the list


the last day of the year. why not spend the remaining hours contemplating my year in music. i thought i'd wait 'til next week to post the order and explanations, but after finishing andy's list, i was inspired to go ahead with mine.

first, the disclaimer. i mentioned with last year's list that my purchases were fewer than in year's past. well, there were even fewer this year. 24 all told, including a christmas gift. that's two per month, which still sounds pretty high, but it's not when compared to three or four years ago when i could buy four to five cd's a month. why the continued dropoff? well, after returning home in april from (part-time) huntsville, my commute for the next four months was about a minute and a half. ergo, not enough time in the car. ergo, not much motivation to buy music for the car. also, wjox 690 has recently expanded into the fm universe. this may not mean much to some of you, but what it means to me is that i have access to sports talk 24-7 now. previously, am jox would power down at 6 pm on the weekdays and through the weekend, so unless you were driving circles around their studio during the down times, you couldn't really pick up the signal. having sports "always on" in my car has also whiddled at my need for new music every time i crank the tribute up. due to these circumstances, i am trimming the yearly top ten down so not to water down the list. a "top ten" out of 24 wouldn't be very exclusive. this year, it'll be...

my top five records of 2006!!!!!

5) the arctic monkeys - whatever people say i am, that's what i'm not - snotty, brit punk/rock at it's finest. when oasis ruled the world ten years ago, i told myself that i'd never be into a british band that was "the next big thing" or set to "take over rock". well, i was wrong. these guys are all about twenty years old, but the music is way more mature than their age. the insight from the story-esque songs also doesn't seem to fit into what must be very limited life experience. nevertheless, it all fits and flows. every song has a definining melody. a guitar lick that will stick in your head for days. good stuff. fun stuff. the first album i bought this year with twelve months of staying power.

4) my chemical romance - the black parade - i've been surprised to see this album popping up on year end end lists everywhere. but not too surprised. only because it's that good. mcr have always had the theatrical element as part of their definition. this album, though, owns the theatrics and puts it in the forefront of what may end up being the generation behind me's tommy. a rock opera from the word go. these guys are really good rock musicians, and now they understand what they want their band to be. queen. could be worse, right jacob?

and thus begins the biggest cop-out since i've been doing these lists.

1a) blood brothers - young machetes - that's right. 1a. which means there is going to be a 1b and 1c. i just can't find anything to separate my top three. all three albums i listen to without skipping a track. all three albums a little different. all three my favorite of 2006. there isn't much i can say about this album that i didn't already back in october, so i won't repeat myself. bottom line is that this album has only grown on me since then. i listen to it every time i work out. the only notion that i'll disagree with andy on is that it's not pop. it's not justin timberlake pop. or even brandtson pop. it's blood brothers pop. and that, in my mind, is what all pop should be be made of.

1b) park - building a better _____ - my next two have more in common with andy's list than i was first willing to acknowledge. while andy's list is full of singer/songwriters, park and brand new are very much the brainchildren of dominant frontmen. it won't be long before ladd mitchell and jesse lacey are known outside of their bands. i hope not too soon, though, for i like them both very much in their current incarnations. park's last album kicked serious ass. a lot of emotional/suicidal/depressed rock in a package that was hard not to classify as "emo". they stepped away from the screaming on this record and put together a beautiful effort. as romantic and inspiring in places as their last album was a downer, i could sit and sing lines from this album all day. i love ladd's voice and his sense of melody is one of the most impressive i've ever heard. if you haven't heard park, give this album a try before their last couple and work backwards. or save the others for a rainy day. this one has a couple sad songs, but building a better _______ always points toward the light at the end of the tunnel.

1c) brand new - the devil and god are raging inside me - it is no accident that the two albums i most looked forward to going into 2006, blood bros. and brand new, ended up as co-number ones. they are two of my favorite bands. and like any good band, they don't make the same record twice. i almost let myself be sucked into the online negativity towards this album. it's not deja entendu. it's so "different". but the different is what, ultimately, makes this great. much less accessible than their first two albums, this album finds jesse and company struggling with their inner spiritual side. maybe this album's theme also hits me at a time in my life when i, too, am struggling with where god is pointing me next. whatever the case may be, i love this album. i will love it for a long, long time. and i think when it comes down to it, this may be the soundtrack to whatever direction i head in 2007. the music has reminded some of radiohead, but i don't buy that. not yet. they may be headed in that direction, but they aren't radiohead crazy yet, and i hope they never are. most of the songs tend to be soft introspections that explode into discovery or silence depending on the mood of the songwriter. that explosion is one that the listener can anticipate with every listen, but one that you could travel down a different path to every time considering the many layers that most songs contain. great album. great last purchase of 2006. will stay in the rotation for well into 2007.

just missed...

pearl jam, gatsby's american dream, saves the day, angels and airwaves, the lemonheads

songs of the year:

hide and seek - park
nausea shreds yr head, giant swan - blood brothers
the black parade - mcr
luca, archers, jesus christ - brand new
london bridge - fergie (what???)