So here it is. My first (hopefully annual) list of music awards. The best of the good, the worst of the bad, and the ugliest of ugly. Note: This music wasn’t all new in 2006. It was just new to ME. And without further ado…
Best Book Ostensibly About Music:
Chuck Klosterman – “Killing Yourself to Live” – That’s one hell of a road trip.
Song that may take a power drill to get out of my head:
Europe – “Final Countdown” – Fuck them. Fuck them in their pretentious prog-rock asses. And fuck Reggie Bush and Pepsi for putting it in that goddamn commercial. Speaking of commercials…
Song most likely to send me into a homicidal rage:
John Cougar Menstrualcramp – “This is Our Country” – Of course it is John. Who the fuck else would it belong to? I will now NEVER buy a Chevy.
Worst Theme Song:
Pink – Sunday Night Football theme – First of all, nothing gets me more ready for football than Pink. Secondly it’s a ripoff of Joan Jett’s “I Hate My Self for Loving You”. Finally, Pink is not Joan Jett. And is she pregnant in the video part of the intro? Seriously NBC, Hank Williams Jr. only works 17 days a year. He’s got time. Just ask him. Please.
Best Theme Song:
There isn’t one. What happened to theme songs?
Guilty Pleasure Song:
KT Tunstall – “Black Horse and the Cherry Tree” – Eye To The Telescope
Re-discoveries:
- Bob Dylan – Nashville Skyline – seems like the only record he actually sings on, and one of his most upbeat
- The Band – The Band
– Never truly appreciated this before. Now it’s just amazing. How can a bunch of Canadians (and one Arkansan) capture Americana so well?
- The White Stripes – not sure if this is a “rediscovery” or not, but this year I finally GOT IT.
- Nirvana – MTV Unplugged in New York
– An artist on the verge of a nervous breakdown.
- The Blues, 1900-1970 – The whole genre. Leadbelly. Sonny Terry. Brownie McGhee. Big Bill Broonzy. Bukka White. Robert Johnson. Lightnin’ Hopkins. Etc.
Bands to Watch:
- Neutral Milk Hotel – In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
just missed an honorable mention. One too many references to semen…
- The Decemberists – I can’t even begin to explain how high I am on these guys
- Sufjan Stevens – Only 48 states to go…
- Arctic Monkeys – Though I fear these guys might be a flash in the pan…
- Death Cab for Cutie – Though I feel like these guys might be played out…
Bands to stop watching…
- Dave Matthews Band – Sorry Dave. You lost me down on the bay-OOO
- Jack Johnson – Call me when you have an album that has something a little different on it
- Wilco – Ok, I give up. I just don’t get it. I’m over it. Time to move on.
- Jason Mraz – Mr A-Z. Try Mr “The studio killed me”.
- Elvis Costello – Only because I’m mad about Diana Krall.
Cover Songs of the Year:
- Ben Folds – “Such Great Heights” – Closer to the original than Iron & Wine’s, but still different.
- Vyvienne Long – “Seven Nation Army” – Turns out all the song really needs is a chick and a cello.
- Obadiah Parker – “Hey Ya” – So much better than the original. And I LIKE the original.
- Jimmi Jammes – “Sgt Pepper’s Paradise” – Ok, ok, not STRICTLY a cover. But a brilliant mashup.
- DJ BC – “Yoshimi Battles Snoop Dogg” – See above. What do you get when you mix Flaming Lips, Snoop Dogg, and Will Ferrell? Brilliant!
Songs – Honorable Mention:
- Sufjan Stevens – “All the Trees of the Field Will Clap Their Hands” – Seven Swans
– Oddly beautiful.
- Beck – “Everybody’s Gonna Learn Sometime” – Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
– I can’t figure out for the life of me why I like this song so much.
- The Postal Service – “Such Great Heights” – Give Up
– There’s a reason there are two completely different kick-ass covers of this song…
- Fiona Apple – “Extraordinary Machine” – Extraordinary Machine
– Where the hell did this come from? Nothing like her previous work.
- Death Cab for Cutie – “I Will Follow You Into the Dark” – Plans
– A very, very odd love song. But hauntingly simple.
Songs – Top 5:
- The Rosebuds – “Leaves Do Fall” – Birds Make Good Neighbors
– Stuck in my head for weeks.
- White Stripes – “Seven Nation Army” – Elephant
– Quick trivia – there’s no bass listed in the liner notes…
- The Be Good Tanyas – “The Littlest Birds” – Blue Horse
– Also stuck in my head for weeks.
- The Decemberists – “16 Military Wives”/”Shankhill Butchers” – Picaresque
/The Crane Wife
– One’s a poppy anti-war song. The other’s a sullen tale about a gang of teenage murderers. I think Colin Meloy may need counseling.
- Gnarls Barkely – “Crazy” – St. Elsewhere
– “I remember when I lost my mind, but there was something so pleasant about that craze”. The song perfectly describes my feeling about it. Heard it so much that it makes me want to lose my mind, but in an oddly good way. Does that make me crazy? Possibly.
Best Lyric:
Death Cab for Cutie – “What Sarah Said” – Plans
“Amongst the vending machines and year-old magazines
In a place where we only say goodbye
It stung like a violent wind that our memories depend
On a faulty camera in our minds
And I knew that you were a truth I would rather lose
Than to have never lain beside at all
And I looked around at all the eyes on the ground
As the TV entertained itself
Cause there’s no comfort in the waiting room
Just nervous pacers bracing for bad news”
Disappointing Albums:
- Damien Rice – 9
– Perhaps it was unrealistic to expect the followup O to live up to it. But this really isn’t close.
- Fighting Gravity – Blue Sky & Black – Why do I keep getting excited about their studio stuff?
- Nellie McKay – Pretty Little Head
– To be fair, haven’t listened much. Of course, that could be because it’s not very good…
- Tenacious D – The Pick of Destiny
– Awful. Just awful. So bad it made me not want to see the movie.
Soundtrack of the Year:
Weeds – Music from the Original Series
Albums – Honorable Mention:
- Tom Petty – Highway Companion
- Built to Spill – You in Reverse
- Sufjan Stevens – Illinois
/Greetings From Michigan: The Great Lake State
- White Stripes – Elephant
- The Kleptones – 24 Hours
Albums – Top 5
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#5 – Arctic Monkeys – Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not – It’s loud. It’s rough. It’s dirty. It’s noisy. But try to listen to “You Look Good on the Dance Floor” without moving. I dare you. It’s like sneezing with your eyes open. Can’t be done. |
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#4 – Bob Dylan – Modern Times – He’s back. And he’s not afraid to cross genres. Rockabilly, blues, and jazz are all well-represented. Bonus points for a song about a levee… |
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#3 – Bruce Springsteen – We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions – I just wish I could have been there when it was being recorded. |
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#2 – Death Cab for Cutie – Plans – I seem to be in the minority of people who like this better than Transatlanticism, but really this is in the Rush of Blood to the Head mold to me. More hooks than a tackle box. Lyrics with depth. And not one song I want to skip. |
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#1 – The Decemberists – Picaresque- Put The Smiths, REM, Ben Folds, Coldplay, and They Might Be Giants on a pirate ship full of odd instruments, along with Charles Dickens and Herman Melville. Stir to combine. How many albums contain songs about youth soccer, male prostitutes, a medieval ghost selling wares from a pushcart to buy things for his dead wife, praising a young princess, group suicide, and international espionage? Oh, and throw in a sea shanty about revenge in the belly of a whale. This albums should be an absolute mess. But somehow it works. Perfectly. It’s simply 53 minutes of genius. |
