The Year in Review :: Part One: Perspicacity

In which indierocket! editor Patrick identifies the albums released in 2006 that should have made last year's year-end list. More...











Cinemechanica, The Martial Arts (Hello Sir)
Speedy, strong, shape-shifting post-hardcore that grabs you by the balls and refuses to let go.













Ornette Coleman, Sound Grammar (Sound Grammar)
The free-jazz master’s best work since Science Fiction.














Colour Revolt, Colour Revolt (Esperanza Plantation/Tiny Evil/Interscope)
While the record doesn’t necessarily do the band the fullest justice, the grandiose nature of this Mississippi quintet’s epic indie rock is on full display. This is what ...Trail of Dead should be sounding like these days.














Gamenight, Simple Starts in the Mind (New Beat)
Nimble emo-prog from Knoxville buoyed by hyperliterate lyrics and acne-scarred broken-heartery.














Kaki King, ...Until We Felt Red (Velour)
Because when the horns come in on “You Don’t Have to Be Afraid,” you finally understand. Because “Gay Sons of Lesbian Mothers” is extremely elegant in its simplicity.














Kickball, ABCDEFGHIJKickball (Yoyo)
I went to Nashville with my dear friend Jordan Blackmon in May to record with our dear friend Aaron Graves. I took a bus back to Columbia, and on the way to the bus station, we listened to this wondrous gem of Franco-tinged Northwestern indie pop. After that, “Shoulders” never really exited my head.












Midwest Product, Swamp EP (Ghostly International)
I first heard “Swamp” — the World Series of Love version — in a Hummer ad. True story. This EP remixes that gem and throws in four new tracks of haunting, delicate glitch-pop.













Plastic Little, She’s Mature (Traffic)
She’s Mature is anything but — the Philly-bred raunch-rap ensemble is as nasty as it wants to be, putting Luther Campbell and company to shame. And yet, for all the smut, there’s true street intelligence (“Crambodia”), outrageous satire (see “Rap O’Clock,” “All Y’all Niggas Dead”) and flat-out club-banging genius (see “The Jumpoff”).













This Moment in Black History, It Takes a Nation of Assholes to Hold us Back (Cold Sweat)
The names are meant to be provocative; the music is, too. This Moment in Black History’s raucous trash-punk lays Dirtbombs that explode with Sandanista! fervor.













So Percussion, Amid the Noise (Cantaloupe)
When I saw this acclaimed New York Ensemble perform Steve Reich’s Drumming in Columbia, I was blown away. When I heard its foray into glitchy, percussion-heavy blip-hop, I was eminently pleased. Like any ambient music worth its salt, it adheres to Eno’s requirements to a tee.













Alan Sparhaw, Solo Guitar (Silber Media)
I’m a guitar nerd, OK? I like when guitarists from critically acclaimed slowcore monoliths fuck around with ambient guitar works, all right?