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summervillain’s extremely biased running list of contenders for best music released in 2006

(months are when i first heard it, not necessarily when it was released.)

eM = is (possibly was) available at eMusic

Open division:

• +/- - Let’s Build a Fire (Absolutely Kosher, eM) (December)
  Q: If this year’s +/- record tried to beat up this year’s Whysall Lane record, who would win? A: The listener.
• 31 Knots - Talk Like Blood (Polyvinyl, eM)(November)
  I know this was actually released in late 2005, but I didn’t hear it then and it’s too good to ignore.
• Anti-Flag - For Blood and Empire (RCA)(April)
  Reviewed at Pathetic Caverns
• David Bazan - Fewer Moving Parts (Jade Tree/Touch and Go, eM)(July)
  At first I thought this was the David Bazan record where he approached the self-parody line, but then I spent a day walking around unable to get “Fewer Broken Pieces” out of my head. It’s scarcely a departure from Pedro the Lion (which was often all Bazan anyway).
• The Bellrays - Have a Little Faith (Cheap Lullaby, eM)(Dec)
  Punked-out soul, or soulful punk? Who cares! Start with “Change the World” or “Detroit Breakdown.”
• Black Helicopter - Invisible Jet (Ecstatic Peace)(Jul)
  Another helicopter band? Jeez. But this is a very nice slab of Television-inspired indie rock. Lots of texture, exuberant drumming, great recording with tons of bite. Reminds me a bit of Big Dipper, ’specially on my mix pick “Buick Electra.”
• The Buzzcocks - Flat-Pack Philosophy (Cooking Vinyl, eM) (Mar)
  A masterful pop-punk record. I like “Credit” best.
• Centro-Matic - Fort Recovery (Misra, eM)(March)
  referenced here as a member of the undertow orchestra
• Cinemechanica - The Martial Arts (Hello Sir, eM)(March)
  Reviewed live (with Ho-Ag) at Pathetic Caverns
• The Cops - Get Good Or Stay Bad (Mt. Fuji, eM (May)
  The Cops draw more or less equally on post punk (they cover Wire) classic punk (esp. The Clash) with a dose of raw garage (lots of guitar fuzz and pleasantly ragged vocals) Try “Cash for Cause” or “TV Lieyes”
• Dirty on Purpose - Hallelujah Sirens (North Street, eM)(Jun)
  Dirty on Purpose melds the choppy/propulsive drive of retro new-wave (the instrumental “Monument” could almost pass for you-know-who) with the slowly unfolding restrained dynamics and graceful melodies of slowcore bands like Low. It works quite a bit better than I would’ve expected. The shortest track, “Marfa Lights” is my mix pick.
• Elf Power - Back to the Web (Rkyodisc, eM)(March)
  It’s apparently obligatory to say that the newer, cleaner-sounding Elf Power owes a debt to British Folk, but I assert that Andrew Rieger has been listening to some Carter Family too, and I cite “Rolling Black Water” as proof. But if the music has newfound clarity, the lyrics still mostly seem to be set in some murky Swedenborgian archetypal landscape.
• Fields - 7 from the Village ( Vice, eM)(Sep)
  I kinda didn’t want to jump on this particular indie rock bandwagon, but I gotta admit this is pretty darned nice. I like the way there’s usually an acoustic guitar underpinning everything, and the female harmony vocals add a lot. Pick to click: “Brittlesticks”
• French Toast - Ingleside Terrace (Dischord, eM)(Oct)
  (Description TK)
• The Gothic Archies - The Tragic Treasury (Nonesuch)(dec)
  I’m no expert in Lemony Snicket, but this pairing seems inspired. Merritt is dour without sacrificing an ounce of hilarity, and vice versa.
• Headlights - Kill Them with Kindness (Polyvinyl, eM)(Aug)
  Most of this sounds a lot like Mates of State, only (imho) better. I’m also reminded in snatches of Echobelly, New Order, and the late, lamented Velocity Girl. Fave: “TV.”
• Hot Young Priest - Fiendish Freaky Love (Two Sheds, eM)(Aug)
  Worst band name ever? Just a Bettie Serveert sound-a-like? As long as they write tunes like “You Belong to the Casinos,” I don’t care.
• Tim Lee - Concrete Dog (Fundamental, eM)(Dec)
  There’s nothing groundbreaking about Lee’s straight-ahead rock, and his rough’n'ready voice (sometimes reminiscent of Verlaine or Holsapple) is unlikely to suit every taste. But the tunes are catchy, the lyrics are interesting, the guitar playing is fiery, the production is ballsy, and there are enough shades of rootsy/jangly/driving/relaxed to make it a solid end-to-end listen. Try “Get Up, Get Up”
• Barbara Manning - Enjoy the Lonely Time (Supermodern, eM)(November)
• Maritime - We the Vehicles (Flameshovel, eM) (May)
  I was no fan of Glass Floor, but this is swell-o-riffic. A bit like Death Cab for Cutie before they went boring.
• Modern Machines - Take It, Somebody! (Dirtnap, eM) (June)
  Terrific boozy raucous stuff rawk. RIYL the Replacements, (early) Whiskeytown, the Real Kids, etc. Try “You’re Getting Married” if you need convincing.
• Mogwai - Mr. Beast (Matador, eM) (March)
  Reviewed at Pathetic Caverns
• Mon Frere - Blood Sweat & Swords (Cake) (March)
• New Grenada - Modern Problems (Contraphonic, eM) (sep)
  Every year needs a sneery snotty indie rock band, and here is my 2006 nomination. “Meat is Murder Mobile” is my pick for the start (but hardly the end) of the snotty sneery goodness.
• New Radiant Storm King - The Steady Hand (Darla; eM)(feb)
• Osaka Popstar - and the American Legends of Punk (Rykodisc ,eM) (June)
• Parts and Labor - Stay Afraid (Jagjaguwar; eM)(apr)
  Hyperkinetic, weird, and hissy (enough treble for four normal albums), Parts and Labor manage to wring some surprisingly grabby hooks from the chaos. Try “Timeline” for a start.
• Portastatic - Be Still Please (Merge, eM)(Nov)
  I don’t miss Superchunk any more. So there. Highlights include “Sweetness and Life,” “Getting Saved,” and “You Blanks.”
• Pretty Girls Make Graves - Élan Vital (Matador, eM)(Apr)
  I loved PGMG’s debut Good Health’s slightly catchier/less proggy take on DC (post)punk so much that I was never warmed to the follow up The New Romance and I was slow to warm to this one. There’s virtually nothing left of the the exuberant/just-this-side of chaos intensity they started out with. But I’m starting to really like the more nuanced band they’re growing into — even if my fave track is the closest-to-a-throwback “Wildcat.” And I admire their musically adventurous spirit.

• Prototypes - Prototypes (Minty Fresh; eM)(aug)
  Garage/disco collision delivered mostly en français with a lot of sass and verve. Try “Un Brin de Fierte.” Especially recommended if you like the first Elastica record.
• Quasi - When the Going Gets Dark (Touch and Go, eM)(March)
• Radio Birdman - Zeno Beach (Yep Roc; eM)(Aug)
  Another reunion album!? Sheesh. But “Locked Out” don’t sound like fogey rock.
• Relay - Still Point of Turning (Bubble Core; eM)(late)
  Mostly picture-perfect, texture-rich shoegazey rock, with a smattering of more atmospheric, less propulsive tracks. Plenty of “damn, that’s gorgeous” too offset a bit of “eh, that’s kind of snoozy” and a fair quantity of “it’s beautifully assembled, but this one’s not as hooky.”
• The Rogers Sisters - The Invisible Deck (Too Pure, eM)(may)
• Scanners - Violence is Golden (Dim Mak, eM)(dec)
  File under the general retro-new wave category, but Scanners have more varied songs/production and a more distinctive singer than many of the current glut.
• The Strays - Le Futur Noir (TVT, eM)(late)
  This is the sort of glossy, big money production I usually hate, but the consistent energy level (and some solid hooks) get me grinning and head bobbing despite myself. The Strays are on well-trod ground, but they’ve digested enough influences that they don’t sound like a ripoff of anything in particular. The bonus covers ep for emusic members is surprisingly worthwhile; The Strays play “Bastards of Young” just a little faster and tighter than The Replacements did, and strip the signature see-saw riff out of The Godfathers’ “Birth, School, Work, Death.”
• Tapes ‘n Tapes - The Loon (XL Recordings, eM)(jun)
  I agree with the groupthink consensus that Tapes ‘n Tapes owe a huge stylistic debt to the likes of Pavement and The Pixies. But I like ‘em best on tunes like “Insistor,” where they add the spastic energy of Les Savvy Fav to the mix. I’m probably wrong, but I prefer to think the lyric refers to “Harvard Square” and being someone’s “badger,” coz that adds even more personal relevance.
• The Thermals - the body, the blood, the machine (SubPop)(Aug)
  I wouldn’t have thought I’d have a concept album based on Bible stories in my year’s best list, but what’s key is this announced itself first sounding kinda like the Mountain Goats, only massively rocked up.
• Uzeda - Stella (Touch and Go, eM)(aug)
• Victory at Sea - All Your Things Are Gone (Glen Blandstern; eM)(feb)
• Voxtrot - Mothers, Sisters, Daughters & Wives (Cult Hero, eM)(dec)
  Here in Summervillainland we don’t hold with the notion that EPs, live records and such are ineligible for year’s-best consideration, but it might be worth mentioning that Voxtrot released a full album’s worth of EPs in 2006, and it seems likely that they’ll repackaged as an “real” album at some point. Anyway, this band, as exemplified on “Rise Up in the Dirt,” draws on classic new wave without sounding retro, and dramatic without going over-the-top.
• Young People - All At Once (Too Pure, eM) (March)

Local division:

• Anushka Pop- Akathena (Apr)
  I was having trouble describing how this band fuses Brit invasion, American power pop (early Cheap Trick comes to mind) and a dash of rootsiness to such swell and cohesive effect until my wunnerful girlfriend came to my rescue. “They sound like The Cavedogs,” she said. And so they do.
• Beatings - Holding on to Hand Grenades (Apr)
• The Brother Kite - Waiting for the Time to be Right (Nov, eM)
  (The reflective side of ) The Beach Boys meets (the chiming guitars of) Echo and the Bunnymen. The result is much better than you might think (and if those comparisons are too dated, think The Shins with more elaborate harmonies). Try the title track for maximal Beach Boys influence or “Get On, Me” for more uptempo new-wavey goodness.)

Demoted

These were originally in the “open” division, but haven’t held up as well as I initially thought they might.

• Exene Cervenka and the Original Sinners - Sev7en (Nitro, eM) (March)
  Went skipping through this to see what might be a candidate for a best-of mix, and didn’t hear any. More alarmingly, Exene’s vocals sounded kinda. . .lazy. X live was still one of the year’s very pleasant concert surprises though.
• Film School - Film School (Beggars Banquet, eM)(March)
  I like a few of these songs a lot, but I feel like they’re undercut by production and arrangement choices that make the record sound more derivative (and trendy) than it ought to.
• I Farm - IV (Go Kart, eM)(Apr)
  Would be a full-on contender if the vocals were stronger (or if this mathy hardcore outfit would just go instrumental). Playing is very sharp, and the production is great. Top honors to “Rayuela,” by a very narrow margin, with “I Hit My Head” and “This Is Not a Test” the runners up.
• Landspeedrecord! - Intermission (Morphius)(March)
  Reviewed at Pathetic Caverns Those vocals are just not sounding as forgivable to me as they were this spring. This has a lot of merit, but maybe just a smidge of AutoTune wouldn’t have been such a bad idea.

other albums/eps with songs i really like

• Calexico Garden Ruin
• Camera Obscura Let’s Get Out of This Country
  In which, as has been well covered elsewhere, Belle and Sebastian is out-Belled and Sebastianed.
  Nothing else here is quite as buoyantly catchy as “Lloyd, I’m Ready to be Heartbroken” and I did eventually tire of that tune. I thought I wouldn’t for months, though, which easily worth an honorable mention.
• Neko Case - Fox Confessor Brings the Flood (Anti, eM)(March)
  I love her voice, and I love the arrangements and the mood, but I don’t feel like the songs are quite there.
• Grandaddy Just Like the Fambly Cat
  Pleasant, for sure, but just doesn’t grab me around the throat and force me to put it on the best list. Might’ve been better as an EP
• Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins Rabbit Fur Coat
• The Minus 5 - The Minus 5 (Yep Roc, eM)(Feb)
  Minus 5’s high points, like “Twilight Distillery,” and “Out There on the Moon,” — an appealing mix of Byrdsian chime, Brit-invasion stacked harmonies, and swaggering rootsy rock. But it doesn’t hang together as well as Down With Wilco or I Don’t Know Who I Am for me. A few more up-tempo numbers might’ve helped, although the slow, moody “Cemetery Row” also deserves mention.
• Oneida - Happy New Year (Jagjaguwar, eM)(Jul)
  This feels like the sort of record that might make it out of the also-ran bin if I gave it more time to sink in, with “The Misfit” making the strongest early bid for best-of-mix status. I really hate to compare anything to Fugazi, but this does remind me of my old homies, only sorta unplugged.
• Stereolab Fab Four Suture
  Reviewed at Pathetic Caverns
• Whysall Lane

the summervillain is eager to hear:

• Concretes - In Colour
• new Channels (full length)
• new Ho-Ag
• The Photo Atlas
• Rose Melberg - Cast Away the Clouds
• Tasty Habits (full length)

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