2006 in review

Running Highlights

Canberra Marathon 3:27. My first marathon finish in 21 years. I went in with no expectations and ran conservatively and had a very enjoyable run. The whole weekend was made exceptional by hanging out with all those cool runners.

My major target for the year had been the Gold Coast Marathon but after spending way to many hours slouched on the couch watching World Cup matches I injuried my back with much referred pain down my left leg. I still went and completed the Marathon but in hindsight it would have been more sensible to opt out that day. But I was in good form prior to that and I am sure I was in sub 3:20 shape. This was borne out by my 1:31:43 Doomben Half Marathon in June. Maybe this year!


Favourite New Albums of 2006.

At the end of each year I like to make up some Best of CDs with tracks from the albums which I I consider to be my favourite new ones of the year. Now "new"" means newly obtained by me and can and does include many older releases. With the breakdown of my computer, it has been a little late coming but it has now been all done and dusted and these are the lucky albums.

Golden Afrique Vol 1 - Various Artists (West African)

Without doubt this was my favourite album of 2006. In fact, I would to have to rate it as one of my best ever. This superbly packaged double CD set is subtitled "Highlights and Rarities from the Golden Era of African Pop Music (1971 - 1983): Mali, Senegal, The Gambia, Ivory Coast, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Chad, Togo". While it is no revelation that the early works by Salif Keita, Youssou N'Dour and Orchestra Baobab featured here are brilliant, the quality of completely unknown performers is staggering. When it is not bubbling along with sheer joyous rhythms that drive your hips and sends your feet tapping, it is firing up your brain with inventive and jazzy guitar, brass and percussion interplay. Exhilarating and essential. AN ABSOLUTE CLASSIC.

Golden Afrique Vol 2 - Various Artists (Democratic Republic of Congo)

Volume 2 in the series subtitled "(1956 - 1982): The Great Days of Rumba Congolaise and Early Soukous", is again another superb package. It is a bit more focused in origin featuring only music from the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire, formerly Belgian Congo) and its neighbour across the Congo River, the Republic of Congo (aka Congo-Brazzaville or French Congo). I have long been a fan of soukous and its hypnotic and frenetic guitar jams. Some of the crucial tracks from Franco, Docteur Nico and M'Pongo Love I already own, so this lessened some of the impact of the overall. But that still left lots of new soukous gems to set the hips shaking. The earlier Rumba tracks (1956 - 70) are hard to find usually, so it is good to have access to them here but overall they are not as exciting to me as of the later soukous tracks. Still an excellent compilation.



Kenya Dance Mania - Various Artists (Kenya)

The Narobi Beat (Kenyan Pop Music Today) - Various Artists (Kenya)

These two Kenyan compilations from the seventies and eighties could have almost been marketed together as a part of the Golden Afrique series. Congolese music had a big influence on music in not only West Africa but in the East African countries of Kenya and Tanzania. In Kenya, in particular it was adopted and adapted better than anywhere else. This music just percolates with jumping sensuous bass lines, jingly guitar riffs, stabbing horn sections and wonderfully exotic melodic vocals especially from the female singers.

Savane - Ali Farke Toure (Mali)

In March this year Ali Farke Toure, one of my all time favourite artists died of cancer. He had just finished this album before he died. One feels he knew this would be his last and a tremendous amount of care and attention has been given to these tracks. The album just sounds terrific. There are those who claim that this is his best ever release and I certainly couldn't argue against that. The panel of experts from the World Music Chart Europe (WMCE), a chart voted by the leading World Music specialists around Europe, chose 'Savane' as their Album of the Year 2006, with the album topping the chart for three consecutive months (September to November 2006). The album has also been listed as No.1 in the influential Metacritic's 'Best Albums of 2006' poll, and No. 5 in their all-time best reviewed albums. Ali Farka Touré has also recently been nominated for the BBC Radio 3 awards 2007. Although I need a few more years of listening before making a final judgement. I have found his music to be that way. It slowly keeps opening up its gifts with repeated listening, even with what at first appears to be quite simple songs. Here we find him once again collaborating with Pee Wee Ellis on sax on some tracks. The addition of some fine harmonica playing by Little George Sueref shows Ali was willing to broaden his sound right up to the end. More than usual he has a lot of people backing him on vocals and his voice may not be quite as strong as it was when younger. But his guitar playing is once again inspirational and his composing as good as it ever was. He gives his accompanying ngoni players plenty of space to work with him as the title track ably demonstrates. Already a genuine CLASSIC.


M'Bemba - Salif Keita (Mali)

After his return to form with Moussolou in 2003, it was always going to be interesting to see what Salif Keita would come up with next. Consistency in the nineties was not his forte. But with his return to live in Mali, he has again hit the mark and M’Bemba is another fine album. Again it is very much an acoustic sound and sees him back making music with amongst others Ousame Kouyate and Kante Manfila both who featured with him on tracks on the Golden Afrique Vol 1 from the 70s. Lots of acoustic guitars and intricate rhythms both fast and slow underpin the call and response between his soaring and powerfully emotive vocals and the sweet melodic backing chorus. A gem.

The Radio Tisdas Sessions - Tinariwen (Mali)


After Tinariwen's Amassakoul made my favourite list last year, I went back and purchased their first album. Their style is what is now being labelled "Desert Blues". Now Ali Farke Toure may be the King of the Desert Blues but this group have certainly had a fascinating history and are true desert nomads. Although it is hard to imagine, them being able to lug their electric guitars and amps all over the Sahara on their camels in a traditional life style, their music certainly invokes the feel of clip clopping along on in a camel train. This is music in no hurry to get anywhere. A very bluesy feel.

Boulevard de L'Independence - Toumani Diabete's Symmetric Orchestra (Mali)

Toumani Diabete's Symmetric Orchestra has been playing Friday nights at the Hogon nightclub in Bamako for the past decade. It is a loose collective based around Toumani's kora and who ever happens to be there on the night. With this arrangement he his trying to blend the traditional groit music of Mali (ie kora, balafon and ngoni based) with the new styles pioneered in the 70s (and again as showcased on Golden Afrique) where western instruments like guitar, keyboards and drum kit replaced those traditional instruments. Here they are all bought together. With upwards of thirty players at a time it can at times lose a little direction, and certainly some tracks are stronger than others but when it does gel it is sensational.



Dimanche de Bamako - Amadou and Marian (Mali)

This really is an Amadou & Mariam AND Manu Chao album. His style and production which reduces everything to a simplistic world pop is all over this record. Granted it can be fun at times being on the Chao stylistic roller coaster but their usual music is so deep and intricate.
It is a great tribute to the blind Malian couple that despite this the album survives. Nothing can get in the way of the haunting opening track M'Bife.

Zion Roots - Abyssinia Infinite (Ethiopia/USA)

This is an interesting collaboration between young Ethiopian singer Ejigayehu "Gigi" Shibabaw and American producer Bill Laswell. It is a mix of new songs written by Gigi and traditional devotional Ethiopian songs all given a rather new-age treatment by Laswell. The highlights are Gigi's wonderfully soulful and beautiful voice and some evocative tenor sax by Moges Habte resulting in album perfect for times of quiet reflection.


La Cantina - Lila Downs (Usa/Mexico)

La Sandunga - Lila Downs (USA/Mexico)

Another female voice to catch the attention this year was Lila Downs. Catch the attention is a bit of an understatement. Her range of styles across the La Cantina (2006) and La Stupenda (her first album from 2001) is massive. She can be as soulful as Gigi but also do everything from late night smoky jazz ballads to skoll-the-tequilla bar room accordion knees ups. Sexual purrs to orgasmic screams. Sensitive melancholy to mariachi joy. Playful tease to love lost. And sometime that is all in the one song!! A true truly great singer.

Greetings from Michigan - Sufjan Stevens (USA)
Illinoise - Sufjan Stevens (USA)

The old singer-songwriter concept has been around for a long time but has not been too fashionable since punk in the 70s. But Sufjan Stevens is someone I have not been able to ignore. Michigian is an album that took me a long time to get into. It is quite sprawling. The music at times is challenging as is its content. Romoulus is the most revealing and emotional song I have ever heard. In four minutes he can portray a lifetime of childhood pain revolving around his mother. The whispered chorus of "I was ashamed of her" still manages to leave me in awe of the openness of his outpouring and the maudlin banjo and French horn backing are perfect for the song. There are many other fine tracks on here as well. Another CLASSIC. Three in one year!





I also explored his later album Illinoise. This album seems to be regarded higher by critics than Michigan but for me it is not quite as good. Still very worthy and it may need more listening.











We Shall Overcome - Bruce Springsteen (USA)

One night after a long period where listening to the Michigan album was my first choice, My Wife commented ""You not putting on that dreary record again are you?". This album came along at just the right time. The music here just feels so alive and spontaneous and is a lot of fun. A great mixture of folk, bluegrass, gospel and blues. This kept me going on many a long run leading up to the Gold Coast Marathon.

Desperate Man Blues - Various Artists (USA)

This is the soundtrack from the movie about Joe Bussard an American record collector. It is an eclectic collection of old blues/country/hillbilly songs from his collection. Thanks go to Tesso (and probably JD) for putting this one my way because it has lead me down a few musical paths that I am really enjoying. It certainly lead me to the Springsteen album.

Bob Wills - Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys (USA)

Bob Wills was a huge star in 1930s and 40s in the US with his infectious mix of country and big band swing. And to think before this year I had never heard of him.

America IV: The Man Comes Around - Johhny Cash (USA)

Now Johnny Cash may have been big in the sixties but in terms of raw emotion, here is an artist laying it on the line big time. He was not physically well and knew he was dying when recording these songs. Death permeates all these songs but Cash looks it in the eye, seeks redemption and they reconcile themselves. Strangly it is all rather uplifting.

Modern Times - Bob Dylan (USA)

Bob is on one of is most consistent streaks since the 60s. What is it that makes this a memorable release and so much of what he put out in the 80s and 90s forgettable? For one, such strong songs as Workingman Blues and Nettie Moore. He also seems so comfortable in belting out blues number like Thunder on the Mountain without having to over complicate it and somehow manages to make the songs stronger because of this. Long may he run.

Chavez Ravine - Ry Cooder (USA)

Once I got over trying to make sense of this as a concept album revolving around Chicanos in LA in the 1950s, I started to enjoy it a lot more. Some of the songs belong in that era, but there are also many contemporary styles to be found here. It is really quite diverse in its rannge. I would have to say this is my sleeper of the year. Just keeps getting better with each play.








Elephant - The White Stripes (USA)

I don't usually go seeking contemporary rock music but every year a couple seem to make there way on to my CD player and into my heart. This is the first and only White Stripes I have heard.












OK Computer - Radiohead (UK)


I must say I still think The Bends is the best Radiohead but this is a very worthy collection just the same.