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2006 Autobiographical Retrospective Mix Tape 1. From Her Lips To God's Ears (The Energizer), Against Me!, Searching For A Former Clarity This album took almost the whole year to grow on me to the point of infatuation, but it did so none-the-less. I picked this one just because it has the catchiest chorus and it's really fun to see people's reactions in the car next to you when you're screaming "Oh Condaleezza!" 2. Quiero, Quieres, Forget Cassettes, Salt I, like the rest of Nashville, had been anticipating this record for quite some time and it certainly didn't disappoint. The song title is too appropriate... I like this so you should like it too. 3. Blankest Year, Nada Surf, The Weight Is A Gift Oh man, I'm not sure who to give credit to for opening this song up to me. I'll give dual honors to my real estate agent Allison Norton and my darling sister Courtney. Man, how catchy is Nada Surf? From Popular to this? How'd that happen? Well, I frankly don't give a crap... it also became the mental sound track anytime a party was hosted last year. 4. A-List Actress, Hey Mercedes, Everynight Fireworks This song as well as number 11 are old favorites but made the list because 2006 marked the first time I owned them on CD and freed their gloriousness from the confines of vinyl. Bob Nana, you have my heart. 5. Ether, Gang Of Four, Entertainment! For whatever reason I got into Gang of Four this year. No explanation, no rhyme or reason to it... just did. I fully thank Karla Bailey for uncovering this gem for me... even though she doesn't know it because I got it when I pillaged her collection. 6. Fine + 2 Pts, Minus The Bear, They Make Beer Commercials Like This Dude. Ok, Minus the Bear might just be my favorite band now. I don't know how that happened but this EP slapped me in the face like a ton of bricks... and then I was continually pummeled each time I picked up another one of their records. Minus the Bear are the only band fortunate enough to be represented twice on this fantastic mix. 7. Walking The Plank, Apollo Up!, Chariots Of Fire Yes! Apollo Up! Hurray! More exclamation marks!!! Also their sophomore album also on Theory 8 also did not disappoint. Walk the Plank is the first track and it rips right through Evlis Costello'esque vocals and straight forward rock with rather accomplished guitar work. 8. Oasis In The Sun, La Salle, Expedition Songs Forget that La Salle is an offspring of Small Brown Bike, forget for a second that either of the Reed brothers could shit on a serving plate, flatten it out, poke a hole in a the middle, drop it on a turntable and I'd probably enjoy what I heard... forget all that, this song is on here for one sole purpose. The guitar part at the end. 9. Dead Men And Sinners, Murder By Death, In Bocca Al Lupo I'm a little embarrassed at how much I enjoy this song. Not because it isn't great, because it most certainly is, but it's almost not even a song... it's an interlude at best and a novelty at worse. Still, any time you listen to an album and are a few songs in and are really liking what you're hearing and then all of a sudden you get a pirate song choke full with the sound of chinking goblets, creaking planks, guttural gang vocals, and saloon/brothel style song structure... I'm in. 10. ...Or At Least As Bad, The Medications, Your Favorite People All In One Place Many thanks go to Vince Kosek for sending me this record. Makes me kind of wonder what I was missing when Faraquet was around. Good old (new?) fashioned DC sounds. 11. Pretty Picture Of A Broken Face, Hot Cross, Cryonics I can only thank Grimey's and Anna Lundy because without their Spring Picnic and Sale and my subsequent $70 credit this album would have been relegated to the shelf waiting on it's turn on the record player. Lets celebrate the digital age with Philadelphia screamo. woopwoop. 12. The Game Needed Me, Minus The Bear, Menos El Oso More Spanish in song titles, please. Another Side A, Track 1 song. Really very wonderfully great. 13. Tent In Your Pants, Peaches, Impeach My Bush I'd like to think this song would have made the list even without the magic that was PCB 2006. Even though it's title of official theme song of Summer '06 didn't hurt it's chances, I'd like to believe it stands on its own two feet. I mean, "Hurts so good, I got a soregasm"? Are you fucking serious? How amazing is that? 14. Unrest In The House Of Light, The Protomen, The Protomen Proof that Murfreesboro hasn't been nor will become irrelevant. Probably my favorite live show of 2006. 15. White Daisy Passing, Rocky Votolato, Makers If I smoked a lot of weed or played with lots of puppies, this album would have probably been the soundtrack for the rest of my life. Instead, it's just really great porch music. One of the few albums I own that I know I can put on and enjoy in any level of mixed company. 16. Death Rides A Horse, Russian Circles, Enter Not that I'm in a position to say these sorts of things, or that anyone reading is in a position to believe any of it, but as far as these things go, I would say without hesitation that Enter is the best album of 2006. The remarkable level of this claim is only amplified by the fact that Russian Circles are an instrumental band. I became feverishly obsessed with this album more so than I have with any other in quite some time. It's perfect from beginning to end. Death Rides A Horse is the most "metal" and thus my favorite, but the arrangements and epic structure of these songs speak for themselves and defy categorization. 17. Penelope, Pinback, Blue Screen Life Thanks RSB. (wink). |