Top 11 of 2006.

What follows is my list of Top 11 Albums of 2006, and my Top 11 Songs. Enjoy!

(Side note, as an unpredicted, added bonus, the Top 11 Songs makes a pretty fantastic mix when you play them in ascending order. Feel free to take advantage of that).

Albums:
11. Gnarls Barkley - St. Elsewhere
10. Beirut - Gulag Orkestar
9. mewithoutYou - Brother, Sister
8. M. Ward - Post War
7. Tom Waits - Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards
6. Bob Dylan - Modern Times
5. Sparklehorse - Dreamt for Light Years in the Belly of a Mountain
4. Anathallo - Floating World
3. Thom Yorke - Floating World
2. Damien Jurado - And Now That I'm In Your Shadows
1. Joanna Newsom - Ys


Songs:
11. mewithoutYou - In a Sweater Poorly Knit
10. David Bazan - Cold Beer and Cigarettes (The Devil is Beating His Wife)
9. Man Man - Van Helsing Boombox
8. The Decemberists - Yankee Bayonet (I Will Be Home Then)
7. M. Ward - Chinese Translation
6. Anathallo - Hanasakajiji (Four: A Great Wind, More Ash)
5. Talkdemonic - Dusty Flourescent/Wooden Shelves
4. Danielson - Did I Step On Your Trumpet
3. Swan Lake - All Fires
2. Joanna Newsom - Only Skin
1. Sufjan Stevens - Sister Winter

The Mid West

This album is flawless.

Writing a review for this has been way over due, and I'm almost ashamed to admit it too me so long to get into Kanye. I rue the day I ignored his buzz!

The first time I ever saw Kanye West was while I was talking to Erin on the phone during the Grammy's. He had released College Dropout, risen to the top of the charts, and was performing "Jesus Walks" live during the awards. I had half an ear to the TV while waiting for her to call, and muted the TV as we were talking, as I had heard good things about this Kanye and didn't want to miss out. From where I was sitting, the performance seemed maybe a little over the top, a little too loud, and maybe even a little sacrilegious, but everyone seemed to dig it.

Cut to two years later when I hear Gold Digger for the first time. By the time I heard it, it was so over played that everyone groaned as I played it ceaselessly for three weeks in my room, my car, and my iPod (after I vowed to myself I would not rest until I knew every word). I couldn't get enough of the guy. I got Late Registration but could never really manage to listen to whole album, though, getting stuck every time track three came around.

It took me another year after that to start from the beginning, and when I put College Dropout on my iPod as I walked out the door on my way to work, I had no idea what I was in for.

The next three weeks were nothing short of miraculous.

The album saturates you in this world of great hip hop, radio friendly pop, and total street cred. His style is unique, making his voice unmistakable, but it's built solidly on the foundations of hip hop, and he makes no effort to hide his influences, giving shout outs (pardon the late 90s phrase) to many a rapper.

Having made a successful career as a producer, Kanye had no problem filling tracks with big name friends of his, including names like Jay-Z, Ludacris, Mos Def, Talib Kkweli, Jamie Foxx, Twista, J Ivy, and Consequence. With names this big, it's hard to keep the spotlight on Kanye all the time, but he stands tall on each track.

The record, start to finish, intertwined with this rags-to-riches-to-rich-as-hell story, offers view points on the social structure of our culture, stereotypes of blacks and whites, men and women, heaven and hell, fame and poverty. Kanye's lyrics are fresh, to the point, and insanely witty.

There are a lot of lyrics I'd like to quote on here to prove my point, but it's hard to pick and choose when the album is built solely for the words and phrases that these artists spit. Instead, I'll just list my favourite songs and you can listen to the track or, at the very least, look at the lyrics.

Spaceship
Never Let Me Down
Two Words

This has got to be one of my top twenty records of all time, and though I'm sure I'm the last one in the world to rave about it, I'll do so until I'm blue in the face. Thank God for Kanye!

WARNING: Listening to this record anymore than three times consecutively is enough time to let those hooks grab on tight, and these songs will be in your head for a LONG time, bringing on the harsh realization, as you rap to yourself around the house, that you are heartbreakingly white.

I'm sorry I haven't posted anything for over two weeks. I hadn't been listening to anything new, and felt it all unpostworthy, but I've given it some serious thought. I'm going to begin writing "reviews" for anything I'm listening to, regardless of it's release date. So, for example, I've been listening to a lot of Tom Waits lately. Should I avoid writing something about Alice just because it came out in 2002? No! It's great music, and maybe some people haven't heard it and need an introduction. That's why I started this whole thing in the first place. So henceforth my writing is dateless, ageless and timeless!

With that said, I did just get the new Decemberists album and the new Damien Jurado. Those will come first.

Another side note, if anyone reads this and has not checked out the Fall Mix page recently, there are twelve different mixes up by ten different people and I highly recommend downloading them all posthaste!

Autumn Falls

After many drafts and many hours, I've finished my Fall mix. Though I wish I hadn't put the twelve-track limit on it (and thought seriously about breaking it because, after all, I'm totally above the rules) I'm damned proud of it. I hope to see some others up there soon!

The Autumn Mix

Alright, it's Fall and the best time for great mixes. If you're at all interested in being a part of this, these are the rules:

No more than 12 tracks long.

I guess that's about it in terms of rules. Obviously make the mix appropriate for fall. I'm putting a Due Date on this, so start thinking soon!

I'd like to get these in the first few weeks of October. When you're done with your mix, go here and use the following information to login

username: jamin.clutcher@gmail.com
password: welovemusic

Upload your mix so everyone can enjoy it (easiest is to do the Drag and Drop option)! If you think of it, try to include a track listing and a picture for the folder (I'm all about organization). I'm hoping to get at least FOUR mixes up here people, so don't let me down.

Talk soon!

El Perro del Mar

When creating and recording music reached the point where anyone with an iBook and fifteen minutes could produce a studio-sounding record artists started working backwards. Bands no longer longed for that pitch-perfect, clean, layered, robust album. Instead lo-fi bands started giving music lovers what was sorely needed; honesty. Genuine and audacious, full of imperfections, music once again seemed real. Sadness came through in heart-wrenching melodies that drudged through the speakers, and thickened to the point you felt it heavy on your chest. Without the tedious productions to hide behind, music became more personal than ever. Hell, even vinyl made a rushed come-back for those people (myself included) that needed even more dissonance; more grit and grim.

El Perro del Mar is one of those bands so simple you wonder how it could possibly mean so much to you. Her retro throw-back sound is so perfect it feels familiar. The 60s pop acoustic guitar, tambourine, and occasional horn accompaniment, the "Do-wop, Do-wah"s, you'd never expect this music to put you in such a contemplative state, let alone depress you.

And I say "depress you" meaning "totally blow your mind".

An album for long drives, walks in the rain, late nights and early mornings, El Perro del Mar strikes a hard nerve. Sarah's high, strung out voice is haunting and strangely enchanting, and she squeaks out her songs so gently it's like the words would break with any more urgency.

Fittingly, her lyrics are as minimalistic as everything else on the record. Each song consists, on average, of about four brief phrases, stretched across three minutes. When asked about her lyrics, Sarah says, "I just want to express a feeling in a very condensed way. Like the blues tradition, where you lament on something and repeat it until it goes away."

In Party, she sings, "Is it so hard to see? I don't want to be your friend; I just want to be a part of you. Is it so hard to see? I don't want to cause more trouble; I just want to be a part of you." See? A song called Party, where the chorus goes, "Come on over baby, there's a party going on, bebop bebop a loo la" and all I want to do is cry with her and talk about what a shit life is, wrapped in a warm blanket watching the rain pass the days from the safety of my bed.

A less deceivingly titled song, This Loneliness, rings over and over, "This loneliness ain't pretty no more; loneliness only taking the place of a friend. Loneliness, what a help you've bee. These lonely days you've done the best to keep in the tears and the rain."

This album is beautiful, albeit a bit moody, and it passes far too quickly. The album is being released in the US November 7th (she's Swedish - all good music comes from Sweden) and I'd very much recommend finding yourself a copy. On vinyl.

Everyone Loves a Little Pop

I'm going to give it to you straight; I don't know much about Justin Timberlake. I can't really give you an insight to his past or go in depth through his career up to this point. I know as much as anyone else, I'm sure. N'Sync, Dated (and was dumped by) Brittany, his first solo album was called Justified. That's really about it, and while I'm still not entirely sure how he managed to slip out from under the embarrassment of N'Sync not only unscathed, but cool, I will say this: I love Justin Timberlake. Or, at least, I WANT to love him.

During my one and only ill-advised week long indulgement in MTV I watched the Making the Video for Justin's new single, Sexyback, and above all I realized that he really seems like a pretty cool guy. He was funny, a little coy, and really seemed to enjoy what he was doing. At one point he said, "My first record was really personal because of all the shit I'd just gone through, but when it came to writing this one, I just wanted to make something people could bump up against each other in the dark to. I wanted to make something fun."

While I do have a rather easy time getting into Cry Me a River from his first album, I will say that I think when you try to make an ex-N'Sync-member-gone-solo pop album, it's best to leave all personal emotions out of it. Judging by the way he talked about the record himself, I think he knows it, too (probably another reason I like him). So from the start FutureSex/LoveSounds is already miles ahead of Justified.

The album is fun. He's shed all of his N'Sync adolescence and presents us with a truly sexy album, and one I feel pretty dirty listening to at that. Another thing he's got going for him is that he swears. Swearing is totally cool and lets me believe he's as badass as he's putting off. In Sexyback he sings, "I'm bringing sexy back. Those other fuckers don't know how to act."

Badass pop.

This is my complaint about the album as a whole; it's weak (or, as Aaron puts it, "It's a wussy album"). I feel like it's the backbone of club music, only lending a simple beat and sexy lyrics for a DJ to add sick beats to when he spins. It would be hard to bump up against people with the album as is, but it's easy to imagine going to the right club and hearing it played right.

Justin's still OK in my book. I feel like he's one of those guys you root for through it all, though you don't know why. You want him to succeed, even though he's already succeeding. With a hit record, a cute smile and those baby blues I think we're all asking, "Brittany who?"

Jesus Loves Mixes, too.

Jesus made us all a mix to enjoy and get ready for fall...I think we should take advantage of his generousity. You can download it track by track or download a zip file with it all.

Just go and read and get ready for sweet sweet autumn!

01 Crickets At Night Intro
02 Stone Roses – Breaking Into Heaven
03 Tommy James – I Think We’re Alone Now
04 Ben Folds – Cigarette
05 Magnetic Fields – Old Orchard Beach
06 R.E.M. – You Are The Everything
07 Yo La Tengo – Green Arrow
08 Annuals – Brother
09 B-52’s – Dirty Back Road
10 Flaming Lips – There You Are
11 Brian Eno – Shadow
12 The Life And Times – A Chorus Of Crickets
13 Deltahead – Crickets And Frogs
14 Future Bible Heroes – You Steel The Scene
15 Tranquility Bass – They Came In Peace
16 Matt Pond PA – Crickets
17 Buddy Holly – I’m Gonna Love You Too
18 American Analog Set – Two Way Diamond I
19 Cornelius – Tone Twilight Zone
20 Crickets At Night Outro