Dirty Projectors “Swing Lo Magellan”

David Longstreth asked me for my impression of the lyrical content of his new record when I interviewed him a few months ago and he didn’t like what I said off the top of my head after having the record for a couple weeks and a lyric sheet for a day or two. Maybe I was focusing on something that wasn’t so interesting to him, or missing something he was trying to convey, but in terms of lyrics, what sticks out to me on Swing Lo Magellan is this fixation with death and a fear of malevolent forces beyond one’s control. It takes different forms over the course of the record, but it’s there in most of the songs. The title track is an exception, and it is my favorite on the album. There’s a relaxed, gentle sound through the whole record, and it’s very pronounced here – Longstreth sounds genuinely relaxed. I think the sentiment of the piece has to do with contemplating humanity’s need to understand their literal place in the world, and perhaps how creating maps and boundaries give us a false sense of mastery over the natural world. That’s my read on it, anyway. If David objects, he knows how to reach me.

Buy it from Amazon.

Guided by Voices “Class Clown Spots a UFO”

Bob Pollard has written hundreds upon hundreds of songs, but for the most part, he sticks to pretty simple arrangements. It keeps things simple and loose, and it’s part of how he can be so absurdly productive. It’s always exciting when he steps just outside of his comfort zone and gives a song a little something extra. In the case of “Class Clown Spots a UFO,” an oldie revived for the new Guided by Voices album, it’s just a touch more harmony than would normally appear on a GBV record, and a bit more space around the melodies and rhythm. It’s still a bit raw, but the weight of the song feels very different for them. It stands out on the record, for sure — while this one has a lot of polish, most of the other songs are much flatter in terms of dynamics.

FYI, I wrote about Guided by Voices’ show in Central Park this weekend for Rolling Stone.

Buy it from Amazon.

Sugar “Your Favorite Thing”

I suppose you could take “Your Favorite Thing” as being a kinda dark song about romantic obsession, but I never want to. Bob Mould’s melody and vocals signal pure intentions, and if there is any negative side to this unrequited passion, it is entirely in the possibility that this love will only be real in the singer’s mind. There are some lines that suggest that he knows he’s being a little crazy, but he’s too overwhelmed with the very thought of the object of his affection to care. Mould’s guitar tone in this period is amazing – basic alt-rock in some ways, but overpowering in its weight and attack. It’s perfect for a song like this, conveying a touch of lightness in the lead parts while blasting your head off with volume.

Buy it from Amazon.

The celebration of the 10th anniversary of this site continues on with this collection of the best and most notable music of 2007. It’s a pretty great year, especially if you like up-tempo pop music. There’s a really great spirit to a lot of this stuff, and a sense of joy and passion coming through after a few years dominated by what I think was essentially a Bush-era malaise. I don’t think this year matches the energy of 2003, but in some ways it’s kinda like a really good sequel, with lots of artists who bubbled up around that time delivering their biggest hits.

The survey mixes for 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2010 and 2011 are still up. Check in on August 1st for a look back on 2008.

DOWNLOAD DISC 1

LCD Soundsystem “All My Friends” / Von Sudenfed “Fledermaus Can’t Get It” / Björk “Innocence” / Justice “DVNO” / Ghostface Killah “Supa GFK” / Kate Nash “Pumpkin Soup” / Swizz Beatz “Take A Picture” / The Schema “Those Rules You Made” / St. Vincent “Marry Me” / Rihanna “Umbrella” / Amy Winehouse and Mark Ronson “Valerie” / Lil Wayne “I Feel Like Dying” / Spoon “Don’t You Evah” / Grinderman “No Pussy Blues” / Britney Spears “Piece of Me” / Matthew Dear “Don and Sherri” / Burial “Archangel” / A Sunny Day in Glasgow “Lists, Plans” / The Field “From Here We Go Sublime”

DOWNLOAD DISC 2

Sissy Wish “Float” / Pleasure “Out of Love” / of Montreal “A Sentence of Sorts in Kongsvinger” / The New Pornographers “Myriad Harbour” / Maxi Geil & Playcolt “That’s How the Story Goes” / M.I.A. “Paper Planes” / Architecture in Helsinki “Hold Music” / Charlotte Hatherley “Very Young” / Electric Six “Fabulous People” / Girls Aloud “Black Jacks” / Yelle “Tristesse/Joie” / Katy Rose “Rosemary” / Cam’ron “Calm Down” / Lily Allen “Smile” / The Fiery Furnaces “Japanese Slippers” / Lavender Diamond “You Broke My Heart” / Imperial Teen “Everyone Wants to Know” / Tegan and Sara “Back in Your Head” / Feist “1 2 3 4” / The Sea and Cake “Up on Crutches” / Tarwater and Hauschka “The Afterlife of Things”

DOWNLOAD DISC 3

!!! “Heart of Hearts” / Battles “Atlas” / Radiohead “Bodysnatchers” / Deerhunter “Cryptograms” / Wu-Tang Clan “Windmill” / Interpol “No I in Threesome” / Wilco “Impossible Germany” / Celebration “Tame the Savage” / Au Revoir Simone “Stars” / Uffie “First Love” / Dragonette “I Get Around (Midnight Juggernauts Remix)” / Mary J. Blige “Just Fine” / Fall Out Boy “This Ain’t A Scene, It’s An Arms Race” / Miranda Lambert “Gunpowder & Lead” / Shocking Pinks “Emily” / Sophie Ellis-Bextor “Me and My Imagination” / Gui Boratto “Beautiful Life”

DOWNLOAD DISC 4

Animal Collective “Peacebone” / R. Kelly “I’m A Flirt (Remix)” / UGK and Outkast “Int’l Players Anthem (I Choose You)” / The Shins “Phantom Limb” / Arthur & Yu “There Are Too Many Birds” / Hank “You Are the Child of Betrayal” / James Rabbit “George Gershwin” / Junior League “Charm” / The White Stripes “You Don’t Know What Love Is (You Just Do As You’re Told)” / Kylie Minogue “Wow” / Gameboy/Gamegirl “Sweaty Wet/Dirty Damp” / Muscles “Chocolate, Raspberry, Lemon and Lime” / Mika “Grace Kelly” / The Tough Alliance “Silly Crimes” / Soulja Boy Tell ‘Em “Crank That (Soulja Boy)” / Lil Mama “Lip Gloss” / Future of the Left “Manchasm” / Jay Reatard “My Family” / Ted Leo and the Pharmacists “The Unwanted Things” / The Bees “Listening Man” / Rilo Kiley “Give A Little Love”

DOWNLOAD DISC 5

Panda Bear “Comfy in Nautica” / Marnie Stern “Put All Your Eggs in One Basket and Then Watch That Basket!!!” / Dirty Projectors “Rise Above” / PJ Harvey “Grow Grow Grow” / Birds Fled From Me “The Resisted” / Sonic Youth “I’m Not There” / Thrushes “Heartbeats” / Sally Shapiro “He Keeps Me Alive” / The Honeydrips “Fall From A Height” / Los Campesinos! “You! Me! Dancing!” / MGMT “Time to Pretend” / Air France “Beach Party” / Groove Armada “Out of Control (Song 4 Mutya)” / Jürgen Paape “We Love” / Ne-Yo “Because of You” / The Good, The Bad and The Queen “Herculean” / Underworld “Crocodile” / Jens Lekman “Sipping on the Sweet Nectar”

DOWNLOAD DISC 6

Kanye West “The Glory” / Jay-Z “Roc Boys” / Midnight Juggernauts “Shadows” / Nine Inch Nails “Capital G” / Hilary Duff “Danger” / Erasure “Sucker For Love” / Hannah Montana “Life’s What You Make It” / Alphabeat “Fantastic 6” / White Williams “Headlines” / Róisín Murphy “Overpowered” / Life Without Buildings “Liberty Feelup” / Avril Lavigne “Girlfriend” / Jape “Floating (D.I.M. Remix)” / Les Savy Fav “Patty Lee” / Aesop Rock “None Shall Pass” / Yeasayer “2080” / Cass McCombs “Pregnant Pause” / Iron & Wine “Boy With A Coin” / Jonny Greenwood “Open Spaces”

DOWNLOAD DISC 7

Arcade Fire “Black Mirror” / Bat for Lashes “What’s A Girl to Do” / Siobhan Donaghy “So You Say” / Alicia Keys “No One” / The National “Fake Empire” / Michael Dracula “Please Don’t Take This the Wrong Way” / Electrelane “To the East” / Deerhoof “+81” / Dntel featuring Jenny Lewis “Roll On” / Common “The People” / Black Moth Super Rainbow “When the Sun Grows on Your Tongue” / Mims “This Is Why I’m Hot” / Rich Boy et al “Throw Some D’s (Remix)” / 50 Cent featuring Justin Timberlake “Ayo Technology” / Modest Mouse “Fire It Up” / Home Blitz “Hey!” / Liars “Freak Out” / Say Anything “This Is Fucking Ecstasy” / No Age “Neck Escaper” / Okkervil River “Our Life Is Not A Movie Or Maybe” / Against Me! “The Ocean”

DOWNLOAD DISC 8

Basia Bulat “Before I Knew” / Field Music “A House Is Not A Home” / Joss Stone “Put Your Hands On Me” / Patrick Wolf “The Magic Position” / Caribou “Melody Day” / Yeah Yeah Yeahs “Down Boy” / T.I. “Big Things Poppin’ (Do It)” / Timbaland featuring Nelly Furtado and Justin Timberlake “Give It To Me” / Radio Slave “My Bleep” / SuperMayer “Us and Them” / Blonde Redhead “23” / Menomena “Wet and Rusting” / Meneguar “Bury A Flower” / The Smashing Pumpkins “That’s the Way (My Love Is)” / Dean and Britta “You Turn My Head Around” / Magik Markers “Empty Bottles” / Grizzly Bear “Little Brother (Electric)” / Bon Iver “Skinny Love”

R. Kelly “Fool for You”

R. Kelly has spent his last two albums proving that he can effortlessly master virtually any strain of R&B, and do it without even a trace of ironic distance. Both of the records are highly pleasurable, but slightly disappointing – at this point, Kelly’s own quirks are so fascinating and distinctive that it’s a shame to see him dial it down. But at the same time, he’s wise to distance himself from his schtick for a bit. Kelly was right at the edge of tipping over into being a sort of comedy artist, and his talent goes far beyond that, so I understand his interest in reminding his audience that he can play it straight and be just as good, and certainly more smooth and emotionally engaging. “Fool for You,” one of the best songs on Write Me Back, is straight up early 60s R&B pastiche, and it’s just warm and lovely – it’s Kelly playing it by the book, but totally excelling because his understanding of the genre and its craft is so masterful. Still, I find myself wishing there was some kind of curveball thrown somewhere along the way.

Buy it from Amazon.

Japandroids @ Bowery Ballroom 6/27/2012

The Boys Are Leaving Town / Adrenaline Nightshift / Younger Us / Fire’s Highway / Rockers East Vancouver / The Nights of Wine and Roses / Wet Hair / Evil’s Sway / The House That Heaven Built / Crazy/Forever / Sovereignty / Continuous Thunder / Young Hearts Spark Fire / For the Love of Ivy

It’s been very hard to find truly great mainstream rock bands since the mid-90s. Even a lot of bands that want to rock out in earnest get tripped up on some level by this notion that being a rock band isn’t cool or powerful anymore, and that it’s just some retro thing. There’s not even a trace of that in Japandroids, a duo who pound out catchy, energetic rockers with the power and intensity of a quintet, and perform with the sincerity of guys who do not for a moment question the vitality of rock as an idea or path to transcendence. The band’s force and momentum is owed to powerhouse drummer David Prowse, but the draw is in frontman Brian King, whose massive charisma is at odds with his deep Canadian humility. It’s amazing to see people like King in action — the kind of performer who just totally surrenders to their music, and seems so thoroughly moved and joyful by the experience that everyone else in the room wants to get to the same place with him. Half the room at the Bowery Ballroom got there by moshing continuously for 80 minutes; the rest pumped their fists and sang along. It’s such a simple and powerful thing, you know? Japandroids work hard to remind you that this sort of thing was never ever stupid or useless, and it doesn’t have to be old fashioned.

Japandroids “The Nights of Wine and Roses”

“The Night of Wine and Roses” is my favorite Japandroids song, but it’s sort of hard to explain why. A lot of it is in the dynamics, and the way Prowse drives King’s guitars further toward this white hot section around the three minute mark that brings me back to the physical rush I remember from early 90s songs like “Cherub Rock.” King’s words are so blunt – it’s a song about getting drunk or high, and enjoying youth – that they short circuit any attempt to distance yourself from a direct, open-hearted sentiment. You can be too cool for this and back away, or you can just dive in and feel this wave of joy and enthusiasm. I listen to this song almost every day lately, and it always makes me feel truly glad to be alive.

Buy it from Amazon.

Twin Shadow “Five Seconds”

“Five Seconds” compresses a lot of emotion, lust and fear with such urgency that it all just sort of tumbles out haphazardly because there’s just not enough time for it to come out “right.” George Lewis Jr.’s voice is great in this, approaching a similar balance of fevered sexual intensity and low key intimacy as Dan Boechner in his Handsome Furs material. The drama is at a perfect pitch, and the momentum of the song keeps you in this brief moment while extending it to unpack all these fine nuances, like a snippet of time you keep replaying in your head.

Buy it from Amazon.

The Mynabirds @ Mercury Lounge 6/22/2012

Karma Debt / Wolf Mother / Let the Record Go / Give It Time / Buffalo Flower / Radiator Sister / Disaster / Mightier Than the Sword / Ways of Looking / What We Gained in the Fire / Numbers Don’t Lie / Generals / Disarm / Body of Work

The Mynabirds “Karma Debt”

The version of the Mynabirds that I saw two years ago was a very different band from the one I saw at the Mercury Lounge on Friday night. As near as I could tell, the lineup was completely different aside from singer/songwriter Laura Burhenn, and even she seemed like she could have been an entirely different woman. The Mynabirds at the Bell House in 2010 were professional and lovely but sorta meek; the new band is harder, faster and bolder in texture and rhythm.

Burhenn, always a magnificent neo-soul singer, is more outgoing and aggressive, both in performance and artistic purpose. Her first record under the Mynabirds name was an introspective and philosophical take on the collapse of a relationship, but her second, Generals, is a medication on what it would take to spark a true revolution today, and the ways money – or a lack of it – holds us back from standing up for what we believe is right and fair. Burhenn, both in the music, the live performance and her New Revolutionists project, seems hell bent on connecting with her audience, and inspiring a thoughtful dialog. There were moments in the band’s Mercury Lounge set where she seemed frustrated in working up a relatively sedate crowd, but more often, she and her bandmates played these excellent, thoughtful songs with passion, conviction, and best of all, optimism.

Buy it from Amazon.

Beck @ Governor’s Ball, Randall’s Island 6/24/2012

Black Tambourine / Gamma Ray / Soul of a Man / Hotwax / Girl / Sissyneck / Modern Guilt / Soldier Jane / Golden Age / Lost Cause / Sunday Sun / Jack-Ass / Devil’s Haircut / Loser / Novacane / Minus / Where It’s At / E-Pro

I have loved Beck for many, many years now, but this was my first Beck show. I wish I could have seen him back in his hyperactive showman period, I wish this show could’ve been twice as long, I wish he would’ve played even just one song from Midnite Vultures. But I was thrilled for every moment of this set, especially during the big crowd pleasers. (I was losing it when he did “Devil’s Haircut.”) I wrote more about this set, and the festival a whole, elsewhere.

Beck “Jack-Ass (Strange Invitation version)”

Most of Odelay falls on the funky, up-tempo end of Beck’s body of work, but the record as a whole is very well-rounded, with a few of his finest ballads sprinkled in for depth and dynamics. I’ve always favored this arrangement for “Jack-Ass” – it presages a lot of what he ended up doing on Sea Change, but it’s not quite as dour in its melancholy. The little bits of surrealism and dark humor – “loose ends tying the noose in the back of my mind” – give the song a warm, lived-in humanity, and there’s something in the way he sings “I remember the way that you smiled” that strikes me as one of the most genuinely romantic moments he’s ever set to tape.

Buy it from Amazon.

The Smashing Pumpkins “Panopticon”

There’s something really perfect about how good Billy Corgan’s voice sounds whenever he sings the word “suffer.” In this song, the phrase “don’t make me suffer” is sung in bright notes that light up the melody like a neon sign. “Panopticon,” like a few other tracks on Oceania, plays to musical strengths and dynamics that Corgan has mostly distanced himself from in the past decade, but despite the familiarity, it doesn’t feel like a retread of his 90s material. There’s a different feeling to this stuff – it’s not quite as potent, but there is a sense of inner peace that is very appealing, especially in contrast with lyrics that contradict that bliss. Corgan can turn out gems even in his most fallow periods, so I wouldn’t say this is a “return to form.” I do think it’s wonderful to hear him reconnect with a more joyful sound, and to wholeheartedly embrace a sound that is his entirely his own.

Buy it from Amazon.

Stephen Malkmus “Jo Jo’s Jacket”

I was laid off from my associate editor position at Rolling Stone yesterday. My boss who broke the news, who I like a lot, made it clear that my dismissal had nothing to do with my performance, and that everyone has always been really happy with my output, creativity and work ethic. It was just a matter of budgeting, and a new plan to consolidate print and web editorial. I’m not really sure how they are going to pull that off – I wasn’t the only significant web staff member who was laid off – but I’m not really worried about it. It’s not my problem anymore.

I have zero ill will for Rolling Stone or anyone who works there; I will still write for the publication. One of my first thoughts upon learning the bad news was: Aw, I really liked working here! At the same time, I was planning on leaving down the line to pursue other kinds of writing and working, so really, I don’t feel too bad about this. I’ll probably be freaked out about money for a while, but aside from that, I can put my energy into a lot of new projects and challenges.

I am sort of amazed by how optimistic and happy I feel in the immediate aftermath of losing my job. I enjoyed working at Rolling Stone, but it took up a lot of my energy. Both the job security and time investment was holding me back from pursuing things I wanted to do. So instead of getting upset, I feel relieved. The job prepared me to do very well in this moment. I haven’t felt this excited in a while. It’s aggravating to think about the money side of this, but I have a lot of confidence that I can make it all work now.

I keep thinking about this Malkmus song, “Jo Jo’s Jacket.” It’s basically about how he quit Pavement in order to move on with his life and career. I think it’s the happiest song he’s ever written. He makes you feel his thrill at the prospect of moving on. The song smirks off fear with silly jokes; but frames the real meaning in quotes from Yul Brynner and Bob Dylan, and a wordless chorus that is just like — “Wheee! Away we go!” It wasn’t my decision to move on, but I feel the same because, without realizing it, I know this is exactly what I wanted.

Buy it from Amazon.

Fiona Apple “Anything We Want”

Fiona Apple’s previous albums were emotionally powerful, but highly refined and elegant. She has abandoned this approach on The Idler Wheel, slashing her arrangements down to bare rhythms, structural essentials and bits of abrasive sound for texture. Her vocals, somehow even more intense than ever, carry every song, to the point that it seems as though every cut began as an a cappella piece. Everything about the music is physical – the accompaniment draws your attention to the fact that the sounds come from objects being struck and touched; she sings in a way that keeps you aware of her body’s movements and strains; the lyrics obsess on physical fragility, tactile sensations and visceral imagery.

The first thing you hear in “Anything We Want” is a rhythmic metal clanging, the bright notes hitting with a familiar tone that recalls silverware and glass. The rhythm is jarring and impatient, while the chords have a steady sway. Apple’s words sketch out a scene that is placid but full of anxious expectation, as she does her best to trigger a physical response in her partner while remaining essentially passive. It’s a delicate balance, two people just out of sync, with at least one hoping for a moment of sublime connection. There are lines about waiting, and memory, and feeling as though you’ve regressed.

I love the image of her attempting to subliminally signal where to kiss her, but the chorus is what gets to me. “And then / we can / do anything / we want,” the rhythm spilling out slowly, as if you’d have to creep up on the idea of emotional and physical freedom. There’s a sense of mystery about what “we want,” like it’s just something beyond what we really grasp. We know our desires, but only a little, so it’s a little scary. What do we do when we do what we want? What will we want next? I love that this song is so eager to find out.

Buy it from Amazon.

Patti Smith “Banga”

Patti Smith sings with incredible authority, particularly on songs like “Banga” that move her to take on aggressive, biting tone. She has said that this song isn’t about something in particular, and though I don’t particularly buy that what with the references to Pilate’s dog and all, her performance is a great example of how a rock singer’s full commitment can make almost anything sound compelling and intense. Rock music is a shorthand — the strictly musical or physical elements sketch out complex thoughts and feelings, it’s an abstraction. Smith has always understood this magic, this poetry. It’s so wonderful that after all this time, she’s never lost touch with any of that. If anything, it’s only gone deeper.

Buy it from Amazon.

Dexys “You”

Kevin Rowland is disarmingly direct all through One Day I’m Going to Soar, his first record in nearly three decades. A lot of people sing very personal things and do it rather plainly, but he seems to go a step further — his words and phrasing seem just a bit too close for comfort. Rowland’s brand of oversharing is strangely friendly. It often feels as if you’ve somehow trespassed into the deepest recesses of his mind, but he’s all too happy to find you there, and just regales with every insecurity and anxiety he has collected over the past 20 years. “You,” a song about rediscovering lust and passion with a new partner, is warm and easy-going, but as much as he’s singing about this other person, it’s really just about how they make him feel. The song is very sweet, but taken in context of a record that has him constantly pondering why his relationships never last, it’s easy to look at this number and see that the problem is quite obvious. He never gets outside of his head, or considers the other person outside the context of himself.

Buy it from Amazon.

Hot Chip “Don’t Deny Your Heart”

Hot Chip excel at conveying a very contented kind of joy, and as they move along through their career, their music seems increasingly bereft of stress or anxiety. “Don’t Deny Your Heart,” my favorite cut from their new album In Our Heads, is a little more potent than their usual work, with its incredibly peppy beat and sparkling keyboard tones evoking a manic spirit that veers away from their default state of up-tempo serenity. The song never gets too far away from its peak moments of distinctly 80s perkiness, but there are some vaguely dark turns that give the composition a sense of shading and dynamic, both musically and emotionally.

Buy it from Amazon.

Metric “Clone”

“Clone” is the fragile emotional center of Metric’s new album Synthetica, a record in which Emily Haines struggles to keep outside forces from shaping or limiting her thoughts and feelings. It’s hard to fully grasp the dynamic suggested by her lyrics here, but every note signals a small regret and the sense that she has betrayed something essential about herself without really knowing why. Haines grasps for control of her narrative, asserting that her regret only makes her stronger and reminding herself that “nothing I’ve ever done right happened on the safe side,” but she barely recognizes herself by the third verse. “Can you clone me?,” she sings with a touch of wounded pride. “I look like everyone you know now.”

Buy it from Amazon.

Marit Larsen “What If”

Marit Larsen is one of the great sweethearts of modern pop; a singer-songwriter who can’t help but make even the darkest emotions sound like something out of a wholesome romance story. “What If” is a love song, but its sentiment is poisoned by her character’s intense insecurity. She frets about ruining this great love, openly singing “There’s no way around it / you’re too good for me.” Larsen’s song plays up a slightly devious tone on the verses, suggesting that maybe she is truly coming from a place of genuine damage, but it’s hard to get through the chorus without thinking that all these fears are unjustified. As the song goes along, Larsen pledges her devotion despite her qualms, and her resolve is compelling than her lingering dread.

Buy it from Amazon.

Liars “No. 1 Against the Rush”

I was disappointed, but not surprised, to learn that Liars leader Angus Andrew was not happy with his band’s last album, Sisterworld. I think it’s the band’s best work by far, and the record that synthesizes all the strains of their sound into one cohesive and well-rounded album. “I felt like we weren’t pushing boundaries enough with the sound and making exciting things that way,” he told Pitchfork. “Our focus was more on ‘songwriting,’ but it felt standard. I hated the idea of being related to blues.” So, of course, they went and made a very self-conscious electronic record. Andrew and I are around the same age, so I totally get this feeling – around the late 90s, there was this sense that rock music was something to be embarrassed about, that songwriting as an end to itself was limiting, and that electronic music was the answer to everything. This is the line of thinking that created Radiohead’s Kid A, and is central to the aesthetic of Animal Collective.

My point is: People have been thinking like this for a long time, so Liars’ move on WIXIW seems very quaint to me. They were embarrassed by making music that was arguably uncool, so they doubled down on the coolest influences around, or at least stuff like Krautrock and Brian Eno that are so evergreen in their coolness that no one would ever challenge it. The music on WIXIW is often excellent – “No. 1 Against the Rush,” the most overtly Eno-ish track, is among their best songs ever – but I can’t really engage with the music without sensing the band’s insecurity, or feeling that their idea of challenging, forward-thinking art is at least a decade or so behind the curve. They’re pushing boundaries in pretty much the same way as a lot of artists over the past three decades; is that so different from “being related to the blues”? Sisterworld was a record made by a band who seemed comfortable being themselves; WIXIW sounds like someone getting a makeover to fit in. It’s no accident that the best parts of the record are the bits that sound exactly like Liars.

Buy it from Amazon.

The celebration of the 10th anniversary of this site continues on with this collection of the best and most notable music of 2006. It’s a strange year. I’m inclined to say it’s the weakest of the decade, but given how much amazing material is collected here, I wonder if I feel that way because I remember it being a sort of dark and confusing time in general. I’m curious about your impressions of the middle chunk of the decade – please do speak up in the comments thread if you have thoughts on this.

DOWNLOAD DISC 1

Beyoncé “Get Me Bodied” / Ghostface Killah “The Champ” / Clipse “Ride Around Shining” / Amy Winehouse “Rehab” / Peter Bjorn and John “Young Folks” / Marit Larsen “Don’t Save Me” / The Long Blondes “You Could Have Both” / Basement Jaxx “Take Me Back to Your House” / Destroyer “Painter In Your Pocket” / Jarvis Cocker “Black Magic” / A Sunny Day In Glasgow “C’mon” / Scout Niblett “Lullaby for Scout in Ten Years” / Jeffrey Lewis “Williamsburg Will Oldham Horror” / TV on the Radio “Wolf Like Me” / Britta Persson “You Are Not My Boyfriend” / Neko Case “Star Witness” / Thom Yorke “The Eraser” / Joanna Newsom “Cosmia”

DOWNLOAD DISC 2

Scissor Sisters “Paul McCartney” / In Flagranti “Genital Blue Room” / Spektrum “Don’t Be Shy” / Christina Aguilera “Ain’t No Other Man” / Bossanova “Rare Brazil” / Yo La Tengo “The Room Got Heavy” / Hot Chip “Over and Over” / Beck “Think I’m In Love” / Gnarls Barkley “Crazy” / Regina Spektor “Fidelity” / Evanescence “Call Me When You’re Sober” / Birdman and Lil Wayne “You Ain’t Know” / Rick Ross “Hustlin'” / Bonde Do Role “Ma Quina De Ricota” / DAT Politics “Turn My Brain Off” / Cam’ron “I.B.S.” / LCD Soundsystem “45:33 III (Someone Great)” / Excepter “Op Pop”

DOWNLOAD DISC 3

The Knife “We Share Our Mothers’ Health” / Electric Six “Mr. Woman” / Girl Talk “Smash Your Head” / CSS “Let’s Make Love and Listen to Death From Above” / JoJo “The Way You Do Me” / Outkast “PJ and Rooster” / The Fiery Furnaces “Police Sweater Blood Vow” / Mark Ronson “Just” / Camera Obscura “Lloyd, I’m Ready to Be Heartbroken” / Irving “Jen, Nothing Matters to Me” / Nelly Furtado “Maneater” / T.I. “What You Know” / Justice “Let There Be Light” / Lady Sovereign “Love Me or Hate Me” / Christina Milian “So Amazing” / Christopher and Raphael Just featuring Fox N Wolf “Popper” / My Robot Friend featuring Antony “One More Try” / The Peachwaves “Too Much Shit” / The Blood Brothers “Spit Shine Your Black Clouds” / Liars “The Other Side of Mt. Heart Attack”

DOWNLOAD DISC 4

Sloan “Flying High Again/Who Taught You to Live Like That?” / Phoenix “Long Distance Call” / Buffalo Daughter “Elephante Marinos” / Shapes and Sizes “Weekends At A Time” / Sonic Youth “Jams Run Free” / Jagged Edge “Stunnas” / Shawnna featuring Ludacris, Lil Wayne, Too Short and Pharrell “Gettin’ Some (Remix)” / Velella Velella “Brass Ass” / Nouveau Riche “Take Me Home” / Robyn “With Every Heartbeat” / Grizzly Bear “Knife” / Panda Bear “Carrots” / Field Music “You’re Not Supposed To” / Yeah Yeah Yeahs “Gold Lion” / Wild Beasts “Brave Bulging Buoyant Clairvoyants” / Noonday Underground “You Keep Me Holding On” / Lily Allen “LDN” / Chicks On Speed “MySpace”

DOWNLOAD DISC 5

Spank Rock “Sweet Talk” / Pipettes “Pull Shapes” / Belle & Sebastian “The Blues Are Still Blue” / Alphabeat “Fascination” / Marykate O’Neil “Things Are Too Good (They’re Bound to Go Bad” / White Magic “Childhood Song” / The Walkmen “Don’t Forget Me” / Treva Jackson “Drive” / Dirty Projectors “Fucked For Life” / Clinic “Harvest” / The Blow “Parentheses” / El-P “Smithereens (Stop Cryin’)” / Papoose “Alphabetical Slaughter” / Lonely Island “Lazy Sunday” / J Dilla “Workinonit” / Killer Mike “That’s Life” / Junior Boys “In the Morning” / Beach House “Apple Orchard” / Gustav “We Shall Overcome” / Mountain Goats “Woke Up New” / Cat Power “Lived In Bars”

DOWNLOAD DISC 6

The Flaming Lips “The W.A.N.D.” / Gwen Stefani “Now That You Got It” / Rihanna “SOS” / Johnny Boy “Fifteen Minutes” / Andrew W.K. “One Brother” / Arctic Monkeys “I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor” / The Divine Comedy “To Die A Virgin” / Stereolab “I Was A Sunny Rainphase” / Erase Errata “Another Genius Idea From Our Government” / Ellen Allien & Apparat “Way Out” / Midlake “Roscoe” / Page France “Chariot” / Cadence Weapon “Black Hand” / Lo-Fi-Fnk “What’s On Your Mind?” / Justus Köhncke “Advance” / Justin Timberlake “My Love” / Booka Shade “In White Rooms” / The Evening Episode “Backstroke” / Charlotte Gainsbourg “Operation” / Pet Shop Boys “Integral”

DOWNLOAD DISC 7

The Rapture “Whoo! Alright – Yeah…Uh Huh” / Klanguage “Never Over” / Lindsay Lohan “If You Were Me” / Zeigeist “Tar Heart” / New Young Pony Club “Ice Cream” / Clark “Vengeance Drools” / The Coup “We Are the Ones” / The Roots “Don’t Feel Right” / MSTRKRFT “She’s Good For Business” / Marit Bergman “Rentcode” / Scritti Politti “The Boom Boom Bap” / Shrag “Hopelessly Wasted” / Jan Jelinek “Up to My Same Old Trick Again” / Kelly Slusher “Be There” / Pony Up “Only Feelgood” / The Starlight Mints “Seventeen Devils” / The Victorian English Gentlemens Club “Dead Anyway” / K-the-I??? “Go-Go Girls” / Lil Wayne “Georgia…Bush”

DOWNLOAD DISC 8

The Raconteurs “Steady, As She Goes” / Pearl Jam “World Wide Suicide” / The Gossip “Standing in the Way of Control” / Love Is All “Busy Doing Nothing” / Puffy AmiYumi “Radio Tokyo” / The Rogers Sisters “Money Matters” / Be Your Own Pet “October, First Account” / The Futureheads “Skip to the End” / Planningtorock “I Wanna Bite Ya” / Lupe Fiasco “Kick, Push” / Beirut “Postcards from Italy” / Casey Dienel “Everything” / The Decemberists “O Valencia” / Taylor Swift “Picture to Burn” / Loose Fur “Thou Shalt Wilt” / Dixie Chicks “Not Ready to Make Nice” / Bob Dylan “Rollin’ and Tumblin'” / Mr. Lif “Collapse” / Jim Jones “Bright Lights, Big City” / James Kochalka Superstar “Britney’s Silver Can”

The Mynabirds “Radiator Sister”

The Mynabirds’ second album Generals pulls off a few balancing acts – it’s substantially different in style, theme and tone without feeling like a different band, and it’s an upbeat soul-pop record that deals with big political ideas without seeming at all didactic. But that shouldn’t come as a big surprise to fans of her band’s debut, as one of the most appealing aspects of What We Lose in the Fire, We Gain in the Flood was the way Laura Burhenn wrote about a failed relationship in terms of faith and philosophy without ever seeming corny or trite. The songs on Generals are more aggressive and the production favors harsher tones, but Burhenn’s music is rooted in the same core values of melody, structure and craft, so it’s very easy to spend a lot of time with a cut like the glammy “Radiator Sister” without noticing the sharp critique hidden in its perky hooks. Sometimes artists lose their message in this way, but the pointed thoughts on Generals are far more conversational than argumentative. That approach is often a lot more listenable, and way more persuasive.

Buy it from Amazon.