Album of the year goes to Gregg Swann's sparkling Everybody's Got To Be Somewhere, a spot-on power-pop set without an ounce of filler. The artist himself seems to be somewhat reclusive - the gigs page at his minimalist website is empty as of this writing, and his Myspace page - where you can hear three full tracks (go there now) - has been little visited. Swann emailed me a thank-you note when I published my review, so, fortunately for fans of exceptional songwriting, it appears that he does exist.
Okay, here it is! John May... sorry!Tom Waits' Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers, and Bastards.
Somehow, 30+ years on, Tom Waits has done the unthinkable – he's managed to turn out a set of essentially lost songs that winds up being one of his most stunning and beautiful pieces of work. The amazing thing about Orphans isn't just that it's beautiful - it's consistently great, which stands as a testament to not only Waits' quality as a musician and writer but to his choices as sidemen.
What makes Orphans best-of-the-year is that not only is it one of the most exciting releases of the year, it's one of Waits' best releases, period, a feat not too common among box sets, and especially not of rarities sets. Sourced from disparate places and covering a considerable amount of Waits' career, each disc can stand on its own but the set taken as a whole flows like a big, beautiful epic.
Like the best of Waits' music, Orphans presents an oddly beautiful look at a ramshackle world filled with compelling characters often of the most disturbing sort. They beg the listener back to revisit them again and again because the stories and the music continually reveal new details. Orphans is something truly special.
First of all, contrary to the title of Nas’ new album, hip hop is not dead. From underground efforts like The Coup to breakout stars like Lupe Fiasco to a pair of fantastic Ghostface albums, hip hop was very much alive in 2006. For that reason, I’ve decided to stay in that genre when choosing my Album of the Year for ’06.
![Orphans [Fold-out Digipak with 24-page booklet]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51F78WSPECL._SL120_.jpg)
Article comments
1 - Mark Saleski
hey, great job and almost happy new year everybody.
2 - handyguy
Deserving of some kind of mention:
Love, by The Beatles
and
The Avalanche, by Sufjan Stevens, as well as Sufjan's Songs for Christmas boxed set
3 - Glen Boyd
Looks like a pretty decent list from here. Yeah, I think we all did okay with this. Round of drinks for the house I say. I'll also join Sir Mark in wishing all a happy new year.
-Glen
4 - zingzing
oi. you guys missed it on this one. taste is taste, i suppose, but you people sound ooooollllddd.
in the year of the hold steady, wolf eyes, scott walker (old, i know), the knife, clipse, junior boys, joanna newsom, grizzly bear, liars, excepter, destroyer, current 93, coil, ekkhard ehlers, swan lake, ooioo, herbert, subtle...
meh. it was a long year. things happened.
5 - manny hernandez
Dear Blogcritics colleagues:
Here's my list of Top 10 albums for 2006.
Happy New Year, everybody!
6 - Tom Johnson
No, not old (I'm 33,) zingzing, it was just a good year for old musicians. The problem with a lot of the newer musicians' albums this year is that I didn't find that a lot of them had that ring of "classic" to them that I've found in previous years. I've seen a lot of lists already this year that are putting a lot of names on your list there, zingzing, and for a certain subset of people I'm sure those are great albums, but I've also heard a number of those and I don't see those being albums that have the mark of being classics - that's what it takes to be a best of the year.
I chose Tom Waits' box because it will be something that I will and people in general will return to in 5, 10, 15 years and it will continue to be as fresh and relevant as it is today. The best should be timeless. Maybe some of your list qualifies as timeless because they are so unique - I think maybe Grizzly Bear is close, maybe Liars, and while I don't particularly like him, Scott Walker has certainly earned his keep. But I have my doubts that most of the other names on your list will be considered classics worthy of being named albums of the year many years down the line. At least that's how I look at this - maybe I take this a lot more seriously than most listeners.
7 - El Bicho
If it had been which album rocked my socks off, it would have been Wolfmother; however, I'll stand by my pick and somehow find a way to live with myself.
8 - Triniman
From Vancouver, "Destroyer's Rubies" by Destroyer stands as one of my favorite albums of the year. It's always tough to pick just one, but I will stop at Destroyer. The songs, vocals and the guitar playing are distinctive and appealing.
Destroyer is essentially Dan Bejar, one of the members of The New Pornographers, one of Canada's top indie-pop groups. Canada's new national anthem? A Letter To An Occupant.
9 - DJRadiohead
I gotta say, I think we got a nice cross section of musical genres and styles. I also think it says at least as much about the state of music as it does the writers that so many of these selections come from "classic" artists as opposed to contemporary artists.
I can't wait to do my Top 10. I am surprised Thom Yorke's great solo album got no mentions.
10 - Glen Boyd
DJR --
Thom Yorke's album would probably make a personal top ten, possibly even a top five. However, I admit it took me quite awhile to warm to it. In my original review, I didn't quite dismiss it, but I did bemoan it's general lack (at least on the first few listens) lack of melody (in the traditional sense) or memorable songs.
I've since come around to it. I think it was about the time I realized I couldn't get "this is fucked up...fucked up" outta my head that I realized hooks can indeed come in many different shades.
-Glen
11 - Mark Saleski
old? how dare you! ok, i'm old.
but still, i enjoyed both Joanna Newsome's Ys and the record by The Decemberists. the thing is, if i'd have picked one of them, somebody would have accused me of leaning too far towards the Pitchfork crowd.
besides, tom johnson drove down the average age both by being young and by picking John Ma.....
12 - Matthew T. Sussman
What's music?
Anywho, it just needs to be said once more that I was using "big bowl of wrong" long before Mr. Head was using it -- months before, really -- although I never used it as religiously as he.
13 - Steve C.
Work having swallowed me up, I don't think I'll be posting a Top 10 for music this year. Best album of the year? In my more contemplative moods, it's Destroyer's Rubies; at all other times, it's Young Machetes by the Blood Brothers.
However, when we get around to the top films of the year, somebody give me a holler.
14 - Brian aka Guppusmaximus
No offense to Mr. Beaumont, because I usually like his reviews,But his pick for the best of '06 in the metal catagory just shows that the watered down sing alongs of Hardcore along with the dull & drudging drop-D of Nu-Metal are still the favorite taste of the oh-so boring Metal scene here in the US!! Unfortunately, Killswitch Engage sounds like a poor rip from an old God Forbid album though their lastest effort is rather catchy. BUT,catchiness is not the criteria for a brilliant Metal album...
As for my pick, it would come to us all the way from France. Gorod Leading Vision was a breath of fresh air pumped into a genre that hasn't seen much since Opeth's latest release which wasn't their best effort. Though, Arsis United in Regret is a close second and deserves a listen by anyone claiming to be a metal fan!!
Happy New Year BC...
Peace!
15 - A.L. Harper
Knowing that DJRadiohead lives in the arse of Guster I decided to write my own Guster free list and dedicate it to the memory of you DJRadiohead. But I know you won't approve!
16 - Brian
Sparks' "Hello Young Lovers" and Man Man's "Six Demon Bag" were both tragically overlooked!