Best Music Of 2006...So Far

I love a good list. Music lists are my favorite because they help me find music I may have forgotten about or missed out the first time around. Hopefully, my list does that for you.

I just realized I sound like a six-year-old writing about what I did during the summer in the paragraph above.

As of press time, 2006 has been at best a so-so year for new releases, especially after 2005, which saw wonderful new releases by Spoon, Bloc Party, Wolf Parade, etc...

Of course, most of those didn't even really hit shelves until the summer or second half of the year. I am also discounting CD's I missed or haven't really sunk in for me yet.

Enough prefacing, here's the list:

5. Sunset Rubdown - Shut Up I Am Dreaming

Full of surprising melodies and giant, anthemic hooks, Wolf Parade's splendid little record Apologies To The Queen Mary made my top 5 for 2005. So it's no surprise, that one of the brains behind that operation (Spencer Krug) has made my list once again. With a voice that sounds a bit like David Bowie after a stay at the state mental facility, Krug has a way like no other with waltz melodies, hooks and lyrics that invoke the feeling of a hero's last stand. Particularly good are the title track and Us Ones In Between. However there's nothing here that bests anything on Apologies, so if you don't have that yet, that's a much better place to start.

4. Camera Obscura - Let's Get Out Of This Country

Camera Obscura's close ties with my #3 pick are quite evident on Country, as the only reference point worth noting for Camera Obscura is Belle & Sebastian.

More than just the standard Scottish twee record, Country bursts out of the speakers with a bright, sunshine-y playfulness before turning somewhat world-weary on the final track, Razzle Dazzle Rose. Throughout the disc, Country stays true to Camera Obscura's trademark sound while still managing to branch out ever so slightly. It feels a lot like driving back to your hometown early in the morning: A little groggy, a little bittersweet, but ultimately hopeful.

3. Belle & Sebastian - The Life Pursuit

I don't think a I realized how much of a rut Stuart Murdoch and the gang were in until I heard The Life Pursuit. It's hard not to draw parallels between Let's Get Out Of This Country and Pursuit: Both were released by revered twee-as-fuck bands on the verge of singing themselves to sleep, and both assert themselves with the force of an insomniac's second wind. Pursuit succeeds in providing a new direction for Belle & Sebastian without alienating old fans or heading into wierd-for-wierd's sake territory.

2. Islands - Return To The Sea

Okay, so I just realized that I saw both my number 1 and 2 picks live this year, which might have biased my decision, but dammit, both shows were great!

Return To The Sea delivers on the promise of Nick Diamonds and J'aime Tambeur's previous band The Unicorns debut Who Will Cut Our Hair When We're Gone?. If you're catching an immediate Graceland-era Paul Simon vibe on this one, good ear my faithful reader. Diamonds has revealed he was very influenced by Simon's 1986 classic.

Unlike Graceland, Return takes bouncing world rhythyms (Don't Call Me Whitney, Bobby) and mixes them around with lightning-fast hip-hop (Where There's A Will, There's A Whalebone) and rave-up indie rock (Rough Gem).

Bottom-line, there's a lot going on here, but it works. While many of the songs sprawl across the disc, they stay listenable, something The Unicorns did not always do so well. Also, they put on a killer show. However, with the recent depature of Tambeur, who knows if there will be a second act for Islands. Whatever happens, Return very well may be the most fun album of the year.

1. Neko Case - Fox Confessor Brings The Flood

The more I listen to this disc, the more I realize it's destined to be a classic. From the title track, Margaret vs. Pauline to the closer, The Needle Has Landed, this album full of murder ballads and lost highways is riveting. Case hired a crack backing group for the record as well, including Garth Hudson of the Band and the-ever-busy-backing-up-others-like-Iron-And-Wine Calexico.

The best track on the album comes early. Star Witness, a waltz about death and, surprise, a dark highway, shimmers like the stars over West Texas.

However, Confessor plays far better as a complete piece. Case, who may have the best set of pipes in pop music today, has really outdone herself on this one.

Reference points you ask? Well for starters, let's go with A Steve Levering favorite Wrecking Ball by Emmylou Harris, as both have an expansive, lonely sound. Confessor is a much darker record, however, so imagine Patsy Cline singing Mule Variations by Tom Waits, Case's label-mate over at Anti-.

That's my shortlist. I didn't include Art Brut since Bang Bang Rock And Roll has been out since 2005 in the U.K., even though it just dropped in the U.S. However, if you'd like to hear what a collaboration between Monty Python and The Sex Pistols would sound like, Art Brut is your band! Art Brut! Top Of The Pops!

Let's hear your lists and comments!