Top Albums of 2006
By: Music Staff |
Sunday January 28, 2007 |
| Counting down #10 - #1. |
10. Bob Dylan - Modern Times (Sony)
It's sometimes hard for young music fans like myself to fully appreciate the genius of many of the old legends. Rarely do we get lucky enough to hear that genius first hand in new material, but that's exactly what happened in 2006 with Bob Dylan's best album since his young days, Modern Times. The album is Dylan at his best, which is making complicated, yet old-fashioned folk and blues sound oh-so-easy. "The Levee's Gonna Break" assured us that Dylan can still stir things up and also reminded us that he ain't ready for the retirement home just yet. First single "Someday Baby" quickly grabbed the attention of a new generation of hipsters with its too cool for rules blues hooks and immediately elevated Modern Times among the albums of the year by many fans and critics. - David Fox
09. Tapes 'n Tapes - The Loon (Ibid) 
Seemingly coming out of nowhere in 2006 with their independent release were Minneapolis' Tapes 'n Tapes. Mixing the correct blend of pop bends that will make you contort your body on a stationary bike, the band relies on a nervous drive reminiscent of early REM, but sans jangle. The "Cowbell" video woke many up to the band, but the rest of The Loon features singable songs with a tolerable amount of anxiety with a really fun music style. Discovery by blogs and the ensuing considerable buzz gave the band deserved exposure. - Nate Roth
08. Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not (Domino) 
Nobody relishes the idea of being working-class except for slumming rich kids, but you gotta admit that Sheffield, England is a gold mine when it comes to brilliant pop music born of poverty, boredom and frustration. The glossy dystopia of the Human League, the cut-up soundscapes of Cabaret Voltaire, and the wryly-sung anguish of Pulp were all spawned in that northern industrial town. The Arctic Monkeys continue that tradition in grand fashion with thirteen slices of life that describe the grimy reality of pub crawls, failed attempts at romance, and police brutality in lyrics that apparently sprung whole and perfectly formed from Alex Turner's be-mopped head. (When I first heard "Riot Van" I was shocked to find that white kids could get beat up on by the filth without recourse. Who knew?) It's a dance party/class war all rolled into one, and they will never again be as unselfconsciously brilliant as they are on this album. Get off the bandwagon, put down the handbook! - Donna Brown
07. Lupe Fiasco - Lupe Fiasco's Food and Liquor (1st & 15th / Atlantic) 
Chicago's latest golden boy of hip-hop made a stir this summer at Lollapalooza during the performance of another Chicago golden hip-hop graduate, Kanye West. Maybe we saw the Chicago Ex-Patriot Common as up there too, but it didn't matter because it was the skateboarding Fiasco who stole the show momentarily when his breakout mainstream single, "Kick, Push" was pumped throughout Grant Park. With a push from another famous friend, Jay-Z, Lupe's Food and Liquor album debut on 1st and 15th got a lot of attention and hype, especially with the patronage involved in its production: The Neptunes, Kanye, Needlz, Jay-Z, Chill and even Lupe himself all worked together to bring the West-side kid's world of skateboards, poverty and daydreaming to glory. One could argue that the story of this album's creation could represent a microcosm of the Chicago political cycle, but we won't go there. We have smooth hip-hop, strings, beats and intelligent rhymes to enjoy before Lupe moves to California. - Billy Kenefick
06. Silversun Pickups - Carnavas (Dangerbird) 
In these days of willfully obtuse indie rockers retreating deeper into the cover of their increasingly eclectic record collections, it has become a treat to find a band willing to turn the amps up to eleven and rock out without the accompanying self-knowing wink or blatant grab at hipster kitsch. In the continuing parade of nostalgic rediscovery that was 2006 we saw everything from yacht rock to folk rock to Hall and Oates become "cool" touchstones, but one of the most refreshing albums came from a young band with their eyes and ears focused on more recent, and less expected, musical history. By combining one part shoegaze dreaminess with two parts alterna-rock bombast and tossing in just a dash of space rock's epic scale, the Silversun Pickups turned Carnavas into a thrilling debut full-length that rocked straight through the popular trends and fads with nary a sideways glance. There is something altogether brave about watching this band plant its feet firmly in the soil first turned by Gish-era Smashing Pumpkins, a half-sincere middle finger to indie rock circa 2006 as the amps warm up and they line the overdrive pedals up with their feet. None of this grandiosity or stubborn refusal to bow to popular trends would be worth a damn if there wasn't something in the music to continually draw you back for more, but thankfully Carnavas contains many such gems. Check out Nikki Monninger's bass breakdown on "Well Thought Out Twinkles" or Joe Lester's swirling keyboard effects on the spacey "Dream at Tempo 119". Better yet, toss aside your knee-jerk preconceptions and lose yourself in the distorted, overdriven squall of "Lazy Eye" and rediscover the joy of rocking out with abandon. - Jonathan Lundeen
05. The Decemberists - The Crane Wife (Capitol) 
The Decemberists songs sound like a Merchant-Ivory film with a screenplay written by Samuel Taylor Coleridge set on a pirate ship docked in some indeterminate foreign land where the accents sound kind of British, but not exactly. No one is saying that they are the most inventive, creative, experimental, singular sounding band ever to grace the planet earth, but they certainly have a vibe that's all their own and right now you would be hard pressed to point to another band that sounds a lot like them. This year's The Crane Wife marks the band's leap onto a major label and while many feared this would be just another addition to the long list of failed marriages between indie bands and major labels, this one turned out to be a match made in heaven. Not only is The Crane Wife one of the best records to come from the band, it was one of the best releases of the year. From the remarkable cover art to melodic opener "The Crane Wife 3" to the epic "The Island" to the soaring "O Valencia!" love, murder and mayhem have never sounded so exhilarating. - Renee Stock
04. Cat Power - The Greatest (Matador) 
Contrary to what might be assumed from its name, The Greatest is not a compilation of hit songs from high school-dropout-turned-indie rock star, Cat Power. Instead, the album - which was released way back in January, 2006 - features Chan Marshall in collaboration with her latest backing band, comprised of Memphis soul legends Teenie and Flick Hodges and Steve Potts. These musicians are truly good at what they do, and add a great deal to Chan's songs, which are mostly bleak, flecked by sad, despairing lyrics. There's no denying that The Greatest is probably the best album that Cat Power has put out so far, but it remains to be seen how her dabbling in a broader musical spectrum will affect her fan base in the usually uncompromising world of indie-rock. - Chris Tse
03. The Raconteurs - Broken Boy Soldiers (V2) 
When Jack White announced that he'd taken on a new band, many White Stripes fans were horrified at the idea. However, once tracks from Broken Boy Soldiers began to enter circulation, it was obvious that White's latest project would be a treat for the ears. White and Brendan Benson created an album that rollicks along with some serious rock and roll. "Steady As She Goes" may be one of the best-known songs from the album, and though it is a standout on Broken Boy Soldiers, other songs like "Blue Veins" and "Broken Boy Soldier" are even better. Even with so much talent poured into the album and the band, success wasn't a sure thing, but White's unique sound and Benson's knack for songwriting make this easily one of the must-have albums of 2006. - Evelyn Miska
02. Gnarls Barkley - St. Elsewhere (Downtown) 
In 2006 fans of Cee-Lo Green and DJ Danger Mouse enjoyed a music snobs fantasy merger with the duo's rap/funk/soul/experimental project Gnarls Barkley. The album, St. Elsewhere, included arguably the biggest hit of the year, "Crazy," yet also managed to connect with the musical elitist as well as with the wild funkadelic crowd on songs such as "Transformer" and a cover of The Violent Femmes' "Gone Daddy Gone."
Previous to the duo's May release, St. Elsewhere had critics buzzing in every entertainment magazine on the continent. By the time the rave reviews came pouring in the album had been hyped up even more with a catchy dress up gimmick in which the guys sported different pop-culture costumes from A Clockwork Orange to Star Wars at almost every separate appearance. By the time St. Elsewhere hit the stores the creative explosion that is Gnarls Barkley quickly became the hippest thing around. "Crazy" was covered by at least three bands including The Raconteurs at Lollapalooza '06 (as well as re-recorded by Ray LaMontagne) and if it wasn't the song of the year, it was definitely the song of the summer - and rightfully so, it's still stuck in my head. Speaking of Lollapalooza, Gnarls Barkley was there as well and gave one of the most under-appreciated and underrated performances of the festival. Their live show featured string and horn sections, matching Bjorn Bjornson tennis outfits and the funkiest performance onstage since George Clinton and the Parliament Funkadelic. Finally, after years of average solo work, Cee-Lo has found his musical soul mate in DJ Danger Mouse and together they have created an album worthy of year-end honors. - David Fox 01. TV On the Radio - Return To Cookie Mountain (Interscope) 
Do you remember when a little 5-song (4 song and one acapella cover actually) EP by the name of Young Liars was one of the most talked about releases of 2003? When nearly every webzine and blog worth its salt was trumpeting TV on the Radio as the Williamsburg saviors of indie rock? When it seemed like everyone was breathlessly awaiting what next was to fall from the minds, throats, and hands of Dave Sitek and Tunde Adebimpe? It was a time of unjustified hyperbole and rabid anticipation, so much that when the eventual full-length album did drop it couldn't have possibly lived up the expectations. Desperate Youth, Bloodthirsty Babes was by no means a bad album but it failed to launch the band into the stratosphere as many had predicted, leaving the album quickly forgotten while the indie rock cool hunters started sniffing around elsewhere. Which left TV on the Radio the time and breathing room to mature from a seamless studio creation into a fully functional band and to assemble an album that finally lived up to many of those early expectations, and surpassed quite a few of them as well.
Not so much a widening of their creative palette as a deeper exploration of it, Return to Cookie Mountain is a nearly flawless album that sees the band combining their countless inspirations and influences into a truly original and stunning sonic stew. From the rabid charge of "Wolf Like Me" to the stark beauty of "Tonight" and through all points in between, this album continuously engages and challenges the listener like few others have this past year. It isn't always an easy listen, both the lyrical imagery and the sonic foundations often take a turn for the dark and foreboding, but there is always something to reach out and grab you by the throat (quite literally in the case of the sexually-charged violence of "Wolf Like Me"). There are quite a few bleak references to the current state of America and its policies both foreign and domestic, the dual shadows of the ongoing war and Katrina loom large over the album if not expressed explicitly, stirring in with larger themes of innocence lost and fractured love. Coupled with the frequently chaotic background clutter and claustrophobic production, it creates an overall aura of dread for the future and nostalgia for those recent times that, in retrospect, really weren't as bad as we might have thought. Intentionally or not, TV on the Radio have put together an album that seems to speak for legions of young people throughout the world - confused, scared, and wistful but with a cautious optimism that hope and love are not yet lost. Everything is summed up perfectly in the album's most achingly beautiful and earnest moment, the chorus of "Province": "Hold these hearts courageously / As we walk into this dark place / Stand steadfast beside me and see / that love is the province of the brave" It's a great testament to the band's talents that they are able to stir up such heartfelt emotion at the center of the storm, but an even greater one in that they make us believe it. - Jonathan Lundeen |
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