big post of the top 25 today - I'm going away for a few days to Adelaide for a wedding. Should be tops.

But to business...

15. Bonnie Prince Billy - The Letting Go
Another top notch album from BPB. I like the backing vocals - they sound alarming and jarring at first, but they eventually sound absolutely perfect, which kinda sums up the whole Will Oldham oovra.

16. Laura Imbruglia - Laura Imbruglia
Yes, it's Natalie's sister, and this couldn't be more different. There's quite a few missteps on this album. "Lettuce and Anarchists" is the kind of half smart character study that Darren Hanlon does a billion times better and with a million times more empathy. But the crazy, she'll-try-anything vibe that infects the rest of the album more than makes up for the flaws. "Tearducts" is a catchy pop song with pedal steel guitar, "My Dream of a Magical Washing Machine" is as fun as it is odd (it doubled as a jukebox). You can tell she's having a great time just trying out what ever takes her fancy, and that makes it fun to listen to.

17. Band of Horses - Everything All The Time
This was a real grower, a REAL grower. I think I hated it the first time I heard it, now, I'd say I enjoy every minute of it. My highlight is "St. Augustine".

18. Mogwai - Mr. Beast
A definite improvement over Rock Action and Happy Songs..., it still suffers from a sense of familiarity and complacency on a few tracks. The highlights, like "Glasgow Megasnake", "We're No Here" and "Folk Death 95", are astonishing despite the more mundane sections.

19. Sarah Blasko - What The Sea Wants The Sea Will Have
Probably more beautiful than he last album, but a lot less immediate. I think this is gonna take time, but it's not compelling enough for me to want to put in the effort. I think this'll click in 6 months or not at all.

20. M. Ward - Post-War
I like M. Ward a lot, but his music is settling into a very narrow vein. It's all still very good, but this slips into the background way too easily.

Top 25 of 2006 - Beginning


21. Cat Power - The Greatest

"The Greatest" and "Lived In Bars" are two of my favourite songs of the year, and the rest isn't too shabby either. I get a bit bored in the middle, so it loses places there.

22. Augie March - Moo, You Bloody Choir

Oh, how the mighty have blanded. Actually, I think the songs are still there, but all the interesting (and fun!) sharp edges have been worn off, leaving the whole thing sounding all very nice and worthy and literary, and well, just a bit dull.

I haven't heard this stuff live though, and I think it could really take off, especially "Just Passing Through".


23. Deloris - Ten Lives
In which Deloris discover brevity, spark up a bit and put out 10 pretty good tunes, one nice intro, and one confounding cover of "She'll Be Comin' Round The Mountain".

que? I mean it's a nice enough song, but still.

That said, the rest of the album has the stuff I like about Deloris. Plaintive melodies, great lyrics, and some tops drone thrown in there as well. It's a lot more immediate than "Fake Our Deaths", but will it be as long lasting? I don't know.

24. Built To Spill - You in Reverse

It a good good album, and it's here mainly for two reasons. Firstly, "Going Against Your Mind" is one of the best drawn out rock songs I've heard in years. It swoops and climbs and just plain rocks, and never gets boring.

Secondly, their previous album put me to sleep within half a song (a record!). That this album kept me interested means that Built To Spill aren't boring anymore, and that is reason to be happy.

25. Red Sparowes - Every Red Heart Shines Toward The Red Sun

An instrumental post-rock/metal album about the Great Leap Forward, the man-made locust plague that caused a famine, and the dangers of blind idolatry.

"Annhilate the sparrow, that stealer of seed, and our harvets will abound; we will watch our wealth flood in".

The music does a very good job of alluding to the events described in the song titles. The song titles are very long.