Emo
Brand New - The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me [Interscope]
Maybe a let down, but I still maintain that Brand New is one of the more interesting stories developing in mainstream music. Where they started and where they've currently ended up are such entirely different places that I feel like I have to give a hand clap to them whenever I find the time to. When their sophomore album came out in 2004 there were rumors that Jesse Lacey was on the verge of becoming this generation's Morrissey, the hero of the downtrodden who could bring a smile with a simple turn of phrase. He hasn't quite hit that peak, and one could argue most of the best songs from these sessions were left on the lo-fi floor, but this was still an album smart listeners put their money on.
The Prize Fighter Inferno - My Brother's Blood Machine [Equal Vision]
This album wins a prize almost entirely for how strange it is. Not strange as in
strange, but as in I wasn't expecting this. At all. I'll be honest, I listen to Coheed & Cambria despite not enjoying, or understanding, much of what Castrato Fro is going for, and the same goes here with his side project. What draws me to this is the mix of Postal Service bloops and folk riffs, the minimal and tiny version of the massive Coheed world. Like all the other albums, they also make it a little tough to follow the 'story', but supposedly it's about a machine built by two brothers that grinds and smashes bodies to a pool of blood in order to release their souls. Which is alright as far as concepts go.
Folk
Adrian Orange - Bitches Is Lord [Marriage]
Obviously a candidate for Album Title of the Year honors, this is the 11th album in about 5 years for Washington's Adrian Orange, formerly of the Thanksgiving (but also solo) moniker. Orange is a protegé of Phil Elverum, Washington's prodigy in charge of the Microphones, who himself is a protegé of Calvin Johnson, Washington's former prodigy formerly in charge of Beat Happening and currently of K Records. Adrian is also only 20 years old, and yet this may be one of the bleakest albums around. The lyrics consistently retract from themselves, always counter-pointing any glimmer of hope he might see. Bitches are obviously reigning o'er Adrian right now, but at least he channeled it into something to be thankful for.
Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - The Letting Go [Drag City]
I accept it now, there will never be another I See a Darkness or Palace Music. But when Oldham is churning out hit segments on Wonder Showzen and an excellent role in Old Joy, it's ok for Oldham to merely be really good, right? Accompanied here by a female (beards are
so in) this is a painful album, as is Oldham's wont, but at the same time there's a brightness here, somehow. I'm not sure if it's real, or just imagined in my preference for a good story, but it seems as though nearly 10 years from his masterwork old Willie is starting to see a lightness up ahead. This could even be the last truly 'great' Will Oldham album we get. Might as well absorb it.
The Mountain Goats - Get Lonely [4AD]
This new honestly thing works well for John Darnielle, whether he likes it or not. Beginning full-force with his childhood exorcism on last year's
The Sunset Tree, Darnielle now reflects on his life from 2006 instead of youthful roleplay. The result is one of the more lyrically beautiful albums this year, full of dynamite-infused couplets of heartbreak and sorrows. Someone on IGN once said that Darnielle was the "bi-sexual love affair you always awkwardly hope to have" and after two straight years of Darnielle making
himself the characters of his tragic plays, it's hard to deny the desire to at least cuddle with him for a while.
Natural Snow Buildings - The Dance of the Moon and the Sun [Self-Released CD-R]
The only review I would start with a link to purchase the album, if I knew where to find one. Unfortunately, hailing from France and distributing all your album copies on self-burnt CD-Rs makes a purchase hard to come by. While they come under folk, over 160 hours of music they run the gamut of what folk can mean, from the droniest take on Explosions in the Sky you've ever heard to lowest-fi Mountain Goats material, if not even lower. While you almost have to change your lifestyle to find time to sit through the whole thing, sitting through the whole thing could almost change your life. I can't give a higher recommendation than that.
Sibylle Baier - Colour Green [Orange Twin]
Technically, maybe it shouldn't count, being recorded in the '70s and all. But, also technically, these things never saw the light of day until this past February, 30 years after most of the songs were done. Either way, anyone listening to music in the 30 years between this album's completion and release have been missing out, as this is the most frank and honest album around right now. There's no highbrow metaphors here, no long-winded meta-explanations. There is just the life of Sibylle Baier, alone in her room, enjoying the fact that she's alive and able to do
anything. It's an attitude we could all use a dose of.
Honorable Mentions
Juana Molina - Son
Rock Plaza Central - Are We Not Horses?
Josephine Foster - A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing
The Best of 2006, pt. 1
Adrian Orange
