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:: FEATURE ::   

2006 turned out to be a very category-oriented year for music. If it was split up into categories, the categories would be as follows: Legends, Quality Sellouts, Sophomores, Hip-Hop, and Dance/Electronic.

Legends
Van Morrison, Paul Simon, Bob Dylan

Some major musical legends released some wonderful albums this year. Van Morrison, whom I don't necessarily enjoy, but many others do, received critical acclaim with his album, Pay the Devil, exploring traditional country music with a bunch of covers, which included a couple Hank Williams tunes, and a few of Morrison originals. "(His) own mercurial versions of these nuggets are more traditional than those of (Ray) Charles, yet are steeped in similar production styles that offer a clear nod to the late artist" during his Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music albums era. (allmusic.com).

Paul Simon also turned to the past while still keeping his focus on the future. A touch of Graceland was evident in his 2006 effort Surpise. Besides being a quality collection of songs, the album also showed Simon's desire to grow and stretch himself, teaming up with Brian Eno as a collaborator. The growth in popularity of the electronic sound may have had something to do with the collaboration, but this album is not an effort to reach a young hip audience, but it is truly another Paul Simon exploration of world music and new ideas. He may have become a little bit of a softie in his old age (see his album, You're the One), but the music on this album is a turn in the right direction.

Then there is always the reliable Bob Dylan, who in the past few years has been responsible for some wonderful albums. Though Modern Times is not a ground breaking effort, it is, however, full of some wonderful songwriting that complements Dylan's voice and talent. Enjoying his recent success, this album is truly a celebration with comfortable songs and production. Dylan is doing what he does best.

Sophomores
TV on the Radio, Grizzly Bear, The Knife

Sophomore albums are notorious for being rushed and mediocre due to success of the debut album and the need to satisfy their new fans. However 2006 brought us three incredible sophomore albums that followed some incredible debuts.

TV on the Radio, who were heavily praised for their debut Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes, did not have an easy task with their second album, with the pressure to meet fan and critical expectations. Return to Cookie Mountain did more than meet expectations. It proved that TV on the Radio is more than just a great band, but a major force in alternative music.

Grizzly Bear caught critical attention in 2006 with their album, Yellow House. With a little bit of research, one will see that their debut album, Horn of Plenty was well received, but did not get much attention back in 2004. Either way, Yellow House blows it out of the water with its unusual songwriting built on traditional alternative folk-rock. The band behind this amazingly beautiful collection of songs deserves to be recognized more than they were, even in 2006.

The Knife's follow up to 2005's Deep Cuts (mainly known for the song, "Heartbeats," later covered by Jose Gonzalez) is the incredible Silent Shout. The Knife could have ridden on the success of Deep Cuts and put out another good-but-not-great album and pleased their fans for the next several albums, but they didn't. They created an album that has reached more than fans of electronic music. Silent Shout is a fascinating mix of electronic and dark atmospheric music that haunts the listener while keeping their attention. Silent Shout is incredibly creative and original.

Quality Sellouts
The Decemberists, Bonnie "Prince" Billy,
Calexico

The word, "sellout" is thrown around quite loosely by bitter fans who don't appreciate the success of their favorite indie band, or by critics who feel the music industry seduced the once original and ground breaking group that topped their past years' "best of" list. The following three bands are some of the most creative and original artists of the past few years.

Since 2002, The Decemberists have enjoyed a quick rise to indie-fame through their first three albums. Their fun, creative folk-rock sound has gained the band a lot of attention. In 2006 the band released The Crane Wife through Capital Records. The album has a more accessible sound that turned off some critics and fans, but reached a wider audience. The album is an incredible achievement that shows a maturity that could be mistaken as a compromise on The Decemberists' part. The sound may satisfy a wider audience, but the creativity and the touch of Colin Meloy's dark and strange poetic lyrics stand alone as great artistic achievements.

Bonnie "Prince" Billy would be the last person anyone would expect to release an accessible album, but The Letting Go was one of the most beautifully relaxing albums of the year, and even though it was easy-listening compared to some of his other darkly strange records, it doesn't mean he compromised his integrity as an artist. The lyrics are still haunting and the music is still perfectly sparse - though full enough to possibly be seen as a compromise by some. This is possibly some of his most intelligent songwriting, and it would be a shame to pass it over as a "sellout" record.

Calexico has been known for their world music influenced music, so it was a little bit of a shock, to some, to hear their latest album Garden Ruin. This album contains some of the most beautiful and complex folk music of 2006, most likely because the band has been playing a wide variety of complex music for the past decade with their Southwestern influenced Americana. Though, their newest album caters to a wider audience, it is still complex and artistic. Their recent album In the Reins with Iron & Wine is an example of their musical intelligence. They complemented each other by building off of their own strengths and strengthening the other's weaknesses. Now, before you go and label a band as a "sellout," analyze the music and ask yourself why they made the career changing decision and are they truly compromising their artistic integrity.

Hip-Hop
Gnarls Barkley, Lupe Fiasco,
J Dilla (a.k.a. Jay Dee), Ghostface Killah

This was an interesting year for hip-hop. Some new faces have brought a refreshing sound to hip-hop and some veterans have been hard at work, releasing two albums within a year, whether they are living (Ghostface) or deceased (J Dilla).

One of the most anticipated albums of early 2006 was Gnarls Barkley's St. Elsewhere, and to many fans and critics, they met the high expectations. Their refreshing blend of hip-hop and soul brought a new voice to mainstream modern R&B and will hopefully help bring more creativity and variety to this monotonous radio friendly genre.

As a Muslim, Lupe Fiasco's message is positive with social criticism underlying most of the songs. The most lighthearted track on the record, "Kick, Push" follows a suburban skater kid from his discovery of the skateboard through finding a girlfriend and trying to choose between his two loves. On the surface, Food & Liquar may seem shallow, but the complexity and creativity reveals itself while digging deeper into the music and lyrics. There is a glossy finish to the album, but the songwriting and production is incredibly intelligent and creative.

J Dilla, a premier producer and DJ, finally broke through to indie stardom only days before he passed away on February 10, 2006. His album, Donuts has shown up on many year end critic lists. His second album, The Shining was released later in August to many positive reviews. He had been producing for over a decade for such artists as The Pharcyde, De La Soul, and Common. It's too bad that he had to release an album to receive the attention that he's deserved for a long time - and three days before his death at that.

Ghostface released, arguably, the best albums of his career with Fishscale and followed it up with More Fish. Since Supreme Clientele and the Pretty Toney Album Ghostface has become one of indie music critic's darlings. Fishscale's long list of producers actually includes the late J Dilla among other greats such as Just Blaze, Pete Rock, and MF Doom. More Fish would seem like a collection of Fishscale outtakes thrown together in order to take advantage of its success, but More Fish was very well received by critics and fans and Ghostface seems to have put a fair amount of time and energy into its production.

All in all, 2006 was a good year for hip-hop and I look forward to what 2007 will bring us....

Dance/Electronic
Junior Boys, The Liars, Hot Chip

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