Best Of

Starting at 1967, rock music has had an amazing year when the year ends with ‘7.’ Look at the track record: 1967: The Beatles’ Sergeant Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band, The Velvet Underground’s Velvet Underground and Nico, Jimi Hendrix’s Are You Experienced?, Pink Floyd’s Piper at the Gates of Dawn. 1977: The year punk broke -- The Clash’s self-titled, Talking Heads’ Talking Heads: 77, Elvis Costello’s My Aim is True, Telveision’s Marquee Moon, The Sex Pistols’ Never Mind the Bollocks Here’s The Sex Pistols and Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours. 1987: U2’s The Joshua Tree, Prince’s Sign ‘O’ The Times, Bruce Springsteen’s…

2007 will most likely be remembered, at least in terms of music history, as the year that DRM began to crumble and vanish. The technology and policies of the record labels have been the biggest stories of all; luckily there was some good music along the way.  Most Disappointing AlbumRadiohead -- In Rainbows God help me, I have tried to love Radiohead. I own the majority of their albums, and when In Rainbows was announced in a downloadable, choose your own price, form, I had to support the band regardless of what I felt about their music. In Rainbows had…

5. Prince -- Planet EarthFor disc jockeys not to give this album a chance to be heard was a downright shame. The single “Guitar” is funky fun of the first order, while “The One U Wanna C” is the most easily accessible Prince pop song in years. Harkening back to the age of disco, “Chelsea Rodgers” is the one throw-down dance track that will make you get up on your feet and, in Prince’s words, “shake it like a Juicy Juice.” The mid-tempo “Lion Of Judah” starts out sounding a little like the classic “Purple Rain,” but unfortunately that’s where…

Three That Didn't1. IAMX (Great Scott, Boston, MA; October 18) Chris Corner of Sneaker Pimps (aka IAMX) and his band did an excellent job of bringing this cavernous little nightclub to life with an electrifying performance promoting his sophomore effort, The Alternative. Even with just one keyboardist in the band, Corner did a great job of performing a catalog of densely electronic dance tracks, and these rawer, more rock versions never for a moment sounded stale or out-of-place. But the show gets big “no-no” for the set-length, which consisted of more than half of The Alternativ, and only two cuts…

As I've mentioned before, I was moving and getting settled for most of the early part of 2006. As such, I present the DV faithful with the Top 14 of 2005 and 2006: 14. Nickel Creek -- Why Should The Fire Die? Newgrass wunderkinds Nickel Creek break out of their sophomore slump with a tight, powerful CD of brilliant music. 13. Blackmore's Night -- Winter Carols I don't often put holiday music on this list, but I had to in this case. Candace Night has the most beautiful voice currently recording.  12. Il Divo -- Siempre Yes, they're manufactured. Yes, they're…

For the music charts, this was the year of Justin Timberlake and High School Musical, not to mention entirely too much attention given to Paris Hilton and Kevin Federline. American Idol continued its reign, Beck released an album with stickers for do-it-yourself album art and I still haven’t figured out the appeal of Fall Out Boy or Panic! At The Disco. But for me, on the other hand, 2006 was also the year of some fantastic indie debuts, follow-ups from old favorites and the odd supergroup who detested being termed a supergroup -- not to mention a lot of paychecks…

No drawn-out introduction here. Below you'll find a top 10 list of the records I personally enjoyed most in 2006:10. Gnarls Barkley -- St. ElsewhereAfter all the British-sponsored hype about this dynamic duo, the likely one-off release was a major disappointment. However, tracks like "Go-Go Gadget Gospel," "Crazy," "Smiley Faces" and "The Last Time" provide more than enough forward-thinking sheen to gain this relatively dull offering numerous top 10 entries this year -- including mine. If you want to call it R&B or soul (which I do), this is certainly the most notable release in a very, very long time.9.…

In baseball they call it a rebuilding year… that in-between space where you’re more preoccupied with missing the past and looking forward to the future than with focusing on the present you’re inhabiting.  I can’t say the year 2006 made a big impression on me musically.  Other than the few standouts noted below, the biggest news for me this year was that Fountains Of Wayne, the Redwalls and Jimmy Eat World are all back in the studio working on 2007 releases.  That said, here are a few randomish awards:  Album I Most Regret Not Reviewing This Year Like many latter-day fans…

My top 10 favorite concerts of 2006, in descending order:1. Porcupine Tree (Keswick Theatre, Glenside, PA & State Theatre, Falls Church, VA; October 07 & October 08): These back-to-back shows top the list because Steven Wilson and his group simply put on awesome performances both nights. In what seemed like a common theme on all concerts on the band’s entire Arriving Somewhere tour, both the shows were divided into two halves. The band played unreleased material from the upcoming album on the first half and the regular favorites during the second. The new material, which included the brilliant tentatively-titled “The…

Has it been a year already? Indeed it has, and 2006 definitely was a step up from a so-so 2005. From revitalized classic rock artists to newfound respect for current performers, this year was a bit more like it.  Comeback Album Of The YearElton John -- The Captain and the Kid This was one of the hardest categories for me to decide on. There were three extremely worthy artists: Meat Loaf, Elton John and Cat Stevens as a late bloomer. In the end, though, Elton takes this category simply because this is his best in 30 years. While all three albums are…