Best Albums of 2006 & Year-End Summary

I finally found a forum where talk about music is allowed, ha ha. I couldn't find any year-end topics here. Why not? Doesn't anyone get the "list madness" and check out goodies they might have missed?



1. TV On The Radio * Return To Cookie Mountain (4AD/Interscope)
2. Mastodon * Blood Mountain (Reprise)
3. Yeah Yeah Yeahs * Show Your Bones (Interscope)
4. Kassin +2 * Futurismo (Video Arts Japan)
5. The Hold Steady * Boys And Girls In America (Vagrant)
6. The Knife * Silent Shout (Rabid/Mute)
7. Fujiya & Miyagi * Transparent Things (Tirk)
8. Neko Case * Fox Confessor Brings the Flood (Anti)
9. Joanna Newsom * Ys (Drag City)
10. Hot Chip * The Warning (DFA/Astralwerks)
11. Benoît Pioulard * Précis (Kranky)
12. Tony Allen * Lagos No Shaking (Honest Jon1s)
13. Junior Boys * So This Is Goodbye (Domino)
14. Cappablack * Facades and Skeletons (Scape Germany)
15. Lansing-Dreiden * The Dividing Island (Kemado)
16. Various * The World Is Gone (XL)
17. Milanese * Extend (Planet Mu)
18. Espers * Espers II (Drag City)
19. The Horror The Horror (Tapete Records)
20. Tokyo Jihen * Adult (EMI Japan)
21. Asa * Terveisiä Kaaoksesta (Julkaisuvuosi)
22. Ellen Allien & Apparat * Orchestra of Bubbles (Bpitch Control)
23. Nathan Fake * Drowning in a Sea of Love (Border Community)
24. Barbara ******stern * The Grass Is Always Greener (Monika)
25. Tom Waits * Orphans: Bawlers, Brawlers & Bastards (Anti)
26. OOIOO * Taiga (Thrill Jockey)
27. Britta Persson * Top Quality Bones and a Little Terrorist (Bonnier Amigo)
28. The Futureheads * News And Tributes (679)
29. The Dirty Pretty Things * Waterloo To Anywhere (Universal)
30. White Flight (Range Life)
31. Ali Farka Touré * Savane (Nonesuch)
32. Thomas Mapfumo * Rise Up (Realworld)
33. Herbert * Scale (!K7)
34. Yo La Tengo * I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your *** (Matador)
35. The Roots * Game Theory (Def Jam Left)
36. Toumani Diabaté Orchestra * Boulevard de l'Independance (Nonesuch)
37. Shack * The Corner Of Miles And Gil (Sourmash)
38. Built To Spill * You In Reverse (WB)
39. Thom Yorke * The Eraser (Capitol)
40. CSS * Cansei De Ser Sexy (Sub Pop)
41. Mission of Burma * The Obliterati (Matador)
42. The Mars Volta * Amputechture (Umvd)
43. Caetano Veloso * Cê (Universal)
44. Miho Hatori * Ecdysis (Rykodisc)
45. Ornette Coleman * Sound Grammar (Sound Grammar)
46. Mordant Music * Dead Air (Mordant)
47. J. Dilla * Donuts (Stones Throw)
48. Matmos * The Rose Has Teeth In The Mouth of A Beast (Matador)
49. Enslaved * Ruun (Candlelight)
50. Kieran Hebden & Steve Reid * The Exchange Session (Domino)
51. The Rapture * Pieces Of The People We Love (Universal)
52. Spank Rock * Yoyoyoyoyo (Big Dada)
53. Subtle * for hero: for fool (Astralwerks)
54. The Radio Dept. * Pet Grief (Labrador)
55. Kode9 & The Spaceape * Memories of the Future (Hyperdub)
56. Burial (Hyperdub)
57. Belbury Poly * The Owl's Map (Ghost Box)
58. Radio Citizen * Berlin Serengeti (Ubiquity)
59. Acoustic Ladyland * Skinny Grin (V2)
60. Cold War Kids * Robbers & Cowards (Downtown/V2)
61. The Fratellis * Costello Music (Umvd UK)
62. Clark * Body Riddle (Warp Records)
63. Longcut * A Call & Response (Deltasonic)
64. Horse Feathers * Words Are Dead (Lucky Madison)
65. Ad Astra Per Aspera * Catapult Calypso (Sonic Unyon)
66. Phoenix * It's Never Been Like That (Astralwerks/Source)
67. Isis * In The Absence of Truth (Ipecac)
68. The Melvins * A Senile Animal (Ipecac)
69. Ojos de Brujo * TecharÃ* (Six Degrees)
70. The Ark * State Of The Ark (EMI)
71. Squarepusher * Hello Everything (Warp)
72. Final Fantasy * He Poos Clouds (Tomlab)
73. Sonic Youth * Rather Ripped (Geffen)
74. Joan As Police Woman * Real Life (Reveal)
75. Amp Fiddler * Afro Strut (Genuine UK)
76. Cornelius * Sensuous (WEA)
77. Man Man * Six Demon Bag (Ace Fu)
78. Om * Conference Of The Birds (Holy Mountain)
79. Ekkehard Ehlers * A Life Without Fear (Staubgold)
80. Annuals * Be He Me (Ace Fu)
81. Asobi Seksu * Citrus (Friendly Fire)
82. Love Is All * Nine Times That Same Song (What's Your Rupture?)
83. Mew * And The Glass-Handed Kites (Sony)
84. Ladyfuzz * Kerfuffle (Transgressive/WEA International)
85. Lilly Allen * Alright, Still (Regal)
86. Sunn 0))) & Boris * Altar (Southern Lord)
87. The Sword * Age Of Winters (Kemado)
88. Jesu * Silver EP (Hydra Head)
89. Booka Shade * Movements (Get Physical)
90. Rhymefest * Blue Collar (Allido/J)
91. The Coup * Pick a Bigger Weapon (Epitaph)
92. National Trust * Kings And Queens (Thrill Jockey)
93. The Ranconteurs * Broken Boy Soldiers (XL)
94. Wolfmother (Modular/Interscope)
95. The Ludes * The Dark Art Of Happiness (Double Dragon UK)
96. LCD Soundsystem * 45:33 (Nike/iTunes)
97. The Thermals * The Body, The Blood, The Machine (Sub Pop)
98. Scritti Politti * White Bread Black Beer (Rough Trade)
99. Rachid Taha * Diwan 2 (Wrasse)
100. Scott Walker * The Drift (4AD)

I canÂ't see how anyone would feel confident in their year-end list before the year is up. I spend the entire month of December tracking down albums I missed earlier in the year, and revisiting ones I hadnÂ't heard in a few months. No matter how hard I try, there are always another handful of albums I discover in the following years that would have made my top 50 and usually at least one that cracks the top 10. Having stuffed over 200 new albums into my brain this month in addition to re-listening to another 50, IÂ'm drunk with music, eyes swirling, balance and grammar compromised. So letÂ's do this, shall we?

It seemed 2005 was doomed to be the nadir of the decade. I felt it was the weakest year in music since about 1992. There was no where to go but up, and 2006 was definitely an improvement. Opinions will differ widely, because tastes are more fragmented than ever. The age of consensus is gone, and this is largely a good thing. No single artist can define an entire generationÂ's cultural zeitgeist. How could they, when music flows around us more than ever. Wherever there is air, it vibrates with music. Contrary to what some think, the abundance of music via the Internet does not cheapen it. Without air, we die. Many of us breathe in music like air every day, and while we wouldnÂ't die without it, quality of life would certainly feel like itÂ's taken a dive. The difference is that our tastes are more individualized, segmented into personalized MP3 playlists. The era of corporate media colonizing our minds with their focus-group researched to lowest common denominator tripe is, if not effectively over, greatly diminished. Some may still yearn to belong to a larger community like the Beatles/Stones/Dylan generation. But the direct effect of filesharing, music blogs and customizable Internet radio (Pandora, Last.fm, Rhapsody) is that many artists have increased their audience. This decade, new artists who hadnÂ't even released a full length album have been selling out small venues. This is in sharp contrast to the 80s and 90s, when many touring indie artists took it for granted that they would often play in front of a handful of people and not always earn enough to eat that night. A good show with a happy crowd of 100 to 500 is plenty of community for me.

Without a doubt the band of the year was TV On The Radio. No other artist right now can remotely touch their mix of originality, passion, and showmanship. They may not top all the polls, as they are not all things to all people, but a lot more would get them were they to see their fiery live performances. David Letterman smirked when he read the title, Return To Cookie Mountain while introducing the band. But itÂ's no joke, Dave, thatÂ's the best album youÂ'll hold in your shriveling hands for years to come. What makes them so great is that while their excellent lyrics touch on political rage, they donÂ't have a messianic savior complex like some artists we know. They donÂ't drown the audience with pious, sentimental ballads, or bore us by twiddling knobs and fussing with their complex layers of experimental textures. Instead, they do what they did on LettermanÂ's show, rock the **** out with crazed sexual energy.

Mastodon and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs also released stellar albums. Rivaling TV On The Radio for best live band in the world, Brazilian group Kassin +2 released the third in a sort of trilogy, Futurismo. Oddly, itÂ's currently a Japanese import. The Hold Steady hit the jackpot by sweetening Craig FinnÂ's literate storytelling with melodies and some actual singing. SwedenÂ's The Knife, while almost oppressively creepy, developed a brilliantly unique sound. Fujiya & Miyagi arenÂ't the first band to pay homage to Krautrock, but theyÂ're the best of this yearÂ's crop. Neko Case continues to refine her music until itÂ's so exquisitely out-of-time it will certainly haunt the past and the future. Björk may be laying low this year, but her influence can be heard in two very different artists Â- avant-folky harpist Joanna Newsom and Miho Hatori, formerly of the fabulous Cibo Matto. Who knew that shibuya-kei J-pop influenced pomo pop and Âfreak folk would have a common thread... Continued (see rest of summary, Genre Lucky 13 Lists, including concerts, books and movies.

See what over 500 people thought of the year in music, and a list of 1,300 albums! -- The Idolator 2006 JackinÂ' Pop Critics Poll

How to use end of year lists

Space was limited, so I'll continue here...

The only genre that stands out with the most albums in my top 100 aside from rock, is electronica. Fujiya & Miyagi, Hot Chip, Junior Boys, Herbert, Nathan Fake, Barbara ******stern, Ellen Allien & Apparat all made impressive fusions of soundscapes, dance beats and subtly catchy pop melodies. Dominated by the mystifying success of the stunningly mediocre Arctic Monkeys, UK rock had a slow year. The more subtle charms of the second Futureheads album recall mid-period The Jam, but few seemed to care. Libertines offshoot The Dirty Pretty Things made an album far better than one would expect. Longcut, The Brakes, Ladyfuzz, Graham Coxon, Clinic made good albums, but RazorlightÂ's second album was a big disappointment. Artists from around the world are well represented with Kassin +2, CSS and Caetano Veloso (Brazil), The Knife, The Horror The Horror, Britta Persson, Enslaved and Love Is All (Sweden), Benoît Pioulard and Phoenix (France Â- Pioulard is actually from Michigan, but he seems to really want to be French so lets give it to him), Tony Allen (Nigeria), Ali Farka Touré (Mali), Cappabblack, Miho Hatori, Tokyo Jihen, OOIOO and Cornelius (Japan), Asa (Finland), Barbara ******stern and Ellen Allien (Germany), Ampop and Jóhann Jóhannsson (Iceland), Lindstrøm (Norway), Under Byen (Denmark). ThereÂ's too many Canadians to keep track of.

Comeback of the year
ItÂ's been 11 years since Scott Walker released an album, and The Drift is a doozy. ItÂ's hard to imagine he was once an MOR singer (one of his ballads was featured prominently in a maudlin scene in the movie Love, Actually), as this album is one of the most extremely unhinged avant garde albums IÂ've ever heard. ItÂ's difficult listening for sure, something you respect from a distance and play only once in a great while, as it takes a while to recover from the experience. ItÂ's no wonder it even rated highly in the Decibel metal magazine poll. Runner-ups are Radio Birdman and The New York Dolls, who reunited to release surprisingly good new music.

Debuts of the year
Only Benoît Pioulard and The Horror The Horror cracked the top 20 with debuts. The Horror The Horror were completely written off, partly because they have not yet gotten American distribution, partly because of the strong influence of Television and The Strokes. IÂ've had the album since the spring and I still love it. IÂ'm not positive itÂ's their first album, but AsaÂ's Terveisiä Kaaoksesta is my favorite hip hop album, from Finland no less! The use of ancient folk sure serve as an example of the untapped realms hip hop artists could explore to get out of their rut.

Overrated of the Year
Without a doubt, Bob DylanÂ's Modern Times. This unfortunately will top the polls, which is completely ****ing pathetic. Come on people, move on. ItÂ's not that great. I imagine in the event when Dylan dies (I love most of his work up through 1975 and wish him to live happily long into old age), ageing critics will participate in ghoulish ceremonies of worship where the Grand Priest of Dylan, Greil Marcus, will pass around a pipe sprinkled with ashes of DylanÂ's remains, as they ruminate over the Dylan Bootleg Series Volume 169, consisting of mumbled snippets of melodies and what sounds suspiciously like farts recorded in his hospital bed.

Disappointment of the Year
I got some flack for my love of RazorlightÂ's 2004 debut, Up All Night, which I still maintain is a great album. I hoped their second album would prove theyÂ're a great band. They took a turn to total pop, and while thereÂ's a few good songs on it, thereÂ's some real stinkers. They got rid of their great drummer and are now utterly incapable of rocking. Sigh. Two of my favorite solo artists, Ed Harcourt and Hawksley Workman, failed to live up to their potential and reach a wider audience.

Looking Ahead
I hesitate to hype up the next Radiohead album, as many will expect them to Âsave music or something ridiculous like that. I would like to see some favorites like PJ Harvey, Karen O, The Rakes, Ghost, Annie, Robyn, Patrick Wolf, Café Tacuba, The Notwist and Nação ZumbÃ* uncork some sparkling albums. But mostly IÂ'm excited about the unknown. Surprise me, 2007.

Fester's Lucky 13

1. TV On The Radio * Return To Cookie Mountain (4AD/Interscope)
Considering that I was already a big fan of TV On The Radio, yet it took me over a month to get Return To Cookie Mountain, it's impressive that they hovered in the Billboard 200 album chart for several weeks. They received plenty of critical attention, enough for backlash such as being dismissed by The Wire and other similar snoots. But with their transcendent live shows and undeniably pioneering sound and style, the band's stature is guaranteed to grow, whether their future work becomes more commercial or more inscrutible. And inevitably, the 20,000 people who were into them in the beginning will magically become 200,000. Just like the original audiences of about a dozen people who first saw The Ramones or The Sex Pistols have expanded to about a million. But that's cool. It's the awesome moment that you know you've got a lasting legacy, when people lie about being there in the beginning. Full review.

2. Mastodon * Blood Mountain (Reprise)
As I wrote in last year's feature on metal, metal is made up of a hugely diverse array of sub-genres. Few will agree on what's best, as tastes run from conservative power metal to more adventurous experimental stuff. Mastodon have been receiving the most critical attention overall because they manage to straddle influences of 80s thrash and even 70s prog. And why not, they have so much to offer, from Brann Dailor's tricksy time signatures and tight riffing, detailed production to outrageous, ambitious lyrical themes. Lamb of God may have sold four times as many albums, Blood Mountain feels like a timeless classic alongside the mighty Leviathon. Full review.

3.Yeah Yeah Yeahs * Show Your Bones (Interscope)
Throughout the year, my feeling that Show Your Bones was a totally successful and superior progression from Fever To Tell was unwavering. It has the tunes, the emotional pull, and the excellent performances. Yet the excitement has waned a bit, and the album is totally buried or missing from end of year lists. Had critics actually taken the time to re-listen to it next to their late additions, it probably would have fared much better. I hope Karen O's solo venture is succesful, but I'd hate to see the band end. They really do have something special. Full review.

4. Kassin +2 * Futurismo (Video Arts Japan)
There's a couple reasons why one of the absolute best bands in the world has gotten so little attention in the U.S. Despite the U.S. interest piqued by reissues of old Tropicalia artists like Os Mutantes and Tom Zé, the band has not exploited its connections, with Moreno Veloso being Tropicalia founder Caetano's son. Secondly, the band changes its name every album, as each member takes his turn as band leader. They started in 2001 as Moreno +2, became Domenico +2 in 2002, and four years later, released their best album as Kassin +2. Thirdly, the albums never find U.S. distribution until a year or more after their original release (though it is available at Dusty Groove). Hopefully Futurismo will be properly promoted in 2007 to coincide with their tour. With their artful mix of bossanova influenced funk (like Joao Donato and Marcos Valle), jazz and restless electronic experimentation, they're simultaneously steeped in history and one of the most forward looking bands in Brazil. They are not to be missed.

5. The Hold Steady * Boys And Girls In America
It's ironic that as recently as last year, I found this band annoying. Their first two albums got a lot of attention, with some fans raving that they were the best things they've heard all year. I could tell Craig Finn had some good stories, but couldn't make it through more than a few songs, as his tuneless ranting became unbearable. The new album solves that problem, with Finn developing a pleasing Bob Mould-like singing voice and a whole trunkful of hooks. The sweeping, piano-driven Springsteen-influenced bar rock may not break any ground, but it shows that timeless, great songwriting can render everything else superfluous. Full review.

6. The Knife * Silent Shout (Rabid/Mute)
Stockholm's Olof and Karin Dreijer remained mysterious through their first two albums, hiding behind raven masks and only playing their first show in London in 2005. Partially recorded in a carbon dioxide factory and the vaults of Stockholm's Grand Church, Silent Shout is a stunning work. It's immensely creepy, yet manages to allure with its otherwordly, inventive sounds that make most electronic music sound like they're made from primitive children's toys.

7. Fujiya & Miyagi * Transparent Things (Tirk)
Fujiya & Miyagi are actually a British trio from Brighton. But rather than sounding like Nipponophiles (the name is a Japanese turntable manufacturer and Pat Morita's character in Karate Kid), their influences are decidedly German and anglo, with spare, motorik rhythms of Can and Neu colored by splashes of Eno (ranging from Roxy Music era to his work with Robert Fripp, Cluster and Talking Heads). Yet no one is going to mistake Transparent Things for a 70's recording. Once it gets a domestic release in January 2007, it should garner even more excitement than the new LCD Soundsystem. I've been listening to this since April and I'm still addicted.

8. Neko Case * Fox Confessor Brings the Flood (Anti)
Having proved herself an artistic equal of the likes of Patsy Cline, Tammy Wynette and Loretta Lynn, Neko Case spent four years developing the songs for her fourth studio album. It was worth the effort. Fox Confessor shows Case outdoing herself as a songwriter, transcending the country genre and establishing her unique style of noir Americana. With pipes, soul and tunes to die for, Case is the singer songwriter to whom all her other contemporaries will be compared.

9. Joanna Newsom * Ys (Drag City)
A casual listen to Joanna Newsom's first solo work, 2004's The Milk-Eyed Mender could easily be associated with the somewhat tiresome freak folk scene. Yet Newsom has always had more to offer. Growing up in a musical family with avant-garde composer Terry Riley as a neighbor, she's not just some hippie harp-plucking pixie. She plays with two other bands, the noise-rock Nervous Cop and the post-punk The Pleased. For Ys, Newsom collaborated with Van Dyke Parks and recorded with Steve Albini to create her ambitious hybrid of avant-garde folk and appalacian blues. Imagine if Björk collaborated with prog-folk band The Strawbs. It still wouldn't be as remotely weird, enchanting and accomplished as Ys.

10. Hot Chip * The Warning (DFA/Astralwerks)
After the 2002 electro-pop triumphs of The Notwist, My Computer, Rob and Schneider TM, it seemed like the trend of mixing accomplished singing with creatively unconventional electronic pop songs took five. Four years, to be exact. On their second full-length, Hot Chip picked up the baton with an unpretentiously engaging batch of songs that manages to meld catchy melodies with surprising sounds better than anyone else.

11. Benoît Pioulard * Précis (Kranky)
Just as Fujiya & Miyagi are not Japanese, Benoît Pioulard may sound French, but is actually 21 year-old Thomas Meluch from Ann Arbor, Michigan. This makes him no less special mind you. Précis is a gentle, gauzy trip through meadows on a summer night, evoking the melodic gifts of The Jesus & Mary Chain and the subtle touch of Felt (the band). Like Lansing-Dreiden and The Radio Dept., it vaguely hearkens back to pre-shoegaze 80s indie pop. But with its dense layers of acoustic picking, subtle sound effects, and engaging songwriting, Précis stands out.

12. Tony Allen * Lagos No Shaking (Honest Jon's)
From most year-end lists, you'd think the only good album that came out of Africa was Ali Farka Toure's Savane. While it was given more attention because of Toure's recent death, it was a good album. But it's unfair to overlook the vibrant music of Tony Allen of Nigeria. As Fela Kuti's drummer and musical director, Allen is responsible for nearly all of Fela's greatest arrangements from 1968 to 1979. His solo albums have been uniformly excellent, carrying a political message that's only slightly less sarcastic and unhinged as Fela's. After living mostly in France for the past 20+ years, Allen returned home to Lagos for this album, revisiting his Afrobeat roots. Rather than just a genre exercise, the music here is fresh, ranging from exhuberant and bubbly to world weary melancholy. Lagos vocalists Fatai Rolling Dollar and Yinka Davies add soul, grit, and even some sexual tension on Ogogoro. Allen will get more attention for his role in Daman Albarn's new band, The Good, The Bad And The Queen. But his talents are best represented here. Don't be misguided by safe African music marketed to the Starbucks crowd. Lagos No Shaking is a hot monster of an album.

13. Junior Boys * So This Is Goodbye (Domino)
Reviews of So This Is Goodbye early in the year were preoccupied with the departure of Johnny Dark and his skittering Timberland beats. What many failed to notice was how much better the songs are, not to mention Jeremy Greenspan's singing.

I did too! Just missed my top 100. I think there were over 200 albums that were really good.

Fujiya & Miyagi - Transparent Things will be released in the U.S. tomorrow.

I'm sorry, did I accidentally post in the Redneck Xenophobes Forum? Yep Jethro, I likes a lot of music, and some of dem bands are foreigners. Just because you're ignorant of who the bands are doesn't mean that the list isn't lacking in "the rawk." There's some foreigners among the rockers too, funny enough. So where is your rock?

Hard Rock
01 The Mars Volta * Amputechture (Umvd)
02 The Melvins * A Senile Animal (Ipecac)
03 Wolfmother (Modular/Interscope)
04 Comets On Fire * Avatar (Sub Pop)
05 Harvey Milk * Special Wishes (Troubleman Unlimited)
06 Tool * 10,000 Days (Tool JV)
07 Eagles Of Death Metal * Death By Sexy (Downtown)
08 Oneida * Happy New Year (Jagjaguwar)
09 Katatonia * The Great Cold Distance (Peaceville)
10 Mondo Generator * Dead Planet (Sonicslowmotiontrails) (Tornado)
11 Don Caballero * World Class Listening Problem (Relapse)
12 Deftones * Saturday Night Wrist (Maverick)
13 Battle Of Mice * A Day Of Nights (Neurot)

Metal
01 Mastodon * Blood Mountain (Reprise)
02 Enslaved * Ruun (Candlelight)
03 Isis * In The Absence of Truth (Ipecac)
04 Sunn 0))) & Boris * Altar (Southern Lord)
05 The Sword * Age Of Winters (Kemado)
06 Jesu * Silver EP (Hydra Head)
07 Nachtmystium * Instinct: Decay (Southern Lord)
08 Iron Maiden * A Matter of Life and Death (Sanctuary)
09 Blind Guardian * A Twist In The Myth (Nuclear Blast)
10 Converge * No Heroes (Epitaph)
11 Lamb Of God * Sacrament (Epic)
12 Motörhead * Kiss Of Death (Sanctuary)
13 The Gates Of Slumber * The Awakening (Final Chapter)


Arctic Monkeys are #412, and Snow Patrol #414. Really, they're listed on my site, heh. It's not about what's cool, it's about what's good. And they just weren't quite as good, IMO, as several hundred other albums.

Dean pretty much said what I was thinking. I'm guessing Nomad was alarmed at my sarcastic reply? But look at the rude comment I was responding to. I have an earnest love of this music, and it's pretty damn pointless to tell someone their taste sucks.

Tool just missed my top 100, but who cares? I still thought it was good. There simply were more than 100 good albums. I know some people can't wrap their minds around that idea, but keep in mind, it's out of about 25,000 that are released. I liked a few of the Killers songs a whole lot, but not the whole album. Not a fan of Jewel or Dixie Chicks, but by all means share your favorites.