2006 - My Year in Tunes

As promised (or perhaps threatened, depending on your point of view), here is my annual collection of musical reflections on the year past. Keep in mind that I don't contend that these are the "best" of anything, but I suppose it's fair to say they are my favorites from the last 12 months. As usual, they're divided into 2006 tunes and pre-2006 releases.

New for 2006

• Univers Zero - Live: When I first experienced Univers Zero (via The Hard Quest), I was a little perplexed. It was a little sterile, not very "rockish," and not nearly as dark as I thought it might be. Nonetheless, I took a chance on this new live album when I came across it and I'm very glad I did. Maybe it's the more aggressive bass playing, but the material in this set smokes. The THQ tunes are sharper and livelier and the other stuff ("Toujours Plus A L'Est", in particular) are equally good.

• Mike Keneally Band - Guitar Therapy Live: What would one of these annual recaps be without some Keneally? It'd be easier to leave him off it he'd do something not worth talking about. Alas, this smoking live disc isn't it. It documents the second tour of the MKB in four-person form, with Mike joined by bassist Bryan Beller, and guitarist Rick Musallam joined by Zappa vaultmeister Joe Travers. Mike admits in the liner notes that he pretty much flung restraint to the winds on this tour, but the results are almost always justified and, at times, sublime. The version of "Hum" on this disc is worth the price of admission alone.

• The Tangent - A Place in the Queue: This album, The Tangent's third, is also the band's longest and, as a whole, it suffers for that. Some judicious editing would help, but when the band is cranking on all cylinders, it's the best symphonic prog of the year. Composer/keyboardist Andy Tillison takes over all vocal duties with the departure of Roine Stolt and shines on the first two tracks in particular. "In Earnest" deals with a forgotten WWII pilot whose life since has been a disappointment and is alternately rocking and thoughtful. "Lost In London" tells the story of Tillison's mid-80s journey from his country home to London in search of a record deal and how "Yorkshire folk," and by extension all of us outside the cathedrals of power, are ignored by the higher ups. Seriously good stuff.

New to Me in 2006

• Brian Eno - Another Green World (1975): Although I was vaguely familiar with Eno's reputation, I hadn't heard any of his work before finding this a used copy of this album. My curiosity was piqued by the roster of musical accomplices (Phil Collins, Percy Jones, Robert Fripp) and well wishers (Fred Frith, Ian MacDonald, Pete Townsend, Robert Wyatt). I was pleasantly surprised by the material, a collection of early eletronica-flavored art pop.

• Frogg Cafe - Fortunate Observer of Time (2005): Frogg Cafe began life as a Zappa tribute band, but has evolved into an original musical entity of its own with a unique style. Yes, there are Zappa influences (particularly in the instrumentation - tuned percussion, trombone, etc.), but the band draws from a wide array of jazz, fusion, and prog influences. This was one of my favorite finds of the year, once I got past the rather abrupt opening to the disc (it just seems rushed for some reason)

• Sigur Ros - () (2002): Somewhat like Eno, I was a aware of Sigur Ros for a while, but never actually heard them. Thanks to a birthday present from the girlfriend (thanks, honey!), I've been exposed and probably infected. This is some hard stuff to get your head around (not driving music, that's for sure), but very rewarding. It reminds me of a mix of Godspeed You Black Emperor! (or however they're punctuating themselves these days) and Kid A-era Radiohead, right down to the vocals - the lead singer's voice sounds like Thom Yorke and since I can't understand half of what Thom says anyway, the made-up language in which these tunes are sung doesn't bug me.

• Beardfish - The Sane Day (2005): Another gift (this time Xmas - thanks, Mom & Dad!), this two-disc concept album has been in heavy heavy rotation this week. More Zappa influences, but this time amalgamating more rock and symphonic influences than Frogg Cafe. The story itself is about a guy who returns to his hometown after getting dumped by his girlfriend, only to find that things have gotten weird back home (among the characters he meets is "a filthy motherfucker by the name of Dwight" who learns to attract women via some kind of punk ballroom dancing). Lots of instrumental breaks thrown in for good measure. I can see why these guys were the big hit at ProgDay this year.

So, there you have it. On to film!