patten's best album of 2006 list

[pattentank24]

It's a year late so it's a make-up call

I'll do 10 albums a day this week

[pattentank24]

TOP 40 OF 2006 in ah...... 2007


40.
The Walkmen- A Hundred Miles Off

The Walkmen continue to make music for people who don't understand what the true meaning of last call is

in 2006 they made two albums one a covers album Pussycats that was complettly forgetable besides and entertaining cover of "Loop de loop" and the stupidest documentary about making an album this side of Kasbian's "this is some classic shit we've made" while drunk and stoned during the entire fliming
which bring me back to the walkmen drunk and barely awake

AHMO is possably the weakest studio album yet from a band who has all the potential to be my generation's frank sinatra doing tom waits covers
but i still enjoy the vibe this provides no one makes songs like "Danny's at the Wedding" "Always After You"
except the most overhyped band of 2007 White Rabbits who sound like a Walkman cover band

Standout Track- "Dont Get Me Down"- when hamilton's vocals lets loose toward the bridge you realize he had a very bad hangover the night before and is being honest that he's crashing the song into his scream or whoever mixed the album gave it that feel

[pattentank24]

39.
TIMBALAND

That's right all credit goes the man on the boards yes Jt and the very sexy ms. Furtado are talented but it could have been any act this is Timabaland's golden age right now.
Don't Lie both these albums have aged extremely well and still rock a dancefloor or a house party and maybe i'm a little bias because a girl i was dating for most of 2006 worked at a pop station so take all my indie cred away yet again.
I don't care if you actually listen to the construction of timbo's production or just want to hear something that girls will dance up on you
In 2006 these 2 albums were responsable for more hook-ups/grinding and yes maybe a few young"uns
I don't even have to talk about the singles they speak for themselves,Timbaland made it safe for x-rave punks like myself to dance again to a pop song

Standout Track (s)- "Maneater"/"SexyLadies"- one is the most banging beating buckets with sticks "Stomp" style dance tracks of the decade the other is hey i'm just telling the truth and back up off my jock ole death row dre era style

[pattentank24]

38.
The Killers- Sam's Town

"if they never make another album as good as hot fuss it won't matter"- my review in 2004 when Hot Fuss was my #1 album

See sometimes it's not that great to be right
there is nothing that makes Sam's Town a bad album
but then again it's just not memorable
the hooks, the sizzle, where did it go?
outside me belting out "When You Were Young" at karoake
there's not a song you skip on the album but there's nothing i love to play over and over either
Bruce Springsteen/U2 aspirations fell short but when they stick to the duran duran formula they succeed every time ("Uncle Johnny"/"Bling")
gotta admit i was just a little dissapointed but i still hold faith from the b-sides that they released from Sam's Town
i mean how can you not love a song about gay lover"s code words
"Where The White Boys Dance"

Standout Track- "When You Were Young"- i invite you to find out just how much fun you can have with Rock Band playing this song with friends what a great redo of "Born To Run"
i do a great Brandon Flowers impression

[pattentank24]

37.
Primal Scream- Riot City Blues


For the 5 people who think this is primal scream's best album



boy do i have good news this is the closest thing to a do-over a band can do and this time the results is better than 2 songs
this is just a kick ass rock album thru and thru
i prefer the recent electronic scream but you can't deny how like throwing a beer bottle against the wall these tracks explode
It's about as infectious as you'll ever hear from PS
Country Girl/Suicide Sally&Guitar Johnny are some of their best work ever.
this might be the first Primal Scream album you will get a speeding ticket for listening to
i can't wait for the next one espically if it's a polka album.

Standout Track- "Suicide Sally/Johnny Guitar"- it's such a throwback to days of bands just jaming and partying during the recording damn i would have liked to been there for that session
great gospel feel

[pattentank24]

36.
Secret Machines- Ten Silver Drops


Is it better than Now here is Nowhere
that's a debate this is the calmer more dreamy side of the machines as opposed to the debut
but the 8 songs that consume the hour find a nice balance between long intros and 5 min rock songs
Alone Jealous and Stoned is brillant example of why this band intrigues me they always seem the verge of becoming a shoegazer band but the restrait keeps the noise down
Then take a track like "Lightning Blue Eyes" where the drums become the focus as the foot pedals blaze over the vocals
as soon as they find a groove you wish all the songs they recorded sounded like this
a band with great power and potential still yet to nail their blend of Flaming Lips meets Pink Floyd.

Standout Track- "Lighting Blue Eyes"- might be the best secret machines track yet

[pattentank24]

35.
Tool-10,000 Days

Tool is starting to bore me
I wish it wasn't so but it's the truth
I don't even listen to my tool albums much anymore
i think part of the problem is most of the people who really really love tool i know are miserable bastards most of the time
i use to really enjoy those albums (Aneima still rulez )
and yet this is the most personal tool album of them all
by all i mean 4 of course for band that's been around for 15 yrs the output has been spectactular but it just hasn't aged well
10,000 days may have been Lateralus pt 2
outside of Wings of marie/10,00 days it really does sound like Lateralus 2
Maynard and adam jones have always seemed to me to be the key to their success
all that said
you can never discount the power and crunch of tool when they all hit at the same time it's one of the last great forces left in rock
i don't know maybe blame The Mars Volta for taking their blueprint further than they have recently
doesn't mean i'm still not a fan though.. i hope

Standout Track- "Wings of Marie/10,00 Days"- this is just what Tool does so damn well

[pattentank24]

34.
The Duke Spirit- Cuts Across The Land


What a debut from out of nowhere this seemed to catch people offguard
Liela Moss deserves your attention her band made a great smoked filled passionate record meant for dark rooms and girls bedrooms who hate commercial rock radio
the vocals have a all i got quality that's make the songs feel so immediate
"Love is an Unfamilar name is a great example of this
you can hear a band coming together in play and spirit
"So Good To Hear" brings the Nico out of her but just when you listen to the slower jams on the album.
you can never get an ice queen vibe out of it
2006 was a fantastic year for female leaders in bands
and you may have missed this one
Velvet Underground/Jesus Mary Chain/ Patti smith yeah it sounds familar but it's done so well you can't really complain

Standout Track-"Love Is an Unfamilar Name"- a true gem of a scared commitment song

[pattentank24]

33.
The Black Angels-Passover

Do you like fuzzy basslines and political lyrics that could be snatched from the vietnam era?
sweet
then you'll love the black angels
straight out of 1969 with a doors the end era vibe
these songs sound like their marching toward world war 3
which being honest i really dig
being a big BRMC/Brian Jonestown Massacre fan
this just fits so perfectly with the state of the world
trust me you haven't heard something so dark as this in a long time.
I remember as a little boy seeing Grace Slick on tv in those rock doc of the 60"s shows and being terrifed of the psychedelic videos of yesteryear
Black Angels helped me remember my fears
the production screams DRUMS LOUDER,Voice lower
live they are just as frighting and even blew out an amp
better that than my ears

Standout track- "Young Men Dead"- The title says it all one of the meanest basslines you will ever hear when you hear this you'll swear bad shit is about to go down

[pattentank24]

32.
MSTRKRFT- The Looks

So this is what was left of my beloved Death From Above 1979
a robot dance record of voice coders and pulsating disco beats
I'll take it but it seems like it's trying to be like the other DFA to me.
main reason all the songs blend like the same song
good news it's really a good song for the first couple times you hear it.
It's a fine electronic dance album espically if you were dissapointed in the last Daft Punk album
and isn't that all you really want in a dance album
good in the car or club even sounds great in rehab i guess
i really appreciate the multi-layers to each track that keep it from feeling like the same song over and over


Standout Track- "She's Good For Business"- it's tought to pick because they all work but that one part where the voice sounds exactly like Hal from gets me every time

[pattentank24]

31.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs- Show Your Bones

It hasn't aged as well a year later last year this time it would be in my top 20.
the best part of this album is still the last 5 songs from "Cheated Hearts" on to "Turn Into"
Gold Lion sounds silly in retrospect
Way out and Phenomena still carry the first half of the album
it's a good album but not great in my eyes and through my ears
I don't like it more than Fever To Tell now
but something besides Karen O's vocals still draw me to continue listening to this band
i think Nick Zinner's production might be it
its's raw but not shoebox shower curtain raw ;D
it's too easy to be the hipster flavor of the moment
SYB proves they are much more than that
and will still be around when the blogs calm down

Standout Track "Cheated Hearts"- if not for Maps the best YYY'S song of them all who can't identify with Karen when she vents sometimes i think i'm bigger than the sound as she wants you take her rings and stow them away

[maarts]

Hyia Patten! Good work, mate, reminds me I never did a list for 2006.

Loved number 33 to bits, was my number 1.

Still can't stand the Yeah Yeah Yeahs....

[pattentank24]

thanks maarts

i'm still suprised with the outward media manipulationof of war coverage and by that i mean BOTH SIDES of the Fence
the black angels never gained any media attention being from the hipster captial of the southwest Austin,Tx
but i'm not kidding when i say they are scary

-The YYY's tend to be a band when you first hear what they do you'll really like it but 6 months later you only really think a couple songs are actually as good as you thought
the EP this year is the best thing they have done so far ask me again this time next year

[pattentank24]

ok here we go

30-21 of 2006


30.
Love Is All- Nine Times The Same Song

if you have never heard of this swedish band here you go

youtube.com/watch?v=QQfQBZDNJJk&feature=related

from the country known for garage comes another ah....
garage band that loves it's terrible keyboards and synths
but the hell with that when every song will stick in your head
ska/new wave/punk-pop jolts of electricty
i'll call it The Next evolution of Blondie if they had a Go Team! style saturday morning cartoon
it's easily one of the best get your ass out of bed albums in a long time and a tremendous memory filled summer album for myself in 2006
i dare you not to at least giggle at these songs if you don't like them or at least laugh at the hipsters dancing
don't let the title fool you this album is extremely diverse in it's sound.
but you dance the same way the whole time when you feel like it

Standout Track- see video above "Make Out,Fall Out Make Out" Pretty much summed up most of my relationshps that summer of 06

[pattentank24]

29.
TIE
My Chemcial Romance- Welcome To The Black Parade
Buckcherry- 15


I know oh hell naw he didn't just put these albums ahead of
(insert indie album of choice)
In 2006 both these albums really suprised me and outside the alternative veterans on commercial FM radio
this was the best it had to offer
don't sleep on either of these here's why

MCR never really interested prior to this
but with the help and guidance of mr. American Idiot Rob Cavallo
they reached and attempted to do something very few bands could i know the last album was a story i've been told a hundred times but unlike say a Mars Volta theory I just didn't get it
The Black Parade I got and the songs are treated in a way
i began to wonder maybe these guys are on to something
it's not anywhere near the level of The Wall/American Idiot
but it doesn't need to be for this generation

Teenagers scare the living shit outta me
They could care less as long as someone'll bleed
So darken your clothes
Or strike a violent pose
Maybe they'll leave you alone, but not me
-Teenagers

MCR has plenty of angst to fill a gymnasium but they also write catchy memorable songs to stand apart from the other 900 bands in the genere known as emo.
"Welcome to The Black Parade" is pure Queen BOMBAST
and brought the drama back to Fm radio and even got a 6 minute song back on a playlist WOW.
but my favorite without question is "Famous Last Words"

I am not afraid to keep on living,
I am not afraid to walk this world alone
Honey if you stay I'll be forgiven,
Nothing you can say can stop me going home.

somewhere in my soul i know there's a kid whose going thru tough times and when he hears this maybe he'll be motivated or at least find some peace in his crazy adolescent world


Buckcherry are the band you want Velvet Revolver to be
but outside the cocaine anthem of the 90's Lit Up
they have no pedigree
bad-ass party grooves/lyrics so direct you think why don't more people just say that instead of pussy-footing around.
"Crazy Bitch" was the new "Closer" on Fm radio in late 06 thru this year every line seemed censored it was dirty/nasty and i loved it.
but 15 is so much more it's got stupid silly classic lighter in the air rock ballads Sorry/Everything
Josh Todd's voice is the star on day he will colabo with someone you wouldn't expect and people will notice then
Everything you loved about GNR/Ac/dc is the playbook Buckcherry is stealing from
I could go but it's just a damn good rock anthem record in an era where bands like Hinder are considered "hard rock" uh huh Bon Jovi still rocks harder than most these clones and I HATE BON JOVI
one listen to Out of line and you know how stupid that sounds you been warned

Stand Out Track (s)
youtube.com/watch?v=Zu3IqpnjfUs
youtube.com/watch?v=8bbTtPL1jRs

enjoy ;D