I first began to explore the world of music that lay beyond the once-comfortable boundaries of Star Song, Forefront Records, and Word Records sometime around the turn of the millennium. It had been nearly ten years since Petra had released anything resembling a rock record, and they weren’t the only ones to go soft on everybody all of a sudden. Somehow, through it all, I did something I never thought possible: I listened to secular music.

I really don’t know how it happened, but I know that it was a natural step for me to take. File sharing definitely had a part in it. Also, I had advanced in my musicianship over the previous three years or so, and my listening library lacked the vastness of my ambition for music. The first landmark albums for me were Creed’s Weathered, System of a Down’s Toxicity, and Metallica’s Ride the Lightning, Master of Puppets, and …And Justice for All, all of which comprise guitar songs. I liked that. I attained discographies of scores of predominantly mainstream artists and groups over the next couple of years, becoming attached to many, and learning all of their songs. I hoped someday to emulate what those bands had done, on a stage, with a band of my own. More than ever, music had become my raison d’être.

I found many albums that I loved during those years: The Deftones’ White Pony, A Perfect Circle’s Thirteenth Step, Tool’s Lateralus, Linkin Park’s Reanimation, P.O.D.’s Satellite, and Staind’s Break the Cycle, to name a few. Being so new to this world of music, I had very high expectations. If all of this great music could have appeared in just a few short years, then I was sure that the future would hold great things for each of these bands. At first the newly anticipated releases were generally satisfying. The Deftones’ self-titled album had a couple of great songs, Meteora was a definite step down but was still good, but things seemed to get worse from there. Frankly, P.O.D.’s Payable on Death and their style turnaround made me sad. A Perfect Circle’s eMotive was an album that I shouldn’t have anticipated as highly as I did, but I still didn’t really learn my lesson. I hadn’t much choice, really, because A Perfect Circle was my favourite band at the time, and I’d first heard them around the time Thirteenth Step came out, so it was their first new release since I’d fallen in love with them. System of a Down’s Mezmerize and Hypnotize were letdowns but not terrible albums. But Staind’s Chapter V was just plain disappointing. Add to this the disappointments of the The Matrix sequels, among other things, and I had already experienced unfulfilled anticipation more times than I could bear. It’s not than any of these things were really so bad; I had just expected the same kind of magic I found when I first heard those classic albums that I couldn’t get enough of. That stretch of letdowns is still active to this day. In fact, the last time my expectations for a new release—one that I was actively anticipating—were met was in late 1997 when Final Fantasy VII came to North American shores. That may say as much about me and my standards as it does about the quality of products that I have anticipated. At any rate, I decided that something needed to change.

It happened in January of 2006. I decided to go to the music critics for help—or maybe just curiosity. Without going too much into 2005 top tens, I came out with enough good music to get me turned around. Truly, the only immediately significant nugget I extracted from my slight research was an album called Illinois by Sufjan Stevens. I had no idea what to do with that record but love it. It was about that time that I decided to listen to a lot of 2006-released records over the next twelve months and to make my own top ten list at year’s end.

There were quite a few releases that I was anticipating for 2006, but I can’t say that more than one of them made it onto my list. The truth is that I really began work on this list in earnest in September. Previously I had just been listening to the albums that I had anticipated from bands that I already knew. However, I made several earth-shattering musical discoveries in September, and more and more each month until I arrived at a list that I was satisfied with. This brings us to the present.

With the top ten being better than I originally foresaw, I have extended the list to a whopping 30 albums. There were too many good ones that I didn’t want to leave out. My seeking was well worth it: 2006 has easily been the most fulfilling year for me in music-listening, ever. Having said that, not all of the albums represented here are for everybody. I’ve tried my best to stretch my tastes and it has worked out well for me. The short album reviews will give a general overview of what each is all about.

A Note Before We Begin

One of the reasons that critical opinions can vary so greatly is that the critics’ notions of what makes a record great also vary greatly. For the most part, I would probably choose to listen to a higher album on this list than a lower one at a given time, but the purpose of this list is not necessarily to rank such relationships. Musical achievement, originality, listenability, and an enjoyable listening experience are all important. If an album succeeds in reaching its potential and fulfilling its purpose, regardless of what that may be, then the album was a success, and that will be worth a lot. Delivery is also important; if somebody sounds like they’re trying too hard, it makes what they’re doing less appealing. Some otherwise outstanding 2006 albums were plagued by this effort excess; some still found their way onto my list, though were much lower than they could have been. In short, all of the albums on this list are there for different reasons, but they all deserve to be there—that is, if albums can really deserve anything.

Believe me when I say that my list wouldn’t resemble that of any other publication if I didn’t sincerely think that the albums were in their deserved places. I did not simply acquire my musical tastes or steal my list from another source; like I said, I have worked on this list for months and every day it has become more and more refined. So far, unfortunately, I’ve only had the chance to listen to fewer than 130 albums from 2006, so I am sure that even this is just another draft. However, considering how far into 2007 we already are, it is, in a sense, a final one.

Now, without further ado…

30

The Air Force
Xiu Xiu




I’m not sure if “original” or “weird” is the word that best describes Xiu Xiu. They can’t seem to resist the urge to undermine their own great songwriting by adding in their trademark oddities. Regardless, The Air Force has some songs that remain as gems. Songs like “Hello from Eau Claire” and “Vulture Piano” represent everything I love about this album: eccentricity, anxiety, clever composition, and apparent schizophrenia and neurosis. There are some tracks through the middle that don’t add much in my opinion, but that is expected when you release as much music as Xiu Xiu does consistently. This album had to be on this list if only for the aforementioned “Hello from Eau Claire” and the sensational “Save Me Save Me”—one of the best songs that anyone put out this past year.


29

This Binary Universe
BT




Just as the beautiful and complex universe has digital atomic roots, This Binary Universe is an attempt to create an equally captivating musical macrocosm from scratch. Brian Transeau (BT) employs audio programming language Csound, homemade stutter software, advanced mathematical algorithms, a 110-piece orchestra, and influences ranging from the classical and romantic periods to jazz to so-called IDM (Intelligent Dance Music) to mold his soundscapes. At times warm and organic, at times cold and bleak, the seven tracks spanning seventy-five minutes seem the perfect analogue (pun intended) of a living world’s digital nature. The album is packaged with a DVD with a 5.1 DTS mix of the album (it was originally composed for and intended to be heard in surround sound), and there is video (usually animated) to accompany each track. Now that’s all well and good, but the album still seems incapable of keeping my interest through some extended sections, and falls short of its considerably vast potential as an work of ambient art. No ambient music album is going to be a huge attention-grabber, and though it’s much more than just ambience, too often This Binary Universe feels content with where it is when it should be progressing; the music is rarely spellbinding. The flow also suffers at times when the ambient and house elements don’t mix well. Nonetheless, it is a great record that is really less a success than it is a flawed masterwork, and can often sound more important (and it certainly tries to) than enjoyable. This album is one that could move up in retrospect.


28

The Life Pursuit
Belle and Sebastian




Even though they ripped off Nobuo Uematsu’s overworld music from Final Fantasy in “Another Sunny Day,” I managed to really enjoy this album in the end. Belle and Sebastian performs with perfection this type of music which nobody in North America can seem to emulate. The songs are pleasant and bright, and don’t suffer from contrived catchiness like so much pop from this side of the Atlantic. As far as I can tell, Belle and Sebastian accomplishes exactly what it set out to do. This is not a record that everyone must listen to, but it’s probably one that everybody could listen to and enjoy. While I’m not sure that it does anything that hasn’t been done before, The Life Pursuit is one of the most natural, listenable, easy albums of the year.


27

Food & Liquor
Lupe Fiasco




Food & Liquor is the grandiose rap album of the year. Lupe performs well here in his debut, but the lyrics are sometimes a weak point. Since the weak lyrics generally correspond with the weak tracks, the album turns out to be pretty polar. It starts out great, is average through the middle, and ends with the unnecessarily-long “Outro” in which Lupe thanks everyone he’s ever met—not that this hurts the album too much, being at the end. He does have a lot of good things to say and is quite clever when he’s on. Most significantly, though, the worst parts are where the music itself fails (bombastic horn and/or string arrangements are prevalent and only sometimes work well). The point of the album seems to be to make a theatrically huge, cohesive, classic album. “Hurt Me Soul” is outstanding, and “Kick, Push” is probably going to be a classic, but the album as a whole will likely just go down as a good or great one. Food & Liquor doesn’t live up to its own ambition, but it is still a strong album that looks to be the start of a great career.


26

Blood Mountain
Mastodon




What I like about Mastodon is that they don’t try to find an excuse to fuse pop with metal. They don’t try to be as loud or scary as possible. What they do in Blood Mountain is make smart, fast, powerful, unrelenting music that’s as good as anything they’ve ever done. To write and record Blood Mountain was to follow up one of the most gargantuan and popular metal albums ever (2004’s Leviathan), and to promote their new album as its equal is saying a lot. A lot of good things are accomplished here without being too off-the-wall or inaccessible; in fact, there isn’t a negative thing about this album that comes to mind. It’s not supposed to have a lot of melody, but it has enough to keep it interesting. Blood Mountain could move up this list in retrospect. Mastodon will be a very imporant band even long after they have retired. Metal album of 2006.


25

Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
Neko Case




Reverb and Neko Case are meant to be together. The music is somewhat thin, but the space is filled to the brim as Case’s voice soars, both in richness and in range. She manages to be both tormenting and soothing in the same breath, as heard in “Maybe Sparrow.” The songwriting is great too, as the album features some pretty captivating songs. “Star Witness” should be a rewarding listen for anyone; it’s probably the album’s best song. Also, check out Case’s old-time gospel music homage, “John Saw That Number.” Fox Confessor is powerful and very listenable, and I haven’t heard a lot of music quite like it. It’s recommended; not much extra analysis is required.


24

Black Holes and Revelations
Muse




Perhaps this is what Queen would sound like if they had listened to Radiohead, if Freddy Mercury wasn’t the greatest rock vocalist of all time… and if they weren’t nearly as good as Queen actually was… but Muse once again manages to draw from a bunch of influences to make a record that sounds kind of original. Perhaps it’s not as good as Absolution (it’s close), but Black Holes and Revelations shows a touch more variety than their previous efforts. If Muse does one thing better than anyone else, it’s bombast. I mean, come on: One song (“Knights of Cydonia”) is about the four horsemen of the apocalypse engaging in an old-west-style shootout on Mars. At least that’s what I figure the song would have been about if they’d remembered to write the rest of it. Of course, their lyrics are ridiculous throughout, so that’s not a real surprise. It really all comes down to my being a sucker for arpeggiated synths and excessive piano runs that make you feel like those horsemen are about to break down your front door. My “cheesy” album of the year.


23

For Hero: For Fool
Subtle




Can rap and experimental rock coexist? I think that’s a stupid question and that the answer is obvious, but for those who had any doubt, For Hero: For Fool is mandatory material. Vocalist Doseone’s rapping is very rhythmic and differs greatly from typical 21^st-century hip-hop (so far). He pretty much sounds like he’s on a mission the entire time. The musical approach is no-nonsense also. Subtle was overflowing with ideas for this album, and they clearly didn’t want to cut a lot of them out. In that sense, Subtle’s name is a bit ironic, because every musical moment is kind of, well, in your face from the first beat to the last. The songwriting is near-exceptional, but could certainly use refinement; the potential was certainly there for an extraordinary album. The first four tracks represent some of the wildest and best music of the year. This record is an enigma—I will always feel like it’s either too high on my list or too low or even both at the same time. At any rate, Subtle has recorded the genre-mash-up of 2006 (contrived, I know).


22

Harmony in Ultraviolet
Tim Hecker




I don’t know about you, but I normally think of ambient music as a treat for the ears and not for the eyes. Paradoxically, though, I can’t seem to shake the imagery of this rhythmless, melody-void record by Vancouver-born (Canucks fan?) Tim Hecker. Listening to this album is like witnessing from afar an ocean voyage through the night. Also, the ship is unmanned for some reason and is being attacked by violent storms. These storms rise and fall, and the ship is powerless against them, but there is some kind of strange beauty in the implied catastrophe. I think the ocean imagery works because the music uses space so well. There are albums that sound claustrophobic, and Harmony in Ultraviolet is their antithesis. What Tim Hecker does amazingly well is to create the illusion that the sounds are happening by themselves, as though they are actually just being played out by nature. This music is never easy, and the analogy of the storm represents the tension that never totally dissipates. Ambient album of the year.


21

The Warning
Hot Chip




Hot Chip doesn’t necessarily do anything groundbreaking in their latest work, but it’s just so catchy and easy to get into that it’s familiar and lovable enough so that it doesn’t matter. The Warning is fun, clever, addictive, and bright, and the beats are straightforward and, at times, even—gasp!—danceable (not for me, but for people who might choose to dance). There are some memorable moments—the title track could have been an outtake from Thom Yorke’s The Eraser if it weren’t such a good song—and few forgettable ones. Melodically the tunes are generally easy to absorb, and Alexis Taylor’s vocals smoothen most things over, though some rough spots remain. Hot Chip’s best songs are those that are governed by good melody and straightforward in their sonic foundation. For examples, one needn’t look further than “And I Was a Boy from School,” “Over & Over,” and the title track. I only hope that the progress shown in The Warning continues into Hot Chip’s next release.


20

Doctor's Advocate
The Game




Fun? No. Bright? No. Polite? No. Moral? No. Clever? Not really. So what’s to like about The Game’s follow-up to his multi-platinum debut, The Documentary? Dr. Dre, who produced seven tracks on the debut, and 50 Cent, who was featured on three, are both nowhere to be found. Naturally, then, and we would all do the same, The Game rehashes his old cover art in hopes of rekindling some magic without ‘em. So Game’s back to his old games, dropping names on a dark, stark hip-hop frame, smokin’ chronic and all the rest of it. In fact, Dre is mentioned in twelve of sixteen tracks, which works out nicely because he’s more or less the theme of the record. A good part of the story is revealed here and there amidst otherwise inconsequential, if consistently vulgar, lyrics. Anyway, what’s to like is the surprisingly efficient production, simple and brilliant, potentially classic tracks, and The Game’s performance itself. He may think he’s better than he actually is, but Game’s definitely got talent, and most of the tracks on his latest stand out in a good way. For the title track, he’s stripped down to the core and produces one of the most honest and real things in hip-hop I’ve ever come across; besides it’s just altogether a great piece of music. The album as a whole is a sort of exposé noir into the mind of The Game in the aftermath of his release from Aftermath Entertainment and feuds with Dr. Dre and 50 Cent, and when seen for the dark, dirty, damning, deceptively vulnerable album that it is, its worth is exponentiated. I’m relatively new to critical analysis of hip-hop music, but Doctor’s Advocate seems to me like an album that could become a classic in time.


19

The Drift
Scott Walker




I want to call this album experimental, but it is too apparent that Scott Walker knows exactly what he is doing. Whether any of his listeners do is another story. What we do know for certain is that the album sounds like pure black, that the imagery is haunting, that Walker’s voice dominates every corner of the soundscape, and that The Drift sounds closer to an aural horror movie than anything I’ve ever heard. One thing I love about it is that it’s Walker’s first album in eleven years, which gives the impression that he has been brooding in a forsaken, monolithic abode for the past decade and has only sent this album out to the public via homing pigeon…or something. I’m also pretty sure he even borrowed Satan’s string section for accompaniment. Now this album will probably be unlistenable for most people, but for those who are willing, I recommend blasting it with a really good set of headphones while walking through an unlit park in the middle of the night, just to get the full effect. The Drift is both a technical and creative accomplishment and really delivers all that it should, but falls back a bit because it is so off-putting. I know that’s not fair, but I’m sure that Scott knows he’s appreciated. Horror album of the year.


18

Destroyer's Rubies
Destroyer




Another possible Canucks fan is Destroyer’s Dan Bejar, who is featured in such indie supergroups as The New Pornographers and new collaboration Swan Lake. Besides being one of the most unorthodox vocalists I have come across, he’s also a fantastic lyricist and songwriter. The music is challenging and complex, but beautiful and comforting as well. The writing is certainly the album’s best feature, but a traditional melody is sometimes missed in this style of music. Epic opener “Rubies” is the best song. Its full 9:25 is used to stretch out the themes over varying musical backdrops, ranging from the very spacious to sections of grandiose instrumentation, all of which eventually break down in the end. For a song to be so focused and remain sounding so fresh after nine minutes is a great accomplishment indeed. Destroyer’s Rubies needed a song like “Painter in Your Pocket,” a soft, melodic, emotive piece that builds tastefully to a very satisfying conclusion (the organ adds a lot, as it always does). The album manages to be both understated and expressive, and the structures (both in the music at any given time and in the way the songs progress over time) that hold it all together are very impressive. All of this after basically dismissing it as rubbish during my first few listens…


17

Modern Times
Bob Dylan




In the very unmodern-sounding Modern Times, Bob Dylan sounds confident and his songcraft seems effortless, as if he has been doing it for years. In fact, he sounds exactly like what he is—a folk music veteran (perhaps the folk music veteran) who has already accomplished enough for one lifetime. His voice is gruffer than it used to be and that makes for some interesting contrasts in the calmer tracks. For the first six songs, the musical style alternates between some rockabilly/blues hybrid and a smooth-jazz-infused or otherwise soft ballad. It is the latter that seem to me to work the best, and it’s why I continue to find this record irresistible. Dylan’s lyrics are something to behold, whether for their comedic value or their simple poignancy, though much of their allure may be due to who’s saying them. The musicianship and songwriting are both crisp and smooth, as is especially evident in the alternating softer tracks (“Spirit on the Water” is one of the smoothest pieces of music I’ve ever heard). “When the Deal Goes Down” and “Working Man’s Blues #2” would be classics if it were up to me, but snarling closer “Ain’t Talkin’” might be the best bet of all. I’ve seen Modern Times in the #1 position on some best-of-year lists, and I think I understand why.


16

FutureSex/LoveSounds
Justin Timberlake




I erroneously expected a continuation of Justin Timberlake’s homage to Michael Jackson with FutureSex/LoveSounds, so it took me a while to adjust to the new sound. The songs perhaps owe more to Prince here than to Michael, and JT was not afraid to sacrifice the smoothness of Justified if it meant releasing a fresh—though rough and dirty—excellent pop record. The surprisingly ambitious 70+ minutes flow incredibly well from the initial smutty synth-pop to the lush balladry towards the end of the album. FutureSex/LoveSounds’s first half is basically a rap album, except that the rappers are the guests and the singing is the main event. The production is solid, and the orchestration adds much to the usually-tasteful digital leads and beats that can sometimes make or break tracks of this genre. Speaking of which, “My Love” is one track that shines above all the rest, and is probably the pop single of the year; from the captivating synth swell intro to the smooth, compelling, confident vocals and excellent arrangement, it steals the show even among the album’s other outstanding songs. “Until the End of Time” is the centerpiece of the second half, a soaring ballad with smooth production and music, a great melody, and even very nice lyrical content. Indeed… Give FutureSex/LoveSounds a chance if you love great pop music. I can’t believe I’m reduced to pleading with people to give an album of this calibre a mere chance. Timberlake is obviously not yet at the level of Prince when he did Purple Rain, or of Michael Jackson when he put out Off the Wall and Thriller, but this record’s noticeable shortcomings may not be enough to keep it from being recognized as the best solo male pop album in a very long time. Now how were 15 better records made this year?


15

Scale
Herbert




Every song in Scale is bursting with finely-crafted melodies, each one a delight to hear during each repeated listen—and there may be many of those. This album is a brilliantly written, performed, and produced piece of electronic (to put it very loosely) pop music. There’s enough variety to keep it interesting for a long time, there are enough goods in each song to keep your attention throughout, and, for me at least, it’s one of the most addictive albums of the year. Like many albums do, it falters a bit towards the end, but the first seven tracks (at least) are simply outstanding. “Something Isn’t Right” is a standout, “Moving Like a Train” sounds like it could have been a classic Motown hit... heck, just listen to the album. That will do much more for you than a review ever could. This pop is so clean, pure, crisp, refined—I don’t know if there’s a bad melody on the whole thing, and there are a lot of them. I recommend Scale for pretty much everybody.


14

The Crane Wife
The Decemberists




For such a hit-and-miss album to be ranked this highly, you know the hits have to be unbelievable. There is good music throughout, but in the end it was the two epics, “The Island” and “The Crane Wife 1 and 2,” that hoisted The Crane Wife onto their shoulders to move past some arguably more consistent albums from this past year. I’m not sure this is a true concept album, but at least two of the tracks are based on a Japanese legend about, yes, a crane wife. At any rate, every track tells a story in some way or another, something at which frontman Colin Meloy is quite proficient. The Decemberists’ sound is part guitar pop/rock, part progressive rock, part indie rock, and probably a lot more. Epic #1, “The Island,” is actually a three-part song (in true prog-rock fashion), featuring something of a dynamic rollercoaster, narrative and poetic lyricism, and instrumental passages that Yes might have written this past year. Following this up is the brilliant “Yankee Bayonet (I Will Be Home Then),” whose melodies and dialogue sparkle in a boy/girl duet. The album doesn’t really sag in the middle, it just depends on your taste. Energy-charged rhythmic rocker “When the War Came” is a highlight of the album’s middle section, but every song here is good. As much of a sucker as I am for prog-rock organ swirls, I must say that “The Crane Wife 1 and 2” is the best song on the album. It’s a two-part composition, and the second, mellower section blows me away every time with its sensitive melodies and beautiful guitar work. Overall, the album is dominated by such tastefully subtle guitar and genius lyricism, but it would be nothing without the great melodies. Colin Meloy puts emotion into every line he sings, no matter how loud or how soft. The Decemberists are just entering into their own now; with two great albums since 2004, and now a major-label record deal, they promise to be a very important band to watch in the near future.


13

Beach House
Beach House




Whoever Beach House is, they have made an incredible record. Their self-titled debut album feels stuffed because of its consistent stream of good songs, yet it’s really very spacey and atmospheric. I’m fairly certain that they used some of the same old electronic instruments that my family has stowed away in the basement somewhere that were probably bought at some point in the early 1980s. Beach House’s triumph lies in the fact that none of its songs were underwritten or overwritten, and that all of the songs just work. It’s a simple little 37-minute package of old keyboard sounds, drum machines, slide guitars, and really good songwriting. The only song that manages to stand out amongst the overall high quality is “Apple Orchard,” which sounds so lazy and sad that you can really get lost in the atmosphere without realizing how genius the music is that you are listening to—and that’s a good thing. This album is shockingly consistent; even the hidden track at the end of “Heart and Lungs” is superb. The whole thing almost sounds like it was just recorded for its own writers’ sake, and that no other human ears were ever intended to take it in. However, I’m very glad that mine have.


12

And the Glass Handed Kites
Mew




I put on And the Glass Handed Kites for the first time fully expecting some lame indie-rock band that I’d have to turn off within five minutes. Two minutes later, it was in my top ten. Now still ranked an impressive twelfth, the album continues to grow on me with each listen. And while I’m not going to try to argue than Mew isn’t a bit lame after all, I will argue long and hard for their music. Glass Handed Kites is like one big song—big, as in long, and “BIG,” as in… enormous—the whole album flows together as one very nicely (on the original CD, where there are no brief pauses between tracks). The guitars and drums kick things off, sounding as big as arena rock, but much more intricate and sensitive musically. Glass Handed Kites is the proggiest, arguably rockiest album on this list. Its strong points are the colossal percussion, tremendous rock-guitar motifs, and soaring vocal lines. Really, though, Mew isn’t a typical prog-rock band. They ease back (a bit) on the melodrama and pretentiousness, of which they should yet have enough to charm fans of the genre, while including elements of modern music that combine to make their unique sound accessible to a wide range of music fans. I hope that this very talented group from Denmark will finally make their North American mark with their latest release. They clearly put a lot of effort into this record and they deserve it—if for no other reason than having the worst best album cover of the year. Arguably. I can’t decide.


11

It's Never Been Like That
Phoenix




If there was an essential non-electronic pop album released in 2006, Phoenix made it; It’s Never Been Like That is guitar pop/rock, or whatever, at its most effortless. They just never sound like they’re trying very hard to make perfect music, but they still come close. I think that’s the main appeal of this album: It’s not anything monumental. In fact, it gives the impression that it’s just another day in the life of Phoenix. Everyone is going to have their own favourite songs, more so on this album than others, and for me those are “Long Distance Call,” “Courtesy Laughs,” and “Sometimes in the Fall.” If the commercial world was more in tune to what good pop music really is, It’s Never Been Like That might have spawned a plethora of hit singles. They’re all basically bright, absolutely accessible, extremely enjoyable, and contagiously catchy unadulterated pop songs. Why should I waste precious bandwidth pulling apart such an innocent little package of music? By my definition of the word “pop”, this is the guitar-pop album of the year.


10

Drum's Not Dead
Liars




The mastery of atmosphere is a thing to behold. It’s more of an art than a science, but most atmospheric musical works have the same basic elements: reverberated instruments, drawn out notes, sweeping vocals, and so on. Add drums and genius, understated songwriting to all of this and you might get something like Drum’s Not Dead, except that it’s so much more. It’s like a journey through some dark labyrinth, the likes of which you have never before seen. You try to just relax and let the music take you where it will, but the anxiety keeps building until the beautiful relief finally comes on “The Other Side of Mt. Heart Attack.” The album as a whole sounds like some kind of distant ancestor of Kid A, but darker and more claustrophobic, perhaps even more cryptic. Needless to say, it’s very experimental. It’s minimalistic too, at the surface; one might need a few listens to realize just how convoluted it is. The guitars are often sparse but are always vital; the drums really drive the sound and fill a lot of aural space; the vocals go missing for periods of time, but are always punctual when needed to deliver a chilling verse or two. I really feel like I’m dumbing down the subtle brilliance of this record, so I’ll just say that I recommend it to those who are willing. It’s well worth the investment. If the recent trend is any indication, then I’ll love Drum’s Not Dead even more in a couple of weeks.


9

Hell Hath No Fury
Clipse




Well, we’re getting into “classic” territory now. Clipse showed me this year what I really was missing about rap music… the rapping. A lot of the rap I had previously heard and liked featured large arrangements with layer upon layer of samples and strings and everything you can imagine. When I first heard Hell Hath No Fury’s stripped-bare dark production (courtesy of The Neptunes), I was turned off by it, but I kept coming back because I could feel that there was something great I was missing. Now I consider it one of the best rap albums I’ve ever heard. With no space wasted on skit-filler, Clipse gets right down to business and delivers the goods. They’re mean, aggressive, clever, and absolutely on a mission. Their confidence is evident throughout, but really shines on “Mr. Me Too,” one of the album’s best tracks. One of the main things that I didn’t appreciate at first was the rhythmic mastery that is displayed by everybody involved. When you’re recording an album this minimalistic, a flair for interesting rhythms certainly helps. The ending track, “Nightmares” comes off as a bit of an odd deviation, but ultimately seems to be just what the album needed to balance everything else out: some melody. Whenever I reach that track, I feel like I’ve just experienced a very complete audio experience; Hell Hath No Fury could very well turn out to be a hip-hop classic.


8

Roots & Crowns
Califone




It’s always nice to forget that you’re in the 21^st century just for a little while. I don’t fully know why, but Roots & Crowns plays a bit like a period piece. Just when I think I’ll fall completely into a roots-rock daydream, some anachronistic background synthesizer emerges to bring me back to the present day, when I’m listening to Califone, and one of the best records of 2006. But seriously, this is just the kind of record you could daydream to. The music is subdued enough to be relaxing and reminiscent, but bold enough to evoke feelings of adventure. It’s not something easily explained, but “The Orchids” sounds like the best song in the world when you imagine you’re a long way into the past. “Sunday Noises,” “A Chinese Actor,” and “Black Metal Valentine” are other standout tracks. It feels like the album is taking you on a comfortable journey, one in which you are displaced but after that you don’t really seem to go anywhere or do much out of the ordinary. That a musical group can convey a feeling that complex is worth applauding. As good as Roots & Crowns is musically, it’s more the mood, the feeling, and the overall sound of it that make it such an outstanding work of art. The understated concluding track, “If You Would,” has embedded within it a recurring theme that sounds like the time machine that brings you back once it’s all over, reluctant though you may be.


7

Fishscale
Ghostface Killah




As a general rule, I need a few listens to really appreciate a piece of music. This seems to hold especially true for rap music. For example, I found two of the other rap records on this list, Doctor’s Advocate and Hell Hath No Fury, quite annoying upon my first listen. Such was not the case with Ghostface Killah’s Fishscale, which just so happens to be the rap album of 2006. At times it’s hard to tell “song” apart from “skit” or interlude during this inside-look at the drug trade, making the album feel more like a collection of stories, short and long. It’s the most cinematic album I was exposed to all year and, as a result, it feels somehow a bit longer than it is (not necessarily a bad thing). Not every track is a smash hit, but in the nature of this particular album, that doesn’t really matter. The three that start everything off (“Shakey Dog,” “Kilo,” and “The Champ”), and another stretch of three during the middle (“Whip You with a Strap,” “Back Like That,” and “Be Easy”) represent the best stretches of music, and if you can ignore the often-unnecessary, ridiculous, and obscene skit tracks, there are other gems to be found. Not all of these interludes are without merit, however; strangely they feel like the glue that holds the story-telling, cinematic concept together. It’s easy not to notice just how good the music is with so much to listen to lyrically, but both are Fishscale strong points. Besides, one of the beautiful things about it is that the music doesn’t need to dominate. Too many rap records have such inconsequential content that the supporting music has to do more than it should to keep interest intact. Unfortunately, not every rap album can be this good.


6

Silent Shout
The Knife




Silent Shout is like some kind of dark, cold, humanoid machine that was cast out for being different. What is not so readily apparent is that this machine has, lying beneath the layers of iron and complex wiring, a living heart that’s keeping it going and driving its movement, step by step. After you get to know it a bit, you warm up to it a lot and you realize it’s just like a regular person, like you or me. Whether it’s the persuasive pulse or the monumental melodies that make this record so irresistible is up for debate, but those are two things that The Knife did better this year than perhaps anyone else. Much like the brother-and-sister duo of The Knife itself, the music is shrouded in obscurity; you can feel the movement beneath your feet, but, save for the rare flash of colour, all you see is black. Well, never has black been this beautiful. Many standout tracks emerge in the album’s first half (the title track and “Like a Pen,” to name just two), and they are followed by the tone-changing “From Off to On.” This is a more subdued piece complete with whispery vocals that are more melancholy and lonely (without being overdone) than terrifying, but it is haunting nonetheless. The vocal styles of Karin Dreijer Andersson and Olof Dreijer will probably seem unconventional, but to me it’s just part of the unique appeal of the living machine. Silent Shout is the foreign record of the year. Hey, it’s my list.


5

Yellow House
Grizzly Bear




You’re reclining in a solitary little house at the end of a dirt road in the mid-afternoon with the windows open and a refreshing breeze blowing through the room. Pillars of soft light fill the dusty corners, revealing lost treasures of generations past. You gaze outside at the world you’ve never known, for you’ve never left this place in your entire lifetime. Or maybe you’re just listening to Yellow House. Background noises of pianos, strings, and flutes permeate the natural ambience of Grizzly Bear’s enjoyably lazy-sounding music. Sounding a bit like the band members did not once leave the single room in which the album was written and recorded from start to finish, Yellow House delivers on all levels of atmosphere and efficient, cohesive songwriting. They were all on the same wavelength here and really clicking in every way. The stunning “Marla,” a captivating minor-key waltz that lies surrounded by other high-quality songs, steals the show. Its exquisite production and arrangement is as impressive as anything the record has to offer. I don’t know how they did it, but Grizzly Bear’s Yellow House sounds as if it has never been outside the front door, until it finally ventures off to a newly discovered land in the album-closing “Colorado.” I’d say that a majority of this album is absolutely perfect, and the rest is just really, really good.


4

So This Is Goodbye
Junior Boys




While Silent Shout is very much a black variety of cold electropop, So This Is Goodbye represents the whiter side of things, and the respective album covers reflect that difference. My reasoning behind the shade analogy is probably married to the actual cover art, but it is also a result of the icy, snow-white reticence of the content; it’s as though some of the lyrics are being gently spoken over an expansive snow field or iced-over northern Canadian lake (Junior Boys are, indeed, from Canada). Jeremy Greenspan has an uncanny ear for space and melody that makes So This Is Goodbye both easy-listening and breathtaking (a parallel can be made to Greenspan’s own smooth and breathy vocals). Much of the album’s atmosphere comes out of the empty space rather than the sounds and notes themselves. But by the time it gets to “In the Morning,” the album’s best song, hard-charging arpeggios and beats drive music that is anything but confined to the background. The singing is crisp, but flows beautifully to carry along an equally-well-arranged song, perhaps the best of the year. Thematic centerpiece “When No One Cares,” a reworked Frank Sinatra original, ties together all of the album’s underlying themes; closer “FM” is sort of a continuation (a morning-after-disaster-sounding piece), and, all things considered, is the perfect ending to an album that strives for perfection. The magic isn’t solely in the music, though; it’s in the reserved sadness of the denial of lost love and the pain of saying goodbye. It’s about self-contemplation in the trenches of heartache, and it’s about being all alone and being so cold that your own breath clouds your vision of the sea of white before you. Everyone should at least try to love this album. And if at first you don’t succeed, buy, buy better speakers! This is the electronic album of the year. Note: So This Is Goodbye occupied more time in the #1 position of my list than any other album, and during much of this time I didn’t think that it would ever be toppled. It was the first 2006 album I truly fell in love with. So, while it didn’t quite make it to the top 3, it will forever remain an essential landmark in my musical experience.


3

Return to Cookie Mountain
TV on the Radio




Indie classic-to-be Return to Cookie Mountain features very well-organized structures combined with textures that sound an awful lot like regulated chaos. These structures are a large part of what makes this album, in my mind, the most colourful of the year. Each song features a unique atmosphere and a subtle hook that serves as a base to all that happens in the foreground. The simplicity of these hooks is proportional to their effectiveness. TV on the Radio probably makes the best use of the bass guitar of any group on this list, as it is a main ingredient of many of these essential motifs, especially on “Province” and “Let the Devil In.” Speaking of “Province,” David Bowie makes a special guest appearance on this standout track, and the vocals are excellent all around, as is characteristic of this record. Though not exactly a traditional vocalist, singer Tunde Adebimpe doesn’t resort to the yelping noises that many of his indie-rock contemporaries seem to love. The lines he sings exude a very convincing controlled passion; what he’s convincing us of is that he’s very talented at what he does. As a matter of fact, all of the instrumentation here is of very high quality. The pleasantly addictive “A Method,” driven by a repetitive percussive rhythm and thematic whistling and oo-ing, is one of the most memorable songs of the year for me. While this album (being #3 on my list) doesn’t contain any weak tracks, the song “Tonight” often stands out the most to me. If Return to Cookie Mountain has a “slow song,” this is it. It’s not excessively sentimental, but has a touch of emotion and life that the bass and David Sitek’s atmospheric effects carry along like a soft breeze. “Tonight” and “Wash the Day Away” form a perfect ending to a nearly-perfect record that flows greatly from start to finish. If TV on the Radio keeps this up, they’ll attain iconic status in the indie-rock world in no time, and retain it for many years to come.


2

Boys and Girls in America
The Hold Steady




The singer is annoying. The lyrics are dumb. The music just sounds like some bar band. What’s your excuse for denying that Boys and Girls in America is one of the best pure rock ‘n’ roll albums of the past 30 years? I had already listened it a few times without really liking it before I started getting down to business with this list, and decided to give it another chance when I was getting my top ten together. Still nothing. I don’t recall when or why, but one day it just hit me. This was pure genius! Boys and Girls focuses in on typical relationships and what high-school and college kids do for fun, or for no reason at all. As though it were based on a literary classic, the specific focus broadens into a very expansive, poignant observation about our culture. Without using any profound vocabulary or Shakespearean diction, this album probably says more than any other on this list. The musical style is also necessary to work with the themes: the having fun, the disregard of consequence, and the general blitheness of the characters about whom Craig Finn sings. But enough of my scholastic analysis—it’s just really good music. Some of the year’s cleanest and most refined songwriting can be found here. The lyricism, believe it or not, can be taken by itself and appreciated for its tongue-in-cheek look at life from a perspective of juvenile innocence. Besides, the songs are fun: fun to consider the characters and why they’re doing what they’re doing, fun to consider why in the world The Hold Steady are singing about them and putting so much into the music, and, predictably, just fun to listen to. The music is actually really good, too, if you can ignore the fact that Finn’s…melodies?...almost always end on the root note. If I can do it, then you can, too. Anyway, great songs make great records, and this is no exception. “Stuck Between Stations” introduces some of the recurring themes, including the one about “white noise,” whatever that’s an analogue for. It’s also one of the album’s best songs. It is later joined by “First Night” and “You Can Make Him Like You,” both of which are necessary for the album’s success; they sort of tie everything together. My best guess, though, is that “Citrus” is the song that first made me realize the magic of what this whole thing is all about. Still, anyone who had a social life during their high school years will probably be able to appreciate a lot of the content here more than I can. What amazes me the most about Boys and Girls in America is that The Hold Steady have already made their career-defining album, having just released their debut two years ago. The reason The Hold Steady ever existed was so to make this record. I don’t even drink alcohol and I think that it is the classic album of 2006. It’s timeless. Screw Flanders. <---[link]


1

Ys
Joanna Newsom




Call me sentimental, but when I heard Joanna Newsom’s Ys for the first time, I suddenly felt like all the other music I’d ever listened to just didn’t matter anymore. She seems like the kind of girl that The Hold Steady’s characters wouldn’t have paid much attention to in high school; the kind of girl whose music wins titles like “album of the year” while the jealous boys and girls sit at a meager #2. Yes, her voice is occasionally shrill, but that doesn’t have to be a bad thing. It’s not even a matter of it being beautiful just because it’s ugly, or whatever spin you want to put on it. The content is simply very personal and the sound matches that perfectly. The emotion and connectedness to the material is evident in every line she sings; the quality and depth of the poetry is like nothing I’ve ever heard in a musical context. (One thing I haven’t yet done, though I still think it’s absolutely necessary, is to listen to the CD, reading the lyrics as they come along, just to enjoy it to its fullest.) The sound is at its most personal in centerpiece “Sawdust & Diamonds,” where Newsom is alone with only her voice and harp to communicate with. On the other songs, Van Dyke Parks provides complete string arrangements that range from sparse to sweeping to help fill the space. The lengths of the tracks (the album consists of five tracks that span nearly an hour) allows the compositions to fulfill their purposes, so we don’t end up with condensed versions of works that require a lot of space and time. The compositions, along with the lyricism, come to think of it, are Ys’s best features (and Newsom has training in both composition and creative writing). Some pieces take a while to absorb and digest, but the overarching beauty of the melodies and tonal structures make every bit of effort worthwhile. Along with Junior Boys’ “In the Morning,” Newsom’s “Emily” is a strong contender for my song of the year award, but I cannot do it justice with mere words. “Monkey & Bear” is, in some ways, the odd one out on this album, but the story is fascinating and the orchestration is probably the best that you’ll find throughout. “Only Skin” is a long, hard journey, but with some attention it’s hard to ignore its glory. "Cosmia" is probably the most accessible piece of all, and the last minute or so provides the album’s most captivating material. Even as a critic, I admit that there probably could have been no better ending. As stunning as Joanna Newsom’s ambition was in crafting an album such as this, the fact that the album itself is such a wonderfully well-done product is the real triumph. It’s not the kind of triumph with a lot of smiling and celebrating, but the kind where you just sit there silently for a while afterwards, letting everything soak in. There are a lot of albums that came out this year with fewer imperfections than Ys, but not one is as consistently rewarding, not one is as bold, not one is as vulnerable, and not one is as beautiful. Joanna Newsom’s Ys is the best album of 2006. I wish I could say more.

So that’s my take on the year in music. The wonder of the internet—and perhaps the great tragedy—is that we now all have opinions of which everyone else must be made aware. The purpose of my making this list is not to try to say that I am a connoisseur in music now, or to tell all my readers what they should be listening to instead of MTV (apparently JT is fair game). I did this firstly for myself, to explore a whole new world of art, but I can now pass my discoveries onto you. If you, like I was, are sick of the same albums being made year after year, then get out onto the internet, read a lot of reviews by a wide variety of reviewers, and find some new good music. I couldn’t believe how much great music was made in just a single year. There is excellent stuff being done all the time. Just make sure to make up your own mind; don’t force yourself to like something just because somebody else says it’s good. At the same time, though, if something is highly recommended, then it must have some significant merit. Give it a second chance, and learn what music works for you and what doesn’t. As for this list I have presented to you… don’t take my word for anything written here! Check some stuff out, buy some records, and listen for yourself!

Note: At over 9000 words, this is probably the longest post I’ll ever make… but I’ve been wrong once or twice.

Labels: Music

Posted by Farewell, Free Will on Monday, January 15, 2007 at 9:55 p.m. | Permalink