A Shiny New Machine

I know you’ve all been at the edge of your seats waiting to see the rest of my top ten albums for 2006, and so without much further adieu, I grant your wishes. Voila!

#5 Kevin Devine – Put Your Ghost To Rest

Major label debut. This is pretty much the sole reason why this album was not my top pick for 2006. Anyone who’s familiar with Kevine Devine or Miracle of ‘86 knows what’s missing from this album, its the strained, shaky voice. This is still a phenomenal album that deserves much praise, read the review here, if you don’t believe me.

MP3: Kevin Devine – Me & My Friends (buy)

#4 Portugal. The Man – Waiter: “You Vultures!”

Hailing from Alaska, these guys are an experimental-alt-synth-pop band. This is truly one of the best engineered albums I’ve ever heard. The synth melodies and harmonizing vocals seem to whirl around your head and bring you on a wild spaced out adventure if you listen to the album with headphones. The album also features the likes of Nic Newsham, lead vocalist for label-mates Gatsby’s American Dream on a few tracks.

MP3: Portugal. The Man – Bad, Bad, Levi Brown (buy)

#3 Page France – Hello, Dear Wind

I have no idea why this I like this album so much but for some reason I could not get these songs out of my head and off of my iPod. This album is a mixture of simple folk melodies and spiritual undertones that will plague your brain with it’s sing-along lyrics.

MP3: Page France – Dogs (buy)

#2 The Velvet Teen – Cum Laude!

One of the hardest bands to pin down with a genre. The Velvet Teen seem to reinvent themselves on each new release. One of my biggest problems when I first bought this album was trying to get over the vocals due to the distorted effect used on my songs. I listened to Elysium before buying Cum Laude! and loved Judah Nagler voice so much that I had a hard time listening to an album in which it voice was so obscured. After I got over this minor road block I came to adore the album and thus the reason it ranked number two in 2006.

Mp3: The Velvet Teen – Noi Boi (buy)

#1 Beirut – Gulag Orkester

Probably one of the most blogged about bands this year, next to The Hold Steady and rightfully deserving of so (notice which band is on this list). The reason I loved this album so much is partly because it was like nothing I had ever heard before. An eastern European gypsy album that didn’t include a guitar in the making of doesn’t seem like most music aficionados cup of tea. When you listen to this album you are immediately brought to a war-stricken freezing countryside town with only a dirt road leading up to it. Anyone who does not own this album I would suggest buying it without even listing to a single song.

Mp3: Beirut – Canals Of Our City (buy)

Posted By:

ALEX