2006 Best Albums

Best Albums of 2006

Sam Baker – Mercy

I stumbled on this album on Rhapsody after hearing one of Sam’s songs on a compilation. This is one of the best folk albums ever. The title track “Mercy” has some of the best cello/guitar/slide you will ever hear and beautiful lyrics; “Waves” is a masterpiece; “Iron” has a female cameo that will make you laugh and cry at the same time; and the :29 second “Prelude” is acoustic perfection…you will drift away and beg for more. If you like Iron and Wine style, deep, mellow, sparse yet potent folk this album will melt you. My favorite album of 2006.

Sigur Ros, ().

Yes, the album is named (). This album is a few years old, but it may well be the most powerful audio recording I have ever heard. It is pretty indescribable, all I can say is get a nice bottle of wine, put the CD on a stereo with a really phat pair of speakers, and listen straight through. If you have an emotional bone in your body you can expect to be brought to tears by the immensely evocative soundscapes these guys manage to pull out of the ether. The best description I have heard for Sigur Ros is that “this is the music ghosts and angels must listen to.” Powerful stuff. These guys are acoustic artists in the truest sense…sculpting sounds more than playing “songs.” Their other albums are great as well…but () is a masterpiece.

The Album Leaf – All albums

The Album Leaf is one guy, Jimmy LaValle, and he makes beautiful, melodic music. I put him here after Sigur Ros because they compliment each other beautifully. Sigur Ros is ethereal and haunting, Album Leaf acoustic and flowy…but both manage to engulf the listener in soundscapes that really transport you to another world. Occasionally The Album Leaf drifts too far and you feel like you may be in a spa in Sedona getting a massage, but for the most part his music is a perfect blend of acoustic strings, piano, field recordings, trippy electro synths, etc. Perfect music for a rainy Sunday to curl up on the couch with a book….or to put on after a long day at the office when you just need to chillllllllllllllllll. I recommend the album Seal Beach if you are just going to buy one, but truly all four of his albums are solid…and nearly equal in quality.

Citizen Cope – All albums

So I used to hang out with this kid name Clarence Greenwood when I was a kid. Everyone called him Copie. He was a bit older. I remember he gave me my first cigarette at the roller skating rink at age 12 (it was a menthol…Salem I believe…naaaaasty). He was dating this pretty, popular girl and everyone thought he was the shit. He was the shit now that I think about it….won all the roller skating contests, had the ladies, all that. Fortunately he liked me and was cool enough to introduce me to his girlfriend’s her little sister (Rachel Bernstein for the record) who wound up being my first French kiss. We guys don’t forget these sorts of things, and therefore I remember Copie well. I lost touch with him in about 1985 and did not think about him for the next two decades. Then a few years ago I started noticing this musician named Citizen Cope and thought that he looked a bit like Copie may have looked aged 20+ years, but I had not seen the dude in forever so let it go. But then I kept seeing him in magazines and stuff so I looked up his website. Fuk if it ain’t him. So I go listen to his first album….and fuk if it ain’t amazing. I loved it on first listen, which is always a great sign, and a rare occurrence really. Lots of great upbeat tunes with danceable drumlines and strummy guitars, but also a softer side with swingy, soulful, choral backdrops, horns, the works. I can’t say enough good things about the sound Copie has cultivated. Truthfully I am jealous, not because I want to be a rock star (though I am sure that would be fun), but rather because this is a sound I would love to have brought to the world…I admire its uniqueness and the “pocket of vibe” that he achieves with pretty simple instrumentation. His albums are like moods…cool moods…hooded sweatshirts and sneakers and street corners and quiet confidence and strength and street smarts and loyalty and love and tragedy and resilience. He is not a lead guitar jammer or even that great of a vocalist, but the man has soul, great writing, and tells stories that pull you in and hold you. You will see what I mean….buy all three albums…they are all equally wonderful.

Carla Bruni - Quelqu'un M'a Dit

Carla Bruni has had quite a life. Supermodel as a teenager, lover to mick jagger and david bowie, and then a musical star in her own right later in life. Her debut album is a masterpiece of French folk pop…just give it a listen and I guarantee it will become a favorite. Great dinner party album, as well as great reading or snuggling music. And we all need good snuggling music.

Gecko Turner - Guapapasea

The word on the street is that Gecko Turner was deeply influenced by Afrobeat great Fela Kuti -- and we can hear that -- but if he conjures anybody, it's the young Jorge Ben, whose jazzy, playful, Afro-Brazilian-influenced pop of the 1960s helped redefine Brazilian popular music. Turner may be in the process of doing the same for Spanish music, and in doing so, he brings to mind another great Spanish innovator: Manu Chao. Be sure to check out the bizarre re-do of Dylan’s Subterrenian Homesick Blues….simply brilliant. This is a FUN album first and foremost…

Ben Harper, Both Sides of the Gun

Ben Harper does it again. The man just keeps getting better with age. This is a 2-CD set. The first one is by far my favorite of the two, but they are both great. CD1 is more acoustic/folk, CD2 is more electric/rock. Harper truly is young Bob Marley meets young James Taylor meets young Ice Cube. His melodies are unmatched and his playing is just perfect. He plays a hollow necked fretless guitar and the difference is palpable in the textures he creates, especially when her breaks out the slide. “Morning Yearning,” “Reason to Mourn,” and “Cryin wont Help you Now” are standouts for me. The cellos add such beauty and depth.

Kris Kristofferson, This Old Road

It’s well known that I love alt-country. Son Volt, Ryan Adams, Jay Farrar, My Morning Jacket, etc….they put the giddy up in my gitalong. But KK was the original. Don’t forget, this is the man who wrote “Me and Bobby McGee” for Janis Joplin, and who was knocking around Nashville when our parents were teenagers. Everyone thought his voice was so bad that he was relegated to songwriting. But over time his unique sound caught on and presto, he’s a seminal performer. I just love this album. There are 1-2 songs I do not like much (“Wild American”), but for the most part it is just great listening and is pure America. Put it on next Sunday morning while you drink your morning coffee and read the NYT…that’s what we do every Sunday at the Albisnon house.

Connie Bailey Rae – Self Titled debut + Venus (2^nd album)

Feel good poppy neo-soul and jazzy backbeats never felt so good. I dare you not to be in a good mood when you listen to Connie Bailey Rae. “Adult alternative” yes, a little too radio friendly yes, but also timeless and really just good. 21^st century mowtown. Great voice and the production quality is fantastic. Also check the cover of “Since I’ve Been Lovin’ You.” Now that’s sultry. “Venus as a boy” is also beautiful…turn it up loud, sit back, float away.

Madrid de los Austrias – Amor and Mas Amor

Man oh man, what can I say about these two white boys from Austria. They kill it. Check “Dove Estuta” – slammin bumpbump rhythms and the female vocal is so sweet and velvet sexy…you feel like you are in a Spanish castle at sunrise after an all night throw down and someone just slipped you another hit of whatever and put this record on. DEEEEEEP YO. Check out their two full length studio albums “Amor” and “Mas Amor” – both are must own in my opinion. So unique, so ON IT, just great downtempo mood music.

Wynton Marsalis – Trumpet Concertos

Imagine a mix tape of all the best trumpet concertos of all time featuring Wyntyon Marsalis on lead trumpet. That’s this album. Mostly done with the English Chamber Orchestra. All the pieces are great but I really like Sonata à 5 for Trumpet and Strings, T.V.7 (Instrumental) as the cello work is also really spectacular and the trumpet just pops.

Arcade Fire – Neon Bible

The Arcade Fire's debut album Funeral is one of the best releases of the '00s. While it deservedly catapulted the Canadian band to international attention, it also had to put the pressure on for this follow-up. Neon Bible beefs up their ornate sound as well as their paranoia, oddly recalling a devilish meeting between Echo & the Bunnymen's vastly underrated Porcupine, the Talking Heads' itchy urbanism, and Springsteen's Born to Run. And their live show really needs to be seen to fully appreciate the sound and the flava. A few of the songs are a bit gloomy but most of it is melodic and transcendent. “No Cars Go” is a brilliant symphony of a song.

Josh Rouse – all albums

Josh Rouse is one of my favorite artist discovered in the last 12 months. All of his albums are great. He is this year’s Joe Henry…Joe Henry was last year’s well….can’t remember, but you get the picture (Joe Henry, btw, is the bomb…all his albums are sooooo good). But back to Josh Rouse. Josh follows in the footsteps of such pivotal Midwestern singer-songwriters as Paul Westerberg and Freedy Johnston, crafting penetrating, melancholy vignettes that blend folk, pop, singer-songwriter, and esoteric-jam-funk-70s throwback-make-out-music. His songs are relaxed yet quietly edgy with a musical roundup of steady tempos, melodically supportive trumpet lines, gentle acoustic guitar strumming, and wonderfully everyday vocals. I truly love all of his albums, and the good news is that there are like 10 of them. Start with 1972. Nashville and Home are also awesome…they all are. This is why a service like Yahoo Music or Rhapsody is key so you don’t need to go spend $200 to listen to all Josh Rouse’s albums.

Sergio Mendes – Timeless

Granted, the Black Eyed Peas are everywhere, shaking their boooo-tayz in your face and doing a relatively decent job of bringing hip hop and funk to the masses. Yes, they are regrettably crossing that line into “overexposure obnoxisnousness” with songs like “My Butt” or “My Ass” or “My Rump” whatever that song is. BUT….this is not Black Eyed Peas here, this is Will,I,am from the BEP doing a solo side project as a producer taking bossa nova legend Sergio Mendes and remixing him with all sorts of nice thumpy hip hop samples and vocals. The result is a really listenable album that manages tot to get too poppy or bubble gummy. It’s well done with cameos from a lot of hip hop royalty like Q-tip from Tribe Called Quest on “The Frog”.

Coldplay – all albums

Wow..this one is a curve ball for me as I never really liked Coldplay. But 2006 was the year I really became a fan. They are simply a great fukkin band. And you have never heard anyone squeeze more action out of a high hat then their drummer…crash…ssssttt….crash…sssst….crash….sssstttt….and on and on…but it’s perfection. Songs like “Warning Sign”and “In My Place” and “Clocks” and “Fix You” pulsate with energy, emotion and melody – they are like little symphonies. You gotta give it up for these guys, it’s really good music….they are up there with U2 in my book in terms of bands that have just got POWER. some of the builds are brilliant (for example: Fix You, at 3:02…like a slow building symphony hitting full regalia – shivers up the spine). I never would have believed you if you told me in 2005 that I would listen to tons of coldplay in 2006, but I did…and I loved it…

Yo Yo Ma: Bach: Unaccompanied Cello Suites

You will probably recognize this piece as it is one of the most famous solo classical cello works of all time, and was also made pretty famous in the movie “Master and Commander.” It is quite simply one of the most beautiful pieces ever written and Yo Yo Ma’s rendition is impeccable. No one plays with more warmth, depth and emotion than yo yo ma, and all of his albums are really fantastic – even his more esoteric Appalachian stuff with edgar meyer. Cello suites is an album everyone needs to listen to start to finish with a bottle of wine on a lazy evening at home. Bach did a second cello suites too which is much less known but every bit as beautiful you can track it down online.

The Carter Family: Last Sessions: Complete Victor Recordings 1934-1941

If you have not listened much to the Carter Family then there is no time like the present. These guys are the foundation underlying so many genres and bands that you probably know and love ranging from Willie Nelson to Johnny Cash to jam bands to you name it. This is also fantastic Sunday morning music. Feels like home no matter where you may be.

Tony Rice - The Bluegrass Guitar Collection

Tony Rice is one of the best country and bluegrass guitar players ever…and this is a great instrumental album. The man can pick.

Stephen Marley – Mind Control

In the space of a single album, Stephen Marley simultaneously lifts the weight of his father's legacy from his shoulders and nudges reggae out of its blind obsession with dancehall. His voice eerily echoes his dad's, but Marley also plays production puppet-master, breathing hip-hop and the electric slide into anti-cop anthems or folding dusty samples into modern lover's rock. On the surface, it's just a hell of an album, but underneath Marley is tracing a musical family tree whose branches extend deep into African America. I love this album – and it is just his DEBUT.