2006 lists

[tom]

OK, everybody loves lists. I'll try and post whatever end of year lists I can find in here, but for now, I want your ten best albums and gigs of 2006. Let the arguments commence.

Best albums

1. Giant Drag - Hearts And Unicorns
2. Tool - 10,000 Days
3. Regina Spektor - Mary Ann Meets The Gravediggers
4. Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
5. Deftones - Saturday Night Wrist
6. The Bronx - The Bronx
7. Metric - Live It Out
8. Roddy Woomble - My Secret Is My Silence
9. Forward Russia - Give Me A Wall
10. Sucioperro - Random Acts Of Intimacy
11. Muse - Black Holes And Revelations (almost entirely for Knights Of Cydonia alone)

Best gigs

1. Biffy Clyro - The Zodiac
2. Radiohead - V Festival
3. Muse - Reading Festival
4. Frank Turner - Vertigo
5. Idlewild - London Scala
6. 65daysofstatic - The Zodiac
7. Tool - Cardiff International Arena
8. !!! - The Zodiac
9. Regina Spektor - V Festival
10. Giant Drag - Birmingham Bar Academy (set your faces........to stunned)

*edited to include Deftones

[mv]

I'm on this soon.

Idlewild at the Scala hey? On Monday? I was there, woo. Don't know as yet if it'll make my top 10 (which will be dominated by festival shows as usual, no doubt) but it was pretty good. Yes.

[tom]

Brace yourselves, it's NME's effort:

Top 50 Albums

50 The Kooks - Inside In / Inside Out
49 Absentee - Schmotime
48 Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly – The Chronicles of A Bohemian Teenager
47 Wolfmother – s/t
46 Semifinalists – s/t
45 Bob Dylan – Modern Times
44 Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan – Ballard of The Broken Seas
43 Beck – The Information
42 The Automatic – Not Accepted Anywhere
41 The Gossip – Standing In The Way of Control
40 Midlake – The Trials Of Van Occupanther
39 The Young Knives – Voices Of Animals and Men
38 Metric – Live It Out
37 Be Your Own Pet – s/t
36 Datarock – Datarock Datarock
35 Forward Russia – Give Me A Wall
34 Albert Hammond Jr. – Yours To Keep
33 The Bronx – s/t
32 Lily Allen – Alright, Still
31 The Sunshine Underground – Raise The Alarm
30 Cat Power – The Greatest
29 The Spinto Band – Nice and Nicely Done
28 Morrissey – Ringleader of The Tormentors
27 Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! – s/t
26 Jarvis – That Jarvis Cocker Record
25 Mogwai – Mr Beast
24 Secret Machines – Ten Silver Drops
23 The Knife – Silent Shout
22 The Flaming Lips – At War With The Mystics
21 The Raconteurs – Broken Boy Soldiers
20 The Streets – The Hardest Way To Make An Easy Living
19 The Longcut – A Call And Response
18 The Rapture – Pieces of The People We Love
17 The Futureheads – News and Tributes
16 Amy Winehouse – Back To Black
15 Thom Yorke – The Eraser
14 TV On The Radio – Return To Cookie Mountain
13 Panic! At The Disco – A Fever You Can't Sweat Out
12 The Killers – Sam's Town
11 Howling Bells – s/t
10 My Chemical Romance – Welcome To The Black Parade
09 Kasabian – Empire
08 The Strokes – First Impressions of Earth
07 The Long Blondes – Someone To Drive You Home
06 Gnarls Barkley – St. Elsewhere
05 CSS – Cansei De Ser Sexy
04 Hot Chip – The Warning
03 Muse – Black Holes and Revelations
02 Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Show Your Bones
01 Arctic Monkeys – Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not

Top 50 Singles

50 Larrikin Love – "Happy As Annie"
49 Pull Tiger Tail – "Animator"
48 The Young Knives – "She's Attracted To"
47 Howling Bells – "Setting Sun"
46 TV On The Radio – "Wolf Like Me"
45 Secret Machines – "Alone, Jealous and Stoned"
44 Regina Spektor – "Fidelity
43 The Rumple Strips – "Motorcycle"
42 Kelis – "Bossy"
41 The Sunshine Underground – "Put You In Your Place"
40 The Rapture – "Get Myself Into It"
39 The Strokes – "You Only Live Once"
38 Muse – "Knights Of Cydonia"
37 Panic! At The Disco – "I Write Sins Not Tragedies"
36 Kasabian – "Empire"
35 Dan Sartain – "Replacement Man"
34 To My Boy – "I Am X-Ray"
33 Nelly Furtado – "Promiscuous"
32 Mates of State – "Fraud in the 80's"
31 Be Your Own Pet – "Adventure"
30 Ali Love – "K Hole"
29 The Dresden Dolls – "Back Stabber"
28 Hot Chip – "Boy From School"
27 Primal Scream – "Country Girl"
26 Maps – "Lost My Soul"
25 The Flaming Lips – "The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song"
24 Lupe Fiasco – "Kick, Push"
23 Midlake – "Roscoe"
22 Muse – "Starlight"
21 Gnarls Barkley – "Smiley Faces"
20 Jarvis – "Running The World"
19 The Streets Ft, P . Doherty – "Prangin' Out"
18 Justice Vs Simian – "We Are Your Friends"
17 Klaxons – "Atlantis To Interzone"
16 The Holloways – "Generator"
15 The Long Blondes – "Once and Never Again"
14 The Raconteurs - "Steady, As She Goes"
13 Arctic Monkeys – "When The Sun Goes Down"
12 Metric – "Monster Hospital"
11 Klaxons - "Gravity's Rainbow"
10 Yeah Yeah Yeahs – "Cheated Hearts"
09 The View – "Wasted Little DJ's"
08 The Horrors – "Sheena Is A Parasite"
07 Amy Whinehouse – "Rehab"
06 CSS – "Let's Make Love and Listen To Death From Above"
05 Gnarls Barkley – "Crazy"
04 Muse – "Supermassive Black Hole"
03 The Gossip – "Standing In The Way Of Control"
02 Peter Bjorn and John ft. Victoria Bergsmen – "Young Folks"
01 Hot Chip – "Over and Over"

Some obvious shockers, but that could have been a lot, LOT worse.

[mark]

i like a lot of these.

at some stage i will find things i think they have forgotten and become indignant.

[mv]

Provisionally:

1. Long Blondes - Someone to Drive You Home
2. Brakes - Beatific Visions
3. The Dears - Gang of Losers
4. The Sleepy Jackson - Personality
5. Belle & Sebastian - The Life Pursuit
6. Casiotone for the Painfully Alone - Etiquette
7. Roddy Woomble - My Secret is my Silence
8. CYHSY (Although I'm still convinced this was out in 2005)
9. Camera Obscura - Let's Get Out of This Country
10. iLiKETRAiNS - Progress/Reform

& There or thereabouts:
Hope of the States
Tilly & the Wall
MSTRKRFT
Metric
Muse
CSS
Hot Chip
Morrissey
Midlake
El Perro del Mar
Spinto Band

Down a bit..
Dan Sartain
Pipettes
Luke Haines
Absentee

This is very likely to change

[ricolas]

Will be on this very shortly, with my good mancunian friend joesephine... so far we'll make

top 25 albums
top 25 songs
top 5 albums we've heard but aren't 2006

we have a lot of free time to spend talking about this stuff in the pub.

[rob]

Dear Christ, I've barely listened to anything this year.

Just like last year.

Bah.

Time to buy my entire HMV wishlist.

[rob]

In hindsight, the reasoning why is obvious.

Before last year or so, I didn't watch Reading twice a month and spent the £50 plus on music.

[david]

David's 2006 in Music
===============

It's just like Q magazine......

Records
======

Practically nothing I've listened to this year came out in 2006. A list is of course mandatory despite this-

1. Camera Obscura - Let's Get Out of This Country

And another ten in no order really-
Absentee - Schmotime
Belle and Sebastian - The Life Pursuit
Essex Green - Cannibal Sea
Long Blondes - Someone to Drive You Home
Love Is All - Nine Times That Same Song
Casiotone For The Painfully Alone - Etiquette
Darren Hayman - Table for One
Tilly & The Wall - Bottoms of Barrels
Nina Nastasia - On Leaving
Psapp - The Only Thing I Ever Wanted

Apart from these fine records all I really listened to were records that came out in 2005 that I'd only just got round to listening to and endless 80s\90s indiepop complilations from the internet.

Gigs
===

A Top 10-

1. Belle and Sebastian (Summer Sundae)
- A perfect climax to a brilliant weekend. Here's the setlist in full, yes that's 3 songs from Tigermilk!-
Expectations
A Summer Wasting
The Model
Jonathan David
Sukie In The Graveyard
Electronic Renaissance
If She Wants Me
We Are The Sleepyheads
Lord Anthony
Dirty Dream #2
Funny Little Frog
The Blues are Still Blue
She's Losing It
The Wrong Girl
If You Find Yourself Caught In Love
White Collar Boy
Encore
Le Pastie De La Bourgeoisie
The Boy With The Arab Strap
Sleep The Clock Around

2. Sleater Kinney (Zodiac, Upstairs)
- This is the tightest live band I've ever heard. They'll be missed.
3. Camera Obscura (Scala)
- I just swooned pathetically.
4. Nina Nastasia + Jeffrey Lewis (Scala)
5. Regina Spektor + Jeffery Lewis (Zodiac, Downstairs)
- I bet you wish you'd got tickets for this.
6. Brakes (Truck)
- "The most fun that I ever had" - dancing in a field with a stolen chair, a Het and a box of red wine
7. Seafood (The Vic)
- My hometown on my birthday and only about 10 people there, it was like a private show.
8. The Decemberists (Zodiac, Upstairs)
9. Tilly and the Wall (Zodiac, Downstairs)
- Sooo much energy.
10. Lucksmiths (Spitz)

And all 59ish gigs I've been to this year so far in chronological order for the completists among you:

Brakes + The Holloways - Koko
The Walk Off + Frank Turner + November - The Cellar
Camera Obscura - The Spitz
Deptford Mice + The Mongrels - The Wheatsheaf
Ernest Cox - The Purple Turtle
Regina Spektor + Jeffery Lewis - The Zodiac
Spare Half Hour - The Wheatsheaf
Photo + November - The Wheatsheaf
Dirty Pretty Things - The Zodiac
Mules + National Snack - The Cellar
Morrison Steam Fayre + National Snack + Photo - The Cellar
Frank Turner - Baby Love
The Hellset Orchestra - The Cellar
Jim Reid - The Cellar
The Go! Team + The Grates + Smoosh - Brookes SU
Shooting at Unarmed Men + Male + Mules - The Port Mahon
Jamie T + Morrison Steam Fayre - The Corner Room
Vincent Vincent and the Villains + Cazals - Mean Fiddler
You Judas + Voo + Balor Knights - 5 Lamps
Dive Dive + Frank Turner - The Wheatsheaf
Suffrajets + Mr G and Rich + Deptford Mice - The Cellar
Barzin + Witches + Wait for Coniston + Deptford Mice - Port Mahon
The Shins - Brookes
The Decemberists + Howling Belles - Zodiac
Sleater Kinney - Zodiac
The Social + Twisted Charm + The Cuban Heels - The Cellar
Emmy the Great - Port Mahon
Deptford Mice - New College
Forward Russia + MC Lars + Family Machine + Good Shoes + Brakes + Half Rabbits + Mesaplex - Truck (Sat)
Mystery Jets + Regina Spektor + Buck 65 + Electric Soft Parade + Thomas Truax + The Rock of Travolta + Lightyear + Emmy the Great - Truck (Sun)
The Long Blondes - Tate Britain
Seafood + The Race + The Rock of Travolta - The Zodiac
Spearmint + Foxes! - The Wheatsheaf
PSAPP + Richard Hawley + Liam Frost - Summer Sundae (Fri)
Nouvelle Vague + The Young Knives + Isobel Campbell + Breaks + Howling Belles + Joan as Police Woman - Summer Sundae (Sat)
Belle and Sebastian + The Boy Least Likely Too + Guillemots + Absentee + Camera Obscura + M.Craft + The Long Blondes - Summer Sundae (Sun)
Zelega + Howcanyou + Birdrib - The Cellar
The Young Knives - Oxford HMV
British Sea Power + iLiketrains - Zodiac
Tilly and the Wall + Kid Harpoon - Zodiac
Lucksmiths - Spitz
Love is All - Zodiac
The Family Machine - The Cellar
Seafood - The Vic
Peter, Bjorn & John - First Floor
Patrick Wolf - Zodiac
Big Joan - The Cellar
The Long Blondes + The 1990s - Zodiac
Victorian English Gentleman's Club + Untitled Musical Project - The Cellar
MC Lars + Smilex - Zodiac
Camera Obscura - Scala
Applicants - The Cellar
Jeremy Warmsley - Zodiac
Luke Haines + Cowboy X + Ally Craig - Zodiac
Los Campesinos + Popular Workshop + Baby Gravy + Through Snowy Static - Port Mahon
Frank Turner + Blah Blah Blah + Reid Morrison - The Jericho
Nina Nastasia + Jeffrey Lewis - Scala
Future of the Left + The Half Rabbits + Theo - Wheatsheaf
Francois + Holiday in Vietnam + Sleeping States - The Port Mahon

[david]

MV-
I have to say I'm not really enjoying the Breakes or the Pipettes. I am really enjoying 'God Knows' be Perro Del Mar though but not really listened to the album as yet.


NME -
Isobel Campbell album was 2005, though amazing still
39, 35, 22, 15, 14, 02, 01 probably make up some of the rest of my top 20 so fair enough. I don't think I've listened to any others but I bet they're poo.
"02 Peter Bjorn and John" - Indiepop in the NME?!?!?!

[mv]

I'd have banked on the Pipettes being in my top 10 but have tired of it recently. I think Brakes will suffer a similar fate so my final list on LJ won't have it at number 2 - still a good top 10 album though, definitely.

I have also missed off: Liam Frost, Two Gallants, and Spinto Band.

I'm going to have to seriously resist temptation to do another top 50 singles. I try and make it 10 or 20 every year but it's so hard to choose.

As an early guess, my top 5 might well be:
1. Camera Obscura - Lloyd, I'm Ready to Be Heartbroken
2. The Killers - When You Were Young
3. The Similou - All This Love
4. Metric - Monster Hospital (both versions)
5. Peter, Bjorn & John - Young Folks

But it might not be. I always forget something important.

Gigs I'll come to shortly. My number one might be the same as Dave's - I'll have a think. Top 3 definitely.

[glenn]

I hardly bought any albums from 2006 But Christmas and copying stuff off my brother's hard drive have bolstered my collection somewhat.

Working on the songs list... no prizes for guessing what's going to come top.

[sid viscosity]

this is less a list of preference, more a documentation of what music i acquired last year. if you wish to cut it down to a top ten, chop off the top or bottom 12 or so. maybe even take them from the middle. i imagine it will make little difference to you either way.

Sonic Youth – Rather Ripped
Morrissey – Ringleader of the Tormentors
Dearhoof – (Free EP to mark the departure of Chris Cohen)
Album Leaf – Into the Blue
Islands – Return to the Sea
Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan – Ballad of the Broken Seas
Think About Life –
Casiotone for the Painfully Alone – Etiquette
The Fiery Furnaces – Bitter Tea
TV on the Radio – Return to Cookie Mountain
Swan Lake – Beast Moans
Cat Power – The Greatest
Joanna Newsome - Ys
Sunset Rubdown – Shut Up I Am Dreaming
Band of Horses – Everything All the Time
Man Man – Six Demon Bag
Mogwai – Mr. Beast
Final Fantasy – He Poos Clouds
Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Show Your Bones
The Decemberists – The Crane Wife
Destroyer – Destroyer’s Rubies
The Flaming Lips – At War with the Mystics
Hot Chip – The Warning

also, i'm sad that grandaddy died last year.

less sad about HOTS, which is slightly cruel, as they did try very hard, but i think that's what annoyed me in the end.

[sid viscosity]

and broken social scene. i forgot to add that because they forgot to make it better than you forgot it in people...

[sid viscosity]

and i spelt deerhoof wrong. how embarrassing.

great. now i can't spell in english OR french.