So Far This Year - LP Version ( Vol 2006 ! )

[squints]

Nice! I don't know if its one of the best of the year but its damn fine...damn fine

[ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ]

I've been digging on this lately, with a few more listens, it might permeate into the coveted top 10.

[pete]

I think it's pretty weak as a party album.  gorillaz is a little more interesting.  but with the list of the names you've mentioned--they're all a bit more entertaining than the new gnarls barkley album--I heard the show is something though, with cee lo working his charm and a chamber ensemble backing him up.  I would not mind seeing them live.  but back to the guys you've mentioned--alicia keys is a way better musician with catchier songs (and her "you don't have to call" is firmly in the vein of gnarls barkley in that they're both kinda blatant about sounding 70s.  usher can dance.  and beyonce--holy shit have you heard her new single with jay-Z?  Crazy Right Now was such a great song and Deja Vu is an even hotter jam.  I know it's probably the only song on the album that'll sound like that, but that jam kinda kicks like incredible ass.)

Gnarls doesn't break any new ground but it is fun to listen to, in that Gorillaz sort of way.  It's in their power to turn out an amazing second album.  As far as it just being a harmless fun party album, it serves its purpose, but they're by no means the second coming.  But compared to the sorry state of blander yet more popular music that passes for funk or soul these days (Beyonce, Alicia Keys, Ashanti, Usher, etc... PRINCE can't even turn out a decent album anymore), Gnarls does stand out.

[hedwig]

I think it's pretty weak as a party album. gorillaz is a little more interesting. but with the list of the names you've mentioned--they're all a bit more entertaining than the new gnarls barkley album--I heard the show is something though, with cee lo working his charm and a chamber ensemble backing him up. I would not mind seeing them live. but back to the guys you've mentioned--alicia keys is a way better musician with catchier songs (and her "you don't have to call" is firmly in the vein of gnarls barkley in that they're both kinda blatant about sounding 70s. usher can dance. and beyonce--holy shit have you heard her new single with jay-Z? Crazy Right Now was such a great song and Deja Vu is an even hotter jam. I know it's probably the only song on the album that'll sound like that, but that jam kinda kicks like incredible ass.)

for the record, i agree with pete on everything he said, especially alicia keys. gnarls b was cool the first couple times i heard it, but in the end it made no lasting impression other than "this would be a good time to play solo cee-lo. or dungeon family. or goodie mob. or pussycat dolls."

beth orton - comfort of strangers

beth orton - comfort of strangers

what do you guys like about this?? with the exception of three, maybe four decent tracks, i'd say the overall suck of this album cements it firmly as this year's Extraordinary Machine.

[meatwad]

what do you guys like about this?? with the exception of three, maybe four decent tracks, i'd say the overall suck of this album cements it firmly as this year's Extraordinary Machine.

what is the overall suck of this album? beth gets better every time she puts out a record. for me, it's all about the voice, that beautiful voice! and it's better then ever on this album. "a place inside" was the track that won me over. it reminds me of a spiritualized track the way it builds to the climax. and i'm sick of everybody sucking  jim o'rourke's dick. i don't think he made much of a difference on this album, and as soon as he left sonic youth, they made one of the best albums of their career.

i would rather listen to this then the underwhelming thom yorke solo album 

[polkablues]

"Comfort of Strangers" doesn't have as many individual songs that stand out as Beth's previous stuff does, but it's a great album to put on in an empty room and let it wash over you.  Like meatwad says, it's all about the voice.

[hedwig]

she sounds bored, especially compared to the passionate way she sang on her previous albums. that was beth's specialty, singing passionately without overdoing it. her voice is beautiful but you wouldn't know it listening to a track like Rectify. like i said, there's about three good songs on there (Heart of Soul is pretty good, especially when she says "put a little love in your heaaaaart") but it's really nothing special. and i don't know how you can say it's better than Central Reservation or Trailer Park. the overall suck doesn't stop at her bored vocals, though. the tracks sound like shit too. seriously dude, Rectify is torture.

another good singer whose potential was stifled this year by crap production and boring studio performances was KT Tunstall. her album only had one great song, and i'd rather listen to that one song than any of the ones on Comfort of Snoozing.

[polkablues]

Granted, it's not half the album Central Reservation is, but this year, I've been so underwhelmed by all the new music I've been hearing, even a half-hearted effort from a really great artist is good enough to be on my Best Of list.

[Gamblour.]

I've been really liking:

RHCP - Stadium Arcadium (check Pitchfork for a terrible article on how bad it is)
Muse - Blackholes and Revelations (terrible title, but nice departure from previous albums)
The Mars Volta - Amputechture
Tool - 10,000 Days
The Strokes - First Impressions of Earth
Spank Rock - YoYoYoYoYo

Still have to listen to Thom Yorke, Camera Obscura, Mogwai, TV on the Radio, and Eagles of Death Metal.

[NEON MERCURY]

[cron]

tv on the radio - return to cookie mountain
liars- drumsnotdead
joanna newsom - Ys
subtle - for hero: for fool
xiu xiu- the air force
adam green - jacket full of danger
sonic youth- rather ripped
pink mountaintops - axis of evol
cut chemist - the audience's listening
fiery furnaces- bitter tea


i feel like a person recieving an award because "i am forgetting a long list of people". and i still have to listen so much stuff. to me , this has been a pretty excelent music year.

[ᾦɐļᵲʊʂ]

10 - Regina Spektor - Begin to Hope
9 - The Mountain Goats - Get Lonely
8 - Band of Horses - Everything All of the Time
7 - Islands  - Return to the Sea
6 -  Tool - 10,000 Days
5 - Belle & Sebastian - The Life Pursuit
4 - Don Caballero - World Class Lightning Problem
3 - Prefuse 73 - Security Screenings
2 - Murder By Death - In Bocca Al Lupo
1 - Mars Volta - Amputechture

[modage]

[JG]

2006 - 10 Months In

I'm gonna assume that Of Montreal will push the release date of their disc up a little but, considering its due in January and its already out.  With that being said: 

1. Of Montreal - Hissing Fauna, Are You The Destroyer?
2. Belle and Sebastian - The Life Pursuit
3. Sunset Rubdown - Shut Up I Am Dreaming
4. Suburban Kids With Biblical Names - #3
5. Camera Obscura - Let's Get Out Of This Country
6. Ramona Cordova - The Boy Who Floated Freely
7. Oh No! Oh My! - Oh No! Oh My!
8. Destroyer - Rubies
9. The Decemberists - The Crane's Wife
10. Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - House Arrest

I'm waiting for the euphoria of the new Of Montreal CD to die down, but as of now that's the best disc of the year. 

BEST SONGS (limited to one per band)

Of Montreal - Bunny Ain't No Kind of Rider
Thom Yorke - The Eraser
Islands - Rough Gem
Sunset Rubdown - Stadiums and Shrines II
Swan Lake - Are You Swimming in Her Pools?
Sonic Youth - Incinerate
Jens Lekman - I Don't Know If Shes Worth 900
Camera Obscura - Lloyd, I'm Ready To Be Heartbroken
Suburban Kids With Biblical Names - Rent a Wreck
Destroyer - Rubies
Ben Kweller - Magic
Voxtrot - Soft & Warm
The Decemberists - Sons and Daughters
Gnarls Barkley - Crazy
Ramona Cordova - One Day Someday
Danielson - Did I Step On Your Trumpet?
TV on the Radio - I Was a Lover
Oh No! Oh My! - I Have No Sister
Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Higher and Higher
The Strokes - You Only Live Once
Nelly Furtado ft. Timbaland - Promiscuous Girl
Beirut - After The Curtain
Belle and Sebastian - The Blues Are Still Blue
Midlake - Young Bride

that's a heck of a mix tape. 

[last days of gerry the elephant]

Here's a mash-up of albums from me, so far: