9/25/06: Hey look, an update to this page! And it's a big one. Everything's still alphabetical so just scroll through for new albums that I think are good. As always, you can check out my older recommendations here my year-end best album list from 2005. So to recap- old RL stuff is here. Enjoy!
Agalloch- Ashes Against the Grain
Agalloch write some seriously excellent music- they're best described as a black-metal band that encorporates post-rock into their overall sound- think a really, really heavy Hum or Explosions in the Sky; lots of distorted guitars and plenty of melody buried in the fuzz. The black-metal style vocals may be a turnoff for some folks, but this is still one of my favorite records of 2006 and highly recommended for fans of heavier stuff.
Animal Collective- Feels
Animal Collective's finest and most accessible album to date, Feels is a collection of urgent, anxious pop songs set to unconventional instrumentation and uninhibited vocals that are 50% Beach Boys and 50% crazed campfire singalong. It's a surreal, ethereal experience that you need to hear to adequately appreciate.
Arch Enemy- Wages of Sin
Arch Enemy are a super-melodic death metal band from Sweden, and this is widely considered their best record to date (it's certainly mine). Blisteringly fast guitar riffs, solos in every song, and the unbelievable vocals of Angela Gossow (yes, it's a lady doing death metal vocals). You really have to hear it to properly appreciate it. Fans of Opeth, In Flames, and At the Gates will probably love it, if they haven't heard of it already.
Audion- Suckfish
Matthew Dear, AKA Audion, is an acclaimed electronic music producer who's done excellent work with folks like Ellen Allien, and this album is his dirtiest, funkiest exploration of the almost amelodic techno for which he's become so well known. This is dirty machine-sex music. Laptops totally get it on to this album.
Bell Orchestre- Recording a Tape the Colour of the Light
Imagine a more playful, joyous Godspeed You Black Emperor!, mixed with a little bit of Arcade Fire sweep and you've got this record. Essential for any fan of orchestral post-rock.
Bonnie "Prince" Billy & Matt Sweeney- Superwolf
A collaboration between Will Oldham and former Chavez guitarist Matt Sweeney, this record pairs Sweeney's transcendent, blues and country inflected guitar playing with Oldham's fantastic voice to generate a delightful album full of pathos, grandeur, and introspection. Did I mention it has some bitchin' guitar playing?
Brazilian Girls- Talk To La Bomb
Multi-linguistic pop/dance/rock/wtf music? YES PLEASE. There's not much describing this album beyond "holy crap one of the best things I've heard all year." Check it out. Do it now.
Broken Social Scene- Broken Social Scene
BSS's most divisive record is the equivalent of taking their seminal You Forgot It In People and yelling "more! MORE!" Ultra-dense mixes, sprawling, intricate (yet bombastic) songs, and a sense of desperate anthem-shouting permeate what band members have avowed was a tremendously complicated, overwhelming album to record. Personally? Fuck the haters, this is an incredible record. Listen to it with good headphones on (a good buzz from chemicals of your choice doesn't hurt either).
Caribou- The Milk of Human Kindness
Caribou (formerly Manitoba) is Dan Snaith's psychedelic, hip-hop infused electronic music project. Heavy on swirly sounds, muted vocals, and polyrhythmic drumming, this is a must-own for people who like electronic music that isn't afraid to rock out.
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah- Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
Okay, okay, enough with the Talking Heads comparisons already! In reality, CYSHY owe just as much to Pavement and the Violent Femmes as David Byrne. And it's all irrelevant anyway, as this internet-fueled pop juggernaut (is that an oxymoron?) of a record is one of the best indie rock records to come along in years. Whether you think it's overrated or not (and it isn't), it's a must-listen.
Clor- Clor
Oh man do I love this record. Keyboards and drum machines and guitars and some of the most infectious, inventive electro-pop I've heard in quite some time. It references everything from Prince to the Talking Heads to Enon. It's accessible and fun and rockin'. Woo!
The Decemberists- Picaresque
A perfect fusion of the Decemberists' earlier records Her Majesty and Castaways and Cutouts, Picaresque finds the worlds most literate indie-rock group solidifying its craft and even rocking out a little bit (!). Do you like songs about whales and pirates? Then this album is for you!
Ellen Allien/Apparat- Orchestra of Bubbles
This is the first techno album that I have ever listened to and thought "holy crap, how the heck did they DO that?" Ellen Allien and Audion have one-upped Allien's fantastic Berlinette with another album full of propulsive, throbbing dance music, and upped the ante even further with the final track "Bubbles", easily the most beautiful song Allien's ever sung. Best electronic record I've heard all year, possibly.
Dominik Eulberg- Kreucht und Fleucht
German house maven Dominik Eulberg presents an impeccable 2-disc DJ set featuring a veritable who's who of the European house scene. Dark, moodly, driving, and unexpectedly subtle, this album is an excellent introduction to modern electronic dance music and a heck of a lot of fun to listen to.
Explosions in the Sky- the Rescue
EiTS most recent effort, and part of the Travels in Constants series, marks a refreshing change of pace for these cinematic post-rockers. Embracing shorter song lengths, more varied instruments, and (gasp!) vocals, this album is evidence that the band has plenty of creative energy left (in addition to being an excellent listen!)
Herbert- Scale
One of the progenitors of the so-chic "microhouse" movement and an iconoclastic composer and musician, Matthew Herbert has outdone himself with Scale, an album which merges his inventive sampling and compositional skills with wonderfully accessible pop melodies and the downright syrupy strings courtesy of Abbey Road Studios. Highlights include "Something Isn't Right" and my personal favorite, "Harmonize". That "you are the world/I am your people" chorus gets me every time.
Jesu- Silver and Jesu
British doom-rock outfit Jesu have put out a self-titled full-length and EP of crushing, morose metal that's equal parts My Bloody Valentine and Sunn0))). The sheer amount of layering on each of these tracks is overwhelming at times- there are more layers to Jesu's music than six lesser doom records combined. Highly recommended if you like your rock deep, dark, and distorted.
Junior Senior- Hey Hey My My Yo Yo
This record graduates Jr/Sr from indie-dance novelty to retro-pop tribute act numero uno. Take everything good about early Michael Jackson, everything good about late-70's disco, and run it through a wink-and-nudge filter and you have one of the best party records I've ever heard. There simply isn't a bad song on this album.
The Knife- Silent Shout
Chances are if you read music review websites or mp3 blogs, you've already heard of The Knife. Easily 2006's most unique record, Silent Shout takes a gothic sensibility and marries it to subversively beautiful songwriting and tricky, intricate production (the pitch-shifting work on the vocals is INSANE). The result is an icy, intimidating-at-first-listen album that gets progressively warmer and more enveloping the more you listen to it. It's gloomy, it's playful, it's driving, and it's extremely good listening. Album closer "Still Light" is heartbreaking.
Ladytron- Witching Hour
If Ellen Allien's amazing Berlinette is the sonic equivalent of a sexy German assasin-cyborg, Witching Hour is the equivalent of an aloof, ironic (and sexy) London murder-droid. Gritty like damaged data, aloof like a girl too hot to associate with the likes of mortal man, melancholy like fog at night. Excellent electro-sex neu-wave rock sneering. Okay I'll stop now, this is getting pretentious.
Laura- Radio Swan Is Down
Australian post-rock group Laura have taken the groundwork laid by groups like Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Explosions in the Sky and built a citadel all their own on top of it. Also they have a blessedly easy-to-type name, an increasing rarity in post-rock these days (heh). My favorite track is "I Hope", but the whole album is some good listening.
Liars- Drum's Not Dead
Everyone loved Liars' first record. Everyone except the most ardent of indie rock enthusiasts hated their second record. Drum's Not Dead finds New York's Liars delivering on the promise of their alienating sophmore effort without sacrificing any of the guttural, tribal propulsion that made They Were Wrong So We Drowned so darkly appealing in the first place. Album closer "The Other Side of Mt. Heart Attack" is almost painfully tender. This is one of the best records of 2006, for sure.
Mastodon- Blood Mountain
Best metal album of the year? The critics seem to think so, and I tend to agree. Building on the psych-rock meanderings and brutal metal riffage of the fantastic Leviathan and armed with some "really good weed" (to quote one of the guitarists in a recent interview), Mastodon have outdone themselves yet again. Herein lies some of the best guitar playing you will hear all year, and without a doubt some of the most inventive metal you will hear in a long, long time.
Mikkel Metal- Victimizer
Dark, heavy electro from one of my favorite techno producers. You'll like this if you like Ellen Allien, Vitalic, or Isolee.
Modeselektor- Hello Mom!
You need to own this record for the track ""Dancing Box (feat. TTC)" alone. This is some heavy French hip-hop/German house shit right here. Buy it. Oh yeah, Thom Yorke really likes them too.
Mogwai- Mr. Beast
As if any of us ever thought that Mogwai had forgotten how to rock the fuck out. Mr. Beast is their heaviest record to date, and their finest since their debut (the essential Young Team). If you like loud guitars and crushing, cathartic melody, Mogwai in general (and this record in particular) are for you.
Mouse on Mars- Varcharz
This is my favorite MoM album to date! All the glitch insanity of Idiology mixed with the melodic hooks of Radical Connector and a heady dose of distorted rock tones to boot! "Duul" and "Skik" are seriously excellent songs, and the rest of the album is just as good.
MYLO- Destroy Rock & Roll
If Daft Punk teamed up with Fatboy Slim and made an album, it'd sound a lot like MYLO. That should be all you need to know.
Nathan Fake- Drowning In A Sea Of Love
Nathan Fake combines gauzy, M83-style electro-shoegaze and wobbly, Boards of Canada-esque ambient to form this fuzzed-out blissfest of an electronic album. If My Bloody Valentine made the soundtrack to a video game it'd sound like this.
Pelican- The Fire in Our Throats Will Beckon the That
Art-metal Isis-brethren Pelican turn down the amps and turn up the complexity on this album. This record shows a sense of restraint lacking on their earlier efforts, and it pays off with gorgeous, spaced-out rock songs like "Track 4". Apparently they're rad live, too!
The Rapture- Pieces of the People We Love
Hey look, the Rapture kept the dance and turned down some of the punk in their sound! Thank god, because otherwise these songs wouldn't work half as well as they do. And those vocals! I'd kill for a Rapture/Junior-Senior double billing. Open bar optional.
Ratatat- Classics
Ratatat follow up their excellent self-titled debut with a deeper, less immediately appealing but nonetheless excellent album that builds on their signature Brian-May-plus-hip-hop formula. It's nice to see the boys expanding their pallette, especially on the Sgt. Pepper-esque "Tropicana". Those panther yowls on "Wildcat" are pretty killer, too.
Spoon- Gimme Fiction
Spoon frontman Brit Daniel is my favorite singer in indie rock today, hands down. Much like the Decemberists' Picaresque represents a successful melding of their earlier albums into a cohesive whole, Gimme Fiction takes Spoon's back catalog and distills it into one juicy chunk of minimal, amazingly-addictive indie-rock. Did I mention Brit Daniel is an awesome singer?
Tape- Rideau
Swedish post-rock trio Tape have produced a real gem in Rideau. Pulsing, somnambulent chamber music for the twenty-first century, and absolutely recommended if you like your music easy to listen to but engaging to study. For comparison's sake, imagine Do Make Say Think in their more contemplative moments and you've got a good idea of what this sounds like.
TV on the Radio- Return to Cookie Mountain
This one's gonna top all of the top 10 lists for 2006, mark my words. TVotR never quite clicked for me, in the past, but that all changes with this record. Finally, all the elements that made them such a promising band have fallen into place, producing one of this year's Great Pop Records. Apparently they're killer live, too.
Wolf Parade- Apologies to the Queen Mary
Log onto iTunes this minute and download "I'll Believe in Anything". If that track doesn't sell you on this record, nothing will. One of 2005's finest, particularly if you're a Canadaphile.
Xiu Xiu- The Air Force
Xiu Xiu tone down the histrionics and deliver their prettiest album to date. While he's best known as the shrieking chronicler of rape, suicide, and other things traumatic, Jamie Stewart is also a gifted composer and a genius at putting bizarre instrumentation to the service of gorgeous melodies. In that sense, this record is his strongest to date. If you're new to Xiu Xiu, I'd say start here and work backwards through their catalog- it only gets darker from here on down.
Yob- The Unreal Never Lived
If you like your metal dark, doomy, and full of atheistic vitriol, this is the record for you. Also, it really takes skill to invoke the vocal stylings of Geddy Lee in a metal band and have it work.