Two Zero Zero 6 (memories of strings in the key of g)

the tag said, "set me free"

there's another month left in the year and it's that time once again to reflect back on what my quickly fading memory has to offer from 2006, the year of the raccoon.

shows that i deeply regret missing
the liars @ bottom of the hill
modeselektor - twice
spank rock @ boca - (got another chance)
troy pierce @ rx
akufen @ rx
pan sonic @ the recombinant labs

best shows of 2006 (in chronological order)
The Flaming Lips @ Bimbo's 365 March 25, 2006
Jamie Lidell / Kid 606 @ The Great American Music Hall April 12, 2006
The Books @ The Great American Music Hall April 17, 2006
Audion (Matthew Dear) @ Mezzanine April 22, 2006
TV On The Radio @ The Independent May 1/2, 2006
Cat Power & The Memphis Rhythm Band @ The Palace Of Fine Arts May 4, 2006
Radiohead @ The Greek Theatre June 23/24, 2006
Speedy J @ Recombinant Media Labs September 15, 2006
Deadbeat & Richard Devine @ Recombinant Media Labs October 6, 2006
Jeff Mills ???
Spank Rock ???

artists that restored my faith in rock music
modest mouse
liars
tv on the radio
pinback
sonic youth
doves
radiohead

artists that continue my faith in electronic based music
tv on the radio
modeselektor
richard devine
burial
kode9+the spaceape
noze
the books
zavoloka+agf
deadbeat
thom yorke
richie hawtin
jamie lidell
ricardo villalobos
speedy j

proof that electro might not be that bad
junior boys
booka shade

reunions/tours to expect in 2007
the replacements
the afghan whigs
the stone roses

best party album
spank rock - yoyoyoyoyo
soulwax - nite versions (again, late to the game)

reasons to move to berlin
richie hawtin
ricardo villalobos
liars
agf
jamie lidell
stewart walker
dan bell

the "hello, where the hell have i been" discoverymodest mouse
liars
soulwax

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best albums that i got in 0h.six

'return to cookie mountain' - tv on the radio
tv on the radio - dirtywhirl (live on xfm)
an album that seems to be appreciated by musicians, critics, but not the overall public. an album that will continue to be appreciated as time passes along. incredibly intricate and subtle in the way that 'ok computer' also achieved. and with each listen it continues to reward me by it's deepness and grandeur.

'drum's not dead' - liars
liars - a visit from drum
an all-time great. it came out in 05, but i'm still listening to it and discovering more with each listen. the album is all over the place, but as the title suggests, the rhythm of the drums is what hypnotizes the listener. it's an album that when i first started to listen to, i didn't quite get what was going on, but it was so different and interesting i had to hear it again. it's not immediately accessible, but you'll find yourself listening to it again and again and again. always change the water, just in case it spills because you'll never get the smell out.

'the eraser' - thom yorke
thom yorke - cymbal rush (live @ the henry rollins show)
the united states of the radiohead united nations (his quote) comes out this year with a collection of subtle songs with electronics as his backing band. his voice is thrown out front in the mix and the beautiful songs are still there. with an overemphasis on a phrase or syllable, his power to slightly skew the viewpoint that makes you see things in a different way is what makes him such a great storyteller.

'veneer' - josé gonzález
josé gonzález - heartbeats (live @ the world cafe', wxpn)
this swedish singer-songwriter with his gentle vocal delivery with his slight picking of the guitar that brings up memories of tim buckley and nick drake. his reworking of the knife's 'heartbeats' brings out elements not achieved from the original. i still don't understand the hoopla around the knife. i understand they put on great shows, but they sound too electro-ee to me. check this out for a rainy sunday afternoon on february 6th.

'craft sounds and voices' - nôze
nôze - yucca
this french collective uses clarinets and broken pianos in a techno/electro-ee format, but unlike anything you've heard before. i imagine that if in the future if somehow the old western style of living came back, but we still had the technological advances of today, and if you were to enter a saloon, the music presentation would be this collection of strange, unique and addictive music.

'live @ the greek theatre, berkeley 6/23' - radiohead
radiohead - morning bell (live @ the greek)
one of the best recordings of the tour. a mellow show which people criticized afterwards for that reason as well as some miscues by the band, but when you get incredible versions of 'morning bell' and 'i might be wrong' which are songs i normally don't "feel", as well as great versions of 'nude' and 'house of cards' how can that be a bad show. and a bad radiohead show is still better than 95% of the shows put on by any other rock act.

'nature never produces the same beat twice' - zavoloka & agf
zavoloka & agf - meadow (korin)
from the beautiful packaging of the cd cover to the equally beautiful music on display here. the music is broken up into 5 sections, meadow, trees, spices, bushes, flowers. it's abstract noise/beats. not for everyone who can hear, but for those who have the ability to listen. to some it might sound as if your stereo/computer is broken. i think it helps to wake up my senses.

'so this is goodbye' - junior boys
junior boys - in the morning (alex smoke remix)
there last album was a shelver (few listens and then put on shelf). i got a chance to see them play with caribou last year and i didn't pay attention too much. at the first listen of this album, i immediately knew that the electro-pop with the poofy male vocals would make this a quick listen and then another shelver. well, i guess that is why they put the term infectious with the word pop. like a bad rash you get in between your pinky toe and next toe over, it grew and grew on me. it's like a stick of sugary gum stuck to the bottom of your shoe. you just can't get it off and you wanna stick it in your mouth and start chewing it again, maybe.

'stabil' - kangding ray
kangding ray - dadaist
another reason to move to berlin. david letellier creates this ambient/abstract landscape which is sparse without losing the listener. the right amount of melody with blips and pops to make such a warm listen. surrounded by sound with only 2 speakers. the placement of each sound and the level by which they appear creates this depth which makes you want to crawl into the speakers and understand what it means to be a walrus.

'hello mom!' - modeselektor
modeselektor - dancingbox featuring TTC
similar with the noze release in that the variety of offerings is wide and unique. this german pair take techno, hip hop, electro and your mom's old panties and cuisinart it until you don't recognize it, but the taste is still good. and again, the opp was there on 2 occasions to see them this year, but i was too busy trying to figure out if mies van der rohe was the grandfather of minimal techno.

'burial' - burial
burial - gutted
dubstep. the flavor of the month? who knows. a bit dubby, but not too much. a little 2 stepish, but not really. it's music to blast outside of your house on halloween. it will scare little children and make old people lose their appetite to drive. disjointed and causing paralysis to all that come upon this incredible noise called music. crawl into the hole and forever be changed by the cleansing of your ears.


i guess that's it for ohh-six. i'm sure i missed a few, but ................. with the busy holidaze and now, overwhelming work schedule, i'll try to stay in touch and keep the memory informed of what really matters. aloha.