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ALBUMS OF 2006
1 - Bob Dylan - Modern Times
Last
year we had quite an unpredictable Album Of
The Year in Chris Rea's magnum opus Blue Guitars,
but this time we find ourselves agreeing with
plenty of other lists. At a time when The X-Factor
is set to draw to a close and give us another
bland and instantly forgettable pop star, it seems
quite appropriate that Bob Dylan is enjoying such
a critical and commercial revival. If he was 20
years old again and entered into something The
X-Factor or American Idol, he would be laughed
off the stage by Simon Cowell for his appalling
vocals, and that is exactly why Steve Brookstein
and Shayne Ward are so utterly insignificant and
why Dylan is a living legend. They may have had
the nice voices to woo Louis Walsh and the voting
public, but they lack any kind of real x-factor,
and Dylan has always had that in spades. That
undefinable quality is what has made him such
a vital and essential part of the musical furniture
since the early 60s, even in his bleakest days
in the 80s and early 90s. He never had a great
voice and it's all shot to hell now, but there's
much character and depth in it than anyone you
could care to name that Simon Cowell has tutored.
Modern Times continues his resurgence that began
with Time Out Of Mind and Love And Theft, though
it is closer in style to the latter in the way
that he takes so many forms of Americana and twists
them all together to form an album that stands
up against almost anything he's done before. Thunder
On The Mountain takes the rhythm to Johnny B.
Goode and adds some curious lyrics about Alicia
Keys (seriously), whilst sounding like nobody
but Dylan, and the rollicking rockabilly band
keep it flying along at a joyously shambolic pace.
The whole album is very raw-sounding without seemed
rushed or sloppy and that's quite a neat trick,
and it gives it all a really fun and 'live' feel
that stops songs from getting boring even as they
pass the 5 minute mark, which all but one of them
do. The title is a bit of a joke from Dylan as
it's a wholeheartedly unmodern album, despite
the reference to Ms Keys, and he draws from old
crooners and bluesmen just as much as his more
traditional influences like Woody Guthrie, and
while his lyrics are very obtuse and deliberately
evasive, this is as cinematic an album as you'll
hear this year. It's also as good as album as
you'll hear this year and a deservedly critically-lauded
one. That's the x-factor right there...
Key Track:
Workingman's Blues #2 |
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2 - Johnny Cash - American V: A Hundred Highways
Is Cash country music's
version of 2pac? Certainly he's been prolific
since he died and this album of new material could
easily have just tarnished the legacy he left
behind. However, with Rick Rubin on board again,
it was always much more likely to be another fine
example of a man who died back at the peak of
his musical powers. His battered and bruised voice
in what were amongst the very last things he recorded
adds a lot of emotion to another collection of
songs that deal with mortality and death right
as it was staring him in the face. It's actually
an improvement on American IV, cutting out of
the more unneccessary cover versions and guest
appearances, leaving just Cash and Rubin's excellent
production. It might seem strange to have someone
in our 2006 list who died in 2004, but this is
one example of a posthumous cash-in (no pun intended)
that more than justifies its existence.
Key Track:
On The Evening Train |
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3 - Arctic Monkeys - Whatever You Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
For once, the hype was justified.
At the start of 2006, the band on everyone's lips
were Arctic Monkeys after they had ushered in
a new era of music by getting to number one in
the singles charts without much airplay or publicity.
By the time this debut came out, they had plenty
of both as well as the incorrect tag of being
'that MySpace band', so it was no surprise to
see it sell in its thousands. There's nothing
revolutionary about their music and their simple
lyrics have been overanalysed to death, but this
is still the best indie rock album to have come
out for a good few years, with echoes of Never
Mind The Bollocks and Definitely Maybe in its
cocky swagger, while their seeming lack of personality and celebrity antics away from the stage is a refreshing change from the tedious likes of Doherty and Borrell. These Monkeys are no chumps.
Key Track:
Fake Tales Of San Francisco |
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4 - Ali Farka Toure - Savane
Another posthumous release
here, but unlike Johnny Cash, Ali Farka Toure
was alive at the start of the year and this album
was completed before his death. One of the leading
(if unwilling) pioneers of World Music in the
west, Toure was a Malian blues singer and guitarist
who worked with the likes of Ry Cooder and Toumani
Diabate and his death from bone cancer in March
was a real loss to the music world. His unique
mix of delta blues and 'desert blues' first brought
him to prominence in the 80s, when he was already
in his 50s and while he tried to give it all up
and stick to being a rice farmer, he was convinced
a few times to return and this excellent final
album is a lasting testimony to his incredible
talents as both singer and guitarist.
Key Track: Yer Bounda Fara
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5 - Pet Shop Boys - Fundamental
Sometimes the Pet Shop Boys
can be seen as just a flamboyant pop group, which
is a bit unfair as they are more than capable
of being 'serious' musicians, as they showed with
last year's new soundtrack to Battleship Potemkin.
Fundamental was billed as their return to dance-pop
after the rock stylings of Release, but the real
story behind the album is the lyrics, which find
them in deliciously bitter and disaffected mood.
Tony Blair and George Bush come under fire in
I'm With Stupid, while Luna Park is a sumptuous
tale of a spectacular funfair world where the
inhabitants blissfully waste their lives away
unaware of the storm that is on its way to wipe
them all out. Even Diane Warren's Numb is very
good, and proved to be an unlikely but very fitting
musical background to England's World Cup woes
on the BBC in the summer.
Key Track:
Luna Park |
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6 - Joanna Newsom - Ys
Here's one of those albums
that critics drool over and the public mostly
ignore, and it's hardly difficult to see why as
twee indie folk songs that are all more than seven
minutes long are not exactly radio friendly unit
shifters. However, this is one of the most intruiging
albums of the year, with Newsom on only her second
release managing to get such austere and diverse
musical talents as Van Dyke Parks, Steve Albini
and Jim O'Rourke involved, and the way their unique
sounds come together is a delight to hear, particularly
the baroque stylings of Parks and the lo-fi principles
of Albini. But none of this would matter if Newsom's
Kate Bush-esque tunes more than live up to their
swanky surroundings, with whimsical tales of faeries
and nymphs all wrapped up in gorgeously quirky
melodies, meaning that while Ys has a stupid name,
it's an album that rewards multiple listenings
and certainly deserves them.
Key Track:
Monkey & Bear |
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7 - Tom Waits - Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers And Bastards
Quite a hard album to classify,
as it's neither a greatest hits album, a rarities
album or a new album, but what it certainly is
is a stunning collection of music from one of
the most uniquely talented men in the business.
It's split into three sections, with Brawlers
showcasing his rare-spotted rockabilly talents,
while Bawlers is prime Waits with a whole load
of sleazy and downtrodden ballads, and Bastards
sees him taking his more leftfield ideas to the
very limit, making it much more challenging, but
equally much more rewarding. Orphans is a massive
and sprawling load of music that will probably
terrify newcomers in more ways than one, but it's
an absolutely essential purchase for any fans
of Waits. Fans of The Ramones should also check
out his amazing covers of The Return Of Jackie
And Judy and particularly Danny Says, but they
are just two highlights of a 56-song collection
that is absolutely jammed full of them.
Key Track:
Road To Peace |
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8 - Keane - Under The Iron Sea
When Under The Iron
Sea came out, it was largely dismissed as
the sound of a posh bunch of nice boys trying
to act 'troubled' and 'dark'. Since then
though, singer Tom Chaplin has been in and
out of rehab, and suddenly Tim Rice-Oxley's
lyrics on tracks like The Hamburg Song and
Put It Behind You were all much easier to
understand and there's a definite edginess
about Chaplin singing some uncomplimentary
songs about his own drug abuse. Obviously
'dark' for Keane is still pretty poppy and
chirpy, as demonstrated by rollicking singles
Is It Any Wonder? and Crystal Ball, but
the best song on the album is A Bad Dream,
Rice-Oxley's anti-war tune based on a poem
by WB Yeats, and it is that song that best
sums up an album that has been seen by many
as a disappointment, but is really a major
growth from their naive debut.
Key Track:
A Bad Dream |
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9 - Camera Obscura
- Let's Get Out Of This Country
What is it about
Scottish indie bands? Somehow they
all seem to get sprinkled with pixie
dust to make them twee, adorable and
generally delightful, from Belle And
Sebastian to Aberfeldy and there's
none so twee and delightful as Camera
Obscura. Over the course of their
first two albums they started to perfect
the girl group-influenced countryish
chamber pop, and the fruition of their
development is right here in this
gorgeous album. Lead singer Traceyanne
Campbell has got the perfect voice
for this kind of music and she also
has a knack for writing intelligent
and affecting ballads, while the rest
of the band back her up with slick,
classy and memorable tunes. They might
not be as popular as former mentors
Belle And Sebastian yet, but this
third album shows that they have already
surpassed them in terms of their music,
and that's no mean feat.
Key Track:
Hey Lloyd, I'm Ready To Be Heartbroken
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10 - Lindsey Buckingham - Under The Skin
One of the most underappreciated
geniuses working in rock music today is
Lindsey Buckingham. Whether it's his confusing
name, the uncoolness of AOR Fleetwood Mac
or the fact that he has only recorded four
solo albums in 25 years, he doesn't get
either the critical kudos or commercial
success that he probably deserves. Mind
you, Under The Skin, his first new solo
material since 1992's excellent Out Of The
Cradle, has at least had some great reviews.
Each of his albums has been an improvement
on the last one and that pattern continues
here with quite a different sound too, much
more intimate and acoustic, with many subtle
layers that need to be delved through to
find the beautiful melodies underneath.
It's probably the least immediate collection
of songs he's ever produced, but it could
also prove to be amongst the best.
Key Track:
Cast Away Dreams |
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11 - Bruce Springsteen - We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions
Bruce Springsteen's
second album in as many years sees him break
away from the quiet-loud-quiet-loud pattern
he'd been working in since the late 70s,
and it's a departure in many other ways
as well. There's no E-Street Band again,
with Springsteen getting a load of session
musicians together in his house for a very
unusual recording session spread across
various rooms and hallways, giving We Shall
Overcome a suitably homely, ramshackle and
rambunctious feel, making the whole album
sound like some of crazy party at Chez Boss.
There's some real rollicking tracks on here,
like opener Old Dan Tucker and Buffalo Gals
(on the expanded American Land edition)
as well as more reflective folk ballads
like the title track and Bring 'Em Home
(also an American Land track), both of which
are more than a little political. But despite
the undertones of dissent, this is an example
of how great music can be when it's just
a whole load of talented musicians thrown
in together and just having a go for the
fun of it.
Key Track:
Oh Mary Don't You Weep |
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12 - Jenny Lewis
& The Watson Twins - Rabbit Fur Coat
It seems like
an age since this came out, but it's
lost none of its magic. Jenny Lewis,
former child actress and lead singer
of alt.rockers Rilo Kiley made her
first solo splash at the start of
the year, backed by the creepy but
harmonious Watson Twins. With a much
more countryfied style than her day-job,
Lewis demonstrated just how much she
has grown as a singer and songwriter
over the last few years. She also
managed to rope in boyfriend Johnathan
Rice and Conor 'Bright Eyes' Oborst
for a fun run-through of Handle With
Care by the Traveling Wilburys. From
the a capella opener of Run, Devil
Run to the clever Rise Up With Fists
to the whispered and intimate title
track, this is a classy album from
a great talent.
Key Track:
Rise Up With Fists |
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13 - Muse - Black Holes And Revelations
The BIGGEST album
of the year in terms of scope and ambition,
this new album from Muse is everything they
have always promised to be wrapped up in
one preposterously entertaining package.
From the thrilling Bush-baiting opener to
the quite simply insane closer Knights Of
Cydonia, Black Holes And Revelations is
a rollercoaster ride through Matt Bellamy's
sci-fi visions and operatic delusions, and
while it has been called 'their OK Computer',
it certainly the album that blows away any
lingering comparisons between Muse and Radiohead.
It's nowhere near as good as OK Computer,
but it's a hell of a lot more dramatic,
exciting and accessible than Thom Yorke
and Co have ever been, so it's no surprise that this album is the one that has pushed them into the kind of popularity where they can sell out the MEN Arena two nights in a row...
Key Track:
Supermassive Black Hole |
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14 - Wolfmother - Wolfmother
We're quite proud
to say that we tipped Wolfmother for success
in our Ones To Watch 2006 list at the start
of the year, based on the quality of their
debut single Mind's Eye. While they aren't
quite household names yet, these Australians
have certainly lived up to that prediction
well with this self-titled album, which
was the best album Led Zeppelin never released.
Wolfmother aren't Led Zep, of course, and
this album does fall way short of the genius
of Jimmy Page's mob, but it is also one
of the most consistently rocking records
of the year, with nary a weak track and
plenty of mythical goobledegook, which is
always useful. There's lots of retro rockers
out there at the moment, but the likes of
Jet don't come close, so it will be very
interesting to see how these guys improve
in albums to come because they do seem to have something special if they can develop beyond the very obvious influences they have at this stage.
Key Track:
Mind's Eye |
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15 - Oppenheimer - Oppenheimer
We thought long and
hard about whether to include this album,
not because it's not deserving of Top 20
recognition, but because it's not technically
out on CD until next year. However, it is
out digitally and you can buy it on iTunes
or emusic, and we'd recommend you have a
listen to some of the tracks, particularly
their excellent single Breakfast In NYC,
which highlights the wonderful electro power-pop
that this Belfast duo excel in. It's also
checking out their excellent cover of Christmas
(Baby Please Come Home) on the Very Best
KIDS Christmas Album In The World Ever Ever
Ever!!! for another great example of why
they should be huge. Hopefully when this
album gets a proper release, this wonderful
band will get some more recognitition, because
there's pure gold in here.
Key Track:
Breakfast In NYC |
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16 - Pernice Brothers - Live A Little
Incredibly, the Pernice
Brothers were in our 2005 list as well,
and are the only act to feature again, partly
because they are one of the few to release
two albums in two years and mainly because
all of their albums are fantastic. Joe Pernice's
half-whispered vocals and his excellent
band are one of the best in the business
at doing dry, lovelorn harmonies and Live
A Little is absolutely full of beautiful
songs, even the curiously titled Grudge
Fuck (2006). To be honest, these guys could
release an album every year and it would
be a contender to get into our lists, and
this is probably their best record since
2002's stunning The World Won't End, so
it's no surprise that we love it so much.
Key Track:
Cruelty To Animals |
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17 - Gwen Stefani - The Sweet Escape
The esteemed NME put
Gwen Stefani in their Biggest Letdowns Of
The Year list and described her as 'pissing
her career away', which seems curious as
her solo experiments have earned her much
bigger hits and much more critical acclaim
than she's ever had with No Doubt, but then
again they also claim that Amy Winehouse,
Lily Allen and Russell Brand are in the
top 10 'Best Looks' of the year, so there's
no accounting for taste. With her first
solo album, Stefani took 21st century pop
to a new level, staying close to her roots
while expanding her sound into every conceivable
angle of pop music. The pattern is mostly
the same here, but the confidence from the
success of the first album has seeped through
in this more adventurous, expansive and
exciting record, with help from the likes
of Tim-Rice Oxley, Akon and particularly
the production magic of The Neptures.
Key Track:
The Sweet Escape |
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18 - Scott Matthews - Passing Stranger
The 'new Jeff Buckley' tag was a heavy burden for a new young singer-songwriter, but Matthews shrugged it off with this incredibly ambitious and self-assured debut album. With tabla jams aplenty and influences from the likes of Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Robert Plant and Buckley, Matthews uses his awesome voice to full effect on some really impressive songs, and while Passing Stranger takes a few listens to get into, it's one of the best rock debut albums from a British artist in many years.
Key Track: Dream Song |
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19 - The Flaming Lips - At War With The Mystics
One of the most predictable
events of the year was the new Flaming Lips
album being one of the best albums of the
year. One of the best bands you could hope
to find, their quirkiness and bizarre live
shows disguise the fact that they are just
as serious as more sombre bands, and like
many records released in the last few years,
there is a definite anti-war agenda here.
There's also a lot of crazy nonsense too,
but while Wayne Coyne and Co never quite
reach the heights of Yoshimi Battles The
Pink Robots or The Soft Bulletin, there's
moments of pure genius here...
Key Track:
Pompeii Am Gotterdammerung |
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20 - Juliette And The Licks - Four On The Floor
Juliette Lewis was
always more likely to make it as a proper
rock star than most other actresses because
her acting was always edgy and 'rock n roll'.
One look at Natural Born Killers and you're
convinced that she's a rocker. Her band's
first album was a decent entry into the
music world, but it still felt like an actress
playing a role. A year on and this second
album has none of that hesitancy, with Lewis
fully morphed into Patti Smith with a whole
load of songs about sex, sex, sex and more
sex. With Dave Grohl's drumming pounding
the tracks along at a hell of a pace, it
never really lets up and is the most balls-out
rock album of the whole year.
Key Track:
Sticky Honey |
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