Now that we're 1/4 of the way through the year, list all the 2006 releases worth listening to so far:

Ricardo Villalobos - Achso
Hot Chip - The Warning
Booka Shade - Movements
Destroyer - Destroyer's Rubies
Neko Case - Fox Confessor Brings the Flood
Ghostface - Fishscale

worth listening to, because they're quite good:

Alex Smoke - Paradolia
Love is All - 9 times that same song
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Show Your Bones
Nathan Fake - Drowning in a Sea of Love
Kaito - Hundred Million Lightyears

..and probably a lot more (the knife, morrissey, etc) that I haven't given proper attention to yet

Ghostface Killah - Fishscale
Marit Larsen - Under The Surface
The Fiery Furnaces - Bitter Tea
Belle & Sebastian - The Life Pursuit
Johnny Boy - Johnny Boy
Casey Dienel - Wind Up Canary
The Knife - Silent Shout
Destroyer - Destroyer's Rubies

(Reissues: Cluster - Cluster 71, This Heat - S/T, Fred Neil - S/T, the 3 Bridget St. John ones, Eno/Byrne - My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts, Arthur Russell - First Thought Best Thought...)

For me the best releases so far are...

Sparks - Hello Young Lovers
Ghostface Killah - Fishscale
Liars - Drums Not Dead
V/A - Tropiciala: A Brazilian Revolution in Sound
V/A - New York Noise 2 (not nearly as good as volume 1 though)

And an honorable mention for Boris's Pink, which I heard this year.

Seconding:
Scott Walker, The Drift

Grandaddy - The Fambly Cat

Band of Horses - Everything All the Time

Clogs - Lantern

Ellen Aillen & Apparat - Orchestra of Bubbles

and with some misgivings,
Wisely, Parador
KT Tunstall, Eye to the Telescope

Skream - Skreamism Vol. 1
Rhythm and Sound - See Mi Yah Remixes #1&2
Claro Intelecto - Warehouse Sessions Volume 1
Pinch - Qawwali
Vex'd - Bombardment of Saturn

Fishscale
Mr. Beast
Fox Confessor
The Life Pursuit
Silent Shout
Pink
Drum's Not Dead

Second:

Liars
The Knife
Band of Horses
Loose Fur
B & S

P.S. Raise your hands if you don't think that "Fishscale" is going to end up in your year end top 5.

And adding:
Young People
Flaming Lips
Shearwater
Two Gallants

what does The Knife sound like?

Robyn – robyn (thanks to ILM, this is by far my most played album of this year)

White Rose Movement - Kick
Acid Casuals – Omni
Lemon Jelly – '64-'95
Belle & Sebastian – The Life Pursuit
Gomez – How We Operate
Adem – Love and Other Planets
Placebo – Meds
Liars – Drums Not Dead
I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness – Fear Is On Our Side
The Secret Machines – Ten Silver Drops
Artic Monkey – Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I’m Not

you mean a bunch of people liking the same album?

I would like someone to explain the appeal of Villalobos though, I continue to be mystified by the love for what just sounds like intricate but tedious microhouse (although a 4 minute edit of 'Duso' would be cool).

ha ha, to be honest yes this is how i feel about a lot of the electrohouse - oh the burden!

ellen allien & apparat, orchestra of bubbles
the knife, silent shout
booka shade, movements

alex smoke's paradolia also great, as well as the kiki, sascha funke and luciano mixes...

i'm still not sure whether i 'get' villalobos yet - when i like him i love him (bits of alcachofa, 'miami', 'ichso') but a lot of the time it's like...this is idm. i can't dance to this. i like it in the background but that is not a huge compliment!

Nick, the reviews for Silent Shout have been incredibly consistent across the net. "ILM hivemind job" is way off.

Lex stop generalising about what ILM's boxes are! Alex in NYC is as much ILM as you are!

X-post - agreed, Fandango, the excitement is good, but it can also grate because it leads to imbalance. I also worry that it hampers development of discussion about other music - like ILM is seen as a little electroclash + pop forum rather than a forum that could cover jazz + metal + folk + classical + indie + reggae + whatever.

(also, agreed.. but ILM is fairly unbalanced already! but it's unbalanced in a good way. Stuff doesn't seem to get squeezed out to me).

Most other boards are fucking shite, aye, especially compared to here. But here is not perfect either, and, you know, rage against the dying of the light and all that...

-- BeeOK

Wasn't aware I'd been away(!) but thanks :)

and thanks Susan for confirming my wonky judgement isn't so wrong.

-- Sick Mouthy

haha, Nick.

The sun still has how many years before it burns out again? Phases and all that.

Fandango, been busy and don't open as many threads these days...

dissapointing:
Belle & Sebastian - Life Pursuit
The Streets - Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living

inbetween:
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Show Your Bones.

Waiting for Lily Allen to sweep all aside.

Neko Case: Fox Confessor Brings The Flood
Jenny Lewis & The Watson Twins: Rabbit Fur Coat
from late 2005: Wussy: Funeral Dress

LOSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSER:
Morrissey

Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - House Arrest
Major Stars - Synoptikon
Colossal Yes - Acapulco Roughs
Saturday Looks Good To Me - Sound on Sound
Liars - Drum's Not Dead

trina, the glamorest life

am surprised no one has mentioned shakira! i REALLY want to hear that.

i am on the fence about even caring about marit larsen. a lot of these swedish pop people have been awfully disappointing, do they not have basslines in that country? (the knife honourable exceptions.)

Sibylle Baier - Colour Green (Orange Twin)
Mountains - Sewn (Apestaartje)
James Blackshaw - O True Believers (Important)

As far as I know, any brainwashing with regards to The Knife is from "Heartbeats". So good a song.

Not an album, but the A Sunny Day In Glasgow EP is pretty amazing.

It sounds like the sort of phrase you wacky Britishish people are always coming up with.

http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/site_furniture/2005/02/11/feat2newyork.jpg

The Knife is WELL WEAPON

Kooks and Delays are worth listening to if you like that sought of thing.

Whoa! I liked the description and searched youtube, and it's like someone's been reading my thoughts:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiCE9a-hnHQ&search=ymck

and i have to admit to feeling rather queezy with anticipation for when i get to hear the DFA remix compilation in the next few days.

i am! really digging it. slightly samey but in a good way, i think.

Keith Fullerton Whitman - Lisbon
Las Malas Amistades - Jardin Interior (just discovered this)
The Rumble Strips - No Soul/Motorcycle 7"

I like Do or Die and Vakill's new albums. Also B.G., T.I. and E-40. The fewer letters in a rappers name = the better the rapper, apparently.

My favorite records so far. Although the TVP album is exceptional & the rest of good to great.

Unsure of Flaming Lips or Knife.

Underwhelmed by Mogwai, Arctic Monkeys.

Awaiting Guillemots.

Lex, if you're coming to that Marit Larsen album expecting "basslines" and anything remotely resembling dance pop, you're going to be majorly disappointed. It's more like pop ballads and a sort of Norwegian bluegrass/country thing. It's very....rustic..at times. It's just really elegant pop music.

which marit larsen, i guess, is not. thanks for warning me. i have a low country tolerance level (limited pretty much to dolly parton and bubba sparxxx).

Usually after a list like this I can come up with like 20 records that aren't out yet that might contend but right now all I can come up with are Radiohead and Sonic Youth. Sad.

shit, if we're including not-yet-released albums:

- Pet Shop Boys, Fundamental
- Guillemots, TBA
- Black Leotard Front, TBA
- The Rapture, TBA
- Phones, Eastcote

And then like a billion others for which I will probably whip myself into a frenzy at a later date.

i should add tom verlaine's "around" to my list above.

I CAN'T BELIEVE I FORGOT ABOUT THIS. I've only seen them the once back in 2004 and the only song that they played was "Magnifique", but yeah that's a pretty fitting title.

I suppose the only question is which classic stoner rock song they're going to choose to make awesome this time out. I'm sure there's some terrible Doors thing in dire need of the breath of life.

Also, I could have sworn I'd heard something about an album from the Pipettes and a new Eliot James-produced one from the Futureheads.

Here are two songs that will almost certainly be on the record, though: -

Scissor Sisters "Can't Decide" (Live @ Mercury Lounge NYC 2005)

Scissor Sisters "Everybody Wants The Same Thing" (Live @ Live 8)

The Childballads have an EP coming out on Loog within the next month or two - it might not be an album this year, but I know the songs on the EP from their live shows, and they are just amazing. "Cheekbones" is the lead track, which some of you might know.

-- Eppy (epp...), April 3rd, 2006.

-- Eppy (epp...), April 3rd, 2006.

Glad to be of service/less alone.

Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan - Ballad of the Broken Seas
The Zutons - Tired of Hangin' Around
Wolfmother - S/T
The Raconteurs - Broken Boy Soldiers
Ghostface - Fishscale
Gnarls Barkley - St. Elsewhere
The LAwrence Arms - Oh Calcutta !
Dirty PRetty tHings - Waterloo to Anywhere (6 songs out so far)
The Living End - State of Emergency
Saves the Day - Sound the Alarm

Whoooo ! Music !

I really love their first two EP's, sooo good.

Keep rallying, people will come around eventually.

And if not, who cares

- e

mastodon, call of the mastodon
jacob borshard, the last brontosaurus (for fans of early of montreal, especially, or if you like the idea of clever, tweeish songs for ukelele)
concretes, in colour

Anyway, I still have to say Orquesta Guayacan's Xtremo, even though I hesitate to mention it, since I don't necessarily see it appealing to non-salsa fans. There is a cumbia feel in a lot of it (they are from Colombia) and there are a couple decent tracks blending in reggaeton elements.

Someone mentioned Karl Blau, a name I haven't thought of in a while. How is the new one?

Whitehouse - Ascetisists 2006
Liars - Drum's Not Dead
Luciano - Sci.Fi.Hi.Fi Vol.2

Review: http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:47jveau84x07

Islands - Return to the Sea
The Advantage - Elf-titled
Ghostface Killah - Fishscale
Zazen Boys - III
The Ladies - They Mean Us

Only had this for a couple of days but it's tons of fun - bit of a poppier YYY's sound, very bouncy, garagey sound, great vocals.

seconded: Sparks

...pia fraus 'nature heart software'
woah?

Matthew Shipp - One (I get lost in these clouds of piano)
Jack deJohnette feat Bill Frisell - The Elephant Sleeps But Still Remembers (at least some of this is really nice)
Bill Laswell/Otomo Yoshihide/Yoshida Tatsuya - Episome EP (all-out sheets of feedback and frenetic drums with Laswell's distinct fluid bass sound often standing out in its gloss)
Prince - 3121

is this really good? I want it to be, and if it actually is sheets of feedback plus frenetic drumming, I'll check it

Also, the new Man Man is great

Neko Case, Howe Gelb, Gossip seconded.

excited about Sonic Youth and Black Leotard Front

the White Rainbow box set is pretty amazing also.

gotta review that Richard Leo Johnson for my radio station ASAP.

I think it is.

Just got Boris' "Pink" in the mail the other day too, and it fucking brings the rock.

Also Sascha Funke Boogy Bytes Vol.02 on bpitchcontrol sounds good so far.

2006 albums victory brothers leanne kingwell huck johns axe bahia dale watson penny dale voivod korpiklaaniaquamarine toby keith carrie underwood - some hearts (2005) pentagram jesus h christ and the four hornsmen of the apocalypse tyr redhill EP (2004) falkenbach jamey johnson shooter jennings riverside - simple life (2005)shannon brown - cornfed lucas mccain flyleaf hank davison band *the rough guide to bhangra dance* hacienda brothers atomic bitch cabruera - proibido cochilar: sambas for sleepless nights irma thomas hard-life rebel meets rebel b-tar EP (2005) daj e-40 kayla lociecero the tiptons - drive oddysey band dahlia Wakefield, *Close To Home*: uncle billy's smokehouse - tracks (2005) mardo rhonda towns red swan - cold winters dawn shawn camp - fireball nacao zumbi - futura jessica lurie - licorice and smoke (2005) southwind lee roy parnell - back to the wall *rollerball* crucified barabara dc snipers - missile sunset

Ellen Allien and Apparat - Orchestra of Bubbles
Belle and Sebastian - The Life Pursuit
Booka Shade - Movements
Destroyer - Rubies
Final Fantasy - He Poos Clouds
Gnarls Barkley - St. Elsewhere
Hot Chip - The Warning
The Knife - Silent Shout
Sonic Youth - Rather Ripped
Stereolab - Fab Four Suture

victory brothers/ leanne kingwell /huck johns /axe bahia /dale watson /penny dale /voivod /korpiklaani /*aquamarine* /toby keith /carrie underwood /pentagram/ jesus h christ and the four hornsmen of the apocalypse/ tyr/ redhill EP /falkenbach /jamey johnson /shooter jennings /riverside /shannon brown /lucas mccain /flyleaf /hank davison band /*the rough guide to bhangra dance* /atomic bitch /cabruera /irma thomas/ hard-fi /the tiptons / oddysey band /dahlia Wakefield/ uncle billy's smokehouse / mardo /rhonda towns red swan /shawn camp -/ nacao zumbi /jessica lurie /southwind /*rollerball* /crucified barabara

3 listens and it's album of the year material. They started out as the next Pizzicato Five with more production fizz and have gone and made an electro-tech album which liberally fuses parts of today's techno with all 3 Daft Punk albums and the filter-disco likes of Moony and DJ Falcon. There are 4 instrumentals (for the purists) that will not sound out of place down Fabric and the pop songs are killer twee summer jams.

Vetiver - To Find Me Gone. Start w/ thsi per request. Terririfc album. Doesn't deviate too much from the forst, maybe a bit more muscle. Great songs.

Espers II - Far and away my favorite of the year so far. Just a amazing, powerful album.

Cat Power - The Greatest.

Belle & Sebastian - The Life Pursuit

Danielson - Ships

I didn't know you had a blog, Sundar, but now I do (btw I'm seeing Bill Frisell's trio here next month).

Decapitated - Organic Hallucinosis -- Technical metal, must have tolerance for Meshuggah.

I haven't heard much this year, mostly usual suspects; frontrunner's Belle and Sebastian, T.I. just a hair off that, that's all I see approaching greatness. Pleasant surprise: National Eye - Roomful of Lions

**really good

Destroyer
Espers
The Knife
Casey Dienel
Sunset Rubdown
Young People
Flaming Lips
Shearwater
Two Gallants

The Speakers
Beirut
Basia Bulat
Ghostface Killah
Jamie Radford
Grizzly Bear

Can't wait for that Thom Yorke to leak though.

Honorary mention goes to Sweden's wonderful I'm From Barcelona--very pleasant surprise there.

FYI: Denmark's MEW is on their way to a US release. It's about freaking time!

"Plan B's album is a belter."

Also I really like He Poos Clouds by Final Fantasy.

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