Awh shit! It’s the longest post in blogging history!
2006 was a pretty great year. Our readership nearly doubled, I survived my brush with death, safely extricated myself from UVA and listened to some extremely hot jams along the way. So yes, fun times all around. However, 2006 was a bit of a weak year for albums (hence the reason you’ve not seen a Top Albums of 2006 list from me), but I’d consider it a banner year as far as singles are concerned. Most likely a direct result of this is the fact 2006 saw me gravitate towards the singles market and away from albums as a whole, and it was also the year I began ordering import singles from the UK, a practice that has since become a near-addiction and a crippling burden on my wallet. Also a result of this is the fact that there’s a glaring lack of artists on this list who were established before ‘06, as I found myself more often excited by new bands releasing groundbreaking new material than older veterans releasing undeniably great material of their own whose sounds’ I already knew and love. Thus, I can see A LOT of you disagreeing with my picks or just being confounded by the number of artists on this list you haven’t heard before, but it’s my list and I’ll rock it however I want to. Besides, wouldn’t you rather see a list of exciting new bands you’ve rather heard than download the tracks everyone already knows from the Knife, Joanna Newsome, Grizzly Bear and TV on the Radio? I’d hope so.
Below are the cream of the crop; the best songs 2006 had to offer. Most are just individual songs, but in the case of a great single whose excellence was augmented by it’s B-side, I’ve made both the A-and-B-sides available for download (see 4, 6, 8, etc.). However, I realize that means I’m giving away the entire single, so I’m generally only doing this if the single in question has sold out and is no longer available for purchase (denoted beneath the song write-up by “available for purchase here“). Also, big ups to Everett for rising from the dead and helping me out with a bunch of these write-ups and much of the tedious linking; it’s great to know he still, y’know, exists. Write-ups written by Everett are denoted by an “[E]” after the text, whereas write-ups by yours truly can be similarly-identified by a “[D]” after the text.
I really enjoy these year-end Top Tracks lists, as it allows me to heap some much-deserving praise on tracks I may not have gotten around to featuring on the site, and whereas most other blogs’ lists will have few surprises (though they probably won’t make you wait until February of the next year for them…), you’re likely to find a lot here you either missed here before or was never even posted on at all. And so without further adieu, I present to you the fruit of over two months of exhaustive labor - the essential songs of 2006:
MP3: “Cars” - Katzenjammers
Unfortunately, there’s really no way to say “I found this amazing and ridiculously obscure cover of Gary Numan’s ‘Cars’ recorded in 1981 by this funky steel drum band from Tobago” without sounding like the snobbiest indie record store douchebag ever, but, er,… I found this amazing and ridiculously obscure cover of Gary Numan’s “Cars” recorded in 1981 by this funky steel drum band from Tobago. Seriously though, it’s SO good; just wait for those steel drums to hit and you’ll know what I mean. [D]
[from the Cars 7″, available for purchase here]
MP3: “Promiscuous” - Nelly Furtado
Pitchfork claimed that 2006 was the year of the Knife. For real people, however, 2006 was the year of the Timbaland. According to my exhaustive scientific study, there were only 7 minutes throughout 2006 where there was no song produced by or featuring Timbaland on the radio somewhere. Though Justin Timberlake’s “My Love” is seen as his crowning achievement, “Promiscuous” is what got the ball rolling and jump-started Ms. Furtado’s career as a pop star. On the radio, on the dance floor, in the shower (what? who said that?), “Promiscuous” could be heard everywhere this year from the moment it was released, and it deserved every play it got. [E]
[from the Promiscuous CD-Single, available for purchase here]
Bonus MP3: “Promiscuous (Remix ft. Rick ROWSS)” - Nelly Furtado
As if the original wasn’t hot enough already, one Mr. Rick Ross takes Tim’s flawless beat and spits some hot fire over it, before letting Furtado back into the mix to do her thing. I played this at the frattiest of frat parties once. It was well-received. Take that as you will.
MP3: “Insomnia” - Electric President
Score this one in the backhanded compliment category, but Electric President will likely never make a song even approaching the beauty and brilliance of “Insomnia”. Everything in this song is perfect, from Ben Cooper’s gorgeously soft vocals to the lush electronic backdrop he and bandmate Alex Kane set them to. Cooper has stated that the bands goal for their self-titled Morr Music debut, which was released last January, was “to integrate computers into the process as much as possible, but without making it an ‘electronic’ record … a lot of the sounds started as acoustic recordings and were later chopped and sequenced in to something new.” “Insomnia” is a shining example of the realization of this goal and the band’s organically-influenced electronica, and is easily one of the prettiest, most stirring songs of the year. [E]
[from the Electric President LP, available for purchase here]
A) MP3: “9 Crimes” - Damien Rice
B) MP3: “The Rat Within The Grain” - Damien Rice
Damien Rice returned in 2006 and, unlike Derek, I’ve only been through one Damien Rice phase, and it began when I first heard his stunning debut, O, and will likely continue until eternity. “9 Crimes” was the first track to surface off of his latest LP, 9, when it hit the internets prior to its single release last October, and the song is a fairly straightforward piano ballad, though the combination of his voice with the angelic Lisa Hannigan definitely elevates the track above most of your run-of-the-mill piano balladry. The majority of Rice’s debut is stronger than the lead single for 9 - to be fair though, “9 Crimes” is a great song, but as far as I’m concerned the addition of a crescendo with a minute left does little to make a song more interesting. Rice definitely exhibited a penchant for the song-closing crescendo on his debut, but at least he’d mix up the instrumentation for those, adding strings and layering vocals to make it more interesting. On “9 Crimes”, the only change is in volume, which doesn’t go much farther than creating a contrived sense of urgency. It’s important to stress that an average Damien Rice song is better than at least 99% of releases this year, and I realize I hold Rice to an unimaginably high standard, but the reality is that this song is just that: an average Damien Rice track.
The single release is hardly a bust, however, for the inclusion of what is almost definitely Damien Rice’s best B-side ever, “Rat Within The Grain”, which is the only reason this single is even on this list. I have historically been underwhelmed by Rice’s B-sides, and garnered similar feelings for his more upbeat material. “Rat Within The Grain” is an immediate exception to both of those counts. The song features an instantly accessible vocal melody and a simple strummed guitar in the background, and though the technique is in nothing new, Rice takes it to a level not seen since a certain Green Day tune innocently snuck its way in to graduation slideshows around the country. A rare occurrence, in the case of the “9 Crimes” single the B-side definitely outshines the main event, thus justifying the 9 Crimes single’s inclusion on this list despite the unspectacular quality of the A-side. [E]
[from the 9 LP, available for purchase here]
MP3: “Young Shields” - Casiotone For The Painfully Alone
Casiotone for the Painfully Alone, the stage name of Owen Ashworth, is
renowned for his heart-on-sleeve lyrics; Ashworth calls them like he
sees them and doesn’t bother himself with much in the way of metaphor.
“Young Shields” is full of matter-of-fact lines like, “got a letter
from Mom and Dad, I swear to God they don’t get me at all”, but he
places those words over such inviting, exciting, hand-clap-ridden
electronica that the novelty fails to wear off after countless spins.
Ashworth takes aim at succinctness and succeeds at crafting a perfect
3-minute gem. [E]
[from the Etiquette LP, available for purchase here]
MP3: “Phantom Limb” - The Shins
Though the general consensus is that The Shins latest album, Wincing The Night Away, failed to match the perfection of their 2003 effort, Chutes Too Narrow, their newest offering did produce a handful of keepers, and “Phantom Limb” is the first and perhaps the strongest of the lot. James Mercer’s vocals have a glossy sheen that was lacking on Chutes Too Narrow, which is a hit-or-miss proposition, especially to diehard fans of the band’s earlier output. On “Phantom Limb”, however, Mercer’s vocals are definitely a positive, as he takes a relatively ordinary background and takes the song from ground level up in to the stratosphere solely on the merits of his vocal melodies. Though the band’s performance as a whole on Wincing The Night Away is in question, Mercer is definitely on top of his game on “Phantom Limb”. [E]
[from the Phantom Limb CD-Single, available for purchase here]
MP3: “Parade” - Heypenny
Perhaps the most joyous five minutes in music this year, “Parade” opens with a slow, brief intro, before erupting into a cacophony of blissful exuberance. Though the instrumentation is unique and the top-notch production sets it apart from other songs of the lo-fi indie-pop genre, singer Ben Elkins appears to channel the whimsical stylings of The Unicorns in the vocals and lyrics here (sample lyric: “I. Like. Chocolate cake./Bring me a few pieces… Make a fist, cram the chocolate in/Yeah, it tastes bloody, but you keep mashing it down”… brilliant). Successfully recreating the excitement and atmosphere of an actual parade in the mood and instrumentation in the song, “Parade” is an unbelievably impressive track for a band so completely unheard of and completely unsigned, on par with then-unknowns Voxtrot releasing an immaculate pop gem like “Start of Something” out of nowhere in 2005. Furthermore, it’s a great testament to the astounding production of Heypenny’s debut album, Use These Spoons, which was produced by Elkins himself and features some of the finest lo-fi production in recent memory, rivaling (and, at times, recalling) Isaac Brock’s recent work for Wolf Parade on Apologies To The Queen Mary. Long story short: if “Parade” and the rest of Use These Spoons are any indication, Heypenny won’t be staying unsigned - or unheard of - for very long at all. [D]
[from the Use These Spoons LP, available for purchase here]
MP3: “My Love” - Justin Timberlake
Any doubts caused by the incredible mediocrity of “SexyBack” got obliterated when “My Love” first hit the internets back in late summer of ‘06 and one thing became resoundingly clear: Timbaland is officially back. Not since “Cry Me A River” (the pinnacle of American radio pop in the last ten years, in my opinion) have we seen Timbaland operate at this level of perfection, as he drops an absolutely immaculate beat over which JT sings the love song anthem of the new millenium, the yin to “Cry Me A River”’s break-up tragedy yang. With vocals, verses and sentiment not far off from those found in Sebastien Tellier’s equally-flawless “La Ritournelle”, “My Love” gives “Maneater” a real run for its money as the essential pop jam of 2006. Justin Timberlake proved just how dominant he could be with last fall’s release of Futuresex/Lovesounds, but more exciting than any of that was Timbaland’s return to the form that made him such a big deal at the beginning of the decade. Yeah, T.I. drops by to spit some verses towards the end of the song, but by that point he’s Mr. Irrelevant; the deal’s already been sealed and Timbaland’s re-established his reign over the pop charts. [D]
[from the My Love CD-Single, available for purchase here]
Bonus MP3: “My Love” - Marit Bergman
MP3: “Mothers, Sisters, Daughters & Wives” - Voxtrot
Every second of this song is better than the second that directly proceeded it. Lead singer Ramesh Srivastva pulls wonderful melodies out of absolutely nowhere and it all sounds beautiful, and his voice is really front and center on this track. “Mothers, Sisters, Daughters and Wives” builds on Voxtrot’s fantastic earlier songs by increasing production value to draw more attention to Srivastva’s vocals, and he shows why he’s the center of attention in the incredibly catchy chorus. If we were playing word association and you said “pop gem”, I would say “Voxtrot”, and this is the strongest track overall they’ve crafted in their brief history. [E]
[from the Mothers, Sisters, Daughters & Wives EP, available here]
MP3: “Harrowdown Hill” - Thom Yorke
One of the standout tracks from Yorke’s first solo (er, Non-Radiohead) album, The Eraser, “Harrowdown Hill” is one of the most lyrically
intriguing songs he’s ever written. The song takes its name from the hill on which the body David Kelly, an employee of the British Ministry of Defense, was found after his apparent suicide. Kelly had inadvertently caused political scandal in the U.K. after discussing weapons of mass destruction in Iraq too candidly with a reporter. Yorke’s lyrics contrast Kelly’s thoughts with the words he spoke to his wife prior to his death; “I can’t take the pressure / No one cares if you live or die / They just want me gone / They want me gone / But I’m coming home, I’m coming home / To make it all right so dry your eyes.” “Harrowdown Hill” is definitely one of Yorke’s most powerful lyrical performances, and the frenetic production perfectly parallels the chaos of Kelly’s mind; the track was originally scrapped in Radiohead’s recording sessions for Hail To The Thief because Yorke felt it wasn’t a “Radiohead song”. He effectively proved with this
masterwork, however, that it was undoubtedly a Thom Yorke song. [E]
[from the Harrowdown Hill CD-Single, available for purchase here]
MP3: “Hustler” - Simian Mobile Disco
Tragically, electro-soul extraordinaires Simian broke up in 2005, but as proof that every cloud has a silver lining, from the ashes of the band rose splinter group Simian Mobile Disco, comprised of former Simian ringleaders James Ford and Jas Shaw. That silver lining proved to be worth it’s weight in gold, as SMD dropped “Hustler” on the world in 2006, which proved to be one of the year’s elite electronic singles and a crash course in dancefloor hotness for the uninitiated. Released on vaunted French label Kitsune Records, “Hustler” is one of the most badass tracks to have ever graced my ears, featuring a shit-talking verse from NYC vocalist Char Johnson and a monstrous fuzzed-out bassline that’ll obliterate any speakers not worthy of its presence. Just under four minutes in the instrumentation begins to die down for a moment or two and Johnson asks with a sneer, “What the fuck is you gonna do?”. SMD let it linger for a few beats before dropping the pressure and unleashing an unrestrained barrage of glitchy crescendos, reducing the final two minutes of the track to a veritable electronic free-for-all in which everyone’s a winner. With a more dancefloor-oriented, less poppy sound, Simian Mobile Disco have generated serious buzz with “Hustler” and their excellent remix work, and their upcoming debut LP (which, according to some folks in the know, is apparently ridiculously good) is one of my most anticipated releases of ‘07. [D]
[from the Hustler 12″, available for purchase here]
MASS DOWNLOADING OPTION: Top 50 Songs of 2006 (50-40) [follow link]
MP3: “Lex” - Ratatat
So obviously, everyone flipped their shit for the roarin’ wildcat sample in Ratatat’s lead single from Classics, “Wildcat”, but as far as badass samples go, that crazy-ass whirling helicopter (or boomerang, you decide) sound effect in “Lex” is pretty close to the top. “Lex” is often accused of being “Seventeen Years Redux”, and it does follow an eerily similar pattern, with both starting off intense and ending with more laid-back outros. But really, let’s be honest: since when has being compared to “Seventeen Years” been a bad thing? [E]
[from the Lex 12″, available for purchase here]
MP3: “Cobrastyle (ft. Mad Cobra)” - Teddybears
Without a doubt the most fun party jam of the year, if only for the fact that anyone enjoy it regardless of their musical backgrounds, Zack (who first showed me the track) and I were spinning this from sun-up to sun-down over winter break like it was our job. Riding that borrowed Fine Young Cannibals riff to perfection, the whole song is a burner, but it’s Mad Cobra who steals the show, keeping it real with that “bawitdaba” chorus (taken from the Kid Rock classic that just might have been my favorite song in 4th grade) and I mean, come on. [D]
[from the Soft Machine LP, available for purchase here]
MP3: “Animator” - Pull Tiger Tail
Another day, another new young British band to get extremely, extremely excited about. Pull Tiger Tail don’t sound terribly unique, yet at the same time their sound can’t really be linked to any exact influences, but there’s hardly time to worry about influences and reference points when a track like “Animator” is relentlessly lodging itself in your brain for you to carry around for weeks on end. The whole thing’s great really, but get to the 50-second mark and you’re staring down one of the year’s most relentlessly addictive choruses and there’s nothing you can do about it. There’s really no point in resisting though, it’s gonna be bouncing around your head for ages whether you like it or not. Look for these guys to do big things in ’07. [D]
[from the Animator CD-Single, available for purchase here]
MP3: “Accident & Emergency” - Patrick Wolf
I won’t pretend like I was terribly familiar with the work of Patrick Wolf before “Accident & Emergency” graced my speakers around the end of September, but the few tracks that had been passed my way by friends and acquaintances embodied a dark intimacy and morbidity that failed to spark my interest. With new single “Accident & Emergency” (off his upcoming Magic Positions LP), however, Wolf has won me over completely. The poppiest thing I’ve yet to hear from him, “Accident” possesses a downright sprightly quality and an electronic bounce about it that’s noticeably absent in much of his earlier work. One might be surprised to find these qualities in a song that examines life in a society plagued by terror, but repeated listens reveals the song’s ultimate message to be a celebration of resilience rather than a resignation to paranoia and uncertainty.
The instrumentation further reflects the struggle between the severe subject matter and Wolf’s unrestrained optimism, as all-too-real sirens jostle for position in the mix alongside buoyant brass lines and stuttering electronic beeps and whooshes. Despite the underlying conflict, Wolf perseveres with confidence and a newfound pop sensibility, and the track even goes so far as to air on the anthemic side of things with a rousing refrain like “Accident/Emergency/Bringing out the best in me”. Perhaps it’s my obsessive listens to A Weekend In The City that has me so inclined to view a song examining life in modern society in such a favorable light, but Wolf has done a masterful job of finding the perfect balance between social awareness and sprightly pop sensibility, and you can’t ask for much more from a song than that. [D]
[from the Accident & Emergency CD-Single, available for purchase here]
A) MP3: “First Love” - The Maccabees
B) MP3: “Colour It In” - The Maccabees
“First love, lost love”, we’ve all been there before, and this, the Maccabees first single to break into the Top 40 (actually at #40) nails all the emotions and feelings surrounding the undeniably difficult diffusion of that first great relationship. Then they go and throw in a clever, quirky chorus (“Are you coo-o-oo-o-oo-o-ool? Symetricoo-o-oo-o-oo-o-ool?”) and a searing rhythm section and all of a sudden they’ve got a hit on their hands. I’ve been tracking the ‘Bees since last spring when I was first introduced to them, but it wasn’t until “First Love” that the band’s sound was fully realized for the first time, and as a result it’s far and away my favorite track by the up-and-coming group. Frontman Orlando Weeks has one of the best new voices in indie rock, equal parts urgent and impassioned, and if the Maccabees can continue to build on the great sound established here then they’ll be sure to live up to the hype and succeed as one of the biggest new rock acts in Britain this year. [D]
[from the First Love CD-Single, available for purchase here]
MP3: “Lust In The Movies” - The Long Blondes
2006 was basically just one big love affair between the Long Blondes and I (though I have to admit, I was putting in most of the effort), and “Lust In The Movies” was the track that started it all. I first heard of it on Rough Trade Shops’ Counter Culture ‘05 compilation early this year, when the Blondes burst through my headphone speakers with that unbelievably addictive “Edie Sedgwick! Anna Karina!” chorus and almost made me fall out of my seat on the subway, and those spiky guitars and thumping basslines sealed the deal, rocketing the Blondes to the top of my Holy Shit Find More From This Band Now list. I did find more, but with the exception of that immaculate “Weekend Without Make Up” single, nothing else rivaled that first moment of unadulterated joy. Shockingly, “Lust In The Movies”‘ original natural habitat was on the B-side (upstagery!) of their initial “Appropriation (By Any Other Name)” CD-single, but thankfully the track was re-produced and chosen to star as the lead-off track on the group’s fantastic debut LP, Someone To Drive You Home, which eventually saw release on Rough Trade in November, and while a few of the other previously-released track’s on the album fell victim to some irksome Steve Mackey re-production, “Lust” was not one of them, standing out as the album’s best track despite the extremely high standard held up by all of the tracks on the LP. [D]
[from the Someone To Drive You Home LP, available for purchase here]
A) MP3: “On Fire” - Neon Plastix
B) MP3: “Dream” - Neon Plastix
The Neon Plastix’ latest release is a double A-side affair featuring three stellar tracks in all, but it’s “On Fire” that’s the real showstopper, a 1,000 mph joyride of a track complete with like 30 different choruses (seriously, there’s a new one around every turn), a slammin’ rhythm section and cheesy 80’s synths with the lyrics to match (“quit talking crap with your trashcan mouth”… yeah). But while the Plastix could have just milked the aforementioned ingredients for all their worth and settled for a merely solid dance rock jam, they go above and beyond, throwing in a beauty of a bridge with synthesizers and an almost vaudevillian piano riff tangoing in the spotlight until that monster of a chorus comes back around for one last hurrah and closes things out every bit as strong as they started. [D]
[from the On Fire/Dream CD-Single, available for purchase here]
MP3: “Heartbeat” - Blackbud
Oh, fuck, another awesome song called “Heartbeat(s)” to keep track of? Yeah, that was my initial reaction as well, but trust me, this one’s well worth keeping track of. While Blackbud’s debut single, “Heartbeat”, isn’t quite of the elite class that it’s similarly-named predecessors (brought to us in previous years by The Knife, Annie and Jose Gonzalez), it’s an extremely exciting rock track on par with and vocally reminescent of the best of Muse’s recent output. A refreshing change of pace from the dark, brooding Joy Division-inspired guitar work that’s so trendy (and played out) these days, Blackbud bring to the table an unabridled rock intensity built on relentless, serrated guitar riffs and vocalist Joe Taylor’s ominous vocals.
An initial reaction to the emotive balladry of the song’s opening verses will yield understandable comparisons to reviled soft-rock Britpop acts like Keane and Embrace, but Blackbud manage to refine the soft-loud-soft technique to absolute perfection here, bringing a surprisingly raw intensity to the track that’s typically absent in the often-vanilla singles of their aforementioned contemporaries. Taylor’s uninspired lyrics about holding hands in the pouring rain and kisses in the morning light (seriously) initially lend the song a definite guilty pleasure feel, but that’s immediately shaken once the Matthew Bellamy-esque “you know much more than I do” pre-chorus gives way to the driving, slashing power chords of the chorus. And it’s this very moment and the strength of the chorus alone that is enough to earn “Heartbeat” a spot on this list; seriously, you’d be hard-pressed to find someone who listens to this song and doesn’t sit up rod-straight in their seat when that chorus comes crashing down from every direction. The “loud” in the soft/loud/soft equation, that massive chorus hits hard twice before the song goes out guns ablazing, as the rollicking, unforgiving guitars of the chorus are drawn out over the course of one final, powerful bridge, leaving you breathless and wanting more. [D]
[from the From The Sky LP, available for purchase here]
MP3: “TV” - Headlights
One of the few American indie bands to really steal my heart in ‘06, Headlights came out of nowhere and absolutely blew me away with the essential track off their debut album, “TV”. Bursting out of the gates with a cymbal crash and that pounding drumbeat, “TV” is Headlights seminal work and an accomplishment that they may work for the rest of their career to top. Everything is flawless here, from that driving rhythm section, to the twinkling xylophone work and the electronic meandering that floats throughout the back of the mix, “TV” is a winner from start to finish, but it’s not until that immaculate, immaculate chorus hits that the track establishes itself as one of the finest indie pop songs in recent memory. [D]
[from the Kill Them With Kindness LP, available for purchase here]
MASS DOWNLOADING OPTION: Top 50 Songs of 2006 (39-31) [follow link]
MP3: “Maneater” - Nelly Furtado
Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise; “My Love” is great and all, but “Maneater” was the mainstream single of 2006. Morseo than any other Tim-produced track this year, “Maneater” marked Timbaland’s triumphant return to Top 40 dominance. Built around that massive, crushing synth line, the track was already destined for the top of the charts before Furtado even showed up to the studio. But she did, and the track’s all the better for it, as she takes Tim’s flawless blueprint and makes the song her own, turning it into an anthem of sexual provocation and self-empowerment. Plus, it’s not like she’s gonna lose points for reinventing herself as the sexiest woman, like, ever this year, and it was in the hotter-than-hot video for this track that Furtado made her debut as Nelly version 2.0. [D]
[from the Loose LP, available for purchase here]
MP3: “Farewell Comrade” - Fury of the Headteachers
It must be a tough job being a headteacher, dealing with all those rambunctious teenagers, always with their saracstic comments and their paper airplanes (see the band’s related promo shots as a case in point). In fact, it’s probably enough to inspire some pretty serious fury, and what better way to let off some steam than to plug in and unleash some, er, furious post-punk with a hardcore slant like that found on Fury of the Headteacher’s latest single, “Farewell Comrade”. No word on whether any members of FotH have any teaching experience or if they’re just sympathizing with the teachers on whom they wreaked havoc in their school days, but they manage to unleash a serious dose of raw intensity on “Comrade” all the same.
That raw intensity recalls that found on Bloc Party’s debut EP, and indeed, Fury of the Headteachers sound to me like Bloc Party might if they’d never met Paul Epworth and chose to focus more on the “punk” over the “dance” in the dance-punk equation. That’s not to say “Farewell Comrade” isn’t Epworthy, mind you; it’s as promising a single as any released this year and lord knows there’s room for Epworth or some other dance-minded producer to work some magic within these walls - especially with that insanely catchy and, dare I say, danceable central riff to work with - but up-and-coming Sheffield producer Paul Harris does a pretty flawless job of maximizing the song’s raw intensity, the primary element on which the success of the song really rests its hat. While I could maybe do without that incessant creaking-door effect over the bridge, Harris handles the song’s massive climax in the final minute (a moment on par with any in music this year), in which a ridiculous crescendo peaks in a ballistic white noise explosion, without flaw. Elsewhere, the song rides that aforementioned ridiculously catchy central riff to perfection for three minutes of unabashed guitar-rock glory and makes its real money on that insanely awesome “X! Is! For execution!” chorus, which elevates its status from “hey this is awesome” to “fucking badass as hell” in just four words. Building on a pounding drumbeat and snowballing in intensity throughout, the shit hits that fan at that final ridiculous crescendo I mentioned before - the band unleash a barrage of everything in their arsenal, resulting in an impenetrable wall of screaming guitars, droning bass, bleeding vocal chords, those massive drums and white noise, before everything’s stripped away to reveal only that original guitar riff, closing things out perfectly as the listener regains their composure and tries to get their life back on track. [D]
[from the Farewell Comrade CD-Single, available for purchase here]
MP3: “All Fires” - Swan Lake
More and more I find my musical taste becoming more focused on three distinct genres: ambitious pop music, slickly-produced dance tracks and well, Britpop. So much so that I’ve begun to wonder if there will come a day when my listening habits will have devolved to the point that I listen exclusively to Guillemots, Bloc Party and whatever it is Paul Epworth and Erol Alkan are up to at the time - which, if things keep going the way they are now for Epworth and Alkan, will probably consist primarily of “ruling the world”. However, every once and a while a song like “All Fires”, which couldn’t stray further from any of those categories, comes along and bitch-slaps me right back to square one.
The latest supergroup to grace the scene, Swan Lake is the collaboration between Spencer Krug (Wolf Parade), Dan Bejar (Destroyer, New Pornographers) and Carey Mercer (Frog Eyes), and “All Fires” was the first track made available off of their Jagjaguwar debut, Beast Moans, when it hit the internet last sumemr. All three members provide vocals in their respective individual projects, Krug takes the vocal reins here, though there’s no telling how this will be handled on the unheard remainder of the album. The trio’s bio describes their collaboration as the three coming together “as if stuck in a sea-storm, in a sinking boat, forced to bail together”. Interestingly enough, this is the scene evoked by “All Fires”, as Krug sings of a flood, “a world of water”, and the tragedy of a town’s struggle to survive. The most stirring moment comes in the fourth and fifth verses, as Krug sings with haunting simplicity of the townspeoples’ futile struggle for life, belting out some of the most memorable lyrics of the year:
One thousand people
Did what they could.
They found the steeple
And tore out the wood.
Five hundred pieces
Means five hundred float.
One thousand people means
Five hundred don’t.
Through it all, Krug, Bejar and Mercer stand huddled together on high ground, instruments in hand and rain beating down on their backs, helplessly watching the disaster unfold below. The tragedy of it all is summed up perfectly in the final refrain - “all fires have to burn alive to live”. That is, hardship and grief are the necessity of life, and though many refuse to accept this fact, “All Fires” is the sound of the Swan Lake collective accepting what so many cannot. Beast Moans comes out on November 21st on Jagjaguwar, click here for more information. [D]
[from the Beast Moans LP, available for purchase here]
MP3: “Through The Windowpane” - Guillemots
Guillemots’ fourth and final appearance on this list, the title track from their brilliant debut LP was my most played song of the summer behind only “We Are Your Friends”, “Wolf Like Me” and Guillemots’ other shimmering pop anthem, “Made Up Love Song #43”. The track opens with a piano progression that plods along pensively before stuttering into a synthetic explosion as the track takes to the skies (as Guillemots songs have proven they’re wont to do), not to return again until the song’s conclusion three minutes later. Perhaps the best-produced track on Through The Windowpane, that stuttering keyboard riff and the ethereal swirls, twinkles and synthetic meanderings that float about the back of the mix totally make the track, as do Fyfe Dangerfield’s flawlessly-produced vocals. Amazing that a song this good could conceivably not see release as a single at any point, but as we’ve already seen with “Who Left The Lights Off, Baby” (see #19), Guillemots are one of the few bands with such a surplus of brilliant material that they can afford to sit on chart-worthy material that most bands would kill a man for. [D]
[from the Through The Windowpane LP, available here]
B1) MP3: “Long Distance Call” (Sebastien Tellier Mix) - Phoenix
B2) MP3: “Long Distance Call” (25 Hours A Day Mix) - Phoenix
Here is an example of the incredibly rare instance (I can’t remember another one) in which both of the remixes on a single manage to eclipse the original. You see, I wasn’t terribly keen on “Long Distance Call” when I first heard it on It’s Never Been Like That, the album that takes its name from this song, and it wasn’t until I heard the remixes that I fell in love with the track. It was the Sebastien Tellier remix that sparked my curiosity enough to seek out the whole single, and it’s Tellier’s lush, orchestral instrumentation that I feel better suits the track than Phoenix’s original crisp, jazzy (lifeless?) approach. Upon listening to the single in its entirety I discovered that the 25 Hours A Day mix was every bit as good as Tellier’s and also managed to outshine the original, realizing the dancefloor potential that the Phoenix version only hints at. Whereas Tellier’s keeps the same pace and tone as the original but beefs up the instrumentation, 25 Hours’ remix gives the track a face lift, turning it into a party anthem worthy of play in the finest indie discos the world over. With synthesized surges that recall Daft Punk at their finest (see: Discovery), 25 Hours A Day maximizes the dancefloor potential of the track and turns it into something Phoenix could only dream of. Phoenix frontman Thomas Mars deserves props, of course, for writing such a monumentally catchy lyric and vocal structure, but where Phoenix’s original instrumentation falters, Tellier and 25 Hours A Day step up and take the track to new heights. [D]
[from the Long Distance Call CD-Single, available for purchase here]
MP3: “Hospital Beds” - Cold War Kids
The sing-a-long crowd-pleaser at their live shows, “Hospital Beds” was the first Cold War Kids song I ever heard and the reason I fell in love with the band in the first place. It’s a bit of a departure from the rest of their fantastic debut LP, Robbers & Cowards, as it’s one of the few songs on the album in which the piano is used for the purpose of melody rather than percussion, helping it to stand out from the rest of their material as one of CWK’s finest accomplishments to date. The closest thing to a ballad on the album, “Hospital Beds” finds frontman Nate Willet at his most impassioned, singing of hospital life in the Vietnam War with enough conviction to make you think he actually suffered through the worst years of the war despite the small fact that he wasn’t born until years after its conclusion. An impressive lyrical feat then, and proof that Willet and the rest of the Kids have a very bright future ahead of them in this here indie-rock business. [D]
[from the Robbers & Cowards LP, available for purchase here]
MP3: “More Is Enough” - Epic Man ft. Plan B
“More Is Enough” is amazing thanks to the impeccable marriage of Epic Man’s insane electronic beats to a perfect (but ultimately overshadowed) verse from Plan B, but unlike most hip-hop tracks it was the constantly-evolving instrumentation that stole the show. Any producer worth their shit can drop a hot beat, but Epworth created an absolute spine-jerking monster, from those opening synth surges - equal parts massive and epic - to that moment at the two-minute mark where the synth line detaches itself from the body of the song and just spirals out of control, obliterating everything in its wake. Low frequency synths, a staple on most Phones tracks, moan and groan beneath it all while some hyperactive hand claps keep it moving throughout, and on this, his first release as a solo artist, Paul Epworth proves himself as one of the most exciting minds in modern music. [D]
[from the More Is Enough digital-only download, available for purchase here]
MP3: “We Share Our Mother’s Health” - The Knife
Maybe it really is impossible to describe this track in words (though I heard somewhere something about “experimental black electro-funk” that seemed about right) or maybe this is my last write-up for me to get out of my way before posting this and I’m just lazy, but yeah - the sheer insanity of this all-over-the-place beat cannot be done justice by words. One thing I can say, however, is that there may not have been a more bad ass moment in music in 2006 than when Karin’s hyper-distorted vocals come in for the third verse with that massive “Say you like ITTTTT / Say you need ITTTT / when you don’t” lyric. [D]
[from the We Share Our Mother’s Health CD-Single, available for purchase here]
Bonus MP3: “We Share Our Mother’s Health” (Ratatat Rmx) - The Knife
MP3: “We Used To Vacation” - Cold War Kids
“Hospital Beds” may be pretty and all, but “We Used To Vacation” is Cold War Kids’ seminal track. Showing off everything they do best all at once, “We Used To Vacation” opens with a pounding piano-drums-bass combo straight out of Wolf Parade’s playbook as a maraca jitters in the background and the track comes to life. Then come singer Nate Willet’s soulful, emotional vocals, as he tells a first-person tale of a crippling addiction to alcohol. The off-kilter, all-over-the-place instrumentation suits the track perfectly, as cymbals crash out of nowhere and fractured, disjointed guitar riffs jostle for position within the mix, but it’s appropriate for a song with such a troubling subject matter. “It sounds so soothing / Just to mix a drink and sink into oblivion” croons Willet, doing a remarkable job linking the listener to the perspective of the song’s protagonist and hiding any greenness he may have as a rookie songwriter behind the lyrical chops of a seasoned veteran. Cold War Kids are here to stay and this triumphant debut single should be enough to turn some serious heads the world over in 2007. [D]
[from the We Used To Vacation EP, available for purchase here]
A) MP3: “Over And Over” - Hot Chip
B) MP3: “Sexual Healing” - Hot Chip
A self-proclaimed “lesson in repetition”, Hot Chip’s “Over And Over” is a true electro-funk masterpiece. Riding that slamming drumbeat and a cyclical, churning guitar riff, plus some jangly things and some twinkly things thrown in here and there for good measure, the Chip’s bangin-est track of ‘06 is downright seismic and ready to obliterate everything in its path. “Over and Over” is the band’s most immediate track (just try to find someone who doesn’t perk up when that chorus hits) to date, but what gets me more than anything about this track is the sheer vibrancy and vitality of the thing - every instrument blares with equal consideration and the whole thing is just bursting at the seems with energy. There are very few key moments to pinpoint in this track since it’s an absolute burner from start to finish, but there may not be a more “game over” moment in music than when that monstrous electric guitar solo - as if responding to an ominous, Mortal Kombat “FINISH HIM” - roars to life and bursts forth from the mix to rock the listener into oblivion. [D]
[from the Over And Over CD-Single, available for purchase here]
MASS DOWNLOADING OPTION: Top 50 Songs of 2006 (30-21) [follow link]
A) MP3: “Drop The Pressure” (Radio Edit) - Mylo
B) MP3: “Doctor Pressure” (Dirty Edit) - Mylo vs. Miami Sound Machine
In a world without “We Are Your Friends”, Mylo’s “Drop The Pressure” would be the unrivaled essential party jam of 2006 (though to be honest, both songs saw some form of release before this year but simply went overlooked by yours truly). Like “We Are Your Friends”, “Drop The Pressure” further proves the notion that no matter how many times you loop a singular refrain, it will never become tired so long as you dress it up in enough electro-bells and techno-whistles. Furthermore, when said refrain is as addictive and bad-ass as “Mothafucka’s gonna drop the preshaaaa”, you’ve already got the makings of a dancefloor burner on your hands. Greatness is ensured for the track, however, by the bouncy, electro-pop beat Mylo drops all over it, as addictive as anything you’ll hear all year. Mylo doesn’t just stop there though, sealing the deal with a vocoder solo (the first of its kind?) that stands out as one of the single most blissful moments in electro-pop history . Granted, it all wears on a bit longer than one might hope on the original edit of the track, but the radio edit boils everything down to a perfectly concise package of electro-pop perfection.
The extended US single release of the track this past March saw the addition of a Mylo-produced mash-up to the track’s B-sides, “Doctor Pressure”, which takes all the brilliance of the original song, sprinkles some Gloria Estefan vocals on top and drenches it in the classy latin synths of Miami Sound Machine’s “Doctor Beat”. [D]
[from the Drop The Pressure EP, available for purchase here]
Bonus MP3: “Sweet Child O’ Mine” - Mylo
MP3: “Who Left The Lights Off, Baby” - Guillemots
You know you’ve got a great band on your hands when they can write a song this brilliant and chart-worthy and afford not to release it as a single. In fact, Guillemots didn’t even feel the need to include “Who Left The Lights Off” on their proper full-length LP, forever relegating it to B-side status despite the fact that 90% of bands in the indie-rock biz would gladly sell their souls for a track of this quality in their repertoire. Sounding like one of Belle & Sebastian’s finer works only, um, 1,000 times better, “Lights Off” opens with a sample of dinner table conversation at a crowded restaurant that introduces the song’s central theme of unrequited love in a relationship that refuses to end (but what do I know about that…). One might expect the dark subject matter to call for somber, heartfelt balladry, but if there’s one thing Guillemots are consistently able to do again and again it’s defy expectations, and things are no different here. In the stead of morose balladry we get – what else? – one of the sunniest pop songs of the year, complete with clever, double-edged lyricism, soaring vocals and effervescent melodies. [D]
[from the From The Cliffs mini-LP, available for purchase here]
A) MP3: “Dirty Blue Jeans” - Jeremy Warmsley
B) MP3: “Photographs of a Hospital” - Jeremy Warmsley
Nothing will engender more love from me than an innovative single release. Whether it’s Bloc Party releasing “The Prayer” in a 7″ box set complete with nearly ten B-sides, Winterkids sending me their 7″ singles tied up with ribbon and a feather by the band themselves or, in this case, Jeremy Warmsley releasing the 7″ for “Dirty Blue Jeans” with both a packaging hook and clever B-side content. The record comes in a sleeve designed to look like blue jeans, outfitted with an actual pocket in which resides a four-track DVD containing Warmsley’s four previously-released music videos, so you’re off to a great start before the needle even drops on the track. The needle eventually does drop, though, at which point the song bursts out of the gates at 100 mph and you better do your damnedest to hold on tight. “Dirty Blue Jeans” is Warmsley’s greatest achievement to date and is a shining example of his skills as both a brilliant songwriter and an incredible producer, as his poignant lyrics are repeatedly accentuated by the quirky production flourishes he repeatedly throws into the mix out of nowhere. The verses gradually build in intensity as the song flies along, finally climaxing in that “fucked all night in your brother’s old bedroom!” lyric before scaling back the energy for an introspective final verse, the cool-down section after a two-and-a-half minute marathon.
As for the aforementioned “clever B-side content”, “Dirty Blue Jeans” comes backed on the flip side by “Photographs of a Hospital” a track written by the winner of the Warmsley-comissioned songwriting contest held in the weeks leading up to the single release. Essentially, Warmsley held an open competition for aspiring songwriters to write him lyrics for a song, and whichever ones he liked the best he would set to his own music and release on the B-side of the “Blue Jeans” single. “Photograph of a Hospital” sounds shockingly similar to your average Warmsley tale and is strikingly reminiscent of Warmsley’s “5 Verses” in both sound and storyline, as the story moves along nicely throughout the song before revealing a surprise plot-twist in the final verse. It’s quite beautiful though, as good as the majority of the fare on Warmsley’s hot-and-cold debut LP, The Art of Fiction. The half-French songwriter is a true auteur of music and could very well do beautiful things in his career, and “Dirty Blue Jeans” shows he’s well on his way there already. [D]
[from the Dirty Blue Jeans 7″, available for purchase here]
MP3: “Evil Has Never” - Union of Knives
Stars’ “Your Ex-Lover Is Dead” was my fourth-favorite song of 2005 (and I’d only rank it higher today) and for all intents and purposes Union of Knives’ “Evil Has Never” – the centerpiece of their remarkable debut LP, Violence & Birdsong – can easily be viewed as “Your Ex-Lover Is Dead” for the electro-rock set. Both tracks tell a tale of a past relationship that neither party can seem to fully get past (supporting the hypothesis that, in fact, your ex-lover never truly can be dead), and both are told from the alternating perspectives of male and female vocalists, thanks to the appearance of guest vocalist Jenny Reeve on the track. But where Stars opt for stirring string arrangements as the instrumental backdrop for their opus, “Evil” chugs along with a rhythm section equal parts pounding and pulsing, that addictive “Evil has never loved you” refrain and an entirely dancefloor-worthy BPM, boasting an energy and intensity that the former lacks. Look for Union of Knives’ to enjoy considerable mainstream success when “Evil Has Never” is eventually released as a single in 2007, as is inevitable considering the track’s brilliance and undeniable accessibility. [D]
[from the Violence & Birdsong LP, available for purchase here]
A1) MP3: “Atlantis To Interzone” - Klaxons
A2) MP3: “Gravity’s Rainbow” - Klaxons
B) MP3: “Atlantis To Interzone” (Metronomy Remix) - Klaxons
Like nothing else to burst forth from my speakers in 2006, “Atlantis To Interzone” roared to life with those streaking synth surges and addictive falsetto’d verses and announced Klaxons arrival as one of the most exciting bands in music last year. Then I heard “Gravity’s Rainbow”, the apparent consensus favorite among those familiar with the group, and it was official: Klaxons were going to be huge and the stage was set for their pop domination in 2007. Whereas “Atlantis” floored me with its pure bombast and the sheer newness (for, um, lack of a better word) of its sound, “Gravity’s Rainbow” made apparent the band’s dangerous pop sensibilities and chart-topping potential. Each subsequent single (“Magick”, “Golden Skans”) has only further impressed me, but still nothing has equaled the unadulterated excitement generated within me by their initial two singles in the first half of this year.
As a primer for Swedish audiences, Risky Dazzle Records threw the two tracks together on one side of a 7″ record making for one hell of an immaculate A-side and the best seven radial inches of music you’ll here this year. As if that wasn’t enough already, they went and tacked Metronomy’s incredible remix of “Atlantis” (my #1 remix of 2006; more on that here) onto the b-side, officially qualifying this release as one of the most remarkable all-around singles of 2006. [D]
[from the Atlantis To Interzone/Gravity’s Rainbow 7″, available for purchase here]
Bonus MP3: “My Love” - Klaxons
MP3: “And I Was A Boy From School” - Hot Chip
For my money, “Boy From School” was the most year-defining track of 2006. No genre (outside of possibly the French electro-house scene) had a bigger or better year in 2006 than minimalist electronica, with hugely-acclaimed albums from Junior Boys (So This Is Goodbye), Thom Yorke (The Eraser) and Trentemoller (The Last Resort) all hitting shelves over the last 12 months, but it was Hot Chip’s The Warning and, more specifically, “Boy From School” (one of the only singles yielded by the genre to break into the UK Top 40), that was the best of the bunch. Gloriously riding that immediately-addictive disco-funk riff for the first three minutes, the song then slows things down and mutates into a final two minute segment of beautiful melancholy that, on the strength of those “I got left behind…” and “We tried…” refrains, stands alone as one of the most stirring and poignant moments in music in 2006. [D]
[from the Boy From School CD-Single, available for purchase here]
Bonus MP3: “Boy From School” (Acoustic) - Hot Chip
Perhaps my favorite thing about this song, however, is its ability to translate flawlessly into an acoustic ballad, as is demonstrated by this beautiful acoustic recording from the band themselves.
MP3: “Young Folks” - Peter Bjorn & John
As unlikely as it may have seemed heading into 2006, three previously-unknown gentlemen from Sweden (with a little help from ex-Concretes pop chanteuse Victoria Bergsman) were responsible for the closest thing we had to a bona fide indie classic (see: “Banquet”, “Hounds of Love” and “Obstacle 1” et. al in recent years) in 2006. Perhaps the year’s most essential track (right up there with Hot Chip’s “Boy From School”), Peter Bjorn & John lay the foundation for greatness with a blissful whistled melody and an uptempo, bongo-style drumbeat. But it’s the lyrics and the alternating boy-girl verses that are where “Young Folks” really makes its money. Using the beginnings of a new relationship as the vehicle through which they deliver their message of living for the present, looking to the future and refusing to dwell on the past, PB&J have penned a perfect anthem for young folks all over the world. Furthermore, the song somehow manages to transmit the uncomfortable intensity that accompanies the start of all new relationships through the minimalistic, hollowed-out production, those scatter-shot drums and the lonely, almost longing whistling. Both characters in the song have had their fair share of relationship troubles in the past and discuss it openly in the first verse, but once they decide “to stick around and see this night through” and that ridiculously anthemic chorus hits it’s game over - people all over the world are singing along and you can’t help but feel a little bit in love with life, especially when it throws special, special songs like this your way. [D]
[from the Young Folks CD-Single, available for purchase here]
MP3: “Naive” - The Kooks
The first of two Top 10 singles in the UK, “Naïve” peaked at #5 and is an instant singalong classic. It became an unofficial summer anthem (the official honor goes to “We Are Your Friends”) among my friends this summer and even made it into our acoustic guitar around-the-campfire singalong playlist (yeah, we’re that cliché) somewhere in between such other Britpop masterpiece’s as “Don’t Look Back In Anger” and “Karma Police”. With that relentlessly catchy chorus and the herky-jerky guitar-based instrumentation, “Naïve” gets stuck in your head and straight-up sets up residence there. Not that I feel terribly cool listening to this though; it’s far and away the highest-ranking guilty pleasure ever to grace any of my year-end lists (”Since U Been Gone” clocked in at #24 last year). Let’s be honest though - hemorrhaging scene points has never sounded so good. [D]
[from the Naive CD-Single, available for purchase here]
Bonus MP3: “Naive” - Lily Allen
Lily Allen has demonstrated her proficiency for covers on the B-side of nearly every one of her singles to date, but her jazz-lounge version of “Naive”, available on the LDN CD-Single, is perhaps her best cover released yet (keeping in mind, of course, that her amazing take on the Kaiser Chiefs’ “Oh My God” is yet to see an official release).
MP3: “Made Up Love Song #43″ - Guillemots
I’m not going to lie; I wasn’t always crazy about “Made Up Love Song #43″. Yeah, I always enjoyed it and all, but the sappy, schmaltzy lyrics didn’t exactly rock my boat and it didn’t rise much higher than “pretty fun indie pop track” on my charts for the first half of this year. Then spring happened. And I’ll be damned if this song doesn’t take on a whole new life of its own once the air is as warm as the vocals and the sun is as vibrant as the melodies. I know “Young Folks” did the trick for a lot of people this year, but “Made Up Love Song” was without a doubt the unrivaled warm weather anthem for me this year.
Looking back, I don’t know how this song didn’t consistently floor me from the start. It opens with that playful keyboard melody and plods along for a bit, but when the beat drops just after the one minute mark and that downright iridescent guitar riff just takes to the skies it’s a whole new world. Fyfe’s lyrics soar over rooftops and playgrounds, as high as that arcing, skittering guitar riff, while playful samples and production flourishes flutter in and out of the mix. A twinkling piano line can be heard somewhere in the distance and then Dangerfield hits that “ca-aaaaa-aaare” chorus and launches into some Jackson 5, next-level shit, hitting notes I didn’t know existed and showing off a superhuman vocal range as if to say, “no seriously, we’re this good”. And yes, Guillemots are that good, but something tells me we’ve still only seen the tip of the iceberg of their talent. [D]
[from the Made Up Love Song #43 CD-Single, available for purchase here]
MP3: “Oh Mandy” - The Spinto Band
It seems nigh impossible that the union of a simplistic, looping mandolin progression and catchy falsetto’d vocals could yield one of the absolute best songs of the year, but fuck if that isn’t exactly what’s happened here with the Spinto Band’s “Oh Mandy”. Originally released in 2005 on the band’s Nice And Nicely Done LP and criminally slept on by yours truly, it was released as a single in the UK on indie label Stolen Transmission last July, promptly thrusting itself into the forefront of my consciousness and opening my eyes to its brilliance. Subsequently, “Oh Mandy” was met with widespread critical acclaim and the Spinto Band have seen their popularity in the UK eclipse their US success in only a matter of months.
Back to the song, though, which remains one of the essential tracks of the last two years despite (or possibly because of) the fact that there’s nothing even remotely “now” about it. There’s a surprising intensity about it as well - lead singer Nick Krill’s vocals are bursting at the seams with emotion as he races to get each verse out before drummer Jeff Hobson delivers the decisive cymbal crash that punctuates each line. The mandolicious (sorry) verses continue to snowball in intensity until Krill belts out his climactic “so I can finally hear you scream!” lyric and that relentlessly addictive “Oh Mandy” refrain comes around again, announced by a sprightly keyboard outburst, and takes everything to new heights. The song continues like this, with those pristine mandolin riffs and those candy-coated keyboard flourishes, flooding your aural pleasure centers and ceaselessly justifying itself as one of the best tracks of the year. [D]
[from the Oh Mandy CD-Single, available for purchase here]
MASS DOWNLOADING OPTION: Top 50 Songs of 2006 (20-11) [follow link]
A) MP3: “Moving To New York” - The Wombats
B) MP3: “Party In A Forest (Where’s Laura)” - The Wombats
This song really couldn’t not be included in my Top 10 of ‘06 considering the remarkable applicability of the lyrics to my life in the second half of this year and it was going reign over my iPod in 2006 whether I wanted it to or not. I mean, the amount of personal resonance this shit carries is ridiculous. Yes, I do have crippling insomnia (or “problems in my sleep”, though they can usually be successfully anti-doted by crippling doses of a certain miracle drug). Yes, “Christmas came early, Christmas came early for me” when I got into NYU in mid-December. And above everything else, well, I fucking moved to New York two months after this song was released.
Then you factor in that burner of a guitar riff, the driving rhythm section and the way in which the lyrics passionately pour forth from vocalist Matthew Murphy (and don’t even get me started on the backing vocals), and I mean, fuck. Everything (everything) about this song is perfect – from the moment those rolling drums crescendo with a cymbal crash and the song roars to life to the closing seconds with that out-of-nowhere one-second twinkle noise that somehow rounds things out perfectly. That there are so many individual things to like about this song says a lot about the ability of the band’s three members – bassist Tord (The Fox), frontman Murph (The Dog - who also rocks the keys), and drummer Dan (The Rat), all of whom steal the show at one point or another in the song. The Fox’s adventurous bass line establishes its independence from the rest of the song by straying left and right, up and down and all over the map, while managing to remain a cogent part of the greater whole. The Rat breathes life into the track and sets the energetic pace for the entire song with that opening crescendo, while the Dog takes everything to new heights with that brilliant, soaring chorus (my favorite of the year? alllllmost). Furthermore, all three contribute vocals on the song, evident in the group’s signature “ooh-ooohs” that underly the chorus, and it’s this three-headed vocal attack that make the Wombats so fucking good at what they do. The best backing vocals in the world? Futureheads, eat your heart out. In fact, everything is executed so perfectly in this song that it’s a wonder that it’s only the band’s second formally-released single. Listen to this song, flip it over and give the also-incredible B-side, “Party In A Forest”, a listen, think about the ridiculously bright future the Wombats have ahead of them and just try not to soil yourself with excitement. [D]
[from the Moving To New York 7″, available for purchase here]
A) MP3: “Weekend Without Make Up” - The Long Blondes
B) MP3: “Fulwood Babylon” - The Long Blondes
I could waste words and energy on describing “Weekend Without Make Up” (alright, fine: “clever narratives obscuring dark undertones, that galloping rhythm section and a chorus with more punch than your high school prom”) and letting you know that it’s my single of theirs to date, but I’m not gonna dance around the issue here. As good as “Weekend” may be (and trust me, it’s fucking great), the absolutely sublime “Fulwood Babylon” serves as one of the best-ever examples of a single’s B-side upstaging the shit out of its A-side counterpart. To put it bluntly: “Fulwood Babylon” was the best-produced rock song to come out all year, and the fact that it may never see release as anything more than a B-side (and consequently, risks being criminally overlooked) is tragic. The incredible production can be attributed solely to the presence of half-man/half-magician Erol Alkan behind the boards on this, the first track he’s ever produced for a band. The song’s worth taking note of for that reason alone, and while the Blondes are right at home with Steve Mackey on the bulk of their ouevre, this collaboration with Alkan has proven to be an impossibly-perfect pairing and has yielded my favorite Long Blondes work to date. As previously noted, the band score with the whole clever narratives/dark undertones/spiky guitars/thumping basslines thing, and “Fulwood Babylon” sees them perfecting this formula. Alkan makes his money on the depth and expansiveness of his productions (case in point: the reverb-drenched chorus vocals on his supreme “She’s Hearing Voices” remix), and those two bread-winning elements, coupled with the Long Blondes formula for success, result in an absolutely huge track in terms of both physical scope and, er, awesomeness. Everything about the song works, from the way the alliterative hard consonants of the opening a capella verse gradually give way to the bassline that will prove to be the backbone of the song, to the way the backing vocals echo out into the ether, and finally to that incredible spoken word bridge, my single favorite moment in any song in 2006. [D]
[from the Weekend Without Make Up CD-Single, available for purchase here]
MP3: “The Funeral” - Band of Horses
Though in most cases I bristle at the overuse of the word “epic” in describing music, when the song in question is Band of Horses’ absolutely gorgeous “The Funeral”, the lead single from the Everything All The Time LP, few words are more appropriate. One of the most blogged-about tracks of the first quarter of 2006, “The Funeral” deserved every lick of attention it received. The track starts out harmless enough, with a simple guitar strain that leads into Ben Bridwell’s earnest vocals. As the song progresses, however, it raises the intensity ante in both dynamics and emotion, cresting at the chorus, where Bridwell tells us, “at every occasion I’ll be ready for the funeral”. The song concludes with a powerful instrumental segment, after which it is difficult to fight off the overwhelming urge to rewind and start it all over again. Lyrically, “The Funeral” is a roller-coaster of emotion, and though the crashing guitars serve to drown out much of the intent of Bridwell’s lyrics towards the end of the track, they remain there for one to discover in relish in future listens. With “The Funeral”, Band of Horses have crafted a massive song in any scope, one where each repeated listen leaves you with something new. [E]
[from the Everything All The Time LP, available for purchase here]
A) MP3: “No Light Left” - Snowfight In The City Centre
B) MP3: “My Saving Grace” - Snowfight In The City Centre
The year’s best all-around single, complete with the best chorus of the year on Side A, features two slices of flawless, ambitious Britpop that serves as the perfect introduction to the cumbersomely-titled Mancunian sextet. “No Light Left” triumphs on the A-side as one of the year’s most immediately satisfying singles, but it takes repeated listens to realize just how impressive it really is. Opening with a simple descending acoustic guitar progression, the song quickly takes flight on the wings of that soaring central guitar riff, but it’s not until that first “Angels and ghosts!” chorus hits (and boy does it ever HIT) that the song breeches the stratosphere and never looks back. The chorus in question is a full-fledged vocal assault, sounding like 1,000 voices uniting to create a veritable barrage of rapidfire lyrics, and when it first announces its arrival just under a minute in it’s one of the single most eye-opening moments in any song this year. Things continue on like that with the song continually evolving into a more and more impressive masterpiece of a debut single, until it reaches its greatest climax (though there are many in this song), just after things slow down for a bit in the bridge, when that “I was dreaminnnng” vocal comes in and everything rockets skyward again for one final burst of euphoria.
The flip starts out like your average plodding, vanilla piano ballad, but out of nowhere the song bursts into a cacophonous crescendo of crashing drums and soaring vocals, sounding like a epic-off between U2 and the Arcade Fire, with some Coldplay sprinkled in there for good measure. Then things slow down again for a bit, with guitar riffs skittering along the ceiling off the sky before arcing back downward and then right back up again, and all the while a piano-organ combination gives the song a hugely epic, almost gospel feel about it. Snowfight In The City Centre chose a perfect pair of songs as their introduction to the music world, as “No Light Left” shows off their knack for mind-blowing melodies and insanely-catchy songwriting, while “My Saving Grace” shows just how powerful they can be when aiming for the heartstrings, though “My Saving Grace” might have made for a better follow up single than the slightly-disappointing “Listen” ultimately did. It’d be reasonable to fear that Snowfight may have blown their load early with such an immaculate and seemingly untoppable debut, but having heard the demos off their upcoming debut LP, I’m optimistic that they can realize their potential and live up to the promise shown in this incredible, incredible first single. [D]
[from the No Light Left 7″, available for purchase here]
Bonus MP3: “No Light Left” (Live on XFM) - Snowfight [exclusive]
MP3: “Waters of Nazareth” - Justice
Justice embrace religious imagery in their art direction and live performances, prominently featuring a flashing cross on stage with them as often as possible, so it should come as no surprise that their [proper] debut single, “Waters of Nazareth”, is an absolutely massive track of downright biblical proportions. Seriously though, where did this monster even come from? Like an electronica lab experiment gone terribly wrong (or terribly right, in this case), “Waters of Nazareth” is a true beast of a track, taking on a life of its own and obliterating everything and everyone in its path. In a word, “Waters of Nazareth” is destructive. “Nazareth” means absolute business from the second the needle drops, wasting no time dropping the pressure with that suffocating, glitched-out bassline that swaps places with the melody and paves the way for the demolition to come. Then comes that bad-ass percussion section with each “verse” (can I call it that?) punctuated by human grunts until they get straight ridiculous and organize said grunts in a stuttering, descending progression that’s the first of many absolutely brilliant moments in the track. The drums continue to build to booming proportions and then… then they drop that massive organ, the monolith of epic synths that’s alluded to on the cover art, into the mix and it’s just game over… almost. The undeniable highlight comes at the 3:22 mark after most of the instrumentation has faded out and the organs come to a grinding halt, at which point a synth flickers between the channels for an instant and then BOOM, we’re off again as the track rides that murderous bass to it’s epic conclusion. [D]
[from the Waters of Nazareth EP, available for purchase here]
Bonus MP3: “Waters of Nazareth” (Jhn Rdn Mix) - Justice
MP3: “Wolf Like Me” - TV On The Radio
Though nearly any song off of TV On The Radio’s remarkable sophomore album, Return To Cookie Mountain, would have worked fine as the group’s debut major-label single, “Wolf Like Me” gets the nod and rightfully so, as it’s the album’s most instantly awe-inspiring track and quite possibly the best song TV On The Radio has ever written. Beginning innocently enough, the brief, steadily-chugging intro gives way to an urgent drumbeat, before a metric ton of industrial-strength synth lines and a near-lethal barrage of noise descends from above to crush down on the listener and kick the song into overdrive, thus initiating the sonic assault that will leave one breathless and gasping for air in four and a half minutes’ time. Tunde Adebimpe’s lyrics employ a werewolf metaphor to take you into the mind of a character caught in the throes of an insatiable sex addiction, as the protagonist describes “the curse [they] cannot lift” that “shines when the sunset shifts”. Acting almost as an endurance test of sorts and sounding like Outkast hopped up on PCP, the driving rhythm drags you along at 100 miles an hour until you’re granted a brief reprieve at the two-minute mark as the protagonist howls out into the ether for a “play mate”, a “completer” to share in his sin. Without warning, the drums and synths roar back into the frame and carry the song to its conclusion as the permanency of the addiction is realized in the “howling forever” refrain that fades out with the track’s instrumentation. In both lyrical depth and sheer force of instrumentation, “Wolf Like Me” proves to be one of the elite indie rock songs in recent memory. [D]
[from the Wolf Like Me CD-Single, available for purchase here]
A) MP3: “Radio Protector” - 65 Days of Static
B) MP3: “Asphalt & Trouble” - 65 Days of Static
Perhaps the most epic song ever recorded by man and one of the most stirringly beautiful tracks in recent memory, “Radio Protector” sets the high-water mark for 65 Days of Static’s career to date. A true epoch in every sense of the word, the song opens with a wistful piano progression that gradually builds before the introduction of a dramatic percussion section takes the song to new heights. Just over two minutes in the instrumentation dies out and yields to a beautiful glockenspiel solo, before the band turns the amps back up to 11 and rock the listener to their very core, letting impenetrable walls of guitar noise take over and carry the song to its conclusion in appropriately epic fashion. Incredible, incredible stuff folks. [D]
[from the Radio Protector 7″, available for purchase here]
A) MP3: “La Ritournelle” - Sebastien Tellier
B) MP3: “La Ritournelle” (Mr. Dan’s Magic Wand Mix) - Sebastien Tellier
Never has simplistic repetition sounded better than on Sebastien Tellier’s “La Ritournelle”. The song was first brought to our attention after the posting of our top songs of 2005 list, when a reader notified us of the glaring omission of this phenomenally lush electronica piece courtesy of the French Tellier. However, the track was released in the UK for the first time this year on Tellier’s UK debut compilation LP, Universe, alongside Mr. Dan’s phenomenal remix of the track, thus both are eligible for inclusion on this list. The A-side clocks in at slightly over seven and a half minutes, and the vocals don’t kick in until past the halfway mark, but it’s the stunning four minute intro that holds much of the beauty of this masterpiece. The same drum loop persists throughout the song, carried by the simple but gorgeous melody courtesy of a piano. The differentiation lies in the beautiful strings that layer the background and occasionally creep in to the forefront for deserved attention. The vocals only occupy a minute of the song, and though they do add another dimension while they’re there and are certainly beautiful, “La Ritournelle” makes its money in the instrumental moments. The sweeping, cinematic strings and that amazing drumbeat make the song an entire soundtrack in itself, and “La Ritournelle” is easily one of the most beautiful songs ever put to tape. [E]
The b-side of the original 12″ single comes packed with excellent remixes aplenty, the best of which is provided by one Mr. Dan. His “Magic Wand Mix” is almost less of a remix and more of a single edit, as it cuts the song down from its lengthy seven-and-a-half minute run time to a much more manageable three-and-a-half, and loops the vocals throughout the entire song, increasing the track’s immediacy and accessibility tenfold. On top of all that, he adds a beautiful chime section - his only major new contribution to the mix - to the instrumentation, taking the remix to a level that nearly surpasses the original, though the two can’t really be compared. “La Ritournelle” is the night of unforgettable passion you had on your wedding night; Mr. Dan’s mix is the quick fix you turn to when you want all the stunning orchestral beauty of the original without any of the cinematic foreplay. Either way, they’re both orgasmic. [D]
[from the Universe LP, available for purchase here]
MP3: “We! Are Your Friends!” - Justice vs Simian
Because we! Are! Your friends! Justice take this ridiculously addictive refrain and loop the shit out of it, dressing it up in grimy electroclash beats and creating the dancefloor monster of 2006. Seriously, this just might knock off Ratatat’s “Seventeen Years” as my single favorite party jam of all time. Simian’s original edit, “Never Be Alone” from 2002’s excellent We Are You Friends, was already an excellent track in its own right, but outside of that unimpeachable chorus, it lacked the punch and tempo to be a true dancefloor burner. Fortunately for clubs and party-goers everywhere, Justice’s update of the track delivers tempo, punch, and BPM in spades and then some.
As the story goes, the song originated as the bedroom demo that got the Parisian duo (and recent VICE signees) originally signed to the vaunted French dance label Ed Banger records in 2002, and immediately began to generate buzz as it gained circulation in the elite Parisian clubs. It saw a limited edition vinyl release later in 2004 and the duo’s conquest of the entire European club scene had officially begun, but it wasn’t until June of this year that the record was renamed “We Are Your Friends” and saw the proper single release it deserved courtesy of Virgin subsidary Ten Records. Since then the track has become the official anthem of the summer, and it seemed like you couldn’t go to any club in New York this summer (during my brief stay up there at least) without hearing the track.
Now I grappled with the 10/10 rating I gave it back in September for a while, nearly going with a simple 9, but the fact of the matter is, this is easily the most well-received song I’ve ever played for anyone - from indie kids, to preppy douchebags, even to people who don’t give a fuck about music at all - no one’s ever not wanted to hear it again and again. Then there’s the small issue that there many never have been a better party song. Ever. Seriously, there’s pretty much nothing more enjoyable than screaming out this chorus with your closest friends in drunken, sweaty unison. Try it some time and it’ll all become clear: “We Are Your Friends” is a perfect 10 of a dancefloor burner, the party anthem of the year and maybe even the single greatest party track of the last five thousand years. [D]
[from the We Are Your Friends 12″, available for purchase here]
MP3: “Trains To Brazil” - Guillemots
Both Guillemots’ masterwork and one of the greatest British pop songs of all time, “Trains To Brazil” races out of the gates with booming drums, experimental bells and whistles, soaring vocals and a general boyancy unrivaled by any other song this year. Children laugh, tapes squiggle, telephones ring off the hook and horns blare, all adding up to the experimentally-leaning, but decidedly pop-based sound that makes Guillemots’ music so fucking wonderful. “Trains” is a lesson in exuberance from start to finish, but beneath all the blissful pomp and circumstance lies the easily-overlooked dark subject matter of Fyfe Dangerfields remarkably socially-aware lyrics.
The song was written by Dangerfield in 2002 as the world was still recovering from 9/11 and as Guillemots were recording the track in 2005 a Brazilian man was killed on the subway by London police after being wrongly suspected of being a terrorist. Thus, the title was changed to “Trains To Brazil” as a tribute to the innocent victim and the song took on a newfound poignancy. A social commentary on the state of the world today, it discusses the ever-present feeling of distrust and suspicion caused by terrorist attacks, which resulted in the wrongful murder of the aforementioned Brazilian man on the subway last year. We are all living with our “backs to the wall”, and though he wonders when they’ll “blow us away”, he’s just thankful to be here for as long as he can. The “prophets and pawns” are the terrorist leaders and their mindless followers, and we live in a culture of anxiety, aware that are lives are “in the hands of these erroneous fools”. He chastises those who live their lives unhappy, “from one day to the next”, and scolds “let them take you next”, as you should just be thankful to be here on this earth, living this life, as it could be “you tomorrow [or] next year”.
Through it all, it’s an anthem celebrating resilience and perseverance, a rallying cry for those resigned to a life of paranoia and uncertainty, an invaluable message for us to hear as citizens of a modern society that seems increasingly governed by the latter two principles. Fear not though, on the strength of their relentless optimism, soaring melodies and innovative songwriting, Guillemots just might be able to save the world on their own. [D]
[from the Trains To Brazil CD-Single, available for purchase here]
MASS DOWNLOADING OPTION: Top 50 Songs of 2006 (10-01) [follow link]
FINAL WORDCOUNT: 14,395. Fuck.
And there you have it, essentially 50 single reviews in one massive post - hopefully now you can all understand and appreciate why this took FOR-FUCKING-EVER. I’ve got one more big treat up my sleeve for you guys later this week (but fortunately for all of us it’s nowhere near as time consuming as these last two beasts have been) and then it’s back to our regular programming for the remainder of ‘07. Please, please feel free to point out defective links in the post (though we were pretty careful this time through) and definitely don’t hesitate to speak up in the comments about what you think is missing from this list (there’s probably a lot; I had a lengthy list of honorab
