Music 2006
One mix posted in the sidebar, three more to come.
LPs
UNQUESTIONABLY GREAT
Burial: Burial [Hyperdub]
Fujiya & Miyagi: Transparent Things [Tirk]
Junior Boys: So This Is Goodbye [Domino]
LCD Soundsystem: 45:33 [Nike+?]
Lindstrøm: It's a Feedelity Affair [Smalltown Supersound]
Six Organs of Admittance: The Sun Awakens [Drag City]
Thom Yorke: The Eraser [XL]
VA: Total 7 [Kompakt]
MIGHT BE GREAT, DON'T KNOW YET
Booka Shade: Movements [Get Physical]
Tim Hecker: Harmony in Ultraviolet [Kranky]
Jan Jelinek: Tierbeobachtungen [~scape]
Kode 9 and the Spaceape: Memories of the Future [Hyperdub]
Mylo: Destroy Rock & Roll [RCA]
Joanna Newsom: Ys [Drag City]
The Pipettes: We Are the Pipettes [Memphis Industries]
The Rapture: Pieces of the People We Love [Universal]
John Tejada: Cleaning Sounds Is a Filthy Business [Palette]
TV on the Radio: Return to Cookie Mountain [Interscope]
Keith Fullerton Whitman: Lisbon [Kranky]
Yo La Tengo: I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass [Matador]
REALLY NICE
Ellen Allien & Apparat: Orchestra of Bubbles [BPitch Control]
Klimek: Music to Fall Asleep [Kompakt]
Loscil: Plume [Kranky]
The Rapture: Pieces of the People We Love [Universal]
The Thermals: The Body, The Blood, The Machine [Sub Pop]
RESPECTED MORE THAN LOVED
Ellen Allien & Apparat: Orchestra of Bubbles [BPitch Control]
Grizzly Bear: Yellow House [Warp]
Tim Hecker: Harmony in Ultraviolet [Kranky]
Matmos: The Rose Has Teeth in the Mouth of a Beast [Matador]
TV on the Radio: Return to Cookie Mountain [Interscope]
Keith Fullerton Whitman: Lisbon [Kranky]
VA: Superloooongevity [Perlon]
COMMENTS
Three of the top eight are technically singles compilations, but they feel cohesive enough. I haven't been able to listen to the Junior Boys album for a few months after playing it once too often in August/September. The LCD Soundsystem entry may or may not be an album, but whatever.
Tim Hecker's Harmony in Ultraviolet fits in the "ambient" category but is not pleasant at a low volume. It's not a nice addition to your aural environment, but is great when it's loud enough to create its own space. I think the Keith Fullerton Whitman record might be in the same category. Klimek and Loscil are much more easy to love. That Mylo record has been out in the rest of the world forever, but apparently just got released here this year. It reminds me of the instant gratification of, say, Daft Punk.
"Great," of course, means great according to how much I enjoy it.
Notes on other records: I couldn't be bothered to pay much attention to yet another Bob Dylan album. Camera Obscura could have been on one list or another, but didn't fit my mood all that well this year. I'll probably keep "The Crane Wife, Pts. 1-3" and ignore the rest of that Decemberists album. I just got into Hot Chip's first album at work, and really love it, but I don't like The Warning nearly as much. Silent Shout might eventually worm its way into my brain, but some of it really grates on me. It certainly seems to be one of the few huge electronic crossover records this year, but I only enjoy about half of it. I thought I liked the new Mountain Goats at first, and then realized that I didn't at all. In another year (say, 2004) I think the Pipettes record could have been #1, but I'm not quite as excited about that particular type of music right now, at least apart from "Pull Shapes." The Thermals might be higher except that this guy at work played them at very high volume on his headphones multiple times a day for weeks, after which point I can't even stand to think about the music anymore.
I've seen Ricardo Villalobos's Achso on a few lists, and it was released at the very end of 2005, so I suppose it deserves a mention. It would certainly be in the top rank.
Other stuff I haven't listened to much yet: AFX Chosen Lords, Espers II, Jeff Samuel Step, Skatebaard Midnight Magic, Alex Smoke Paradolia, VA Tectonic Plates.
MIXES
Doodlebug: Doodledub
Four Tet: DJ Kicks
Andy Kellman: 061014
Sami Koivikko: Live @ Flash / Rose Garden, Helsinki 30.3.2006
Magda: She's a Dancing Machine
Andy Kellman has can do no wrong with his mixes, and apparently just posted two more this month!
Would like to hear: Cassy Panoramabar 01, Luciano Sci.Fi.Hi.Fi., Vol. 2, Alex Smoke Sci.Fi.Hi.Fi., Vol. 3.
SINGLES
These either aren't on a full-length I heard this year, or they really stand out to me in some way in relation to the other stuff on the album.
Alex Smoke "Snider" [Soma]
Band of Horses "The Funeral" [Sub Pop]
Booka Shade "In White Rooms (Elektrochemie Remix)" [Get Physical]
Delia Gonzalez & Gavin Russom "Relevee (Carl Craig Remix)" [DFA]
DJ Copy "Emotions" [CD-R]
DJ Khaled "Holla at Me" [Koch]
Escort "Love in Indigo (Extended)" [Escort]
Fedde le Grand "Put Your Hands Up for Detroit" [Ultra]
The Field "Over the Ice" [Kompakt]
Fujiya & Miyagi "Collarbone" [Tirk]
Giorgio Moroder "Utopia (Todd Terje Edit)" [Unreleased]
Gnarls Barkley "Crazy" [Warner]
The Gossip "Standing in the Way of Control (Playgroup Remix)" [Back Yard]
Hot Chip "And I Was a Boy from School (Original or Erol Alkan's Extended Re-work)" [DFA]
John Tejada "The End of It All" [Palette]
Justice "Waters of Nazareth (Erol Alkan's Dur Dur Durrr Re-Edit)" [Vice]
Justin Timberlake "My Love" [Jive/Zomba]
Kalabrese "Skamel" [Perlon]
Kode 9 and the Spaceape "Glass" [Hyperdub]
Lindstrøm "Another Station (Todd Terje Remix)" [Eskimo]
Thomas Melchior & Luciano "Solomon's Prayer/Father" [Cadenza]
Mobius Band "The Loving Sounds of Static (Junior Boys Remix)" [Ghostly]
Nelly Furtado "Promiscuous" [Geffen]
Peter Bjorn & John "Young Folks" [V2]
The Pipettes "Pull Shapes" [Memphis Industries]
The Rapture "Get Myself Into It" [Universal]
Rick Ross "Hustlin'" [Def Jam]
SCSI-9 "When She Said Goodbye" [Kompakt]
Shit Robot "Triumph" [DFA]
Simian Mobile Disco "Hustler" [Kitsuné]
Skatebaard "Data Italia" [Digitalo]
Spank Rock "Sweet Talk" [Big Dada]
Susanna and the Magical Orchestra "Love Will Tear Us Apart" [Rune Grammofon]
T.I. "What You Know" [Atlantic]
Tiga "Far From Home (DFA Remix)" [DFA]
TV on the Radio "Wolf Like Me" [Interscope]
X-Press 2 "Kill 100 (Carl Craig Remix)" [Skint]
Thom Yorke "Atoms for Peace" [XL]
OLDER STUFF
Booka Shade "Mandarine Girl" [Get Physical, 2005]
The Clientele: Strange Geometry [Merge, 2005]
International Pony "Our House" [Columbia, 2005]
Lindstrom "I Feel Space" [Feedelity, 2005]
Prins Thomas "Goettsching" [Full Pupp, 2005]
Skream "Midnight Request Line" [Tempa, 2005]
Todd Terje "Eurodans" [Full Pupp, 2005]
Ricardo Villalobos: For Disco Only 2 [For Disco Only, 2005]
Lady Sovereign, generally
Turner "After Work (Carsten Jost Dial-Remix)" [Ladomat, 2004]
Heiko Voss "I Think About You (DJ Koze Mix)" [Kompakt, 2003]
Ekkehard Ehlers "Plays John Cassavetes" [Staubgold, 2001]
Galaxie 500 "Ceremony" [Rough Trade, 1989]
The Stone Roses: The Stone Roses [Silvertone, 1989]
Gang of Four: Entertainment [EMI, 1979]
Public Image Ltd. "Public Image" [Warner, 1978]
BLOGS, SITES
Simon Reynolds' Blissblog
k-punk
Philip Sherburne
Earplug
TAPE
music (for robots)
KRLX MP3 Blog
the wirewool
sQuare Productions
Discogs
Dissensus Doubtbeat
MySpace
Textura
Wall of Sound: New Stuff in Stock
And, of course, Pitchfork
LPs
UNQUESTIONABLY GREAT
Burial: Burial [Hyperdub]
Fujiya & Miyagi: Transparent Things [Tirk]
Junior Boys: So This Is Goodbye [Domino]
LCD Soundsystem: 45:33 [Nike+?]
Lindstrøm: It's a Feedelity Affair [Smalltown Supersound]
Six Organs of Admittance: The Sun Awakens [Drag City]
Thom Yorke: The Eraser [XL]
VA: Total 7 [Kompakt]
MIGHT BE GREAT, DON'T KNOW YET
Booka Shade: Movements [Get Physical]
Tim Hecker: Harmony in Ultraviolet [Kranky]
Jan Jelinek: Tierbeobachtungen [~scape]
Kode 9 and the Spaceape: Memories of the Future [Hyperdub]
Mylo: Destroy Rock & Roll [RCA]
Joanna Newsom: Ys [Drag City]
The Pipettes: We Are the Pipettes [Memphis Industries]
The Rapture: Pieces of the People We Love [Universal]
John Tejada: Cleaning Sounds Is a Filthy Business [Palette]
TV on the Radio: Return to Cookie Mountain [Interscope]
Keith Fullerton Whitman: Lisbon [Kranky]
Yo La Tengo: I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass [Matador]
REALLY NICE
Ellen Allien & Apparat: Orchestra of Bubbles [BPitch Control]
Klimek: Music to Fall Asleep [Kompakt]
Loscil: Plume [Kranky]
The Rapture: Pieces of the People We Love [Universal]
The Thermals: The Body, The Blood, The Machine [Sub Pop]
RESPECTED MORE THAN LOVED
Ellen Allien & Apparat: Orchestra of Bubbles [BPitch Control]
Grizzly Bear: Yellow House [Warp]
Tim Hecker: Harmony in Ultraviolet [Kranky]
Matmos: The Rose Has Teeth in the Mouth of a Beast [Matador]
TV on the Radio: Return to Cookie Mountain [Interscope]
Keith Fullerton Whitman: Lisbon [Kranky]
VA: Superloooongevity [Perlon]
COMMENTS
Three of the top eight are technically singles compilations, but they feel cohesive enough. I haven't been able to listen to the Junior Boys album for a few months after playing it once too often in August/September. The LCD Soundsystem entry may or may not be an album, but whatever.
Tim Hecker's Harmony in Ultraviolet fits in the "ambient" category but is not pleasant at a low volume. It's not a nice addition to your aural environment, but is great when it's loud enough to create its own space. I think the Keith Fullerton Whitman record might be in the same category. Klimek and Loscil are much more easy to love. That Mylo record has been out in the rest of the world forever, but apparently just got released here this year. It reminds me of the instant gratification of, say, Daft Punk.
"Great," of course, means great according to how much I enjoy it.
Notes on other records: I couldn't be bothered to pay much attention to yet another Bob Dylan album. Camera Obscura could have been on one list or another, but didn't fit my mood all that well this year. I'll probably keep "The Crane Wife, Pts. 1-3" and ignore the rest of that Decemberists album. I just got into Hot Chip's first album at work, and really love it, but I don't like The Warning nearly as much. Silent Shout might eventually worm its way into my brain, but some of it really grates on me. It certainly seems to be one of the few huge electronic crossover records this year, but I only enjoy about half of it. I thought I liked the new Mountain Goats at first, and then realized that I didn't at all. In another year (say, 2004) I think the Pipettes record could have been #1, but I'm not quite as excited about that particular type of music right now, at least apart from "Pull Shapes." The Thermals might be higher except that this guy at work played them at very high volume on his headphones multiple times a day for weeks, after which point I can't even stand to think about the music anymore.
I've seen Ricardo Villalobos's Achso on a few lists, and it was released at the very end of 2005, so I suppose it deserves a mention. It would certainly be in the top rank.
Other stuff I haven't listened to much yet: AFX Chosen Lords, Espers II, Jeff Samuel Step, Skatebaard Midnight Magic, Alex Smoke Paradolia, VA Tectonic Plates.
MIXES
Doodlebug: Doodledub
Four Tet: DJ Kicks
Andy Kellman: 061014
Sami Koivikko: Live @ Flash / Rose Garden, Helsinki 30.3.2006
Magda: She's a Dancing Machine
Andy Kellman has can do no wrong with his mixes, and apparently just posted two more this month!
Would like to hear: Cassy Panoramabar 01, Luciano Sci.Fi.Hi.Fi., Vol. 2, Alex Smoke Sci.Fi.Hi.Fi., Vol. 3.
SINGLES
These either aren't on a full-length I heard this year, or they really stand out to me in some way in relation to the other stuff on the album.
Alex Smoke "Snider" [Soma]
Band of Horses "The Funeral" [Sub Pop]
Booka Shade "In White Rooms (Elektrochemie Remix)" [Get Physical]
Delia Gonzalez & Gavin Russom "Relevee (Carl Craig Remix)" [DFA]
DJ Copy "Emotions" [CD-R]
DJ Khaled "Holla at Me" [Koch]
Escort "Love in Indigo (Extended)" [Escort]
Fedde le Grand "Put Your Hands Up for Detroit" [Ultra]
The Field "Over the Ice" [Kompakt]
Fujiya & Miyagi "Collarbone" [Tirk]
Giorgio Moroder "Utopia (Todd Terje Edit)" [Unreleased]
Gnarls Barkley "Crazy" [Warner]
The Gossip "Standing in the Way of Control (Playgroup Remix)" [Back Yard]
Hot Chip "And I Was a Boy from School (Original or Erol Alkan's Extended Re-work)" [DFA]
John Tejada "The End of It All" [Palette]
Justice "Waters of Nazareth (Erol Alkan's Dur Dur Durrr Re-Edit)" [Vice]
Justin Timberlake "My Love" [Jive/Zomba]
Kalabrese "Skamel" [Perlon]
Kode 9 and the Spaceape "Glass" [Hyperdub]
Lindstrøm "Another Station (Todd Terje Remix)" [Eskimo]
Thomas Melchior & Luciano "Solomon's Prayer/Father" [Cadenza]
Mobius Band "The Loving Sounds of Static (Junior Boys Remix)" [Ghostly]
Nelly Furtado "Promiscuous" [Geffen]
Peter Bjorn & John "Young Folks" [V2]
The Pipettes "Pull Shapes" [Memphis Industries]
The Rapture "Get Myself Into It" [Universal]
Rick Ross "Hustlin'" [Def Jam]
SCSI-9 "When She Said Goodbye" [Kompakt]
Shit Robot "Triumph" [DFA]
Simian Mobile Disco "Hustler" [Kitsuné]
Skatebaard "Data Italia" [Digitalo]
Spank Rock "Sweet Talk" [Big Dada]
Susanna and the Magical Orchestra "Love Will Tear Us Apart" [Rune Grammofon]
T.I. "What You Know" [Atlantic]
Tiga "Far From Home (DFA Remix)" [DFA]
TV on the Radio "Wolf Like Me" [Interscope]
X-Press 2 "Kill 100 (Carl Craig Remix)" [Skint]
Thom Yorke "Atoms for Peace" [XL]
OLDER STUFF
Booka Shade "Mandarine Girl" [Get Physical, 2005]
The Clientele: Strange Geometry [Merge, 2005]
International Pony "Our House" [Columbia, 2005]
Lindstrom "I Feel Space" [Feedelity, 2005]
Prins Thomas "Goettsching" [Full Pupp, 2005]
Skream "Midnight Request Line" [Tempa, 2005]
Todd Terje "Eurodans" [Full Pupp, 2005]
Ricardo Villalobos: For Disco Only 2 [For Disco Only, 2005]
Lady Sovereign, generally
Turner "After Work (Carsten Jost Dial-Remix)" [Ladomat, 2004]
Heiko Voss "I Think About You (DJ Koze Mix)" [Kompakt, 2003]
Ekkehard Ehlers "Plays John Cassavetes" [Staubgold, 2001]
Galaxie 500 "Ceremony" [Rough Trade, 1989]
The Stone Roses: The Stone Roses [Silvertone, 1989]
Gang of Four: Entertainment [EMI, 1979]
Public Image Ltd. "Public Image" [Warner, 1978]
BLOGS, SITES
Simon Reynolds' Blissblog
k-punk
Philip Sherburne
Earplug
TAPE
music (for robots)
KRLX MP3 Blog
the wirewool
sQuare Productions
Discogs
Dissensus Doubtbeat
MySpace
Textura
Wall of Sound: New Stuff in Stock
And, of course, Pitchfork
Posted on Sunday, December 17, 2006
4 Comment(s):
The Thermals tend to inspire that kind of reaction in people. I was told about that record by a friend who basically screamed "LISTEN TO THE THERMALS" at me until I finally relented. It's very good, I guess; there are single tracks on there that blow me away. I've found this to be an excellent year for singles.
I hear you. "Pull Shapes" almost killed me the first time I heard it in public.
Is it intentional that the TV On the Radio and Keith Fullerton Whitman albums both appear twice?
Good eye. Yes, I included a few albums on multiple lists if they fit on both.
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