The BEST OF 2006 LIST according to Derringer (and other musical distinctions of the year)
This is by NO MEANS representative of all the music recordings of the year....
there are plenty of albums that have still slipped by me unheard and some are rather acclaimed... some albums that I never got around to fully listening to... The Guillemots (gonna buy the import soon), Regina Spektor, Sonic Youth, Howe Gelb, The Upper Room, KT Tunstall Acoustic, Elton John's newest, and plenty more...
SPECIAL NOTE!!!! - JOHNNY LLOYD ROLLINS isn't on my list cause the cd hasn't OFFICIALLY RELEASED YET!!! BUT IT IS AMAZING ALBUM and would top my TOP TEN if it was officially released.... I LOVE HIS ALBUM and see BIG potential for him soon...
but out of what I have heard and what I have spun the most and what has truly fallen on my ears in album completion... this is what I deem the best of the year....
The TOP ALBUMS are based on how they impacted me personally mixed with how excellent the artistic achievement stood against others...
TOP TEN ALBUMS OF THE YEAR:
HONORABLE MENTIONS: albums DEFINATELY worth your time but not entirely worthy of being in top ten...
Junior Boys - So This Is Goodbye
Glen Hansard of THE FRAMES and Marketa Irglova) - The Swell Season
Ed Harcourt - The Beautiful Lie
Beck - The Information
M. Craft - Silver and Fire
Morning Runner - Wilderness is Paradise Now
Joseph Arthur - Nuclear Daydream
Duels - The Bright Lights And What I Should Have Learned
Stoney - The Scene and The Unseen
Eberg- Voff Voff
Jeremy Enigk - World Waits
Mellowdrone - Box
Plan B - Who Needs Actions When You Got Words
Melissa McClelland - Thumbelina
The Format - Dog Problems
The Knife - Silent Shout
Jenny Lewis solo album
Belle and Sebastian - the Life Pursuit
10. WHITE WHALE - WWI
*a kaliedescope of dizzying musical directions mixed with intriguing lyrics blend together in a truly unique and thrilling listen*
9. JOHN LEGEND - ONCE AGAIN
*the debut threw sparks but failed to light my fire.... this followup met and exceeded the expectations and the potential that I knew he had... it is a GREAT soul-pop record with endless rewards in melody and songwriting...not extremely innovative, but downright addictive*
8. M. WARD - POST-WAR
* Ward went all out this time with a full band and a more rocking attitude but still keeping the fort held down by his touching perspectives on life and his occasional magic stirred by gentle, stripped down production... again, where it lacks in innovation, it makes up in heart and soul.... I adore this artist*
7. JOHNNY CASH - AMERICAN V: A HUNDRED HIGHWAYS
* yet another endearing, teardrop collecting batch of songs from the soul of a man on the brink of of bidding the earth goodbye. It is a chilling impact and jarring confrontation at the pearly gates... this is genuine church music, soul music, country music all wrapped in one*
6. TV ON THE RADIO - RETURN TO COOKIE MOUNTAIN
* yep, the Brooklyn art-rock group defied my previous distaste for their music with a truly original album.... with melodic flash colliding with artistic freedom where there seemed to be only artistic freedom before.... the experience was a deeply unsettling, yet unimaginably spiritual one...*
5. THOM YORKE- THE ERASER
*like any great Nigel Godrich"ed" album...the initial listen is deceiving... Godrich's genius lies in this fact... the first listen will always seem less rewarding than each following listen...he is BRILLIANT at layering albums with subtle fairy dust... melodies emerge and dissolve into one another... electronic beats and blips become a hypnotic symphony... and Yorke's songwriting is the perfect match...each listen to this album has reaped tremendous increase in the necessity for calling this one of the year's best*
4. MUSE - BLACK HOLES AND REVELATIONS
* Just when you think this band cannot outdo themselves, they slap you in the face and laugh... with an album that barks with futuristic glances and present day intensity... this became their landmark moment... Muse has cemented themselves in history with this album... the elegant charm of Starlight, the gritty, glacial, raunchy groove of SUPERMASSIVE BLACKHOLE, the epic inspiration of Invincible and so MUCH MORE....
this was a monster... a REALLY spectacular monster...exhillerating!*
3. BRAND NEW - THE DEVIL AND GOD ARE RAGING INSIDE ME
*this album was a complete SHOCK for me... I had NEVER imagined getting excited over an album by this band... they were emo-rock... plain and simple... but with this album... the emo got toned down and the rock notched up to ARENA ROCK... the spiritual wrestling of this album both lyrically and sonically is a major acheivement and it ran like a soundtrack to my life... I love when a band surprises me!*
2. JOANNA NEWSOM
*this sweeping, monumental masterpiece is unlike ANYTHING I heard this year and as ambitious as it is... it is equal in emotion and lyrical pageantry... as a lover of words and great classic novels, it feels like Newsom has delivered a piece worthy of the Pulizter...
the allegories and flights of voice and harp are JUST MESMERIZING.. her voice is either love it or hate it... I LOVE IT>.. there is so much childlike wonder and get chills listening to her.
1. THE VEILS - NUX VOMICA
*This was the album that i couldn't live without in 2006.... the album has unjustly been overlooked by the press (as was their tremendously stunning debut album that is every bit as GREAT).. I'd like to think that I can change this injustice... THIS ALBUM IS INCREDIBLE... it is a raw, unbridled,passionate piece of work that never, never, never lets up in its glorious rewards... Finn is a genius.... it frustrates me so much that this AMAZING band is still on the fringes of industry... The House Where We All Live is a nostalgic slice of perfection.... when Finn sings... you feel it in your core... chills rip up and down the spine on songs like Jesus For The Jugular, a very intense vocal delivery is involved...then the other song that makes me weep, Under The Folding Branches.... I'm telling you... if I had to choose one album to walk away with this year, it would be this one...although Joanna Newsom would be wanted bad too... BUY THIS ALBUM! BUY THEIR DEBUT! THEY ARE WORTH IT!
Other awards...
BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENTS OF THE YEAR:
1. the New STREETS album
2. the New FLAMING LIPS album
3. the New KILLERS album
4. the New FUTUREHEADS album
MOST OVERRATED ARTISTS:
1. BEIRUT - I absolutely, positively do NOT like his stuff and even saw some of his show live and I DON'T understand all the hype... okay, so the music is a bit different... but no matter how many times I've tried, I just CANNOT deal with him)
2. The Hold Steady
3. Beach House
4. The Arctic Monkeys
5. Islands
6. The Knife (I do like stuff by them and specific songs on the newest album, but I don't understand the full album being so praised... maybe the whole album just hasn't clicked with me yet... it's more the ALBUM is overrated than the performing act itself... they supposedly put on an incredible show that I'm dying to see... they are unique though)
7. Yo La Tengo - I do NOT understand why everyone thinks this album is so spectacular...
8. Califone - Roots & Crowns
* Pitchfork raved about it but it is rather boring and meandering if you ask me...
9. Duke Special - *my expectations went high for this one based on alot of talk from overseas... while I still want to see him live due to the wide acclaim, the album is not as great as I hoped...but it is growing on me and becoming more of a guilty pleasure...
(note from KatieMac... I met Duke Special at SxSW last year. Not only great guys, but brilliant live show. and yes, the album in NO WAY recreates the show. love them.)
10. Peter Bjorn and John
*same as with Duke Special... expectations were HIGH...got it and like certain songs but for the whole thing to get the acclaim it is, I'm just not getting it...
yep, Eric, you are right... worst album of the year goes to GWEN STEFANI...
BEST EP of the Year :
(tie) Sparrow House
(tie) Guillemots
INNOVATIVE ACHEIVEMENTS IN ALBUMS:
Final Fantasy - He Poos Clouds
Joanna Newsom - Ys
Scott Walker - The Drift
Xiu Xiu - The Air Force
Matmos - The Rose Has Teeth In the Mouth of the Beast
Tv on the Radio - Return to Cookie Mountain
White Whale - WWI
Guillemots - Through the Window Pane
Best Dance Albums of the Year:
1. Michael Meyer - Immer 2
2. Herbert - Scale
3. Hot Chip - The Warning
4. Lindstrom - It's A Feedelity Afair
Best Instrumental CD of Year:
Don Peris - Go When the Morning Shineth
Great cd, disappointing live act award:
OFFICE
Lost its Luster award:
The Pippettes
Favorite NEW ARTIST award for this year:
WALTER MEEGO
Not as great as Before, Not as bad as it was panned Award:
Damien Rice - 9 Crimes
It's a Grower Award (albums that took awhile to finally click with me... some of these are guilty pleasures):
- new Keane
- new Snow Patrol
- new DEARS
*Duke Special
UNDERDOG CHAMPION OF THE YEAR:
The Format - for being dropped from major label and then creating a truly remarkable listening experience....with the excellent DOG PROBLEMS...
PINCH ME, IM DREAMING, DID I REALLY JUST BUY THAT DISC?
*artists who shocked me by making me stand up and take notice of them and their latest album... never ever thinking I'd ever buy anything from them EVER! *
- My Chemical Romance
-And You Will Know Us by THE TRAIL OF DEAD...
Best Chistian/Gospel rock album of the year...
LeeLand
Best Christmas Album:
Sufjan Steven's box set
Saddest Goodbye of 2006:
Oversol - I can't believe your calling it quits, but I know many great things await each of you in our own musical endeavors from here on out...
The DERRINGER AWARD for best new band/artist most likely on the brink of getting signed in new year:
1) Johnny Lloyd Rollins.
2) Eddyfink
and that is all for now.... I'll change the 2006 to 2007 on my main page hopefully today!
blessings.
jer
1 comment:
Hey you liked/loved Stoney's album the Scene and the Unseen!? At the risk then of telling you what you may already know, it's getting re-released with a uk tour to back it up. If you haven't seen Stoney live, you really should. Details at www.stoney.mu if you'd care to look, and come say hi at the forum!
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