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| From | "garymaher@juno.com" <garymaher@juno.com> |
| Subject | My Top 10 of 2006 |
| Date | Wed, 17 Jan 2007 08:45:09 GMT |
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My Top 10 of 2006:
1. Rainy Day Assembly - Someone Else's Story. As an EP, it's
not eligible, but it's my favorite release of the year by far. I've
been waiting five years for my friend Jillian to release her EP, and
it finally hit this year. Jillian has the most amazing voice – think
Karen Peris of the Innocence Mission, Harriet Wheeler of the Sundays
or Lisa Loeb – and her songs are great too. Check her out at
myspace.com/rainydayassembly .
2. Belle & Sebastian - The Life Pursuit. Their sound continues
to mature. I loved their bowlie tweeness, but they've gotten a lot
more meaty. I think this record is to Dear Catastrophe Waitress what
Fold Your Arms Child was to The Boy With The Arab Strap – a pensive,
transitional follow up to a record with a lot of energy. Plenty of
good songs here. Catch them live if you haven't yet – they're pretty
spectacular.
3. Syd ‘n Susie - Between The Covers, Vol. 1. File this one
under songs you always wanted to cover but your bandmates wouldn't go
for it. Great song selection and joyously poppy arrangements make
this a must have for any self-respecting power pop fan.
4. Roger Joseph Manning, Jr. - Solid State Warrior. Yes, the
original. How anybody could think it a good idea to delete Sleep
Children is beyond my comprehension. The song is beautiful and
unique, my favorite of the set and possibly my favorite Manning
composition. Duh, people! What You Don't Know About The Girl is
another keeper, as far as I'm concerned. Anyway, there are plenty of
other great tracks here. But was it worth the wait? I don't know.
I'm a little concerned about the production. It's a bit too clean
and samey. I used to say that about Jason Falkner, but his records
are edgy compared to this.
5. Sloan - Never Hear the End of It. Back in the days of
records, you knew the songs at the end of side two as well as those
at the end of side one, because you spent time listening to each
side. Nowadays, most people start the CD at the beginning. If it's
long, they get distracted and never hear the end of it. Sloan's
latest is their usual solid effort and, at 30 songs, way long. It's
all good, but is any of it great? Not sure yet. It does seem a bit
less intense and less ear popping than the past few, all of which
I've loved.
6. Vanilla. I was disappointed when I ripped open the plastic
and saw that while Scott McPherson is all over the record, he didn't
write any of the songs. Listening to it pretty much cured me of
that. Like Scott, Jayson Jarmon has a strong pop sense, and although
this record can't touch Tiny Volcano's debut, it's pretty damn good.
7. Stingray Green - Hard Numbers. It's not the Vandalias – it's
an incredible simulation. Sarka and the boys have gone live-action,
and the results are impressive. Sarka's songs here are every bit as
good as his Vandalias' tracks. Unfortunately, the record plays out
kinda like Sebadoh's Harmacy, because half the songs are written by
other members of the band, and while they're decent, well, most
people's songs would sound inferior sandwiched between two Dan Sarka
songs. By the way, this band smokes live, and, if you close your
eyes, you can't tell that those little cartoon guys aren't making the
music.
8. The Nines - Calling Distance Stations. Can one of your
favorite records of the year be one that disappointed you? Fer
sure. (You'll see another one down the list a bit.) Coming on the
heels of Properties of Sound, I had expected this CD to be the one
that was never out of the player for long. Sure, there are a couple
of absolutely brilliant songs here. (Darkening Sky and Receiving Me
come to mind.) The rest failed to grab and shake me after several
listenings. It's a very good record, and, if it wasn't by the Nines,
I'd probably be really impressed. But I expected more.
9. The Cardigans - Super Extra Gravity. Picking up the pace a
little suits them just fine. This one is a welcome relief from the
hopeless drudgery of Long Gone Before Daylight. Look, I like sadcore
as much as the next guy, but that's hardly this band's strong suit.
Still a far cry from Life and First Band on the Moon, the grown-up
version of the Cardigans occasionally remembers how to rock and roll,
and those moments are the highlights here.
10. Cloud Eleven - Sweet Happy Life. This is the other good
record that disappointed me. Orange and Green and Yellow and Near is
one of my favorite records of the past few years. It's one of the
first ones I grab when I'm going to be in the car for a while or
going on vacation. And I love every other record Rick has released.
But I don't know what to make of this one. I've given it a few
spins, put it on the shelf, tried it a few more times. I can tell
it's a good record, and I like it while it's on, but I haven't had it
running through my head like the others. Maybe I need to live with
it longer. (OK, this is becoming "It's not you, it's me", but I'm
not ready to break up just yet.)
Discoveries of the Year
* Ros Sereysothea. Cambodian psychedelic rock, no shit! One
of the most wonderful voices I've ever heard (although others tell me
they can't stand her singing). Tragic story of a farmgirl from the
country whose voice takes her to the capital, where she becomes a
nation's sweetheart and favorite singer of the royal family, only to
be subjected to various indignities under the Khmer Rouge and
eventually executed in the Killing Fields. And there's an American
band (Dengue Fever) that covers her tunes. Check her out!
* Fancey. Solo project of Todd Fancey of the New
Pornographers. Totally kicks his main band's butt. You'll think you
died and went to 70's AM heaven. Plus fellow New Pr0no and drummer
extraordinaire Kurt Dahle is all over it. Sample it at their cool
website: fancey.org .
* Boettcher. Yes, I know I'm late to the party on this one. I
like the Sagittarius record the best. I listen to it almost every
night while I'm going to sleep. Very comforting.
* The Critters. From my hometown. Great debut record and
early singles. Jim Ryan was a heck of a songwriter.
Disappointments of the Year
* Lilys - Everything Wrong Is Imaginary. I wish this CD were
imaginary. What was Kurt thinking? No wonder it didn't work out
with Falkner as producer. I think Kurt's trying much too hard to be
weird. He should act naturally – that's plenty weird enough.
* Beatles - Love. A Beatles release should blow everybody else
out of the water. When a kid from Florida can do something more
interesting at home with the same source material, that should tell
you something. And isn't George Martin pretty much deaf? What did
he do, press his teeth against the sound board? (Sorry, Beethoven
reference.) OK, it's worth a listen, but hardly worthy of a Beatles
release.
g
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