#1 Vitaminsforyou – The Legend of Bird’s Hill

Vitaminsforyou is Bryce Kushnier, a fixture in Canada’s experimental electronic and indie-rock scenes. This album mixes together a vast amount of ingredients to create a musical stew that is unlike anything else I’ve heard this year. This has been my most listened to album for the past half-year and has severly limited my desire to seek out and listen to any other new music.

The mellow nature of the album – especially the relaxed electro/acoustic beats – appeals to the same part of me that enjoys The Album Leaf and all those Morr label bands like The Notwist, Lali Puna and Ms. John Soda. The precise and meticulous editing of samples and the effects-laden production reminds me of Four Tet or The Books while the delicate balance of acoustic and electronic instruments is similar to that exhibited by groups like Zero 7 and Air. The hushed vocals and geocentric titles like “Welcome To Echo Valley, Saskatchewan” harkens back to my favorite recording of 2005, Sufjan Stevens’ “Illinois”. In addition, the well thought-out structure of the 73 minute album – with tracks ranging from 20 seconds to 8 minutes – makes this a rewarding listen, much like the aforementioned Sufjan Stevens or another 2005 favorite, Cloud Cult’s “Advice From The Happy Hippopotamus”. Most importantly, I thoroughly enjoy all of the individual sounds on this album. Every sample, instrument and vocal part has a pleasant and unique timbre and when they are combined, they provide an overall sound that ties together the whole album perfectly.

I found that the album is especially good for listening to while commuting on the subway. The variety and length ensures you won’t get bored or run out of music and in the busy, stress-filled city of New York, “The Legend of Bird’s Hill” never failed to transport me to a calmer place. Plus if you’re lucky enough to have a train rush into the station just as the beat drops during “So Long Pleasant Bay” I can almost guarantee you will get chills.

You can listen to a few tracks from the album at the Vitaminsforyou myspace page and you can purchase the album direct from the artist here.

#2 The Most Serene Republic – Phages

I don’t usually give EPs the same sort of critical attention that full-length albums typically demand, but this is an exceptional record and was a serious contender for the top spot on my list. At 33 minutes long, these 8 tracks make the most cohesive piece of musical art that I’ve listened to this year (my #7 album, by the way, has six more tracks and is only 2 minutes longer). The opening track would not have worked well anywhere else on the album and “Stay Ups” makes the perfect closer. Maybe an anxious, driving album isn’t for everyone, but I never got tired of listening to this album and it never stopped revealing new secrets to me.

From the opening piano melody – a C melodic minor scale – it is obvious that this is a band that can compose interesting and complex music. Many of the songs are in 5/4 or 7/4 time and the drumming that holds it all together feels like it’s about to implode at any second. There is more musical information – more notes, more chord changes, more snare hits and more instruments – in a single track than in the whole of many full-length albums. For as complicated as the music is, the form of the songs always triumphs over the content. The Most Serene Republic knows exactly when to move from section to section, when to bring in that blistering horn section and just when everything is about to get too dense they’ll drop the drums just long enough for you to catch your breath.

Of course, complex does not always equal emotive. But as The Most Serene Republic started singing “this town is dead from too much living/let’s make our ending from new beginnings” as I’m fighting my way through tourists and taxicabs in midtown Manhattan after returning from a relaxing trip to the Pacific Northwest… it was one of those magical musical moments that I’ll never forget.

Just as “The Legend of Bird’s Hill” became my subway commuting companion, I found that Phages was the absolute perfect album for the rare times I found myself behind the wheel of a car. Sure, it makes me want to drive at 90 miles per hour, but it was a lot of fun to try and make the 30 mile trip between my parent’s house and my brooklyn apartment before the album ended.

The album was originally a tour-only EP which explains why so many people have overlooked it. Then it became available though the Arts and Crafts website and now you can pick it up for only $6 at the iTunes store so there is no excuse to miss out on this mind-blowing album.

#3 ¡Forward, Russia! – Give Me A Wall

Remember when indie rock was an actual genre and not just an umbrella term for all things not on a major label? When the tastemakers weren’t drooling over the weirdest sounding band they could find (cough cough the knife cough)? When a band like …And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead could score a 10.0 on that all important music critic website?

What happened to bands with energy AND electric guitars? Sure, we’ve got interesting energetic bands like Man Man and O’Death but they’re not indie ROCK bands as far as I’m concerned. I love Sufjan Stevens as much as your average hipster, but he’s representative of the sleepy indie sound championed by the Garden State soundtrack that most people refer to as “indie rock”. These days there are more banjos and glockenspiels and melodicas and mandolins and kazoos in your average indie rock band than there are Stratocasters. Sometimes you just need to hear a loud band that rocks your fucking face off and makes you feel alive. Of course, if you’re like me, you also want your music to be inteligent and well composed. cough cough ¡Forward, Russia! cough.

One quality that can make or break an album for me is how well it can capture a band’s live energy. There are many albums I’ve stopped listening to after seeing a band perform the same material on stage. Thus, after seeing ¡Forward, Russia! for the first time I didn’t think there was any way their album would live up to their incredible live show. While very few albums are actually as much fun as seeing a live show, “Give Me A Wall” is one of those rare albums that allows me to recreate the live experience whenever I want.

The music is not easy to listen to if you can’t handle things like screaming and distortion and awesomeness, but if you can get past the fact that it’s loud you’ll discover a well-conceived album with running themes (like numbers and walls) and complex song structures that only a tight band full of talented musicians could pull off so effortlessly, both live and on record.

#4 Maritime – We, The Vehicles

The number one band on my “why didn’t I see them live before they broke up” list is the Dismemberment Plan (followed closely by Smashing Pumpkins) so I’ve been keeping tabs on what the ex-Plan members have been up to since disbanding. I’ve been especially interested what Eric Axelson has been up to as his bass playing was a major reason I fell in love with the Plan. Eric hooked up with Davey von Bohlen and Dan Didier from the The Promise Ring to form Maritime in 2003.

The first Maritime album “Glass Floor” took a long time to grow on me. It’s a good album, but it doesn’t have many hooks or stand-out tracks. However, “We, The Vehicles” became an instant favorite which would get stuck in my head for days on end. It’s the kind of album that reveals a new favorite track with every listen. The Japanese pressing of the album contains two extra tracks that fit perfectly with the rest of the album and make the whole record stronger. Before You Were Born is a short, fun song and Call Me Home makes a much better closing track than Protein and Poison.

I admit that the album may not be as interesting as other pop gems of 2006 like Peter, Bjorn and John or Belle and Sebastian, but this album strikes a chord with me. The simple four-piece band and the musical allusion to the power pop and the what-was-once-called-emo that I used to listen to (such as Pinkerton-era Weezer, early Jimmy Eat World and naturally, The Promise Ring) is a fond reminder of my formative college years and the beginning of many musical obsessions.

Eric Axelson left Maritime after recording this album, but he has since gotten together with ex-Dismemberment Plan drummer Joe Easley in the D.C.-based band Statehood which I’ll be keeping an eye and ear on.

#5 The Evening Episode – The Physicist Has Known Sin

The Evening Episode are a band from Sacramento, California who, like Vitaminsforyou, do a terrific job of combining traditional instrumentation with electronic beats and samples. But, while the Vitaminsforyou album is essentially a chilled-out and heavily produced dance record plus a few acoustic instruments, The Evening Episode’s album is more of an indie rock record with electronic beats holding the songs together. Though I also mentioned The Notwist in my Vitaminsforyou review, that comparison is much more relevent here. The layered and effects-laden female vocals also remind me quite a bit of Portishead.

Lead singer Teresa is at times sweet, at times sexy and at times a bit maniacal. Though they obviously enjoy what they are doing, they’re not the type of band that is up on stage just to lead a party. Of all the bands on this list they probably come closest in both sound and attitude to my favorite band, good ol’ Radiohead. They are both serious and sincere about their music, though a quick read though their infrequently updated website will erase the notion that they don’t know how to have fun. The two songs currently on their myspace page will give you a good idea of the album’s sound.

#6 Casey Dienel – Wind-Up Canary

At this year’s CMJ I saw many bands and had many choices to make. Hands down, the absolute best decision I made all week was to walk out of the overrated The Knife show and head down to The Living Room to catch Casey Dienel’s set. Anyone who enjoys Regina Spektor, Ben Folds or any other pop-music playing pianist would do well to check out the quirky and catchy music of Casey Dienel. Her album, while centered around her piano and voice, employs a wide variety of instruments and musical styles. Casey writes, “I make songs, almost out of habit, about things dear to me.” This fact is instantly apparent when listening to her music which is as earnest and unpretentious as it gets.

The production on this album is rough, unpolished and works perfectly. It feels like you’ve stumbled in on a bunch of friends hanging out in rural Massachusetts with no intention on releasing the material (which is precisely what you’re hearing on this album). All the million-dollar studios and “artist development” budgets out there could learn a thing or two from this endearing album. Go listen to Doctor Monroe at her myspace page and just try to forget the chorus. It’s not possible.

#7 Oppenheimer – Oppenheimer

Oppenheimer were one of my favorite discoveries of 2006. Many people in New York became familiar with the duo from Belfast after they opened for Hot Chip at the South Street Seaport. I missed their set and though I heard that they put on a great show, I didn’t realize how up-my-alley they really were until hearing them for the first time during the CMJ festival.

You’ve probably noticed by now that I love bands who can combine traditional instruments with new technology. In the live setting Shaun plays a drumset and performs lead vocals while Rocky triggers samples and plays synthesizers and guitars. While Shaun’s vocals are soft and poppy, Rocky usually sings through a vocoder or uses lots of effects, adding to the acoustic/electric dichotomy. Listen to Saturday Looks Bad To Me on their myspace page for a great example.

Oppenheimer’s songs are catchy, fun, upbeat and in short, they know how to rock. With all the sampled percussion, they could relax and let the computers do most of the rhythmic work, but Shaun plays his drumset with a terrific energy that can be witnessed live and felt on the album. The synth sounds that Oppenheimer create are punchy, driving and crisp and their songs are perfectly crafted to make perfect use of the fat bass lines, biting leads and twinkling samples.

#8 The Submarines – Declare A New State

This album reminds me in many ways of one of my favorite albums of 2005, “Set Yourself On Fire” by Stars. The Submarines instrumentation is not as varied and the personnel are fewer in number, but the overall feel of the album and the subject matter are closely related. “Declare A New State” is an album that celebrates broken hearts.

Brighter Discontent makes no apologies for being a sappy break-up song, with lines like “all these things should make me happy to be alone again” or “a breaking heart in an empty apartment was the loudest sound I never heard”, yet the song is still full of hope and the music itself is uplifting. In one of the more interesting television/music pairings I’ve heard of, the song was used in the season finale of Nip/Tuck in which the cast spoke no dialogue but rather lip synched to the entire song – a true testament to a powerful song with well composed lyrics.

The Submarines are from Los Angeles and consist of only two members, John and Blake which makes them a sort of Mates of State meets Stars. They recently released an iTunes session and a very cool remix EP which are both available digitally.

#9 Asobi Seksu – Citrus

The only problem with this album is that tracks 3 and 4 threatened to render the rest of the record useless. I listened to “New Years” and “Thursday” so many times this year it’s a wonder I ever made it to the end of the album. Yet now, when iTunes is on random and a track from the second half of Citrus comes on it reminds me how strong the album truly is. Every song on here could be a favorite if those other two weren’t so incredible.

The My Bloody Valentine comparison surrounds shoegaze bands incessantly and is almost as lame as the Beatles comparison for a pop band or the Radiohead comparison for any band combining electronics and guitars. Many bands do in fact sound like a watered down version of MBV and I don’t think anyone will ever truly build on their sound, but Asobi Seksu doesn’t deserve to be grouped in with those hack bands. Yuki’s vocals are unique and memorable and Asobi Seksu’s sound is truly their own. The band is so close to escaping the shoegazer label and creating something new that it’s not hard to imagine some day soon any band with a lush sound and a female vocalist may be compared to Asobi Seksu.

#10 The Hold Steady – Boys and Girls in America

When my buddy and I went to see The Hold Steady at Warsaw way back in April they played a couple of songs that would be on the new album and we knew back then that it would be huge. The songs sounded great the very first time we ever heard them and this whole album reveals itself in the same way. This would probably top a “Best” Albums of 2006 list if that’s what this was. The album does a great job of capturing all of the energy of a Hold Steady show and is well produced. Out of all those highly acclaimed albums like Beirut, The Knife, TV On The Radio and Joanna Newsom – The Hold Steady album is easily my favorite and I believe it deserves all the praise that’s been heaped upon it. However…

I can’t freaking stand “Chillout Tent”. It practically ruins the album for me. I mean, that girl’s voice… if I were the dude in that story and I came to my senses only to hear that piercing noise, I’d O.D. again as soon as possible. It’s especially bad when she sings in unison with herself. And then the guy sings in harmony with himself… Good thing “Southtown Girls” is there to save the album.

I’m still a bigger fan of Separation Sunday, though it’s easy to see why the new album is so popular. In fact, it’s obvious and that’s part of the reason why I like the last album a little more. Separation Sunday took a little more effort to enjoy, but it is still a treat to listen to a year and a half later. This time around, Craig’s quotables just aren’t as creative, there aren’t a lot of awesome alliterations and the memorable lines are creeping closer and closer to cliché. The characters from Separation Sunday were unique and well-developed while the characters from Boys and Girls in America are just that, representative of Craig Finn’s vision of boys and girls in America. Or at least boys and girls in Minnesota. Who suck helium.

Still, this album is fantastic overall and The Hold Steady will go down as my second favorite live act of 2006 just behind ¡Forward, Russia!

#11 Silversun Pickups – Carnavas

In a year with few great alternative rock albums, Silversun Pickups were like a nice warm grungy security blanket for the 14 year old inside of me. It wasn’t quite like discovering Ten all over again, or hearing Siamese Dream for the first time, but the similarities are there. Lots of cymbals, distorted guitar, simple but effective bass lines… all that’s missing is a little more angst. I guess Seattle and Chicago provide that better than Southern California. Melatonin is a solid opener and the album begs to be enjoyed straight through as the songs are well arranged and there is no single standout track. However, there are still a few things that kept Carnavas from being higher on my list.

Though Silversun Pickups were one of my favorite live acts this year, I don’t feel that Carnavas captures their sound and energy as well as it could. The songs simply aren’t allowed to build in the same way they do live and the vocals are not nearly as engaging. Or, perhaps it’s the absence of Brian’s awkward banter or Nikki’s shy responses. Also, for all the comparisons to the Smashing Pumpkins, I felt that the guitar tone often sounded thin, especially the lead guitar in most songs. Still, Silversun Pickups became one of my favorite bands this year and they did so on the strength of the songs presented here.

#12 The Grates – Gravity Won’t Get You High

If you’ve even seen The Grates’ singer Patience Hodgson leap around on stage it shouldn’t be surprising that they had the energy to make four separate trips to the US in 2006 from their native Australia. On “Gravity Won’t Get You High”, producer Brian Deck did a great job of capturing The Grates energetic stage presence. Their short and simple songs are instantly memorable and catchy without being too similar. The songs are perfectly formed and never too repetitive, with varied vocal melodies on repeated lyrical passages. Most of the songs are so simple – with only guitar, drums and vocals – that when a song like “19-20-20″ breaks out the horns and vocal overdubs it sounds like an absolute ruckus. The whole album does a very good job of balancing these moments with the quieter ones and these 14 songs are over before you know it.

#13 Land of Talk – Applause, Cheer, Boo, Hiss

Land of Talk are another three-piece band, however their sound is much more complex than The Grates. Lead singer Liz Powell’s guitar sounds fantastic, with the perfect amount of distortion applied to her well-voiced guitar chords. Her voice reminds me of Leslie Feist during her softer moments, but it has a unique growl to it that complements her guitar tone perfectly. Chris’ bass is very present in all the songs and though he doesn’t sing on the album he does sing live once in a while. I hope that they utilize his voice more in future recordings. This EP shows tons of promise for this young Montreal band.

#14 Herbert – Scale

My introduction to Matthew Herbert’s production didn’t come until 2005’s Roisin Murphy album “Ruby Blue”. Here on “Scale” he continues in the same direction by crafting fantastic pop and electronic songs out of thousands of individual sounds. Electronic artists have been using samples in unique ways for many years now, but few people can gather so many discrete elements to create such a cohesive and accessible album. In my mind, this record is a much more important work than something like the Girl Talk album, which is fun, but not nearly as innovative.

#15 Annuals – Be He Me

This young group of North Carolinians have so many interesting musical ideas and sounds squeezed into their debut album that it can be hard to take it all in. The instrumentation varies from song to song and the lead vocals are schizophrenic as all hell. Yet somehow it all comes together to give Annuals a unique sound that is difficult to draw comparisons to. While the standard indie rock similarities are all present (Wolf Parade, Broken Social Scene, Animal Collective) there are also a lot of classic rock influences like The Beach Boys and Pink Floyd. In the end, Annuals sound like Annuals, and you can’t really ask for much more from a young band.

I’m sure most people have gotten over all the 2006 recaps by now; especially since most “year-end” lists came out almost two months ago. However, I actually like to wait until the calendar year is complete, giving everything a chance to sink in before compiling my list. Now that the first big record-release Tuesday of 2007 is upon us I figure I better wrap up 2006. Unfortunately, it looks like I just missed being included in heartonastick’s incredible 2006 Bloggregate.

Here are the first five of the 20 recordings released in 2006 that I personally enjoyed the most this past year (plus my honorable mention #21-30).

#16 TV On The Radio – Return to Cookie Mountain

It took me a while to get around to listening to this album, even when everyone and their mother was telling me how great it was. Maybe it was the odd title or the fact that I wasn’t impressed by TVOTR the first time I saw them live. And once I listened, it still took a while for the album to grow on me. Right from the start I was a fan of the incredible production and groundbreaking recording techniques, but the songs didn’t start sink in until I heard them live. Now it’s become one of those great albums that yields a new favorite song with each listening. “I Was A Lover”, “Province” and “Wolf Like Me” are three that have held that title. TV On The Radio use noise more tastefully than any other band I can think of, not just to jar or surprise you, but to control the ebb and flow of songs. They also manage to pull of the falsetto vocals without sounding like chipmunks.

#17 Bound Stems – Appreciation Night

Bound Stems are all over the indie-rock map, reminding me of bands like Wolf Parade, The National and Broken Social Scene but with well-arranged and oddly structured songs that make them stand out in that crowd. After all, bands who are trying to be derivative don’t usually have songs that start in 4/4 and go through a metric modulation to 6/8 as the lead singers swap places (“Excellent News, Colonel”). What separates Appreciation Night from the top albums on my list is the density of great material. While I usually listen to this album straight through, the truly enjoyable songs only come along every 3 tracks or so.

#18 Dirty On Purpose – Hallelujah Sirens

This album makes the list on the strength of two songs, “No Radio” and “Light Pollution”. While Silversun Pickups drew a lot of comparisons to Smashing Pumpkins this year, it was the intro to Dirty On Purpose’s “Car, No Driver” that really reminded me of the Corgan Crew (or the Billy Bunch?). All the elements of a great indie rock album are present – the guitar hooks, the horns, the doubled vocal lines – but the production and performance on the album both seem a little too held back. It all comes across as a less ambitious and stripped down version of Broken Social Scene, which isn’t really all that terrible.

#19 Pela – Exit Columbia Street

I feel that 2006 was actually a better year for EPs than for albums. There were just as many extended plays that spun in my virtual record player as there were long plays. This is the first of three EPs that make my top 20. Exit Columbia Street is the second release from Pela and the prelude to their debut album which comes out on April 24th and shares its title with the last track of the EP, “Anytown Graffiti”. Compared to their first EP – All In Time – this release shows greater variation in songwritting while the vocals settle down into a more effective range for Billy’s voice. The singing here is lower but more powerful and when he lets loose in Calvary, it’s such a great payoff.

For the record, here are some other great EPs that were contenders for my top 20:
Voxtrot – Mothers, Daughters, Sisters & Wives
Fields – 7 from the Village
Bishop Allen – June
Bishop Allen – July
Professor Murder – Rides The Subway
Limbs – Suspension
Okkervil River – Overboard & Down
Amiina – Seoul

#20 Beirut – Gulag Orkestar

While this album was great for a debut record, it really pales in comparison to their live show. The only reason the album squeaked its way into the 20th position is because I’ve been listening to the reissue, which includes 5 new tracks (also known as the Lon Gisland EP). If you get a chance to listen to both versions of “Scenic World” you’ll understand exactly why I’m so excited to hear what they do next. Even though Zach Condon is a great songwriter, this type of music isn’t as lively when recorded by a one-man band. The newly recorded tracks show what Beirut is really capable of and I hope that sound continues to evolve through the next record.

Honorable Mention:

(because I cared enough to rank them…)
#21 Peter, Bjorn and John – Writer’s Block
(…but not enough to write about them)
#22 Hot Chip – The Warning
#23 Slowlands – Never Was There A Town
#24 Belle and Sebastian – The Life Pursuit
#25 My Brightest Diamond – Bring Me The Workhorse
#26 The Decemberists – The Crane Wife
#27 Electric President – Electric President
#28 Mates of State – Bring It Back
#29 Islands – Return To The Sea
#30 Voxtrot – Mothers, Daughters, Sisters & Wives