Wednesday, December 27, 2006

My Favourite Records of 2006





Benoît Pioulard - "Précis"

Despite the slightly silly French pseudonym (which apparently came to him in a dream), this tremendous record is actually the work of a 22 year-old Michigan native by the name of Thomas Meluch who, after having released a couple of low-key Ep's on the Kranky label, unleashed this beautifully realised debut in October of this year.
The music consists of gentle acoustic tunes drenched in layers of haze and field recordings, giving the songs a beautiful. other-worldly, autumnal feel. This is the kind of record that conjures a specific mood, which is helped by the fact that Meluch is an extremely gifted songwriter, from the downbeat, introspective, "Palimend" to the power-pop of "Triggering Back", there isn't a dog on the whole album.


Benoît Pioulard - "Triggering Back" (mp3) http://upload2.net/page/download/PFMB6nhI3N9rTYU/Benoit+Pioulard+-+Triggering+Back.mp3.html

Benoît Pioulard - "Palimend" (mp3)
http://upload2.net/page/download/znvnayOLpS7C1BC/Benoit+Pioulard+-+Palimend.mp3.html






The Russian Futurists - "Me, Myself and Rye"



Okay, technically this is a re-issue but since Matthew Hart's bedroom-recorded pop symphonies have been unavailable outside North America until now, this compilation of his first three albums on Upper Class makes it onto my list. Comprising songs composed almost entirely on Hart's laptop computer, the songs at first seem too cute and breezy, along the lines of early 90's era Magnetic Fields, but after repeated listenings the hooks and subtleties in tracks like "Two Dots on a Map" and "It's Not Really Cold When it Snows" lodge themselves in your brain and refuse to leave. Considering the music was made on such a shoestring budget, Hart aims high, infusing a song like "Telegram From the Future" with a surprisingly epic Flaming Lips sparkle, and you're left in no doubt why Hart can count the likes of Peter Buck among his admirers. In summation: Few albums have given me more pleasure this year. :.)



The Russian Futurists - "Telegram from the Future" (mp3) - http://upload2.net/page/download/YNuEkIzg03kO1fv/09+Telegram+From+The+Future.wma.html

The Russian Futurists - "Science of the Seasons" (mp3) - http://upload2.net/page/download/hzLMDoAnsxBPDbU/06+Science+Of+The+Seasons.wma.html











Califone - "Roots & Crowns"

For the uninitiated, Califone rose from the ashes of seminal Chicago group Red Red Meat, and have made some of the most interesting experimental music of the past few years while keeping a relatively low profile, never really receiving the acclaim they deserved until this year, with the release of Roots & Crowns, their brilliantly-titled fourth album. Tim Rutili and co, have crafted an accessible album of melodious yet scrappy and intentionally messy folk songs. Rutili writes often incomprehensible lyrics, but which fit the music, given the scattered nature of the music itself, and the record also features possibly the best song Califone have yet recorded, with the stunning cover of the Psychic TV track "The Orchids", in which a euphoric Rutili croons about "falling in love with the light on the morning after the night". It's one of many beautiful moments on what is essentially a pop album disguised as a scrapyard country-folk album, and it also showcases the continuining production brilliance of former Red Red Meat member and now Califone engineer Brian Deck, a man who even managed to coax a decent album from Josh Ritter recently, such is his talent. :.)



Califone - "The Orchids" (mp3) - http://upload2.net/page/download/FRppHg38DGASeet/Califone-The+Orchids.mp3.html


Califone - "Spider's House" (mp3) - http://upload2.net/page/download/w4uBPgdIUN66Nak/SpidersHouse.mp3.html






TV On The Radio - "Return to Cookie Mountain""





Okay, right off the bat I have to admit I wasn't really a big fan of the first TV On The Radio album, despite the widespread acclaim it received upon it's release in 2004. I thought it was a promising album full of interesting ideas but few tunes, and there seemed to be more far more emphasis placed on atmosphere than songwriting, which meant the end product sounded quite muddled and tedious to these ears, so when "Return to Cookie Mountain" leaked onto the internet a good five months before its intended release date, I wasn't exactly beside myself with enthusiasm about the idea of hearing it. Well, I'm happy to say I was completely wrong: RTCM is a landmark record, the kind of era-defining album which can stand alongside the classics of alternative rock. In fact, it's probably demeaning to call this record alternative rock, such is the album's complexity and attention to sonic detail. Guitarist and second Vocalist Kyp Malone has contributed two tracks this time, the brilliant, impassioned opener "I Was a Lover" and the David Bowie collaboration "Province", but the real ace in the pack is David Sitek's layered production which takes the listener into another world, his mournful atmospherics melding beautifully with frontman Tunde Adebimpe's heavily politicised lyrics. The album is rife with vague references to the Iraq War and Hurricane Katrina, following on from their Bush-baiting 2005 single in the aftermath of Katrina, "Dry Drunk Emperor", which detailed their disgust at the slow government response to the disaster. All in all, a major step forward for this band, and maybe one of the best records of the past few years.

TV on the Radio - "Province" (mp3) - http://upload2.net/page/download/tC8uHDSRFW7EUhj/TV_On_The_Radio_-_Province.mp3.html

TV on the Radio - "Wolf Like Me" (mp3) - http://upload2.net/page/download/poxulS9lKctboko/TV+on+the+Radio+-+Wolf+Like+Me.mp3.html









Junior Boys - "So This is Goodbye"



Two (long) years after the release of their debut album "Last Exit" on Electrokin, Junior Boys have undergone some changes with a new label (Domino) and a revised line-up, with the departure of Johnny Dark, frontman Jeremy Greenspan's chief collaborator on their first record. To many people, me included, "Last Exit" was a breath of fresh air in a jaded music scene, an exciting hybrid of stuttering Timbaland beats and 80's style Prefab Sprout melancholy, which left me eagerly anticipating their follow-up, praying that the loss of such a key member would not leave me disappointed with what I heard. What struck me first, on initial listens, was the absence of the garage style beats which populated the first record, with a slightly more MOR pop slant clearly influenced by the likes of Talk Talk and Depeche Mode, with Greenspan replacing his breathy coos from "Exit" with a more confident croon, even daring to attempt a cover of the Sinatra moper "When no One Cares". While perhaps, not quite as consistently great as the previous album, "So This is Goodbye" features the two best tracks Greenspan has written so far: The electrifying first single "In The Morning", with it's brilliantly addictive "too young" refrain, and for me the standout track, "Like a Child", with it's backward arpeggiators and moving lyrics. I, for one, hope that Junior boys revive the stuttering beats aspect of their sound for their next album, but even if they don't, this will do nicely for now.

Junior Boys - "In The Morning" (mp3) - http://upload2.net/page/download/NafLkZEHT5FzzpZ/Junior+Boys+-+In+The+Morning.mp3.html

Junior Boys - "Count Souvenirs" (mp3) - http://upload2.net/page/download/RLmGtYU1WvgJW5V/Junior+Boys+-+Count+Souvenirs.mp3.html









The Hold Steady - "Boys and Girls in America"



After the release of their last album, "Separation Sunday", it's fair to say that people who had heard the album were divided into two categories (1) those who could warm to Craig Finn's shall we say, "distinctive" singing voice and (2) those who couldn't, which is the principle reason why The Hold Steady have their fair share of detractors. I, however, loved his conceptual vignettes about troubled young women and their "hood-rat friends", his masterful lyrics in my opinion comparable to the greats. On this follow-up, they have beefed up their sound slightly, and have released possibly the most Bruce Springsteen-like album not recorded by the man himself, with the opener "Stuck Between Stations" and several others bearing a strong resemblance to his "Born to Run" album. Which is not to say it's simply a retread, because it ain't: Craig Finn has a distinctive lyrical voice which is entirely his own, and his stories are literate, funny and moving all at once, especially when compared to that other Springsteen wannabe Brandon Flowers, of The Killers, who released the utterly awful "Sam's Town in the past few months also. Some of the tracks on this record simply rock, from the single "Chips Ahoy" to the penultimate "Southtown Girls, If you can get past Finn's initially off-putting voice, then you can't go wrong with this lot.



The Hold Steady - Stuck Between Stations (mp3) - http://upload2.net/page/download/cXvQG6GBrp8iPmb/01+Stuck+Between+Stations.mp3.html

The Hold Steady - Chips Ahoy (mp3) - http://upload2.net/page/download/pKzOihNwvLfj8lv/02+Chips+Ahoy%21.mp3.html









Mission of Burma - "The Obliterati"


When Mission of Burma reconvened in 2003, I admit, being a young guy, I had little to no awareness of the band's history. After all, they had only one record and one EP in the early 80's before calling it quit's due to guitarist Roger Miller's extreme tinnitus. I bought their reunion album Onoffon, and I was impressed but not blown away, especially considering the hyperbole from some critics that surrounded their revival. When their new album, "The Obliterati" was released earlier this year, I heard more of the same gushing praise and I decided to give them another go and as soon as the opening track "2wice" exploded out of my speakers, I realised what Mission of Burma are all about. Though that first song sets the bar pretty high, the rest of the record more than lives up to it, from the slyly humorous disco nod "Donna Summeria" to the furious punk blast "Is This Where?", they sound as powerful and passionate as they did on their 1982 classic "Vs." (which I admit I only heard for the first time recently haha.) These guys put punk bands half their age to shame.












Sonic Youth - "Rather Ripped"




Sonic Youth have always been a favourite of mine, so naturally I look forward to each release, hoping that the legendary art-rock foursome will at least slightly rein in their disappear up their own arse tendencies and stick to the jangly, muscular rock of which they have few equals. I was one of the presumably many people who assumed they were washed up after releasing a string of average to awful albums in the mid to late 90's, culminating in the teeth-grindingly pretentious "NYC Ghosts & Flowers" in 2000. So when they dropped the excellent "Murray Street" in 2002, with it's return to a more recognizable Youth sound, I was a very happy and relieved man indeed. The addition of left-field genius Jim O'Rourke had seemingly revitalised the group and they followed that record with another gem in "Sonic Nurse", which featured some of the best Youth tracks in years in "Stones" and "Pattern Recognition", and this year's "Rather Ripped" at the very least equals those two records, despite the departure of O'Rourke and their following a slightly poppier path this time round. The emphasis seems to be on crafting very concise and tight three-minute pop songs and this approach works well, with the likes of "Incinerate" and "Reena" particularly strong, though the extended jam "Pink Steam" is probably the standout for me. Intelligent guitar rock at it's finest.











Destroyer - "Destroyer's Rubies"





With this, Destroyer's seventh album, Dan Bejar continued his run of excellent records after 2001's "Streethawk: A Seduction", 2002's "This Night" and 2004's "Your Blues". Bejar is something of a prolific character, with his also being a member of Toronto collective The New Pornographers and Swan Lake, and his distinctive style is becoming quite familiar now, with his intriguing though usually inscrutable lyrics and high-pitched bowie-esque voice. His theatrical high-drama style has gathered Destroyer a rabid fan base, and this owes as much to his brilliant songwriting as it does to his bonkers persona, and with this album he delivered some of his best material since "Streethawk", with the likes of the title track and "European Oils" as rocking and rousing as he's ever been.


Destroyer - "Rubies" (mp3)


Destroyer - "European Oils" (mp3)





Grizzly Bear - "Yellow House"


On Edward Droste and co's first album for Warp Records, they took a major leap forward from their previous record "Horn of Plenty", with the tinny lo-fi sound of their debut replaced with a symphonic, atmospheric wall of sound. They are often compared with the likes of Animal Collective but the group I've always found Grizzly Bear to most resemble is Low, as I feel frontman Droste's voice sounds uncannily similar to Alan Sparhawk of the famed Minnesotan slowcore band. "Yellow House" is simply stunning, with the band displaying loftier ambitions this time around, which is evident from the lovely opener "Easier", gradually building and building to establish mood . This momentum is built on by second track and possibly my favourite song of the year "Lullabye", which starts out pretty and tuneful before breaking into discordant guitar noise and then a beautiful ascending chorus which I find really uplifting. The rest of the album is equally excellent with the likes of "Marla", apparently written by Droste's great aunt in the 30's and revived and made over here, and "Central and Remote" which reminds me of a Danny Elfman score for some reason, examples of their beefed-up songwriting skills and lusher production. Definitely one of the most impressive records of the year for me and I really look forward to seeing how they transfer it to a live setting the next time they play Ireland, whenever that might be.















































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