Year in Review

Looking back over the year in movies and music, you had to marvel at the udder mediocrity of it all. Seriously, I can't remember a worse year for media releases overall. No major blockbuster movie to speak of, unless you count the return of Superman (which I thought was surprisingly entertaining... and I'm not a fan of the Superman). X3 was disappointing, The Departed might have been the best movie & it was a remake, and Borat was the "funniest" movie of the year. Maybe it just pales in comparison to the film releases in 2005, but I was left unfulfilled. I'm not sure I even have a Top 5. Probably only a Top 3 with Lady Vengeance, The Departed & Casino Royale. And none stand out as something I'm going to go immediately buy on DVD.

Music was no exception to the craptastic 52 week struggle that was the year '05. Seriously, I think the world of music suffered even more than film did in 2006. Jay-Z came out of retirement and proved again it's hard to follow up a classic album. The Jigga should change his number back to 23... 46 isn't really working for him. But since I do have a Top 5 for music, I'll share it with the Lodge. And we'll hope 2007 brings back the funk (maybe in remembrance to the recent passing of Mr. James Brown), some soul, and a little bit of rock.

For the record, my 6-10 consists of the following releases that barely missed the cut (in no particular order): Yellow House by Grizzly Bear, Fox Confessor Brings The Flood by Neko Case, The Crane Wife by The Decemberists, Continuum by John Mayer (listen to it before you rip the dude, he brought the blues back in this one... the blues are back, people) & Modern Times by Bob Dylan. I've included links in the text to listen to the artist's MySpace pages for a taste. And here we go...

2006 Top 5 Albums:

1. St. Elsewhere by Gnarls Barkley

If you haven't heard Crazy by now, you either live in a third world country or are dead. There's no in-between. And yes, the album is very good. Danger Mouse put himself into the upper echelon of producers with his last 3 albums (with the "Grey Album" & "Demon Days" being the preceding two)... Pharell better watch his back. Technically this record was released in 2006 so it qualifies. You don't see me putting The Shins leaked new one here, do you? No, you don't.

2. Till the Sun Turns Black by Ray LaMontagne

I know Seatown is in agreement with me on this one. I've probably played this Ray LaMontagne release the most out of any record this year. It's just easy listening. Till the Sun Turns Black is a perfect album to kick back and relax to. Like Tribe used to rap... it's like butter, baby. The guy is talented. If you dig him, check out Lamontagne's cover of Crazy on my MySpace page.

3. FutureSex / LoveSounds by Justin Timberlake

Timbaland outdid himself on the key tracks of JT's latest. Plus, this album led to the "___ in a box" sketch on SNL. So we have more than the music to be thankful for this year. Say what you want about Justin, but this record is solid. JT had a lot of help, besides Timbaland, other records on the album were produced by will.i.am, Rick Rubin and Timberlake himself.

4. Hell Hath No Fury by Clipse

The best hip-hop album of the year. Of course, it's backed by a butt-load of beats from The Neptunes (aka Pharell Williams & Chad Hugo). Sonicly, the album has few peers, but Malice and Pusha T don't let you down on the mic either. Hell Hath No Fury stands as one of the most entertaining releases of the year.

5. The Eraser by Thom Yorke

Radiohead's Thom Yorke first solo effort reminds me of an electronic record of Yorke's dreams. Longtime Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich produced this 9-song solo debut for the Radiohead frontman, which sounds like Radiohead stripped down and played only with beats, synth & only a little guitar. It leaves you wanting more, revealing another side to Radiohead's greatness.