Current music:

I'll Make You Mine//Rainer Maria

A Mediocre Blog’s Best (and Worse) Albums of 2006.

Unlike a television drama, the disillusions of the month of December are not resolved in one hour. There is no soundtrack that signals introspective hindsight. And there is never an omniscient narrator to orchestrate a conclusion.

I try my hardest to avoid the acknowledgement of the holidays. But it is like a plague, overwhelming and infecting everything in proximity. The KTUH production director told me that I needed to record a holiday public service announcement. I tried desperately to avoid it, but in the end I had to make concessions.

So my holiday PSA for KTUH goes something like this: “Hello, this is Mediocre Sau from The Mediocre Show, wishing you all ‘Bah Humbug’ this holiday season.”

A lot of people I know are going stir-crazy lately. Perhaps it is the presence of final project and final exams. Perhaps it is the change of weather. Perhaps it is because of the winter sun, and its ability to intensify objects. But I personally think it is the ridiculousness of all the bloody holiday lights.

Perhaps the only good thing about the month of December is that music blogs and communities emerge with their favorites list. I think it is always interesting to see what people felt were the best music released throughout the year; it offers some interesting retrospect on the year that was. Because as Annie said to me recently, “life needs a soundtrack.”

So here is A Mediocre Blog’s Top Five Albums (not in any particular order) of 2006:

5) Rainer Maria – Catastrophe Keeps Us Together. The band formed in Michigan in the early 1990s, university classmates Caithlin De Marrais and Kyle Fischer met at a poetry workshop. They formed a band, along with drummer William Kuehn, after poet Rainer Maria Wilke. Modestly successful, the band decided to call it quits this year after over a decade together. Catastrophe Keeps Us Together is not their best album, but even mediocre Rainer Maria is like cold pizza: it is always good.

4) Mates of State – Bring It Back. Married couple Kori Gardner and Jason Hammel are Mates of State, a drum and keyboard duo that have perfected the concept of indie pop. Their new album makes you want to get up, dance, and sing along (preferably in the privacy of your own bedroom). Listen and smile. It is a fantastically cute album.

3) Regina Spektor – Begin To Hope. Russian born artist Regina Spektor first garnered attention when she opened for The Strokes (whose album released early this year, First Impressions of Earth, was forgettable) during the North America leg of their 2003 tour. Begin To Hope showcases how potent Spektor is as musician, every song on the album is absolutely enjoyable.

2) Headlights – Kill Them With Kindness. The entire summer I was reading music blogs that were touting Headlights as the “next big thing.” And so my expectations were absurdly huge before even hearing their first full-length LP. Needless to say, the band’s first release displays a lot of promise. It is not a perfect album, but definitely an enjoyable listen from a band with the potential to be spectacular.

1) The Album Leaf – Into The Blue Again. I will admit that I have yet to listen to the album version of this album. In fact, I did not even know that The Album Leaf released a new album until fairly recently. I stumbled upon some live recordings from their new album; and if the live performances are any indication as to what the album sounds like, then this album is fairly close to greatness that was 2004’s In A Safe Place.


Honorable mentions:

5) Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Show Your Bones. Lead singer Karen O’s aspirations to break into the mainstream are very prevalent in Show Your Bones. The band’s first single, “Gold Lion” was 100% Karen O screeching and hollering, whereas the modern classic Fever To Tell displayed restraint. Still, it is one of those albums that grow on you.

4) Jenny Lewis with The Watson Twins – Rabbit Fur Coat. A folk/country album from one of indie rock’s goddesses? What a crazy idea! I never could get into M Ward, but Jenny Lewis’ voice is persuading.

3) Camera Obscura – Let’s Get Out of This Country. Bob your head and sway. This album is all about good times.

2) Chin Up Chin Up – This Harness Can’t Ride Anything. For some odd reason I could not, absolutely could not listen to male vocal fronted bands this year. Perhaps I have been exposed to too much whiney male emo lameness in the past. But Chin Up Chin Up reminds me that there is still potential for male fronted bands.

1) Yo La Tengo – I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass. Despite such a long album title, the album does not live up to the grandeur of previous Yo La Tengo releases. It has the potential to mix fluidly with old Yo La Tengo for a good road trip soundtrack.


Worse Albums of 2006:

5) Thom Yorke – The Eraser. If Radiohead had any creditability left, Thom Yorke officially dissolved it. Seriously, this album was hard to listen too.

4) Beck – The Information. I swear Beck spent more time working on the design layout of the album then music in it.

3) The Decemberists – The Crane Wife. This album really really disappointed. The good news was that it was totally available online months before its release.

2) Sufjan Stevens – The Avalanche. Sufjan decided that last year’s WORST album needed a rehash. So he decided that hey, let’s do an “Outtakes and Extras from the Illinoise Album” album. So now we have extended songs from an unnecessary album. It’s like the DVD extras for a B-movie…why care?

1) Sufjan Stevens – Songs for Christmas. No…bloody…way. You know what, screw it: buy this forty-two song album for your young one. That way they will never ask Santa for gifts again. Or they might ask Santa to make sure Sufjan never makes another album. Either way, it is a win-win situation.


Conclusion:

This year was an odd year of music. No album stood out distinctively. Long awaited albums from bands turned out to be disappointing or “meh.” Mogwai’s Mr. Beast was an example of a fairly good album that just was not spectacular. Band Of Horses had a good release but there were only a handful of good songs. Midlake had a lot of potential with its beautiful song “Roscoe,” but the accompanying album, The Trials of Van Occupanther proved to be just okay. Belle And Sebastian released an album that sounded like a perpetual sugar high. And as awesome as that may sound like, it was meh.

So…I will be hosting The Mediocre Show’s “Best of 2006” on December 26th. You should listen, if it finds you well.



The above photo is a portrait of Steve. A larger version may be found by clicking here. Thank you very much for reading this mediocre blog.