Favorite Albums of 2006... Kind of.
Since 2003, I've done an "album of the year list". On my Memories Page you can view the past three in the "lists" section.
It occurred to me that I should keep the tradition. However, this year, I have listened to very few new releases. In the past, I've done only albums that were released during the year I created the list. I still think that's the way to do it, since in retrospect it not only is a way to keep track of the evolution of my taste but it also reminds me of the times culturally.
It's funny looking back on these lists and seeing how enthusiastic I was to verbalize my thoughts about music. I guess lately I've just been enjoying it and not over-analyzing. I wouldn't say that's a leap forward or backward, but it's a change, and it should be noted.
I really had to think hard about albums that were both new releases and that I enjoyed. There are few that I'm passionate about. Coming up with a top 10 or 20 list has been difficult, and I wouldn't want anything that felt forced. But nonetheless, the show must go on, and so here it is.
There have been a lot of amazing albums this year that if I heard a couple years ago I would probably be going crazy about right now. I simply wasn't in the mood for them and couldn't get into them. Albums like Tom Waits' Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers, & Bastards and Joanna Newsom's Ys. This year I've been finding myself constantly listening to my hip-hop favorites of Sage Francis, Sole, Monsta Island Czars, Jedi Mind Tricks, Passage, and so forth.
10. Dosh - "The Lost Take"
Lush and hypnotic, this is definitely the strongest of Dosh's albums thus far. Every song has its own unique feel. "Everybody Cheer Up Song" epitomizes well the ambivalent paradox I felt throughout the year... how a surface of happiness can be gloomy and sad on the inside.
9. J Dilla - "Donuts"
I can't deny the masterful production of this instrumental hip-hop album. The layering, rhythm, and flow is mindblowing. J Dilla unfortunately passed away shortly after its release. He had spent many years sick with TTP and Lupus, yet continued to work and produce new music. How he managed to be so prolific despite his health troubles amazes me, but I wouldn't put this album on here simply for sympathy. It's amazing and entrancing.
8. Islands - "Return to the Sea"
One of the few indie albums I really dug this year, Islands (formerly The Unicorns) bring a very eclectic album together with exceptional lyrics and many moments of awe--especially the opening track "Swans (Life after Death)" through its crescendo and amazing end that rocks hard. And of course the wacky "Where There's a Will There's a Whalebone" with its fucking awesome cameo of the eccentric Canadian rapper, Busdriver. How can you go wrong with that, really? The addictively catchy "Rough Gem" brings in some really fun textures. Lovely, energetic album.
7. Nas - "Hip-hop is Dead"
So this is a very new album, and I've only listened to it a couple times through. However, I can tell already that it will have countless more future listens. And everyone is saying "it's no Illmatic" -- and they're right. But I do love the overall feel and mood of this album, and Nas is definitely still a great poet and rapper. Albums like this are exactly why he never quite achieved the popular acclaim of people like Jay-Z; it's a little too much for the average listener simply looking for a good beat and flow. It's serious, and Nas will let you know it the best way he knows how.
6. The Blow - "Paper Television"
Oh my fucking god, will someone please get these songs out of my head? Just kidding. Kind of. I'd sit around lisetning to "Parantheses", "Fists Up", and "True Affection" over and over. Who can deny this dreadfully lovely and sappy electronic indie pop? And this sort of goes back to the paradox I mentioned in my mini-description of The Lost Take: some of these songs are pretty happy, and in some ways that makes it depressing, since my life is pretty cold right now. But it's nice that some girls are willing to share their warmth: <3333 Khaela Maricich.
5. Ghostface Killah - "Fishscale"
This is probably my least favorite of Ghostface's feature albums. But that doesn't say much because his others are incredible and hard to beat. Fishscale makes a brutal attempt, and is full of crazy vignettes, head-bob inducing beats, and of course a whole slew of Wu-tang appearances. This album snagged some of the same samples that Monsta Island Czars used a few years ago, which made those songs feel like some kind of vocal remixes... but that didn't lessen their value, it made them more fun.
4. Belle & Sebastian - "The Life Pursuit"
I love this album, and I don't care what anyone thinks. It's so catchy and well-produced. The music is consistently great and found its way blasting through many car rides. Stuart Murdoch's voice has transcended even more, which is a feat in itself. He's one of the few vocalists I love who sing both really fun/happy songs and sad songs. The chorus in "Another Sunny Day" is A+++. The quirky yet interesting lyrics of "Funny Little Frog" make the song feel so much more than it would seem on the surface. They really do deserve a second glance after you hear them; it's certainly not all fun-and-games even though the brass is blaring and the guitars are funky. The last minute of "The Act of the Apostle II" sent chills up my spine when I first heard that line: "Ohhh, if I could make sense of it all!"
3. Jedi Mind Tricks - "Servants in Heaven, Kings in Hell"
Vinnie Paz is a funny guy. Some of his lyrics on his past albums make me sick; in the past he's been consistently misogynist and homophobic. But nonetheless, his flow was addictive and I fucking love to listen to this stuff when I'm playing computer games. I mean, it's the perfect soundtrack for annihilating people. So, I first saw the title of this new album, I instantly thought, "Well, that's good... another typical JMT album." And upon hearing "Put Em In The Grave" it was just that: more great beats and a very familiar if not somewhat overused Vinnie Paz flow. But then something interesting happened...
"Uncommon Valor: A Vietnam Story" which features R.A. the Rugged Man. What's this, Vinnie Paz tackling a political song in a mature and interesting light? It can't be. R.A.'s verse is a little long but intense and the flow is immaculate. And in-between other familiar-styled JMT songs like "Heavy Metal Kings" and "Outlive the War", you've got "Shadow Business" which explores the working conditions of the Chinese. And you've got a very touching "Razorblade Salvation". My first glance was both right and wrong. Vinnie Paz probably hasn't totally contradicted his earlier work, but he's certainly becoming more mature and it shows in his lyrics. If he keeps it up, I think it could lead to great things... he's an amazing rhymer, it's just that some of his past lyrics are a little silly. This album proves he's capable of otherwise. Oh, and it's a fucking awesome album to boot. "Put Em In The Grave" has a seriously ill beat. Speaking of ill...
2. Darc Mind - "Symptomatic of a Greater Ill"
I'm not sure if this really counts as a 2006 album, since despite being officially released in 2006 it was recorded in the 90s and never saw a proper release. Well, regardless of when it was recorded, it deserves "proper" acknowledgement. Thankfully anticon picked it up for release, as its lyrical genius is right up their alley. Anyway, this album definitely has a 90s rap feel to it, and it's definitely reminiscent of the better-half. It's got a dark and gritty early Wu-tang (Liquid Swords) style of raw beats with equally dark and brooding rapping. Kevroc's lyrics aren't consistently profound, but his flow is unreal and intoxicating. More hip-hop should be like this, with subtle yet attention-grabbing minimalist beats. It really brings the focal point to the rapping, and it's all executed perfectly. A+ album.
1. Jel - "Soft Money"
So here we are. I ordered this album from Park Ave CDs when it came out, since (who knows why!) they didn't have any shipped to them in-store already. I don't know what I was expecting. I love Jel's production on all his anticon work, and his instrumental album (though essentially a compilation of past beats with the rapping stripped out, and not a real full-length release) kept my attention fairly well. But I wasn't sure what to expect out of a "Jel" solo LP. At first, I was bored. I didn't quite get into it on my first listen. It's funny how that happens sometimes, and if you told me that it'd be my favorite album of the year, I'd probably have told you, "Well, it's gonna be a pretty shitty year then." And maybe there's some truth to that. Maybe this is only here because there wasn't anything better. But that could be said about any album any year, and so I give it props enough. "Soft Money" is a mostly instrumental hip-hop album that only features a few rappers like Pedestrian.
And so the album was shelved for a few months. But I gave it another shot, and wow, it was like a new experience. There's something about the textures and aura of this album that really do it for me. "No Solution" and "Know You Don't" are creepy and atmospheric, layered perfectly. They're stripped and abandoned but at the same time full of ghostly life. Perfect, and I listened to them over and over and they never got old. You could use it as background music or intently focused on it and it would be an equally great listen. "Soft Money, Dry Bones" is definitely the climax of the album, and Pedestrian's lyrics are politically fueled but odd and weirdly mooded, fitting great with the music. This is a much more listenable album than Odd Nosdam's instrumental hip-hop, but the production work is just as unique and textured intricately. And even though "Chipmunk Technique" is the most annoying song of the year and I'm thinking about deleting it off of my hard drive, the rest of the album makes up for it tenfold. This album is a step forward for anticon: it's still got their style, yet it's so refined. This is the future sound of hip-hop.
It occurred to me that I should keep the tradition. However, this year, I have listened to very few new releases. In the past, I've done only albums that were released during the year I created the list. I still think that's the way to do it, since in retrospect it not only is a way to keep track of the evolution of my taste but it also reminds me of the times culturally.
It's funny looking back on these lists and seeing how enthusiastic I was to verbalize my thoughts about music. I guess lately I've just been enjoying it and not over-analyzing. I wouldn't say that's a leap forward or backward, but it's a change, and it should be noted.
I really had to think hard about albums that were both new releases and that I enjoyed. There are few that I'm passionate about. Coming up with a top 10 or 20 list has been difficult, and I wouldn't want anything that felt forced. But nonetheless, the show must go on, and so here it is.
There have been a lot of amazing albums this year that if I heard a couple years ago I would probably be going crazy about right now. I simply wasn't in the mood for them and couldn't get into them. Albums like Tom Waits' Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers, & Bastards and Joanna Newsom's Ys. This year I've been finding myself constantly listening to my hip-hop favorites of Sage Francis, Sole, Monsta Island Czars, Jedi Mind Tricks, Passage, and so forth.
10. Dosh - "The Lost Take"
Lush and hypnotic, this is definitely the strongest of Dosh's albums thus far. Every song has its own unique feel. "Everybody Cheer Up Song" epitomizes well the ambivalent paradox I felt throughout the year... how a surface of happiness can be gloomy and sad on the inside.
9. J Dilla - "Donuts"
I can't deny the masterful production of this instrumental hip-hop album. The layering, rhythm, and flow is mindblowing. J Dilla unfortunately passed away shortly after its release. He had spent many years sick with TTP and Lupus, yet continued to work and produce new music. How he managed to be so prolific despite his health troubles amazes me, but I wouldn't put this album on here simply for sympathy. It's amazing and entrancing.
8. Islands - "Return to the Sea"
One of the few indie albums I really dug this year, Islands (formerly The Unicorns) bring a very eclectic album together with exceptional lyrics and many moments of awe--especially the opening track "Swans (Life after Death)" through its crescendo and amazing end that rocks hard. And of course the wacky "Where There's a Will There's a Whalebone" with its fucking awesome cameo of the eccentric Canadian rapper, Busdriver. How can you go wrong with that, really? The addictively catchy "Rough Gem" brings in some really fun textures. Lovely, energetic album.
7. Nas - "Hip-hop is Dead"
So this is a very new album, and I've only listened to it a couple times through. However, I can tell already that it will have countless more future listens. And everyone is saying "it's no Illmatic" -- and they're right. But I do love the overall feel and mood of this album, and Nas is definitely still a great poet and rapper. Albums like this are exactly why he never quite achieved the popular acclaim of people like Jay-Z; it's a little too much for the average listener simply looking for a good beat and flow. It's serious, and Nas will let you know it the best way he knows how.
6. The Blow - "Paper Television"
Oh my fucking god, will someone please get these songs out of my head? Just kidding. Kind of. I'd sit around lisetning to "Parantheses", "Fists Up", and "True Affection" over and over. Who can deny this dreadfully lovely and sappy electronic indie pop? And this sort of goes back to the paradox I mentioned in my mini-description of The Lost Take: some of these songs are pretty happy, and in some ways that makes it depressing, since my life is pretty cold right now. But it's nice that some girls are willing to share their warmth: <3333 Khaela Maricich.
5. Ghostface Killah - "Fishscale"
This is probably my least favorite of Ghostface's feature albums. But that doesn't say much because his others are incredible and hard to beat. Fishscale makes a brutal attempt, and is full of crazy vignettes, head-bob inducing beats, and of course a whole slew of Wu-tang appearances. This album snagged some of the same samples that Monsta Island Czars used a few years ago, which made those songs feel like some kind of vocal remixes... but that didn't lessen their value, it made them more fun.
4. Belle & Sebastian - "The Life Pursuit"
I love this album, and I don't care what anyone thinks. It's so catchy and well-produced. The music is consistently great and found its way blasting through many car rides. Stuart Murdoch's voice has transcended even more, which is a feat in itself. He's one of the few vocalists I love who sing both really fun/happy songs and sad songs. The chorus in "Another Sunny Day" is A+++. The quirky yet interesting lyrics of "Funny Little Frog" make the song feel so much more than it would seem on the surface. They really do deserve a second glance after you hear them; it's certainly not all fun-and-games even though the brass is blaring and the guitars are funky. The last minute of "The Act of the Apostle II" sent chills up my spine when I first heard that line: "Ohhh, if I could make sense of it all!"
3. Jedi Mind Tricks - "Servants in Heaven, Kings in Hell"
Vinnie Paz is a funny guy. Some of his lyrics on his past albums make me sick; in the past he's been consistently misogynist and homophobic. But nonetheless, his flow was addictive and I fucking love to listen to this stuff when I'm playing computer games. I mean, it's the perfect soundtrack for annihilating people. So, I first saw the title of this new album, I instantly thought, "Well, that's good... another typical JMT album." And upon hearing "Put Em In The Grave" it was just that: more great beats and a very familiar if not somewhat overused Vinnie Paz flow. But then something interesting happened...
"Uncommon Valor: A Vietnam Story" which features R.A. the Rugged Man. What's this, Vinnie Paz tackling a political song in a mature and interesting light? It can't be. R.A.'s verse is a little long but intense and the flow is immaculate. And in-between other familiar-styled JMT songs like "Heavy Metal Kings" and "Outlive the War", you've got "Shadow Business" which explores the working conditions of the Chinese. And you've got a very touching "Razorblade Salvation". My first glance was both right and wrong. Vinnie Paz probably hasn't totally contradicted his earlier work, but he's certainly becoming more mature and it shows in his lyrics. If he keeps it up, I think it could lead to great things... he's an amazing rhymer, it's just that some of his past lyrics are a little silly. This album proves he's capable of otherwise. Oh, and it's a fucking awesome album to boot. "Put Em In The Grave" has a seriously ill beat. Speaking of ill...
2. Darc Mind - "Symptomatic of a Greater Ill"
I'm not sure if this really counts as a 2006 album, since despite being officially released in 2006 it was recorded in the 90s and never saw a proper release. Well, regardless of when it was recorded, it deserves "proper" acknowledgement. Thankfully anticon picked it up for release, as its lyrical genius is right up their alley. Anyway, this album definitely has a 90s rap feel to it, and it's definitely reminiscent of the better-half. It's got a dark and gritty early Wu-tang (Liquid Swords) style of raw beats with equally dark and brooding rapping. Kevroc's lyrics aren't consistently profound, but his flow is unreal and intoxicating. More hip-hop should be like this, with subtle yet attention-grabbing minimalist beats. It really brings the focal point to the rapping, and it's all executed perfectly. A+ album.
1. Jel - "Soft Money"
So here we are. I ordered this album from Park Ave CDs when it came out, since (who knows why!) they didn't have any shipped to them in-store already. I don't know what I was expecting. I love Jel's production on all his anticon work, and his instrumental album (though essentially a compilation of past beats with the rapping stripped out, and not a real full-length release) kept my attention fairly well. But I wasn't sure what to expect out of a "Jel" solo LP. At first, I was bored. I didn't quite get into it on my first listen. It's funny how that happens sometimes, and if you told me that it'd be my favorite album of the year, I'd probably have told you, "Well, it's gonna be a pretty shitty year then." And maybe there's some truth to that. Maybe this is only here because there wasn't anything better. But that could be said about any album any year, and so I give it props enough. "Soft Money" is a mostly instrumental hip-hop album that only features a few rappers like Pedestrian.
And so the album was shelved for a few months. But I gave it another shot, and wow, it was like a new experience. There's something about the textures and aura of this album that really do it for me. "No Solution" and "Know You Don't" are creepy and atmospheric, layered perfectly. They're stripped and abandoned but at the same time full of ghostly life. Perfect, and I listened to them over and over and they never got old. You could use it as background music or intently focused on it and it would be an equally great listen. "Soft Money, Dry Bones" is definitely the climax of the album, and Pedestrian's lyrics are politically fueled but odd and weirdly mooded, fitting great with the music. This is a much more listenable album than Odd Nosdam's instrumental hip-hop, but the production work is just as unique and textured intricately. And even though "Chipmunk Technique" is the most annoying song of the year and I'm thinking about deleting it off of my hard drive, the rest of the album makes up for it tenfold. This album is a step forward for anticon: it's still got their style, yet it's so refined. This is the future sound of hip-hop.