like of Early Pearl Jam (more in feel then in semblance). This album reminds of a time when popular music could still be fucking good and teenage girls did not worry the left side of the rock stance where Nirvana and Mudhoney lived. It smells like 1994 in here.

2. J. Tillman - Minor Works :: I know whatever Elliott Smith had, but it's all gone now and whatever Elliott Smith had, J. Tillman has it, too. This album is both soft and raw at the same time, and if you aren’t paying attention, it could crush your soul. You know you weren't going to see this list without my one sad bastard album of the year. Well this is it. Love it and cry to it. It'll smoke your toes.

1. Tapes n' Tapes - The Loon :: Easily the most creative, fresh sounding, and catchy Indie rock alt-ass band to come about this year. I haven't heard anyone that has the stretch that these guys do while still keeping it melodic and tight. There is a difference between exploring yourself as an artist and just sounding like fucking shit. Most people who test the bounds of Radioheadesque Banhardt land come back with a black eye and an apologetic bowed head as they ask for their job at the sub shop back. Tapes n Tapes pushed the walls of Minnesota and got back a fucking great Super Bowl half time commercial. You'll be talking about it for a week or so but will soon find that it is fading on you. I think Tapes n Tapes is one of those bands that unfortunately won't be around for a while (see Hot Snakes) but will inspire other bands to tighten up and fly right. Either way, this is one of those "albums" that you should own, like a Dave Eggers coffee table book.

Honorable Mentions - I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass ~ Yo La Tengo
Boys and Girls in America ~ The Hold Steady
Return to Cookie Mountain (with Bonus Tracks) ~ TV on the Radio

Honorable Mentions I didn't listen to -
That new Dylan album -

Largest disappointments -
Thom Yorke - Eraser
Flaming Lips - At War with the Mystics
Magic Numbers - Those the Brokes

Thanks. Please bring back better music in 2007.
Link posted by JVMM : 10:24 AM