Top 25 Albums of 2006: 10-6

10. Phoenix "It's Never Been Like That"

Ever since watching Lost in Translation and seeing a drunken Bill Murray dance to "Too Young" in his inside out orange camouflage shirt, I have been an avid follower of the French rock group known as Phoenix. United, the group's first album on which "Too Young" appeared, was a refreshing mix of funk, disco, and retro-pop rock. Their follow up album Alphabetical, which is also highly recommended, had several unforgettable singles like "Everything is Everything" and "Holdin' on Together" and a bit of an electronic vibe. It's Never Been Like That is their most rock album to date, and also their most complete. While still employing their trademark wah-wah synthesizer sound on "Long Distance Call", this time around Phoenix is all about having fun rockin' out. You would think that the album might verge on the political with track titles like "Napoleon Says" and "Rally", but don't be fooled, Phoenix are smart enough to know that politics are sure to get in the way of a fun, old-fashioned rock/pop album, and one of 2006' best.





9. M. Ward "Post-War"

From AllMusic.com:

"Laconic California indie minstrel M. Ward's fifth offering is a thrift shop photo album filled with histories that may or may not have been, dust bowl carnival rides, and slices of sunlit Western Americana so thick that you need a broom to sweep up the bits that fall off of the knife. Ward makes records that sound like he just wandered in off the street with a few friends and hit the record button, but what would feel lazy and unfocused in less confident hands comes off like a tutorial in old-school songwriting and performance that hearkens back to the days of Hank Williams and Leadbelly if they had had access to a modern-day studio. Post-War is not only Ward's best effort yet, it's one of the best records of the year. While his distinctive half-second-delay drawl assumes its usual position as the ghostly broadcast from a more sepia-toned time, the production is far grander than on his previous outings... A catchy cover of Daniel Johnston's "To Go Home" features guest vocalist Neko Case breathing fire into the choruses with her trademark howl, the rowdy "Requiem" sounds like a Tom Waits version of Queen's "Fat Bottomed Girls," and the peerless "Magic Trick," with its brilliant refrain of "She's got one magic trick/just one and that's it/she disappears," kicks off a suite of tunes that snake their way through to the album's end like a shot of Apple Jack. Like early Pavement, Ward knows how to make sloppy sound succinct, and it's that magic mix of earnestness and apathy that makes Post-War the secret bounty that it is."

8. T.I. "King"

The best hip-hop album of 2007. From the Shaft-like, blazing blaxploitation horns on the opening track, "King Back", T.I., with the aid of Just Blaze, asserts himself as the head-honcho of not only ATL, but the whole rap game. The difference between him and many other rappers is that he has the rhymes, beats, credibility, and swagger to back it up. "Top Back" and "Ride Wit Me" are the cruisin anthems of the year. "Top Back" was also the indisputable favorite on my Ultimate Frisbee mix, and I sincerely believed it added a collective inch to our very white team's vertical. "Live in the Sky", the obligatory shout-out to my dead homies song, is sentimental but not sappy, a trick few MCs can legitimately pull off. "What You Know", a year after being overplayed on the radio, is still welcome on my speakers anytime. The spoken word parts that seem to water down Kanye's album are actually hilarious on King, the banter between a man and his triflin' cheatin lady friend. While there is not a whole lot of groundbreaking going on here, T.I. has made an album that actually lives up to the hype and praise it lavishes upon itself. Truly fit for a King in the rap game.

7. Cat Power "The Greatest"

The unexpected blues/vocal album of the year. Several years ago I read an article in Paste Magazine which attempted to assemble the greatest living all-star band. They chose Chan Marshall aka Cat Power as the vocalist, and I couldn't help but thinking there were a few better choices. I had listened to You Are Free and a few other, in my opinion, forgettable cover songs and early selections, and didn't get what the big deal was. Yeah, her voice was smokin, but it wasn't epic, or "The Greatest". Apparently, Paste heard something I didn't, because after listening to this album for about the 20th time, I would have no difficulty in giving Chan the headlining spot on that roster. This album is beautiful, legendary, subdued, and one that will give me joy for years to come. I can't wait to see what she's got in store for us next time around. I just hope that "Lived in Bars" isn't a karaoke favorite 10 years from now, because I can't see anybody giving justice to these pipes.

6. Hot Chip "The Warning"

If you don't have fun listening to The Warning, there is something wrong with you. Even if you don't like electronic music, you need to give these guys a chance. A necessary evolution from their quirky, hip-hop lyrics with IBM beats, debut Coming on Strong, this album has it's fair share of unforgettable anthems. Take "The Warning" for example, where Hot Chip warns that they will "Break your legs" and "Snap Off Your Neck" in the most playful manner possible, with a hypnotic beat ala The Postal Service. While "And I Was A Boy From School" seems like standard techno fare, I cannot remember the last time a band of this pedigree made me feel so warm and fuzzy inside as Hot Chip pull of with "Colours", the albums third track. Give the song some time to develop and you will be handsomely rewarded. Hot Chip is the type of band I would have welcomed to play at my high school graduation, my brother's wedding, my buddies' bachelor party, or the forthcoming birth of my son. Check this album out if you're not afraid to put on your dancing shoes and dunce cap.

Top 25 Albums of 2006: 15-11

15. Peter Bjorn & John "Writer's Block"

This up and coming Swedish trio simultaneously evokes several decades of pop music for a decidedly retro feel. "Young Folks" is one of the year's best, and features ex-Concretes singer Victoria Bergsman. "Amsterdam" brings a relaxed version of New Pornographers to mind. "Up Against the Wall" belongs in a movie during a built up, inspirational, nerd-turns-into-stud scence. "Let's Call it Off" captures the essence of the trio, with super catchy guitar riffs which border on surf psychedalia. "The Chills" is the most 21st century track of the album, and also the most enigmatic. End it all with the strange Gorillaz/Blur vocalist Damon Albarn-esque love literature tune, "Poor Cow," and these guys are all over the pop map and timetable.

From Pitchork
"If lyric poetry is, as Czech novelist Milan Kundera recently wrote, "the most exemplary incarnation of man dazzled by his own soul and the desire to make it heard," surely the pop song is the highest incarnation of all-consuming love and its fundamental need to be shared. Writer's Block, indeed. "



14. Josh Ritter "The Animal Years"

The fact that Ritter hasn't made it real, real big in the good ol' US of A baffles me. While upholding near iconic status in Ireland, where solo lyrical/acoustic/folk acts like Damien Rice have a much easier time of it, Josh Ritter remains absent from the radio airwaves in Wichita, Kansas. The Heartland. While not a trendsetter, Ritter is excellent at what he does- turn simple folk ballads into epic musical poetry. Continuing the trend of his last two albums, Golden Age of Radio and Hello Starling (both highly recommended), Ritter continues to build on his already impressive catalog. While The Animal Years does not have the immediately catchy radio-friendly tracks like "Bright Smile" and "Kathleen," it packs a punch throughout. From the references to Peter, Paul and Mary in the opener, the stripped down homage to his hometown of "Idaho", and the epic "Thin Blue Flame," Ritter makes you feel at home throughout.

He is to music today what Rick Bass is to literature. He invokes a sense of place and spirituality, while remaining shrouded in a veil of mystery and wonder. Some of Ritter's best stuff is pure Americana, singing about Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Lawrence, Kansas, and lillies of the valley in Illinois. Maybe this is why I find his music catalogued in the "folk" section of Borders. I have no doubt that the more exposure this young acoustic troubadour receives, the more his music will become apart of the American musical culture, even if it doesn't set any trends.

13. Man Man "Six Demon Bag"

I remember when my good old friend Conor Broughan and I (where the hell are ya old buddy?) used to make fun of the music reviews in teen girly magazines that described an album without really talking about the music. They just tried to compartmentalize it into an extremely specific genre, without actually telling you anything about it. I am going to dry to describe Man Man's brilliant "Six Demon Bag" in this manner.

This is not your typical spunky punky slap happy bubble gum pop record. This is the soundtrack for silent films of the late 1920's, before the Depression and FDR. This is music for men with curly moustaches, who wear striped skin-tight jumpsuits and lift those ridiculous barbells with huge boulder-like weights on the end. This is music the men we enslaved to build the railroad system in the west would have listened to. This is carnival-panic rock and soul.

But seriously folks, tracks 8-10 are pure genius. "Push the Eagle's Stomach" is probably the most interesting song of the year, "Spider Cider" urges you to run with a loaded gun in your mouth? before interrupting into a stream of horns and chants of the title, and then the detached, Zen-Buddhist "Van Helsing Boombox" would be an incredible opener for a feel-good sitcom about a homeless bum who makes the best of his situation and participates in zany antics and pranks in his dilipidated city block (listen to it again after you read this). And then the closer "Ice Dogs," with the Motown chicks singing Doo-Wop and Mr. Man Man busting his chops and baring his soul. I have no idea either, folks. Buy this album if you like Tom Waits, Frank Zappa, or albums with a bit of thinking or playfulness involved. With so many albums starting so strong and ending on such a weak note, it's nice to find one that gives you your money's worth and finishes so strong.

12. Clipse "Hell Hath No Fury"

From Amazon
"Hell Hath No Fury strikes a brilliant balance between futurism and nostalgia. It's an album of lyrics-driven hip-hop in the spirit of east coast rap's early '90s heyday, but it's also powered by the noisiest, meanest, most space-age production the Neptunes have ever served up."

Bump this one when your cruisin in your Escalade, or pissin on it like a true gangsta:





11. Herbert "Scale"

Inventive and strikingly beautiful dance album from Great Britain's Matthew Herbert. Most songs feature the exquisite vocal stylings of Dani Siciliano, who provides an excellent contrast and necessary female touch to overtly sexual songs like "Harmonise", "We're in Love", and "Down". While the album starts with the catchy orchestral thumper, "Something Isn't Right" and the politically charged thinker "Movers and Shakers", it mostly gives off vibe that this is type of music I imagine that international high-fashion models listen to, with a touch of disco, jazz, soul, and Herbert's signature use of everyday sounds and appliances in his composition. So you can decide, either way, you should listen to "Scale" for either the immediate surface beauty, or delve deeper and enjoy the intricacies.