Real Cool Time Top Ten Albums Of 2006
Gather around all ye interested fans of personal music lists, both of you, for it's the annual chance for me to indulge myself and pay respects to the music that's given me a real cool time the last year. This isn't just about new stuff, it's about the LPs that I've enjoyed, discovered and rediscovered - however old they be. They're in no order of preferences, just an album by album snapshot of the highlights in my last year in music. Enjoy, I know I will...
Clap Your Hands And Say Yeah - Clap Your Hands And Say Yeah (2006)
I'd seen the name around and been recommended them by a friend. It took me a while to pick it up, but it impressed from the first listen. Pop and eclectic in equal measures, the tunes soar and twist and hook you in. You can't play it without and over-powering urge to sing along badly at the top of your voice, simply for the joy of it all.
The music takes it's inspiration from a range of sources, at times the pop ballads of John Cale and the guitar workouts of Sterling Morrison are apparent, then out of the blue it's 80s electric pop and disco. It's all the more rewarding when you realise these guys did it for themselves, unfettered by the monolithic and obsolete music marketing machines the continue to sour the music lovers horizons with pap. Joyful, uplifting and driving - it's a keeper.
Clap Your Hands And Say Yeah at Amazon.Com
Sigur Rós - Von (1997)
You can always rely on me to be contrary. Whilst many will laud Sigur Rós' Ágætis byrjun as a masterwork and Von as the album they made before they got good, you'll get none of that here. Despite an awesome opening track, I found Ágætis byrjun a patchy and over indulgent work, whilst for me, Von strikes the perfect balance of atmospherics, experimentation and beauty.
In fact, I almost passed Von over as I was that not bothered about the band's later works, and I'm so glad I didn't. The sound on Von is distant and hard to grasp. The orchestrations and music is at times rich and enveloping and at others stark and distant. Shrill horns blow and other noises echo through the album and create one of the best pieces of ambient post-rock desolation I've heard in a long time. Don't listen to the people who dismiss this album, they're just wrong.
Von at Amazon.Com
Big Country - Restless Natives & Rarities (1998)
Nope, don't care how much you're scoffing, Big Country remain one of those bands I will have an undying love for no matter how 80s, stadium and bad many will consider them. There's one or two high points in the rarities section of the LP, but on the whole you have to be a hardcore fan to love a lot of the stuff on the LP. However, the one shining point and the reason it made it here is the 37 minute soundtrack from the great Scottish film Restless Natives. Coincidentally, the film finally made it to DVD this year also - I've been looking forward to it for ages - I've known it was out there, but it took me a while to get around to getting it from my own prejudices.
Ok, so it's a soundtrack - and to be honest there's little extra in it that you don't know and see from the film, but hell, to have it on disc finally after all these years is the bees. It doesn't disappoint, the mix of strangely psychedelic celtic rock, the atmospherics and the jaunty instrumentations merge to make 37 minutes of great listening. Highly recommended if you like that sort of thing.
Restless Natives & Rarities at Amazon.Com
Do Make Say Think - Winter Hymn Country Hymn Secret Hymn (2005)
Another great Constellation Records band - if you've ever read my older round-ups, you'll know they often feature. This was my first encounter with Do Make Say Think - and I'll be chasing up more of the work as a result.
Given the Constellation connection, there's a great sense of familiarity with the sound and dressings of the music. However, there's also a real lot of surprises in there as well - weird jazz explosions and interstellar moments of freak-out space rock - it's dense, atmospheric and in parts celebratory and moving. A firm favourite the last year and one that will keep finding it's way on to my playlist as many other LPs fall by the wayside.
Winter Hymn Country Hymn Secret Hymn at Amazon.Com
Broken Social Scene - You Forgot It In People (2003)
Well, their third eponymous album made last years list, so I was eager to get this one for more of the same. I wasn't disappointed. Taking the same eclectic and energetic mix of full on indie rock and instrumental shenanigans as their last LP, this succeeds on a number of levels. The song writing is sharp and engaging, the range of tracks and tempos keep you on your toes and the sound is dense and full of interesting layers that reveal themselves gradually.
It's not quite as good overall as the third LP, but there are a few tracks on the album that are up there. It loses focus a bit over the last ten minutes, but given the excellence of the rest of the LP, it's easily forgiven. It's another of those LPs you can put on at any time and it'll put a skip in your step and the need to sing in your head. All the more better, I also got to see them live this year. They did a massive 2 hour set and it was as exciting and uplifting a gig as I've been too in years. Broken Social Scene are set to be one of my all time favourite bands at the rate they're going.
You Forgot It In People at Amazon.Com
Guided By Voices - Same Place The Fly Got Smashed (1990)
Although it sounds like it was recorded in a cave with a condenser mic on an old mono cassette recorder, there's loads of great Guided By Voices goodness to be found in this short and snappy LP. It turned up quite by chance, as many of the band's LPs does and insinuated itself on my playlists instantly.
Firstly I thought it was dreadful - the sound quality is bad even by Guided By Voices lo-fi standards. However, once you see past that you get to the meat of the piece, a collection of classy tracks which you can never quite put your finger on, and just as you think you can, they take a completely different tack. It's ended up getting played a fair bit the last year and is up there for me with the best of the Guided By Voices LPs I know, and the many more I'm yet to get.
Guided By Voices at Amazon.Com
Television Personalities - My Dark Places (2006)
Having been missing for the best part of the 21st century, it was great to see Television Personalities' Dan Treacy resurface in 2006. The tale of his time and prison and mental health problems are covered elsewhere, but one of the best things about his reappearance was My Dark Places, the TVPs first proper album for a decade. The LP takes a lot of cues from the singer's recent problems and works them out in good old fashioned TVP style.
Just like the best of the band's work, it's a mixed bag in both tone and styles. There are some wonderfully moving and heartfelt ballads and a few up tempo and joyful pop tracks. There's a lot of fun to be had as well - a few tongue in cheek tracks work well amongst the mix. Overall, it's a great comeback album, with a real dark undertone to it. Tracks like She Can Stop Traffic, My Dark Places and There's No Beautiful Way Of Saying Goodbye are up there with Treacy's best work and hopefully we'll see some more of his unique style over the next year.
My Dark Spaces at Amazon.Com
The Birthday Party - Junkyard (1982)
I had this LP in my youth and it never caught with me. However, the last year has been a bit of a revelation in my previously less than ideal relationship with Nick Cave, in part kick started by giving this another try. Why I didn't like the album before I don't know, it's a noisy and angry piece of work full of dark noise and grating instrumentation, maybe to much so for my tastes in the past.
But that's music for you, you tastes change over the years, and stuff you purposefully ignored, avoided or took it upon yourself to not like can come back and smack you in the face with a gleeful slap. I seriously took my eye off the ball with this one. Grinding, dark and manic - the instrumentation is driving and Cave's vocals and singing style mesh perfectly here, it's pretty primal stuff.
Junkyard at Amazon.Com
Mono & World's End Girlfriend - Palmless Prayer/Mass Murder Refrain (2006)
Mono's blend of post rock instrumental cinematics has turned up some great listening the last couple of years. This collaborative work with the fellow Japanese post-rock outfit World's End Girlfriend is prehaps their masterpiece and a beguiling and engrossing record.
The work is a monumental 5 track, 74 minute piece based around a haunting melodic refrain that repeats, loops, grows, expands and contracts across the intricate soundscape they create. It's like classical music without the sterility and pomp. It glides past and the hollow sound of it hooks you in from the start. Simply timeless and one of the most beautiful pieces of music that you could get away with calling rock.
Palmless Prayer/Mass Murder Refrain at Amazon.Com
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Tender Prey (1988)
Another Nick Cave album from my past that I passed over till now. I heard it a few times around the time it come out and once more it was too sophisticated for my young and un experienced ears. Having my interest piqued by hearing Mercy Seat on a best of LP, I grabbed this for more of the same and wasn't disappointed.
The mood of the LP is dark and the songs veer from classy rockers like Deanna and the aforementioned Mercy Seat to the more languid and rolling tracks like Watching Alice. It's been getting a lot of plays recently - it has one or two moments where the plot unravels slighlty, but given the overall high quality, the record has quickly become a firm favourite and sparked my interest in a singer and band I was previously not a massive fan of.
Tender Prey at Amazon.Com
Dio Bach is a music fan who loves sharing his opinions on his favourite music and videos. Subscribe for regular nuggets.
Please Note: This site requires Flash Player 7 to view embedded video players.
Home
Playlist
Music Reviews
About Real Cool Time
Links
Contact
Disclaimer: All videos and content on the site are supplied and hosted by publicly available third party suppliers. No files are stored on this server unless they are given with the permission of the copyright holder.
Also, as we are using other services to provide the content, we can't in any way, shape or form guarantee availability or compatibility of material hosted elsewhere.
Home :: About Real Cool Time :: Playlist :: Reviews :: Musical Links :: Contact
Site design, maintenance and content by Day Trip Media © 2006 - 2006. The material on this page is protected by copyright laws and cannot be used without the express written consent of the owner. All other trademarks and copyrights are the property of their respective owners.
Terms And Conditions | Privacy Policy
