I didn't know about this:

22. Greg Graffin - Cold As the Clay [Anti]

either, but I am downloading it now as well. Sounds great:

Following a solo album released in 1997 under the alias American Lesion, Cold as the Clay comes as the first effort from Bad Religion frontman Greg Graffin issued under his own name. Unlike the simple singer/songwriter approach of American Lesion, this album finds Graffin -- backed by members of the Weakerthans, among other musicians -- paying homage to his early upbringing in Wisconsin (where family singalongs were prevalent) with what the album sticker proclaims as "a heart-rending collection of old-timey American folk." And essentially, that's exactly what Cold as the Clay is. Recorded and mixed in a week with players sitting in the studio as though around a campfire, the reflective songs range from mere acoustic numbers to ones that further incorporate banjo, mandolin, harmonica, and more.

[link]

I just have a really hard time getting past the tin shed aesthetics on the vocals.

Oh, I like it. It sounds oh-so-Shangri-Las to me.

Tina, be forewarned that the Isis/Aerogramme disc is somewhere between Sabbath and Tortoise.

And Tommyrot, thanks for the Faust!

Faust is one of those "always meant to listen to" bands, so this is the first I've actually heard them. Hmm... eMusic has some of their stuff...

off to download...

Go for Faust IV if you can. It's your best way in.

Yeah, that sounds like the one to get, although eMusic doesn't have it.

So far, I'm really rocking on "J'ai Mal Aux Dents" (from The Faust Tapes ).

So, for the first time since 2003 I did an end-of-year-ish mix CD for family and friends. 2004 I was in the midst of moving, and last winter I just dropped the ball, but I finally got around to it. The wacky numbering was just to keep the songs in the order I wanted them in, but I decided to keep them as it makes it a "Top 10" even though that's not what these are.

0. Battle Without Honor or Humanity - Tomoyasu Hotei
0.5 Who's Joe? - New Order
1. An Honest Mistake - The Bravery
1.5 Scientist - The Dandy Warhols
2. Slip Away - Laurie Anderson
2.5 I Don't Wanna Fall in Love - She Wants Revenge
3. Something Bigger, Something Brighter - Pretty Girls Make Graves
3.5 After Dark - Le Tigre
4. Good Boys - Blondie
5. Girls - Tricky
5.5 Bad Boyfriend - Garbage
6. Wounded World - Mission of Burma
6.5 Burn the Witch - Queens of the Stone Age
7. The Sweets - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
7.5 Kiss you Off - Scissor Sisters
8. Destroy Everything you Touch - Ladytron
8.5 We Get Low - The Dead 60s
9. Light's On - Secret Machines
10 Every Planet we Reach is Dead - Gorillaz

Best of -06 mix. Not really the same as the top ten albums list. (Insent to buffistarawk)

01. Thea Gilmore - Play Until the Bottle's Gone
The secret track on Harpo's Ghost, and I really really hate this idea. If the song is good enough to be on the album, then why hide it? And also, the silence between the listed song and the hidden drives me insane. Having said that, why not open with this.

02. Howling Bells - Low Happening
Australian band. When most everyone else polarises into fast and deadly slow songs, it's nice to find a band that actually proves that "mid tempo" isn't a curse word.

03. Deltahead - My Mama Was Too Lazy To Pray
Swedish duo, but it's more like two one-man-bands merged. Two bass drums, a standing bass and an electric guitar.

04. Hellwood - Fireworks Factory
Johnny Dowd, Jim White and Willie B, this is country that resides in the same space as Tom Waits' Bone Machine.

05. Regina Spektor - On The Radio
I think I'm gonna go against the flow and say that Begin to Hope is better than last years Soviet Kitsch. Without a doubt the best girl-by-piano that's active right now. Warren Ellis once described her as "Tori Amos for people who like music". While I don't have anything against Tori Amos, he does have a point none the less.

06. Tingsek - Proud To Be Part Of These Days
Swedish americanafolksoul-ish. The sad part about Tingseks second album is that the bass is mixed a bit too low. Otherwise it would probably have been my top album of the year. Perhaps. Despite being a Thea Gilmore hype-machine, I'm considering this as a possible fact. Live on the other hand it's a sort of americana funk. (His cover on Depeche Mode's "Shake the Disease" with a back beat practically crushes every inch of the original. I need to find a bootleg. )

(cont.)

(cont.)

07. Jenny Hoyston and William Elliott Whitmore - First Of A Thousand Beasts
Not from the album on the list, but from a EP-ish thing he made with Jenny Hoyston. Six songs, mostly duets. This also means that it's not quite as minimalistic as Whitmore's other albums. His raspy graveyard-voice and banjo is still present, but it's contrasted by Hoyston. Oh, and it's not quite as much about death either. (His three own records are very much recommended.)

08. TV On The Radio - Hours
This was probably the first thing I heard by them. Later that evening a friend told me to get their first one as well as that one is better. I have, sadly, not done this yet. But I really should.

09. The Black Keys - Strange Desire
A lot of blues this year, but no one does it better than the Black Keys. People have been giving this album so-so reviews. I think it's because they let their influences from late 60s/early 70s heavy metal shine through and that's just not proper(tm). I however loved it.

10. Sparklehorse - Mountains
This is basically the same thing as TV On the Radio. Same friend, same words. Except that he said Sparklehorse instead of that other group.

11. Frank Black - If Your Poison Gets You
A highly uneven record, I don't get why Frank Black feel the urge to do each third album as a double. But on the other hand, it's not really bad either. The song "You Can't Crucify Yourself" has a brilliant chorus, but this song has a better groove.

12. The Zutons - It's The Little Things We Do
While the surface is like any other rock band -- a bit better though as it isn't quite as Pro Toolified -- the lyrics are darker than you expected. There's a stalk-someone-and-keep-them-in-the-basement-out-in-the-cabin-in-the-woods and well, other things such as that. And this hangover tune.

13. (bonus) The Lost Patrol Band - Safety Pin
The singer started out in the Swedish hardcore band Refused. Since then he's done some singer-songwriter under the name Lost Patrol. This however is more pop-punk in the vein of Buzzcocks.

Thanks! I'm looking forward to hearing your mix. Also, yes on the Sparklehorse. Their first album (vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot) is all kindsa wonderful, a great mix of creepy atmospherics and giant-heart rock hooks, and Good Morning Spider is a stealth bomb of cool sounds and great songs.

Happily downloading your mix now, Nicklas.

I can't believe you don't have the first TV on the Radio yet! Go get it now - I think it is the better of the two.

Nice year-end mix, Frankenbuddha. I am unfamiliar with a lot of those tracks though I know the bands.