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}

Best Music 2006

Best Music 2006

2006 turned out to be a much better year for music than 2005 or 2004.  Before we get to the best of the lot, here are some others that didn’t quite make the cut, and smart-ass commentary about them. 

Who cares about CDs when they’ve got iTunes: Justin Timberlake, Pussycat Dolls, Fergie  

If only critics had to buy CDs, they’d be loaded: TV on the Radio, Joanne Newsom, The Decemberists 

I’m too white to appreciate real hip-hop: Ghostface Killah, Clipse, T.I. 

Too British to actually be good: Arctic Monkeys, The Streets, Lady Sovereign 

Too young to be as good as they think they are: Panic! At the Disco, My Chemical Romance, All-American Rejects 

Aren’t they dead yet? Bob Dylan, Tom Waits, The Beatles 

Why do kids have so much disposable income these days: Aly & AJ, the Hannah Montana soundtrack, and the High School Musical soundtrack – the best selling album of 2006.  Sigh. 

Ok enough goofing around.  Here is the list, starting at the top, and going on from there.  There is a less clear distinction this year between the “elite” and the rest of the list.  Instead what we have is a collection of 14 albums that excite, console, shock, shake, woo, and coo.   

Gnarls Barkley – St. Elsewhere  Sure signs of the apocalypse: Red Sox win the World Series (check).  Paris Hilton gives up sex (check).  Borat makes fast money big $120 million in US alone (check).  Gnarls Barkley storms the British and American charts and gets an album of the year Grammy nomination (check).  Funkier than Gorillaz and freakier than OutKast, DJ Danger Mouse drops a psychedelic blend of beguiling hip-hop, pop, soul, and rock beats, and Cee-Lo unleashes his dirty soul falsetto that turns Justin Timberlake and Ace Young into jealous little schoolgirls.  This stuff is some kind of freaky, with songs about feng shui, necromancing, monsters, suicide, and transformers!  Performances typically feature the duo dressed in costumes such as chefs, tennis players, or characters from movies like Star Wars, The Wizard of Oz, and Austin Powers. Highlights on the disc include the manic “Smiley Faces”, groovy “The Last Dance”, the impeccable cover of the Violent Femmes’ “Gone Daddy Gone” – and of course THE single that started it all, “Crazy” – the song of the year as well as the most covered song of the year.  “I remember when / I remember when I lost my mind / There was something so pleasant about that place.” Gnarls Barkley is like a massive train wreck: just try to look away.  High five!  

Jenny Lewis with the Watson Twins – Rabbit Fur Coat  She’s a little bit country, she’s a little bit rock and roll.  Lead singer of indie rock band Rilo Kiley recruited the serene Kentucky bluegrass harmonies of the Watson Twins to create an alt-country masterpiece.  One part wisenheimer, one part blue-eyed soul, Lewis has enough hipster panache to knock it out of the park.  The title track is an evocative, slow-waltz story of a poor girl and her ma straight out of either the deep South or the Hollywood hills.  “Rise Up with Fists” connected with the MTV and CBGB sets in equal measures with tongue planted firmly in cheek: “It’s hard to believe your prophets / When they’re asking you to change things / But with their suspect lives we look the other way / Are you really that pure, Sir? / Thought I saw you in Vegas / It was not pretty, but she was (not your wife)”.   

The Hold Steady – Boys and Girls in America  Combine the storytelling of Springsteen with the raw energy of Social Distortion and you get something resembling The Hold Steady.  Bred in Minneapolis and now rocking in NYC (who isn’t?), the lyrics here spill over themselves like a Kerouac novel.  “She was a really cool kisser and she wasn’t all that strict of a Christian / She was a damn good dancer but she wasn’t all that great of a girlfriend.”  The irony here is that the kids in the songs may be too drunk or high to appreciate how beat happening these tunes are as much as those of us twice their age do.  How can anyone who rocks this hard be this eloquent?  “She was golden with barlight and beer / She slept like she’d never been scared  / And then last night she said words alone never could save us / And then last night / She cried when she told us about Jesus.”  With a reputation as the best bar band in America, The Hold Steady show how much more than Nickelback and 3 Doors Down American rock can be. 

Nelly Furtado – Loose  After two albums of trippy and introspective folk pop, Nelly could have headed down a familiar path to cult following or dull irrelevance.  Instead, she took a cue from Princess Gwen and brought sexy back, with 80s-inspired big beat jams, courtesy of Timbaland – resulting in one of the biggest pop albums of the year.  As before, where Nelly retains her personality and lets her Portuguese roots shine through are where she shines brightest.  The new wave electro grooves (“Afraid”, “Maneater”, “Glow”) and the rhythmic, beat-driven jams (the undeniable “Say It Right”, and the hit of the summer, “Promiscuous”) are the cream of the crop here.  There are a few moments that border on generic pop; otherwise, this album is close to pure dance-pop bliss.  Furtalicious! 

Cat Power – The Greatest  Born and raised in Georgia and refined on NYC grunge, Chan Marshall (Cat Power) headed to Memphis to assemble a white soul homage to the songs she grew up with, for her seventh record.   The arrangements and the voice are subdued, but the lyrics pack a wallop.  Her story of a fallen boxer, in the title track, is arresting and poetic: “Once I wanted to be the greatest / No wind of waterfall could stall me / And then came the rush of the flood / Stars of night turned deep to dust”.  Whether singing about suicide or long-lost loves or the moon, this is the stuff of smoky piano bars or candle-lit living rooms.  Dark and haunting, even after the disc stops spinning. 

Snow Patrol – Eyes Open  This is power pop.  Occasionally a band figures out what they are best at, and they go at it full force, without trying to be more or less.  And when it clicks, like Eyes Open does, it’s an exhilarating surprise that gets better with each listen.  Powerfully hooky anthems filled with strong melodies and heartfelt (but not cheesy) lyrics pack this disc from start to finish.  The simplistic and lazy mega-ballad “Chasing Cars” was all over TV and radio, but “Hands Open”, with its driving guitar riff, is 3 minutes of power pop bliss.  As a whole, this is one reaffirming shot in the arm and kick in the pants. 

Corinne Bailey Rae – Corinne Bailey Rae  Raised on Led Zeppelin and channeling Erykah Badu, CBR is British neo-soul royalty.  A refreshing breath of home-grown talent, her debut album is packed with ballads (“Like a Star”, “Til it Happens to You”), adult alterna-pop (“Trouble Sleeping” and first single “Put Your Records On”), and fun rump shakers (“I’d Like To”).  Varied enough to be a perfect solo Sunday afternoon backdrop, a summer social soundtrack, or romantic dinner fare.  Leagues ahead of the rest of her fellow Best New Artist Grammy nominees. 

Zero 7 – The Garden  The Garden is another step in the evolution of Zero 7.  It started with what is possibly the best chill-out album of all time, Simple Things, and followed with a bit more mixed effort on When It Falls.  The third step is a leap into lush and breezy pop territory.   The blueprint of the album is based on collaborations with Swedish singer Jose Gonzalez.  Gonzalez’ wispy voice makes for an ideal blend with rolling, summery, synth hooks.  It’s a match made in electro-heaven on songs like “Futures” and the album highlight, “Crosses”.  Surprisingly, the collaborations with familiar diva Sia are the weaker points here, possibly signaling the end of the first phase of Zero 7’s sound, and the start of another. 

Damien Rice – 9  Three years ago, Damien Rice appeared out of nowhere with his astonishing debut O – seemingly the extreme antithesis of the Beyonces, Outkasts, and White Stripes that critics and fans were crazy in love with.  This time around, the songs are more varied in topic and sound, ranging from scorching, profane rockers that reflect the energy of his live show (“Me, My Yoke, & I” and “Rootless Tree”) to fairy tales (“The Animals Were Gone”) and less dense fare (“Dogs” and “Coconut Skins”), and the opener “9 Crimes”, a tormented adulterous lament that keeps popping up in TV dramas.  Not the simple classic that O was, but gripping nonetheless. 

Neko Case – Fox Confessor Brings the Flood  Some sort of Patsy Cline/60’s girl group doo-wop hybrid for the new millennium, Case coos over subdued melodies while telling stories of sentiment and nostalgia.  Her richly sonic southern voice, dripping with faith, love, and history, is the main attraction here, and it is difficult to resist – listen after glorious listen, constantly bringing your attention to everyday disregarded beauty: “Driving home I see those flooded fields / How can people not know what beauty this is / I’ve taken it for granted my whole life / Since the day I was born”.   A bit short, but potent.  This siren’s gorgeous vocals match her fire station red hair.

Ray LaMontagne – Til the Sun Turns Black  An astounding departure from the smoky soul of his first album Trouble, but the essentials remain: rustic stories sung by a voice as scruffy as the beard.  Black is more atmospheric, with strings and woodwinds, making this round more Nick Drake than Janis Joplin.  The grittier tunes (“Three More Days”, “You Can Bring Me Flowers”) have more meat on them than the subdued pieces that fill the rest of the album, but the range shows impressive growth and high expectations for the next round. 

KT Tunstall – Eye to the Telescope  The buzz started in the US after she hit it big in her native Scotland, and reached its peak when Katharine McPhee’s barefoot rendition of “Black Horse and the Cherry Tree” nearly made her your new American Idol.  What seems at first like an album full of coffee table ballads, you can’t help but feel that you like it a bit more than you should.  With repeated listens though, the album grows some legs, and KT’s personality shines through.  No clunkers in sight, from “Other Side of the World” to “Through the Dark”, this is what feels like effortless pop, which is exactly what pop should be.  

Tina Dico – In the Red  Former singer with Zero 7, Tina Dico is a huge radio star at home in Denmark, with good reason.  Her first US release is a less contrite version of Dido’s café pop.  Reportedly inspired equally by Joni Mitchell, Tracy Chapman, and Nirvana, her songs are restrained without being frail or bland.  The songs stay fresh when the tempo shifts gears, like on “Head Shop” and “Give In”, or when she takes it down on “Room with a View”.  Americans looking for a fresh voice can look to Europe when the CD racks here seem stale. 

Dashboard Confessional – Dusk and Summer  Dusk and Summer was Dashboard’s audition for stadium rock stardom, a collection of “Vindicated”-style fist-pumping anthems to launch them into the mainstream stratosphere.  Long gone are the heart-wrenching wailings of “Screaming Infidelities”.  D+S, though solid, seems to lack some of the storylines and playfulness that made earlier releases so remarkable.  Few others, though, can pen the feel of young love quite like Chris Carrabba: “The first time you looked at her curves you were hooked / And the glances you took, took hold of you and demanded that you stay / And sunk in their teeth, bit your heart and released / Such a charge that you need another touch, another taste, another fix”.