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Down Your Nose 2006 Best Of

Using a weighted scale where your #1 pick gets 10 points, your # 2 gets 9, etc… these are the top 10 discs of 2006 as chosen by the Down Your Nose group:

1) The Drams – Jubilee Dive (19 points)
2) The Hold Steady – Boys & Girls in America (18 points)
3) Built to Spill – You In Reverse (17 points)
4) Decemberists – Crane Wife (15 points)
5) Bob Dylan – Modern Times (15 points)
6) Muse – Black Holes & Revelations (14 points)
7) Arctic Monkeys – Whatever People Say I Am (13 points)
8) Snow Patrol – Eyes Open (13 points)
9) Robert Pollard – Normal Happiness (13 points)
10) Neil Young – Living With War (12 points)

Throwing out the weighted scale, Built to Spill would have been the consensus #1 pick, as it was mentioned on 4 different lists. Arctic Monkeys showed up on 3 lists, and it was a mish-mash after those two. 41 different selections on the 6 lists, which speaks to the diversity of the members’ tastes.

10. Built to Spill/You in Reverse - Not as avant-garde as some of the earlier stuff, but
more listenable and still inventive and interesting. Television meets Neil Young meets
Dinosaur Jr.

9. Robert Randolph and the Family Band/Colorblind - And genre-blind. For the
first time ever funk and rock really co-exist with dazzling results

8. Sonic Youth/Rather Ripped – Not their best, but it IS a Sonic Youth record
and so it’s on the list.

7. Art Brut/Bang Bang Rock & Roll – Key lyric “And yes. This is my singing
voice. It’s not irony. And it’s not rock & roll. We’re just talking to the kids.”
Ironically, it is rock and roll and it’s great for adults.

6. Somerdale/Friday Nite in America – Over the objections of everyone in the group, I
continue to support this great guitar pop record partially because I’m convinced the late
Greg Shaw would love this record. And if you don’t know who Greg Shaw is your license to
criticize this record is hereby revoked.

5. New York Dolls/One Day it Will Please us to Remember Even This – Among a
handful of great comeback records (see Gin Blossoms and Lemonheads also), this sits alone,
a surprisingly literate, rocking album.

4. Robert Pollard/Normal Happiness – in which the Genius learns the art of
self-editing and turns out an album with one pop gem after another

3. Neil Young/Living with War – Hope and anger combine to create a moving, powerful
record. Get the raw version.

2. Arctic Monkeys/Whatever People Say I Am, That is What I am Not – The
title could refer to what they’ve been called – over-hyped poseurs – but to
my ears they aren’t and this record kicks ass from beginning to end.

1. Drams/Jubilee Drive – Slobberbone meets the Jayhawks. Brent Best at
his most melodic, but is still rocks hard and is filled with great Best lyrics.
A record I can listen to over and over.

Best Tribute Record – Five Way Street – A Not Lame Tribute to Buffalo Springfeild

These are not “honorable mentions,” but they almost made the list - Lemonheads, Gin Blossoms, The Hold Steady, Yo La Tengo, Towers of London, Killers, Rhett Miller, Offramps and Rhett Miller

Top 10 From the Heartland...

A fine year for music, IMHO...

2 Cd’s that did not quality as new but blew my mind: Neil Young & Crazy Horse, “Live at the Fillmore, 1971” & Tom Waits “Orphans”

Honorable mention because they were damn good in a fantastic year for new releases:

Long Winters – Putting the Days to Bed
Neil Young – Living With War (Raw)
Hank Williams III – Straight to Hell


The Official Top 10

10) Built to Spill – You In Reverse – Crazy Horse like jams. The songs never feel as long as they actually are.

9) The Subways – Young For Eternity – High energy Brit-rock. Punkish at times, but they pull off a couple of acoustic numbers as well.

8) NY Dolls – One Day It Will Please Us… – A boatload of fun. My most unlikely purchase of the year, coming a few weeks after I trashed their debut for the group listening.

7) Todd Snider – The Devil You Know – Yeah, it’s no “East Nashville Skyline”, but it still is excellent. Rocks a little harder than past efforts and still has the great Snider wit and eye for detail.

6) Bruce Springsteen – The Seeger Sessions – The only thing more unlikely than Bruce doing a Pete Seeger covers disc is that said disc is the best album he’s released since “Tunnel of Love”. Raucous, joyful and fun. Go figure….

5) Ray Davies – Other People’s Lives – What a nice surprise to have new material from Mr. Davies. I have a feeling we’ll be getting even better stuff from him now that he is back in the game.

4) Drive By Truckers- A Blessing and a Curse – A telling sign when a band can release what is generally considered to be their “worst” effort, and it still outshines 90% of what is out there. They took their shot at mainstream and missed. Still a damn fine disc.

3) The Hold Steady – Boys and Girls in America – Springsteen meets the Replacements, but Springsteen never rocked this hard, and the Replacements were never this disciplined. At least a dozen lines that are Dylan-esque in brilliance.

2) The Drams – Jubilee Dive – Alt country with great hooks and pop flourishes. Makes the demise of Slobberbone a little more palatable.

1) Bob Dylan – Modern Times – What to say? Dylan’s “cowboy band” rocks loose and hard when needed and pulls back when they should. Dylan’s lyrics are insightful, playful and astoundingly comprehendible. There is no reason to expect work of this quality from Dylan at this point, but his last 3 releases are as good as any 3 in his career. A disc that continues to get better every time I listen to it.

Most anticipated 2007 releases:
Wilco, Two Cow Garage, Randy Newman

Jenn's Top Ten of 2006

This was a great year for good music in my opinion. Picking just 10 was difficult but per the group’s rules I stuck to just ten, though if allowed I could easily do a Top 15 or 20. The order of this could change next week, but the way I put decided my Top Ten was – as I was compiling my Best of 2006 CD, the CD’s that were most difficult to pick one favorite made the list. Their order is based on quality of album from beginning to end. My top four were the most difficult to put in order.

Top Ten Albums of 2006:

10. Dresden Dolls – Yes, Virginia

9. The Raconteurs – Broken Boy Soldiers

8. Arctic Monkeys – Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not

7. Snow Patrol – Eyes Open

6. The Editors – Back Room

5. The Decemberists – Crane Wife

4. Malajube – Trompe L’oeil

3. The Islands – Return to the Sea

2. Muse – Black Holes and Revelations

1. Murder By Death – In Bocca Al Lupo

Other Noteworthy Albums:
The Sword - Age of Winters
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Stadium Arcadium
Wolfmother - S.T.
Gnarls Barkley - St. Elsewhere
Under the Influence of Giants - S.T.
The Thermals - The Body, the Blood, the Machine
The Rapture - Pieces of the People We Love

Scary

I don't know what I find scarier. Ken's need to express his joy for High School Musical in his best of CD

Or the fact that the song is better than those he submitted by some of his musical heroes.

Top 10 2006

1. Rock & Roll is Dead. The Hellacopters
2. Eyes Open. Snow Patrol
3. The Believer. Rhett Miller
4. Sun Sun Sun. The Elected The Rilo Kiley solo cd that should have gotten all the press because it is actually really good
5. Another Fine Day. Golden Smog
6. Black Holes and Revelations. The Muse
7. Out Here All Night. Damone
8. Powder Burns. The Twilight Singers Greg Dulli at his best ever in song and voice.
9. Colorblind. Robert Randolph top ten even with dave matthews appearance
10. A Blessing and a Curse. Drive By Truckers

Others worth a spin
Placebo Meds
Shack The Corner of Miles and Gil
Tower of London Blood Sweat & Towers
Secret Machines 10 Silver Drops

The Mong’s Top Ten of 2006

The Mong’s Top Ten of 2006

1. Wolfmother: Self-titled
2. Built to Spill: You in Reverse
3. Pernice Brothers: Live a Little
4. Witch: Self-titled
5. Robert Pollard: Normal Happiness
6. The Thermals: The Body The Blood The Machine
7. Rock 'N' Roll Soldiers: So Many Musicians To Kill
8. New Radiant Storm King: The Steady Hand
9. Sonic Youth: Rather Ripped
10. Higgins: Dear Higgins

A few more notables... These are not "Honorable Mentions" so calm the fuck down. I am just listing a few more here because some of you and I actually have overlapping tastes.

1) The Rewinds: Self-titled
2) Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs: Under the Covers Vol. 1
3) The Museum Pieces: Philadelphia
4) Eagles of Death Metal: Death by Sexy
5) Isis: In the Absence of Truth

Thy Top Ten For Those Daring to View

Ken's 2006 Extravaganza

10
Artic Monkeys- Whatever People say I am, That is What I am Not
Screw the hype. The disc is pretty inventive and energetic. Just enough mess to keep it garage-y with melody and groove to show they can actually play.
9
Jennifer O’Connor- Over the mountain, across the valley and back to the stars
I liked the stripped down sound and heartfelt lyrics. If Liz put this out instead of the crap she did put out we’d all be salivating over it.
8
Todd Snyder- The Devil In Me
No on skewers Bush more creatively than he. That alone puts this in my top 10. Clever lyrics with interesting stories with an ending moral everyone can appreciate.
7
Neil Young- Living with War
Neil doesn’t age. He rips what he doesn't like head on and hits the mark. Rough and tough rock with a message. Long live Neil.
6
Bob Dylan- Modern Times
Bob is Bob and when armed with a great backing band he puts out great material. So he lifted a few things. Cut him a break and enjoy the ride down memory lane.
5
Built to Spill- You in reverse
Music that is done off the cuff, or at least sounds that way. Jam feel without being a jam band as this has melody. Good guitar work and the best Neil Young impressionist ever.
4
Thermals- the Body, the Blood, the Machine
This band keeps getting better. Not just a straight 4/4 strum rock band they've expanded their song structure prowess in taking on my favortie secular subject.
3
Subways- Young for Eternity
This one grew on me. The more I listened the more I wanted to listen.Simple rock with good alternating male/female vocals.I question their lasting power but we one can wish.
2
Decemberists- The Crane Wife
Hell with you all this is a great album. Colin's song writing is unique an "olde" shool and his songs fit his voice. Some say too Prog, but I say Prog as Abbey Road.
1
Hold Steady- Boys and Girls of America
At first I had a problem with the keyboards being up front and that Craig is actually singing not spewing. But the more I listened the more the genious poured out. Smart lyric, hard driving rock- nothing to dislike.

Forgot the Superdrag Stuff

I have 2 signed rock artifacts hanging in my office. One is a picture of the Dictators, the other is a Superdrag poster. Wanna take a guess how I feel about them? It was great to go ack and listen to these songs because I haven't heard them in years. Great pop/rock writers who understood what power pop/guitar pop was uspposed to sound like. I met them on numerous occasions (gratuitous "celebrity" meeting mention) and they were not only great guys, but huge Big Star fans, which means that, in my book, they get it. LP # 2 was my favorite and in my mind their best, but every album had some of the greatest pop put out in that particular year.

December Crap

Music Group December 2006

Beck – Could have reviewed this without listening to it, although that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I guess he’s taken off in a few odd directions over the past few years, but this seems exactly what I remember him being at the start. Quirky rhythms and beats, oddball lyrics with inventive phrasing, etc. All pretty good, although none of it is great. So why do I find this so uninteresting? I guess because every song is what it is 30 seconds in and they never get better as the song goes on. 2.0

Jason and the Scorchers – All I kept thinking as I listened to great song after great song was – “how the fuck did these guys get past my radar screen?” Then I remembered – These guys must be from the ‘80’s. No money, lousy job, miserable marriage and no internet. Oh, and I guess spending the 80’s in a drunken stupor probably didn’t help, either. Christ, I didn’t discover the Replacements until 1993, so I guess anything is possible. Anyway, this is a balls out classic that seems to get better with every listen. Part Replacements (the highest praise possible). part electric Joe Ely, part Thorogood but still original. An almost perfect cross between Austin style country and rock & roll. I put this somewhere between 4.5 and 5, but since I can't give it a 4.75 (Ken would be apoplectic over how to post the score and we wouldn't want THAT), so I guess it's closer to... 4.5

Fear - This has always been a minor favorite of mine, mostly because it has it’s moments of humorous brilliance (“let’s have a war, we’ll start in New jersey”) and some pretty interesting arrangements for a “punk” record. It hasn’t necessarily aged well and the bright spots seem fewer and farther between than I remember, but that’s not the biggest problem. It seems a bit staged at this point. Faux Anger. Still…..not awful and even though the failures outnumber the winners on this album, the winners have enough bite, humor and truth to get this to 3.0

Decemberists – Bad start to this record. Oh, not the music. Way before you get to the music. You get the name of the band (pretentious – not sure why, it just is), the artsy fartsy cover (pretentious) and any band that thinks it’s cool (or whatever!) to put part 3 of a song before parts 1 and 2 (which in another act of pretention is [are?] really one song) ought to be put to sleep or beaten with a 2 x 4. Or both. Luckily for these pretentious geeks, they have talent. None of it really soars to a level beyond “well crafted, well written, well performed,” but not much these days even approaches that level and it’s interesting – something I would have bet the house against before listening to it. 3.5

Topic

Rhythm Guitar – It’s the foundation for all great rock music. You can do without bass (sorry Mike M, but you can), you can do without drums and you can do without lead guitar. But you can’t do without rhythm guitar. It just ain’t rock and roll if it ain’t there. And for a guy who doesn’t play an instrument, I can’t think of anything more fun than slashing out kick-ass crunchy loud rhythm riffs while assuming any number of great rock guitar poses, including, but not limited to jumps, windmills and lunges. It simply would be more fun than playing any other instrument. Primary influences in this dream include Pete Townsend, Keith Richards, Johnny Ramone, Billy Zoom, Paul Weller (early Jam days only) and Paul Armstrong of the Flashcubes.