The Dreaded List

Here's what I liked in 2006: I loved Hot Chip, I didn't understand Joanna Newsom, and I thought the Hold Steady should go back to Minnesota and never come back. I like the Knife, but Silent Shout is too dense for my favortites. TV on the Radio rock, but I haven't heard the whole album yet. Here is a short list, in no particular order, of my favorite music of the year.

Bright Like Neon Love
Cut Copy

I think it was "Future" that I heard first, or maybe "Going Nowhere," but whatever it was, I loved it. The synths drive me crazy, the live drumming (what this song needs is more high hat!!) is awesome and the vocals are just weird enough to keep me interested. And hell yeah, you can dance to it. "Time Stands Still," "Twilight" and "Zap Zap" are also some of my favorites from the record, not to mention the electro funk of "Saturdays." Such a strong debut has me hoping that a follow up is on its way in 2007.

Future Retro
Various Artists

This compilation of reworked 80's hits is a surprising entry for several reasons, not the least being that I thought (sadly) that the whole retro 80's thing had come crashing down around us in 2005. Well, that may be true for Electro, but not for this collection of your favorite childhood bands retouched by some of the more interesting producers around. On this record, it seems impossible that it could work without being horribly cliche, overdone, played out, and/or simply boring. But with the help of the likes of Tiga, Static Avenger, and the Crystal Method, Alphaville, Echo and the Bunnymen, Howard Jones and Erasure have never sounded so current and danceable. While there are many solid mixes here, Adam Freeland's remix of B-Movie's 'Nowhere Girl" is, for me, the highlight. Freeland. whose Fabriclive 16 mix is one of my favs of that collection, drops his signature stomping beat, swirling guitars and swelling grooves all over this seven-and-a-half minute romp. If only people would dance to it.

Movements
Booka Shade

I first heard Booka Shade in 2005 on a compilation that mixed in the ubiquitous M.A.N.D.Y. vs. Booka Shade mix of "Body Language" and was immediately intrigued. It turns out that this German duo had plenty more to offer than just "Body Language." Issued by Get Physical records in April, Movements is chock full of good techno: Repeated listens to "Night Falls," "Darko," "Mandarin Girl," and "In White Rooms" make this album one of my most heavily played and consistently enjoyed of the year. Is it dark? Yes, and while that makes it harder for the masses to embrace it, the dim mood of this album should not detract from how good it is.

Fourteen Ghosts
Kahoots

Yes, I am friends with this band, but that does not mean Fourteen Ghosts is not a good album. Alternating between dual lead singers Elisha Weisner and Rob Myers, the best thing about Fourteen Ghosts is that no two songs sound alike. At worst, some songs border on uninspired, but at their best, songs like "Less Pride," I'll Be Your Coffin," "See Saw," "The Coroner Blinks Twice" and my favorite, "Your Blood," are snappy, catchy little pop/rock/punk songs. And I mean little: the songs, on average, last only about two minutes. Damn it, Elisha, give me something I can really sink my teeth into...

New Young Pony Club
New Young Pony Club

I am kicking myself for not going to thier show in Williamsburg last weekend. The more I hear, the more I like. They have DFA written all over them with their bass slapping, beat driven, in-your-face dance-punk. I thought "Get Dancey" was great, and "Ice Cream" is good too (despite it being nicked for a tv commercial), but hearing "Descend" - the third and final song from this EP - has me hooked. If anyone has a full-length or knows where to get one, let me know...

Everything All the Time
Band of Horses

From "Bass Song" to "Monsters" to "Weed Party" to the sweeping "The Great Salt Lake" and the epic "The Funeral," this is just an awesome record. Lyrics packed with emotion meet songs packed with echoed vocals and defeaning guitars. Ben Bridwell sounds alternately like Brian Wilson/Ozzie Osbourne/Jackson Brown/James Mercer depending on the song, which is to say there are some impressive vocals here. "The Funeral" is also on my short list of favorite songs from 2006.

Writer's Block
Peter Bjorn and John

Another song that makes my short list is "Young Folks," PB&J's sweet little ditty with that unshakeable whistle that sticks in your head long after you hear it. Which is not to say the song is annoying. The slick production gives the song an antiquated feel, and hearing it for the first time is like thinking you have discovered something from the 60s that should have been big then but got lost in an attic somewhere in Sweden. But the song has a distinct freshness to it too, as does the rest of the album, which I have only been able to hear on KEXP or online (not released in the US yet). But even 30-second clips on iTunes reveal enough to know that this is certainly one of the most complete and satisfying albums of the year. With songs like "Objects of My Affection," "Let's Call it Off," "Up Against the Wall" and the killer, stomping "Amsterdam," Writer's Block soars higher than even the best releases of the year.

The Warning
Hot Chip

"Over and over and over and over and over, like a monkey with a miniature cymbal, the joy of repitition really is in you..." FINALLY, someone is singing about the joys (as opposed to the boring qualities) of repetitive music! Even if that means I am am monkey with a miniature cymbal, I say thank you, Hot Chip. I kinda stumbled onto this album weeks after John Pareles gushed over them in the New York Times while covering SXSW. For once, the hype stood up, and then some. I can't count how many times I have shaken my ass to "Over and Over" or "Boy From School" or "Not Fit Shape" or... just a great record. It has also stood the test of time (so far): a bartender played The Warning at while I was playing pool this week and it sounded just as fresh and interesting as it did the first time I heard it. Seeing them at the South Street Seaport only cemented The Warning as my favorite album/record/cd/downloaded file of the year.

Dreams
The Whitest Boy Alive

All you have to really know is that I have the biggest fucking man-crush on Erlend Oye and will love ANYTHING this spindly, mop-heaeded Norwegian-turned-Berliner releases. I loved Unrest and his DJ Kicks submission still gets them out on the dancefloor. This new project (a live band, mind you) is a pop explosion of thumping drums and jangly guitars set underneath Erlend's voice. "Fireworks" is one of the best songs of the year. "Above You," "Done With You" and "Burning" are gems. Face it: he is the fucking coolest. Norwegians are the fucking coolest!

Fabriclive: 29
Cut Copy

As Andrew will tell you, anticipation of the monthly delivery of Fabric CDs is always excitement slightly tainted with anxiety. Will it impress, or will it suck? There is nothing better than pulling the CD out of the sleek tin package and putting on a mix that introduces you to new music that blows you away. But there is nothing worse than opening that cool little case and putting on something that is either A) boring B) old or C) just sucks. Luckily, the folks at Fabric have, for the most part, good taste and are looking to expand people's minds by offering music that is just a step ahead of current and mixed by some of the best talent in the world. Cut Copy got my attention with Bright Like Neon Love (see above) but solidified my trust in them with this great mix of unremembered 80s weaved together with modern carbon copies. Exhibit A: Moving from Who Made Who right into New Young Pony Club and then to In Flagranti before "sliding" into DFA's remix of Goldfrapp - and that's not even mentioning Daft Punk, Mstrkrft, Soulwax or the Presets! A real solid CD - one of my favorites in the entirte collections - and even more impressive considering it was done live.

The Back Room
The Editors

I really didn't like these guys all that much, but thanks to KEXP, their stuff was burned onto my brain and I started to take a shine to their power chords and Interpol-like vocals. And that is the key for me: they sound like Interpol, especially "Munich," which could have been a lost B-side to Antics save for the speed drumming. Either way, there were enough interesting singles ("Bullets," "All Sparks," and "Lights," which sounds JUST like an early U2 track) to get lodged in my head and stuck on repeat. Plus, you have to love a band that gets its fair share of Echo and the Bunnymen comparisons.

Some songs I really liked: Wolf Like Me, TV On The Radio; Someday Baby, Bob Dylan; Alala, CSS; Young Folks, Peter, Bjorn and John; 55566688833 (The Field Mix), James Figurine; Under the Sun, Junior Boys; When She Said Goodbye, ScSI 9; Abu Ghraib, Deadbeat; Let Down, Easy Star All-Stars; Alphabet Man, Blufoot; Sommeil, Outputmessage; The Loving Sounds of Static (Junior Boys Remix), Mobius Band; The End of It All, John Tejada; Sandwiches, Detroit Grand Pubahs; Heard 'Em Say, Kanye West and Left Side Drive, Boards of Canada.