Joan As Police Woman – Anyone

Prompted by the news that Joan Wasser, in her performing guise of Joan As Police Woman, is going to be celebrating the twentieth anniversary of her ‘Real Life’ album, this weeks Old Fruit revisits that and five other notable records from 2006. To mark the occasion Joan has recorded and filmed new re-worked versions of songs from the record, including the beautiful ‘Anyone’ which today is rightly regarded as a classic. The celebrations will be accompanied by a tour later this year and if this new rendition should whet your appetite for further Joan’ exploration you can get on her case via the label Reveal Records and investigate more here: https://www.revealrecords.co.uk/

Cat Power – Lived In Bars

Here is another long established US artist who is going to be celebrating twenty years since the release of her classic ‘The Greatest’ album with a tour. Cat Power (real name Chan Marshall) emerged out of the 1990s indie scene and initially played with more of a lo-fi, alternative-blues kind of sound but by 2006, with confidence growing and artistic expressiveness sufficiently flexed, she issued the record that absolutely lived up to its name within her catalogue. The thing that she really nailed here was an authentic southern soul sound which, in tandem with Chan’s aching and bruised vocals, made for a set of songs that hit their mark with total conviction. Get yourself a copy of the album here: https://amzn.to/4bcXK3b

M Ward – Right In The Head

Here is a stand out track from M Ward that appeared on his 2006 album ‘Post War,’ released on Merge Records. It marked a sonic evolution for Ward being his first record recorded with a full band, broadening the songwriter’s palette beyond the intimate, lo‑fi textures of his earlier work. His sound by then was a mix of acoustic folk, blues, and dusty Americana whilst he was also able to entice contributions from collaborators like Neko Case. The nostalgia-tinged production he would go on to be acclaimed for was hitting its stride in 2006 and further deep listening of the mans music is strongly recommended, so why not start here with ‘Post War’ https://amzn.to/4bbWWvw

Camera Obscura – Lloyd I’m Ready To Be Heartbroken

Taken from their 2006 album ‘Let’s Get Out Of This Country,’ this song was actually the opening track and it marked the high water mark in the bands career, in accessible pop terms at least. This demonstrated a turning point too for the band, similar to that taken by fellow Scots Belle And Sebastian when they also moved away from the twee, bookish indie of their earlier days into a sound that was far more comfortable in big production and a lush widescreen pop sheen. It certainly endured as well, this is a song that still gets regular airplay (especially on 6 Music) to this day and quite rightly so; you can pick up the album on CD right here: https://amzn.to/40xfO1N

The Decemberists – Yankee Bayonet (I Will Be Home Then)

The Decemberists 2006 album ‘The Crane Wife’ was an important one for them in that it sharpened their profile in the music world as a band capable of building long form song-based suites that could also produce a US folk-rock sound identifiably their own. This song especially shone with that balance of accessibility and ambition: a melodic, immediate tune that still carries the band’s signature narrative complexity. This live clip from a few years later is nice because it features Colin Meloy’s original lead vocal partner from the album recording, Laura Veirs, reprising her role on stage. The album is well worth checking out too and can be found via this link: https://amzn.to/4tZtC2M

Victorian English Gentleman’s Club – Ban The Gin

We conclude this edition with the only act this week who do not appear to still be active. The band did remain an underground cult favourite for a few years after releasing a debut album in 2006 and are fondly remembered by people who were following their label Fantastic Plastic Records or the Cardiff scene at the time. However, despite releasing a few more albums over the next ten years it would appear they quietly called it a day some time around 2016. Nevertheless, the VEGC burned bright for a while and certainly ignited a scene suddenly awash with Arctic Monkeys soundalikes with their unique and adventurous brand of Art-Pop. You can find a copy of their debut this way: https://www.discogs.com/master/208739-The-Victorian-English-Gentlemens-Club-The-Victorian-English-Gentlemens-Club