Albums
10. Sunset Rubdown: Shut Up I Am Dreaming
Wolf Parade keyboardist Spencer Krug has too much musical creativity to be contained in just one band. Over the past couple of years Krug has channeled his dreamier musical leanings through his other project, Sunset Rubdown. Decidedly darker than Wolf Parade’s debut, Shut Up I Am Dreaming is an introspective piece of art-rock full of fuzzy distortion, glockenspiel and Krug’s signature vocal yelps. The music provides a staging ground for Krug’s dense, allegorical lyrics, rife with sexual ambiguity. Although it may not be at the top of this list, Shut Up I Am Dreaming lives up to its title, forcing the listener to zip the lip and listen up.
9. Destroyer: Destroyer’s Rubies
It is recognized that Dan Bejar is something of an odd duck. Regularly releasing albums as Destroyer and as a member of the New Pornographers, his quirky pop sensibilities stutter from folk to electronica, while he spouts some of the most obscure non-sequiturs ever to pose as lyrics. But in Rubies, his most accessible record to date, it all comes together in a series of delightfully rambling pop tunes. From the fuzzed-out guitar line of album standout “3000 Flowers” to the stoner lope of “Sick Priest Lasts Forever,” Destroyer’s Rubies is priceless.
8. Califone: Roots & Crowns
The electronic hum beneath the molasses folk-blues drone of the guitars and junkyard-band percussion makes Roots and Crowns sound like ancestral Americana for the laptop era: Woody Guthrie and Robert Johnson trapped inside an external hard drive. Califone’s sound draws together the moods of decaying Rust Belt factories and iPods alike in a lazy, strummy clatter that keeps giving way to sudden, easy moments of dust-quiet melody. Unlike previous efforts, the songs don’t feel like they were pulled out of some kind of chaotic attic tape collection. Instead Roots and Crows swirls together as Califone’s best work.
7. Subtle: For Hero: For Fool
Some albums become great for perfecting a certain genre; others distinguish themselves for meshing two genres. For Hero: For Fool belongs in the latter category. Subtle fuses the beats of hip-hop and the song structures of rock to create intricately layered tracks that utilize the natural rhythms and percussive potential of specific words. The sheer quality of the layering, particularly on “Midas Gutz,” makes the incomprehensibility of the lyrics a non-issue—unless, of course, you want to revel in some of the most disturbing but brilliant imagery to emerge this year.
6. Gnarls Barkley: St. Elsewhere
Is it pop? Funk? Hip-hop? Whatever it is, there’s no denying that St. Elsewhere is hands-down the most fun album of the year. From the impossibly catchy brass hook leading into the first track, “Go-Go Gadget Gospel,” to the scream-along chorus of “Gone Daddy Gone” and the fantastically twitchy beat of “Smiley Faces,” this debut album delivers 38 minutes of nonstop enjoyment. On the reggae-influenced “Who Cares?” Gnarls Barkley slow down the tempo without sacrificing any of the intensity of the speedier songs. The versatility present in St. Elsewhere proves that the zany duo is more than just “Crazy”.
5. Neko Case: Fox Confessor Brings The Flood
Belting haunting vocals and melancholy lyrics, Neko Case once again reminds us that even cowgirls get the blues. The queen of alt-country reigns supreme with her latest album, Fox Confessor Brings the Flood, which harnesses Case’s flawless, dreamlike voice and flair for wistful poetics. Ghostly tracks like “That Teenage Feeling” and “Dirty Knife” create a nostalgic, other-worldly atmosphere, while the potent “Hold On, Hold On” crawls under your skin and sends chills up your spine. Though her lyrics are deep enough to bewilder, the mystery of this siren of folk music proves powerful enough to enchant even the most invulnerable listener.
4. TV On The Radio: Return To Cookie Mountain
It’s difficult to pinpoint what makes Return To Cookie Mountain such an affecting album: with hungry rhythms, Tunde Adebimpe’s ethereal “oohs” and David Sitek’s massive waves of static filling the album, there’s a lot to choose from. Ironically, the album’s diverse musical palette actually lends it a distinctive coherence. The electric sitar in “I Was A Lover” and the clarinet in “Tonight” may seem awkward on paper, but when used in the context of Sitek’s rich production and Adebimpe’s refreshing timbre, it all works. Absurd? Yes. But what do you expect from an album called Return To Cookie Mountain?
3. Joanna Newsom: Ys
After an album of mostly subdued, eccentric folk on her debut, The Milk-Eyed Mender, Newsom worked with Beach Boys producer Van Dyke Parks to add a distinctly baroque element to her compositions. The end result is Ys, a densely layered album of five complex songs, the shortest of which clocks in at 7:17. The experience is daunting at first and Newsom’s high-pitched trill takes some adjusting to. With its grandiose orchestral crescendos, brilliant storytelling, vivid imagery and timeless feel, Ys is an unquestionable improvement on The Milk-Eyed Mender, and it’s one of the best releases of the year.
2. The Hold Steady: Boys And Girls In America
If Sal Paradise was right, and boys and girls in America do have such a sad time together, what’s the Hold Steady doing having so much fun with this album? Sure, you can appreciate the whip-smart lyrics and the literary allusions, but you’ll keep coming back for the Springsteen bar rock basics: big guitar riffs, power piano, and, uh, a Soul Asylum cameo? Anyways, this album is what you pop in while you get ready for a massive Friday night, when everybody’s funny, and everybody’s pretty, and everybody’s headed for the center of the city.
1. Clipse:Hell Hath No Fury
Clipse’s sophomore release, Hell Hath No Fury, comes a full four years after their debut, Lord Willin’. The sibling pair of Pusha T and Malice comes roaring back, delivering the year’s most consistent and confrontational hip-hop album. With Pusha T’s confidence and Malice’s ambition, it’s clear the duo isn’t going to disappear. It doesn’t hurt, of course, that they’re backed by the best beats of the year, a bleak, sparse set arranged by the Neptunes. “Trill” and “Chinese New Year” are particularly strong, though the album’s most impressive characteristic is its utter lack of filler. Hell Hath No Fury never falters, hitting with a tightness seldom seen in modern hip-hop.
Films
10. The Illusionist
Quirky but brilliant magician Eisenheim (Ed Norton) is giving Chief Inspector Uhl (Paul Giamatti) quite a bit of trouble by devising an elaborate set of illusions aimed at capturing the hand of Sophie (Jessica Biel), who is, unfortunately, promised to Crown Prince Leopold (Rufus Sewell). The Illusionist achieves that enviable feat of tricking the audience until the very end. What’s more, the film leaves one itching to see the film again and discover exactly how Eisenheim managed to pull it all off.
9.Brick
Produced in 2005, but only widely released in March 2006, Brick is the gritty film noir of the ‘40s and ‘50s brought forward into a modern American high school where a cast of characters seamlessly occupies both worlds. Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s performance is top-notch as he portrays the morally ambiguous hero who navigates a world of drugs and deceit to find his missing ex-girlfriend. Writer/director Rian Johnson’s first movie succeeds because of its attention to detail—from the nuanced characters to the uniquely entertaining lingo, to its ability to be serious without losing a sense of humor.
8. Half Nelson
This should be a train wreck of a film. The plot lacks any semblance of originality, the characters seem cliché at best and the camera work amounts to shaky close-ups that become nauseating after the first 20 minutes. But the subtle, true-to-life portrayals of junior high school teacher Dan (Ryan Gosling) and his student Drey (Shareeka Epps) more than make up for this film’s flaws. These performances, coupled with the movie’s examination of the push-pull nature of history raise Half Nelson a step above its contemporaries.
7. Babel
Yes, it’s long and twisty and complicated, and those twists aren’t quite as rewarding as director Alejandro Iñarritu’s previous Amores Perros or 21 Grams, but Babel was still one of last year’s most provocative and expansive thrillers. The film draws together the lives of immigrants in the Southern California-Mexico low desert borderlands, Western encounters with Muslim North Africa and modern Japan in its look at failures of communication in a world that’s overwhelmingly empty. A few great acting turns tie together the sometimes convoluted connections of the plot, making the loneliness of the characters, whose only crime is their failure to cross the language barrier, even more poignant.
6. The Departed
This film had the worst trailer of 2006. Luckily for Martin Scorsese, it was also a hell of a flick, punchy and engrossing. Leonardo DiCaprio, the man-child of Scorsese’s heart, finally looks old enough to play a post-pubescent man, and Matt Damon revels in returning to his Boston roots. Martin Sheen affects an Irish brogue and Jack Nicholson plays himself for the umpteenth time. And as for Alec Baldwin and Mark Wahlberg—whodathunkit?—they steal every scene they’re in. Apparently, borrowing the plot of a mega-successful Hong Kong action flick, filling the movie with good actors and keeping the editing crisp and fast is the recipe for a good film. Try it again next year, Marty.
5. Casino Royale
They say it’s Bond reinvented, but they say a lot of things. The straight story is this: Daniel Craig is the best Bond since Connery, a jumped-up ball of malevolent intensity without all the upscale frippery tacked on by later actors. Yes, the movie spends a little too much time establishing back-story, but that task is accomplished deftly enough with the combination of the stunning Eva Green—maybe not the best but certainly the sassiest Bond girl ever—and some astonishing stunt sequences. When was the last time you were surprised by a Bond movie, or looked forward to the next one? You can bet both will happen when you watch
Casino Royale.
4. Borat
Sure, maybe some of it was illegal, and yes, Mr. Cohen probably trapped some of his interviewees. Nevertheless, Borat is an intense, hilarious and sometimes moving study in stereotypes. Disagree with his messages or accuse him of tarring all Americans with the brush of racism, homophobia and anti-Semitism, but admit that he gets people to say the darndest things—like recommending a gun for killing Jews, or saying homosexuality should be punishable by death. Borat is not a perfect portrait of America, but it is a stunning and yes, funny reminder of how much further we have to come.
3. The Queen
Though you may be the only person under 80 at a showing of Stephen Frear’s The Queen, don’t be alarmed; this is not a sentimental tale of an aging British woman remembering her life through softly-lit flashbacks. As Queen Elizabeth II, Helen Mirren needs no such contrivances to portray an old-fashioned woman trapped in a modern age. Interspersing private emotion with startling coldness, Mirren plays a queen who must satisfy a forward-thinking Tony Blair (Michael Sheen) and a public clamoring for a royal response to Princess Diana’s death, sacrificing her vision of the monarchy in order to save it.
2. Volver
Returning to his most familiar themes, and relying on three of his strongest actresses, the Spanish writer-director Pedro Almodóvar has managed to produce his fourth excellent film in a row with Volver. Few directors can mesh comedy and drama as expertly as Almodóvar, and fewer still can write such rich roles for women. Both skills are highlighted here, as Carmen Maura, Lola Duenas, and especially Penelope Cruz turn in brilliant performances in a uniquely Spanish story of abuse, superstition, murder and ghosts. The film invites repeated viewings to grasp its simple beauty and deep emotional pull.
1. Little Miss Sunshine
In the Hollywood of Peter Jackson and big budget flicks, seldom does a film live up to its pre-release hype. However, Little Miss Sunshine does exactly this, without the big name director and the larger-than-life hijinks. The story follows a family’s trek to California for the beauty pageant of little Olive’s (Abigail Breslin) dreams, with a Nietzsche-worshipping son, a heroin-addicted grandfather and a homosexual uncle recovering from a suicide attempt along for the ride. What sets the movie apart is its ability to make you laugh and reflect on life’s contradictions, all in a single road trip.
