Absurdist Media

The Best of 2006... or something.

Because I am bored and hungover and I forgot how much pleasure I derive from writing for this website, here's a list with some disclaimers and explanations.

Best of 2006
Disclaimer The not obvious rules for this list are as follows:
--No EPs
--If I couldn't remember it off the top of my domepiece, then it doesn't count
--I consulted two different best of lists 24 hours in advance to refresh my memory
--There is no order to the list and there is no number limit
--If I saw the band tour in support of the album in 2006, I count it (This only counts for one band)
On with the list:

Midlake "The Trials of Van Occupanther"
This disc absolutely floors me in every possible capacity. It's beautiful, insane, soulful, etc. It appeals to every possible side of my musical upbringing as well as my love of new and inventive ways of storytelling. If you don't like this album, I fear for you. I really do. You aren't listening (and I'll bet you don't hear sleigh bells either).

Life and Times "Suburban Hymns" (The aforementioned entry to the Toured in '06 rule)
This album opines the loss of the original suburbia and catalogs the semantics of childhood/adulthood in an enclosed state. Add to this the fact that Life and Times do this without a semblance of cheesiness-- fluidly and with an aura of floating above emotion and a physical manifestation of failure. It is an embodiment of an idea without exploitation, and it is damn near perfect.

Long Winters "Putting the Days to Bed"
I was told I would like these guys for so long. I was told and told and told. I finally listened. Thank Christ I did. Fun, purposeful pop-rock with well-crafted lyrics and an absolutism in the stories, John Roderick and company put together a masterpiece-- sonic, lyric and otherwise.

Page France "Hello, Dear Wind"
It's a reissue, but I'm putting it on here anyway. It's wussy, filled with religious sentiment and overall the exact record i would never let anyone hear me listening to. It's more than a guilty pleasure though. It's warm, unpretentious and an overall gem. It's what a child would write if he/she had the ability to master music-- I mean that in the best possible way. Seriously.

Ghostface Killah "Fishscale"
Ghost remarried his style in an inventive ceremony. He had something old (the hunger to demolish the new state of rap), something new (an alliance with some of hip-hop's best producers, something borrowed (the so called "coke rap" scene that he was a major force in to begin with), and something blue ("Whip You With a Strap" being one of Jay Dilla's finest beats just as he was immortalized).

Channels "Waiting for the Next End of the World"
I can't say enough about the best record of 2006. No really, I can't:
http://insigniaticcancer.blogspot.com/2006/08/our-lord-and-saviour.html AND
http://www.ampcamp.com/product_info.php?products_id=2643&osCsid=d591990b6cc964c70c8ec0df7a4967d5

Richard Buckner "Meadow"
Dear Lord. This man has changed the way I view music more than once now. It's gonna be REAL tough for me to listen to singer-songwriter stuff and not just want to break this CD out. He had the right hired help and the perfect sense of how to use it. Holy hell.

Converge "No Heroes"
Am I including this because I loved the last two records so much? Probably. These guys are still really fucking great though.

Low Skies "All the Love I Could Find"
This album records a painful progression through a lifetime of heartbreak. You can feel every single synapse twinge in your body when you listen to this record. Slow, downtrodden, angry, sad-sack songs that trudge through the only lesson worth writing about. This records absolutely NAILS the sound of broken men and women and their incredible stories of passionate mistakes. "I'm bound to fail you." That's just perfect, man. Just perfect.

Roots "Game Theory"
A return to the fold. I loved this album. That's all I gotta say.


Grizzly Bear "Yellow House"/ Califone "Roots and Crowns"
I get the same dreamy run-through feeling from both of these albums. Though they are not as alike as I make them sound, they have a quality only understood if you hear them. I actually believe the "Yellow House" and "Roots and Crowns" are indescribably put together, and both outstanding.

Built to Spill "You in Reverse"
Anything these guys put out would be in my best of, so describing this album is pointless. Just get it.

Mono "You Are There"
"You Are There" is an album of absolute sonic perfection. I can't imagine listening to this and not being destroyed. No shit.

(Late addition) Bruce Springsteen "The Seeger Sessions"
What, exactly, did you expect?

And that is the list, friends. Honorable mentions to J Dilla's "Donuts," (I just didn't listen to it enough to count it), Del Rey and Portastatic's "Be Still Please."

Feel free to shit all over this list. The next list will be my favorite albums in the world to listen to... it's about to get nerdy in here. Best of 2007? It'll include the Shins and Menomena. We already know that.

Labels: 2006, Best of, I missed doing things for this site, lists

posted by Jeff Laughlin @ 4:21 PM