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December 27, 2006

BEST ALBUMS OF 2006 - THREE TAKES - PART 2 - MERRY SWANKSTER

My prediction was wrong. Urban Hitchhikers didn't blow up this year, nor did they make the top ten.

My Favorite Albums of 2006

1. TV on the Radio - Return to Cookie Mountain
Because the band's flavor of experimental rock is constructed to challenge conventions yet never loses sight of listenablity factor. Because the talent level of TV on the Radio is unmatched. Because the music they created on this album is edgy and cerebral. Because the well thought out arrangements beg to be explored long after the "difficult" rub of the first spin fades away. Because this is the only album of 2006 that has gotten better the more I hear it. Because TV on the Radio had David Bowie sing on "Province" and hardly anyone notice. Because "Wolf Like Me," "A Method," "Dirty Whirl," "Let the Devil In," and "I Was a Lover."
//TV on the Radio - Return to Cookie Mountain - buy

2. Islands - Return to the Sea

The ex-Unicorns J'aime Tambeur and Nick Diamonds co-founded the Islands with a sound that admittedly gravitates towards the tribal pop of Paul Simon's "Graceland." The nod represented on tour shirts that read, "I AM A ROCK YOU ARE THE ISLANDS." Though the band's initial tour saw Tambeur leave the band, and efforts to legitimize Islands as the real 'here and now' have been somewhat of an uphill climb, people like me who never got into the Unicorns don't care. The opening opus of "Swans (Life After Death)" stretches and acts like the proverbial breakthrough vehicle by using nine and half minutes to introduce the band to the world. The plunge into hip-hop on "Where There's a Will There's a Whalebone" does not fare so well, but the excellent contemptuous humor throughout the album, especially on "Volcanos," "Humans," and "Rough Gem" outweighs the rough spot quite nicely.
//Islands - Return to the Sea - buy

3. Sunset Rubdown - Shut Up I am Dreaming

Spencer Krug works very hard. His second band in as many years churned an album of abrasive (opposite of smooth, not painful) arrangements complementing the stewing madness of Krug's voice and lyrics. His third band, Swan Lake, confirms insanity, err...prolificness. A truly unique vocal styling provides a tortured artist element to the songs. On "Us Ones in Between" it pulls the heartstrings, on "They Took a Vote and Said No" he begins with lullaby dum da dums and competes with bells to a draw. Poetry in observation and free associative elements of thought elevate Krug far above his contemporary songwriters.
//Sunset Rubdown - Shut Up I am Dreaming - buy

4. Jenny Lewis with the Watson Twins - Rabbit Fur Coat

Adorable Jenny Lewis drops Rilo Kiley bandmates and enlists the unflappable Watson twins for help on the country-soul wisdom of Rabbit Furcoat. This is a beautiful album that even when inciting for a reaction, remains delightful. Songs wrestle with themes of faith with irreverence that somehow does not venture into offensiveness. It certainly pushes the prodding pretty deep. Jenny laces her lyrical vinegar with sweet honey in songs like "Rise Up with Fists" where she targets the "suspect lives" of the hypocritically self-righteous in a contrarian look at everyday denial: "Are you really that pure sir, thought I saw you in Vegas, it was not pretty, but she was (not your wife)." Ouch.

Aimed towards both the obvious and not so, questioning like this pops up often. She turns the target towards herself on the wispy "Happy." The poignant song is the most faux-optimistic song of the year. Noting life's ability to hammer, and chip away true contentment. "My momma never warned me about my own destructive appetite, or the pitfalls of control, how it locks you in your grave, looking for someone to be saved under my restraint...so I could be happy hee heee heee."
//Jenny Lewis & The Watson Twins - Rabbit Furcoat- buy

5. Long Blondes - Someone to Drive You Home

Feminist point of views represented on this list, none likely to be rallied upon at university women's studies classes, share a strange virtue that should make the militant, ra ra ra-ing equality set angry as hell. Like Khaela Maricich of The Blow, Kate Jackson spits tales that do not drip in self-assurance. Especially when they almost exclusively refer to her preoccupation with the men in her life. On "Heaven help the new girl," the words focus on the poor sucker that follows her with a douche ex. She inhabits the role of a shy girl, the seemingly invisible type that keeps tabs on everyone else though hardly ever getting a notice. All the while fantasizing for a sexual breakthrough on "Only Lovers Left Alive," and "Giddy Stratospheres." Jackson provides unsolicited advice on "Once and Never Again," in a guiding tone that comes off as counseling she wished she received herself as a young girl. As a suspicious and languishing housewife she pines for excitement while another "Weekend Without Makeup" comes and goes. All the while the sharp and dance-y '60s girl-group via Elastica touches don't hurt.

The Long Blondes don't rely on tricky wordplay. Relationship references tend to be universally attainable and the songs on Someone to Drive You Home are no exception in that department. Subscribers to the "Rock is dead" school of thought complain that "It's all been said." Perhaps. The Long Blondes just say it better and have much more fun doing it.
//Long Blondes - Someone to Drive You Home - buy

6. Tapes 'n Tapes - The Loon

Lo-fi Minnesota outfit garnered boatloads of attention early this year with this fantastic debut. Swirling blog praise locked Tapes 'n Tapes as the 2006 edition of the ongoing case study in indie music hype in the post-Napster, Web 2.0 era that YOU help build. Sure the sideshow of bloggers stepping on each other for that piece of the elusive MSM credit of discovery was, is, and likely will continue to be hilarious. But as long as the Internet's wordsmiths do their part in spreading the goodness I guess I shouldn't complain. I suppose the ensuing hilarity can be a good problem to have. I should note that Tapes 'n Tapes are not successful because of blogs. The harvesting of the Pixie archetype and cleverly written lyrics are what get ya.
//Tapes 'n Tapes - The Loon - buy

7. The Blow - Paper Television

Paper Television was the most fun album to play at any given time of the day in 2006. Minimalistic beats hold the foundation behind the flawless rhythmic delivery of Khaela Maricich. Creating comfort not unlike the warm feeling of a stiff drink and the enveloping coziness of a comfy chair. The home for said chair would be a hip lounge, preferably with great lighting and fabulous looking people. This is the type of album that gets played on a loop at high-end thrift shops catering to the boho set. Sexual doubts and bad decision making are given plenty of room to expand here. Vulnerability interlaced with outstanding electronica. You won't ever hear Beyonce say she's honored to just be a part of Jay Z's threesome.
//the Blow - Paper Television - buy

8. Asobi Seksu - Citrus

Post-shoegaze Brooklyn J-pop! Apologies for possibly creating a new rock sub-genre, but how else do you describe Asobi Seksu's melodic shoegaze? Artists can claim scorn towards these descriptions of their craft, but omitting hair splitting terms makes explanatory prose that much harder. Lead singer Yuki Chikudate's ethereal voice is the main attraction getter. She effortlessly switches from English to Japanese and it somehow never manages to lose the catchiness. Chikudate's vocals are amazing, but without the vivid sound providing a platform she would be another talented singer fronting a just okay band. Lets take apart the indie hit "Strawberries," shall we? The song is irresistible from the moment the jangly guitars begin looping in measure one. They break at minute 1:00 for a flight through a church-like chorus before fanning back into spaces opened up by Haji's clunky bassline. The final :45 seconds press ahead like an army on a mission of destruction - all weapons forward. Such force exerted that the final :10 seconds is nothing but coughed up feedback. One song, but illustrative of the other eleven tracks.
//Asobi Seksu - Citrus - buy

9. Pink Mountaintops - Axis of Evol

Drifting away from the rock-porn of self-titled debut by replacing suspect satire with dark snapshots of the world. Mixing a production that sounds like operating room sounds weaved into cues from Black Sabbath, Pink Floyd, and by their own admission "trucker speed," Stephen McBean's Pink Mountaintops kick out the jams. Unafraid to provoke, Axis of Evol accomplishes the goal with a subdued, druggy obviousness that can be described as clever. As political jabs on world affairs go, I haven't heard anything better than "Plastic Man, You're the Devil."
//Pink Mountaintops - Axis of Evol - buy

10. Yo La Tengo - I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass

Unafraid to test the listener, Yo La Tengo encapsulates I Am Not Afraid... with a hodgepodge of styles and bookends the album with noisy and lengthy shoegaze numbers that pass the ten minute mark. Those motherfuckers. "Beanbag Chair" satisfies indie-pop purists, "I Feel Like Going Home" massages the sweet spot of Simon & Garfunkel longing, "I Should Have Known Better" grabs the energetic power-pop set, the glorious falsetto of "Mr. Tough" kicks up the twee parade through the dancefloor "and pretend[s] everything can be alright." Blasphemy alert: Noodle-guitar tones and the offset harmonies that could easily be confused for a better singing Trey and Mike on "The Race is On Again" ventures dangerously close to Phish territory. Don't kill the messenger people. I'll go on... The best track on the album "The Room Got Heavy," includes stirring bongos that sound like they are being played underwater. Coupled with a disembodied voice walking briskly around the color palette painted by looped keys and a breathy fender rhodes and the soundscape is as rich as you'll ever get.
//Yo La Tengo - I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass - buy

[Continue reading for honorable mentions.]