When the gentle rustling of autumn leaves begins to sound like the white noise of radio static, it can only mean one thing—it’s time to start compiling your Best Of 2006 album lists. Sure, the end of the year is nearly two months away, but it will likely take you twice as long to pick through the slew of this year’s exceptional opuses. I’ve provided some criteria to guide your meandering.
First ask yourself, “How do my artists rank in the flamboyance department?” Forget those drab women’s jeans and slacker haircuts—we want drama! In this category Gnarls Barkley definitely takes the cake: since crashing the music scene with “Crazy,” they’ve brought nothing but drama, from their beautifully coordinated, themed costumes to their earth-shattering performance on “Top of the Pops.”
Now let’s consider longevity. Though not the flashiest of categories, it’s one of the most admirable. While Mission of Burma showed us they can still rock like it’s 1981 and the Boss proved he has vitality to spare, this prize has to go to 80-year-old Brazilian rock pioneer Tom Zé. Though he dislikes the job description of musical artist (“I don’t make art, I make spoken and sung journalism.”), Zé has conjured up one of this year’s most musically and lyrically complex albums with Estudando a Pagode. Combine that with the fact that he’s been playing since 1964 and we have a winner.
These categories are all perfectly fine, but a truly praiseworthy artist will spawn an entirely new sub-genre. Subtle, with their combination of chattering hip-hop beats and rock-oriented live instrumentation, have concocted something I’d like to dub “indie rock-hop.” Swedish brother-and-sister techno duo The Knife shouldn’t be left out from the name game, having invented a sub-genre christened by Pitchforkmedia as “haunted house.” The title is apt: their album Silent Shout makes for a terrifying soundtrack to nighttime drives through the rain.
While it is fun to come up with musical grading systems such as this, all of them prove insufficient. The value of an album really comes down to the relationship that you have with it. In 20 years you won’t be reaching for “2006’s most (blank) album.” You’ll want to curl up with the album you heard when you first met your future wife.
