onecaseman reviews the best of 2006

2006 has to be the best year for new music in recent memory. From indie to experimental to dancefloor material, it seemed there was something this year for everyone. If you were having trouble finding new material to listen to this year, chances are you just weren’t looking in the right places.

50

Dictaphone, Vertigo II [City Centre Offices]

Boomkat’s describes this type of music as post jazz, and Dictaphone might be the perfect artists for that description. Using tape loops from dictaphones, flutes, saxophones, and a hoard of other instruments (besides the drum) and melding them with electronics, Dictaphone create a form of jazz you’re probably not used to hearing, slow and awkward, but polite and intricate. Recalling at times the film scores of classic European films and fellow German Jan Jelinek, Dictaphone perpetuate their jazz with memories, noises, and a whole lot of other ideas that make it the type of record you move onto after Kind of Blue.

Download: Ytinav

49 Johann Johannsson, IBM 1401, A User’s Manual [4AD]

The description for this album made me stay away for quite a while, and I wish I hadn’t. An album about an IBM computer sounds like the most boring idea ever, but this is a beautiful record of classical ambient that never fails to engage, something the genre many times is forgiven for not being able to achieve. Inspired by a recording of an IBM computer made by his father 30 years ago, Johannsson adds an orchestra and electronics to the original recording, creating a beautiful landscape from which to hear the computer instructions. Serene, beautiful, and engaging, this is one of the best ambient records of the year.

Download: Part 5 - The Sun’s Gone Dim And The Sky’s Turned Black 

48 John Tejada, Cleaning Sounds Is A Filthy Business [Palette]

John Tejada is prolific. Not only has he dabbled in almost every electronic genre with various 12” and album releases, but he also collaborates on the lovely instrumental rock meets electronic project I’m Not a Gun for Berlin’s City Centre Offices. Cleaning Sounds is his latest album on the techno side of things, and despite sharing time with an I’m Not a Gun release this year, this album delivers on the type of dancefloor success one might expect from his solo work. I hesitate to call records like this minimal because they’re so much meat on the bones of these techno tracks, when normally I find techno to lack that meat in general. Tejada manages to make tracks that are provocative in the sounds he uses, yet also friendly for head nodding and toe tapping. I liken it to some of Matthew Herbert’s work, without the big band influence. Another solid effort from a man whose work ethic is downright intimidating.

Download: What Happened To Manners?

47 Plaid & Bob Jaroc, Greedy Baby [Warp]

DVD album project from the electronic innovators Plaid and their visual collaborator Bob Jaroc. This project may be the first of its kind, aiming to create an audio/visual experience where both parts of the equation are necessary for full enjoyment. This is not just a Plaid album; it’s a collection of Plaid short films if you will. The videos are stunning, and the music is made to fit with them. As such, the music doesn’t really stand out or even work very well on its own. It shouldn’t be separated from the visual portion of the project. Listening to the music alone, you miss the meaning entirely. A daring work that, in DVD form, delivers.

Preview The Return Of Super Barrio

46 Das Bierbeben, Alles Fallt [Shitkatapult]

Crazy German dance post punk. This album is cheeky to the max. I probably shouldn’t like it , but its charm is so overbearing, ignoring it is simply not possible. Only having one song in English, Das Bierbeben make you focus on their aloof vocal delivery by what I imagine to be a black and white version of Annie Lennox, and their bass driven songs. If you ever had an urge to dance to Joy Division, give this record a listen.

Download: Don’t Drink The Water

45TV On The Radio, Return To Cookie Mountain [4AD]

Probably the most high-profile indie rock release on my list, this was an album everyone was talking about all year. Not really loving TV on the Radio’s previous output, I was hesitant to try it out, but when I did, I was glad I did. This album hits you with a subtle jolt upon first listen that grows and grows with every play. Not too soon after after that initial play, you realize the achievement of this album. These songs do not demand attention, but after a while, they need it. This is a full development of the TV on the Radio sound, and in every way the type of music they should be making.

Download: I Was A Lover  

44 Point B, A Previous Version Of Myself [SCSI-AV]

Normally, I stay away from new albums with the traditional IDM sound. To me, if you’re making Autechre beats in 2006, you need to go back to the drawing board. Because of this, most bands like Funckarma never appealed to me, because they sound like retreads. Point B seemed to be another heralded new artist with that traditional IDM sound, so I was hesitant to listen. But there’s something special here that separates it from the Autechre clones. Something that made me say, you know, this is worth my time. Point B’s sound develops over the course of the album, unlike most “machines making music” albums. The sound matures track over track and blossoms into one of the most undeniable closers of the year “Negated” where a faint female vocal effect comes in saying thanks for listening. Do yourself a favor and throw that new record from Skam away and give Point B a listen. You’ll be glad you did.

Download: Negated

43 Herbert, Scale [!K7]

I go back and forth on this one. Sometimes I hate how cheesy and big bandish it is, and other times I love it because of that fact. I guess I just have to be in the right mood to enjoy it. This is one of the few albums I’d be embarrassed blasting in my apartment. It’s just that cheesy. In regards to sound, because it is so cheesy and dare I say delightful, it lacks the innovation that powered Plat du Jour. But because of that, it is also so much more accessible. Herbert and chanteuse Dani Siciliano also cloud the joyous delivery of the tracks with lyrics that at times starkly contrast the mood of the instruments. It’s a sly and subtle gesture, maybe an eye wink to those willing to dig deeper into the record.

Download: Moving Like A Train

42 Psapp, The Only Thing I Ever Wanted [Domino]

Now this is a lovely band. On their debut record (last year’s Tiger, My Friend), the band had a song entitled “About Fun”. I could imagine the entire band being described that way. Not the fun in your typical, vapid fun music (their arrangements and lyrics have elegance and meaning), but fun in the way the music is made. Beats made of what sound like people climbing stairs, horns coming at your ears from odd angles, a jingle here, a jangle there, this is fun music to listen to because it’s so active. It’s The Books with a great singer and a caffeine high.

Download: Upstairs

41Vorpal, Digressions [Sublight]

Breakcore is not one of my favorite genres. It’s a genre that has high highs, but very low lows, and most of the stuff in the middle doesn’t interest me at all. Vorpal is one of those artists that seems to have an idea how to hit those highs. On his second album Digressions, Vorpal mixes breakcore elements with IDM, and though his sounds can get downright chaotic, as one would expect in this genre, instead of that detracting from great sounds as with many breakcore contemporaries, or just becoming downright ridiculous, its this chaos that actually creates the beauty of the music. Vorpal also knows when to slow things down to emphasize that beauty for more traditional melodic IDM. Vorpal’s one of the few artists in this genre whose volume and BPM swings seem to be done with purpose instead of abandon, and the result is a great expansion on the breakcore and IDM sound. Venetian Snares, take note.

Download: The Unbearable Frightfulness Of Being