Top 100 of... 2006? WTF?!?

Yes yes, as you all know the end of the year is nearing and it's time for everybody who's anybody to release their top 4125f2985 albums of 2007 list. But before I do that, I want to re-visit 2006 and do my list all over again, because well... I don't really agree with it at all.

I find it incredibly difficult, neigh impossible, to make a definitive list. I always find myself disagreeing with myself in a few weeks time, let alone a whole year passing by allowing each album and myself to age differently. Also, I found an album that wasn't even from 2006 on the list :(

Anyway, down below you'll see my new and improved list. By each rank there will be a parenthesis to the side of it. In it will either be its ranking from last year, or a dash '-' signifying that it wasn't even on the list.

So here it is folks. My top 100 albums of 2006. Hopefully I didn't miss anything, but to be fair, it doesn't really matter because I hardly listen to even half of these albums somewhat regularly.


100.(38) Liars - Drums Not Dead
99.(79) Mountain Goats - Get Lonely
98.(99) Aussitot Mort - Aussitot Mort
97.(62) Sed Non Satiata - Le Ciel De Notre Enfance
96.(74) Ghostface Killah - Fishscale
95.(73) Nathan Fake - Drowning In A Sea Of Love
94.(71) Toru Okada - Eight Songs
93.(69) Aidan Baker - The Sea Swells A Bit
92.(-) Clogs - Lantern
91.(65) Islands - Return To The Sea

90.(90) Wolves In The Throne Room - Diadem Of 12 Stars
89.(95) Have Heart - The Things We Carry
88.(61) Grizzly Bear - Yellow House
87.(30) Isis - In The Absence Of Truth
86.(48) The Blood Brothers - Young Machetes
85.(36) Cyann & Ben - Sweet Beliefs
84.(91) Owen - At Home With Owen
83.(28) Wolverines + The Sibling Project - Split
82.(22) Espers - Espers II
81.(-) Dikta - Hunting For Happiness

80.(75) Barzin - My Life In Rooms
79.(27) Red Sparowes - Every Red Heart Shines Towards The Red Sun
78.(70) These Arms Are Snakes - Easter
77.(45) iLiKETRAiNS - Progress-Reform
76.(-) Blueneck - Scars Of The Midwest
75.(60) My Dad Vs. Yours - After Winter Must Come Spring
74.(-) The Workhouse - Flyover
73.(-) Sumner McKane With Joshua Robbins - Two if by Sea
72.(56) Converge - No Heroes
71.(44) Alexisonfire - Crisis

70.(50) Sonic Youth - Rather Ripped
69.(52) Russian Circles - Enter
68.(46) Saosin - Saosin
67.(80) Mono + World's End Girlfriend - Palmless Prayer / Mass Murder Refrain
66.(51) Envy - Insomniac Doze
65.(55) Brand New - The Devil And God Are Raging Inside Me
64.(41) Ray Lamontagne - Till The Sun Turns Black
63.(19) Two Gallants - What The Toll Tells
62.(18) Cold War Kids - Robbers & Cowards
61.(54) My Latest Novel - Wolves

60.(-) Romance of Young Tigers - Romance of Young Tigers
59.(57) The Coup - Pick A Bigger Weapon
58.(-) The Sea Like Lead/Belegost - Split
57.(-) Maps and Atlases - Tree, Swallows, Houses
56.(97) Band Of Horses - Everything All The Time
55.(-) All India Radio - Echo Other
54.(-) Souvenir's Young America - Souvenir's Young America
53.(35) Mono - You Are There
52.(29) The Format - Dog Problems
51.(34) Thursday - A City By The Light Divided

50.(16) The Coma Recovery - Drown That Holy End In Wine
49.(-) A Lily - Wake:Sleep
48.(93) A Whisper In The Noise - As The Bluebird Sings
47.(63) Pure Reason Revolution - The Dark Third
46.(-) You.May.Die.In.The.Desert - Bears in the Yukon
45.(-) Ludovico Einaudi - Divenire
44.(20) Oh Noy! Oh My! - Oh No! Oh My!
43.(25) Sparrows, Swarm And Sing! - O'Shenandoah, Mighty Death Will Find Me
42.(39) Joanna Newsom - Ys
41.(43) Jeniferever - Choose A Bright Morning

40.(31) Black Unicorn - Get Sick
39.(-) Johann Johannson - IBM 1401, A User's Manual
37.(33) If These Trees Could Talk - If These Trees Could Talk
36.(-) Lis Er Stille - The Construction Of The AmpTrain
35.(47) Beirut - Gulag Orkester
34.(24) Anathallo - Floating World
33.(10) Linda Martini - Olhos De Mongol + Linda Martini
32.(-) Your Ten Mofo - Things Change While Helium Listen To Everyone
31.(-) Motionless - The Windmill

30.(83) Guillemots - Through The Window Pane
29.(-) These Monsters... - These Monsters...
28.(40) Mouth Of The Architect - The Ties That Blind
27.(32) Sika Redem - Entheogen
26.(14) Junior Boys - So This is Goodbye
25.(85) Silversun Pickups - Carnavas
24.(8) UnderOATH - Define the Great Line
23.(11) Callisto - Noir
22.(66) Mogwai - Mr. Beast
21.(82) Foxhole - Push/Pull

20.(53) Jakob - Solace
19.(3) Under Byen - Samme Stof Som Stof
18.(37) Max Richter - Songs From Before
17.(12) Anoice - Remmings
16.(17) Agalloch - Ashes Against The Grain
15.(9) Jesu - Silver
14.(-) Sweek - The Unbelievable Cinematic Crash
13.(6) Set Your Goals - Mutiny!
12.(15) Clint Mansell - The Fountain[Soundtrack]
11.(5) The Ascent Of Everest - How Lonely Sits The City

10.(49) Helios - Eingya
9.(42) Gifts From Enola - Loyal Eyes Betrayed The Mind
8.(21) Magyar Posse - Random Avenger
7.(76) Sickoakes - Seawards
6.(26) Moving Mountains - Moving Mountains
5.(7) Ef - Give Me Beauty... Or Give Me Death!
4.(4) Laura - Radio Swan is Down
3.(1) I Would Set Myself On Fire For You - ...Believes In Patterns
2.(2) Gregor Samsa - 55:12
1.(92) Hammock - Raising Your Voice... Trying to Stop an Echo

Hello

So hey, i haven't made a contribution to this in a long time and though this one isn't much of a contribution in itself, i thought i'd just writing something down.

Anyway, i made a top 101 albums of 2006 list at the end of last year and looking back at it now it needs a massive revision. So, i'm going to do a little revision. The reason why it's only a little is because i'm only going to be making a retrospective list of my favorite post-rock/instrumental albums of 2006 since it's basically the genre i predominantly listen to these days.

Well, here it is:


30. bluenek - scars of the midwest
29. clogs - lantern
28. you.may.die.in.the.desert - bears in the yukon
27. linda martini - olhos de mongol
26. your ten mofo - things change while helium listen to everyone
25. belegost/the sea like led - split
24. mogwai - mr. beast
23. souvenir's young america - souvenir's young america
22. johann johannson - ibm 1401, a user's manual
21. these monsters - these monsters
20. if these trees could talk - if these trees could talk
19. sparrows, swarm and sing! - oh shenandoah, mighty death will find me
18. a lily - wake:sleep
17. motionless - the windmill
16. mono - you are there
15. max richter - songs from before
14. jakob - solace
13. helios - eingya
12. anoice - remmings
11. foxhole - push/pull
10. clint mansell - the fountain
9. magyar posse - random avenger
8. sweek - the unbelievable cinematic crash
7. the ascent of everest - how lonely sits the city
6. sickoakes - seawards
5. gifts from enola - loyal eyes betrayed the mind
4. ef - give me beauty... or give me death!
3. laura - radio swan is down
2. hammock - raising your voice... trying to stop an echo
1. gregor samsa - 55:12

Tunes For Bears to Sleep to

Tunes for Bears to Sleep to

I’ve been a big fan of ambient music for a while now and have found some records to be extraordinarily helpful for my sleeping patterns. So this list is to help those of you who are tired and restless, yet can’t seem to fall asleep at nights.


Arvo Part – Alina



Arvo Part’s Alina is perhaps the most gorgeous album I have ever heard. What is most remarkable about it is how Part can do so much with so little. The entire album consists of two songs, each consisting of only a piano and a violin, repeated over and over with slight variation. Part’s minimalist piano playing is so quiet and meditative that it lulls the listener to sleep. Simply put: Alina is a masterpiece.


Max Richter – The Blue Notebooks



Like Arvo Part, Max Richter is a minimalist neo-classical musician. But Richter’s approach on The Blue Notebooks is different than Part’s. The Blue Notebooks is a much less simple album which incorporates everything from poignant violins and ambient electronica to ticking clocks and typewriters. With its use of extraneous instrumentation, it sometimes feels as though you are listening to someone else listen to music.


Hammock – Kenotic



Hammock is a post-rock giant who makes ambient music rivaling the likes of Brian Eno. On Kenotic, they create beautiful soundscapes by mixing shoegaze with electronic beats and post-rock instrumentation. I don’t know what else to say about this album. It is simply stunning and makes you feel like you’re floating in mid-air.


Stars of the Lid – The Tired Sounds of Stars of the Lid



Stars of the Lid is perhaps the quietist band you will ever hear. On Tired Sounds, nothing really happens and the music doesn’t actually go anywhere. It just floats around for 2 hours, immersing you in every second of it of its haunting melodies.


American Football – American Football



OK, American Football is not an ambient band at all. In fact, they play some darn good post-emo. But last summer, it hit 115 degrees at my house and my neighborhood lost power. It was 7pm, I was drenched in sweat, and had nothing to do. So I played some American Football and knocked out for 14 hours. Hence, though this album is far from being ambient, I can assure you that it is very relaxing and perfect for a hot summer day.

One Hour Of Music For The Rest Of Your Life

So the other day, a friend of mine asked me “If you could only listen to one hour of music for the rest of your life, what songs would you choose?”

It sounded like one of those “If you were stranded on a deserted island…” type questions so I didn’t even bother coming up with something. But after a while, I started thinking about it and I decided that I was going to make my one hour playlist. So I went through my iTunes and threw some of my favorite songs in a playlist, which ended up with 76 songs at over 7 hours. After wasting a couple hours in front of iTunes trying to decide which of my children I liked best, I eventually broke the 76 song playlist down to 9 songs, clocking at a total of 59:39 seconds. It was an incredibly difficult thing for me to do because the majority of the bands I listen to seem to really love 8+ minute songs.

But alas, this is what I came up with:

1. This Will Destroy You - "Quiet" (Young Mountain [EP]) – 4:53
2. The Evpatoria Report - "Taijin Kyofusho" (Golevka) – 11:00
3. I Would Set Myself on Fire For You - "Six" (…Believes In Patterns) – 3:32
4. Saetia - "Venus and Bacchus" (A Retrospective) – 3:19
5. Max Richter - "Written on the Sky" (The Blue Notebooks) – 1:39
6. Yndi Halda – "Illuminate My Heart, My Darling!" (Enjoy Eternal Bliss) – 17:34
7. Thursday – "How Long Is The Night?" (Full Collapse) – 5:44
8. Thrice – "Stare at the Sun (Acoustic)" – (If We Could Only See Us Now) – 3:41
9. Explosions in the Sky – "Your Hand In Mine" (The Earth is Not A Cold Dead Place) – 8:17

Do Make Say Think - You, You're A History In Rust

01 - Bound To Be That Way
02 - A With Living
03 - The Universe!
04 - A Tender History In Rust
05 - Herstory Of Glory
06 - You, You're Awesome
07 - Executioner Blues
08 - In Mind


It’s been four years now since Do Make Say Think released their critically acclaimed album inter Hymn Country Hymn Secret Hymn in 2003 and many of us have been wondering if one of the corner stones of modern post-rock can punch out yet another terrific record.

The subject of much anticipation is Do Make Say Think’s latest effort, You, You’re A History In Rust, which gets the ball rolling with some textbook Do Make Say Think style of jazzy post-rock on the first track "Bound To Be That Way." The second track, "A With Living" is the "Fredericia" of You, You’re A History In Rust and likewise, it is an absolute gem. However, unlike the enormous jazziness of "Fredericia" the highlight of "A With Living" is the soulful vocals, which comes as a surprise because Do Make Say Think is definitely not known for their vocals, or lack there of actually.

But, no reason to be alarmed, Do Make Say Think has nowhere near abandoned their jazzy background as is evident on the next track "The Universe!" which sounds like a jazzy Broken Social Scene. However, track four, "A Tender History In Rust", is devoid of nearly all-things-Do Make Say Think, and sounds reminiscent of an Iron and Wine song, minus the vocals. But again, no reason to be alarmed, "A Tender History In Rust" is an absolute beauty.

As the record progresses, the sound of the new Do Make Say Think all comes together and in all actuality is much like the old Do Make Say Think. Lots of jazz influence, a higher dosage of folkiness, and the constant spacey experimentation on You, You’re A History In Rust show us that Do Make Say Think has definitely shaken off any rust people thought they may have acquired during their four year absence.

Explosions In The Sky - All Of A Sudden, I Miss Everyone

01 - The Birth And Death Of The Day
02 - Welcome, Ghosts
03 - It's Natural To Be Afraid
04 - What Do You Go Home To?
05 - Catastrophe And The Cure
06 - So Long, Lonesome


The world has long been anticipating a new album from Explosions In The Sky ever since they changed the landscape of Post-Rock with their 2003 release The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place. Since then, many bands have tried to emulate the sound of EITS, but the majority have failed. However, with the rising popularity of Post-Rock over the past few years and the hibernation of its early artists, many new bands such as Yndi Halda, The Samuel Jackson Five, and Gregor Samsa have emerged as the frontrunners of the new Post-Rock era. With All Of A Sudden, I Miss Everyone Explosions In The Sky show that they are still the among the elite, not only of Post-Rock, but of music in general.

All Of A Sudden, I Miss Everyone is Explosions In The Sky’s fourth full-length record and on it they bring much of the usual. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing. When you’re Explosions In The Sky and your last album is considered one of the greatest albums of the decade, more of the same is still better than 95% of music out there. However, that being said, All Of A Sudden, I Miss Everyone does bring a few new things to the table.

Prior to All Of A Sudden, I Miss Everyone EITS released a short little EP called The Rescue on which they experimented heavily, and this experimentation, though much more subdued, carries its way onto their new album. The major new element found on All Of A Sudden, I Miss Everyone is the addition of a piano to their traditional rock quartet, which adds a much more eerie element not found on their previous works, especially to the intro of the 13 minute track "It’s Natural To Be Afraid."

Another slight deviation is the return to a heavier drum sound similar to their second album Those Who Tell The Truth... This is most evident on the monolithic crescendo of the opening track "The Birth And Death Of The Day", which might be EITS's best song ever. Also, the closing track "So Long, Lonesome", with its gorgeous piano playing and closing hovering drum beat, is without a doubt EITS's best song ever under 4 minutes in length.

The only major fault found on All Of A Sudden, I Miss Everyone is that it does not convey a certain mood as well as The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place. It sounds a bit choppy and more like a collection of incredibly good songs, as opposed to sounding like one beautiful 45 minute piece.

With all this being said, All Of A Sudden, I Miss Everyone is still a beautiful record which everyone should bear witness to.

Jesu - Conqueror

01 - Conqueror
02 - Old Year
03 - Transfigure
04 - Weightless And Horizontal
05 - Medicine
06 - Brighteyes
07 - Mother Earth
08 - Stanlow

According to The Great Impact Theory, a planetesimal the size of Mars collided with the proto-Earth, ejecting large volumes of matter into space which eventually condensed to form the Moon in orbit around the Earth. Similarly, when shoegaze collided with doom metal, the impact resulted in the formation of Jesu, the frontrunner of the so-called “doomgazer” movement.

Jesu’s first release, Jesu, was a monolithic record consisting of abrasive industrial doom metal blended together with dreamy shoegaze that resulted in a heavy buzzfest that overstayed its welcome after 25 minutes of its 75 minute span.

However, Jesu’s second release Silver was truly remarkable. The crunchy, abrasive instrumentation of Jesu was traded in for an extra dosage of shoegaze, resulting in a pop music unheard of before. A type of pop music that was able to get indie kids and metalheads agreeing with one another for once. A key factor to Silver being such an effective record was its length - clocking in at only 28 minutes, the record ended before it could ever get boring or repetitive, leaving the listener in awe and craving for more.

After hearing Silver, my expectations for Jesu’s next release were massive. I honestly believed that Conqueror was going to be a genre defying record - a record that would change the landscape of music and become the Loveless of our generation. Unfortunately, this was far from being the case.

Like Jesu, Conqueror is another full-length from Jesu. On Conqueror, Jesudisposes of almost everything that made them interesting. Gone are the gloomy sludge and pounding raucous of Jesu. Gone is the dreamy shoegaze reminiscent of Slowdive on Silver. In return, we have a slow brooding dirge from start to finish.

What made Silver so interesting was its ability to form a cohesive whole by combining not only different styles of music, but different song structures. No two songs on Silver sounded the same. However, on Conqueror, almost all the songs follow the same formula: start out a little heavy, follow it by one line of vocals repeated to infinity, a synth or piano interlude, and repeat on high. If this pattern was executed in a less monotonous manner, this record would have been more interesting. However, this album is simply nothingness. No emotions are stirred. No thoughts are provoked. Nothing happens for 60 minutes.

With all this said, Conqueror does have a few redeeming qualities. Ironically, one of them is the fact that nothing happens. Conqueror is a record that you can put in the background and not devote your attention to. Though it fails to immerse the listener into its nothingness like Stars of the Lid, it floats around quite majestically.

There are also a few standout tracks on Conqueror: "Brighteyes," "Weightless & Horizontal," and "Mother Earth." Though they’re all quite formulaic, they are executed really well. If Conqueror consisted only of these songs I would have thoroughly enjoyed it and been anticipating their next album to be something special.

Which leaves me at this: if Conqueror was fledgling band’s first effort, I would have been left with the impression that this band had tremendous potential and that they were going to be making some really special music in years to come. Instead, Conqueror is merely an album by a band that has become a shadow of its former self and can no longer conquer its audience.

We Flood Empty Lakes

Todd Burns is a fucking douchebag.

Proof

The reason why Todd Burns is a fucking idiot is not because he trashed albums I love. No. It's because he is the definitive definition of "hipster". Look up "hipster" in Webster's dictionary and you will find a picture of Todd Burns.

Here is one reason why:

Of all the reviews Burns has done, he has reviewed albums by two emo bands: Envy and Circle Takes The Square (both of which are undoubtably the two most popular emo bands out today).

It's obvious from this alone that emo is not a genre he is well-informed about, yet he still decides to write reviews on them.

Hipster rule number 1: Try to show that you know about every genre out there.

Secondly, when he reviews these two bands, he does a terrible job at it.

Burns gave Envy's "Insomniac Doze", a snoozefest Mono rip-off, a 'B' and touts them as "crafting a new genre", yet failing to realize that City of Caterpillar pulled this off back in 2002 and is really the band that should be credited to "crafting a new genre" of post-rock influenced emo.

However, Burns gave CTTS's "As The Roots Undo" a 'C', claiming that CTTS couldn't figure out who they wanted to ape more: The Blood Brothers, Envy, or Godspeed You! Black Emperor. Bar having somewhat spasdic vocals, neither Blood Brothers nor CTTS should ever be compared to one another. They sound NOTHING alike. Also, how is CTTS apeing off The Blood Brothers if CTTS's first release, which is like a mini-"As The Roots Undo", was released in 2001 and The Blood Brother's "Adultery is Ripe" was only released one year before that? CTTS likely didn't even know who The Blood Brothers were when they crafted the backbone of their sound.

And again, if CTTS is apeing off anybody in their genre, it's City of Caterpillar. Not Envy. CTTS and Envy have nothing in common other than being dubbed the title "post-rock influenced emo".

Hipster rule number 2: NAMEDROP!!!

In the reviews of Yndi Halda and Laura, Burns makes the most absurd statement I've ever read in a music article, which states:

"There’s no shortage of bands shamelessly working towards filling the enormous hole that Godspeed You! Black Emperor’s demise left in the post-rock landscape. Most of them are rank amateurs. (This Will Destroy You, dreamend, the Ascent of Everest, Gifts from Enola, the Workhouse, Souvenir's Young America: pack it up and go home, dudes, Efrim will take the violins at the door."

Anyone who knows post-rock well will find this statement to be ridiculously hilarious. Has this guy even ever heard The Workhouse or Gifts From Enola? Because no one in their right mind who has heard those two bands would draw a comparison to GY!BE. That's just ridiculous.

Burns is obviously either mentally challenged or namedropping for the sake of trying to earn credibility.

Another ridiculous statement by Burnsy:

"The production is great as well—something that very often goes unremarked upon by post-rock enthusiasts. "

Umm, this man does realize "the rich history of DIY and desire to gravitate away from the overproduced rock sound" (Jordan Volz) by post-rock bands, right??

All-in-all, Todd Burns is not completely a moron. He has written some nice reviews.

However, dear Mr. Burns, please do not write reviews regarding genres that you don't know much about. - yours truly, Armand