Treble Album of the Week Mix 2006, Vol. 3
As 2006 rolls into its second half, we want to take the time to look back at the last couple of months’ worth of great releases. Our newest album of the week mix proves to be quite eclectic—punk, shoegazer, singer-songwriters, freak folk, even freakier folk, hippie jam rock (we mean that in the best way), psych-soul, electro-funk and, of course, Sonic Youth. To anyone who says that 2006 has been a disappointment so far, we say you’ve been listening to the wrong records. And these seventeen tracks are a pretty good representation, if you ask us.
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Treble Album of the Week Mix 2006, Vol. 3
1.Josh Ritter “Girl in the War”
From Animal Years
“`Girl in the War’ is the first song on the album, and is one of the best songs of the year.’
2.Maritime “No One Will Remember You”
From We, the Vehicles
“The award for most interesting track may have to be awarded to `No One Will Remember You Tonight,’ however, for its locomotive drum brushes combined with taut, jerky acoustic chords and absolutely heavenly melodies.”
3.Serena Maneesh “Sapphire Eyes”
From Serena-Maneesh
“…the incredible `Sapphire Eyes’ builds white noise drones into an epic, monumental rock opus.”
4.Gnarls Barkley “The Last Time”
From St. Elsewhere
“…the psychedelic pop-hop masterpiece that Beck wished he wrote”
5.Danielson “Did I Step on Your Trumpet?”
From Ships
“One of the more compelling songs on the album is the foot-stomper, `Did I Step on Your Trumpet,’ which stemmed from a time when a grade school friend accused Smith of actually flattening the bell of his trumpet.”
6. Flying “Minors”
From Just One Second Ago Broken Eggshell
“Starting off with distorted farfisa, handclaps and pounding bass drum, the melody gives way to a rollicking barroom piano stomp, and the song becomes a joyous, tripped-out romp.”
7. Espers “Dead Queen”
From II
“The opening track off of their latest epic masterpiece, II, `Dead Queen,’ is Elizabethan theatre folk with electric guitars”
8. The Walkmen “Lost in Boston”
From A Hundred Miles Off
“`Lost in Boston,’ …aside from having the catchiest melody here, contains an amusing line about Fleet Week, sailors, `mini skirts and high heeled shoes.‘”
9. Mission of Burma “1001 Pleasant Dreams”
From The Obliterati
“the remarkably catchy `1001 Pleasant Dreams,’ a tightly wound ball of tension, pairs odd, surreal couplets such as `you said my name was hyper-allergenic/you said I was not hyper-real.'”
10.Vetiver “No One Word”
From To Find Me Gone
“`No One Word’ is one of the most compelling songs on the album, beginning a string of songs that remind one of the more traditional folk singer / songwriters of yore.”
11.American Princes “Annie”
From Less and Less
“Another stunner is `Annie,’ a Jeff Tweedy meets the Beatles string laden treasure.”
12.Sonic Youth “Sleepin’ Around”
From Rather Ripped
“Then comes `Sleepin’ Around,’ a chugging, skronky rock song in the vein of Dirty, with heavy lows and tom heavy drums.”
13.Hot Chip “And I Was a Boy From School”
From The Warning
“Though it’s catchy and it may bounce with the best of today’s discotheque darlings, it’s a surprisingly heartfelt song, making for a combination that hasn’t been brought together this well since the first half of New Order’s Substance.”
14.Be Your Own PET “Bicycle, Bicycle You Are My Bicycle”
From Be Your Own PET
“In the way too fun song, `Bicycle, Bicycle, You Are My Bicycle,’ (Jemina Pearl) can’t help but entice you to sing along with `We’re on two wheels, baby!‘”
15.Herbert “Something Isn’t Right”
From Scale
“On the smooth pop sounds of `Something Isn’t Right,’ however, Siciliano duets with Dave Okumu and Neil Thomas, sounding something like an angrier update of Stevie Wonder’s `You Are The Sunshine of My Life,’ replacing its sweet sentiments with vitriolic statements like `cover up: it’s an allied slaughter/pucker up: it’s a friendly torture.'”
16.Psapp “Hi”
From The Only Thing I Ever Wanted
“`Hi’ starts things off with a harmony of various percussion instruments and the mysterious sounds of water droplets, eventually chiming in is our good friend, the electric guitar.”
17. Howlin Rain “Roll on Rusted Days”
From Howlin Rain
“…road tunes like `Roll on the Rusted Days’ seem to say `keep on trucking,’ of course, in the manner that Jerry Garcia might.