People // David Munczinski // Blog

This time of year brings out a perennial year-in-review listing bonanza. The top in news events, sports moments, celebrity flashings all delivered by the consummate my-opinion-makes-me-an-expert. And as a culture, we’ve settled these lists on the number 10, not by historical standard (the zeitgeist hipster irreverence for convention would push us beyond that) but for the utility of 10. Ten allows you to vehemently oppose a few of the selections (even allow them to personally offend you) while generally agreeing with any decent list. The music bloggers – the likes of Largehearted Boy, Pitchfork and Fred Wilson - have been releasing their votes, proposing the albums that will imprint our audio memory of 2006. It wasn’t 1964, but all things considered, 2006 was a good year for new music. But the important question is will this music matter five, ten years from now. So I decided to go back – to 1996 – to search the lists that defined that year. At the time, my 1996 was dominated by Dave Matthews and the intoxicating sound of Crash, but perusing old lists – not a blogger’s to find – the answer to my question became a resounding yes, the best new music of 2006 trumpets the growth, reflection and in some cases comforting consistency of music from some of the best new artists of 1996. Jay-Z's Reasonable Doubt landed on cd players in 1996 and with it the prodigal son of raw lyrical talent came home to chart the course of hip hop’s destiny. Playing retirement as the new entrance, Kingdom Come was released in November of this year. With a polarizing sound and mesmerizing fanfare, Jay-Z proved 10 years of relevance. 1996 saw Belle and Sebastian release their first two albums Tigermilk and If You're Feeling Sinister and their prolific song crafting and vocal harmony have persisted as evidenced by this year’s The Life Pursuit. What Would the Community Think brought us face-to-face with Cat Power (in her first widely-noticed release) and her emotionally itinerant performance style. This year’s The Greatest, from what I’ve sampled of it, is an artifact of artistic growth. Ghostface Killah dropped his first album Ironman in 1996. Ten years later, Fishscale came out in March 2006. I’ve yet to get my hands on the LP, but I welcome any extension of his refreshing lyrical clarity. Beyond the artists listed above, I learned to love The Annuals, The Killers (again) and Regina Spektor. The Decemberists and My Chemical Romance offered arguably their best work yet, and I was mostly won over. I learned to appreciate The Knife, Justin Timberlake and Nelly Furtado (and more accurately the production genius of Timbaland). My underground infatuation became Forro in the Dark, the East Village Bahian street music ensemble and Ultragrrrl’s newly signed, The Oohlas. And between Sunday mornings and wandering treks through concrete canyons, I really found Deathcab for the first time. For a comprehensive list of the best of 2006 as decided by bloggers popular and obscure, check out Largehearted Boy’s compilation gateway: http://www.largeheartedboy.com/blog/archive/2006/12/mondays_2006_ye.html