Most Overrated Albums of 2006
Article #1 in the Best and Worst Music of 2006 series
aka, albums that people seemed to rave about that I thought were pretty average. Ah yes, it’s the “if I don’t like it must be crap” critiquing method. Brilliant. And by “people” I mean the press, and hipster press at that. I think we all know who I’m talking about.
If you haven’t heard of these, or don’t consider them overrated, do check them out, all are worth a listen.
5. Everything All The Time (Band of Horses)
The vocals for this entire album appear to be recorded in a large empty auditorium coupled with instrumentation so fuzzy that there’s nary a sharp sound to be heard. This means its safe for infants and those on suicide watch. Angsty lyrics which don’t really say anything are laid upon straightforward FM-station guitar and drums.
4. Let Me Introduce My Friends (I’m From Barcelona)
This Swedish 29-piece band appears to be following Australia’s Architecture in Helsinki playbook. Make lots of childish songs with bouncy music made using an assortment of odd instruments. AiH, while not inventors of this style, pull it off much more convincingly. I’m From Barcelona tend to drone a little.
3. Writer’s Block (Peter Bjorn and John)
Now, Writer’s Block is not a bad album, I just don’t feel it’s worthy of so much praise. Track 3, Young Folks (featuring Victoria Bergsman) is a stand out, a very catch pop tune. The rest, while not bad just aren’t great.
(p.s., I don’t have it in for the Swedes)
2. Return to Cookie Mountain (TV On The Radio)
Clearly a good album by a great band. Interesting and inventive with excellent vocals. That said, I could just never love it as much as the rave reviews seemed to suggest it was love-worthy. My only thought as to why would be the patchiness of the album, for example Blues From Down Here, is musically rather dull even with a smattering of instruments (the vocals excellent, however).
1. Ys (Joanna Newsom)
With her child-like voice Joanna Newsom sings little tales with an accompaniment of delicate strings arranged by Van Dyke Parks. The best track is the shortest and least meandering, Cosmia, running for seven odd minutes.
It seems that Joanna Newsom is the fashionable off-beat artist-to-know for 2006, much like Sigur Rós in 1999. I can’t help but think this “OMG it’s so weird” factor has pushed the profile up somewhat. In fact, it’s not really anything so new or weird and there are plenty of other people doing so-called psychedelic-folk better such as that artist-to-know of 2004, Devendra Banhart. Perhaps my attention span is too short but in the end, I think some tighter editing would help.
26. December 2006
Comments
Commenting is closed for this article.
Best and Worst Music of 2006 Most Disappointing Albums of 2006