MarathonProxys: Year-End Top 10s

After last Friday, I'm about spent with this list-making thing. But some bloggish pals (and two schoolchums) of mine aren't, and they were generous enough to calibrate their tastes for our edification. Most aren't ranked, one isn't albums, a few aren't ten, and a couple inclusions aren't 2006. Irascible! On the tomorrow tip, and for those looking for music to squish into those early-present iPods, I'm planning on absolutely slaying my bandwidth with my 4 year-end mixes Tuesday morning.

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Ben Daniels, A Sunny Day in Glasgow
(singles, and not necessarily limited to this calendar year, mind you)

10. Animal Collective "Grass"
9. The Pipettes "I Love You"
8. Xiu Xiu "Boy Soprano"
7. The Blow "Parentheses"
6. Mahogany "Neo-Plastic Boogie-Woogie"
5. Bad News Bats "WTM"
4. Camera Obscura "Lloyd, I'm Ready to be Heartbroken"
3. Lilys "With Candy"
2. Cocteau Twins "Love's Easy Tears" (reissue)
1. Celine "Un Reve"

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Chris Swanson check signer, Secretly Canadian Records

10. The Dudes Brain, Heart, Guitar (Load Music)
9. The Blow Paper Television (K Records)
8. Fujiya & Miyagi Transparent Things (Tirk)
7. The Donkeys s/t (Antenna Farm)
6. Brightblack Morning Light s/t (Matador)
5. Man Man Six Demon Bag (Ace Fu)
4. The Evangelicals So Gone (Misra)
3. Circle Forest (No Quarter)
2. Dr. Dog Takers & Leavers EP (National Parking)
1. Ox American Lo-Fi (Weewerk)

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Phil Waldorf chief of staff, Misra Records (in alphabetical order)

1. The Black Angels Passover (Light in the Attic)
2. Califone Roots and Crowns (Thrill Jockey)
3. Final Fantasy He Poos Clouds (Tomlab)
4. Destroyer Destroyer's Rubies (Merge)
5. Envelopes Demon (Brille)
6. Joanna Newsom Ys (Drag City)
7. Man Man Six Demon Bag (Ace Fu)
8. OOIOO Taiga (Thrill Jockey)
9. Page France Hello, Dear Wind (Suicide Squeeze)
10. Shogun Kunitoki Tasankokaiku (Fonal)
11. Sunset Rubdown Shut Up I Am Dreaming (Absolutely Kosher)
12. Xiu Xiu The Air Force (5rc)

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Michael Tapscott musician-type, Odawas

10. Sinoia Caves The Enchanter Persuaded (Brah)
Like an “Autobahn” for the southern Indiana backwoods.

9. Califone Roots and Crowns (Thrill Jockey)
Understated beauty and presence, it sounds like a nature documentary sometimes, but that’s ok.

8. Max Richter Songs from Before (Fat Cat)
I feel that maybe somebody could do the contemporary classical thing Max Richter does better, or more interestingly, and they probably do, somewhere out there, but this is what is getting to me, and it really gets to me.

7. El Perro Del Mar s/t (Memphis Industries)
Just well-written songs, sung well, produced well, played well.

6. Metallic Falcons Desert Doughnuts (Voodoo)
I like things about the desert.

5. Peter and the Wolf Lightness (Worker’s Institute)
The voice gets a little too nasally, and sometimes the songs sound a little bit too close to the Magnetic Fields, but the good moments are really, really good.

4. Liars Drums Not Dead (Mute)
I really don’t even remember why I liked this so much, but it was enough for me to remember it this fondly.

3. Flying Canyon s/t (Soft Abuse)
I like the press release that calls this "the Eagles on Robitussin," but it sounds more like Jackson Browne quietly hiding out in a cave after the fall.

2. Joanna Newsom Ys (Drag City)
To me this came out of nowhere, which I guess is because I never heard the first record, or rather, I consciously ignored it. Van Dyke Parks’ string arrangements brought me here, but they seem to be muted in the mix, still great, but not overbearing or overtly present. I don’t know, I didn’t expect to love this.

1. Elephant Micah Hindu Windmills (Time-Lag)
Joe O’Connell’s the best songwriter I can think of. This record was one that’s been waited on, it sounds kind of like Leonard Cohen doing Woody Guthrie, or vice versa. Totally strange and absurdly grounded in the rudimentary facets of the past. The thing is, unlike M. Ward who takes good music and a great voice into narcissistic territories, EM takes an enormous voice to places where it will is constantly confused, made smaller and plays with listener expectations.

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Dan Workman music guy, Ten Kens

10. Malajube Trompe-L'oeil (Dare to Care)
9. CSS Cansei De Ser Sexy (Sub Pop)
8. Tom Waits Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards (Anti)
7. Clinic Visitations (Domino)
6. Sonic Youth Rather Ripped (Geffen)
5. Yo La Tengo I Am Not Afraid Of You And I Will Beat Your Ass (Matador)
4. Grizzly Bear Yellow House (Warp)
3. TV On The Radio Return To Cookie Mountain (Interscope)
2. Man Man Six Demon Bag
1. Liars Drums Not Dead

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Steve Savoca captain of industry, Domino Records (in no particular order whatsoever)

1. M. Ward Post-War (Merge)
2. Vetiver To Find Me Gone (Dicristina)
3. Grizzly Bear Yellow House
4. Califone Roots & Crowns
5. Clipse Hell Hath No Fury (Jive/Zomba)
6. Beirut Gulag Orkestar (Ba Da Bing)
7. Band of Horses Everything All The Time (Sub Pop)
8. Al Green The Belle Album (Hi/Capitol)
9. Tom Waits Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers & Bastards
10. Neko Case Fox Confessor Brings The Flood (Anti)

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Michael Lahey pal, Indiana University (in alphabetical order)

1. AFX Chosen Lords (Rephlex)
These aren't the best tracks in the Analord Vinyl series to me and I am sure that anyone who has heard them has their own favorites. Yet, songs like "Crying in Your Face" and "XMD 5a" are still better and simpler than anything anyone else is putting out these days.

2. Aki Tsuyuko Hokane (Thrill Jockey)
This album and picture book do a better job of constructing the sound and vision of childlike wonderment without sounding childish or pathetic than most. Perfect to go to sleep to. Perfect to just listen to. Not perfect to be a lame-ass to.

3. Ellen Allien & Apparat Orchestra of Bubbles (Bpitch Control)
I really like Ellen Allien. This is as perfect for the dance floor as it for your head. Never stops moving from beginning to end, never sounds forced.

4. Broadcast The Future Crayon (Warp)
This collection of B-sides that spans a good portion of their career is a tad weirder than their regular albums. Plenty of instrumental tracks that break out of the rigid pop structure that often seems a necessity with vocals. Unlike most collections, it still sounds like a proper album.

5. El Perro del Mar s/t (Memphis Industries)
Can't think of another album that I would rather have usher me through a shitty break up. Solid from end to end. Sad, wistful, but never overbearing.

6. LCD Soundsystem 45:33 (iTunes)
This single song made for Nike and released on iTunes is simply better that anything to ever come out under this moniker past, present, or (near) future. Sounds like a compendium of electronic sounds for the past 10 or so years. Really nice.

7. Stereolab Fab Four Suture (Too Pure)
Every time a new Stereolab album comes out, critics invariably suggest that it sounds too much like their old ones. Well, I am a fan, I can distinguish the sounds, and those arguments don't bother me much. This album got stuck in my iPod for a while and got better with every listen---like Stereolab, which keeps getting better and better with age.

8. Susanna and the Magical Orchestra Melody Mountain (Rune Grammofon)
This album of covers (AC/DC, Depeche Mode, etc) is a collection of wonderful female vocals set against a slow and sparse soundscape. Perfect tempo changes from molasses to kinda faster molasses. Could listen to it over and over again.

9. To Rococo Rot Taken From Vinyl (Staubgold)
This is a reissue of pre-Amateur View vinyl releases and its much better than anything they have done in long time (although Robert Lippok still puts out really interesting stuff). Kinda dubby, excellent rhythm.

10. Xela The Dead Sea (Type Records)
I first heard of Xela when a friend gave me Tangled Wool. That album was pretty sparse---a mix of guitar, electronics and spaciness. This album, on the other hand, is downright macabre. Sinister, still sparse, equal parts malevolent and inviting.

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Travis Vogan pal, Indiana University (in alphabetical order)

1. The Bird and the Bee Again and Again and Again and Again EP (Blue Note)
Electro-pop with whispy female lyrics by Inara George. Sounds like a department store’s promotional ad for a seafoam green set of appliances in 1959 with hints of early 90s dance and sprinkled with some shoegaze. Hopefully the LP (which is coming out in January) will live up to the EP’s promise.

2. Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy The Letting Go (Drag City)
If I had to pick a #1 album, this would be it. Backing vocals by Dawn McCarthy add texture to Oldham’s smoky musings that set this album apart from Master and Everyone and even I See a Darkness. It’s the usual mix of resignation, silliness, and folk-wisdom—only cooked in a crock pot the get that flavor. Highlights: “Strange Form of Life” and “The Seedling.”

3. Cat Power The Greatest (Matador)
This album contains shades of Adult Contemporary imbued with Marshall’s balancing act between the haunting and sentimental. The sap is grounded in just enough soul to satisfy those of us who feel a bit uneasy about her recent diamond ads and the Chanel thing.

4. Early Day Miners Offshore (Secretly Canadian)
More driving and nuanced than their earlier records. A great “background” record and equally satisfying on headphoned walks. One of the more optimistic sounding post-rock groups. This is a good thing.

5. Jeff Hanson s/t (Kill Rock Stars)
A great follow up to and more cohesive effort than Son. Although comparisons to Elliott Smith are often drawn, Hanson’s similarly breathy delivery and often resigned lyrics take on new meaning when filtered through his falsetto moan (the most common question: Is that really a dude?). The nearly 8-minute “Something About” may be the most affecting track of the year.

6. Joanna Newsom Ys
She totally lived up to the elephantine expectations that followed The Milk-Eyed Mender. The funny thing is that Newsom is now more widely recognized than any of her guru collaborators (save, perhaps, Parks). Now people apparently respect her as well as think she is “just so cute.”

7. The Long Winters Putting the Days to Bed (Barsuk)
Great pop hooks and wry lyrics from John Roderick and Co. This album has much better pacing than The Worst You Can Do Is Harm or When I Pretend to Fall. While I enjoy the version of “Ultimatum” recorded for their 2005 EP better than this album’s driving, electric rendition, the 2006 version is more consistent with the record. This album ought to help them transform their role as Death Cab’s slightly less palpable younger Barsuk brother. On the other hand, the album’s slightly off-kilter catchiness could be in danger of being appropriated by “Grey’s Anatomy.”

8. Loose Fur Born Again in the USA (Drag City)
Follow up to 2004’s self-titled release from the Chicago supergroup (how many groups is Jim O’Rourke in right now?). While “Hey Chicken” gained some attention as the album’s single, and “The Ruling Class” was featured in Jeff Tweedy’s live shows and DVD, “Wanted,” the album’s last track, is the one that sticks: “She does whatever she wants, and I swear she wanted me.”

9. Metallic Falcons Desert Doughnuts
“Are you my desert friend?” What if Pixar did a remake of David Lynch’s Dune? What if Crispin Glover starred in Mad Max? This album juggles the eerie, pretty, fucked-up, and silly. Though there are a few moments that stick out in this album (namely “Snakes and Tea” and “Misty Song”), it stands well as a single composition. Sierra Cassady (CocoRosie) and Matteah Baim recruit Antony Hegarty and Devendra Banhart (among others) to add some additional jagged edges. While this has some of the dissonance and screechiness characteristic of CocoRosie, its melodic cohesiveness and subtelty has the potential to attract an audience who is typically annoyed by the “freak folk” scene’s sometimes borderline obnoxious characteristics (e.g. Devendra jumping around in his underwear and Joanna Newsom’s Renaissance Fair garb…or the cover of Ys…I sometimes wish I didn’t love that album). Despite the fact that one of Metallic Falcons’ calling cards is concealing their identities (ok, this is obnoxious), this album seems more organic than either of CocoRosie’s albums.

10. Pajo 1968 (Drag City)
Gothic folk and even a couple catchy pop ditties from one of our most prolific, diverse, and consistently brilliant songwriters. This may have the greatest range of any folkish record this year, with the stark, neo-blues tune “Who’s that Knockin” alongside subdued power pop riffs like “We Get Along, Mostly.”