BEST NEW STUFF of 2006 !

I have to say I think 2006 overall was one of the worst years for music since, well, 1989 ?

Major label / Radio Music was HORRIBLE except for: Outkast's new record, Gnarls Barkley, Dylan, Neil, Flaming Lips, TV on the Radio and I guess some of the British stuff out there...

Indie rock got boring this year-- you had a choice between:
A) more electro from London or New York. Note to the Rapture & their fanclub: IT'S OVER GUYS, PACK IT IN ALREADY!
B) more "psych/folk" from the US & UK-- most of this is 3rd class copies of Joni Mitchell, Pentangle, etc... we are sliding towards a generation of warbly Jim Croce wannabes !
C) noise or math rock, or noisy math rock. Slint is not going to make any more records, so what the hell is the point already ?! I will still take this option over A or B...

Top records of 2006:

PERFECT RECORDS = all tracks are great, can listen to them over & over.

Oakley Hall - Second Guessing -- New York band fuse Neil Young/Crazy Horse to excellent fiddle playing with psychedelic effects & great male/female harmonies. every song is great and there's even a little bit of rolling stones in the mix...

Wau y Los Arrggghhs!!! - Cantan en Espanol - this might be 2005, I only got it this year. Live they were fantastic but I was skeptical... but the record is great! Not sure if it's all covers or not, but you can't complain when the material on offer is stuff like We The People (60's band from Florida) {Ninha}, the classic "I Wanna Come Back from the World of LSD" {Yo Quiero Volver} and more recognizable tunes from Pebbles, Back from the Grave, Nuggets etc... 13 tracks and NO BALLADS!

GREAT & GOOD RECORDS = not perfect, but pretty close.

Bob Dylan - Modern Times. Genius? Definitely has some great rhythm'n'blues moments, but it's not quite 2001's Love and Theft (which is pretty close to perfect). But good stuff.

Robyn Hitchock & Venus 3 - Ole! Tarantula - Best record he's made in a while, with some of the boys from REM. Not perfect, but a great listen.

Act-Ups - Marriage of Heaven and Hell. I love it, but I know it too well so my opinion can't be trusted! However, would anyone disagree that side 2 is better than side 1 ?! (c'mon, it is the HELL side !)

Act-Ups - Take Me Home 10" EP - Magnetism might be the best Act-Ups track and it's certainly the most ambitious one ever. Ballyhoos cover is good... and of course the cover of CAN was totally out of left field, but showed this band can do almost anything it puts its heads to...

HONORABLE MENTION - not great, but has its moments...

Jerry Lee Lewis - Last Man Standing -- another one of those "guest star" albums, this one's actually pretty good, including the leadoff track, a cover of Led Zeppelin's Rock'n'Roll with Jimmy Page on guitar. Other collaborations with Neil Young, BB King and others are good although the Jagger one is pretty bad. The real problem is the PRODUCTION which is TOO CLEAN. Shows that ol' Jerry (the last of the SUN RECORDS gods) is actually best on COUNTRY and SOUL. Hell yeah!

TK Webb - Phantom Parade - I got this album last week and it's really pretty good although I haven't heard it enough to rate it higher. Fuzzy blues, more Neil Young influence (?!) and kind of a Kings of Leon without the makeup & fancy clothes. Brooklyn, you'll ruin me...

TV on the Radio - Return to Cookie Mountain - this record is good although it doesn't have "the" single. Which is fine, although I listen to it in small pieces rather than all at once...

Drones - Gala Mill - The full complexity of the songs hasn't hit me just yet, but the standout rock track/single, I Don't Ever Want to Change, is one great rock track that *should* be on the radio... and is, everywhere but America.

SINGLES / 7" EPS

New Lou Reeds - Lookin' For a Boogaloo - Exit Stencil Recordings - They don't sound much like Lou Reed, but this is one ridiculous party of a single!!! This is old school rock, Bob Seger/Southern Rock style, that just doesn't care! GET THIS RECORD.

Brian Wilson Shock Treatment - Lords of the Infinite Cosmos - Slutfish Records - Psych/rock/homage to Syd Barrett/near Monster Magnet levels of sludge, FX and vocals that sound like they were recorded in a closet in your cellar! Although, similar to the previous entry, they don't sound like their namesake...)

Professor Murder - Rides the Subway - OK, this is sort of Electro. But there's something different about the dub-like rhythms going on here. This could be a way forward from the electro mess?

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENTS OF THE YEAR

Flaming Lips - At War with the Mystics - OK, it's OK. But it feels like treading water-- not up or down...

DFA 1979 breaking up... what tha heck, guys? you were the GOOD ones!

Dead Moon breaking up...?! don't know if this rumor is true... let's hope not.

MOST OVERRATED ROCK/FOLK ALBUM OF THE YEAR

So many to choose from, but for me it's Bruce Springsteen's We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions. It only showed that the originals were better, and that classic American songs like this sound shitty when put through the shiny "polish" of major label studio producers/idiots. C'mon, Bruce ! we know you can do better than THIS.

MOST OVERHYPED BAND OF THE YEAR

Again, very difficult choice. The winner is.... CLAP YOUR HANDS SAY YEAH! who were supposed to be this year's Arcade Fire. Instead, we got a decent indie album with Talking Heads-like vocals. It's OK, but is anyone going to care in 5 years ? I don't think so...
(runner-ups: celebration, arctic monkeys...)