Anders Bergstrom's blog on Words, Films, and Music

Thursday, March 23, 2006

It's time for a music related post.

We're three months into 2006 now, and I thought I'd give a little bit of a look at what some of my favourite music has been so far this year (always makes for an interesting comparison at the end of the year to see what stays on the list and what doesn't).

Top Five Singles of Jan.-Mar. 2006

5. "Skinny Boy" - Amy Millan or "Rise Up With Fists!!" - Jenny Lewis or "Hold On, Hold On" - Neko Case

I'm going to cheat and put all these together cuz they seem like a theme project. 2006 - the year of female vocalists from popular indie rock bands' solo projects. We have Amy Millan of Stars fame, Jenny Lewis from Rilo Kiley, and of course the beautiful vocals of Neko Case from The New Pornographers.

4. "Mushaboom (Postal Service Remix)" - Feist

I just loved this remix, having been a big fan of the original last year. Apparently Feist is busy at work on a remix album as we speak.

3. "White Collar Boy" - Belle & Sebastian

I linked to this as a "song of the day" a few weeks ago.

2. "I Bet You Look Good On The Dance Floor" - Arctic Monkeys

I love these guys. While you might be surprised that this wasn't my number one pick, overall this is by far my favourite album of 2006 thus far. Good ol' "drunken lad" music, this is the perfect soundtrack to a night out on the town with the gang, getting into trouble, or staying at home and pretending to.

1. "Number 1" - Goldfrapp

I might not technically count as a 2006 release (UK release was last fall), Ewan was allowed to call Free The Bees a 2005 release, so I'm calling this a 2006 release. It deserves the attention. This is just a fantastic electro-pop song, showcasing one of the most underrated pop acts out there. Alison Goldfrapp is incredible. I just love it. And the video is one of the most disturbingly fascinating I've seen in a while.

Some other songs that are right up there:

"You Only Live Twice" - The Strokes

The opener to their latest album is the best song on the disc. Too bad they didn't pick this as the single instead of the quickly tiresome "Juicebox."

"Who Left The Lights Off Baby" - Guillemots

It's hard to pick just one song off the EP From The Cliffs, the American compilation of the bands UK releases last year. So I'll just tell you to go out and pick up the whole thing.

"You're All I Have" - Snow Patrol

Just heard this one today (leaked onto the Internet), and it has potential to be a fantastic pop single. Worth checking out if you like this kind of thing.

If you hear any of these, hate any of these, or love them all, let me know.

4 comments:

Luke said...

Goldfrapp video = picture in Earl's washroom

Anders said...

LMAO. You're right! Good times.

rochelle laura knox said...

is it a bad sign that i've only ever listened to one of these songs? and that i haven't even heard of some of the bands? does this mean my music taste sucks or that anders' tastes are obscure? ;)

Alex said...

I also wanted "You Only Live Once" to be the first single because it was my absolute favorite song of the new album. I pretty much agree with this entire list.