Best Of 2006 Per Mr. Kevin Elliott

Over the coming weeks we’ll be rolling out various end of the year lists from NDA regulars you know and lust and we’ll even publish some of our (more intelligent) friend's opinions. Take note that these lists are best enjoyed with a piping hot bowl of maple and brown sugar oatmeal whilst being read in poor lighting and some dingy old undies. Kicking things off is the NDA’s resident music guru, Kevin Elliott:

Since it’s been a fairly mediocre year for music, these are in no particular order...

Albums:



1. Sonic Youth – Rather Ripped
2. Brightblack Morninglight – Brightblack Morninglight
3. Annuals – Be He Me
4. Comets on Fire – Avatar
5. Danava – Danava
6. The Lindsay – Dragged Out
7. Guillemots – Through the Windowpane
8. Midlake – The Trials of Van Occupanther
9. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Show Your Bones
10. Lansing-Drieden – The Dividing Island
11. Cat Power – The Greatest
12. TV on the Radio – Return to Cookie Mountain
13. Ghostface Killah – Fishscale
14. Arctic Monkeys – Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not
15. Necropolis – The Hackled Ruff and Shoulder Mane

It was a better year for singles, little perfect slabs from new and obscure artists, so I suppose this is my bonus category.

Singles:



Psychedelic Horseshit – Who Let the Dogs Out? 7”
Sapat – Tongue Tied and Staid 7”
Wooden Shjips – Dance California 7”
Lady Sovereign – “Love Me or Hate Me”
Captain – “Broke”
Polytechnic – “Running Out of Ideas”
Mew – “The Zookeeper’s Boy”
Ciara – “Promise”
Clipse – “Trill”

Live Shows:



Boredoms @ the Wexner Center
Danava @ Little Brothers
Roky Erickson @ SXSW
Indian Jewelry @ SXSW
Sonic Youth @ LC Pavilion

Likewise, it was a similar year for film, but then again I haven’t seen all the late season contenders (that are usually much better than the bulk of the rest of the year), so included in my list are some of 2005’s late arrivals that didn’t make it here until 2006.

Film:



The Departed
United 93
Borat
Little Miss Sunshine
Brick
Tsotsi (won the Oscar for best foreign picture, but never made it here until February)
Bubble
Match Point
The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada

Best Website of 2006:



YouTube is a no-brainer…..you all spent countless hours here, don’t lie.

But I’m forever indebted to the BBC World Service (www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/)

Favorite Pop Culture Story of 2006:



Hmmm... Thought Britney’s beaver shot is the best piece of PR ever concocted.

Thought it was a shame that Outkast fell flat on their faces with an indulgent album and horrid movie.

Loved when Hugo Chavez called Bush the “devil” and a “drunk cowboy,” then proceeded to endorse Noam Chomsky’s “Hegemony or Survival.” It was enough of a reason for me to read it on my European vacation and I must say it’s essential and should be taught in American high schools. The mid-term election proved that the public is paying attention, somewhat.