Top 26 of 2006: the albums

26) Oxford Collapse: Remember the Night Parties Oxford Collapse was perhaps best known as a pop punk act before this years Remember the Night Parties. Remember the Night Parties find Oxford Collapse showcasing influences like Cap'n Jazz and early R.E.M. to create a new sound. They keep their pop punk style but add the jangly pop style of their influences. The result is a record that sounds both emotive and exciting, a record that is the best of their career. MP3: Oxford Collapse "Please Visit Your National Parks" 25) The Long Winters: Putting the Days to Bed The Worst You Can Do is Harm was one of the most listenable and poppy indie albums of 2002. The Long Winters seemingly gained a lot of popularity between then and now, and in 2006 with the release of Putting the Days to Bed it was a crap shoot if they could repeat their success and live up to their hype. Putting the Days to Bed is the perfect album to follow up The Worst You Can Do is Harm. It has catchy indie ballads but it also has a lot more distorted guitar than the previous efforts of the band. All the while the impeccable songwriting of John Roderick is apparent and right on point. MP3: The Long Winters "Hindsight" 24) The Walkmen: Pussy Cats The Walkmen take on a song-by-song cover of Harry Nilsson's John Lennon-produced 1974 album of the same name. Musically the album varies from bare piano-vocal tracks to full band renditions. Songs like "subterranean Homesick Blues" and "All My Life" keep an atmosphere of party-like pathos to the album not to mention the closing track of "Rock Around the Clock". Basically, if you own a dive bar buy this CD and play it constantly to keep the party hopping. MP3: The Walkmen "Loop-De-Loop" 23) Lily Allen: Alright, Still Lily Allen is a UK pop goddess. Her music contains a lot of influences from jazz to ska to R&B to Hip-hop. I'm not going to pretend that she has amazing lyric content because she doesn't, but what she does have is a tongue-in-cheek cuteness. The UK has gone ga-ga for Lily, it should only be a matter of time until the US follows suit if she keeps releasing pop albums like Alright, Still. MP3: Lily Allen "Everything's Just Wonderful" 22) T.I.: King With Southern rap making up a majority of the mainstream hip hop today, it's not the worst thing to be label a Southern rapper. T.I. was labeled just that. But with King he shed the Southern rap label and just made one of the best hip hop albums of the year. With epic singles like "What U Know" and "Why U Wanna", it's no wonder T.I. raised his profile in the rap game this year to unseen proportions. MP3: T.I. "Why You Wanna" 21) Hi-Tek: Hi-Teknology Vol. 2 The Cincinatti producer, Hi-Tek, returns with his second full length. The album sees guest spots a-plenty with several appearances by frequent collaborater Talib Kweli as well as other guests like Busta Rhymes, Q-Tip, The Game, Common, Nas, Ghostface Killah, Jadakiss, Raekwon, and Papoose and that's not all of them. Hi-Tek's production is flawless. It was so on Quality his full length collaboration with Talib Kweli and it is the same on Hi-Teknology Vol 2. With the amount of guests on this album it's no wonder this album has classic written all over it. MP3: Hi-Tek feat. Jadakiss, Papoose, Talib Kweli, and Raekwon "Where It Started At (New York)" 20) The Clipse: Hell Hath No Fury Neptunes proteges' Clipse are back with their second studio release. Clipse's mixtape series We Got It 4 Cheap has been one of the most acclaimed of recent memory. With two street singles that are already bumpin in the clubs, it's no wonder XXL magazine graced it with only the seventh Classic rating since the magazine's inception. The Virgina rappers have a sound that's a little more Southern than their first album. Although crack rap has become some what of a cliche in rap, the Clipse do it better than any other. MP3: Clipse feat. Slim Thug "Wamp Wamp (What it Do?)" 19) Rhymefest: Blue Collar Hip Hop embassador and Kanye West protege Rhymefest finally released his long awaited debut in 2006. Blue Collar finds Rhymefest' often comical verses and boisterous personality busting out over some of the finest produced beats of the year. After a decade of mixtape making, battling and beating Eminem in rap battles, and winning a grammy with Kanye West, Rhymefest is hardly an everyman anymore. His lyrics suggest otherwise, as he is able to channel the frustration of being a janitor, rap battling at night for his entire album. At the end of the album, you feel inspired like you too could be a rap star. The truth is, you probably can't, but Rhymefest is proof that you just might be able to. MP3: Rhymefest "Devil's Pie" 18) Bruce Springsteen: We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions Why is this on my countdown? Simple, it's the legendary Bruce Springsteen covering legendary Pete Seeger. From the soncept of the album, there was no chance this album wouldn't be on the countdown. Recorded in Springsteen's New Jersey estate, he hired old timey New York musicians to be his back up band. With little practice he played on his front porch the horn section is the hallway behind him. He screams out commands like "go horns! go!" and the album is pure magic because of it. Truly channelling Pete's memory and sound, reinforcing Springsteen's legacy. MP3: Bruce Springsteen "Old Dan Tucker" 17) The Lovely Feathers: Hind Hind Legs The Lovely Feathers hail from Montreal and were poised to take on the USA. With indie pop sensibilty and the occassional noisy freak out, they make one of the most exciting albums of the year. From the first notes of "Pope John Paul" you feel as though you're listening to something you've never heard before. With often quirky lyrics that range from a whisper to a scream, they create the album of the year made by our Northern neighbors. MP3: The Lovely Feathers "In the Valley" 16) My Chemical Romance: The Black Parade My Chemical Romance's first album had signs of greatness, like long sprawling songs about vampires that were passive aggressive and weaved in and out of time signatures. Their second album saw them abandon that style altogether and just embrace mainstream. My Chemical Romance returns with their third album. The Black Parade maybe the most glitsy death themed album ever. With utilization of horns and tinges of glam rock, it's like a party at a funeral home. It combines the pop sensibility of their second album with the utilization of time signature changes of their first. Although the themes of the album can seem a little heavy handed at times and too forced, the album is highly listenable. MP3: My Chemical Romance "Teenagers" 15) Bob Dylan: Modern Times Modern Times finds Dylan adorned with a cowboy hat and a rye pencil thin mustache. We find Dylan seeming as comfortable as ever in front of a microphone as he takes some risks trying to hit high notes. His words are as poignant as ever take on subjects of love, life, and death. Musically the album follows patterns set by Time Out of Mind and Love and Theft, there are influences of blues, country, folk, and pop easily heard in his songs. With many songwriters continuing their career's far past their prime and almost damaging their legacy, Dylan can seemingly do no wrong this late in life. He just keeps enhancing his legacy. MP3: Bob Dylan "Spirit on the Water" 14) Nas: Hip Hop is Dead Hip Hop is Dead has taken a lot of heat for it's title, but after a listen through the album it becomes very apparent why the album is named as it is. This album sees Nas be more nostalgic than ever. He raps about his homeboys from back in the day like MC Shen, Spindarella, and even Criss Cross. His team ups with Kanye West and Will.I.Am are the catchiest tracks Nas has ever been a part of. It may not be Illmatic but Hip Hop is Dead is a step in the right direction for Nas after several disappointing outings. MP3: Nas feat. Will.I.Am "Hip Hop is Dead" 13) White Whale: WWI When Merge Records signed Destroyer, Daniel Bejar replaced Matt Suggs as the labels most prolific singer/songerwriter. After playing in Butterglory and releasing two albums under his own name, Matt Suggs returned in 2006 with his newest project White Whale. Tinged in classic rock as much as experimental rock, it is Matt Suggs songwriting proess that shines through. Suggs breathy delievery and elliptical lyrics tie the album perfectly together and make it one of the best of the year. MP3: White Whale "Fidget and Fudge" 12) The Hold Steady: Boys and Girls in America Naming their album after a quote from a Jack Kerouac novel seems perfect for the Hold Steady. Their album wanders through America with the most finely tuned magnifying glass. Every nuance of American culture from underage drinking to betting on horse races is discussed in the rambling lyrical style of Craig Finn. In the end, the album is both one of the most fun as well as one of the most melancholy. MP3: The Hold Steady "Stuck Between Stations" 11) The Game: Doctor's Advocate The Game has been known as a member of G-Unit, then as the biggest hater of G-Unit. Most recently he has been toting himself as the "heir to the Aftermath throne". Which is where the title comes in, the Game believes he is Dr. Dre incarnate. Honestly, maybe he is. But where his flow sounds like Dre and where his subject matter sounds like Dre, his lyrics are more playful and inventive than Dre. But like Dre, this album could very well be this generations The Chronic. With guests like Kanye West, Busta Rhymes, Jamie Foxx, Nas, and Will.I.Am and production from Swizz Beatz, Just Blaze, and Scott Storch, this is a sure to be classic. MP3: The Game feat. Will.I.Am "Compton" 10) Outkast: Idlewild It looked like Outkast was done. Andre 3000 wanted to go make movies and Big Boi wanted to make generic dirty south rap. But Outkast wasn't gonna go out like that. So they met eachother half way, Big Boi got into the movies and Andre 3000 came back to rapping. The result is Idlewild. Every Outkast album has been eclectic and different from one another but this album is leaps and bound from their other albums. Musically the album flawlessly mixes jazz, blues, r&b, and hip hop into a smooth easy to digest mix. Andre 3000 still does a little of that Love Below singing stuff, but he finally raps again like the Andre of old. Big Boi's raps still sound as crisp as ever. Guest appearances from Snoop Dogg, Lil Wayne, Macy Gray, and the highly underrated Scar, raise the album up to extrodinairy levels. MP3: Outkast "Morris Brown" 9) The Pipettes: We Are The Pipettes So cutely adorned in polka-dot dressed, The Pipettes took the world by storm one hip-swinging ditty at a time. The Pipettes are ambiguously retro, they have tinges of Bay City Rollers as much as they have tinges of Diana Ross and the Supreme. Whatever they do though sounds amazingly good. Even when their lyrics fail like in "Judy" their sweet three part harmonies make you forget the lyrics their singing and just want to put on a poodle skirt and head down to the sock hop. MP3: The Pipettes "Pull Shapes" 8) Ghostface Killah: More Fish The hardest working ex-Wu Tang member is back with his 6th studio album. The album is less a Ghostface album and more a Theodore Unit album. The album features several appearances from the members of Theodore Unit (Cappadonna, Shawn Wigs, Trife Da God and Ghostface's son Sun God), as well as from Redman, Sheek Louch, Killa Sin, Kanye West and singers Amy Winehouse, Eamon, Ne-Yo and Mr. Maygreen. Production credits include Hi-Tek, Madlib, MF DOOM, Xtreme and Ghostface himself. More Fish is just straight up hip hop with little to no filler. His gangsta rap tales with crazy metaphors have never sounded better than on More Fish. MP3: Ghostface Killah "Greedy Bitches" 7) Maritime: We, The Vehicle When you're spawned from one of the most popular post-emo bands (the Promise Ring), it's hard to shake that label. With their debut Glass Floor setting the tone of sweet indie pop as their sound, We, The Vehicle expands on that sound and hones it. They artfully construct songs that are both melachony as well as toe-tapping good times. With two consistantly strong albums on the shelf, big things can be expected from Maritime in the future. MP3: Maritime "Tearing Up the Oxygen" 6) I'm From Barcelona: Let Me Introduce My Friends If I said "a 29-member pop collective" one might assume Polyphonic Spree before this year. Now everyone seems to be on the same page, I am talking about I'm From Barcelona. On their debut album they collect some of the poppiest most obsurely instrumented songs of the year. From their la-la choruses, to their innumerable voices hitting the chorus as one, they made an album that is unforgetable and incredibly lovable. MP3: I'm From Barcelona "Oversleeping" 5) The Killers: Sam's Town Sam's Town is the follow up to the Killers' wildly popular Hot Fuss. Their debut established their sound, they were a leader of the neo-80s new wave revival. But with an everyday growing field of 80's new wave revival bands, the Killers decided to switch it up. In their second album, the Killers expand on their sound and create a near perfect album. Sam's Town establishes the Killers as not just a kitschy retro band. They use synthesizers not more sparingly but more wisely. Their combo of synths, rock guitars, and Roy Orbison like vocals in a pop packaging out does their debut by leaps and bounds. MP3: The Killers "When You Were Young" 4) Young Jeezy: The Inspiration Young Jeezy is hip hop's biggest rising star. I feel like it's impossible to not like Young Jeezy. His lyrics are charming tales of hood life with similies that make even the hardest gangsta crack a smile. Some will argue that The Inspiration does nothing new, therefore does not deserve acclaim. To those people I say, same on you. Jeezy doesn't have to do anything new, all he has to do is evolve. This album there isn't even so much as a mumble of being a trapstar. Even on tracks where Keisha Cole's tired hook attempts to drag down the album, Jeezy's heartfelt flow makes the track seem like the saddest of thug tales. With Jay-Z's return being lackluster and Lil' Weezy claiming to be the best rapper alive, many know that the best rapper is indeed the soft spoken Atlanta native. Young Jeezy can just do no wrong. MP3: Young Jeezy feat. R. Kelly "Go Getta" 3) The Lillingtons: The Too Late Show Every year there is an album that reminds me punk is not dead. At the beginning of the year I was sure that album would be the new Thermals album. I was sorely mistaken. Instead the album came from the newly reunited Lillingtons. While most in Wyoming raise cattle, the Lillingtons have made a career out of writing blistering pop punk about such subject matters as espionage, alien attacks, and spies from the Pacific Rim. Cranking in at just over a half hour, this album makes me wanna bust out a leather jacket and combat boots and start a circle pit. MP3: The Lillingtons "All I Hear is Static" 2) Girl Talk: Night Ripper When DJs release albums, they are generally have innumerable guest apppearances from well-known rappers (please see Hi-Teknology vol 2). Greg Gillis decided to do something completely different. He released a full length mash-up taking the most promising moments from pop and hip-hop and seemlessly piecing them together like a mozaic. Every minute of the album is jam packed with countless samples, illegally glued together to make an album that put forth a serious bid for album of the year. MP3: Girl Talk "Smash Your Head" 1) Destroyer: Rubies Daniel Bejar has proven to be the indie scene's most innovative and prolific song writer. Every song on the album is perfect. Thematically dense, complex song-writing made the album far and away an easy winner for album of the year. While not adorning the perfect score from Pitchfork that had been rumored on the internet, the album took home album of the year from many in the blogosphere including this one. Sure it's hard to write epic songs like the ten-plus minute opener "Rubies" but to make them as catchy as Bejar manages to do is a feat of nature and a true testimate to his talent. Destroyer has become the indie scene's darling, every album Bejar releases has the ability to be the album of that given year. He is a dangerous force in music and a true asset to Merge Records' roster. MP3: Destroyer "Painter in Your Pocket"