My last 2006-related list and 2 fic recs
brynnmck wrote a Christmas-based SPN fic that made me laugh and cry and have warm fuzzies all over. It's Sam and Dean and John, set pre-series: And The Next Day Would Be Christmas. Full of love and snark and the realization that everything is coming to an end. I freaking love this fic. An exerpt:
So yeah, he'd wanted them all together for Christmas. People had big crazy family reunions all the time at the holidays, with Aunt Esther passing out from too much egg nog and little Susie wetting her pants from excitement and the dog eating half the ham - Dean didn't think it was too much to ask that he could get his family of three in the same place for one damn night.
And greensilver wrote Retired Guy Hobbies, a Vecchio/Stella post-CotW fic that is just marvelous in how it takes what the show gave us and gives us a hundred times more. So very Ray.
He didn't exactly whine - that wasn't his style - but he did hint here and there that he was the most bored he'd ever been in his entire life. After a couple weeks of hinting, she came home one day with an enormous set of golf clubs and a fishing rod, which was her none-too-subtle way of telling him to get some good old-fashioned retired guy hobbies.
Once you've read the fics, then you should check out this link: Lasse Gjerten's "Amateur." Gjerten can't play the piano or drums, but by playing one note at a time and then editing them together, he's created something remarkable.
My 10 Favorite Albums of 2006. These are all albums that were released in 06, not just ones I heard for the first time in 06.
10. Tie: My Chemical Romance, The Black Parade and Paul Simon, Surprise - Neither of these have had a lot of rotation in my CD player, but they're both pretty solid albums. I couldn't decide which one I liked better, especially given how different they are in sound, so I included them both.
9. Annuals, Be He Me - This disc was something I asked for on a whim, based on a single song, and though I've only had it for just over a week, it's already made a strong impression.
8. Jeffrey Foucault, Ghost Repeater - A slightly different sound for JF, that has grown on me with repeated listening. As ever, his lyrics are impeccable.
7. Guster, Ganging Up On The Sun - I was looking forward to this album only slightly less than the Decemberists' new album, and I was really happy with what they produced. Lots of moodiness on this disc, with a couple of songs that have since become my favorite Guster tracks.
6. Gnarls Barkley, St. Elsewhere - I didn't like this album at first listen, except for "Crazy." I gave it another chance, though, and it's wrapped itself around my head. There are some excellent songs here, that unfold with repeated listenings.
5. New Found Glory, Coming Home - I almost didn't get this album, even though I've loved all of their others, but I thought I'd give them the benefit of the doubt and so picked it up without having heard a single song. Now I like every single track on the disc. Would be higher than #5 if I hadn't listened to it too much in the last couple of months, wearing off a lot of the shine. :)
4. Kris Delmhorst, Strange Conversation - Not an album that I've heard in a couple of months, but it's stayed with me nonetheless. It starts out with one of my favorite songs of the year, and on the all-time favorite list: "Galuppi Baldessare."
3. Snow Patrol, Eyes Open - SP's first album had a couple of songs I liked but overall left me feeling kind of flat. I wasn't going to get this one, and then I heard so much about it that I figured I'd give it a chance. I'm really glad I did. "Chasing Cars" was the song that first hooked me, but I love at least three or four songs even more now. It probably doesn't hurt that much of this album is a personal F/V manifesto.
2. The Decemberists, The Crane Wife - The amount of expectation I placed on this album seemed like it was doomed to disappoint me, yet it never did. One of their overall strongest albums, IMO, this disc holds together as a complete whole, with no song that I dislike, although I admittedly will often skip "Shankhill Butchers." "Sons and Daughters" is a gem and "The Perfect Crime" never fails to get me dancing.
1. Jeremy Enigk, World Waits - No one is more surprised than I am that this album is my #1, but I received it for Christmas and I've been addicted to it since then. The songs are full of atmosphere and emotion, the lyrics are the best kind of poetic, and Enigk's voice is my favorite combination of yearning and hopeful. I look forward to getting to know this album even better, because there's a lot here to take in. ETA: Here's the title track from the album: World Waits.
What were some of your favorites of the year?
So yeah, he'd wanted them all together for Christmas. People had big crazy family reunions all the time at the holidays, with Aunt Esther passing out from too much egg nog and little Susie wetting her pants from excitement and the dog eating half the ham - Dean didn't think it was too much to ask that he could get his family of three in the same place for one damn night.
And greensilver wrote Retired Guy Hobbies, a Vecchio/Stella post-CotW fic that is just marvelous in how it takes what the show gave us and gives us a hundred times more. So very Ray.
He didn't exactly whine - that wasn't his style - but he did hint here and there that he was the most bored he'd ever been in his entire life. After a couple weeks of hinting, she came home one day with an enormous set of golf clubs and a fishing rod, which was her none-too-subtle way of telling him to get some good old-fashioned retired guy hobbies.
Once you've read the fics, then you should check out this link: Lasse Gjerten's "Amateur." Gjerten can't play the piano or drums, but by playing one note at a time and then editing them together, he's created something remarkable.
My 10 Favorite Albums of 2006. These are all albums that were released in 06, not just ones I heard for the first time in 06.
10. Tie: My Chemical Romance, The Black Parade and Paul Simon, Surprise - Neither of these have had a lot of rotation in my CD player, but they're both pretty solid albums. I couldn't decide which one I liked better, especially given how different they are in sound, so I included them both.
9. Annuals, Be He Me - This disc was something I asked for on a whim, based on a single song, and though I've only had it for just over a week, it's already made a strong impression.
8. Jeffrey Foucault, Ghost Repeater - A slightly different sound for JF, that has grown on me with repeated listening. As ever, his lyrics are impeccable.
7. Guster, Ganging Up On The Sun - I was looking forward to this album only slightly less than the Decemberists' new album, and I was really happy with what they produced. Lots of moodiness on this disc, with a couple of songs that have since become my favorite Guster tracks.
6. Gnarls Barkley, St. Elsewhere - I didn't like this album at first listen, except for "Crazy." I gave it another chance, though, and it's wrapped itself around my head. There are some excellent songs here, that unfold with repeated listenings.
5. New Found Glory, Coming Home - I almost didn't get this album, even though I've loved all of their others, but I thought I'd give them the benefit of the doubt and so picked it up without having heard a single song. Now I like every single track on the disc. Would be higher than #5 if I hadn't listened to it too much in the last couple of months, wearing off a lot of the shine. :)
4. Kris Delmhorst, Strange Conversation - Not an album that I've heard in a couple of months, but it's stayed with me nonetheless. It starts out with one of my favorite songs of the year, and on the all-time favorite list: "Galuppi Baldessare."
3. Snow Patrol, Eyes Open - SP's first album had a couple of songs I liked but overall left me feeling kind of flat. I wasn't going to get this one, and then I heard so much about it that I figured I'd give it a chance. I'm really glad I did. "Chasing Cars" was the song that first hooked me, but I love at least three or four songs even more now. It probably doesn't hurt that much of this album is a personal F/V manifesto.
2. The Decemberists, The Crane Wife - The amount of expectation I placed on this album seemed like it was doomed to disappoint me, yet it never did. One of their overall strongest albums, IMO, this disc holds together as a complete whole, with no song that I dislike, although I admittedly will often skip "Shankhill Butchers." "Sons and Daughters" is a gem and "The Perfect Crime" never fails to get me dancing.
1. Jeremy Enigk, World Waits - No one is more surprised than I am that this album is my #1, but I received it for Christmas and I've been addicted to it since then. The songs are full of atmosphere and emotion, the lyrics are the best kind of poetic, and Enigk's voice is my favorite combination of yearning and hopeful. I look forward to getting to know this album even better, because there's a lot here to take in. ETA: Here's the title track from the album: World Waits.
What were some of your favorites of the year?