2006 Recap - Music

2006 albums I purchased:

Calexico - Garden Ruin
The Cardigans - Super Extra Gravity
Neko Case - Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
The Fiery Furnaces - Bitter Tea
Jenny Lewis & The Watson Twins - Rabbit Fur Coat
Mates of State - Bring it Back
Prototypes - s/t
Tapes 'n Tapes - The Loon
Tilly and the Wall - Bottoms of Barrels
Yeah Yeah Yeah's - Show Your Bones

2006 albums I received copies of:

Flaming Lips - At War with the Mystics
Guster - Ganging Up on the Sun
Josh Rouse - Subitulo
Secret Machines - Ten Silver Drops

Favorite Album Released (and heard) in 2006:
Jenny Lewis & The Watson Twins - "Rabbit Fur Coat"

Best Half-rhyming Couplet
Lily Allen - "Alfie"

I'm not sure what to think about non-rock British acts, and Lily Allen is no different. Silly songs like "Alfie" aren't my favorite, but it scores points with its bouncing rhythym and creative couplets:

Oh little brother please refrain from doing that
I'm trying to help you out so can you stop being a twat

Most Odd Lyrical Coincidence
Neko Case & Tilly and the Wall

In "The Freest Man", Tilly's Kianna Alarid sings, "...his voice and echoed chorus." Meanwhile, in "Hold On, Hold On", Neko Case states, "that echo chorus lied to me..."

Have you ever used the phrase "echo chorus"? Has anyone you've known ever said it? Me neither. It's strange, then, that two artists would sing the phrase within the same calendar year.

Best Insertion of Syllables
Yeah Yeah Yeah's - "Cheated Hearts"

Without Karen O's magic, the second section of "Cheated Hearts" would read:

Well, I'm taking off
And she's taking off
And he's taking off
And we're taking off

After intervention, much improved:

Well I'm take-a take-a take-a take-a takin' off
And she's take-a take-a take-a take-a takin' off
And he's take-a take-a take-a take-a takin' off
And we're take-a take-a take-a take-a takin' off

She'd win even without mentioning her use of "up a-ba-ba-bove" earlier in the same song.

Most Precise Adjective
Tilly and the Wall - "Coughing Colors"

And I know they are threatening
But at least we're not the ones carrying
Such heavy, heavy, heavy stoning stones

What kind of stones? Stoning stones. Stones with which to stone an individual. That kind of stone.

Sexiest Lyric
The Cardigans - "Holy Love"

You can really have anything you ask
And I'll be intimate with you

Granted, this award may go elsewhere if you do not interpret "intimate" literally, and if you fail to be influenced by Nina Persson's hotness. Not only is she visually stunning, but Nina's voice is rock's sexiest. Fiona Apple? All sultry, no sweet. Lisa Loeb? All sweet, no sultry. Nina's voice is the perfect marriage of sultry and sweet, PLUS there's a hint of her Swedish accent. What more could you want?



"Songs for Silverman" Memorial Award: Worst Album by a Previously Solid Artist
Guster - "Ganging Up on the Sun"

Guster decided to hang up its bongos and go traditional, and the move was for the worse. "Ganging Up on the Sun" is just plain boring.

I want to make it clear that my inclusion of "Satellite" (track 2 on this album) on my 2006 supplement should NOT be interpreted as an endorsement. Rather, it's a sample of the album's only redeeming quality.

Prettiest Lyrics
Regina Spektor - "On the Radio"

The second verse doesn't read as well as it sounds. She really sells it with her vocal:

this is how it works
you're young until you're not
you love until you don't
you try until you can't
you laugh until you cry
you cry until you laugh
and everyone must breathe
until their dying breath

this is how it works
you peer inside yourself
you take the things you like
and try to love the things you took
and then you take that love you made
and stick it into some--
someone else's heart
pumping someone else's blood

and walking arm in arm
you hope it don't get harmed
but even if it does
you'll just do it all again
on the radio
you hear november rain
that solo's awful long
but it's a nice refrain

Prettiest Song That's Actually About a Kid Dying in the Street
Neko Case - "Star Witness"

Most Overplayed
The Red Hot Chili Peppers - "Dani California"

I was sick of this song by the fourth time I'd heard it. My breaking point was on our annual Memorial Day canoe trip, where I heard it blasting from several campsites.

Rolling Stones Memorial Award: Just Die Already
The Red Hot Chili Peppers

You're from California. We get it. Now just die already.

Most Horrible Song
My Chemical Romance - "Welcome to the Black Parade"

I heard "Welcome to the Black Parade" and I thought, "I guess they decided they were going to write an anthem, and they thought layering a bunch of noise would do the trick." Wikipedia notes:

The song consists of 167 separate tracks mixed together, including marching band drums, multiple snares and a horn section.

Now, you might think, "Of course the song sounds like shit. What do you expect when you throw that much noise together?" Well, George Martin took a dude counting to 24 and merged it with an improvising, 41-member orchestra USING FOUR TRACK RECORDING EQUIPMENT. The result? "A Day in the Life", one of the most highly regarded singles of all-time. Is it fair to compare MCR to The Beatles? It is not. But goddamn do I hate that fucking song.

Catchiest Song
The Raconteurs - "Steady As She Goes"

"Catchiest", as in, "This song has been in my head all goddamned day and, while the song is pleasant, hearing my brain repeat chorus over and over again is killing my will to live." I haven't avoided listening to a song this much since 1999, when I made it all year without hearing Prince's "1999".

True story, folks: I wrote the majority of this yesterday, and the last bit I wrote was about "Steady As She Goes". I woke up at 5 a.m. this morning, and Jack White was still singing the chorus.