Shallow Trenches

This is not a music blog. But as it’s not clear what kind of blog it is, I’ve decided that I’m allowed to post my favourite albums of 2006, just like every music blogger in the universe. If a phenomenal album fails to appear on this list, it’s probably because I’m only a part-time music geek, and haven’t heard it yet. Except if you’re looking for Fox Confessor Brings the Flood, which I just plain didn’t like.

1. Joanna Newsom - Ys
• Hit repeat and let this album soak in. It’s not immediate, but it’s a rewarding listen. She’s toned down her squeaky voice, added daring orchestration (courtesy of Van Dyke Parks), and written stories in the form of songs. My favourite album of 2006.
2. The Decemberists - The Crane Wife
• I love smart music, and even more so when it’s as fun to listen to as the Decemberists. I’m not sure if this album, their first on a major label, is better than their last outing (Picaresque), but it’s still great. Best track: Shankill Butchers.
3. Regina Spektor - Begin to Hope
• This is more pure fun. Regina is literate like the Decemberists, has a unique voice like Joanna Newsom, but doesn’t sound a thing like either of them. This is almost unadulterated pop music, unlike the quirkier music that came before Begin to Hope, but if I’m looking for a pick-me-up, this is my album of the year.
4. Final Fantasy - He Poos Clouds
• Despite the title, Owen Pallett’s 2006 release is largely thematically dark, musically dense and ambitious. Even if he has said in interviews that he hates how the album turned out, I quite enjoy it.
5. Danielson - Ships
• I would not have enjoyed this two years ago, back when I insisted that music had to be aesthetically ‘pleasant’. Daniel Smith is a strange, strange man, and his music reflects that. He seems to have gathered together every musician he knows to make sweet, grandiose music that is endlessly catchy.
6. Destroyer - Destroyer’s Rubies
• I’ve finally gotten over Dan Bejar’s voice. Or grown to like it. Or at least tolerate it. This is a good album. His others are probably good too. Eventually I’ll listen to them.
7. The Mountain Goats - Get Lonely
• I wasn’t sure whether or not this album would make my best of 2006 list. I was largely disappointed by it, but since it’s the Mountain Goats, it’s still better than 98% of the music out there. I just wish someone would make John Darnielle angry again.
8. Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not
• If there’s one album on this list that people will judge this list by, it’ll be this one. Well I like it. So there.

I, like a good number of Canadians, was casually following the Liberal leadership race over the past number of months, and listened to the (terrible) coverage of the convention on CBC radio. And like most everyone else, the result caught me completely by surprise.

Jack Layton once called Dion

…a man who is, if I may say so across the partisan divide, distinct from his principal opponents in being a committed Canadian and a man of principle and conviction.

And therefore almost certain not to be elected leader of the Liberal party.

As many others have noted, it will be interesting to watch Layton race to retract that comment and begin painting Dion as a partisan politician who would take Canada down a dangerous road.

I’m not sure Dion would take Canada down the right track, but I am pleased to see Canada’s two mainline political parties represented by two intelligent, policy-focused, and frankly rather boring politicians. To perpetuate a potentially unhelpful stereotype, neither Stephen Harper nor Stephane Dion would make a good American presidential candidate.

I’m waiting to see if Dion’s apparent commitment to social justice and the environment is genuine, or if it’s a deliberate attempt to recapture the left wing vote that moved toward the NDP and Green parties in the last election. Maybe it’s both.

China Drafts Law to Boost Unions and End Abuse is a very encouraging article I came across the other day. After years of abhorrent working conditions in the sweatshops that help enable our high standards of living in the West, the Chinese goverment seems to be finally moving beyond the lax regulations that have led to exponential capital growth at the expense of Chinese workers.

Naturally, some of the wealthiest corporations in the world are outraged at this move:

Some of the world’s big companies have expressed concern that the new rules would revive some aspects of socialism and borrow too heavily from labor laws in union-friendly countries like France and Germany.

“This is really two steps backward after three steps forward,” said Kenneth Tung, Asia-Pacific director of legal affairs at the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company in Hong Kong and a legal adviser to the American Chamber of Commerce here.

All in all, not a particularly surprising response. The article did, however, contain one point that surprised me:

The proposed law is being debated after Wal-Mart Stores, the world’s biggest retailer, was forced to accept unions in its Chinese outlets.

Apparently unionization is already further ahead in China than it is here in North America, at least in the retail sector.