2006 Album of the Year

For the last few years, I have quietly been awarding one album the illustrious title of "Album of the Year", primarily for my own amusement. To be eligible for the award, an album has to have been released within the given calendar year and, quite simply, I have to like them more than any other album that was released that year. I evaluate them on their coherence and goodness as a complete and whole album - records that have one or two good songs do not make the cut. Furthermore, records that have a lot of good songs on them but just don't flow well also do not make the cut. The album does not necessarily have to do something original or inventive - all it has to do is catch my ear and keep me coming back to it over and over again.

This year, I'm happy to announce the 2006 recipient of The Fighting Temeraire's Album of the Year Award:

Break out the Battle Tapes by Wired All Wrong

Wired All Wrong, composed of former members of the bands sElf and God Lives Underwater, produced a dark, sarcastic and ornate pop rock record that is both unafraid of the pop rock sound yet keeps it from becoming trite and shallow at the same time with complicated instrumentation and catchy rhythms. Don't be put off by the fact that this may be pop music (with strong industrial influences) - this is absolutely brilliant music, and promises much reward to the listener. But why rant on. You can check them out for yourself and listen to song samples at their myspace page.

And, just for the record, here are the past recipients of the Album of the Year award, beginning with the first year I started doing this...

2004 Album of the Year: The Funeral of God by Zao
2005 Album of the Year: Vhiessu by Thrice

Check them out. They're worth a listen.