I haven't heard as much as I'd like to yet this year, but I've been into The Lashes' Get It. It's their first full-length, and it's pretty damn good. Power pop, lots of energy and hooks. You know the stuff.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: ¡KevinHess!,

For the unscrupulous: if your appetite for alt-country by a redhead with an excellent voice has remained unsated thus far in 2006, Neko's album has leaked.

Not really my favorite kind of music, but I think it's real good.

Edit: Now that I've even listened to the whole thing, I suspect that you people who like alt-country are going to effing love this album. Asked about Jenny Lewis, you will answer, "isn't she that former child star? I hear she's a singer now."

This message has been edited. Last edited by: dubs,

So far, I'm diggin' the Arctic Monkeys, Man Man (despite it not being up there with the debut) and Congotronics 2 (but not as much as last year's Konono album). I remember liking The Greatest, but I haven't been reaching much for it...and don't plan on it today, either.

I have noticed that alot of people have revisited The National's Alligator this year which is great... I highly recommend it. I would also highly recommend a somewhat similar release that came out just yesterday but has been available on e-music for the past week or so and that is All Your Things Are Gone by Victory At Sea.

Some similarities are:

- lead singer sings in deep register (a girl this time)
- dark, brooding atmosphere with sharp songwriting
- excellent use of the piano
- drums are the driving engine of this record

Check it out and let me know what you think.

I am indeed digging on The Knife.

I also must say that the new Liars is a tremendous grower.

Hmm..I have to say, I don't see the big deal about Arctic Monkeys yet.

I mean..sure, it's decent. But I don't see how it stands out from the likes of the Strokes, Franz Ferdinand, or Bloc Party. Heck, they use a couple exact riffs from Ferdinand songs.

Is the Liars CD out or is it another one of those things being listened to via leaks?

--

Edit:

Okay, Destroyer and Two Gallants are the first two bona-fide top ten contenders of the year for me.

Destroyer is, lyrically and vocally, very good. Instrumentally, except for a few songs, it's not so great, but it sounds like a potential big grower.

Two Gallants...just on first listen, admittedly, is blowing me away. Somebody on this site recommended them, and I forget who. Thanks!! I'm not sure it'll be a stayer, though..

It's kind of like..I enjoyed Two Gallants more on first listen, but have a feeling I'll enjoy destroyer more on the 20th.

I heard a Liars track and I think I'll pick that up tomorrow.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Bobthespirit,

The Monkeys ARE lots of fun. That's too often missing from best-of lists...FUN!! However, and please don't stone me hal, their fun falls WAY short of the kinda fun we used to get from the Ramones, Undertones, Vibrators, Buzzcocks, etc. I will BUY that they're as fun as the Strokes, Franz Ferdinand, Bloc Party, et. al. But I guess that means that "fun" just ain't as FUN as it used to be.

quote:

Two Gallants...just on first listen, admittedly, is blowing me away. Somebody on this site recommended them, and I forget who. Thanks!! I'm not sure it'll be a stayer, though..

yesssssssssssssssssssssssss

quote:

Originally posted by Bobthespirit:
Hmm..I have to say, I don't see the big deal about Arctic Monkeys yet.

I mean..sure, it's decent. But I don't see how it stands out from the likes of the Strokes, Franz Ferdinand, or Bloc Party. Heck, they use a couple exact riffs from Ferdinand songs.

I agree there's nothing distinctly original about the Monkeys. But, as Mark says, there's something enjoyable about it. I understand that a lot of people don't agree that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but I don't go crazy looking for the music I enjoy to something totally new and different. Sometimes, what's familiar is what I'm looking for. I like the Monkeys in the same way I like Hard-Fi, and Interpol, and Bloc Party, etc. They're not reinventing the wheel, but I like the way it rolls...

quote:

Originally posted by philosopherEric:
I understand that a lot of people don't agree that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but I don't go crazy looking for the music I enjoy to something totally new and different. Sometimes, what's familiar is what I'm looking for. I like the Monkeys in the same way I like Hard-Fi, and Interpol, and Bloc Party, etc. They're not reinventing the wheel, but I like the way it rolls...

I sometimes feel this way too, but it depends on the kind of music. There are certain kinds of music that I used to like, but that I've just grown sick of and I don't want to hear much like it anymore. I think most mainstream hard rock falls into this category for me. Unlike probably everyone else here, I don't really think that music by Creed or Incubus or Nickelback is all that bad, it's just that I get sick of it pretty quickly and it's so rampant that I don't really ever want to hear a whole lot of it. I don't want anyone to imitate that kind of music anymore. It's time to move on.

Then there are guys like Nick Drake whose music I love so much that I wish more people would imitate him. I think Jose Gonzalez is pretty much imitating Nick Drake and not adding much of anything, but I absolutely love it. Every single singer/songwriter claims they sound like Nick Drake (or at least their publicists they do), but Gonzalez is really the only guy I've ever heard that actually sounds like Drake. This is the kind of imitation I'd like to see more of.

I can't really speak for Franz Ferdinand, Bloc Party, and the Arctic Monkeys because I've never liked any of that kind of music.

So far my favorites are:

Cat Power - The Greatest
Jenny Lewis And The Watson Twins - Rabbit Fur Coat
Belle And Sebastian - The Life Pursuit
The Corrs - Home
Rosanne Cash - Black Cadillac
Veronicas - Secret Life Of The Veronicas (though I put it in my 2005 list, so it won't go in my 2006 list. I bought The Faders late, so that one will go in my 2006 list when the U.S. release comes out. If no U.S. release, I'll amend my 2005 list to include The Faders' Plug In & Play.)

This message has been edited. Last edited by: MattD,

BTW, I'll second the praise of The Lashes. Haven't bought it yet, though. Just don't get the Arctic Monkeys.

From the samples of the Neko Case, I'll love it.

I'm actually excited that an album I gushed only has a 68 metascore. Maybe it'll help shut up the people who think I just like all the stuff the critics like!

Hmm...I agree, there's something to be said for the well-trodden path. But, a band has to sound unique. There's no reason you can't sound unique writing music that's firmly within the boundaries of well-established genres. You can be writing basic singer-songwriter material, and you can still sound unique so long as there's some unique signature about you that you can't quite get from any other band.

And, if you're really a great songwriter, you don't have to try to sound unique. If you're writing the music that comes to you, and creating an expression that's singularly and truly yours, you'll have that signature that makes you unique, no matter what genre you're in. Similarly, if you're trying too hard just to be different, you'll sound just like a pale imitation of other people who're trying to be different.

quote:

Originally posted by Bobthespirit:
I'm actually excited that an album I gushed only has a 68 metascore. Maybe it'll help shut up the people who think I just like all the stuff the critics like!

I assume you're talking about the Two Gallants. Tell me more about that record...I'm curious. I've never heard a note, but the bile-filled review from Under the Radar (one of my favorite mags, actually) has made me curious about it. What's the sound? I've heard the Pogues mentioned in places...

I just listened to the Arctic Monkeys album twice - twice will be enough I think. I have to agree with Playlouder's Luke Turner, the final comment from his review sums things up nicely:

"no-one really wants to run counter to the prevailing orthodoxy and tell the truth that this is merely a half-decent indie pub rock album riding on a whopping cloud of hot air."

Playlouder is a British site I believe - the "UK music press" hype tends to emanates almost exclusively from the NME these days.

I'm looking forward to picking up the new Two Gallants sometime this coming week - I bought their last one, The Throes, after seeing them last year in SF (Damien Jurado opened for them!). They are very good live - I don't hear much Pogues in their sound, but their dark contemporary take on Dylanesque American folk/roots played with an almost punk intensity could remind one of the Pogues I suppose.

There's a big Pogues sound on the new Two Gallants. I don't personally think it is very good. It is ok, but I'm pretty sure I'm already bored with it. Their new album sounds alot like the Pine Hill Haints and the Boggs, two bands that I actually like a lot, but for some reason I just find this boring.

I hope I'll like the Two Gallants because this is turning out to be the slowest year for new music that I can ever remember. Normally by this time of the year I'd already have around 5-10 albums that I'd be happy to recommend, but this year - zero. I'm beginning to think I must be looking in the wrong places.

My top 5 so far...

1 ~ Victory At Sea All Your Things Are Gone
2 ~ Destroyer Destroyer's Rubies
3 ~ Elbow Leaders of the Free World
4 ~ Cat Power The Greatest
5 ~ Belle And Sebastian The Life Pursuit

... and believe it or not, I'm having alot of fun just blasting The National Trust Kings and Queens out of my car stereo.

quote:

Originally posted by philosopherEric:

quote:

Originally posted by Bobthespirit:
I'm actually excited that an album I gushed only has a 68 metascore. Maybe it'll help shut up the people who think I just like all the stuff the critics like!

I assume you're talking about the Two Gallants. Tell me more about that record...I'm curious. I've never heard a note, but the bile-filled review from Under the Radar (one of my favorite mags, actually) has made me curious about it. What's the sound? I've heard the Pogues mentioned in places...

Hmm...well, it's kind of hard for me to describe beyond the raspy vocals and the energy/emotion-oriented approach to songwriting. I guess Pogues is a semi-analagous comparison, but I only have one of their albums and I haven't listened to it that much.

It's not holding up quite as well on successive listens, but I still like it a lot. It's up there. I'd still put it with Destroyer and Beth Orton as my favorite albums this year so far.

I liked AM a little more on the second and third listen. I still don't see them as much different from their 'movement', but I'd rank them better than Franz Ferdinand.

I still need to find some Jason Collett samples to listen to. But I agree there hasn't been any *real* strong entry this year so far.