New to you in 2006

[DJ PIMP]

hey, count me among those wot got into Cathy Dennis this year...there's something luxurious about early-90's dance music that just seemed to work this year...

Dahlink, I simply inzist zat sa Musicale Coordinator keep Deee-lites first el pee in rotasion at ze chateau Bleep.

I think partly its because its so open... getting back to something simpler and fun. For the most part everything that rocked my socks in 2006 has been non-fiddly. Big production and simple sounds done well.

2006 - the year Trance almost stopped being a dirty word. Whoda thunk it?

 

[minikomi]

retrospectively getting into garage (why the fuck did i miss it when it was actually massive ) the main part of my acceptance and love of 'cheesy' music, (see also mainstream hiphop)

no i have the internet connected at my abode, this is also something im interested in delving backwards into.. but have no idea where to start.... any pointers?

 

[the undisputed truth]

I'd recommend the production of Oxide from so solid and Sticky from social circles for the darker stuff but you cant go past wookie and MJ Cole for the lighter side...

...any of zed bias alter egos, maddslinky/phuturistix/daluq are worth listening to

so many places to start from even the garage nation and ayia napa CD's have some gems on them...

...you are in for such a treat

 

[Rambler]

Hawkwind, thanks to Old Rottenhat on this thread.

Also finally got round to Neu! (thanks to emusic). Can't believe I've wasted all these years, etc...

Helmut Lachenmann too - much catching up to be done next year on this score.

 

[Chris]

2006 - the year Trance almost stopped being a dirty word. Whoda thunk it?

I actually sometimes wonder if eurotrance will some day be regarded the way italo disco is now. Both are pompous but shamelessly fun in a cheesy, populist way. I could almost imagine the dance intelligentsia eventually redeeming and mythologizing trance for these reasons the way italo is.

While we're at it, freestyle, new jack swing, and hiphouse are definitely about due for reappraisal. Maybe not trance quite yet...

 

[elgato]

The biggest new artists to me in 2006 (at a push late 2005, the lines are slightly blurred)…

Mathew Jonson – starting with the discovery of the balshy Return of the Zombie Bikers, moving back through his wondrous back-catalogue, and forward with his Cobblestone Jazz project

Luciano – beginning with Yamore Remix, ive been completely seduced by his light, beautiful, intricate musings. he actually provided an apt transition from 2005, in which the bulk of my musical discovery lay in west-africa

Dem 2 / El-B / Steve Gurley / Zed Bias – the most prominent figures in my general and utter seduction by garage

This year has been a lot of techno/house, dubstep, grime and garage. Sprinklings of all sorts of things around the edges, but those were the sounds that defined my 2006, without question, along with a lot of Soul and Rhythm & Blues (with which I was well-acquainted already) during my exams (music to find self-belief by!)

i want to spread my wings more broadly next year, im looking to distance myself from dubstep a bit now, over-saturation will be the downfall of my love affair (along with the creeping hand of mediocrity). its suprisingly difficult to do so though, the constant feeling that i might be missing out on the gems...

i also plan to dig back into the heritage of detroit, ive dipped my toe, and it feels like there are rich waters awaiting

 

[baboon2004]

I actually sometimes wonder if eurotrance will some day be regarded the way italo disco is now. Both are pompous but shamelessly fun in a cheesy, populist way. I could almost imagine the dance intelligentsia eventually redeeming and mythologizing trance for these reasons the way italo is.

While we're at it, freestyle, new jack swing, and hiphouse are definitely about due for reappraisal. Maybe not trance quite yet...

But where are the Eurotrance records to match 'Spacerwoman' or 'Robot is Systematic'? Maybe they exist, but Italo-disco is remembered I feel more for its post-Moroder experiments than its cheesiness.

Freestyle is surely undergoing some kind of general renaissance already - Pitbull's new (?) single rips Debbie Deb's fantastic 'Look out Weekend', and there seems to be a Miami Bass/freestyle feel to quite a lot of hyphy.

Nevertheless, the greater the renaissance, the better.

 

[MankyFiver]

"But where are the Eurotrance records to match 'Spacerwoman' or 'Robot is Systematic'? Maybe they exist, but Italo-disco is remembered I feel more for its post-Moroder experiments than its cheesiness."

Discomagic - S.Y.D featuring Nancy Fortune definitely has a dose of cheesiness

thing that lit my fire this year was discovering 666 - aphrodite's child which was so much fun!
demis roussos and vangelis recording a double concept lp based on revelations

and have still carried on loving all the lindstrom stuff this year, it makes me happy

 

[Chris]

But where are the Eurotrance records to match 'Spacerwoman' or 'Robot is Systematic'? Maybe they exist, but Italo-disco is remembered I feel more for its post-Moroder experiments than its cheesiness.

Yeah, at the moment I can't think of any trance to match the better italo stuff... but I would think with all of trance's bittersweet, Teutonic melodies there might actually be some gems worth salvaging. Not for the cheese factor, but for the decadent, "right now is the greatest moment ever", guilt-free romanticism. I can't quite enjoy the stuff that way yet, but I can imagine in hindsight some day becoming endeared to it, maybe even in an un-ironic way.

 

[mms]

I'd recommend the production of Oxide from so solid and Sticky from social circles for the darker stuff but you cant go past wookie and MJ Cole for the lighter side...

...any of zed bias alter egos, maddslinky/phuturistix/daluq are worth listening to

so many places to start from even the garage nation and ayia napa CD's have some gems on them...

...you are in for such a treat

i'm really suprised a dubstep/grime head like you hasn't come out of garage to an extent at least.
i wouldn't say my background is in garage although i liked some of it and was informed by it as much as a load of other music, but i'm suprised you are now going backwards to it..
esp sticky, wookie and zed bias, those are big brushtrokes in the picture for me anyway.
don't take it as a diss btw, i'm just suprised, but then you are on the other side of the world.

 

[Chris]

Regarding the thread topic...

Been listening to a lot of Serge Gainsbourg and Leonard Cohen these days.

Sarah Records bands, particularly The Field Mice and The Orchids. Not quite twee but I'm also loving Northern Picture Library's "Alaska."

Nothing new for me this year, but my shoegaze/dreampop/neopsych obsession is as strong as ever. Same goes for my psych and kraut obsessions.

Also continuing to get into more medieval-ish british folk... Pentangle, Fairport Convention, Trees, Comus, Gary Higgins, etc.

Been listening to a bit of darkwave and deathrock... Favorite lately are the Chameleons.

Current 93.

Still into dubstep (being an american though I have limited access, so I just enjoy what mixes I can find.. I'm no expert on it by any means), minimal/micro, '93 ardcore, occasionally some mid 90s jungle mixes, etc... getting more and more into hiphouse, early 90s cheesy dancepop, freestyle, ghettotech, and new jack swing when I can find it.

Most unexpected foray for me this year has been delving into prog. I actually find myself liking a lot of it too.

 

[zhao]

1. number 1 discovery is Spectralism. head blown clean off - http://differentwaters.blogspot.com/2006/09/spectralism-and-related-13-albums.html

2. Tarang, Melodic Drums -

3. downloading the entire catalog of the now defunct Al Sur label has been an amazing treasure of Arabic music -- all available here for free: http://skafunkrastapunk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=44334&start=0&sid=7908df88a2cf03fc0ed58b22d41161a9
(every music nerd/pirate needs to register to this forum)

4. Phil Niblock

5. Haitian 1970s pop music

6. Rebetika

7. Johanna Newsom

8. San Ul Lim - http://differentwaters.blogspot.com/2006/11/san-ul-lim.html

9. Baltimore "gutter" (is this officially a genre?)

10. and... sexy back.

 

[Don Rosco]

MAGMA!! Particularly Mekanïk Destruktïw Kommandöh and Wurdah Ïtah. Just the most spectacular, free-flowing, dynamic Space Opera you'll ever hear.

 

[qwerty south]

mannie fresh, lil wayne, 3 6 mafia, franchize boyz, ugk, dj screw, dj unk...

 

[swears]

this:

http://content.ytmnd.com/content/9/3/4/9345059a5a71bb37ff59394927b42989.mp3

IT BLOWS MY MIND

 

[Ness Rowlah]

neo-glam/shoegazing (glamgazing? shoeglam? if there's such a thing) -
ie Serena Maneesh and Gliss.

 

[Tweak Head]

Burial.

 

[tatarsky]

1. number 1 discovery is Spectralism. head blown clean off - http://differentwaters.blogspot.com/2006/09/spectralism-and-related-13-albums.html

Cheers for this tip. Downloaded the Tristan Murail, and I'm loving it.

 

[DigitalDjigit]

My big discoveries this year were David Bowie (after watching Christiane F), Talking Heads (kicked off by Stop Making Sense) and Cocteau Twins. Yeah, yeah, real obvious stuff but who has the time for everything? I was too busy digging deep into techno, disco and other things.

I think I completely abandoned "black" music this year. Never thought this would happen but I listened to far more rock, ambient and trance than reggae, hip hop or funk.

 

[Parson]

this year i got really really into will oldham and jason molina