Musical Year in Review
Those of you who’ve watched this journal for a while know that after every few Teh Emu posts, I recover by amusing myself with a music post. So, what better time to do a musical year in review?
Now, admittedly, I did not purchase many albums from 2006. Most of my favorites will be releasing new music in 2007, or released in 2005 and won’t release again for a while. So rather than try and rank albums released in 2006, I’ll just rank the albums I found in 2006.
1. Voltaire - Almost Human
Voltaire is pretty easily my top find of the year. While I had songs off The Devil’s Bris first, Almost Human is the first full album I had from him, and it’s absolutely marvelous. “Out of Reach” became a bit of a personal anthem during rough times, and “Anastasia” is easily one of the best songs he’s ever written. It’s a wonderful combination of wicked humor, gentle vocals, and lovely poppy musicianship, and it’s on my Desert Island List. If there’s a single album I’ve found this year that I’ll never tire of, never stop finding different melody lines to cling to through songs, never stop being able to listen to, it’s this one.
2. Mindless Self Indulgence - Frankenstein Girls Will Seem Strangely Sexy
I swear there’s a level of mad genius to this album. It’s 60 minutes of absolutely schizophrenic, in-your-face offensive, spastic, bizarre, unfocused, monstrously addictive chaos. It’s like a jolt of androgynous, videogame-thieving sugar straight to the brain. And quite a few songs (“Faggot”, “Backmask”, “Kill the Rock”, “Clarissa”, “I Hate Jimmy Page”, “Golden I”, “Planet of the Apes”, “Last Time I Tried to Rock Your World”, etcetera) are pretty excellent songs on their own, too. It’s not a perfect album (there are bound to be a few bombs amid the thirty tracks), but it’s a fun one. Oh, and Singing in the motherfucking Rain.
3. PJ Harvey - Dry
I already was aware of PJ before I found Rid of Me and Dry this year. I owned Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea a while ago and really thought it was mediocre at best. But with RoM and Dry, PJ rocketed up to be one of my very favorite musicians. Dry is dark and hard, violent and chilling, and yet still just plain fun rock. “Oh My Lover” is a brilliant opener that tells you from the start Peej isn’t going to waste time with niceties, “O Stella” runs circles around the listener, and “Plants and Rags” is a bizarrely twisted ode to apathy that sounds like the world is breaking apart within your ears.
4. Leonard Cohen - Songs of Love and Hate
I love Leonard Cohen. He writes the best songs. I don’t listen to him too often, because he lacks the beats and rush that tend to keep my distractible mind entertained. But whenever I do, I leave the album feeling a little happier. This album especially.
5. Neko Case - Blacklisted
I bought Fox Confessor Brings the Flood on a whim, because some folks on @forumz were discussing it. It’s my favorite album released this year. Neko’s Blacklisted is a bit better (still a bit scattershot, but Neko always has enough great songs to balance out the forgettable ones), and “Deep Red Bells”, “Blacklisted”, “Ghost Wiring” and “Things That Scare Me” have been constantly on my playlist since I bought it. Neko’s lyrics are on par with the likes of Leonard Cohen and Tom Waits, and her voice is truly amazing.
6. The Dresden Dolls - The Dresden Dolls
I was first introduced to the Dresden Dolls in 2003. At the time, I was a huge fan of country music and had no appreciation whatsoever for that nifty little bridge in “Coin-Operated Boy”. I downloaded “Sing” and “Half Jack” based on the suggestions in @forumz’s “Ten Songs to Introduce Your Favorite Artists”, and from then on I had to have everything the Dolls had done. Their debut album is not as strong as a whole as Yes, Virginia…, but it has a kind of fragile beauty to it that the latter lacks. “The Perfect Fit” is a chunk of the (admittedly very scattershot) soundtrack to my life that has always been there, simmering beneath the surface, and I never took the time to really hear before.
7. The Hidden Cameras - The Smell of Our Own
I have mad love for The Hidden Cameras. Rock on, my gay folk songmasters. “The Boys of Melody” is so sweet it brings tears to my eyes, “A Miracle” is a masterwork of soft, Simon & Garfunkle-esque ballads, and “The Man That I Am With My Man” seamlessly meshes the profane and sexual with the most loving chords and words that man can feel.
8. Tom Waits - Bone Machine
Because the grim reaper singing you to sleep is exactly what one needs to round out a good record collection. Tom Waits is an acquired taste, sure, but you’d have to fight me tooth and nail to convince me that Bone Machine isn’t a masterful album. Haunting, chilling, sad and sweet, with the clatter of bizarre percussion and mud-streaked vocals that sound like they were rescued from the grave, it’s truly excellent.
9. Paul Simon - You’re the One
Paul Simon was always background noise to my love of music. My mother listened to him and I’d occasionally turn him on. This year I discovered You’re the One. The first time I realized “Hurricane Eye” was a composite of all previous songs, I understood what a truly well thought-out album was.
10. Rasputina - Frustration Plantation
a. Ye gods, Raspy is hit and miss. Most of the filler songs on this album (and on Cabin Fever) are pretty dreadful. But that doesn’t mean the cabaret rockers “If Your Kisses Can’t Hold the Man You Love” and “Momma Was an Opium Smoker” aren’t fantastically fun, or that the crunching cellos on “Saline the Salt Lake Queen” or “High on Life” aren’t absolutely sublime. And “The Mayor” is the best thing Raspy’s ever done.
Songs of the Year:
1. “Recessional” - Vienna Teng
2. “Delilah” - The Dresden Dolls
3. “Medicated Girls Brigade” - The Oddz
4. “Peeping Tommi” - Tori Amos
5. “Dirty Knife” - Neko Case
Best Album of 2006: Neko Case - Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
Oh my God, is it 2007 already? HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Now, admittedly, I did not purchase many albums from 2006. Most of my favorites will be releasing new music in 2007, or released in 2005 and won’t release again for a while. So rather than try and rank albums released in 2006, I’ll just rank the albums I found in 2006.
1. Voltaire - Almost Human
Voltaire is pretty easily my top find of the year. While I had songs off The Devil’s Bris first, Almost Human is the first full album I had from him, and it’s absolutely marvelous. “Out of Reach” became a bit of a personal anthem during rough times, and “Anastasia” is easily one of the best songs he’s ever written. It’s a wonderful combination of wicked humor, gentle vocals, and lovely poppy musicianship, and it’s on my Desert Island List. If there’s a single album I’ve found this year that I’ll never tire of, never stop finding different melody lines to cling to through songs, never stop being able to listen to, it’s this one.
2. Mindless Self Indulgence - Frankenstein Girls Will Seem Strangely Sexy
I swear there’s a level of mad genius to this album. It’s 60 minutes of absolutely schizophrenic, in-your-face offensive, spastic, bizarre, unfocused, monstrously addictive chaos. It’s like a jolt of androgynous, videogame-thieving sugar straight to the brain. And quite a few songs (“Faggot”, “Backmask”, “Kill the Rock”, “Clarissa”, “I Hate Jimmy Page”, “Golden I”, “Planet of the Apes”, “Last Time I Tried to Rock Your World”, etcetera) are pretty excellent songs on their own, too. It’s not a perfect album (there are bound to be a few bombs amid the thirty tracks), but it’s a fun one. Oh, and Singing in the motherfucking Rain.
3. PJ Harvey - Dry
I already was aware of PJ before I found Rid of Me and Dry this year. I owned Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea a while ago and really thought it was mediocre at best. But with RoM and Dry, PJ rocketed up to be one of my very favorite musicians. Dry is dark and hard, violent and chilling, and yet still just plain fun rock. “Oh My Lover” is a brilliant opener that tells you from the start Peej isn’t going to waste time with niceties, “O Stella” runs circles around the listener, and “Plants and Rags” is a bizarrely twisted ode to apathy that sounds like the world is breaking apart within your ears.
4. Leonard Cohen - Songs of Love and Hate
I love Leonard Cohen. He writes the best songs. I don’t listen to him too often, because he lacks the beats and rush that tend to keep my distractible mind entertained. But whenever I do, I leave the album feeling a little happier. This album especially.
5. Neko Case - Blacklisted
I bought Fox Confessor Brings the Flood on a whim, because some folks on @forumz were discussing it. It’s my favorite album released this year. Neko’s Blacklisted is a bit better (still a bit scattershot, but Neko always has enough great songs to balance out the forgettable ones), and “Deep Red Bells”, “Blacklisted”, “Ghost Wiring” and “Things That Scare Me” have been constantly on my playlist since I bought it. Neko’s lyrics are on par with the likes of Leonard Cohen and Tom Waits, and her voice is truly amazing.
6. The Dresden Dolls - The Dresden Dolls
I was first introduced to the Dresden Dolls in 2003. At the time, I was a huge fan of country music and had no appreciation whatsoever for that nifty little bridge in “Coin-Operated Boy”. I downloaded “Sing” and “Half Jack” based on the suggestions in @forumz’s “Ten Songs to Introduce Your Favorite Artists”, and from then on I had to have everything the Dolls had done. Their debut album is not as strong as a whole as Yes, Virginia…, but it has a kind of fragile beauty to it that the latter lacks. “The Perfect Fit” is a chunk of the (admittedly very scattershot) soundtrack to my life that has always been there, simmering beneath the surface, and I never took the time to really hear before.
7. The Hidden Cameras - The Smell of Our Own
I have mad love for The Hidden Cameras. Rock on, my gay folk songmasters. “The Boys of Melody” is so sweet it brings tears to my eyes, “A Miracle” is a masterwork of soft, Simon & Garfunkle-esque ballads, and “The Man That I Am With My Man” seamlessly meshes the profane and sexual with the most loving chords and words that man can feel.
8. Tom Waits - Bone Machine
Because the grim reaper singing you to sleep is exactly what one needs to round out a good record collection. Tom Waits is an acquired taste, sure, but you’d have to fight me tooth and nail to convince me that Bone Machine isn’t a masterful album. Haunting, chilling, sad and sweet, with the clatter of bizarre percussion and mud-streaked vocals that sound like they were rescued from the grave, it’s truly excellent.
9. Paul Simon - You’re the One
Paul Simon was always background noise to my love of music. My mother listened to him and I’d occasionally turn him on. This year I discovered You’re the One. The first time I realized “Hurricane Eye” was a composite of all previous songs, I understood what a truly well thought-out album was.
10. Rasputina - Frustration Plantation
a. Ye gods, Raspy is hit and miss. Most of the filler songs on this album (and on Cabin Fever) are pretty dreadful. But that doesn’t mean the cabaret rockers “If Your Kisses Can’t Hold the Man You Love” and “Momma Was an Opium Smoker” aren’t fantastically fun, or that the crunching cellos on “Saline the Salt Lake Queen” or “High on Life” aren’t absolutely sublime. And “The Mayor” is the best thing Raspy’s ever done.
Songs of the Year:
1. “Recessional” - Vienna Teng
2. “Delilah” - The Dresden Dolls
3. “Medicated Girls Brigade” - The Oddz
4. “Peeping Tommi” - Tori Amos
5. “Dirty Knife” - Neko Case
Best Album of 2006: Neko Case - Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
Oh my God, is it 2007 already? HAPPY NEW YEAR!