Best of 2006: The First Half
Usually, the biggest challenge with these lists is whittling down 50 or so good songs to a more digestible number. The good news is, that wasn't a problem this time around. The bad news is, that wasn't a problem this time around.
January through June of 2006 has to be the worst six months for music since 1995 when the landscape was littered with overblown garbage (Oasis, Alanis, Pumpkins, Bjork), underdeveloped garbage (Jayhawks, Ron Sexsmith), and just plain Garbage (Garbage).
And that's not just the music snob talking. CD sales are at an all-time low, year-to-date. Exurban saviors like Gnarls Barkley are falling flat. The kids are all right (thanks to Panic at the Disco), but the key age group of 18-35 who has just enough soul left to care and just enough disposable income to waste - they're fleeing the music stores in droves.
The GOOD news is that, although I was hard-pressed to find enough music to fill a full-length mix CD, what I did choose is pretty delightful. Most of it would fall solidly into the "music for grown-ups category," but hey, I'm a grown-up.
Top full-length efforts so far include:
a breathtaking Neko Case CD that I prattled on about earlier
the Raconteurs album that fuses Midwestern-tinged 80s/90s rock (old Wilco, late-period Replacements) with yawlping indie pop. Brendan Benson needed some more edge. Jack White needed more melody. It was a perfect fit.
a pair of releases from Nellie McKay and Sondre Lerche that lie seductively in the spaces between hot jazz and cabaret, without sounding too retro.
As always, if you've got Rhapsody, this playlist can be activated with the click of a mouse.
Best of 2006 - The First Half:
1. Sukie In The Graveyard - Belle and Sebastian
2. Star Witness - Neko Case
3. Everyone's Rooting For You - Sondre Lerche
4. Black Sheep - Nellie Mckay
5. Liar - Built To Spill
6. Moonshiner - Jolie Holland
7. Erie Canal - Bruce Springsteen
8. Intimate Secretary - The Raconteurs
9. Who Left The Lights Off, Baby? - Guillemots
10. So Hard To Find My Way - Jackie Greene
11. Writing on the Wall - Cities
12. Roly Poly - The Little Willies
Usually, the biggest challenge with these lists is whittling down 50 or so good songs to a more digestible number. The good news is, that wasn't a problem this time around. The bad news is, that wasn't a problem this time around.
January through June of 2006 has to be the worst six months for music since 1995 when the landscape was littered with overblown garbage (Oasis, Alanis, Pumpkins, Bjork), underdeveloped garbage (Jayhawks, Ron Sexsmith), and just plain Garbage (Garbage).
And that's not just the music snob talking. CD sales are at an all-time low, year-to-date. Exurban saviors like Gnarls Barkley are falling flat. The kids are all right (thanks to Panic at the Disco), but the key age group of 18-35 who has just enough soul left to care and just enough disposable income to waste - they're fleeing the music stores in droves.
The GOOD news is that, although I was hard-pressed to find enough music to fill a full-length mix CD, what I did choose is pretty delightful. Most of it would fall solidly into the "music for grown-ups category," but hey, I'm a grown-up.
Top full-length efforts so far include:
As always, if you've got Rhapsody, this playlist can be activated with the click of a mouse.
Best of 2006 - The First Half:
1. Sukie In The Graveyard - Belle and Sebastian
2. Star Witness - Neko Case
3. Everyone's Rooting For You - Sondre Lerche
4. Black Sheep - Nellie Mckay
5. Liar - Built To Spill
6. Moonshiner - Jolie Holland
7. Erie Canal - Bruce Springsteen
8. Intimate Secretary - The Raconteurs
9. Who Left The Lights Off, Baby? - Guillemots
10. So Hard To Find My Way - Jackie Greene
11. Writing on the Wall - Cities
12. Roly Poly - The Little Willies
posted by isaacjosephson at 3:36 PM
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The Pipettes - "Your Kisses Are Wasted on Me"
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