My recommendations 2006:Hollinndagain by Animal Collective

Animal Collective: Hollinndagain
Paw Tracks 10/31/2006

2006 could hardly be called a year without an album from Animal Collective. It's been so long since we've seen a full calendar year without one that, for all we know, there may be some kind of Groundhog Day effect at work that would require us to start the year over unless Avey Tare, Panda Bear and co. emerged sometime before New Year's Eve to perform their obligatory calendric ritual. Having realized that their time was running out, not wanting to unnecessarily prolong the administration known as the "madness of King George" for another year, Animal Collective exhumed an extremely limited edition vinyl-only live album from 2001 and gave it a proper release. This is pre-Here Comes the Indian Animal Collective, so don't expect any campfire sing-alongs about winning rabbits and not going to college. The songs are almost completely amelodic (is that even a word?) and often more than a little abrasive, but the hypnotic percussion at the top of the mix draws you in anyway. It's as if they brought all of the elements of music to the performance but reassembled them in a configuration that's completely ignorant of Western musical dogmas. If you require music to have a tune and a melody in order to enjoy it, you will hate Hollinndagain. On the other hand, if you can listen with an open mind, then it might just become one of your favorite albums this year.