Spray Picks 06 - CDs Of The Year

Ah, Boxing Day. Did you know that Boxing Day traditionally got its name from the time your mother - fuelled by self-loathing from all the food she ate 24 hours earlier - punched a bishop to death for looking at her funny? True story.

But anyway, today isn't just Boxing Day - it's day one of Spray Picks 06. Spray Picks 06 is a four-day-long retrospective of the year gone by, where our esteemed staff of writers choose a whole bunch of stuff that they liked from the worlds of music, cinema, television and a vague other world we sort of invented to make up the numbers. OK, we'll admit it, Spray Picks 06 was originally going to be called Let's Stick This Up Between Christmas And New Year And Hope Nobody Notices That We're Bunking Off, but thanks to headline character limits, Spray Picks 06 it is.

Anyway, we're starting off today with our CDs of the year, and you can find the enlightening list right after the jump…

Stuart Heritage
Viva Voce - Get Yr Blood Sucked Out

One of the best things about this job - apart from all the blank looks I get when I try to explain what a blog is to strangers - is that I often get sent CDs by bands I know nothing about. Sometimes this is horrible - German heavy metal albums about elfkings and shadowlords searching the caves of Dar Kunor for a book written in angel's blood by Nekron the demonknight have never exactly been my cup of tea - but sometimes gems like Get Yr Blood Sucked Out by Viva Voce pop through the letterbox. Viva Voce are phenomenal - a husband/wife team who make tripped-out fuzzy psych masterpieces, and Get Yr Blood Sucked Out doesn't have a single duff track on it. From the neverending collapsible freakout groove of So Many Miles to the superhumanly powerful pop of Faster Than A Dead Horse to the mighty statement of intent that is We Do Not Fuck Around, everything about this album hits the mark. On the days when I'm feeling old-fashioned enough to fire up my CD player instead of downloading music directly into my brain with a USB blipwire, Get Yr Blood Sucked Out by Viva Voce still tends to be my first choice of listen.

Shawn Lindseth
…And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead - So Divided

This is an easy choice, and it pretty much mirrors my best CD pick of '05. it's …And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead's album So Divided. Trail of Dead may well be the last band on Earth that remembers the heavy responsibility that comes with the title 'rock band'. The album has it's thunderous moments, it has it's softer moments, and it has that track #2 that made us poop a little.

Runner up: Guster's - Ganging Up On The Sun, because every song's an epic.

C J Davies 
Mogwai - Mr Beast

Despite the further ascendance of what sneering historians will call ‘haircut rock’ (oh, and they’ll be right to sneer, by the way), 2006 has nevertheless been a pretty fantastic year for ‘the tunes’.

Honorary mentions are due to Hot Chip, The Sound Movement, Thom Yorke, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Joanna Newsom (an artist firmly dividing opinions here at hecklerspray towers), The Rapture, The Concretes (now sadly-departed) and Early Day Miners.

The crowning accolade for CD Of The Year, however, has to go to Mogwai’s Mr Beast – a frankly astonishing collection of soundscapes. These guys have been churning out stunningly high-quality stuff for the best part of a decade now. Maybe it’s time people started paying more attention.

Chris Laverty
Borat Soundtrack

No doubt in my mind: Borat soundtrack.

From the film that gave us naked, sweating anal face-smothering and walking mantelpiece Pamela Anderson the opportunity to contribute her finest-ever performance comes a collection of tunes that transcend the humour barrier.

Ridiculous in the extreme, but as catchy as hell, this is a soundtrack to listen to just loud enough on your iPod so as to scare the people sitting on the bus next to you. If it’s a really slow day, heck, they might even suspect you’re a terrorist! Think about it, you are kind of a loner.

Matthew Laidlow
Duke Special - Songs From The Deep Forest

Oh god, this is too hard to answer. 2006 has been a brilliant year for music (not shit like X Factor). So many different scenes have been pushing what is out there. Indie is producing a healthy breed of songwriters and the UK grime scene is gaining more fans every day. But if I had to pick one album that floated my boat, it would be someone covered in my fabulous MySpace Trawl feature who goes by the name of Duke Special with his album Songs From The Deep Forest.

Forget all your wet bland crap like James Morrison and James Blunt, this guy puts his whole emotive body in to all his works. Catchy hooks from the piano go hand in hand with his soft Irish voice as he sings about everything from love and everyday issues. Sadly being ignored by the mainstream for now, he will become big next year. Trust me. With a tour in February, more fans will flock to see the strange-looking Peter Wilson do his thing. 

Now your turn - tell us about your favourite CDs of the year below. 

Tomorrow - the best films of the year, sodding well according to us. Oh, hope you all had a lovely Christmas, by the way.