Brendan Murphy
Brendan Murphy
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Patrick Watson: Loving loving you
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TOP 10 ALBUMS OF 2006 1. The Roots, Game Theory (Def Jam/Universal)
2. J Dilla (Jay Dee), Donuts (Stones Throw)
3. Cheikh Lô, Lamp Fall (Nonesuch/Warner)
4. The Coup, Pick a Bigger Weapon (Epitaph)
5. TV On The Radio, Return to Cookie Mountain (Interscope/Universal)
6. Gnarls Barkley, St. Elsewhere (Downtown/Warner)
7. Ghostface, Fishscale (Def Jam/Universal)
8. Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Show Your Bones (Interscope/Universal)
9. Emily Haines & The Soft Skeleton, Knives Don't Have Your Back (Last Gang)
10. Bob Dylan, Modern Times (Sony BMG)
SURVEY SAYS
1. The song that did nothing to advance the human experiment I'm starting to think we should be more worried about the vast sea of desensitizing mediocrity than the worst offenders, but anything by anyone in an Idol at some point is a good start. As for things closer to home, if your album sucks, I probably didn't spend enough time with it to really, really hate it.
2. The song that made the whole world schwing TVOTR's Wolf Like Me, because it makes me feel good in a motivational-speaker kind of way (honourable mentions: T.I.'s What You Know, and Gnarls Barkley's Crazy because it makes the world happy for three minutes).
3. And the Fame Exploded Their Head Award goes to... I would say Brendan Murphy. Basking in his gilded Mile End hot tub of nepotism amidst flatulent bubbles
of mutual admiration, he is beginning to believe his own press (that he has written about himself).
4. If you could have been inside any local's head for 10 minutes in 2006, who would it have been? I would say Dishwasher (a.k.a. Martin Cesar from Think About Life). I'm not sure what's going on in there but it looks like a lot of fun. Or mild existential torture. But mostly fun.
5. "Hello, Cleveland!..." (best concert) Because words fail to capture the "it" of it, I'll just list some: Konono No. 1 at Jazz Fest, Katie Moore/Spank Rock at Pop Montreal, Jedi Mind Tricks at Foufounes, Wolf Parade at Le National, Fatlip at Main Hall.
6. Local artist who fell off the radar Wait, we have radar for local musicians and no one told me? Oh here it is, let me just close MySpace... Okay, I can't see anything on mine - Simple Plan and Gregory Charles are taking up too much room.
7. Local who deserved love Patrick Watson. With blanket press coverage usually reserved for something as important as Ice Capades or Il Divo, Patrick and the Watsons packed both the media show and the later showcase, making believers out of the... okay, making bigger believers out of everyone. Plus, I think Pat would get freaked out if I tried to love him.
8. Why the music industry hates us, version 2006 Because we've now got the ability to hate it back. If you download major label releases, buy tickets to their show and you're supporting the artists as directly as possible. Always buy local.
9. The Life Without Parole Award (guiltiest listening) Like everyone else in 2006, I have not been able to get Ring, Ring, Ring Goes the Trolley (Clang, Clang, Clang Goes the Bells) out of my head now or any time soon. But I'm also getting sick of that track by Britney Spears' vagina.
10. And now we will say some sooth: The rise of flood-rock, a new genre that has roots both in post-punk and the fact that the Earth started melting way ahead of schedule. By 2008, all music will be acoustic because of an electricity shortage.
What a year 2006 turned out to be musically! I've been reviewing albums all year on the Hour Website so I thought it would be appropriate to come up with my very own Top 10 albums list.
1. Beck - The Information: Beck is awesome. The album requires multiple listens to absorb the depth and quality of his latest opus.
2. Gotan Project - Lunàtico: Although I found their live performance back in October to be underwhelming, my infatuation with Gotan Project's techno tango continues. An excellent follow-up to Revancha del Tango.
3. Hard Fi - Stars of CCTV: By far the surprise of the year. Track "Living for the Weekend" is the modern Loverboy's "Working for the weekend" and "Hard to Beat" does its song title justice. Definitely worth checking out.
4. MUSE - Black Holes & Revelations: The album has one of my favourite songs of the year (Knights of Cydonia) thus makeing the list by default. The rest of the album is great and I became a huge MUSE fan because of it - that and givng one of the year's best shows too!
5. The Raconteurs - Broken Boy Soldiers: Jack White finally gets a real band! I love the Benson / White tandem and it's plain ol' Dirty Rock N' Roll.
6. The Roots - Game Theory: Any Roots album automatically makes my yearly Top Ten album list. Songs like "Here I come" and "Don't Feel Right" reconfirm the importance of this band in the hip-hop world.
7. Spank Rock - YoYoYoYoYo: Hip hop meets 80s video gaming. This album is so much fun and the beats just keep coming at ya relentlessly.
8. The Strokes - First Impressions of Earth: Underrated album that was released the first week of the year. The Strokes has proven to be a great band. "Heart In a Cage", "Juicebox", "You Only Live Once" are great.
9. Wolfmother - Wolfmother: Black Sabbath meets Led Zeppelin. Need I say more?
10. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Show Your Bones: The Yeah Yeah Yeahs are maturing and are now offering a more refined product than their debut Fever to Tell.
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Ronny Pangia
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{46 votes}
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Wow, I really have a lot of catching up to do. I haven't heard of 98% of the artists listed. I guess listening to CBC Radio One all the time doesn't help matters much although CBC's DNTO did predict back in April that Crazy would be the hit song of the summer. I do have to disagree with your Idol slight. While I may not be a Clay Aiken -his arrogance annoys me. What ever happened to the shy guy who auditioned?- I am a fan of Taylor Hicks and Billy Klippert and I also think that Kelly Clarkson, Jennifer Hudson and Will Young have a great set of pipes on them too.Thanks for the heads up on a few great albums to check out!
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Antoinette Davis
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{9 votes}
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Re : #6 - Whatever happened to Vox Crosby? I realise that he's ensconced recording material for a forthcoming CD but, dude, you're missed...and for the peeps from Piegohhole - was fun to see you this past summer - hope that the reunion wasn't a one-shot deal but rather a glimpse of sublime things to come!
RE : #7 - Yeah, Patrick Watson definitely deserves all of the love and accolades that he's getting for his new CD "Close to Paradise", as well as his commitment to the local scene and other kindred spirits in it. We really should all follow the Crazy Dancing Lady's lead and give the dude a big bear-hug!
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Mark St Pierre
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{18 votes}
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Brendan Murphy, you are right ! The Roots, Game Theory is very strong, both musically and lyrically. The music really snaps and the words are dead-on. As for the songs, they flow in-and-of themselves, and also into each other beautifully. It's true hip hop that speaks on something real in our lives. One of the best rap albums of all time.
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Marc-André Taillefer
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{14 votes}
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