[en480c4]

Well, my inclusion of Emilie Autumn's Opheliac was based on the 8-song EP I've had for a few months. The 2-CD Deluxe Edition arrived this week and is nothing short of amazing.

The last song on the EP (and hidden track that follows) were moved to the 2nd CD, along with 2 new songs, one of her classical violin pieces and a few spoken-word pieces. The CD itself now has 6 songs beyond what was on the original disc, and there's not a weak one among them.

So, for anyone who's a little adventurous and likes the idea of someone who describes their music as "Victoriandustrial," I'd strongly recommend checking her out at her Home Page and/or her MySpace Page.

 

[howL_]

1) Girl Talk - Night Ripper
2) Destroyer - Destroyer's Rubies
3) Tap Tap - Lanzafame
4) Band of Horses - Everything All The Time

Looking forward to several more yet to come out.

 

[doctorjuggles]

Hot Chip - The Warning
Thom Yorke - The Eraser
Basement Jaxx - Crazy Itch Radio
Gotan Project - Lunatico
Pearl Jam - Pearl Jam
Tool - 10,000 Days

Aside from a very few exceptions, 2006 has been a fairly disappointing musical year in my opinion, but it's allowed me to revisit some old favourites which I've now rediscovered, so every cloud has its silver lining.
2006 won't be remembered much by me in musical terms.

 

[rapier84]

Here's one more in the hat:

John Mayer - Continuum

 

[jamesb]

(ok that last one was a compilation)
and my favourite so far:

not been a disapointing year for me

 

[fivefanband]

Destroyer - "Destroyer's Rubies"
Bob Dylan - "Modern Times"
TV On The Radio - "Return To Cookie Mountain"
Sufjan Stevens - "The Avalanche"
AFX - "Chosen Lords"
Thom Yorke - "The Eraser"
Sonic Youth - "Rather Ripped"

and...

Tenacious D - "Pick of Destiny Original Soundtrack"
-That's right. I'm calling it.-

 

[kurumaya]

Hate to go with the flow, but Damn-
TV on the Radio - Return to Cookie Mountain
Yo La Tengo - I'm not afraid of you...
Neko Case - Fox Confessor...
Grizzly Bear - Yelow House
...are amazing.

I wanted to like Destroyer (love TNP, etc) , but I'd rather drink a pint of Windex than listen to one more minute of those precious vocals...

Others -
Electrelane - Singles, B-Sides, and Live
Loose Fur - Born Again in the USA
AFX - Chosen Lords (but better on vinyl)
American V: A Hundred Highways - Johnny Cash

 

[Amplitude]

Wax Tailor - Tales of the Forgotten Melodies
Daedelus - Denies the Day's Demise
P.O.S. - Audition
The Roots - Game Theory
Gotan Project - Diferente

Just typing those made me happy

 

[s m @]

These jump out:

Yo La Tengo I Am Not Afraid Of You And I Will Beat Your Ass
J Dilla Donuts
Mogwai Mr. Beast
Juana Molina Son

 

[58impala]

gnarls barkley - st. elsewhere (they need an audiophile release pronto on this)
the roots - game theory
john mayer - continum

 

[proglife]

Bonnie Prince Billy - The Letting Go
Wooden Wand and the Sky High Band - Second Attention
Wooden Wand & the Vanishing Voice - Gipsy Freedom
Six Organs of Admittance - The Sun Awakens
Comets on Fire - Avatar
Om - Conference of the Birds
Witch - s/t
Sir Richard Bishop - Fingering The Devil
Espers - II
Mountains - Sewn
Brightblack Morning Light - s/t
Hush Arbors - Landscape of Bone
Growing - Color Wheel
Charalambides - A Vintage Burden
Boris - Pink
Vetiver - To Find Me Gone
Howlin' Rain - s/t
Loren Connors - Sails

I'm still absorbing the Corsano/Flaherty stuff from this year...plus new stuff from Hototgisu, Double Leopards, Mouthus, Prurient, Religious Knives and other things of that nature. I'm not sure I can ever put them on "top whatever" lists, but I probably listen to them more than anything. It's "life music", I guess.

 

[proglife]

whoops....Bardo Pond's new album "Ticket Crystals" is good, but I liked their Archive CD live release even better.

 

[Asr]

I'm going to have to revise my previous listing!

In order:
Trespassers William - Having
Halou - Wholeness & Separation
Jewel - Goodbye Alice in Wonderland
Thievery Corporation - Versions
Massive Attack - Collected [SE]

I just got the bolded CD a few days ago, it was on repeat countless times over the weekend! What a stunning release, it blew me away! I was so much in shock I couldn't believe my ears, it was just amazing, really surreal stuff. Wow, I definitely recommend it to anyone who likes dreamy electronic, or alternative, or "dream pop," or anything like that. It sounds a lot like Halou's work, and Halou is great stuff too, but this CD just takes it to another level. And the rendition by my AD2K was mind-blowing, it wasn't even multiple eargasms, it was like an OOBE!

 

[floydenheimer]

Midlake - The Trials of Van Occupanther
The Format - Dog Problems

I'm surprised no one has mentioned Van Occupanter yet. It's not THE best, but it's worth a mention among the best of the year. I also enjoyed The Format's new album. Those are the only 2 I can think of that haven't been said already.

 

[Vic]

An update on my previous list, this time with my top 20 and their grades:

1 94 Camille/ Le fil
2 89 Regina Spector/ Begin to hope
3 88 TV on the radio/ Return to the cookie mountain
3 88 M. Ward/ Post war
5 87 Bob Dylan/ Modern times
7 82 Cat Power/ The greatest
8 80 Alejandro Escovedo/ The boxing mirror
9 79 Guillemots/ Through The Window pane
10 78 Howe Gelb/ sno angel like you
11 77 Arctic Monkeys/ Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
12 75 Neko Case/ Fox Confessor Brings The Flood
13 74 The knife/ Silent shout
14 72 Beirut/ Gulag orkestar
15 70 Springsteen/ We shall overcome
16 68 Ron Sexsmith/ Time being
16 68 Built to spill/ You in reverse
18 66 Ali Farka Toure/ Savane
19 64 Johnny Cash/ American V
20 62 Jenny Lewis/ Rabbit fur coat

Camille album is a revelation, head and shoulder over the rest so far. She is a young French singer and this is her third CD (including a live one).
The music is really unusual and innovative, although the songwriting is fantastic and really enjoyable. Very well recorded CD with a very rich sound that makes you think of a quite big group of musicians. But after several listens I realised that she does almost everything: most of the "instruments" are made by her voice in the background. The lyrics are also very good.
Apparently her live shows are memorable. I will go to see her on Thursday. Can't wait.

I urge everyone to give Camilla a try even though she sings in French.


Regarding sound quality:
- Built to spill/ You in reverse is a quite poor recording, too bad because the album is decent rock and roll

- Guillemots/ Through The Window pane is an astonishing recording, the album itself is not bad, but with a good rig becomes a joy to listen to thanks to the excellent mixing. They are somewhere between Elbow, Radiohead and Moody Blues, but a bit easier.