The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com

athe b-side Thursday, January 11, 2006 - 3B


Lloyd Cargo
...........................
1. Extra Golden - Ok-
Oyot System
Choosing the best album
of 2006 is arbitrary, but
I can say this band pro-
vided me with my favor-
ite moment of the year.
Sweaty, bottle of New-
castle in hand and best
friend in tow, watching
Extra Golden dispense
blistering benga grooves
at the Bohemian Nation-
al Home in Detroit was
the closest I got to tran-
scendence.
2. J Dilla - Donuts
Extraordinary circum-
stances aside, Donuts has
a certain je ne sais quoi
that can only be credited
to an incredible passion
for music. This is what
soul music sounds like in
2006.
3. Comets on Fire -
Avatar

Their rock might be
druggy psychedelia, but
don't mistake Comets on
Fire for a bunch of hip-
pies - these dudes have
some serious balls.
4. Grizzly Bear - Yellow
House
Grizzly Bear took a page
from The Band's hand-
book and hid themselves
in a secluded house to
produce this gem. The
results aren't compa-
rable, but the spirit is
there.
5. Ornette Coleman -
Sound Grammar
Ornette was ahead of his
time in 1958 and he's still
ahead of his time now.
Great albums like this
just make enjoying his
genius while he's still
alive all the more sweet.
6. Cornelius - Sensuous
You can't call Cornelius
the Japanese Beck any-
more, he's better than

that. In fact, The Infor-
mation sucked.
7. Bob Dylan - Modern
Times
Cagey, mysterious ...
sexy. Dylan? American
legend still showing new
dimensions? Dylan.
8. Cat Power - The
Greatest
The only thing hotter
than Chan Marshall is
Chan Marshall with a
horn section.
9. Boris & Sunno)))
- Altar
While not quite living
up to the mind blowing
potential of this collabo-
ration, Altar's impact can
still be measured on the
Richter scale.
10. Nomo - New Tones
Ann Arbor's own Nomo
took their Afro-funk to
the international level
on this party-in-a-jewel-
case.

Kimberly Chou a Serge Gainsbourg eccen-
tricity pulled off in earnest.
... . Not bad for a 19-year-old,
Balkan-folk fan.

1. The Knife - Silent Shout
Someone once described
"Silent Shout" as "BSS
meets the background
music from aPBS special or
Nova, with Aphex Twin."
Not quite. The title track is
easily the poppiest, but the
rest of Shout will convince
you that it was right to stick
around afterDeep Cuts.
2. Prince - 3121
With the stuttered booty-
smacks and digital moans
of "Black Sweat" and other
lip-biters, 2006's Prince
shows he's still fully capa-
ble of p-control.
3. Ghostface -Fishscale
Ghost is one of the only
Wu-Tang members to put
out consistent albums, and
Fishscale is proof.
4. Beirut - Gulag Or kestar
Zach Condon, with a little
help from friends, chan-
nels Boban Markovic with

S. T.I. -King
The synthetic string brag-
gadocio of "What You
Know," T.I's chocolatey
drawl, the blaxsploitation
backbone of "King Back"
- could anyone say no to
Tip's latest effort?
6. Justin Timberlake -
Futuresex/Lovesounds
Thanks to the perverted,
drag-foot slide of the title
track, the boardwalk flir-
tation of "Damn Girl" and
electronic love letter "My
Love," you'll never have to
defend your JT apprecia-
tion again.
7. Tom Waits - Orphans:
Brawlers, Bawlers and Bas-
tards
Rather than becoming a
vainglorious mess, each
of the three discs holds
its own. If Orphans was
Waits's excuse to cover
Daniel Johnston - well, he

should have done it sooner.
8. Brightblack Morning
Light - Brightblack Morn-
ingLight
The duo defines its name
as "a color of the day when
the truth of the universe
is faded into a veil of blue
sky." That doesn't make
sense, but when it's just
good fuckingmusic, defini-
tions are technicalities.
9. Clipse - HellHathNo
Fury
So we salivated in anticipa-
tion of HellHath NoFury
for two-plus years - and it
was for good reason. Mal-
ice and Pusha T bring the
braaattt, braaatttt, ka-ka-
kat-kat with unrelenting
furor on crisply produced
tracks that include one of
the best singles of the year.
10. Isobel Campbell and
Mark Lanegan - Ballad of
the Broken Seas
This millennium's com-
ingofLee Hazlewood and
Nancy Sinatra just might
break your heart.


.I.J Dilla - Donuts
Dilla's mashed-up '60s
soul, inverted backbeats
and elastic bass loops
shine brilliant and funky,
recallingalife entrenched
in musical expression.
2. Joanna Newsom - Ys
The epic story-songs on
Ys are stunning examples
of Newsom's deeply per-
sonal vision. Van Dyke
Parks's arrangements
surround every word and
illuminate the virtuosity
of the compositions.
3. The Knife - Silent
Shout
This is music for the
three a.m. crowd; drunk
and stoned disco-junkies,
too intoxicated to stop
dancing and walk home
through the bleak city
streets.
4. Liars - Drums Not
Dead
The Liars moved to Ber-
lin, locked themselves in

a studio and extracted all Matt Kivel
the post-WWII angstcthat
the city had to offer. '-""" '"""-""""
from the '60s.

5. Scott Walker - The
Drift
The Drift appears like a
slab of darkness planted
firmly onto the sunny
modern landscape, with
Walker's voice laying
bare every shadowy lyri-
cal twist and corrupt
character in his distorted
reality.
6. Camera Obscura
- Let's Get Out Of This
Country
The doo-wop romps and
lovelorn pop ballads are
pleasing from start to end,
and Tracyanne Cambell's
sugary coo is twee-pop at
its understated best.
7. Cat Power - The
Greatest
Chan's recording feels
effortless, like a Friday
night jam session at a
southern supper club

8. Yo La Tengo - I am
Not Afraid of You and I
WillBeat Your Ass
Ambitious in scope and
executed with years of
touring and songwriting
behind them, it's a show-
case for the band's chem-
istry and unpredictable
arrangements.
9. Asobi Seksu - Citrus
This album is the closest
thing to a Kevin Shields
record in 2006.
10. Justin Timberlake -
FutureSex/LoveSounds
In Timbaland, Timber-
lake has found a collabo-
rator with enough gall
and idiosyncratic genius
to build him a musical
world of sexy purring
synths and deep-groov-
ing back beats, a far cry
from his boy band days.

4
4
4

Chris Gaerig
1. Liars - Drum's Not
Dead
When this album was
released mid-February, it
became my instant choice
for album of the year.
2. TV On the Radio -
Return to Cookie Mountain
Aftertheirgroundbreaking
EP and lackluster follow-
up,TVOntheRadiofinally
find the happy medium
between suicide and the
barbershop they've been
strivingto find.
3. Clipse - Hell Hath No
Fury
Forget what Clipse have
said aboutJive. Forget this
album was delayed more
than most "Zelda" games.
Realize that Hell Hath No
Fury is easily the most
artistic and intriguing
crack-rap disc ever.
4. Lil Wayne -
Dedication2

Without even releasing a electro-dub release. Soul
proper album Weezy was Jazz is renowned for their
the most celebrated MC of quality, and this is an
the year, riding the press- instant classic.
wave of two unflappable
mixtapes and provingthat 8. YoungJeezy
he truly is the greatest - TheInspiration:
rapper alive. ThugMotivation102
You can take Jeezy outcthe
5. Mountain Goats - Get streets but you can't take
Lonely the streets out Jeezy. And
Maybe it's my propensity even if he doesn't seem
for reading about quite as real as before, his
self-deprecation and flows are just as tight.
alcoholism or John
Darnielle's Io-fi sound, 9. T.L-King
but somehow this whiney, T.I. was anointed
garage-rockerhasreleased the heir to Jay-Z, but
one of the best break-up was subsequently
albums in years. overshadowed by Lil'
Wayne. Still, King is
6. Thom Yorke - The the materialization of
Eraser everything he's strived-to
As Mr. Yorke finally be.
gets the chance to step
away from the Orwellian 10. Hot Chip
shrouded Radiohead, we - The Warning
get the pleasure of seeing HotChip aretheepitomeof
his true genius. the glitch-pop we all love:
stutter-step electronics,
7. Sandoz - Live in the transcendentmelodiesand
Earth onore attitude and izzazi
It's refreshing to see such a than you can shake a stick
progressive contemporary at.



1. Clipse - Hell Hath No
Fury
From the Neptunes'
productionto the brothers'
deft wordplay, Hell Hath
No Fury is uniquely its
own, evincing the duo's
status among greats like
Nas and Biggie.
2. Guillemots - Through
the Windowpane
Albums like this are
rare. Fyfe Dangerfield
renders disbelievers silent,
constructing a world in
which inward feelings are
intensified for all to feel.
3. Joanna Newsom - Ys
Despite "sounding like
Lisa Simpson," Newsom
displays talent and daring
far from puerile. Beneath
labyrinthine lyrics and
melodic abstractions, the
album's slightest nuances
are magnified by her
candor, evoking emotion
attained only bymasters of
their craft.

4. Bob Dylan - Modern
Times
Instead of the mercurial
inventiveness of his earlier
work, Modern Times is
the work of an old master,
unassumingly confident in
the caliber of his output.
5. Destroyer -Destroyer's
Rubies
At once surreal and
mesmerizing, Rubies is a
literary journey with an
enchanting soundtrack.
6. Lil Wayne - Dedication
2
Lil Wayne's boasts are
still annoying, but this
mixtape only adds further
credence to the claim by
being immodest, vengeful,
romantic, conscientious
and back again.
7. Girl Talk - Night
Ripper
Sample-dependent
producers like Diddy and
Kanye opened the doors -
Gillis obliterates the whole

Brian
damn house.

n Chen
..................


8. Ghostface Killah -
Fishscale
The album finds Ghostface
at the top of his game,
complete with his
seeminglyeffortlessability
to enliven narratives
through enthusiastic
delivery alone.
9. Mastodon - Blood
Mountain
Blood Mountain is
unequivocally the best
metal album of the year,
by virtue of its dualities
- the band combined
metal's fundamental
head-banging mentality
with a conceptual
inventiveness.
10. TI. - King
T.I.'s Southern drawl
and competent wordplay
make everything seem
effortless.

Caitlin Cowan
1. M. Ward - Post-War
This is comfort food for
the ears. Borrowing from
folk and Americana, M.
Ward's gravelly voice
makes the sweet slur of
his songs resonant and
real.
2. Gnarls Barkley - St.
Elsewhere
DJ Danger Mouse and
soul machine Cee-Lo
Green captivated with
this summer's most glo-
riously original album.
3. Thom Yorke - The
Eraser
Like Kid A, the layout of
The Eraser is electronic
and clever. The Radio-
head frontman and neu-
rotic extraordinaire is as
manic and biting as ever
on his solo foray.

4. TV on the Radio -
Return to Cookie Moun-
tain
The group's signature
sound is more stream-
lined here, and the result
is extraordinary.
5. Ray LaMontagne -
Till the Sun Turns Black
One part country, one
part blues and a whole lot
of folk, the delicate beau-
ty of these songs speak to
LaMontagne's emotive
capacity.
6. Beck - The Informa-
tion
The second half mean-
ders into ambient shad-
ows, but Beck creates
vocal highs where soni-
cally there are none.
7. The Rapture - Pieces
of the People We Love
Too bad roller disco isn't
still hip, because this
album is the ideal rink-

side soundtrack.
8. Joanna Newsom - Ys
While Newsom's high-
pitched, old-woman's
voice often borders on
downright unpleasant,
it's clear that she's craft-
ing something original
and strange.
9. Tapes 'n' Tapes - The
Loon
In a (personally) dis-
appointing year for
indie, maybe songs like
"Omaha" and "Insistor"
can help the most jaded
listeners remember why
they used to like this
stuff in the first place.
10. Regina Spektor -
Begin to Hope
Not as quirky as 2004's
Soviet Kitsch, on Begin
to Hope Spektor tones
down the weirdness to
showcase her big, beauti-
ful voice.

The Daily's vain attempt at
objectively ranking music.
An impossible task -
but we do it every year.
Courtesy of Thril Jockey, Anti, UMVD and Merge




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