A second opinion

Here’s another best list from last year, from my good friend and music buddy Rob McQuade.

Music Review, 2006 Style

The incredible shrinking CD…

Warning!  The CD is disappearing and will soon be on the endangered species list!  Downloading and decreased market share from video games and DVD’s have just about sucked the format dry.  Take note y’all, ‘cause five to eight years, the only place you will find a compact disc is next to a record at a local garage sale.  But who cares, right?  According to Al Gore, we’re all going to drown anyway, alongside the polar bears.  So go ahead, toss that cigarette butt out your car window.  Indulge in all the tasty treats you wish and crank my delicious list of the best music of 2006…

The Appetizers (ten best singles of the year)

10. “Dani California” Red Hot Chilli Peppers
Although we need another Chilli Peppers song like we need a hole our head, nothing beats an awesome John Frusciante solo.

9. “Cheated Hearts” Yeah Yeah Yeahs
The perfect compliment to YYYs first hit, “Maps”

8.  “When You Were Young” The Killers
No, it’s not a 1970s cop drama. It’s just the new Killers video.

7. “Sexyback” Justin Timberlake
Way back ‘yo!  No wonder Cameron Diaz is always smirking.

6. “World Wide Suicide” Pearl Jam
Finally, a classic anti-war song, at a time when, we desperately need, a classic anti-war song.

5. “Walk Away” Kelly Clarkston
The best part of this kicka$$ tune is when Kelly screams, “Just Leeeeeaaaaavvvvveeeeee!”  (BiAtch!)

4. “Fergalicious” Fergie
Pornography, disguised as a pop song.  Brilliant.

3. “Irreplaceable” Beyonce
Watch your left Jay-Z.

2.  “Promiscuous” Nelly Furtado
Timberland can’t dance for sh$t but thankfully Nelly sure as hell can.  Almost a tie with…

1.  “My Love” Justin Timberlake
Funky white boy rules the world!  And his “Di$k in the Box” SNL skit is the icing on the cake.  All hail King Timberlake!

ENTREES
(the ten best albums of 2006)

10. Arctic Monkeys – Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not
Doomed to media saturation, it was easy to write this band off.  It seemed like everyone and their mother were announcing the second coming of The Clash.  But once the media whore finally ceased dry humping AM, one could actually listen without static and appreciate the bouncy freshness of “I Bet You Look Good on the Dance floor” and the melodic funk blazed by “Still Take You Home.”  God save the queen.

9. The Subways – Young For Eternity
Much like fellow Brits The Arctic Monkeys, The Subways are looking to get their teen angst on.  But where AM funk out the frustration, The Subways blast a gaping hole and escape right through it – a la loud, bombastic guitars.  This is no more prevalent than on the UK hit, “Rock and Roll Queen.”  And did I mention they have a hot, female bassist?  Rock and roll queen, indeed.

8.  Sarah Mclachlan – Wintersong
Holiday records seem a dime-a-dozen these days.  Artists almost email in their vocal, while some lame producer lays it over the music to another freaking version of “Santa Claus is Coming to Town.”  But not our girl Sarah.  She’s a true original.  Just try to resist pulling your loved ones together while listening to the dreamy vibe of “What Child is This?” or the warm title song, “Wintersong,” or the classic, “I’ll be Home For Christmas.”  It’s almost unfair, really. Sarah already has the voice of an angel.

7. Keane – Under the Iron Sea
I have to admit, before I picked up Under the Iron Sea, I thought of Keane as a slightly better version of The Fray – albeit a little less weepy and annoying.  But Keane achieves what Coldplay was unable to do on last year’s X&Y; they rock out.  “Is it Any Wonder” is a burst of light, that dilates the pupils and rings out the wet hanky.  And just try shoe gazing to rockers “Crystal Ball” and “Put it Behind You.”

6.  Nelly Furtado – Loose
Who IS Nelly Furtado?  Originally introduced to the world as a neo-hippie via the hit, “I’m like a Bird,” Nelly has reinvented herself as an ultra-fly club girl.  Witness tracks like the 80’s breakbeat, “Afraid Featuring Attitude,” the tribal thump of “Maneater,” the shake ‘yo rump of one of this year’s best singles, “Promiscuous” and the sweet, empathetic tone of “In Gods Hands.” You might find yourself asking the same question: “Just who IS this Nelly Furtado character?”

5. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Show Your Bones
Following up a great debut album can be such a bitch.  Couple that with a sophomore effort loaded with cryptic lyrics that not even Robert Langdon can decipher and you’re just asking for a sophomore slump.  Lucky, on tracks like “Phenomenon” and “Dudley,” guitarist Nick Zinner swoops in like spiderman and delivers his signature burst of gothic guitar crunch.  Ultimately, perception will play us for a fool on this record, but it’s Karen O who’s smirking.  SYB is one of the best follow-ups, ever.

4. Damien Rice – 9
Some artists have the unique ability to peer right down into one’s soul and record all they observe, both the beautiful and terribly ugly.  This is Damien Rice’s remarkable gift and on 9, he’s at the top of his game.  The haunting piano bars of the album opener, “9 Crimes” will make the hair on your neck stand straight up.  And close the blinds and pump your fist in the air to Rice’s rousing chorus of fu$k you’s on “Rootless Tree.”
Moments like this are what music was created for.

3. Silversun Pickups – Carnavas
Carnavas is what one would imagine The Smashing Pumpkins fourth album would have sounded like, if they didn’t fire their drummer for drug related issues and Billy Corgan didn’t start doing covers for fashion magazines.  Instead, SP recorded an “electronic” album and it all twisted sideways.  A shame, really.  Carnavas is all wicked groove, transposed by walls of thick, muscular guitar.  Think of the Pumpkin’s hit, “1979,” suffering from a vicious crack addiction.

2. Dashboard Confessional – Dusk and Summer
Writing songs about relationships can be tricky business.  Load it with too much fluff and you might be labeled the next Richard Marx, Bryan Adams(blame Canada!) or worse, your tune could be featured on a Lifetime movie.  Chris Carrabba, the mastermind behind Dashboard Confessional, has somehow managed to avoid this trap.  Chris fuels his songs with fresh, innovative lyrics and on this record in particular, some serious guitar punch.  “Stolen,” is a pure example of this; guitars swirl and the scene is set – “I watch you spin around in your highest heals/you are the best one of the best ones/we all look like we feel/you have stolen my heart/you have stolen my heart…”  Break out the tissues ‘yo.

1. Pearl Jam – (self titled)
Unfortunately, Pearl Jam was beginning to go the way of Radiohead; drifting so far away from their core that you aren’t quite sure anymore what their core was to begin with.  2000’s Binaral and 2003’s Riot Act were uneven works at best.  But Pearl Jam is a surefire return to glory.  The bottom line has always been this; PJ rise and fall with the changing tide of Eddie Vedder’s emotional barometer.  On Pearl Jam, he’s growling again, shredding like it’s the ‘92 recording sessions for VS.  And this time, he’s is on a hunt to hang a crappy government.   Congrats PJ, you now have achieved the elusive classic album hat trick.

‘Das it yo!

{Remember to always wear your underwear}