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Ten Albums for 2006
Columns : Darryl Morden
And Ten Songs Of The Year Too
http://www.buzzine.com/contentengine/publish/buzzine/columns/article_2041.html
Ten Albums for 2006 Columns : Darryl Morden
And Ten Songs Of The Year Too
Darryl Morden
Buzzine Music Editor
Top Ten lists are soooo subjective and all that. If you're a mega-country fan or Hip-Hop type, opinions and tastes will be diverse. So rather than present THE Top albums of the past year, here are simply, ten albums worth checking out, plus another handful, too. The same goes for ten songs (not singles, necessarily, though certainly downloads), Also, some great live stuff, on CD and DVD.
Ten Albums for 2006 (not in a best-of order, either):
1. Bob Dylan - Modern Times - Blues and elemental rock'n'roll from the legend in songs like "Thunder on the Mountain," and "Rollin' and Tumblin', while "Workingman's Blues" is a sharp political indictment. The poetry is still there, but Bob wants to move -- and does.
2. Bruce Springsteen - We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions - American Land Edition - This two-disc set, one CD and one DVD with added audio and video tracks respectively turned the prior dual-disc (the jury's still out on that format) into a far better album and the one to have, ranging from the sing-along "Buffalo Gals" to the update of the '60s anti-war ballad "Bring "Em Home."
3. Muse - Black Holes & Revelations - Glorious Prog-rock collides with metal and '80s Manchester musings, plus a dash of Prince funk-rock to boot. Grandiose, near-overblown and a damn wonder in total, including the pulsing bittersweet "Starlight" and galloping "Knights of Cydonia," where Queen meets the Tornadoes' '60s instrumental "Telstar" and along the way, my wife says, channels Iron Maiden, too.
4. Snow Patrol - Eyes Open - Shimmering and consoling atmospheric pop-rock as this Irish band based in Scotland finally arrives in full. The group rocks ahead with "Hands Open" and is haunting for "Shut Your Eyes" and "Set Fire to the Third Bar," a duet with Martha Wainwright. Plus of course, the heart-pledge of "Counting Cars."
5. My Chemical Romance - Welcome To The Black Parade - The surprise achievement of the year as these previously melodraamtic gothish boys draw on early '70s glam, plenty of Queen, and a Green Day-styled song-cycle to become a great rock'n'roll band on songs about teen anxiety such as "House of Wolves" and "Disenchanted." Impressive, yes.
6. Gomez - How We Operate - The CSN of the UK? Three distinct singers, plus a few of the guitar-rich pieces that also put the Y in that CSN reference. Among the standouts, the Squeeze/Crowded House-like pop bounce of "GirlShapedLoveDrug" and the title song, which found exposure on Tv's "Grey's Anatomy," which currently features some of the tube's best soundtrack music.
7. Dixie Chicks - Taking the Long Way - Making things clear on the Bush-slam fallout from a couple of years ago with the defiant "Not Ready to Make Nice," the best group in Country goes beyond the genre working producer Rick Rubin who adds a greater rock dynamic on tracks like the Pogues-inspired "Bitter End," brooding "Everybody Knows" and Buddy Holly tribute of sorts "Lubbock or Leave It."
8. Katie Melua - Piece By Piece - Filled with torchy blues and jazz inflections, too, this was the sexiest album of the year, from the teasing "Halfway Up the Hindu Kush" and "My Aphrodisiac Is You" to her delicate, achy cover of the Cure's "Just Like Heaven."
9. Madeleine Peyroux - Channeling a Billie Holiday-styled vocal, she transforms songs from all eras into jazzy acoustic-based blues for speakeasys, including that Sinatra chestnut "The Summer Wind" and Tom Waits' "(Looking for) the Heart of Saturday Night."
10. The Life Pursuit by Belle & Sebastian - The Scottish group's gliding '60s-influenced pop sounds transitions into r-o-c-k taking cues from influences like T. Rex and also diverting for other detours. One of the smartest outfits around.
Also notable:
Gnarls Barkely - St. Elsewhere - Creative, funky and fun.
Corinne Bailey Rae - Corinne Bailey Rae -A stylish debut
Neil Young - Living With War - Brave and brazen, saying what needs to be said.
The Hold Steady -Boys And Girls In America - Working class rock full of Bruce influences, circa mid-70s, plus Thin Lizzy, too.
Scissor Sisters - Ta-Dah - '70s Elton John with disco flourishes. A guilty pleasure and then some.
The Editors - The Back Room - Textured Brit rock infused with passion
Dirty Pretty Things - From the ashes of the Libertines comes another determined band lashing, bashing and pouring its heart out.
Erin Boheme - What Love Is - This sleeper of a jazz vocal album is filled with superb readings of originals and covers that include Tracy Chapman and Cole Porter.
Rock Kills Kid - Are You Nervous - Loaded with hooks and drawing on Depeche Mode and New Order as well as indie guitar-rock styling, another stellar debut album.
And still not impressed with 'em:
Justin Timberlake
Beyonce
Do the jazz album: Christina Aguilera
Ten Songs for 2006:
1. "Crazy " - Gnarls Barkley - The Song of the summer and inescapable all year. Soul meets pop. A Great track from a good, but not great album.
2. Black Horse and the Cherry Tree - KT Tunstall - Also all over the place, sparse, rhythmic and catchy - what more do you ya want?
3. "See the World" - Gomez - An acoustic grown-up's lullaby for getting by in a crushing world. For the chorus alone.
4. "Chasing Cars" - Snow Patrol - Bolstered by featured play on "Grey's Anatomy," it's become a breakthrough hit and one this band so deserves.
5. "How Can A Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live?" - Bruce Springsteen - The Blind Alfred Reed blues song fromthe depression, rocked up in the '80s with garage-punk attitude b y the Del Lords, is reworked in the context of the Katrina gulf Coast government response debacle.
6. "Welcome to the Black Parade" - My Chemical Romance. The title track centerpiece of the band's captivating album.
7. "Put Your Records On" - Corinne Bailey Rae - Subtle R&B with an actual groove rather than some producers beat gimmick. Nice.
8. Saints Are Coming - U2 and Green Day - Also for New Orleans, an anthem of hope teaming two of the greatest bands of our age.
9. "Steady As She Goes" - The Raconteurs - From another good, but not great album, though some will argue otherwise. All-star garage rock.
10. "I Bet You Look Good on the Dance Floor" -Arctic Monkeys - A breakneck burst of reckless youth
Also:
"American Land" - Bruce Springsteen with the Seeger Sessions band - A crackling immigrants tale dancing the jig to celtic folk that's more Pogues than Chieftains.
"Smiley Faces" - Gnarls Barkley - Delivered on a Motown beat, almost as catchy as "Crazy" and maybe even more soulful.
"How To Save A Life" - The Fray - Another one from the "Grey's Anatomy."
"It Ends Tonight" - All-American Rejects. A power ballad that works, especially in the context of "Smallville," where it was featured.
"Paralyzed" - Rock Kills Kid - Driven and tuneful, should've been a much bigger hit.
Alive and Kicking: Some great concert releases
John Fogerty -The Long Road Home - The Concert (DVD and CD) - Mixing Creedence and solo work. Fogerty the guitar great also makes a return.
U2 - Vertigo Live in Chicago (DVD), Live In Milan (Downloads only as part of U218 Singles Deluxe package). The Chicago concert captures the band's performance well, especially the peak of "Running To Stand Still" into the declaration of human rights followed by "Pride (In the Name of Love") and "Where the Streets Have No Name." The Milan tracks find the band looser on some songs and Bono is stunning for "Miss Sarajevo," hitting those operatic notes. Also well worth searching out, a copy of the two-disc Zoo-TV CD set, mailed out to U2.com members as a perk of belonging to the site.
Depeche Mode - Playing the Angel - Indio, CA and Mexico. The band offered fans live recordings from various stops on its world tour and the Coachella set and Mexico show are particularly feverish and intense.
And that's that...for now. Be seeing you, in 2007.
 | Currently listening:
Modern Times
By Bob Dylan
Release date: 29 August, 2006 |
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