From 2006

Wherein I propose we move New Years to the first weekend in August. First, this Sunday/Monday thing sucks ass. Two, instead of an ending and a beginning, January 1 seems to be the middle of just about everything. Three, I forget what three is for.

Albums purchased/sampled in 2006. Not that many. I'm finding it harder and harder to be interested in much of anything. In reverse order.

1. Santastic II: Clausome. A mashup collection of Christmas music. Some not so good, some interesting, a couple that are good, then there's Jingle Jane. A very cool collage pasted around Smokey Robinson and The Miracles AND The Velvet Underground, it's instantly become one of my holiday favorites.
   
2. Christmas is 4 Ever, Bootsy Collins. What's particularly nice about this album is he obviously put some effort into it. Not everything works, but what does work is just a funky jam sandwich. Since December 4, I have played Boot-Off (AKA Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer) 21 times.
   
3. Briefcase Full of Blues, Blues Brothers. Because it is fun.
   
4. Sean Na Na. Downloaded four songs by the band from the guy who is Har Mar Superstar. Nah, not enough there to get me to spend money.
   
5. Ultimate Collection: Jesse Johnson, Jesse Johnson. Because I was missing a bunch of his songs. One of the lost treasures of 80s R&B.
   
6. Live At the Brushwood Lounge, Patrice Pike. Discovered her on that Rock Star show. Though she was completely wrong for what was revealed to be a joke of a band, she impressed me and this album is a treat. It's from 2004, but she does have a 2006 CD I forgot to buy. She's the only member of this summer's show I purchased music from--I spent money on three performers from Rock Star: INXS.
   
7. Oh No, OK Go. The guys with the video done on treadmills. It was clever and inventive and the song was kinda good. Bought the album and enjoyed.
   
8. Wendy and Lisa, Wendy and Lisa. Again, another lost treasure from the 80s. My cassette of this album disintegrated decades ago.
   
9. Victor Vito, Laurie Berkner. We were missing one of her CDs, now the set is complete. If you have kids Laurie is an Oasis in a desert of bad music.
   
10. *********, *******. This album to remain unnamed was gifted from a person to remain unnamed. I haven't quite come to terms with this album. Despite it being loud and bluesy bar music it just doesn't work for me. I think it's the singer. During the solos I find myself cranking the volume, then turning it back down for the vocals. When a song pops up during shuffle play I'll usually say "this is good, who is it?" Guess it works better for me in small bites. Does track 5 have a different lead singer? Might be my favorite.
    
11. Too-Rye-Ay, Dexy's Midnight Runners. The band's Stand Me Down is one of my favorite albums and I'd read a few things about the band and Kevin Rowland. I think I was going to write something about them, then forgot. Anyway, I downloaded this to see if it was as good as I remembered. It is. Come On Eileen tends to get a lot of crap, but I think that's mostly to it's being played to death. It's quite a good pop song. A lot of the music in the early 80s tended towards the dour and/or the heavy use of synthesizers. Not that this was necessarily bad; my record collection is filled with this stuff. But Dexy's unbridled Northern Soul enthusiasm was and is a treat. Stand Me Down is still a masterpiece, but this ain't half bad.
    
12. I like Giants, Kimya Dawson. Forgot about this. Heard I Like Giants and looked it up. Loved the fast-paced monotone delivery. One of my favorite songs of the year, but I never got around to buying a CD.
    
13. The Little Willies, The Little Willies. Favorite CD of the year., I'm no fan of country music, but I kept coming back to this collection of Western swing all year. Never paid much attention to Norah Jones, now I want to buy her CDs. Not a damn thing bad about this.
    
14. The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee , Original Cast Recording. Enjoyable. Missed it when The Alliance opened their season with it.
    
15. From Croydon To Cuba... An Anthology, Kirsty MacColl. Excellent collection of music by a singer who never did much in the U.S. other than appear on a couple of Pogues songs. See Justice For Kirsty.
    
16. James Brown's Original Funky Divas, Lyn Collins, Marva Whitney, Vicki Anderson, James Brown, and others. Found this looking for Lyn Collins' Think (About It). It's a collection of 46 songs featuring women produced by James Brown. Never knew this existed and that isn't right.
    
17. Whatever and Ever Amen (Remastered Edition), Ben Folds Five. Song for the Dumped is worth the price of admission.
    
18. Romance 1600, Sheila E. Bought for A Love Bizarre. Some of the rest is ok.
    
19. Other People's Lives, Ray Davies. Uneven.
    
20. Faust, Randy Newman. Already owned this, but found that the version on iTunes came with about 20 aditional demo tracks. Neat stuff with Randy explaining what the characters are doing.
    
21. Marty Casey & Lovehammers, Marty Casey & Lovehammers. Marty Casey was on Rock Star: INXS and his Trees was one of my favorite 2005 songs. This is ok, a little too Soundgardenish for my ears. A little too much studio smoothing.

That's it. Buncha music I probably would've liked, just never got around to it.