munkey's-eye view: 2006 wrap-up

What a year it's been! (Imagine that in Mike Munroe's voice, with Megan Gale standing nearby. It's much more impressive that way.) Let's take a look at mindlessmunkey's pop-cultural highlights of 2006... because I know you're all so interested.

~~~~~~~

MUSIC

A late entrant has trounced the field to take my (not at all) coveted Album Of The Year prize:

Joanna Newsom's "Ys"
(which apparently is not pronounced "Whys", but is pronounced "E e s". Whodathunk?)

Fucking breathtaking genius. Five Stars, etc.

Now... for many years I was obsessed with music magazines, especially the British ones. Uncut, Q, NME, I would peruse them all and buy all I could afford (in recent years this has dropped from several a month, to a few a year). Particularly exciting to me was always the end-of-year review issue, when the publications would proclaim their top albums, and provide a CD sampler of the best tracks from the year.

Recently, increasingly, this has not been sufficient. My own musical taste overlaps considerably with many of the mags... but just not enough. So, in my usual obsessive-compulsive about trivial things way, I have begun meticulously creating my own end-of-year Best Of compilations.

THE RULES:
The track must be from a record that was released in 2006 (duh).
No artist may be represented more than once (although, for example, a band and one of its members' side projects could both be included).
Running order is not based on favouritism, but on flow of songs and listenability.
The compilation must fit on a standard 80 minute CD. (For this reason, and because we want to cram on as many artists as possible, tracks are not necessarily the best tracks - as the best tracks are often over 10 minutes long (I'm looking at you, Ms Newsom) - but stand as representatives of the best albums/artists of the year. It's always a challenge to get as close to 80 minutes as possible without going over; this year's is 79'25". Awesome.)
Obviously I have not even nearly heard every record released this year. Things will be missed. It hurts me more than it hurts you.

So without further ado, here is mindlessmunkey's Best Of 2006:

01 - ONE CROWDED HOUR - Augie March
02 - SEX CHANGES - The Dresden Dolls
03 - POSTCARDS FROM ITALY - Beirut
04 - SUMMERSONG - The Decemberists
05 - I BET YOU LOOK GOOD ON THE DANCE FLOOR - Arctic Monkeys
06 - OUR SWORDS - Band of Horses
07 - LOVE COMES TO ME - Bonnie 'Prince' Billy
08 - THE BLUES ARE STILL BLUE - Belle & Sebastian
09 - HARROWDOWN HILL - Thom Yorke
10 - BANDITS - Midlake
11 - THE GREATEST - Cat Power
12 - UPON THIS TIDAL WAVE OF YOUNG BLOOD - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
13 - THE MISTRESS WITCH FROM McCLURE (or, The Mind That Knows Itself) - Sufjan Stevens
14 - NOTHING IN MY WAY - Keane
15 - LONG WAY HOME - Tom Waits
16 - POMPEII AM GÖTTERDÄMMERUNG - The Flaming Lips
17 - ROUGH GEM - Islands
18 - STEADY AS SHE GOES - The Raconteurs
19 - BEEN SO LONG - Vetiver
20 - COSMIA - Joanna Newsom

~~~~~~~

BOOKS

I've been a good boy, and have been reading almost constantly this year, but I am so bad at remembering what I've read... I really should keep some kind of reading diary. I know I popped my Chuck Palahniuk cherry. And I finally got up to date with Harry Potter...


But I think, off the top of my head, the Best Book I Read This Year would have to be out of "The God Of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy, or "The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas" by John Boyne. Completely different, but both wonderful.

~~~~~~~

FILMS

As usual, I didn't get to the movies anywhere near as much as I should have.


The Best Film I Saw This Year was probably "Downfall" on DVD. At the movies - though neither is anywhere close to a perfect film - I enjoyed the sheer audacity of "Brothers Of The Head", while "Little Miss Sunshine" is simply the most fun I've had in a cinema, maybe ever.

~~~~~~~

So there you have it, lovers and dreamers. That was my 2006 (with regard to entertainment anyway). How was yours?