12.27.2006
The Greatest of '06: A Monster Post in Parts-- Part V
Finally, the top two albums of 2006...
2.
Regina Spektor- Begin to Hope
Regina casts her piano magic again with Begin to Hope. The songs are varied in style but still recognizable as Regina-music, making for an interesting, cohesive album. Her jazzy, trebly voice shines once again, giving undeniable life to her music. The way she sings is just so quirky. Brad criticizes her version of skat a lot, but I find it endearing, if a bit twisted. She has a lot of those "ah ah ah," heavy breathing rhythm, vocal pattern deals in her songs. That's what makes her Regina though. She can pull all of it off. Her voice is so sweet and her range is so wide and her tone and quality are so great that I really don't mind if she goes off with "breeeeet breet breets" in her live shows. Brad impersonates her quite comically, by the way. I've chosen "Fidelity" and "Better" to represent her album. They're two of my favorites. Enjoy!
mp3 Fidelity
mp3 Better
1.
TV On the Radio- Return to Cookie Mountain
Hummuna, hummuna, TV On the Radio is the shit. Hands down. This album is fucking gold. Every song is something to just jam to. Return to Cookie Mountain just made me so excited upon listening to it. The first track I heard was "Province," and you should've seen the grin on my face. Their music honestly makes me crazy happy. I'll try to stop gushing and explain why. First off, I love the vocals. A reader tipped me off saying David Bowie sings on "Province," which I didn't know (thanks by the way). Bowie's great and I love him to pieces, but I really don't think they needed him. All the bandmates contribute their voices to the songs, creating this medley of falsetto wonder. It's great. Furthermore, their beats rival Three 6, I swear. The rhythm to their music is just on, all the time. For a perfect example, check out "I Was a Lover" on Brad's most recent post. To me, vocals and rhythm make this band, but the instrumentals are also crazy. They play with a fucking Afrobeat orchestra live. The sound is jazz, doo-wop, electric, rock, avant-pop, ah, just everything. MAN. Really, honestly, truly, Return to Cookie Mountain was the best album of the year.
mp3 Province
mp3 Wolf Like Me
Honorable Mentions
Soyea that's it. I hope I don't get too many angry comments demanding a reordering or another honorable mention.
Soyea the contest I've been mentioning. Brad and I are giving away the #1 album of 2006, Return to Cookie Mountain. Please e-mail us using "BSOTM Contest" as the subject. We'll be announcing the winner in two weeks. Good luck!
Soyea for my last few entries, the bandwidth has exceeded. I used a different account for this post, but the other ones should be running in a few days. Hold tight.
2.
Regina Spektor- Begin to Hope
Regina casts her piano magic again with Begin to Hope. The songs are varied in style but still recognizable as Regina-music, making for an interesting, cohesive album. Her jazzy, trebly voice shines once again, giving undeniable life to her music. The way she sings is just so quirky. Brad criticizes her version of skat a lot, but I find it endearing, if a bit twisted. She has a lot of those "ah ah ah," heavy breathing rhythm, vocal pattern deals in her songs. That's what makes her Regina though. She can pull all of it off. Her voice is so sweet and her range is so wide and her tone and quality are so great that I really don't mind if she goes off with "breeeeet breet breets" in her live shows. Brad impersonates her quite comically, by the way. I've chosen "Fidelity" and "Better" to represent her album. They're two of my favorites. Enjoy!
mp3 Fidelity
mp3 Better
1.
TV On the Radio- Return to Cookie Mountain
Hummuna, hummuna, TV On the Radio is the shit. Hands down. This album is fucking gold. Every song is something to just jam to. Return to Cookie Mountain just made me so excited upon listening to it. The first track I heard was "Province," and you should've seen the grin on my face. Their music honestly makes me crazy happy. I'll try to stop gushing and explain why. First off, I love the vocals. A reader tipped me off saying David Bowie sings on "Province," which I didn't know (thanks by the way). Bowie's great and I love him to pieces, but I really don't think they needed him. All the bandmates contribute their voices to the songs, creating this medley of falsetto wonder. It's great. Furthermore, their beats rival Three 6, I swear. The rhythm to their music is just on, all the time. For a perfect example, check out "I Was a Lover" on Brad's most recent post. To me, vocals and rhythm make this band, but the instrumentals are also crazy. They play with a fucking Afrobeat orchestra live. The sound is jazz, doo-wop, electric, rock, avant-pop, ah, just everything. MAN. Really, honestly, truly, Return to Cookie Mountain was the best album of the year.
mp3 Province
mp3 Wolf Like Me
Honorable Mentions
- Justin Timberlake- FutureSex/LoveSounds (His genre-bending music demands our respect here at Both Sides.)
- Cat Power- The Greatest (Chan's voice is intense.)
- Rainer Maria- Catastrophe Keeps Us Together (R.I.P.)
- The Slip- Children of December (I love this album a lot.)
- The Knife- Silent Shout (For scaring the shit out of Brad and me.)
Soyea that's it. I hope I don't get too many angry comments demanding a reordering or another honorable mention.
Soyea the contest I've been mentioning. Brad and I are giving away the #1 album of 2006, Return to Cookie Mountain. Please e-mail us using "BSOTM Contest" as the subject. We'll be announcing the winner in two weeks. Good luck!
Soyea for my last few entries, the bandwidth has exceeded. I used a different account for this post, but the other ones should be running in a few days. Hold tight.
3 Comments:
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