Albums of the Year

Having only a limited budget, it usually takes me a few years to find my favourite albums released in any given year, and 2006 was no different. The whole media obsession with the new (and the even more annoying obsession with the old - how many times can the Beatles or Pink Floyd be on the fucking cover of Uncut?) annoys the hell out of me anyway, and so I don't usually pay much attention to what year an album is released unless I'm eagerly awaiting it. Still, according to the 2006 'smart playlist' I just made in iTunes, these albums all came out last year... and I definitely listened to some of them a lot.

AFX - Chosen Lords
I completely missed the vinyl 'Analords' as I don't have a record player, and this didn't sound that great at first but really grew on me, becoming another cherished AFX album. Much better than we've heard from him in a long while, truth be told...

Joanna Newsom - Ys
With its all-star production team this has been so over-egged it is ridiculous. I'm not completely sure about the lyrical direction it takes from The Milk-Eyed Mender, but it's also undeniably powerful and I've found the melodies imprinted onto my brain like a knife in.. my brain. I felt the first album tempered her lyrical/vocal eccentricities with strong, direct narrative a bit more successfully, but at the same time the emotive power on Ys does seem to have been increased considerably: it's very beautiful to hear her sing, even if I'm not always sure what she's singing about. Regardless, I've got a ticket to see her in February (supported by Smog, too!) and I'm a little bit over-excited.

Clark - Body Riddle
This is another totally over-hyped album, and strangely so because I think it's his weakest yet. I adore Clarence Park and Empty the Bones of You - so much so that I consider them hands- down the best two records Warp have released in this century - but I found something very unsatisfying about Body Riddle. Still, the live set he did at my Terminal night was mind-blowing, so Mr Clark still provided the musical highlight of my year.

Nouvelle Vague - Bande a Part
Yay for this album, and their fist one, which have found themselves on heavy rotation.




Squarepusher - Hello Everything
More disappointing form from Tom Jenkinson and Warp Records - he keeps churning out these albums but the whatever-it-was that made Feed me Weird Things and Hard Normal Daddy THE MOST EXCITING ALBUMS I'D EVER HEARD is long gone... last heard, I guess, on 'Red Hot Car'. When was that - 2001? (Good name though).

The Strokes - First Impressions of Earth
I like The Strokes' first two albums a lot, and when I saw them live in Auckland in 2004 they rocked just as a band that portrays itself as they do should. So I was quite excited about this album, which came out way back in January... but as it turns out I've hardly listened to it and when I have it has seemed patchy at best. Maybe it'll get more of my attention in 2007.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Show your Bones
Like their first album, Fever To Tell, this is a complete mess, but I love it anyway. How they manage to do such a bad job of selecting the tracks they include (and the order they appear in) amazes me, but even more amazing is how fucking great some of these tracks are anyway.

Plaid and Bob Jaroc - Greedy Baby
I should have known this would suck - Spokes did, after all...- and to be honest I've never really bonded with Double Figure or Rest Proof Clockwork either (although I witnessed some phenomenal live shows with the material on these albums). The Black Dog albums and early Plaid remain among my all-time favourites, but I can't see the appeal anymore. Plaid have become really BORING - no wonder breakcore acts like Germlin, Michael J Rocks, ove Naxx and DJ Scotch Egg are ripping-up crowds when the play: they show signs of a pulse.

Bonnie Prince Billy - The Letting Go
When Master and Everyone came out I wrote a review saying something like 'at last a Bonnie Prince Billy I can play my friends!' - well, now they all seem to fall into that category, and it's no bad thing. Like that album and the Matt Sweeney collaboration, Superwolf , The Letting Go is great. Even that fuckwit Colin Murray plays it on his evil Radio 1 show, but don't let it stop you growing an implausibly large beard and digging obscure Appalachian folk (whatever that is! - it always seems to get mentioned in Will Oldham's wake).

Burial - Burial
Along with Joanna Newsom's Ys, Burial is one of the albums in this list that seems to be a regular feature in magazine/ website 'top albums of the year' lists, but I don't really understand why, I must say. I mean, don't get me wrong, it's good, has some nice touches... but it's so fucking repetitive, it's like the same on track over and over and over. Why this album? Why?!

Prefuse 73 - Security Screenings
Another sure-shot from this man, who's work as/with Piano Overlord and Savath and Savalas also finally made it onto my stereo during 2006. All amazing stuff that you must hear. I don't think I ever took the first few P73 releases that seriously, even though I liked them, but I've been gradually realising that he hasn't put a foot wrong, and (along with Chris Clark) it's albums like this that are the only thing keeping my faith in Warp alive.

I also listened to and enjoyed these albums:

Boxcutter - Oneiric
Various - Overkill
Various - Sacred Symbols of Mu
Amen Orchestra - 17 Waves
Benga - Newstep
Vex'd - Degenerate
Jimmy Edgar - Colour Strip
The Pipettes - We Are The Pipettes
Various - Seed Records presents SOVIET

....but I can't think of anything else to say about them now as it's 12:40am and I need to sleep.