Local Picks for '06, Part III

Jukebox The Ghost
Tommy: The Flaming Lips, At War with the Mystics
I'm not sure why the critical reception was so lukewarm on this one. t's no Soft Bulletin, but I love it to death... My favorite CD of the year by a landslide.

Ben: Tally Hall, Marvin's Magical Mystery Museum.
Great harmonies, good songwriting. The lyrics are a bit cheesy, but the whole thing is incredibly fun...They're gonna be big.

Jesse: Peter and the Wolf, Lightness
Great music for traveling. Soothing male and female vocal harmonies, folky guitar strumming, and earthly lyrics to match.

Full band: The Beatles, Love
Just the best fucking party mix of all time.

Exit Clov, Respond Respond
Our favorite DC band. Their best studio release to date.

The Fake Accents
Destroyer, Rubies
Finally, Dan Bejar's genius is widely recognized. Who cares if he sucks live?

Pavement, Wowee Zowee: Sordid Sentinels Edition
The best Pavement album, classic rarities like "Give It a Day" and "False Skorpion," plus some great live stuff. Can't go wrong.

Pissed Jeans, Don't Need to Smoke to Make Myself Disappear (7-inch)
Right after this came out, Pete and Zack drove to Philly just to see their 20-minute set, and Pete just about broke his neck from headbanging so goddamn hard. Both sides are CRUCIAL, on the Flipper/Jesus Lizard tip.

Portastatic, Be Still Please
Little Mac's best outing in years, with plenty of energy and hooks like talons. Energetic talons.

Neil Young & Crazy Horse, Live at the Fillmore East
There's nothing worse than having to admit that the aging classic rock dickbag who won't shut up about how much better music was back in "the good old days" is probably right.

Telograph
We Are Scientists, With Love and Squalor
Just a fun, energetic debut record full of catchy songs with a really creative yet simplistic rhythm section. The indie equivalent of a really great power pop punk band.

Secret Machines, Ten Silver Drops
The drums, the kick, the driving sensation of their songs. This record is comprised of more traditional structured songs than their debut but equally as great. Amazing to see how big a sound they create from just three guys. Also, just a really great live show to catch.

TV on the Radio, Return to Cookie Mountain
The main attraction of this album is the vocal prowess of Adebimpe and Malone. The pure genius. The production is also standout quality.

Grizzly Bear, Yellow House
Interesting arrangements and great ambiance.

The Stills, Without Feathers
This album was a departure from the Stills 80's influenced sound, and it proved to be a giant leap forward. Their choice to add piano and leave out the reverb soaked guitars creates a more "earthy" quality. Overall, the songwriting is more dynamic and the instrumentation is diverse.

DCist Music Staff Picks
Each of us picked that one album that we just couldn't get enough of this year.

Ian Buckwalter
Beirut, Gulag Orkestar
Deciding on one record for the year basically came down to Neko Case, Joanna Newsom, and Beirut for me. Which is still surprising to the kid in my head who idolizes early Dischord hardcore, but I guess that's growing up for you. In my heart, I wanted Neko, whose Fox Confessor Brings the Flood makes me swoon, and in my head I wanted Joanna, because Ys is so brilliantly conceived, but in my gut it's a 19-year-old's take on Eastern European folk music that somehow has me consistently hitting "repeat" once the record is over. Gulag Orkestar feels like comfort music without feeling disposable, and has a subtle melancholy that both contrasts and complements how simply and startlingly pretty it all is. My one caveat is that Tom Waits' Orphans: Brawlers, Bawlers and Bastards could very easily take this title away once I get around to listening to it, since it is, after all, Tom Waits.

Salima Appiah-Kubi
Belle & Sebastian, The Life Pursuit
Stuart Murdoch and Co. have succeeded when many a band has failed: changing for the better. Belle and Sebastian maintained the best of their narrative style and elegant lyrics while taking on a bolder musical style, proving that danceable pop doesn't require a synthesizer. This new direction, first glimpsed in Dear Catastrophe Waitress, was full realized on The Life Pursuit. It returned to the well of disaffected youth and never came up empty, especially with "Acts of Apostles" I and II which chronicled a young girl's faith in the middle of school woes and parental illness. Sometimes sad sometimes fun, always beautiful the album showed a band growing up beautifully.

Matt Sedlar
Silversun Pickups, Carnavas
It was difficult to pick only one, especially considering there were so many great albums by amazing artists and I couldn't afford to buy them all. So I went the scientific route and simply looked at the songs that were played the most on my iPod. The winner is Silversun Pickups' Carnavas. I admit I didn't like this album at first. For some reason I didn't immediately connect with the songs (except "Well Thought-Out Twinkles," which I listen to constantly). But after a while, I became slightly obsessed. Is it the pre-goth Smashing Pumpkins-like guitars? The well-crafted songs? Bass player Nikki Monninger's occasional vocal contributions? Maybe I just like to point at the band and brag to my friends that awesome music does come out of Los Angeles. I don't know what it is, but I love it.

Graham Hough-Cornwell
The Hold Steady, Boys and Girls in America
Big surprise, right? The Hold Steady are now officially swimming in DCist praise, and I imagine this isn’t the only place you’ll see them hit the top of a 2006 list. They may have gone a little pop for some folks, but in doing so they’ve cut two of the best pop-rock tunes this year in “You Can Make Him Like You” and “Massive Nights”. There were half-a-dozen other albums I considered for my favorite of the year (Minus 5, The M’s, DBT), but in the end, 2006 will be the year I saw the Hold Steady blow me away three times, and the year they put out the only album I know that can bring together ageing rockers, “sniffling indie kids”, cynical music writers, and frustrated teens. A hundred hyperboles come to mind, but let’s stick to the facts: there isn’t a better rock and roll band right now than the Hold Steady.

Amanda Mattos
The Walkmen, A Hundred Miles Off
When taking on the arduous task of picking one and only one album as my favorite for the year, I decided on one factor: what did I listen to the most? After reminding myself that Gimme Fiction and Funeral came out last year, I came up with one answer above all others: A Hundred Miles Off by The Walkmen. This third studio release from D.C. natives turned New Yorkers outranked its contemporaries on my Most Played list by far (though The Raconteurs gave them a good run for their money). Some people were disappointed that this wasn't another Bows + Arrows. But for me, it displayed the wide range this band can take. From the sweeping mariachi horns in "Louisiana" to the surf rock guitars on "Good For You's Good For Me" to the lazy afternoon vibe on "Another One Goes By," The Walkmen boasted a whole new range they hadn't showed off before. I'm hard pressed to think of a song I liked more in 2006 than "All Hands and the Cook." If you want a ripping, class Walkmen song, there's your takeaway. This band achieves what so few do -- their recordings capture the same gusto and fire that their live shows do. I've gone through this album track by track trying to hear what could possibly disappoint someone, and I come up empty. I'm a huge fan of the band's work that came before this album, and each of these tracks has found a place in heavy rotation amongst old favorites. And really -- how could anyone not love anything Matt Barrick is playing drums on? Than man is five feet of pure fury.

Elizabeth Eckert
Devotchka, Curse Your Little Heart
Despite it being an EP of cover tunes, my most listened to album this year was Devotchka's Curse Your Little Heart. While covering songs from groups as diverse as Siousxie and the Banshee, the Velvet Underground and Frank Sinatra, this Gypsy/Spanish influenced Denver group remakes each song as beautifully wrought mises-en-scenes. Languid cover "I Cried Like a Silly Boy" and lone original "Curse Your Little Heart" are both compelling and devastating, while Nick Urata's croon is intoxicating.

Chris Snyder
Hard-Fi, Stars of CCTV
Hard-Fi released their debut album, Stars of CCTV, in the U.S. this past March. It's a collection of gritty alternative rock laced with dance beats from the English suburbs. The upbeat single "Hard to Beat" is -- in my opinion -- just that, as one of the most addicting new songs of the year. (Think Arctic Monkeys meet Stardust's "Music Sounds Better With You".) Their U.K. success should be crossing over the Atlantic and have them topping the charts very soon along with the rest of the album, most notably the very timely 'self-made celebrity' referencing title track.

Ian Buckwalter, Matt Sedlar, Chris Snyder, Salima Appiah-Kubi, Elizabeth Eckert, Abby Lavin, Graham Hough-Cornwell and Kyle Gustafson contributed to this piece.