Current mood:	pensive
Current music:	hymies basement live

Yeah I'm already all reflective.

2006 by Josh Boyd

So, late November might be pretty early to be reflect on the year, but all the albums have already leaked, I've been to all the shows (except Joanna Newsom and Mt. Eerie) and I don't really have a problem admitting I'm chomping at the bit for this year to end.  

2006 for me was long, tumultuous, exhausting, and peppered by some beautiful things. I saw The Murder City FUCKING Devils, Brian Wilson, Jay-Z (kinda), Daniel Johnston and Daft Punk. I started making music again and people seemed to dig it. I moved out. I shot an uzi. I said "I love you," meant it., and had it said back to me. I also lost some of my best friends, found myself at the short end of some sticks, got tugged around more than I should've, and found myself a lot more defensive and guarded than I would've seen myself becoming this time last year. And I ran out of money.

The year started off awesome. My 21st birthday in March was one of the best nights of my life, surrounded by a shit load of people that I loved, completely free from drama. It stayed good for a couple months. I didn't get enough tax return money to move out as I'd thought I would, but I used what I had to give myself the tools I needed to start making the music I'd been playing for the last few years into lo-fi demos. And Hotbodies was born. It started off as a simple idea in my head: make music and get all of the best artistic minds to contribute with their own ideas and material, under the banner of a collective, whether or not it worked out as a traditional band. Like a superteam of experimental music: I was Batman of course, and we had Wolverine, Spiderman, Wonder Woman, and... I dunno what Spencer would be. Maybe Lobo.

Then some stuff happened, and I had to stop assembling superhero teams, and start facing ugly things about myself, my friends, ideas I had about friendship, loyalty, and love. And mannnnn, I don't wanna do that shit. I kept my dramatic freak out to a modest weekend, but it lingered on for a while, cause I tried making things work where I should've just walked away.  So eventually, I just walked away from the drama. It was hard. It sucked. It still sucks. Does it mean I'm a strong person? Yeah. Has that ever mattered to me? Fuck no. It just sucks.

And what have I found? Cause y'know I've got this thing where I try to find some sort of moral to every story, as a way to stay afloat in all this crap. So here goes. There are beautiful things about this world and the people in it, but until we've all done our growing up and self realization (and it's not as if I'm done either), a lot of us are gonna be twats and it's okay, it's human.  I just gotta maintain whatever it is I am, no matter what kind of crap swirls around me. There aren't many people I depend on anymore, but they know who they are and they've earned that. This year taught me that even people you trust most can fuck you over bad, but it's better to keep the circle of the ones you trust closed and strong than you keep it open and be forever paranoid about people.

There are some people who know and love who they are by now, and without fail, they are the best people I've found in the world.

Sometimes as much as you want to, you can't change things that are fucked up, even when there's infinite love to burn in trying to. You've gotta wait until they're ready to change the shit situation to even make a dent in the wall. So you've gotta drop that ball. And you can torture yourself over whether you made the right choice. And everytime you hear an Elliott Smith or a Kinks song, you can wish that ball would bounce back to you and say another magically worded thing that could make all the shit not seem so bad, but you've still gotta drop it. But I do miss you. A lot.

And that's where I stand now. I still like a lot of things. Music saves me every time. Coachella and the Murder City road trip gave me enough inspiration to be making music for the forseeable... eternity. I smile when the Buddha Box in my bedroom/closet finds some life in it's dead batteries and starts randomly droning.  I still smile when I go over a bump on the freeway. It still amazes me when someone can make me smile over instant messager...and getting a crush on someone is always a good, unexpected feeling. I still like Batman. I still like Smackdown. I still like Jay-Z, even if two thirds of "Kingdom Come" are weak. Follow Your Heart is an okay place to work. And the fact that Wonder Showzen exists in this world gives me hope.

Oh yeah, and the shit that matters.


My favorite albums of 2006:

20. Gnarls Barkley "St. Elsewhere"
Definitely a flawed album, but the aim of it might be the future of music. And I'm only kinda sick of "Crazy.

19. The Flaming Lips "At War With the Mystics"
The Flaming Lips present the 70s. It's good. It's better live on shrooms.

18. Cadence Weapon "Breaking Kayfabe"
This dude rules! He samples Silent Hill and he sounds hard while flowing about being from Canada!

17. Beirut "Gulag Orkestar"
It's not Neutral Milk Hotel, but it will do. Might be higher if I wasn't jealous cause this cat's younger than me.

16. Subtle "For Hero: For Fool"
No new Fog, Why or Buck 65 album til next year, so Subtle holds it down for the full length Anticon-maturation movement. It's big, it's juicy, it slays.

15. Tapes 'n Tapes "The Loon"
Awesome pop songs with subtly unorthodox instrumentation. The overhype and backlash might kill em but this album was tight.

14. The Streets "The Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living"
Why y'all hatin on Mike Skinner? This is the best Streets album yet.

13. Man Man "Six Demon Bag"
One of the best live club acts I saw this year, and this album kills.

12. Envy "Insomniac Doze"
Japan trumps Explosions in the Sky's bag. Fuck it, Japan's always just cooler.

11. TV On the Radio "Return to Cookie Mountain"
They're not even one of my favorite bands but this ones just so fully realized and badass you can't knock it.

10. Tom Waits "Orphans"
The king turns in a triple disc set of b-sides that keep him at the top of the mountain even when he's not trying to say anything.

9. The Thermals "The Body, The Blood, The Machine"
It takes something to make traditional rock and punk rock continue to be interesting. Hot Snakes had it, the Thermals have it, and I don't quite know what it is. But I want it.

8. Sean Lennon "Friendly Fire"
The celebrity status and ridiculous vanity project dvd that comes with this almost make you not want to like these songs, but they're so fuckin well written and catchy, that it's hard for me not to dig it, and dig it a lot.

7. The Beatles "Love"
What's better than the Beatles mixed with Jay Z? The Beatles mixed with... The Beatles. ADD is a beautiful thing sometimes.

6. The Game "Doctor's Advocate"
The west coast will never die. Fuck you.

5. Rx Bandits "And the Battle Begun"
This band fucking rules, this CD fucking rules. Enough said.

4. Joanna Newsom "Ys"
5 epic songs. This music is just really important. Like I wanna assign it to eighth graders for homework.

3. Islands "Return To the Sea"
Islands numbs the pain of the death of the Unicorns with lots of instruments, and fireworks. And it's really good.

2. Murder By Death "In Bocca Al Lupo"
Despite losing piano for this album, MBD deliver some really strong shit by amping up the Johnny Cash factor.

1. Girl Talk "Night Ripper"
I LOVE A.D.D. I JUST WANNA LISTEN TO EVERYTHING AT ONCE!

Honorable Mentions:

Jay Z "Kingdom Come"
The first three tracks, the Kanye track and the last track almost make up for the weaker cuts. But it's still Hov, and he's making something more than hip hop now, so he's allowed some missteps.

Voices and Organs "Orphanage"
The best noise-oriented album this year. Check it out!

Hotbodies "Skeletons and Demons (They Know They're Not Alive)"
C'mon it's free.

Disappointments:

Dr. Octagon "The Return of Dr. Octagon"
Not so much.

Outkast "Idlewild"
Some amazing stuff and some... songs made for a movie.

Tenacious D "The Pick of Destiny"
Some... songs made for a movie.

The best single this year was either "Morris Brown" by Outkast or "Sexyback." Really.

And just cause I'm feeling cocky, the best three albums of 2007 (so far):

1. Hella "There's No 666 In Outer Space"
2. Of Montreal "Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?"
3. Grinderman "S/T"

Favorite Films of 2006:

1. Inland Empire
Prepare to get assfucked by David Lynch and a cow.

2. Brick
Best high school movie ever.

3. The Fountain
Darren Aronofsky commits career suicide, finds he is a god in his afterlife. Sweet!

4. The Devil and Daniel Johnston
A warning sign for all aspiring indie-folk songwriters and a sympathetic portrait of one of the best, and most fucked up.

5. The Science of Sleep
Gondry's entry to this years plethora of dream inspired movies is the best (except Inland Empire and the Fountain). Hits too close to home for me though. In a good way I guess.

Next year I graduate, I'll be finishing my album, still playing with the band, and hopefully, by this time next year, I'll be in Japan. So, KONICHIWA BITCHES! Also this year, can we get more mushrooms in the valley? It's been tough to find them this year. Thanks Santa. And oh yeah, stop snitchin, stop lyin, punks! If you think I've gone bat shit crazy, keep in mind the key word there is "bat."

Sincerely,
Josh Boyd