Best of 2006 - Darren O'Brien of Esque
I was kind of under the impression that Esque had gone on indefinite hiatus since their bass player, Basil Bayne, had moved to NYC. However, a quick check of their Myspace page informs us that they are gearing up to go on tour in January. I've been waiting on their post-punk-bowie beats to catch on for a while now, maybe this tour will kick their game up a notch. I once spent the night on Darren's couch in Mississippi along with Nashville's own Party Cannon. Good times.
Darren O'Brien's Best of 2006
1. Lansing-Dreiden - The Dividing Island (Kemado): This anonymous New York/Miami multi-media art collective/corporation excels at everything they do. On their latest disc of 80s New Romantic meets 60s psychedelia, 70s speed metal, 90s bass music, and a host of other genres, they outshine everyone else in the 80s revival by doing what no one else seems to care to try: writing powerfully beautiful songs.
2. TV on the Radio - Return to Cookie Mountain (Interscope): Their leaps and bounds sophomore album explodes the epic tendencies on Desperate Youth... for a collection of vast, haunting, soul-stirring songs. They sound like the most important band in the world right now, and they may well be.
3. Love Is All - Nine Times That Same Song (What's Your Rupture?): This should close the lid on the whole manic disco-punk thing, since it won't get any more crazy, lovely, or fun after this. "Make Out Fall Out Make Up" is one of the decade's best singles.
4. The Comsat Angels - Waiting for a Miracle, Sleep No More, Fiction (Renascent): The most desperately needed reissues of the year are the first three albums (and a BBC sessions collection) by these tragically overlooked post-punk mavericks. They later hit some serious lows (most of the rest of their career) and one more serious high (1992's My Minds Eye), but nothing could tarnish the unsettling splendor of this opening salvo.
5. Junior Boys - So This Is Goodbye (Domino): Somehow they flawlessly liberate their sublime, depressive synth-pop from the crowded, overly-cerebral beats of Last Exit and introduce it to what almost sounds like dance music. It may not fly in the club, but at least this time you can listen outside of your bedroom.
Darren O'Brien's Best of 2006
1. Lansing-Dreiden - The Dividing Island (Kemado): This anonymous New York/Miami multi-media art collective/corporation excels at everything they do. On their latest disc of 80s New Romantic meets 60s psychedelia, 70s speed metal, 90s bass music, and a host of other genres, they outshine everyone else in the 80s revival by doing what no one else seems to care to try: writing powerfully beautiful songs.
2. TV on the Radio - Return to Cookie Mountain (Interscope): Their leaps and bounds sophomore album explodes the epic tendencies on Desperate Youth... for a collection of vast, haunting, soul-stirring songs. They sound like the most important band in the world right now, and they may well be.
3. Love Is All - Nine Times That Same Song (What's Your Rupture?): This should close the lid on the whole manic disco-punk thing, since it won't get any more crazy, lovely, or fun after this. "Make Out Fall Out Make Up" is one of the decade's best singles.
4. The Comsat Angels - Waiting for a Miracle, Sleep No More, Fiction (Renascent): The most desperately needed reissues of the year are the first three albums (and a BBC sessions collection) by these tragically overlooked post-punk mavericks. They later hit some serious lows (most of the rest of their career) and one more serious high (1992's My Minds Eye), but nothing could tarnish the unsettling splendor of this opening salvo.
5. Junior Boys - So This Is Goodbye (Domino): Somehow they flawlessly liberate their sublime, depressive synth-pop from the crowded, overly-cerebral beats of Last Exit and introduce it to what almost sounds like dance music. It may not fly in the club, but at least this time you can listen outside of your bedroom.
Labels: Best of 2006, Darren O'Brien, Esque
