(t5!) My Year In Lists 2006: Albums! 15 to 11

Failing to achieve full album success with their easy-listening euro-pop, Phoenix attempted to rethink their brand. They did acquire consistency throughout this new album but the sound they conjured up isn’t exactly a complete overhaul. They posed as the French Strokes, but left the raucous spirit of garage rock behind. The disco aesthetic of the past is replaced by fuzzy guitar riffs, but the guitar notes are still meticulously aligned with a metronomic rhythm. That contradictory effect though of It’s Never Been’s soft-rock is what makes it charmingly pleasant, like “geek chic” or “boneless ribs”. Sheen coexists with swagger and it feels like the logical step for the garage-rock movement.

[Consolation Prizes | One Time Too Many | Courtesy Laughs]

When it comes to the dance-punk resurgence, The DFA are pioneers. They tweaked the knobs and dials for important dance-punk affiliates such as The Rapture and Radio 4; they played Daft Punk to the rock kids at CBGB’s; they’re a gateway to dancing for the inept. So, if I’m going to let anyone dance-punkify tracks that I’m already familiar with, I’d entrust it to these New York production duo. Here, they’ve blurred the tracks’ most audible elements with The DFA’s trademark ingredients. Fetching melodies and irresistible hooks are surrounded with addictive cowbells, echoing basslines, electronic noise, and disco rhythm. The collection is further proof that The DFA are the dance-punk resurgence, they’re a genre all on their own.

[Deceptacon | Mars, Arizona | Another Excuse]

To those who are expecting Cliff’s notes of Spencer Krug’s compositions, you better look elsewhere. I have only rootless interpretations, but it’s probably completely different from yours, and it’s a lot likely completely different from Krug’s. Not to take away from Sunset Rubdown’s other members because the arrangement of piano, glockienspiel, guitars, and drums is stunning here; but very few rival Spencer Krug’s abstract and itinerant songwriting, crafting surrealisms rather than orthodox lyrics. His ability to be both metaphorical and colloquial leaves room for never-ending discussions; to pigeonhole them though diminishes its ingenuity. Spencer Krug paints in the stars; it’s up to you to imagine the constellations.

[Stadiums And Shrines II | Us Ones In Between | The Men Are Called Horsemen There]

Since indie kids take pride on possessing an eclectic taste, then Yo La Tengo is their ultimate fantasy band. I Am Not Afraid And I Will Beat Your Ass—easily the best album name to come out this year—embodies ‘Tengo’s signature eclecticism, where the style of the tracks interchange from rock to pop to jazz to some form of rock-pop-jazz concoction. This mixed bag of sound is largely caused by their diverse interest in music; they’ve exposed themselves as record geeks in interviews. To those unfamiliar to the Hoboken trio, these may seem like an exhaustive jumbled mess. However, in their 20 year career, they’re the rare band that is always at best when they’re cramming as many styles as possible inside the 80-minute limit.

[Beanbag Chair | I Feel Like Going Home | The Race Is On Again]

To exceed sky-scraping expectations in hip-hop, you better murder tracks. In Lupe’s rookie release, he didn’t just murder tracks. He inserted flesh-eating bugs in their ears to eat the back of their eyes. Then he doused them with gasoline and lit them on fire. Then he pulled their heart out through their chest and made them watch it beat 'til its last. And he did all this without glamorizing violence like what most rappers are accustomed to. He did all this, instead, with elaborate stories about skateboard nerds and giant robots and with impeccable charisma. The tracks weren’t just murdered and expectations weren’t just exceeded, they were annihilated.

[I Gotcha | The Cool | Hurt Me Soul]