rockzilla

2006 is almost over and I'm wondering what everyone's top 5 albums of the year were. Mine, in no particular order are...

Tokyo Police Club - A Lesson In Crime

The album may only be 16 minutes long, but it has more energy and spunk than any full-length album I've heard in a long time. When the robots take over in 2009, this'll still be on my Ipod.

The Flaming Lips - At War With the Mystics

I've always admired the Lips for being able to hide a politically-charged album behind what can only be described as hallucinogen-fueled lunacy.

Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not

There's a lot of British-Indie-Dance-Punk-Pop-Rock-Whatever bands, but Arctic Monkeys can pull it off better than anyone else.

Beck - The Information

Beck's always been hit or miss with me, I haven't liked a Beck album this much since Midnite Vultures

Jenny Lewis & The Watson Twins - Rabbit Fur Coat

Jenny Lewis has the most beautiful voice of anyone who has ever recorded music ever. This album has some of the saddest, most thoughtful, and wittiest lyrics I've ever heard. 'Rise Up With Fists' is by far my favorite song of the year, and although I said "In no particular order" at the start of my post, this album is by far, my #1.


I'm looking forward to hearing what evryone else thought of the past 12 months of music.

meanSpleen

Out of all the albums I bought or listened to, I could only come up with three truly Albums of Awesomeness for 2006 (That were actually released in 2006). There are other good albums, yes, but these are the albums that stand up on their own for being great albums.

Best Album of the Year

Camera Obscura - Let's Get Out of This Country
Incredible songs that make you want listen over and over again. Listen to: Come Back Margaret, The False Contender, Let's Get Out of This Country, Lloyd I'm Ready To Be Heartbroken


Neko Case - Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
Neko Case comes back with another solid album of country, gospel and torch songs that captivate the listener with her distinctive voice
Listen to: A Widow's Toast, Hold On Hold On, That Teenage Feeling, Lion's Jaws, John Saw That Number


The Pipettes - We Are The Pipettes
It's a return to the girl group sounds of the sixties, with a y2k attitude! POLKA DOTS
Listen to: Judy, Pull Shapes, Dirty Mind, ABC, Why Did You Stay?

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mixedmedia

I guess I'm kind of old-fashioned, but this was my favorite album of 2006....




I would be hard-pressed coming up with 4 others...I'll think about it though.

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paddyjoe

Good call on that one, mixedmedia. He was my favorite live show of the year,as well. Dylan was his normal unfriendly self, but he and his band were tight and ripped the place apart!

Derwood

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aberkok

Uri Caine: Moloch: Book of Angels Volume 6 - the best solo piano album I've heard in ages


Dave Douglas: Meaning And Mystery - best jazz quintet working today, amazing compositions


Vijay Iyer & Rudresh Mahanthappa: Raw Materials - a great duet recording (piano and sax) with prodigious writing and sonically the most interesting thing I've heard in a while

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mixedmedia

I was hoping he'd make it down this way for a show...but no such luck. I do love the album, though!

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Most people go through life dreading they'll have a traumatic experience. Freaks were born with their trauma. They've already passed their test in life. They're aristocrats. - Diane Arbus
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saut

1. Enslaved - Ruun



2. The Mars Volta - Amputechture



3. Paatos - Silence of Another Kind



4. Scott Walker - The Drift



5. Espers - II



Honorable Mention: Magyar Posse - Random Avenger

meanSpleen

Good album! She almost made my list

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FoolThemAll

I'm tempted to get that Lily Allen album. Is the rest of it as good as "LDN"?

Here are my candidates - aka, the 2006 CDs I've heard in their entirety - so far:

Mono - You Are There
Roger Joseph Manning Jr. - The Land of Pure Imagination
Midlake - The Trials of Van Occupanther
Mogwai - Mr. Beast
Calexico - Garden Ruin
Chris Thile - How to Grow a Woman From the Ground
Sean Watkins - Blinders On
Gomez - How We Operate
Ani Difranco - Reprieve
Anathallo - Floating World
Regina Spektor - Begin to Hope
What Made Milwaukee Famous - Trying to Never Catch Up (expanded version)
Mew - And the Glass-Handed Kites (well, 2006 in the U.S.)
Mason Jennings - Boneclouds
Ditty Bops - Moon Over the Freeway
Brian Vander Ark - Angel, Put Your Face On
Belle & Sebastian - The Life Pursuit

This would be my tentative top five:
Belle & Sebastian - The Life Pursuit
Ditty Bops - Moon Over the Freeway
Mew and the Glass-Handed Kites
Gomez - How We Operate
Roger Joseph Manning Jr. - The Land of Pure Imagination

Honorable mentions: Chris Thile, Mogwai, Midlake

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saut

D'oh, how could I forgot:

Woven Hand - Mosaic

Halx

I'll add my picks from my corner of the woods...


The Retrosic - Nightcrawler


Faderhead - FH1


The Birthday Massacre - Violet (rereleased)

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optik_nerve

Frontline Assembly - Artificial Soldier

and I second that Retrosic album.

meanSpleen

It is an excellent pop album with a very good amount of variation and some of the best hooks of the year. Listen to: Smile, Littlest Things, Alfie

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kutulu

Slayer - Christ Illusion

Manic_Skafe

Cattle Decapitation - Karma. Bloody. Karma


Knut - Terraformer (so close to the end of 2005 that it has to count)


Don Caballero - World Class Listening Problem


Thom Yorke - The Eraser (I'm surprised not to see this one posted)

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Philangicality

Top 5 of 2006 in no particular order:

zed wolf

James Blunt
Back to Bedlam

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Bacchanal

Cattle Decapitation - Karma. Bloody. Karma.
Jedi Mind Tricks - Servants in Heaven, Kings in Hell
Nas - Hip Hop Is Dead
The Abominable Iron Sloth -The Abominable Iron Sloth
Anaal Nathrakh - Eschaton
Lupe Fiasco - Food And Liquor
Arsis - United In Regret
Method Man - 4:21... The Day After
Ghostface - Fishscale

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Manic_Skafe

::Smacks forhead::

How could I forget Servants in Heaven, Kings in Hell?

How could you have not found United In Regret boring?

And as for Fiasco, did you see how after the first five or so songs the album becomes monotonous?

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jerseyboy

Another vote for Lily Allen here, enjoyed every song on the album.

Bacchanal

United In Regret wasn't the most outstanding album ever, but it was textbook Arsis, and I like them in general so it made the list.

I will agree with you about Lupe, the first 5 are definitely the best of the album and the rest is pretty hit and miss, but I do really like "He Say She Say", "The Cool" and "American Terrorist". I couldn't leave it off my list.

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thespian86

Wow, no one has my one of my top five of the year:

1) Phoenix; "It's Never Been Like That"

An amazing rock band; they mke me think of Julian Casablancas and all of Franz Ferdinand having a love child; it would be The Phoenix... only their power to rock my soul is far greater then The Strokes

2) Jenny Lewis and The Watson Twins; "Rabbit Fur Coat"

Very beautiful throw back to bluegrass/gosspel alt country. Very Ryan Adams.

3) The Decemberists; "The Crane Wife"

To quote spin magazine "It makes perfect sense that songsmith Colin Meloy's love of antique diction and musical storytelling would lead him to make a set of Ye Olde Prog Rockery, complete with chugging Moog synthesizers and a three-part folk-rock suite based on a Japanese tale about a man marrying a bird (spoiler alert: It doesn't work out so well). But his band's emotive narratives, which also invoke remorseless murderers, heartsick soldiers, star-crossed lovers, and seafaring dreamers with autoharps and hurdy-gurdys, feel very much here and now. And somehow the dude can make a couplet like "We'll build our walls of aluminum / We'll fill our mouths with cinnamon" signify like a generational rallying cry."

To add... I agree. And they totally kicked Colbert's ass, I don't know what that was all about.

The rest are all floating around... I'll give it more thought

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jasonresno

The Devil and God rage inside me-Brand New

best album of the year.

FoolThemAll

Well, Colbert made it obvious that it wasn't a fair fight. That's one of the benefits of his character: he can be as shameless as he wants to be.

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thespian86

That Colbert is wiley as hell, I must admit. It's as if he knowingly created this comedic persona; ah, such a thought is silly... Anyways, I agree, Colbert even pulled out Frampton. Bold move.

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rockzilla

*Ahem* This was my #1, thank you.

MexicanOnABike

right now my top 5 would be:

Alright, Still by Lily Allen
good pop music. all the songs are great.

On an Island by David Gilmour
I really liked this one. It's not pink floyd but it gets close enough for me!

The Guitar Hero 2 soundtrack
I just started playing this game and allready i downloaded the soundtrack to listen to it more!

The Shadow of the colossus soundtrack
see above. awesome calming instrumental mixed with some heavy instrumental. intense stuff.

All Saints - Studio 1
i got this album after listening to the Rock Steady track and it kept me listening for the entire album.

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meanSpleen

Huh. I thought All Saints broke up a few years ago and the Appletons went on their own as "Appleton". This means I can put the Girls Aloud and Sugababes albums away for awhile while I scope out the Studio 1 album

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Daniel_

Appleton didn't pay, so they re-formed.

Here's my list, in alphabetical order by artist:

Arctic Monkeys

Beatles: LOVE

Cash: Amercan V

Counting Crows: New Amsterdam (Live)

Bob Dylan: Modern Times

Flaming Lips: At War With The Mystics

Dave Gilmour: On An Island

Elton John: The Captain And The Kid

Morrisey: Ringleader Of The Tormentors

MUSE: Black Holes and Revelations

Paul Simon: Surprise

Thom Yorke: The Eraser

The Who: Endless Wire

Wolfmother: Wolfmother

Biggest Disapointment

Iron Maiden: A Matter of Life and Death
This was OK, but nowhere near as good as I was hoping.

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Derwood

I took advantage of some free album downloads my wife got via her frequent flyer program to download:

Muse - Black Holes and Revelations
TV on the Radio - Return to Cookie Mountain
Thom Yorke - The Eraser
Starsailor - On the Outside
Beck - The Information
The Flaming Lips - At War with the Mystics

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meanSpleen

Haha, yeah, the Appleton album was pretty lousy. I'd reform the group if I had the choice, as well.

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NS_Loyalist

My tastes are a little different, but here we are:

Cult of Luna - Somewhere Along the Highway
Russian Circles - Enter
Ihsahn - The Adversary
Isis - In The Absence Of Truth
Agalloch - Ashes Against the Grain

In that order.

Darth_Kettch

I didn't buy that much music in 2006, so I guess Beatles - Love is my number one pick

trickyy

i probably agree most with meanSpleen...neko and camera obscura were solid, although i never got around to listening to the pipettes

but no one liked peter bjorn and john? that was another of my favs. maybe it came out in 2005. here's the single if you never heard them (indie pop):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48hcp-zDpg4

thom yorke's album was also good.

i was kind of disappointed with beck. although his creative process was cool: they recorded a bunch of music with a full band, cut some vinyl copies, and had a DJ sample and mix it together

also liked:

juana molina - son
b fleishmann - the humbucking coil
early day miners - offshore
mareva galanter - ukeyeye

Manic_Skafe

I've heard nothing but good things about Russian Circles but I never got around to picking up any of their cds - I guess while I'm out today I'll pick up Enter and if it disappoints then you can expect an earful...

Another good one I forgot:



Kayo Dot - Dowsing Anemone With Copper Tongue

Oddly named album from an oddly named band but it's rather incredible. Their beautifully crafted instrumental parts are where they shine and it's pretty amazing to see what they're capable of with them being such young individuals. They make use of a million instruments and even more vocal effects and it's all done so well that the album pulls you in.

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jamessh1

i guess there aren't very many hip hop fans on the forum. my favorite album of the year was Nas - Hip Hop is Dead, the only rap album i can listen to this year without skipping a single track.