Monday, January 01, 2007

MUSIC: Faves Of 2006

My favorite music of 2006,
presented in alphabetical order
and with blurbs when inspired:

Jon Auer---Songs From The Year Of Our Demise
www.myspace.com/jonauermusic

Rosanne Cash---Black Cadillac
www.rosannecash.com

Cheap Trick---Rockford
www.cheaptrick.com

Ray Davies---Other People’s Lives
At age 62 Ray releases a record as great and as important a statement as any he made during his 20's & 30's.
www.raydavies.info

Def Leppard---Yeah!
www.defleppard.com/index.html

Bob Dylan---Modern Times
www.bobdylan.com/moderntimes/home/main.html

Alejandro Escovedo---The Boxing Mirror
Teamed with the brilliance of producer John Cale, Escovedo marks his return to better health by delivering the best rock album of the year.
www.alejandroescovedo.com/

Phil Judd---Mr.Phudd & His Novelty Act
Most original rock album of the year, bringing new astonishments and wonders with every listen.
www.philjudd.com

Mark Knopfler & Emmylou Harris---All The Roadrunning

All The Roadrunning

Jerry Lee Lewis---Last Man Standing

www.jerryleelewis.com

Magic Christian—"Turn Up The Heat" b/w "All The Stars" (single) www.myspace.com/magicchristian1

Don McGlashan—Warm Hand

www.donmcglashan.com

New York Dolls---One Day It Will Please Us To Remember Even This
A staggeringly enjoyable record, so easy to embrace and celebrate as the perfectly appropriate exclamation point on the legendary & influential careers of David Johansen & Sylvain Sylvain.
Standout cut "Dance Like A Monkey" is as good as rock gets in 2006. www.myspace.com/newyorkdolls

Willie Nile---Streets Of New York
www.willienile.com

Primal Scream---Riot City Blues
www.primalscream.net/www/

The Rugs—The Rugs
www.myspace.com/therugs

Sloan---Never Hear The End Of It

www.sloanmusic.com

Matthew Sweet & Susanna Hoffs---Under The Covers Vol.1 www.myspace.com/sidnsusie

Tom Verlaine---Songs And Other Things
Tom Verlaine---
Around
Tom Verlaine

Teddybears---Soft Machine
Stuff this far out and wacky can only come from Sweden.
Includes "Punk Rocker", my favorite single of the year, featuring Iggy Pop’s finest vocal performance on a record since "Candy".
www.myspace.com/teddybears

Paul Weller---Catch-Flame (Live At The Alexandra Palace)
www.paulweller.com

Yo La Tengo---I Am Not Afraid Of You And I Will Beat Your Ass
Continued rock excellence from The Little Band That Could...
www.yolatengo.com

Pete Yorn---Nightcrawler
www.peteyorn.com

Favorite Live Shows (in alphabetical order):
ABC---Pridefest, St. Louis

The Bangles—House Of Blues, Chicago
The Bats—End Of An Ear Records, Austin
Cheap Trick---Live On The Levee, St. Louis
The Chesterfield Kings—Mississippi Nights, St. Louis
The Dirtbombs—Beachland Ballroom, Cleveland
Alejandro Escovedo—The Duck Room, St. Louis
The Hazey Janes—The Drink, Austin
Joan Jett & The Blackhearts---Mississippi Nights, St. Louis

The Minus 5---RFT Awards, St. Louis
The New York Dolls—Mississippi Nights, St. Louis
The Plimsouls—Finale, St. Louis
The Plimsouls—Club Exodus, Austin
Son Volt—Taste Of St. Louis, St. Louis
Matthew Sweet & Susanna Hoffs—The Drink, Austin
Matthew Sweet & Susanna Hoffs—Dog & Duck Pub, Austin
Steve Wynn & The Miracle 3—Dog & Duck Pub, Austin
Steve Wynn & The Miracle 3—Caribbean Lights, Austin

Parting shot, 2006:
Sorry kids, but that highly praised TV On The Radio record is JUST AWFUL! A very bad rock band with very bad singers doing very bad reinterpretations of Brian Eno’s first two solo albums. Dreadful...

6 comments:

Stephanie said...

Great post!

Patrick said...

Dog, I thought you hated Pete Yorn...haven't heard that one yet (have probably missed a few in there), but that tune, Undercover from the Spiderman ST is one of those ab-so-lutely contagious pop tunes...classic!

steve scariano said...

Nah, never hated him, you must have me confused with somebody else. James Weber turned me on to his first album, and I found it to be an incredibly strong slice of powerful pop. His second album though was a letdown. I saw him live once at the Pageant, but walked out during the third song. The mix was horrible, and the crowd was worse! For example, the two girls sitting in front of us had Imo's pizza delivered to them, and they never once stopped gabbing on their cell phones the entire time we were there!

Patrick said...

Ah...I believe I was thinking of that toothy bloke's band whose first kid is named Apple. ;)

steve scariano said...

Now there you would be correct. They truly are the worst and I've hated EVERY last piece o' crap I've ever heard by them!

Anonymous said...

Best celebrity sighting ever:

A driver in L.A. tells of being stopped at a stoplight and notices the woman driving the car next to him motions for him to roll down his window. He complies, after which she says: "You want a copy of the new Coldplay record? I just got it, and it's crap", after which she lobbed it into his car. Lobber-in-question? The great Toni Collette!
-Happy talk