2006 was a fantastic year for music—there were tons of banner releases by some of the greatest bands playing. So, in a rough order that cannot be categorized by mere hu-mans:
01. Cat Power, The Greatest.
If you’d told me ten years ago that Chan Marshall would reconstruct herself as a sly soul balladeer I’d have spit up my Southpaw on you. But the intricate soul of The Greatest stands alone, and I consider it almost a debut. The extraordinary show she played in Berlin in November of last year demonstrates how the 21st c. can still have the Memphis soul.
02. Tegan & Sara, So Jealous.
I bought this record (at a Borders, no less) whilst pretending strenuously that it was for a younger relative, a female cousin, perhaps, that I was trying to hook on the “jangly indie pop harmonies.” I am a liar. It is all for me, and I rub it on my gums every night before I go to bed.
03. (tie) Bruce Springsteen, Glendale, Arizona (2005); Rome, Italy (2005).
The Reigning King of Rock and Roll continues to reimagine himself and the music he’s been performing for over thirty years now. I still cannot forget hearing “Reason to Believe” that night in Arizona and not knowing what it was: a song I listened to every day for months. It was simultaneously 1,000 years old and from the 25th century, an electro-blues for the new millenium.
Gorjus + La Cat go to see the Boss in Glendale.
04. Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Show Your Bones.
At first I was all “eh,” then I was all “’Cheated Hearts’ rules, y’all,” and then I was all, “I am going to sew myself a YYY flag out of the clothing of girlfriends that left me years before.”
05. Bonnie Tyler, “It’s a Heartache.”
Simply the greatest rock ballad of all time. “Love him ‘til your arms break/Then he lets you down.” Isn’t that always the way? But . . . wait, you haven’t heard it? Damn. The damage to continuity was greater than we feared. We have the technology. We can bring her back.
06. Band of Horses, Everything All the Time.
Elegiac party music for the post-thirty set. This sounds new every time I listen to it.
07. George Strait, It Just Comes Natural.
Laid-back modern country with at least a half dozen gems. When I bought this I lied and told the clerk is was for my dad. The DJ Shadow I laid on top of it at the counter didn’t hide my shame, but screw it: what other genre has odes to its fans? “How ‘Bout Them Cowgirls” needs to be reworked, stat, by somebody.
08. George Harrison, “What is Life.”
A stunning piece of lovely pop by the Beatle we all should love more.
WE WILL NVR DIE:
04. The Gossip, Standing in the Way of Control.
From the Gossip myspace: Gossip is young + full of white heat. We are interested in art, crime, politics, food, change, the underground, dancing, fashion, subversive individuals and movements. We will nvr die + we will nvr diet. This is life dedication to our aktion.
From “Yr Mangled Heart”: I DON’T WANT THE WORLD, I ONLY WANT WHAT I DESERVE.
WE WILL NVR DIE: Prof. + Gorjus go see the Goxxip at the Spanish Moon.
THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE THE NEW WORLD:
Neil Young, Living with War.
The Gossip is what America in the 21st century sounds like. Living with War is what we feel like. This record has brought me to tears so much that I had to stop listening to it. Then on November 8 I woke up and I could play it again.
Gloria in excelsis deo.
THEY’RE GONNA SAVE SOMEONE:
Hold Steady, Boys and Girls in America.
“Is it true that we love the Hold Steady because we live the Hold Steady? That the songs tell stories about the things we used to hide? That there’s nothing better than right now when you’re seventeen? That there’s nothing better than right now when you’re thirty-three?”
The Glam Menagerie has a Massive Night in New Oreleans.
Tegan and Sara? I don’t know what to say. But I’m with you on everything else. Band of Horses = poetic majesty. Or something like that. And you know how I feel about the Hold Steady. Oh, to be 33 forever.
I guess I’m going to have to break down and get that Band of Horses record. And you’re right on about the new Cat Power—I finally got it recently and dig it immensely.
Man. Good stuff, Gorjus. Now I’ve got a map for some new acquisitions.
Anyone reading this heard Wolfmother? The sound is like – it’s EXACTLY like – Jack White with about 1/4 of his actual vocabulary singing for Black Sabbath. Cro-Magnon as hell but still the best new thing I heard all year.
Band of Horses = rock greatness.
Add TV on the Radio and Centromatic and Midlake to that list, my friend.
know what i keep playing? that Goldfrapp song “Strict Machine”. I say she sounds like a Debbie Harry sex robot.
Kicker, I’ve been to two Wolfmother shows this year. They’re even better than you think. This band is the epitomy of rock-n-roll. And they do sound exactly like Black Sabbath. Love the afro too.
I feel compelled to note that I left off the new Rainer Maria and the new Mates of State, even though I enjoyed them both tons. And, the new Flaming Lips. I left that off because my copy of Soft Bulletin kicked its ass.
if you want the new sabbath grooves, check out THE SWORD “age of winters.”
winter’s wolves, wa-hooooooooo
