My Top Ten Albums
I do quite like that Christophhhher has compiled a list of his favourite songs/albums over the past couple of years. I'm not usually the type of person who shouts from the rooftops what she is listening to and others may actually forget that I am in fact a very avid music fan just from the fact that I rarely talk about it.
I find myself to be somewhat of a closet listener. I'm the sort of gal who likes to revisit old faves time and time again. There are albums that have been on high rotation on my 3 disk cd player (which still has precedence over my iPod, I'm somewhat old skool in that sense) for many, many years that I don't think I will ever tire of and others that sneak up on me either from hearing one or two singles on the radio or from finally getting around to catching up with older music that I have wanted to get into for years.
So I thought I would bring you a list of my ten most listened to albums (and one E.P and one concert bootleg) that have been on high rotation on my stereo and shuffle during 2006. It'a strange mix but it made sense to me.
1 Pearl Jam - Pearl Jam
This album kinda snuck up on me in early May. I knew it was on it's way but wasn't quite expecting it to be so brilliant. The rock kicks in right from the start with the opener Life Wasted and doesn't let up all the way through. Eddie's snarl hasn't been, well snarlier, since the angst of Vs. and there isn't one shred of apathy to be found on this album. The band's ire at the war in Iraq and their poor excuse for a president has given them a bare bones rock sound that they haven't had in years, which spoke to the grunge loving teenager in me. The band are tighter than ever, with everybody in fine form. Matt Cameron's rolling drums have matured to fit into the bands overall sound, and Boom Gasper is back with his hammond organ that adds just a little bit of a Beach Boys sound. Comatose is a flashback to the fast and punchy sound of Go and the closer Inside Job is reminiscent of 'wave your lighter in the air' ballads like Black and Daughter. The pace has also picked up since their last album Riot Act and as an ardent fan I was happy to be dancing about in my lounge room again and pounding the footpath that little bit harder every time I listened to it. LIke Eddie says "The whole world, world over, it's a world-wide suicide!"
We need change people, and we need it now!
2 Panic at the Disco
This is an album that I feel somewhat guilty about having paid $18 for. I'm a firm believer in each to their own, but even I felt a little embarrassed admitting to people that I was listening to something more likely to be on high rotation on some 16 year-old's nano than my boring ol' non-screen shuffle. But, it is one damn catchy sing-a-long record that starts out with a very emo-punk sounding social commentary and morphs into an almost burlesque, vaudeville stylee reflection on love and pain. The single The only difference between martyrdom and press coverage is suicide kept planting itself in my head every time I heard it on the radio and I tried to ignore just how much I liked it, but when I heard other singles, I couldn't fight the urge any longer. And I have not looked back. Just so darn cynical and catchy. A combination this latent emo couldn't resist.
3 The Rolling Stones - Let it Bleed
Every year I stumble across a little piece of gold that I know had I been born in another era would have been a soundtrack to my youth. This was that record for 2006. It leapt out from me one day when I was going through Mum's c.d's and along with The Kinks stood out as something I "should listen to for my own good". I listened to The Kinks twice, but Let it Bleed stayed in my player on high rotation. I had never realised the Stone's sound was so sexy and gritty or that Kieth was such a guitar master. Gimme Shelter is a beautiful anti-war song that sticks in your head for days, War, children is just a shot away, well Mick, yes it is, even 37 years after you first sang about it. Midnight Rambler is just that - a rambling and rolling mash of muddy blues, slide guitars and harmonica. Live With Me, a favourite cover of the You Am I lads, is an exercise in what rock MUST sound like if it is to be rock and the closer (on the re-mastered version) and classic Can't Always Get What You Want reminds you with it's gospel chorus to be humble and grateful for what you have. And a good dose of humility never goes astray, I say.
4 Fiona Apple - Extraordinary Machine
I think I may have bought this in 2005, but most of my listening occurred this year. Oh, Sony, why did you have to wait 5 long fucking years to put out this beautiful album? I have been a fan of the very under-appreciated Miss. Apple since her first album Tidal and her 3rd one certainly didn't disappoint even after such a wait. This one, not unlike, her first two is laden down with the loss of love and terminal heartbreak. To me she is the Robert Smith of the noughties, only with piano instead of guitars. But the poetic musings of sorrow inflicted by the loss of another is only too familiar to weathered Cure fans like myself. Extraordinary Machine makes the perfect accompaniment to the most soul-crushing break-up any of us have ever experienced. Window is a stand-out as it mixes that self-reflective humour one must have in order to let go of loss, with a little bit of malice for good measure...
So I had to break the window
It just had to be
Better that I break the window
Than him or her or me
5 You Am I - Hi Fi Way
This is without a doubt my favourite album of all time. Very closely followed by Pearl Jam's No Code and Tori's Pele. And even after listening to it so many times it never gets old. To me it's ramblin' rock at it's best and the lyrical genius of Tim Rogers at his best. Undoubtedly the best Australian record to be released in the nineties. Everybody who reads this should get it out and play it all the way through right now. Don't wait cos it's that fucking good!
6 Jose Gonzalez - Veneer
I remember spotting Jose's cover of the Knife's Heartbeats on the bouncy ball ad as I had been turning it up on the radio for awhile already and being one of few people who didn't recognise it as the song from the bouncy ball ad when it started getting higher radio rotation. I had also heard his cover of our Kylie's Hand on Your Heart and wondered if his stuff was as good as his covers. While the latter song isn't on Veneer the album includes that of bouncy ball fame, more of his originals and is still extremely moving. Jose's voice is so soft and gentle it's one of those "fall asleep listening to" in a good way albums. Just nice, simple guitars and sweet, lilting lyrics to listen to with an open heart.
7 Goldfrapp - Black Cherry
This album is pure sex. See Twist with Alison Goldfrapp's breathy, orgasmic sounding sighs. Took me a little while to discover, but I'm glad I did. That is all.
8 She Will Have Her Way - The Songs of Tim and Neil Finn
Some of the covers on this are a little overdone, but there are some nice surprises like Natalie Johns-Imbruglia's Pineapple Head and Holly Throsby's Not The Girl You Think You Are being two of my faves. But it is the bonus disk of the tracks in their original form that was the most played of the two for me this year. Just a well-rounded collection of Split Enz, Crowded House numbers and songs released by the pair since the days of their former bands. The Finn brothers have always been a bit of a fave, so this was a nice mix tape of sorts that I didn't have to spend hours compiling.
9 Pearl Jam Official Bootleg - Brisbane 10/11/06
This concert, the first of two on the Australia leg of their tour, will go down as my all time favourite, Pearl Jam or otherwise. And what a way to relive it than with an official, sound-perfect bootleg? To my knowledge there is no other band like Pearl Jam in that they record and mix each concert and put it up on their site for download only days after the show. And at U.S $10, complete with pics of the show, cover art and set list, it couldn't get better. I'm still in awe of this as despite the fact they clearly make some money off it, there is no need as a fan to have to try and source crappy sounding bootlegs. All that aside though the show was amazing. A perfect blend of old stuff - opening with Corduroy, Last Exit and Animal then catapulting into a mix of the new stuff (which sounded awesome) and more of the older hits Jeremy, Even Flow, complete with whole-audience sing-a-longs Betterman, Elderly Woman. The show wrapped up with two encores, the last pulling out all the stops with State of Love and Trust, Black, Alive, Rockin' in the Free World and Yellow Ledbetter... after which I was floating with glee. All this on the back of the U.S mid-term elections that spelled defeat for Bush, the high the band was on resonated through the songs and transformed them into the kind of anti-establishment rock'n'roll anthems that reminds one why they listen to rock in the first place over mindless, pop drivel.
Hot, sweaty, raw, sexy, motherfuckin' rock!
10 The Splendid Johnsons - The Splendid Johnsons
There is a song on this E.P that features the line
I'm longing to love you
You got that killer smile
It was written for me and it makes me smile on the inside every time I hear it :)
I find myself to be somewhat of a closet listener. I'm the sort of gal who likes to revisit old faves time and time again. There are albums that have been on high rotation on my 3 disk cd player (which still has precedence over my iPod, I'm somewhat old skool in that sense) for many, many years that I don't think I will ever tire of and others that sneak up on me either from hearing one or two singles on the radio or from finally getting around to catching up with older music that I have wanted to get into for years.
So I thought I would bring you a list of my ten most listened to albums (and one E.P and one concert bootleg) that have been on high rotation on my stereo and shuffle during 2006. It'a strange mix but it made sense to me.
1 Pearl Jam - Pearl Jam
This album kinda snuck up on me in early May. I knew it was on it's way but wasn't quite expecting it to be so brilliant. The rock kicks in right from the start with the opener Life Wasted and doesn't let up all the way through. Eddie's snarl hasn't been, well snarlier, since the angst of Vs. and there isn't one shred of apathy to be found on this album. The band's ire at the war in Iraq and their poor excuse for a president has given them a bare bones rock sound that they haven't had in years, which spoke to the grunge loving teenager in me. The band are tighter than ever, with everybody in fine form. Matt Cameron's rolling drums have matured to fit into the bands overall sound, and Boom Gasper is back with his hammond organ that adds just a little bit of a Beach Boys sound. Comatose is a flashback to the fast and punchy sound of Go and the closer Inside Job is reminiscent of 'wave your lighter in the air' ballads like Black and Daughter. The pace has also picked up since their last album Riot Act and as an ardent fan I was happy to be dancing about in my lounge room again and pounding the footpath that little bit harder every time I listened to it. LIke Eddie says "The whole world, world over, it's a world-wide suicide!"
We need change people, and we need it now!
2 Panic at the Disco
This is an album that I feel somewhat guilty about having paid $18 for. I'm a firm believer in each to their own, but even I felt a little embarrassed admitting to people that I was listening to something more likely to be on high rotation on some 16 year-old's nano than my boring ol' non-screen shuffle. But, it is one damn catchy sing-a-long record that starts out with a very emo-punk sounding social commentary and morphs into an almost burlesque, vaudeville stylee reflection on love and pain. The single The only difference between martyrdom and press coverage is suicide kept planting itself in my head every time I heard it on the radio and I tried to ignore just how much I liked it, but when I heard other singles, I couldn't fight the urge any longer. And I have not looked back. Just so darn cynical and catchy. A combination this latent emo couldn't resist.
3 The Rolling Stones - Let it Bleed
Every year I stumble across a little piece of gold that I know had I been born in another era would have been a soundtrack to my youth. This was that record for 2006. It leapt out from me one day when I was going through Mum's c.d's and along with The Kinks stood out as something I "should listen to for my own good". I listened to The Kinks twice, but Let it Bleed stayed in my player on high rotation. I had never realised the Stone's sound was so sexy and gritty or that Kieth was such a guitar master. Gimme Shelter is a beautiful anti-war song that sticks in your head for days, War, children is just a shot away, well Mick, yes it is, even 37 years after you first sang about it. Midnight Rambler is just that - a rambling and rolling mash of muddy blues, slide guitars and harmonica. Live With Me, a favourite cover of the You Am I lads, is an exercise in what rock MUST sound like if it is to be rock and the closer (on the re-mastered version) and classic Can't Always Get What You Want reminds you with it's gospel chorus to be humble and grateful for what you have. And a good dose of humility never goes astray, I say.
4 Fiona Apple - Extraordinary Machine
I think I may have bought this in 2005, but most of my listening occurred this year. Oh, Sony, why did you have to wait 5 long fucking years to put out this beautiful album? I have been a fan of the very under-appreciated Miss. Apple since her first album Tidal and her 3rd one certainly didn't disappoint even after such a wait. This one, not unlike, her first two is laden down with the loss of love and terminal heartbreak. To me she is the Robert Smith of the noughties, only with piano instead of guitars. But the poetic musings of sorrow inflicted by the loss of another is only too familiar to weathered Cure fans like myself. Extraordinary Machine makes the perfect accompaniment to the most soul-crushing break-up any of us have ever experienced. Window is a stand-out as it mixes that self-reflective humour one must have in order to let go of loss, with a little bit of malice for good measure...
So I had to break the window
It just had to be
Better that I break the window
Than him or her or me
5 You Am I - Hi Fi Way
This is without a doubt my favourite album of all time. Very closely followed by Pearl Jam's No Code and Tori's Pele. And even after listening to it so many times it never gets old. To me it's ramblin' rock at it's best and the lyrical genius of Tim Rogers at his best. Undoubtedly the best Australian record to be released in the nineties. Everybody who reads this should get it out and play it all the way through right now. Don't wait cos it's that fucking good!
6 Jose Gonzalez - Veneer
I remember spotting Jose's cover of the Knife's Heartbeats on the bouncy ball ad as I had been turning it up on the radio for awhile already and being one of few people who didn't recognise it as the song from the bouncy ball ad when it started getting higher radio rotation. I had also heard his cover of our Kylie's Hand on Your Heart and wondered if his stuff was as good as his covers. While the latter song isn't on Veneer the album includes that of bouncy ball fame, more of his originals and is still extremely moving. Jose's voice is so soft and gentle it's one of those "fall asleep listening to" in a good way albums. Just nice, simple guitars and sweet, lilting lyrics to listen to with an open heart.
7 Goldfrapp - Black Cherry
This album is pure sex. See Twist with Alison Goldfrapp's breathy, orgasmic sounding sighs. Took me a little while to discover, but I'm glad I did. That is all.
8 She Will Have Her Way - The Songs of Tim and Neil Finn
Some of the covers on this are a little overdone, but there are some nice surprises like Natalie Johns-Imbruglia's Pineapple Head and Holly Throsby's Not The Girl You Think You Are being two of my faves. But it is the bonus disk of the tracks in their original form that was the most played of the two for me this year. Just a well-rounded collection of Split Enz, Crowded House numbers and songs released by the pair since the days of their former bands. The Finn brothers have always been a bit of a fave, so this was a nice mix tape of sorts that I didn't have to spend hours compiling.
9 Pearl Jam Official Bootleg - Brisbane 10/11/06
This concert, the first of two on the Australia leg of their tour, will go down as my all time favourite, Pearl Jam or otherwise. And what a way to relive it than with an official, sound-perfect bootleg? To my knowledge there is no other band like Pearl Jam in that they record and mix each concert and put it up on their site for download only days after the show. And at U.S $10, complete with pics of the show, cover art and set list, it couldn't get better. I'm still in awe of this as despite the fact they clearly make some money off it, there is no need as a fan to have to try and source crappy sounding bootlegs. All that aside though the show was amazing. A perfect blend of old stuff - opening with Corduroy, Last Exit and Animal then catapulting into a mix of the new stuff (which sounded awesome) and more of the older hits Jeremy, Even Flow, complete with whole-audience sing-a-longs Betterman, Elderly Woman. The show wrapped up with two encores, the last pulling out all the stops with State of Love and Trust, Black, Alive, Rockin' in the Free World and Yellow Ledbetter... after which I was floating with glee. All this on the back of the U.S mid-term elections that spelled defeat for Bush, the high the band was on resonated through the songs and transformed them into the kind of anti-establishment rock'n'roll anthems that reminds one why they listen to rock in the first place over mindless, pop drivel.
Hot, sweaty, raw, sexy, motherfuckin' rock!
10 The Splendid Johnsons - The Splendid Johnsons
There is a song on this E.P that features the line
I'm longing to love you
You got that killer smile
It was written for me and it makes me smile on the inside every time I hear it :)