2006 YEAR IN REVIEW
This year has meant so much to so many.
This is the year London took the lead from New York as the city to do business. The year George W Bush reached out to states he previously accused of being contributors to terrorism in Iraq, to have them help stop terrorism and bring Iraq together. The year terrorists managed to have bottled water banned from flights. The year people in New Orleans saw 90% of their city rebuilt by charity and not public funds; while public funds are used to support military development in a country 6000 miles away. The year Britain evacuated citizens from Palestine and could not contribute to peace-keeping efforts because of their over-stretched Armed Forces.
The year the G8 realised that the Kyoto agreement was worth the paper it was written on, as economists now state that climate change will affect every economy drastically within the next 15 years. The year people of my hometown of Montego Bay, are cursed with crime worse than that of the capital city, Kingston.
The historical events of 2006 could go on ‘til you say when!
2006 was the year I became 21; the year I stepped into manhood. This year I will remember for its music. The year Nina Simone, The Notorious BIG, Simon and Garfunckel, Jimi Hendrix, Dennis Brown, Duke Ellington along with other late greats sprung back to life and enriched my music collection with their timeless contributions.
This has also been another great year for black music. Although urban music seems to have leveled with its success during the turn of the millennia, the fruits of the seeds sewed during this time and prior can be heard in many records released during 2006. The change of styles and attitudes towards production of Urban Music is evident in some of the most successful selling POP and ROCK albums this year. There was the collaboration of artistes who 10 years ago would not have even mentioned the name of their collaborators much less allow them to collect 50% of the proceeds on a record.
This year gave me the great collaborations of Nas and Jay-Z, and The Game and Snoop Dogg. The year a German born reggae artiste is booked in the international music circuit as just that - reggae - and not a POP or ROCK singer singing reggae.
This has also been the year of some disappointments, such as the cancelled release of the Fugees new album and Lauryn Hill’s album; the fact that Beenie Man and Bounty Killa are at it again (which is to some a disappointment but to me it means the music is still alive and through competition will grow).
For the better part of this year I have been living on a type 22 Frigate in Her Majesty’s Royal Navy. While onboard, living in 33-person berth accommodation and with the possibility that I might be sent off to Afghanistan or Iraq at any time, I kept myself grounded by listening to music. I purchased a 30 GB IPod in February, threw my portable CD player in the North Sea and started ripping all my CDs to my computer. Formerly I made mixed CDs in MP3 format and play them on my CD player. With the IPod that changed and I started making playlists. I had a playlist for every occasion, any compilation I could think of; and with a collection that spread across 482 albums and 23 genres, the possibilities were endless.
The following songs are my most played or most loved songs of this year. These were the soundtrack to my 2006, playing in the background while I was reading, while I worked, when I went for runs or walks, during moments of passion or disappointment.
1-3. Solitude by Duke Ellington, by Louis Armstrong and by Nina Simone.
4. Here Comes the Sun by Nina Simone. This was my 'welcome the summer' song. When I saw my mother in August, after not seeing her for 7 months, all I could think of were the words “it seems like years since you’ve been here, and it’s alright now”.
5. How Long Will I Wonder This Time by Nina Simone.
6. Black Is the Colour of My True Lover’s Hair by Nina Simone. A song that allows classical and R&B to collide in ways unknown to me before.
7. Sinner Man by Nina Simone. Jazz and gospel, together. The emotion within this song is evident and the hairs on my back stand up every time I listen to it.
8. Amor Ti Vieta by Andrea Biccelle. I had never listened to opera before so I was quite excited when I was given this album by a friend. I listened to it intently and fell in love with this song.
9. Dancing Shoes by The Arctic Monkeys.
10. Dancing Alone by Ashley Simpson. Yes I listened to this song...point!
11. Wouldn’t It be Nice by the Beach Boys. The discovery of the Beach boys was one of my proudest moments this year.
12. From me to You by The Beetles.
13. If Not For You by Bob Dylan.
14. Only Man by Buju Banton. From the Till Shilow album released in 1993, 13 years ago, and I still listen to the song like it was released yesterday. What sensational lyrics!
15. Who Have It by Buju Banton. Every song on the Too Bad album reminds me of the Buju Banton who wrote Till Shilow. This song speaks to the violence and brain drain in Jamaica, but all we do as Jamaicans is talk about it.
16. I'll Do It All by Busta Rhymes. Unlike I Love My Bitch, from the same album, this song says more and is a lot clearer. I am extremely unhappy that I'll Do It All was not released.
17. Boys Will Be Boys by The Ordinary Boys. This group is found in all record stores under Rock, but why not Ska?
18. Lie Here With Me by Snow Patrol. A wonderfully, uncomplicatedly timeless piece of music.
19. God is a DJ by Faithless.
20. Essence Of Your Love by Feeder.
21. Crazy by Gnarls Barclay. I purchased the 45’ single, the CD single, the album and undoubtedly I downloaded it. Gnarls Barclay stapled in my head Crazy. Who would have thought Cee-Loo and Danger Doom could come together to create such a great song?
22. Who Cares by Gnarls Barclay. It reminds me of a world where you have to be two people, one person according to company and the other according to yourself. The question of why we can’t be ourselves whenever we want to came in my head, then the line by Danger Doom comes in – WHO CARES?
23. With You by Jamie Fox. This incredibly talented man released the wrong songs from his debut alum. This album was more than what I read about in magazines. With You Features Snoop Dogg and The Game and the best thing is that it is produced by Dr. Dre. This could have been the HIP HOP song of 2006.
24. Lost One by Jay-Z. ‘This is not a good song it’s a real one’ is the statement that greets you when you press play on this track. I beg to change this to “this is not a good song, it’s a really great one”.
25. Voodoo Chile by Jimi Hendrix. I only started listening to Jimi Hendrix this year after reading a biography on him. Jimi speaks with his guitar and so many words could be heard during the play time of this song.
26. Save Room by John Legend. What a great discovery. This is the best composition in R&B for 2006.
27. I Write Sins Not Tragedies by Panic in The Disco. For me, this is Britain’s social behavior summed up in 3 minutes 8 seconds.
28. Air on a G Sting by the London Symphony Orchestra. Erotic and Sexy - they mean the same thing, but said together they describe every single note of this piece.
29. Love Should by Moby. When I listen to this song I imagine being with a beautiful woman with whom I am in love.
30. Promiscuous by Nelly Furtado. She has taken the celebrity make-over to another level. When other female artistes show their belly buttons I take it for granted, but when Nelly Furtado does, I savour every single second it is exposed to me. Oh, the song? Great club banger. Her album? I bought it because she told me to when she was on MTV with her belly button staring at me.
31. Hold Your Head by Notorious BIG. Bob Marley’s voice made this song what it is. This track resurrected two great entertainers to create true harmony. If only they were alive …
32. Chronometrophobia by Outcast. Idlewild was released this year and the soundtrack is incredible. In my eyes Outcast will, in the future, represent what NWA and Public Enemy represents now – icons within Hip Hop who are totally irreplaceable.
33. Hollywood Divorce by Outcast. The quirky rapping styles of André 3000, Snoop Dogg, Big Boi and the infamous Lil’Wayne made this song stand out.
34. P. Diddy Rock by P. Diddy. Press Play has hooked me really. Twista’s vocals is used to keep the tempo of the song going. Simply brilliant!
35. Number One by Pharrell Williams. I anxiously awaited its release, then to my disappointment, it wasn’t what I expected.
36. Skk 2 Def by Plan B. Britain’s own Eminem, but with a lot more literary talent and musical ability.
37. Wait a Minute by The Pussy Cat Dolls. These 5 girls and 1 transvestite have done very well over the last 2 years. Their productions by Will I AM from the Black Eyed Peas and Timberland have elevated them from just dancers miming, as most POP groups seem to be, to a POP group I would pay to see live over the Spice Girls.
38. Snow (EH Oh) by Red Hot Chilly Peppers. The RHCP has no competition!
39. Sister by Rhymfest, rapped over a beat composed by Alicia Keys and features a young artiste from mid west USA Mike Payne. If I am ever asked in the future why I listen to RAP music, I will refer the inquisitionist to this song. True poetry. Rhymfest is the truest poet for 2006.
40. Music is Power by Richard Ashcroft.
41. Cry Baby Cry by Carlos Santana. I wonder why a vocalist is necessary in any Carlos Santana song. However, Cry Baby Cry features Joss Stone and Sean Paul. Hold on a second, Joss Stone and Sean Paul? This is the type of music that should be up for song of the year at the Grammy’s: beautifully written, beautifully performed and wonderfully arranged.
42. Temperature by Sean Paul. I listened to this song in Scandinavia, Eastern and Western Europe and Jamaica. Sean has made dancehall music his own; making it cool to listen to by all classes all over the world. He is not the first, and it’s a shame that he's all we can market as our best. (A word to Record Companies and Producers).
43. That Heat by Sergio Mendez. Will I Am transformed Sergio Mendez from a great Samba Pianist to a Latin Hip Hop musician. This song featured Will I Am and Erykah Badu and the wonderful piano solo by the one and only Sergio Mendez.
44. America by Simon and Garfunckel. Who would have thought a Jamaican, grounded in the culture of his country, would ever listen to Simon and Garfunckel? It speaks, I believe, to the timelessness and ‘no-boundary-ness’ of great music.
45. Conversation by Snoop Dog. This features the legendary Stevie Wonder, and what better person to team up with to sing the hooks of your song. The Rap that always gets a smile on my face is ‘Mamma don't have, Papa don't have, God Bless the Chile who got his own’. What Snoop is rapping are words sung by Billie Holiday over half a century ago that seems so fresh coming from the lips of a West Coast Gangsta Rapper.
46. Make Some Music by Ziggy Marley. This album brought to me what I missed from reggae. The easy listening of his acoustic guitar and the simplicity of his lyrics wasn’t reggae at first, it seemed like Jack Johnson or Damien Rice. Then I realized that Jack Johnson and Damien Rice were trying to do what Ziggy Marley did effortlessly!
47. Love is my Religion (acoustic) by Ziggy Marley. I felt the lyrics in this song as he strummed the tune in a manner similar to that of his father in Redemption Song. So real, so tangible, so what music should be.
48. Just Like... by Corrine Bailey Rae. Have you ever loved someone so much and you try to explain what it feels like but can’t? Corrine came on the scene out of nowhere and when she released this song, I instantly fell in love.
49. Dreams by Lilly Allen. She made my summer this year with her cute, cockney accent and her raspy voice.
50. Two Nations by The Streets. Mike Skinner is one of the world’s greatest living poets. Poetry on a beat, lovely!
There you have the 50 songs that kept me going through 2006. There were many more I would love to mention such as Bob Sinclair’s very well composed album, Damian Marley, Gentleman, and other reggae/dancehall artistes, also Shakira and Gwen Stefani and the likes of The Killers and the Kooks... but the list had to stop somewhere. I leave with you my deepest thoughts of the music that carried me to the places I wanted to be, soothed my cries and placed a smile on my face throughout the year. My Playlist 2006.
Email: luronw@yahoo.co.uk