Trent Wolbe's Best Records From 2006 plus Others

The Knife (Mute)  When was the last time you had a favorite band?  Not just a couple of favorite bands, but one band that blew everything else out of the water no matter how many times you played it? The Knife reminded me what this is like.  There were a lot of other good things that came out this year but "Silent Shout" was on a different level than all of them.
http://theknife.net

Shogun Kunitoki - Tasankokaiku (Fonal)  Wait for it...wait for it...wait for it!  Intense synth buildups rewarded by huge psych explosions make these Finns a real "top tinn" for 2006.
http://www.shogunkunitoki.com/home

Carla Bozulich - Evangelista (Constellation) Normally I shy away from people who are this emotive, but she reeled me in right from the start.  Deep deep deep shit and she's funny too.  Performance at Joe's Pub didn't disappoint.
http://www.carlabozulich.com/
LISTEN to Carla Bozulich live at WFMU on Brian Turner's show here. (Real Audio)

Clipse - Hell Hath No Fury (Jive) Holy fuckin' shit.  I dare you to not like this more than anything Timbaland has ever done.  I'm pretty sure Clive Davis had nothing to do with this one.
http://www.clipseonline.com/

Mylo - Destroyrocknroll (Breastfed / RCA) - I could listen to "Drop the Pressure" and "In My Arms" (which features a nice sample from "Bette Davis Eyes") over and over again for days on end.  I think I did once.
http://www.mylo.tv/
LISTEN to "In My Arms" (Real audio)

Justus Kohncke / Marit Bergman - Rentcode (no label)  Pet Shop Boys' "Rent" sung by a Swedish dreamboat over Kompakt superstar's "Timecode. "
http://www.myspace.com/justuskoehncke
http://www.maritbergman.net/

The Cardigans - Super Extra Gravity (Nettwerk) They call it their "teenage"
album.  I call it rock and roll!
http://cardigans.com

El Perro Del Mar - S/T (The Control Group) This thing is dripping with the softest emotion and the nicest string arrangements, with lyrics that repeat often enough that you can learn them after like 2 listens.  Smart (and Swedish).
http://www.elperrodelmar.com/
LISTEN to "God Knows (You Gotta Give to Get)" (Real Audio)

Jeffrey & Jack Lewis - City and Eastern Songs (Rough Trade) You know at first I really didn't like this new Kramer-produced foray into "real rock" that Jeff Lewis has taken.  But then I listened to the lyrics and remembered what his live shows are like and realized it's just more of the same, which
is fine by me.
http://www.thejeffreylewissite.com/

Chromatics / Glass Candy releases (Troubleman Unlimited) - These got mixed up in my head, and I heard and played a bunch of rough cuts of MP3's they've both done this year.  Sparse and gorgeous stabbing girl vocals with slinky guitar and lots of delay.  Some talent too, maybe even a lot of talent.
http://www.crystalmigraine.co.uk/
http://www.myspace.com/chromaticsmusic

"Weird" Al Yankovic - Straight Outta Lynwood (Volcano) - "White and Nerdy" is a no-brainer, and with good fucking reason.  Chamillionaire, who did "Ridin'" (the song "White & Nerdy" parodies) even put Al's version on his myspace page.  But if you look deeper to songs like "Virus Alert" and "Polkarama" your appreciation gets substantially deeper.
http://weirdal.com

V/Vm - Sabam (V/vm test pressings) Veteran of weirdness brings us his version of Belgian New Beat.  It works.
http://brainwashed.com/vvm/

Camera Obscura - Let's Get Out of This Country (Merge) See the listing for El Perro Del Mar, sub Glasgow for Sweden, and add on 3 layers of twee. Enjoy.
LISTEN to "Lloyd, I'm Ready to Be Heartbroken" (Real Audio)
http://www.camera-obscura.net/

Coil - The Ape of Naples (Threshold House) Jhonn Balance leaves us tortured and drifting.  Substantially more intergalactic that other Coil material.
http://www.brainwashed.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4110&Itemid=0

Squarepusher - Hello Everything (Warp) This album is smack dab in between my
two other favorite Squarepusher releases, taking in the big spacious "Music is Rotted One Note" and the micro-breakbeat-thwacking of "Big Loada" and what do you know, it happens to RULE.  I think this guy has the future of music all up in his head.  Flea called him "the best bassist on the planet" and you KNOW that Flea knows what's going on.

Other WFMU Best of 2006 lists are here.

Comments

[jhn]

Nice to see some WFMU recs that aren't all a capella black metal and free jazz and cartoon music and so forth.

[buckeye girl]

Hear, hear! Give Trent a show!!

[Jonny Zip]

Re: The Knife

I concur. Silent Shout is my pick for album of the year, and made The Knife my favorite band. Its a scary-good album, especially when lost in the forest on a cold, still winter night. Try it!