contentSo, here's some random thoughts of my best of 2006:
Best New album: At War with the Mystics" by The Flaming Lips. I just got into the Lips this year, and boy have I been missing out. I'll gradually fill in the rest of my collection over the next few months. This is a great album full of all the things I like about music--great melodies, instrumentation, sci-fi themes, impenetrable lyrics, and neat production. And they're from Oklahoma City to boot. Honorable mention: "The Dark Third" by Pure Reason Revolution--if I hadn't just gotten this as a Christmas present it might have been my favorite. It's great proggy post-rock with some awesome vocal harmonies and a bit of a metal edge of all things. I'll talk about it more.
Best New Movie: Casino Royale. Okay, it was this or "Snakes on a Plane". I loved "Snakes" but Casino Royale was a darn good movie, and about the best Bond flick I've seen. I'd give an honorable mention to "Cars" but I didn't see it in the theatre.
Best New TV Show: 30 Rock. The pilot was a bit scattered, and I thought it was lame that they changed out Rachel Dratch for Jane Krakowski, but it's really caught its stride. If Alec Baldwin doesn't win the best comedy actor Emmy there's no justice in this world. Tracy Morgan is also far funnier than he ever was on SNL. Honorable Mention: The Class--no one's watching it, but under it's mindless ensemble comedy exterior is a hard, cold center of bitterness, cruelty, adultery, and suicidal thoughts that give it an edge that it's not at all getting credit for, probably because people can't get over the fact that John Ritter's kid is in it.
Best book: what the heck, I'll say Crashing the Gate by Markos Moulitsas and Jerome Armstrong, if only for the fact that most of what they suggested was done, and most of what they wanted to have happen did. And that's a good thing.
Comment if you like.
