Best Of Bootie 2006

Best Of Bootie 2006I'm a big fan of the bootie AKA mash up. The last few years have seen the bootie move out of the underground and into the charts. Sure, there have been some dubious booties out there, but when they are done right they can often be mindblowing. I'm always amazed at how well the good ones work - two seemingly disparate sources coaxed into something new and exciting. Today is all about the good stuff. Best Of Bootie 2006 is a collection of the good stuff, available for you to nab by clicking the link above. Here are a few samples to whet the appetite...

DJ Topcat (Jay-Z vs. Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons) - December 4th, Oh What A Night
A Plus D (Kanye West vs. Beethoven vs. Walter Murphy) - Beethoven's Fifth Golddigger
A Plus D (Justin Timberlake vs. Siouxsie & The Banshees) - Bringing Siouxsie Back/Sexy Peek-a-Boo

Best Of 2006 - The Top 20 Albums Of The Year

Art Brut - Bang Bang Rock & Roll - OK, it's a 2005 record but it came out in the US this year. Catchy, sharp and oh so British rock.

Goldfrapp - Supernature - slick electronics and THAT voice. I can't believe this band isn't bigger than it is...

Grand National - Kicking The National Habit - Drink To Moving On - another 2005 but out here in 2006 record. Former Police cover act takes elements of that band and applies them to catchy, funky, dance-y pop.

The Flaming Lips - At War With The Mystics - it's the Lips' protest record, as lush and as weird as ever.

Gnarls Barkley - St. Elsewhere - people are all over the map when it comes to this. Some peeps hated it, but it was THE record of the summer at my house. Funky, dark and quirky, and Cee-lo's voice is tops.

Hot Chip - The Warning - And I Was A Boy From School - this record really took me by surprise. I wasn't expecting much, and when the dust settled I was still playing it once or twice a week - still am. Love this!

Fujiya & Miyagi - Transparent Things - due for a US release this Spring, this is Krautrock, indie rock, funky riffs, electronics and low key vocals all rolled up into one.

The Knife - Silent Shout - another polarizing record that many people hated, probably due to the vocals. I personally dug the icy electronics and melodies of this duo's third LP. Big ups this year to Mute Records for reissuing their first two albums too.

Scritti Politti - White Bread Black Beer - Cooking - happily married Green returns to music with this lovely and warm collection of pop songs and ballads. That he is still creating captivating music thirty years after first making the scene is amazing to me.

TV On The Radio - Return To Cookie Mountain - the art rock record of the year. Slow burning and simmering tracks full of atmosphere that explode into raging rock. Challenging but ultimately rewarding.

Kelis - Kelis Was Here - this surprised me. I didn't think I'd like it as much as I do, but here it is on the top 20 list. Diverse and real, this has something for everybody.

Cansei De Ser Sexy - CSS - Alala - didn't expect to get much prolonged pleasure from this but I'm still playing it. Punk, postpunk and electro clash with hysterical lyrics. Party record of the year?

Beck - The Information - a perfect synthesis of all the sides of Beck - folk, rock, hip hop and Gainsbourg all blend seamlessly for a smooth ride.

Kerrier District - Kerrier District 2 - Luke Vibert continues to please with his '80s inspired electro jams.

Charlotte Gainsbourg - 5:55 - read my post from December 10th and all will be explained...


Lupe Fiasco - Food And Liquor - Daydreamin' (feat. Jill Scott) - I was blown away by the bustling creativity of this album - it's unique topics, great flow and killer tracks make this my hip hop record of the year.

Bent - Intercept! - a late comer to the list, full of the duo's trademark warm, lush and romantic electronica. Added bonus - using former Simian singer Simon Lord on half of the songs.

Lily Allen - Alright, Still... - chav humor applied to some skanktastic pop music. Humorous, catchy, rude and endlessly entertaining.

Poni Hoax - Poni Hoax - French rockers deliver moodiness, beauty and memorable songs. Another nice mix of rock and electronic danceability.

Yo La Tengo - I Am Not Afraid Of You And I Will Kick Your Ass - Mr. Tough - how many years have these guys been going now? Sounding better than ever they deliver an album of sweet, soft ballads, raging rockfests, and faux Motown soul stylings.

Best Of 2006 - The Reissues

2006 was a very good year for reissues, particularly for fans of the music of the early '80s. You had expanded remasters of all kinds of stuff - all of the Yello albums, Depeche Mode 2 disc-ers, the Siouxsie & The Banshees back catalogue, The Cure 2 disc-ers, the early Ultravox albums and Heaven 17's early stuff. Then there were the Jesus And Mary Chain reissues (BOO! for the lack of bonus stuff), the Wire reissues, the first two Pretenders records as well as their Pirate Radio box. There were some nice compilations - Delta 5's Singles & Sessions 1979-81, Zero | A Martin Hannett Story '77-91, A Tom Moulton Mix from SoulJazz and 7"Up! - Singles Only UK 78-82 which collected rare and obscure post-punk stuff. Then you have The Clash's Singles box, The Incredible Bongo Band's Bongo Rock, the Ike Yard collection and The Beatles' Love. Not too shabby. And then there are these...

Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66 - Daytripper
Herb Alpert Presents...
A&M finally reissued the band's first three albums. I have loved these guys since I was like 2 or 3, so I was psyched to pick these up. Bossa nova treatments rule.

Robert Fripp - Chicago
Robert Fripp - Northstar
Exposure
I blogged this album a bit earlier this year. This reissue collects two different mixes of the album with a bunch of bonus material. Ambient, prog, punk and art rock are all present, as well as stellar vocals from Daryl Hall.

Au Pairs - You
Au Pairs - Inconvenience (12" Version)
Stepping Out Of Line - The Anthology
The complete, collected works of the Au Pairs. That's two albums plus all kinds of 12" mixes, b-sides and live stuff. Great stuff.

Josef K - Sense Of Guilt
Josef K - Endless Soul
Entomology
Finally, a comprehensive set to commemorate this Scottish combo's brilliant but brief career! Full of scratchy, jangly goodness.

Brian Eno & David Byrne - The Jezebel Spirit
Brian Eno & David Byrne - Defiant
My Life In The Bush Of Ghosts
My personal fave reissue of the year. I have waited a long time for this, and it didn't disappoint. It still sounds as good to me as now as it did all those years ago, and the bonus material is pretty interesting.

Best Of 2006 - The Guilty Pleasures

Ahhh, guilty pleasures. You shouldn't like them, but you do. Maybe it's because it's "too pop", or maybe it's because the hipsters hated it. Whatever it is, I found myself playing these a lot...

She Wants Revenge - She Wants Revenge - Broken Promises For Broken Hearts - OK, so it's not exactly the most original sound from one time hip hopper Justin Warfield, but damn, I really enjoyed this album's cookie cutter synth post punk pop. This tune is the perfect synthesis of Interpol and vintage Human League.

The Rapture - Pieces Of The People We Love - I listened to this more than their last one and I think this is a better record than that one. No good tunes? Gimme a break.

Scissor Sisters - Ta-Dah - sophomore slump? No. A little more subdued and maybe a wee bit less thrilling than the debut, but still lots of good tunes.

Teddy Bears - Soft Machine - man, this is a crazy record. Swedes with a history in reggae/rock make an eclectic party record chock full of hooks and great guest vocal turns from Iggy Pop and Neneh Cherry. My kids really like this record.

Morningwood - Morningwood - The Nth Degree - I saw a video of these guys and was hooked by sultry singer Chantal. These guys ride Pixies riffs like nobody, with lots of nice guitar riffage, lots of sex
and shiny production courtesy of of Pixies producer Gil Norton.

Justin Timberlake - Futuresex/Lovesounds - yeah, I like the dude from N'Sync.

Lansing-Dreiden - The Dividing Island - '80s synthpop, prog, metal riffs and art rock are among the many influences of this arty combo. It sounds like it shouldn't work, but it many ways it does.

Elefant - The Black Magic Show - I liked their debut a whole bunch. This is not as good - too overproduced - but I still enjoyed it.

Pharrell - In My Mind - sure, it was a little lazy, but it still ended up getting a lot of play.

We Are Scientists - With Love And Squalor - The Great Escape - I like this album a lot. It almost made the top 20 of the year list, but ended up here instead. Killer hooks, a sense of humor and some serious rocking.

Best Of 2006 - 10 On The Bubble

Writing last week's piece on Charlotte Gainsbourg I made a comment about not doing best of the year lists. I had done them a for a couple of years at the old blog, but it got to be too much work. Well. I had some time this weekend, and was able to go list crazy. This week will be all about the lists, leading up to my top 20 albums of the year. To kick it off I give you my "10 On The Bubble" - the 10 albums that fell just outside the top 20. During 2006 I posted tunes by and wrote about all of these records except two. Those two are the ones represented today. Oh yeah, these are in no particular order...

Islands - Return To The Sea - The Unicorns die and are reborn as the more focused yet equally weird Islands. A lot of fun with hooks.

Matmos - The Rose Has Teeth In The Mouth Of A Beast - Inventive and often humorous electronica made from found sound. These guys are a hoot.

Rekid - Made In Menorca - Dubbed out electronics - a fresh take on the pretty much played out genre of downtempo.

The M's - Future Women - Truckers Speed

Cut Chemist - The Audience's Listening - Ace DJ creates remarkably diverse and warm album.

Outkast - Idlewild - People were hating on this but I like it.

The Roots - Game Theory - Tight tunes and great flows.

Junior Boys - So This Is Goodbye - indie electronic duo with a boatload of catchy, danceable and sensitive tunes.

Tapes 'n Tapes - The Loon - The Iliad

Grandaddy - Just Like The Fambly Cat - The final LP from the Cali combo was classic Grandaddy.