January 7, 2007

Best Music 2006 - Scott Higgins

Hi Rob ---

Good to hear from you and thanks for the inclusion in your poll. I'm also forwarding the whole shebang to my pop fan friends (Jay, Paul, and Ethan) in hopes they will contribute.

Here's a mixture of Songs and LP's ---

1) Camera Obscura -- Let's Get Out of This Country
I fell in love with this LP over the fall. The nod to Mr. Cole caught my attention, but the Phil Specter meets indie-pop sound kept me coming back.

2) Pipas -- Sorry Love
This LP is so short you can learn every note within a week. And I did. Their blog is also endearing.

3) DJ Hint -- Portakabin Fever
An "oldie" dating back to 2002, though I didn't discover it until O3. Immaculate. It has the staying power of Every Man and Woman a Star, which for me is very rare company. While Lemon Jelly has run its course for me, DJ Hint continues to flow.

4) Boozoo Bajou --- The First Four Songs on Juke Joint II
I can't really recommend the whole compilation, but the first four songs set an irresistible groove. The two highlights are Boozoo's re imagination of Rainy Night in Georgia (they knew just what to leave alone in the original track) and "The Thing" by Urbs and Cutex. Intelligent downbeat.

5) Belle and Sebastian --- Dress Up in You
Classic B and S --- insanely high syllable count and hardly any repetition in the lyric, but catchy nonetheless. As a particularly cruel promotional stunt, the band posted an instrumental version before the LP was released and invited fans to "sing along" --- but there is no way of figuring out the melody for these words from the backing chords. Plus, I think I rode a bus with one of the band this summer in Glasgow.

6) Adam Ant -- Kiss the Drummer
A B side I hadn't heard until this year and it is a very special song --- a blissfully stupid and incoherent collection of hooks. I played it very loud in the car, and briefly recaptured by blissfully stupid and incoherent adolescence.

7) Nightmares on Wax -- Smokers Delight
Reaching back to 1995, this one brings back the hazy atmosphere of my grad-school apartment but without the pain and pressure. A fine companion for mid summer.

8) Roger Miller -- Do Wacka Do
A song from Bess's bedtime disk that caught my attention this year. Miller is best known for King of the Road, but this song is just much angrier, it has an unexpectedly dark edge for my three-year old daughter's bedtime disk. Catchy as all get out too.

9) Telepopmusic -- Breathe
Another unfashionably dated track (2002). But nice filler and background.

10) Chet Baker in Paris Volume II
At the end of the day, when work is done and kids are in bed, you are in good hands with Chet -- and this has been another favorite since the late 1980s. Everyone should own it.

Regards,
Scott H.

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