Let's keep it to the top 20 albums. :)

And go!

I will have to post a link to mine then, because it's going to be more than twenty. :p

Just post the top 20! and then link us to your real list!

Will do! I Made the Nomination Thread for the OMA Album of the Year, too :)!

I already did this for my LJ. So, here goes:

The top 10 albums of 2005. Woohoo.

#1
http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drg700/g767/g76714b4cv8.jpg
Aimee Mann - The Forgotten Arm

Although perhaps not as good as #2, this album deserves the #1 spot more because it is such a vast improvement over recent previous work than it would because it is a great album. It is a very, very nice album, though, with amazing songs like Dear John, Video and Little Bombs. Although any Aimee solo work has its sultry moments, this record doesn't ever become dull or boring, probably because of the excellent compositions of the songs. Lost In Space was good, but it wasn't nowhere as catchy (In an Aimee way, of course) as this record.

#2
http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drg500/g596/g59630z86nt.jpg
Ani DiFranco - Knuckle Down

This is truly my favourite record of 2005. It is one of Ani's best releases of recent years, but it still isn't a return to her old work (Which I still hope will happen one day). Regardless, though, it features warm and thought-provoking songs like only Ani can write them. Although some of the songs are too inaccesible (Like the entire album Educated Guess was), they don't spoil the mood of the album.

#3
http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drg900/g966/g96611fpurw.jpg
Sons & Daughters - The Repulsion Box

I really love this album. Sons and Daughters are a Scottisch folk/indie rock band. About the album: It is filled with incredibly catchy songs, and the talent of the band is obvious. Their energy is all over this record, and they manage to contain all of that energy in mostly under 3 minutes a song. A very powerful record.

#4
http://www.musicfolio.com/modernrock/AF_remagine.jpg
After Forever - Remagine

After Forever is a Dutch gothic-metal band. They have been around since about 2000. Although last years concept album Invisible Circles was a clumsy whole, it was still a nice record if you could get past the fact that none of the songs stood out. It wasn't a record you could put on 'on the go' and listen to some songs and really get an idea of the album or the band. Fortunately, this amazing album changes all of that. The band releases a volley of impressive metal songs that compare easily to their early, and tops it at times. If you ever want to check After Forever out, this is the album that should be your first listen.

#5
http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drh000/h001/h00103gvo26.jpg
Alanis Morissette - Jagged Little Pill Acoustic

Such a release is always hard to pull off, commercially. Most people will view this record as an attempt to generate more sales and milking the cow of her previous sucess. And perhaps that is true. However, I have more faith in Alanis' integrity as an artist, and I believe that that is what makes this record so good. It seems as though she really took the time to get to the essence of the songs, and then translate them into an acoustic session. She didn't just take the songs and played all of it acoustic, it really feels as though the message and meaning behind the songs are enhanced in its new acoustic skin.

#6
http://www.allisoncrowe.com/LaWHcovers.jpg
Allison Crowe - Live At Wood Hall

You bet I'm biased by knowing the artist personally. But I love this record. It is a singer-songwriter on piano, but her voice is truly magnificent, and the songs she does (Both her own and a load of covers) are all brilliant.

#7
http://www.fishrecords.co.uk/graphics/mybetterself.jpg
Dar Williams - My Better Self

Although I was disgusted by the first album cover, I like this version a lot more. The album itself is very good, too. Dar has way to have her quirkyness shine through in her songs, and although the message of My Better Self can get a bit too 'out there', the songs are catchy and meaningful.

#8
http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drg600/g685/g68503intu6.jpg"]
50 Foot Wave - Golden Ocean

Kristin Hersh rocks, both solo and in this band. Blah blah blah, 50 Foot Wave is a great band, blah blah blah, I love them, blah blah blah, great record. I thought this came out in 2004, but that isn't the case. I feel as though I've had it for years, though. Strange. Rawk!

#9
http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drg900/g991/g99156wcl02.jpg
Fiona Apple - Extaordinary Machine

One of the last ones on this list is Fiona Apple. And that is probably because I've only had her album for a month or so. Still, I already know it is a very nice record, but that not many of the songs seem to stand out. O' Sailor is already a favourite of mine, and so is Better Version Of Me, but I am still undecided about the rest. I am talking about the officially released version here, not the internet-leaked version. Which, although it is better, I won't count for this list.

#10
http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drg500/g598/g59801q2htv.jpg
Tori Amos - The Beekeeper

A lot of people really hate this record, but I never really got why it is so terrible. Perhaps it is hard to fuck up a 19 song record, as there are always songs that are bound to stand out. The Beekeeper has a good selection of songs that stand out, but also a fair selection of songs that do nothing to me. That is nothing new, though, as I've had that with all previous Tori releases. Songs like Ireland and Hoochie Woman are simply beyond lame, but songs like Toast, Original Sinsuality and Parasol are very nice. Not a great record, but certainly a good one. I wouldn't have expected something else.

Disappointment of the year:
http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drg700/g776/g77699p4t9u.jpg
Tracy Bonham - Blink The Brightest

I'll admit that I am not very familiar with Tracys work, but I liked some songs enough to get this album. It is a very bland record, with terrible lyrics and uninspiring melodies. Although song titles like "And the World Has the Nerve to Keep Turning " sound promising, the whole ordeal never ever manages to grab my attention for more than 30 seconds. I always had the hope that the next track would be better, but instead they dangle in between lame ballads and angsty pop-rock songs. Yeah. A shame.

... Morgan, I think I'm going to weep or vomit. Help me decide.

I just said the same thing to Thom. There's still hope.

I've got my list down to 37!

I promise, with all of my heart, to balance this thread out. I mean Eluvium is going to be my number one, but my list will have MF Doom and 13 and God and Sufjan and Iron and Wine and Calexico and Drowsy and Masha Qrella and all will be right with the world.

Wheeee! you can do it, Pete! I'll post mine before I go on holiday. (I still have to work on it a bit.)

Morgan said I could post my 70. And I WILL. (I'll post twenty but have a link)

I already did this for my LJ. So, here goes:

The top 10 albums of 2005. Woohoo....

Is it me, or did this thread just get filled with vaginas?

Lesbian Vagina.

Or Lesbian Knobs.

[/font][/size]

Is it me, or did this thread just get filled with vaginas?

Big messy feminist vaginas. So no, it's not you. I was just thinking on if there were any male artists who released something good this year. Considering I don't like the 2005 albums of Bright Eyes, Bloc Party and Coldplay and the whole lot that I do like didn't release anything, the only male band would be Sons & Daughters on the list (The bandname is a tad misleading, although they have a female singer).

I...don't like...Coldplay

There is hope after all!

Wow. One list and the snark is out. We earn our reputation, dammit!

As a fine institution of musical discovery, OMA is very hard on itself, including all of its members.

Yup! And I don't care who comments on my list. If we can't comment on each others' lists, this activity is no fun.

Yup. And my list won't feature Antony And The Johsnons or Iron & Wine or Sufjan Stevens because I've listened to them all and I think they are awful to a certain degree. If not awful, then certainly unworthy of appearing on my list. I've gotten a lot of reactions on people who refuse to believe my choice. But its not like I'll go to bed crying about it (Even though I will and I'm just posting this to be nonchalant and tough). Anywhoo, indeed, no comments is no fun.

I've gotten a lot of reactions on people who refuse to believe my choice. But its not like I'll go to bed crying about it (Even though I will and I'm just posting this to be nonchalant and tough).

aklujhklfsajhdfdsa. You're a good sport. <3

I was thinking of putting Beekeeper on my list just to piss y'all off.

:D

Oh. OK. I actually have to start on my list now. :p I should be able to get it done in about a week, maybe less. I have to re-listen to a few things for final positioning.

Steve the Sweet Fat Man

I'm curious as to why you put the peepooper on your list Timmey, if some of the songs do 'nothing' for you. When I make a list, especially in the top ten, each of the songs on each of the albums have to stand out for me. Just wondering why it made your list if it didn't work for you all the way through as a cohesive project. :)

^Because it's Fori. :p

I'm curious as to why you put the peepooper on your list Timmey, if some of the songs do 'nothing' for you. When I make a list, especially in the top ten, each of the songs on each of the albums have to stand out for me. Just wondering why it made your list if it didn't work for you all the way through as a cohesive project. :)

There is a logic to how you make a list, in that each song has to stand out. And I agree with that. But on an album of 19 songs, it is hard for all 19 to stand out, and that would disqualify it by default. And although an album is better if all the songs stand out, I still can really enjoy an album if there are a couple of songs that really stand out amidst some songs that don't.
With some artists, this works better than others. Ani, for instance, I placed as my original #1 because even the weaker songs on the album are still pretty good. Whereas Toris weaker songs on the album are pretty crap. This doesn't have an effect on how good the strong songs are, though.

Looking back, though, I think I could have replaced Tori with the Martha Wainwright or The White Stripes though.

I'm curious as to why you put the peepooper on your list Timmey, if some of the songs do 'nothing' for you. When I make a list, especially in the top ten, each of the songs on each of the albums have to stand out for me. Just wondering why it made your list if it didn't work for you all the way through as a cohesive project. :)

He's probably trying to piss you off.

:D

I dunno. On my list, only the top three are what I consider to be pretty much "perfect" albums. I give higher points for consistency, to be sure, but for example, Sufjan's gonna edge into number four pretty much on the strength of "John Wayne Gacy Jr." and "Chicago". I mean, not that there's not some other great stuff on there, but there's also a bit of filler, IMO. And yet, putting out the TWO best songs of the year has gotta be worth something!

Steve the Sweet Fat Man

People putting the PeePooper in their lists isn't going to piss me off at all. I was just interested in his list making methodology since it's different from mine. :)

As I see it, I have one rule for my list: it's my list and I'll do what the fuck I want with it. ;)

You'll see what I mean. :D

Steve the Sweet Fat Man

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drg900/g911/g91185hxdrb.jpg

Nickel Creek - Why Should The Fire Die: At first I was a bit turned off by its darker tone; one of the bands I turned to for innocence and optimism had crafted an album where the charming Anthony almost seemed ironic. But the musicianship is so strong here that I couldn't help but fall in love. Key Tracks: When In Rome, Doubting Thomas, Anthony

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drg700/g776/g77699p4t9u.jpg

Tracy Bonham - Blink The Brightest: A great set of songs, all more musically intricate and interesting than anything she's done before. If some of the fun of Burdens is gone, this is as clever as Tracy's ever been. And if nothing else, she sings her heart out like never before. Key Tracks: Dumbo Sun, Naked, All Thumbs

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drg900/g991/g99156wcl02.jpg

Fiona Apple - Extraordinary Machine: Sort of a given, y'know? The girl can't write a bad song. And Parting Gift was a nice bonus with the official release; I'm not going to say I don't miss the Brion version of Better Version of Me, but nothing could stop this set of songs from being one of the tops this year. Key Tracks: Not About Love, Parting Gift, Window

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drh000/h028/h02837rf5it.jpg

Dolly Parton - Those Were The Days: (Ignore the album of patriotic songs) Dolly can do no wrong! Key Tracks: Those Were The Days, The Cruel War, Twelfth Of Never

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drg700/g766/g76676eq0c9.jpg

Ryan Adams - Cold Roses: Not every song is memorable, but the good is great and Adams finally gets back into the alt-country groove. Key Tracks: Let It Ride, Magnolia Mountain, Cherry Lane

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drh000/h035/h03522j9g3p.jpg

James Blunt - Back to Bedlam: Big in England, but just starting to make its inevitable splash here in the States; great debut album with variety and heart to spare. Key Tracks: Goodbye My Lover, Out Of My Mind, High

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drh100/h125/h12510x0nxs.jpg

Sarah Harmer - I'm A Mountain: Maybe the best of the year. Great collection of backyard sounds; Sarah's voice is one of the best in the business, and the songs are uniformly strong. I can't rave enough about this album. Key Tracks: Goin' Out, Escarpment Blues, I Am Aglow

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drh000/h072/h07297cr6v8.jpg

Imogen Heap - Speak For Yourself: I was worried after hearing the clips on the site, but the album itself allayed my fears. It didn't hurt seeing her live the night before it came out, but this is another contender for album of the year. Key Tracks: I Am In Love With You, Closing In, Have You Got It In You, Loose Ends

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drh000/h000/h00096ly719.jpg

Tracy Chapman - Where You Live: Okay, I didn't like it at first... it seemed even more somber than Let It Rain. But what can I say; it grew on me. Very organic and stripped down album, worth the investment. Key Tracks: Taken, Before Easter, Talk To You

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drg700/g713/g71360heu19.jpg

Glen Phillips - Winter Pays For Summer: Definitely the best all-around set from the former Toad frontman. Voice and pen are both in top form, and I melt everytime I play this album from start to finish. Also my nominee for best cover art of the year. Key Tracks: Easier, Cleareyed, Half-Life, Don't Need

Honorable Mentions:
Amy Ray - Prom
Jack Johnson - In Between Dreams
Kathleen Edwards - Back To Me
Rosie Thomas - If Songs Could Be Held
Better Than Ezra - Before The Robots
Tori Amos - The Beekeeper
Our Lady Peace - Healthy In Paranoid Times
Steven Page - The Vanity Project
Sheryl Crow - Wildflower
Fisher - The Lovely Years

(No order other than #1, 2)

1. Broadcast - Tender Buttons --
Originally I thought they had made an aesthetic left-turn for the worst, but my music tastes have changed a lot this year and this album started to make more sense after a month or two. I love the very basic drum programming that is metronomic and pulse-like, the music is very physical and alive here. The Microtronics EP vol. 2 that is available from warpmart (+ when they were touring) is a perfect compliment to this, a series of fractured mini- instrumentals (on a mini cd!).

2. Hanne Hukkelberg - Little Things
3. Yann Tiersen - Les Retrouvailles
4. CocoRosie - Noah's Ark
5. Boards of Canada - Campfire headphase
6. Jamie Lidell - Multiply
7. Gang Gang Dance - God's Money
8. Animal Collective - Feels
9. Jason Forrest - Shamelessly Exciting
10. Autechre- Untilted
11. Roisin Murphy - Ruby Blue
12. Vashti Bunyan - Lookaftering
13. Sleater Kinney - The Woods
14. Stereolab - Kyberneticka babicka
15. Six Organs of Admittance - School of the Flower
16. Dalek - Absence
17. Robin Guthrie / Harold Budd - Mysterious skin (soundtrack)
18. Mike Patton / Kaada- Romances
19. Clientele - Strange Geometry
20. Devendra Banhart - Cripple Crow

(Don't know if I'm breaking the rules here) but one non-2005 album that was re-issued in 2005 that would've made my list-
Comus - First Utterance (from 1971).

Disappointments:
Prefuse 73, Surrounded by Silence -- The Books EP was 10x better imo.
Broken Social Scene - S/T
Devendra Banhart - Cripple Crow - Yep, it still makes my top 20, but I'm finding it doesn't have the lasting appeal of his older work.
Goldfrapp - Supernature -- Goldfrapp have been one of my favourite acts since they brought out "Felt Mountain", but a part of me is worried that they may continue in this direction. I did like Black Cherry though.
Brian Eno - Another day on earth - The opening track is so good that it's a shame the rest doesn't conjure the same magic.

... Morgan, I think I'm going to weep or vomit. Help me decide.


ok, so. i love you more than my mink, but come on. let's be a little democratic.

Here are my favorites:

1. Antony and the Johnsons, "I Am a Bird Now"--This is the most soulful, heartbreaking album I have heard in ages. I fell in love with it from the first few notes. Beautiful.

2. The New Pornographers, "Twin Cinema"--This one has gotten some love on these boards, but I probably like it more than most. It's mad with hooks. I enjoyed their first two albums, but this is the record where it feels like they truly sound like a band. On their last few, I found myself wanting to skip to the Neko Case tracks at some points--not so here. "Use It," "The Bleeding Heart Show," and "Jackie, Dressed in Cobras" is my favorite 1-2-3 punch of the year.

3. Fiona Apple, "Extraordinary Machine"--More of a "grower" for me than any other album released this year. I bought it, liked it, and kind of wondered why it was earning such raves. Basically, I liked WTP better and was hoping she had grown more over the last six years. Over time, I grew to appreciate just how sophisticated and passionate a record this is, and now I completely adore it. "O' Sailor, "Oh Well," "Parting Gift," and "Tymps" are among my favorite songs of the year.

4. Martha Wainwright, "Martha Wainwright"--What a gorgeous, fluid voice. There's nothing showy about it, but it's capable of conveying so much lust and melancholy. One of those records that doesn't feel like anything special on the first few spins, and then it sinks its claws into you. Love it.

5. Madonna, "Confessions on a Dancefloor"--I've always been a huge Madonna fan. Biased? Yes. I'm also a huge Tori fan, though, and you won't find her record in my Top 10 (more on that later). One track aside (the awful "I Love New York"), this is everything I want in a dance-pop album--glittery hooks, personality to spare, a faint trace of melancholy in spots. She's a master at this sort of thing. "Forbidden Love" is one of her finest moments, period.

6. Andrew Bird, "The Mysterious Production of Eggs"--What a talent! It'd be nice if he got the recognition he deserves and earns a following along the lines of, say, Rufus Wainwright. I became obsessed with "A Nervous Tic Motion of the Head to the Left" earlier this year, and it ended up on several mix CDs I made for friends. One of them ended up buying the album. I felt like I did my part. :)

7. Feist, "Let It Die"--Music like this is easy to dismiss. It's so subtle, and I can imagine people lumping her in with boring lovelies like Norah Jones and Dido. There is something quietly powerful about Feist, though. She is able to handle a truly impressive range of material (Folk! A Bee-Gees cover! A song in French!) and work it into a seamless whole, without sounding like she is showing off. And she is utterly convincing on every track.

8. Franz Ferdinand, "You Could Have It So Much Better"--I dig this band. They are certainly not for everyone, and it doesn't help that the far inferior Killers resemble them slightly and are all over the f*cking place. This is not as impressive to me as their debut, which I loved, but it is a strong sophomore effort and shows them stretching a bit ("Eleanor Get Your Boots On" is great) without losing sight of what made them so much fun in the first place.

9. Marianne Faithfull, "Before the Poison"--An artist that I have long admired, but started to gain a deeper appreciation of this year. I think this is one of her best, most solid efforts. "No Child of Mine" is one of my favorite songs of the year.

10. Sufjan Stevens, "Illinois"--I am a big fan, and I am happy that his album is so well-received and that so many people love it. That said, despite its many glorious moments, I find some of this album to be irritating. A very good effort that rounds out my Top 10, but I don't adore it as much as everyone else seems to. I suspect that it might be one of those records that will click with me on a deeper level a year from now (or maybe not), but as of this moment this is where I would place it.


So that is my top 10.

To throw in my two cents on the "Beekeeper" dialogue--I actually like the album. Unfortunately, I like it more as a carefully edited iPod playlist than as an actual 70+ minute record. Cut it down to ten tracks, and it's wonderful. Throw in "Ireland" and "Ribbons Undone" and "Hootchie Woman" and a bunch of others, and it really drags in spots. I wasn't sure how or if I would rank this one. I feel like the other records in my Top 10 are more consistent, but sometimes consistency is overrated. There is a lot here that I love, but some of it is ... well, some of it is profoundly lame. I'll give it an honorable mention.

Disappointments:

Kate Bush, "Aerial"--I have been listening to this recently, and I really can't say that I love it. I'm more of a casual admirer, but even by those standards this hasn't done much for me. I'm glad her fans seem to be enjoying it so much, though, since it was such an eagerly anticipated release. If one of my favorite artists hadn't released anything in over a decade, I'd hope I'd love it, too. Maybe it'll grow on me.

Beck, "Guero"--Well, he's hit-and-miss for me. I love "Odelay," "Mutations," and the much-maligned (at least around here) "Sea Change," but I hated "Midnite Vultures." I didn't mind that this album had so many shifts in tone, I just felt like it wasn't his best material. Some great songs, but not the masterpiece it was proclaimed to be upon its release.

Liz Phair--Well, I don't even remember the name of her last release, but I listened to it online and never felt compelled to hear it again. At least with the self-titled album she gave people something to argue about, but her latest release was just a middle-of-the-road record that did not play to her strengths at all and made her sound like a terrible singer. I did like two or three tunes, and that was about it. Thank God for iTunes, eh?

I've begun writing my list and reviews. I'm down to thirty, I want to cut it down to twenty-five. I'm going to try to.

I would like to express my adoration for Let It Die by Feist, but as it was released in the UK last summer, I won't be including it on my 2005 list.

[post28] to everyone who's posted so far! Ross; excellent list, naturally, 'though I'm yet to sample Tender Buttons properly. Their live performance really put me off. I will check it on your recommendation, though.

To throw in my two cents on the "Beekeeper" dialogue--I actually like the album. Unfortunately, I like it more as a carefully edited iPod playlist than as an actual 70+ minute record.


Which is why its not making my list. But the songs I DO like would have made it make it onto the list.

Anyways, I didn't buy a LOT of new music this year, I sort of bought some older stuff that I had missed. But here's my votage. And it's short. I narrowed it down to three.

1. Fiona Apple- Extraordinary Machine
I really think I was never happier to have an artist back working than Fiona. Seeing her live (and anyone who gets the chance- GO SEE HER. Don't stay for Coldplay :D) really cemented how much I love this album from start to finish. Even the songs I didn't like very much at first have grown on me.

2. Sufjan Stevens- Illinois

I really fell hard for this album, and it's been playing on my IPod pretty much non-stop since I got it. I think "Chicago", "JWG", "Decatur" and "Casimir Pulaski Day" are fast becoming up there in my fave songs list. I think it's an excellent, excellent, excellent piece of work, and I am very happy and grateful to this forum for raving about it so much.

3. Kate Bush- Aerial

I think it's a lush, gorgeous record that really surprised me, given that I have a love/hate relationship with Kate's music. But I really think that it works on all levels, and I am glad I was encouraged to listen to it :)

1. Sufjan Stevens- Illinois
There's nothing I can say about Mr. Stevens that hasn't already been said in this forum. This album made me happier than any other album this year.

2. The Decemberists- Picaresque
I'm surprised this isn't getting more nominations, considering it's a really solid album and several songs (The Engine Driver in particular) are knockouts. But whatever, I <3 it.

The rest of the list:

3. Patrick Wolf- Wind in the Wires

4. The Jim Yoshii Pile-Up- Picks Us Apart

5. The New Pornographers- Twin Cinema

6. Andrew Bird-& The Mysterious Production of Eggs

7. John Vanderslice- Pixel Revolt

8. The Go! Team- Thunder, Lightening, Strike

9. Iron and Wine- Woman King EP

10. Cranes- Particles & Waves

11. Xiu Xiu- La Floret

12. The Magic Numbers- The Magic Numbers

13. Devendra Banhart- Cripple Crow

14. Iron & Wine/Calexico- In The Reins EP

15. Teenage Fanclub- Man-Made

16. Her Space Holiday- The Past Presents the Future

17. Jens Lekman- Oh You're So Silent Jens

18. Mice Parade- Bem-Vinda Vontade

19. Great Lake Swimmers- Bodies & Minds

20. The Most Serene Republic- Underwater Cinematographer

.

Ok so. This has changed a bit in the last few weeks. Here goes...


1. Sufjan Stevens - (Come on Feel the) Illinoise
2. Imogen Heap - Speak For Yourself
3. Martha Wainwright - Martha Wainwright
4. Johnathan Rice - Trouble Is Real
5. Kate Bush - Aerial
6. Nerina Pallot - Fires
7. Tori Amos - The Beekeeper (yeah fuck you all... ;) )
8. Rufus Wainwright - Want Two
9. Teddy Thompson - Separate Ways
10. Rilo Kiley - More Adventurous

Come on, people, this is entertainment. Create some suspense.... Count down! Not up, down!

Thank you.

Come on, people, this is entertainment. Create some suspense.... Count down! Not up, down!
Thank you.

Yeah, no shit. I always do that.

Let's get it together, folks!

Steve the Sweet Fat Man

I'm going to post in INSTALLMENTS of 20 albums each. Hopefully I can do 4 or 5. Now THAT is suspense.

Since I'm so fucking discriminating and Andrew Bird would be the only one on my list this year, I'll just offer a year-end commentary. The Eluvium would make the list also, if Andrew Bird wasn't the only one on it.

Ok, so Andrew Bird did a damn fine job on his release. I think "Mysterious Production" stands by itself in terms of well-rounded, well made, interesting albums. I just get a feeling about the musical-craft and creativity and song-writing ability. Really, it stands alone. Especially compared to the rest of this year's releases. It wins, if there are winners.

I'll listen to the Eluvium for a long time to come because it's right up my alley. It's in good company with a lot of albums that aren't really masterpieces per se, but I still spin them pretty regularly. Sorta like the second Sunny Day Real Estate album.

Props to Mogwai for releasing the best BBC Sessions albums I've heard to date. It's now my most spun release from them.

I like the direction the Books went this year, but the release left a bit to be desired. Some great tracks there though.

Four Tet dissapointed me. Maybe time will be kinder to this one. It gets another chance sometime down the road.

I never got a chance to hear the new Angels of Light, so I need to do that.

I like the Boards of Canada. Nothing more, nothing less.

Akron/Family's 2nd release will be better than their debut because they have way too much potential to use up on this hit and miss album.

Yes, Windy & Carl made another album. I will listen to it along with all of their others interchangeably. I'm coming to realize Consciousness won't be topped. Don't take it the wrong way! It just is what it is.

I don't care what anybody says, the Animal Collective is boring. I liked Sung Tongs, so don't give me the "you don't get it" bullshit. This isn't up to par for them and I hope they pick themselves up and try again.

Similarly, Sage Francis did not live up to his previous standards. Sucks for him.

Poor Propagandhi :( If they were as smart as they are, they'd start publishing words instead of bad songs. Or start a new band.

Other albums I heard and didn't hate:
August Born
Boom Bip
Boduf Songs

So that's that, but not all. There's a list of 2005 albums on Rate Your Music with 1227 albums listed. That's a lot.
http://rateyourmusic.com/lists/list_view?list_id=14969&show=150&start=0

I'm going to post in INSTALLMENTS of 20 albums each. Hopefully I can do 4 or 5. Now THAT is suspense.

No, that is overkill. :r

;)

Last year, I think I did 11-20 as an installment, then 6-10, then 1-5. I think I'll do the same this year. Only problem is, my top ten is pretty much set, and my second ten is fluid. So y'all will have to wait a bit. :p

Steve the Sweet Fat Man

I don't need my whole seat, Steve, just the edge. ;)

[boob] predictably oestrogenous [boob]

Diane Cluck - Countless Times
CocoRosie - Noah's Ark
Martha Wainwright - Martha Wainwright
Fiona Apple - Extraordinary Machine
Shelly Poole - Hard Time For The Dreamer
Emiliana Torrini - Fisherman's Woman
Kate Bush - Aerial
Vashti Bunyan - Lookaftering
Rosie Thomas - If Songs Could Be Held
Kathryn Williams - Over Fly Over
Aimee Mann - The Forgotten Arm
Tori Amos - The Beekeeper
Laura Veirs - Year Of Meteors
Rachel Lipson - Pastures
Edith Frost - It's A Game
Marissa Nadler - Ballads Of Living & Dying / Adventures Of Mayflower May
Sheryl Crow - Wildflower
Eileen Rose - Come The Storm
Hanne Hukkelberg - Little Things
Orenda Fink - Invisible Ones

I've begun writing my list and reviews. I'm down to thirty, I want to cut it down to twenty-five. I'm going to try to.
I would like to express my adoration for Let It Die by Feist, but as it was released in the UK last summer, I won't be including it on my 2005 list.
[post28] to everyone who's posted so far! Ross; excellent list, naturally, 'though I'm yet to sample Tender Buttons properly. Their live performance really put me off. I will check it on your recommendation, though.

Pete! I saw them on Halloween (Broadcast) and perhaps they weren't on that night? It was truly one of the best shows I've seen - they were free of tension, she played a lot of electric and the band did a lot of songs in more extensive tight jams. ! :)

I don't need my whole seat, Steve, just the edge. ;)

Eh. You'll hate all my choices anyway. :D

Steve the Sweet Fat Man

I want to do a list but I am afraid that some of the albums I like weren't released in 2005. I recently got around to discovering a lot of stuff this year so excuse me if some are out dated.

emiliana torrini - love in the time of science
beck - guero
white stripes - get behind me satan
imogen heap - speak for yourself
the decemberist - picaresque
arcade fire - funeral
ladytron - witching hour
sigur ros - takk
death cab for cutie - plans
postal service - give up
panic! at the disco - a fever you can't sweat out

10 Death Cab For Cutie Plans
A band I only really got to know this year due to frequent recommendations by friends. There's a fine sense for melody apparent here and one can feel that this band has a long history already. The arrangements are flawless and it's fine they never try too hard to be or sound cooler than they actually are.
Top song: Soul Meets Body

09 Hard-Fi Stars Of CCTV
In the long row of pretty good british guitar bands we've seen over the past two years these are most unashamedly pop. They use dance beats more flippantly than anyone else, and even though their singer's voice is not too overwhelming or expressive it fits really well into the context that is often more based on volume than on structure. Nevertheless it's a very dynamic record and a promise for the future.
Top song: Cash Machine

08 Tori Amos The Beekeeper
After the first listen I put it on the shelf and more or less forgot about it. When the day of her gig here in town came nearer I felt the need to try it again. I discovered some really good tracks (Sweet The Sting, The Power Of Orange Knickers, Marys Of The Sea) and what I did then was probably blasphemic but necessary: I burned myself an edited version of the album that left out the, ehm, crappier tunes and retained the eleven ones I could lightheartedly accept and digest, et voilá: it's a fine record.
Top song: The Power Of Orange Knickers

07 Stars Set Yourself On Fire
You can only say two negative things about this album. First is that it does not consist purely of What I'm Trying To Say which is one of the fucking greatest pop tunes ever done and is a most clever combination of indie pop and electronics and can probably save lives and also improve them if it was played out to the wider public via gigantic loudspeakers when people go to work. The second thing is that the old game of using opposites (male and female voice; bitter topics sung over beautifully swinging melodies; combining indie and electro) might become a bit tedious when being exposed to for a prolonged period of time. Then again you can also just hum along.
Top song: What I'm Trying To Say

06 Ben Folds Songs For Silverman
There's nothing splendidly new on this album and one could argue that as a whole the three ep's from last year eventually made up for a better album than this one actually this; nevertheless it's full of grand tunes, great melodies and a good sense of humour that, say, Fiona Apple (who, just in terms of arrangements, sounds slightly similar) lacks here and there. The accompanying live concert was one of the best I have ever seen.
Top song: Landed

05 The Coral The Invisible Invasion
They seemed on their way to obscurity but they came back. This album is made to lift anyone's moods within five seconds. It's quirky, it sounds like the great album that John Lennon never made, it uses ancient organs and instruments most of us heard last when we were in music class at school. The songwriting is marvellous and it's good for drinking beer to.
Top song: In The Morning

04 Franz Ferdinand You Could Have It So Much Better
"Here we are at the transmission party, I love your friends they're all so arty." – Enough said.
Top song: Eleanor Put Your Boots On

03 Of Montreal The Sunlandic Twins
I can't remember who recommended them to me but I want to thank this person and do kindly offer a blow job. For someone like me who finds the rock bands too rocky at times and runs away after an hour of Wainwright or Antony or Wolf this is the perfect mixture of gentle hooks, twanging guitar, nice 80's bass lines and a voice that doesn't give my eardrums blisters. Lovely throughout and there's not one weak track on it. Even the one minute long instrumental piece in the middle is astonishing.
Top song: Wraith Pinned To The Mist And Other Games

02 Eels Blinking Lights (And Other Revelations)
Ahhhh. One, no, two albums full of bliss. There's almost 40 tracks here and none of them qualifies as filler material. I was prepared for this band going on a long and winding decline as so many have done before but this is truly a masterpiece of melody and playfulness and a perfect distillation of everything Mr. E has pulled off so far.
Top song: Suicide Life

01 Sufjan Stevens Illinois or Come On Feel The Illinoise
From the first note onwards to the last one this breathes life. With each listen there's a new track that stands out until the day comes when just all of them stand out. Nothing though can beat the gorgeous "And what it wa-haaas" in
Top song: Concerning The UFO Sighting Near Highland, Illinois

Honorary mentions to Andrew Bird, Athlete, Boards Of Canada, Broadcast, Broken Social Scene, Coco Rosie, The Dandy Warhols, The Decmberists, Editors, Elbow, Engineers, Gorillaz, Kate Bush, Ladytron, Laura Veirs, Martha Wainwright, Nada Surf, Patrick Wolf, Sir Paul McCartney, Roisin Murphy, Sigur Rós, Supergrass, and Tom Vek

10. Bent - Ariels
(Highlight: Sunday 29th)

9. Sleater-Kinney - The Woods
(Highlight: Jumpers)

8. Bloc Party - Silent Alarm
(Highlight: Banquet)

7. Imogen Heap - Speak For Yourself
(Highlight: The Walk)

6. Ani DiFranco - Knuckle Down
(Highlight: Recoil)

5. Iron and Wine - Woman King EP
(Highlight: Jezebel)

4. Maria Taylor - 11:11
(Highlight: Xanax)

3. Kate Bush - Aerial
(Highlight: Nocturn)

2. Madonna - Confessions On A Dance Floor
(Highlight: Forbidden Love)

1. Sufjan Stevens - Illinois
(Highlight: Concerning The UFO Sighting Near Highland, Illinois)

Disappointments:

Boards Of Canada - The Campfire Headphase
Aimee Mann - The Forgotten Arm
Tori Amos - The Beekeeper
Elbow - Leaders Of The Free World
Death Cab For Cutie - Plans
Nada Surf - The Weight Is A Gift
Goldfrapp - Supernature
Fiona Apple - Extraordinary Machine

EDIT: Doh! Totally forgot about Bent.

Oh, man. I can't believe I forgot about Stars. That would have completely made my list.

Oh well.

In no particular order (except for the first one, and a couple are from 04')

Imogen Heap - Speak For Yourself
Gorillaz - Demon Days
Kate Bush - Aerial
My Morning Jacket - Z
Iron and Wine - Woman King
Climber - EP
The Roots - Home Grown! Vol. 1 & 2
Madonna - Confessions On A Dance Floor
Milosh - You Make Me Feel
Tori Amos - The Beekeeper
Jack Johnson - In Between Dreams
Royksopp - The Understanding
Telepopmusik - Angel Milk
Sigur Ros - Takk
Jimi Hendrix - Best Of Jimi Hendrix
Ben Folds - Songs For Silverman
Ani Difranco - Knuckle Down

How come you've got '04 albums in there?

I don't feel I can really participate, as only 6 of the 13 albums I bought this year are from 2005. I could make a '20 best of this decade' list . . . I need more $ with which to buy music. *weeps*

Yeah, I thought Stars was from '04, too. If it's not, it should be in my second ten. (I'm restricting my list to things that were released in America in 2005, but certainly, I'm not telling others what to do with their lists. ;))

But, um, yeah. "What I'm Trying To Say" is an amazing song.

Steve the Sweet Fat Man

the postal service was 2003. :b

I totally forgot Of Montreal & Sigur Ros on my list, which shocks me a bit.

Yeah, I thought Stars was from '04, too. If it's not, it should be in my second ten.
It was released in Canada in November '04, US in March '05 & UK in August '05.

In no particular order, just a top 11

Emiliana Torrini - Fisherman's woman
Patrick Wolf - Wind in the wires
Roch Voisine - Sauf si l'amour
Ai Otsuka - LOVE COOK
Brad Paisley - Time well wasted
Tori Amos - The Beekeeper
El Canto Del Loco - Zapatillas
L'Arc~en~Ciel - AWAKE
Omar Naber - Omar
Mylène Farmer - Avant que l'ombre
Nami Tamaki - Make progress

;P

The White Stripes - Get Behind Me Satan!
One of most eccentric albums I've heard in a long time. The production and songwriting are so different than anything else out there right now, it just makes me swoon.

Personal Favorites: Blue Orchid, Forever For Her, My Doorbell


Fiona Apple - Extraordinary Machine
I hate Sony for unleashing Mike Elizondo on these gorgeous songs. No matter what damage the production changes did, these are still some of the best songs I've heard from a female singer/songwriter since "When The Pawn"

Personal Favorites: Red Red Red, Parting Gift, Tymps (The Sick In The Head Song)


Tori Amos - The Beekeeper
Sue me. I like Tori Amos. . . and this is about as Tori Amos as you can get right now. I feel a lot of my hatred for this album had more to do with Tori's change in public image than the album's tracks. The "corn mother/lioness" stuff is laughable. . but a large majority of these songs are delicious. Since it's so long. . I can skip the few tracks on this album I don't like and still have a lot to spare.

Personal Favorites: The Power of Orange Knickers, Mother Revolution, Ireland, Marys of the Sea, The Beekeeper


Madonna - Confessions On a Dance Floor
This album does in the first three tracks what Gwen Stefani's producers spent an entire album trying to accomplish. As much as I loved "American Life," I feel this album brings Madonna full-circle. . back to her roots as a purely-fun artist. I'm looking forward to the next eras of Madonna, but I'm glad she took the time to do this album. I also must say that the marketing for this album was the smartest I've seen in forever. The idea to leak bits of the first single as a commercial, ringtone, and finally dub version created buzz that could have made a bad album successful. Luckily she delivered a yummy album to follow it up with. Also, the idea to release the album unmixed on Itunes made me very happy.

Personal Favorites: Sorry, Jump, Future Lovers


Kate Bush - Aerial
It's really good. That's the only thing I can really say about this album. It's not that it's so out-of-this-world spectacular that I can't sleep. . but it's a beautiful, sometimes haunting, HONEST set of songs. It's the best thing I could have expected out of Kate Bush at this point.

Personal Favorites: Mrs. Bartolozzi, A Coral Room, Nocturne, Aerial


Sinead O'Connor - Throw Down Your Arms
I giggled when I heard that she was releasing a reggae album. I expected some glossy UB40-meets-Madonna bit of nast. . what was released was a simply beautiful, spiritual album that you can tell means a great deal to the performer. These types of albums are my favorite. .a departure from the norm, but done in such a way that you barely notice she hasn't been doing these types of songs her entire career.

Personal Favorites: Jan Nuh Dead, Throw Down Your Arms


Ani DiFranco - Knuckle Down
I always like what Ani does, she's an artist to me whose production doesn't matter. As long as I can hear her voice singing her words, I'm fine with what beat she sings along to. I must say, this is the most lush I've ever heard her. She's done pop, jazz, funk, folk, even dabbled in electronic manipulation. . but she's never done anything like this before. . and I like it.

Personal Favorites: Studying Stones, Paradigm, Parameters, Recoil


Tori Amos - Chicago 04-15-05
I'm biased because I was there and it was a very special concert for me, but I absolutely love this concert. It's not only the best quality boot we've ever gotten from Tori, but the setlist and levels of energy from her that night make this such a perfect release. The Piano Bar segment is definitely worth the price of the disc itself.

Personal Favorites: Operator, The Circle Game, Cool On Your Island, The Beekeeper, Space Dog, Sweet The Sting



Rent - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
As a big "Rent" fan since middle school, I was really apprehensive about this whole "movie thing." I have to say the production brought a lot of the more subtle parts of "Rent" to the front of the mix . .and it's nice to finally have a less-nasal Mimi

Personal Favorites: Out Tonight, La Vie Boheme, I'll Cover You (Reprise)

Sm**chies!

Jacob.

Wow. I can't wait until the diversity starts piling in. I hope certain posters post their lists soon.

Working on it :)

Me too, but I certainly won't be done before I SEE YOU!!!!! [post54]

See See See! I'm so excited! :) I don't think I'll have mine ready either. I'll work on it while driving up there.

Wow. I can't wait until the diversity starts piling in. I hope certain posters post their lists soon.

I would've been happier to do a top 40! Though that may be a little long-winded ;)
Morgan, your pm box is fuller than a frat party fridge!!

I haven't heard as much music this year as I'd have liked to; not having Net access at my home for about half the year has a lot to do with that, as does not having a lot of cash. For that reason, and for reasons of artistic brevity, I have a Top Ten for you. So! Without further ado:
10. http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drg700/g777/g77748ig97o.jpg
13 & God - 13 & God
Moody, glitchy and quite lovely, this was one of my surprise finds of the year. It's understated and yet yields so much as you listen to it. Rich, I think is the word.
9. http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drg600/g629/g62924dwe8t.jpg
Bright Eyes - I'm Wide Awake It's Morning
Just...a top-drawer collection of songs. On the strength of this, I'd say he's improving all the time as a songwriter. "First Day Of My Life", "Road To Joy" and "Poison Oak" are some of the best songs I've heard this year.
8. http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drg600/g641/g64103dz5c6.jpg
Antony & The Johnsons - I Am A Bird Now
It's just heavenly in places. I know his voice and the arrangements aren't to everyones tastes, but if you're not reduced to a weeping lump on the floor by "Hope There's Someone", then you're probably barely human.
7. http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drg900/g948/g94858mwqe4.jpg
The Magic Numbers - The Magic Numbers
Ah, so lovely. Jangly summery indie-pop of the absolute best quality. The harmonies are gorgeous, and it's music like this that makes living in a rain-sodden post-industrial Northern city that bit more fun. ;)
6. http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B0009C2UUC.01._OU02._OU02_PIuk-r-fp-999,BottomRight,10,10_SCMZZZZZZZ_.jpg
Art Brut - Bang Bang Rock 'n' Roll
Now then. There's no way I'm going to pretend that this is anything like technically one of the best ten albums this year. It's basic and probably pretty uninteresting musically. But in terms of sheer enjoyment, I've played this so much. I'm just a sucker for meta-pop, I guess. I love the arched eyebrow in music. And boy do they arch.
5. http://www.drownedinsound.com/images/9718.jpg
65daysofstatic - One Time For All Time
Absolutely one of the best bands in the UK at this moment. You just need them in your life. Nuff said.
4. http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drg800/g877/g87729p0pkv.jpg
Ellen Allien - Thrills
Man, I played this to death earlier on in the year. It's grinding, filthy electronica and I adore it. It's like the soundtrack to a night of cheap, dirty sex...in a kind of robotic way. Genius.
3. http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drh000/h005/h00534h3au9.jpg
Sigur Rós - Takk...
Gorgeous. Gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous. No other words. Vocabulary...straining...
2. http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drg900/g907/g90745ch3u3.jpg
Sufjan Stevens Illinois
I feel like we're all a bit collectively talked out on this one. But it's just so so great. His songwriting gets better and better, the instrumentation is rich and interesting, there's so many wonderful melodies that it makes your head spin, and also so many touching, sad moments as well. I'll be listening to this for a long time, and probably still finding new things to enjoy about it.
1. http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drg600/g675/g67590ribak.jpg
The Decemberists Picaresque
Yeah. I'm nothing if not predictable. But this is my favourite music of the year. What can I say? With the possible exception of "Lost At Sea", I adore every song here. Meloy gets more and more sophisticated as a lyricist and songsmith, the band gets more adventurous and playful as they go on, and the whole thing just pushes all my buttons.
-----
Honorary mentions to the like of Gorillaz, The Go Find, Martha Wainwright, Idlewild, Iron & Wine, Magnet and Electrelane. It's been a good year, I think...

Ellen Allien - Thrills
Man, I played this to death earlier on in the year. It's grinding, filthy electronica and I adore it. It's like the soundtrack to a night of cheap, dirty sex...in a kind of robotic way. Genius.

Ok...I NEED to hear this. It sounds amazing!

Nice list Shakedown! :)

In no particular order, my best of 2005:

Fiona Apple - Extraordinary Machine (Jon Brion)
Kate Bush - Aerial
Roisin Murphy - Ruby Blue
Patrick Wolf - Wind in the Wires
The Decemberists - Picaresque
CocoRosie - Noah's Ark
Emilie Simon - La Marche d L'Empereur

Brace yourself, Ari, coz:
Natalia LaFourcade - Casa

10. Goldfrapp - Supernature: I think the reason a lot of Frapp fans were disappointed with this was because it was so blatantly "catchy" that it was hard to get use to. However, I knew since listening to Train that Allison could take an average, catchy, pop song and turn it into something great. She did so with a lot of the songs on the album. From the lush, signature strings to the vocoder effects, this is a strong album that holds up well to their other two.

9. Ani DiFranco - Knuckle Down: This album showed that Ani was coming out of her slump. It seemed like she was still searching for her creative niche and trying to find something that worked. Knuckle Down is classic Ani in modern times - songs that enter your sub-conscious instead of immediately hooking you, as well as lyrics that flow like the perfect story, plus production that is not too slick and accentuates all of Ani's strongest artistic abilities. The melancholy strings and guitars of Sunday Morning and the classic "man-hating" power vocals of Manhole just made me smile with delight that Ani was back.

8. Sheryl Crow - Wildflower: When it was announced that Sheryl would be doing a new "artistic" album, I immediately got my hopes up to the highest level. I pictured a full album of songs like Home, Crash and Burn, Riverwide, etc. What we got was more like a somewhat mellow collection of songs that still lacked the vibe that her amazing second and third records had. Honestly, it was the production that ruined what this album could have been.. and the inclusion of a few upbeat songs. Had the entire album been made up of songs such as Chances Are, Always On Your Side, and Wildflower, it'd be one of her strongest albums. I listen to the acoustic versions of the songs more so than the album versions. They expose what these songs could have truly been.

7. Over The Rhine - Drunkard's Prayer: I remember Thom announcing the new OtR record and I basically went apeshit.. ESPECIALLY because he was saying that these were some of their best songs since Good Dog, Bad Dog. He was definitely correct as some of the songs on the record are definitely among their strongest to date. I like to compare this record to Extraordinary Machine... now hold on. What I mean, is, that both albums are relationship albums and each song demonstrates different emotions that one feels throughout a relationship. Over The Rhine shows a love like a fine wine.. aged and better so because of it. Songs like Little Did I Know and the title track tell about love that has weathered many storms but is still blowing strong. My absolute favorite track from the record is Who Will Guard The Door? I heard a live version first, which was also the first song I heard from the entire project. The lyrics were simple but the melody just gave me chills. I still can't explain why it has the effect on me that it does.

6. Tori Amos - The Beekeeper: Yeah yeah yeah we know, not her best. But of all the lowlights, there are still a ton of highlights that I think fans will look back on as some of her best songs. I do think that the album could have been better had production been.. completely different. But, if you focus on the actual songs and lyrics, there are some stellar moments. I still think Marys Of The Sea is one of the best songs she's ever done. It has the escalating piano and powerful vocals (that come across better live) and the lyrics are very much Tori. I think that if the album was shorter and included Garlands, it would have been much better

5. Fiona Apple - Extraordinary Machine: To say that I am happy that this was finally released would be an understatement. I thought, like a lot of people, that we would never see this record sitting on the shelves. I'm in the minority that considers the Elizando version superior to the Brion version. I just didn't fall in love with Brion's production as much as I did with the newer production. Brion's record felt like his own, but with Fiona Apple on vocals. That just put me off. I know they were demo versions, so perhaps when Brion's version is released like it has been said it will be, maybe my opinion will change. As for the record as a whole, I consider this her best, by far. I love both of her previous ones but Extraordinary Machine seems more well-rounded. Fiona seems to be comfortable with her voice and her lyrics have never been better. Alanis should take note that you can use "big" words and still have your songs make sense. The only gripe I have about the album is that every, hold two or three, are about her bitterness toward relationships. BUT, because I have been going through some of the same situations personally, I was able to latch on to her emotions because they were exactly what I was feeling. Even now, Oh Well is the theme song to my last relationship. "What wasted unconditional love." - amen, sister.

4. Madonna - Confessions On a Dance Floor: The Queen returned to her throne with a bang, and a disco flare. This is the Madonna that was introduced to us in the 80's, but she has aged well without becoming the grandmother of pop. Forget Gwen Stefani and her LAMB, or all of these other pop wannabes. This album shows why Madonna does it better than anyone and why she will continue to do so as long as she's making music. The future-disco concept is brilliant and although some have tried to do it before, again, Madonna has done it better. The songs are so undeniably catchy that it's hard not to tap your foot or bob your head, let alone go all ghey and dance around the house. Get Together with it's throbbing bass line and eletro flourishes, Hung Up with it's amazing use of an ABBA sample, and the religious rump shaker Isaac all remind us why they gave the title of Queen of Pop to Madonna. Some will complain the lyrics are trite, which most of the time they are, but Madge was never known for her lyrics. It's continuous, non-stop, uber-gay, dance-pop.

3.Imogen Heap - Speak For Yourself: Self-produced, self-written, self-made packaging, self-sung, self-played... The origin for the title of the record is quite obvious when you take into consideration that it is entirely Imogen. This is definitely one of the most intricate pieces of music I have ever encountered. There is just so much going on in each song, it's impossible to notice everything. In Hide and Seek, you can hear the sound of food frying on the stove, and the distinct whistle of a train. The Moment I Said It has the sound of Imogen and her real-life boyfriend fighting... a very chilling aspect if you listen carefully to the already haunting song. I consider Hide and Seek the best song of the year. There are no other songs like it that were released, and it is extremely heartbreaking. I remember hearing it for the first time and just saw in awe at how beautiful and sad it was. Imogen Heap is one of the most underrated talents in the music industry. She is a writer, a vocalist, a producer, and a visual artist... the perfect musician. And this album is the perfect album to display all of her abilities.

2. Kate Bush - Aerial: 12 years in the making, and Kate did NOT disappoint. I actually think that this is her strongest record to date. Hounds Of Love was up on this pedestal, and it still is, but I think Aerial slightly knocked it off. It was everything I pictured a 2005 Kate Bush album sounding.. modernized, but so classically Kate that it hurts. The subject matter on the first disc (the full calculation of pi, a woman doing laundry, Joan of Arc) is exactly the type of stuff she would have written about in her hey-day. There are no words for the brilliance of the second disc. Kate takes us on a journey from day to night, and the music compliments the sonic soundscapes she so elegantly sings of. Any worry I had of her voice going was put to rest after hearing the gorgeous croons on Sunset and Nocturn, two of the best songs I've ever heard from her. I secretly hoped that Kate would make an album that took you out of your everyday world, without taking you too far, and gracefully put you back when the album finished. With Aerial, she did that and more. It's an artistic feat that will be hard pressed for her, or anyone, to overcome. I think she's up for the challenge.

1. Martha Wainwright - Martha Wainwright: It is strange to think that I heard one of the most explicitly titled songs I've ever seen almost two years ago. I never thought that I would like a song called Bloody Mother Fucking Asshole. Now, I can appreciate the song because I think the title comes from when you are just so mad at someone that you use ever curse word in the book to express it. Martha Wainwright has one of the most beautiful/ugly voices I've heard in recent years. She can sing in her lower register with a sultry feeling, and out of no where rip the beauty to shreds and let out wails that send the hairs on your neck running for cover. It's Martha's voice that is her weapon of choice and what sets her apart from pretty much any artist I've ever heard. I really cannot compare her to anyone else, which is perhaps why I find her so amazing. Even the almighty Tori can draw comparisons to other artists. With Martha, she is in a league of her own. I look at this record as my end of the year/reflection record. It was released in April, and I was more than ready to be done with school and head into my junior year. Martha carried me into the summer and this album was the perfect companion for those hot summer nights, with the windows down and the night air the only thing that I could feel. Of all the records that I've bought this year, I some how return to this one and it always takes me wherever I want to go. The songs can be interpreted in many different ways, and you notice something different every time you listen. Sometimes it's a syllable on a word that she accents JUST right, or maybe the way it cracks at the perfect moment. Whatever the case, all of these elements and more make Martha Wainwright's self-titled, debut album my favorite album of 2005.

It may have been mentioned, but I almost feel categories would be cool too. Sometimes choosing a general #1 is fun, but something like Ruby Blue by Roisin Murphy I would choose as my #1 favourite pop album because of its inventive arrangements. Thoughts ?

I'm not any good at making lists, so this list is in no order:
http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B0007N1BR6.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg
Ane Brun - A Temporary Dive
http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B000BEPLUE.03.LZZZZZZZ.jpg
Kate Bush - Aerial
http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B0007GAE6C.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg
Lily Holbrook - Everything Was Beautiful And Nothing Hurt
http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B0007VXZKO.02.LZZZZZZZ.jpg
Martha Wainwright - Martha Wainwright
http://img245.imageshack.us/img245/5498/robynrobyn3ic.jpg
Robyn - Robyn
http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B000B65422.02.LZZZZZZZ.jpg
Fiona Apple - Extraordinary Machine

^^OOooooOOOooho I loved the Lily Holbrook as well. It'd be on my top 20.

Dear OMA.

Please, once in a while, go to a record shop and buy something that doesn't have a vagina.

Love Pete.

13 and God by 13 and God.
Themselves and The Notwist combine to create a subtle, fascinating album of electronica, trip-hop and more traditional live band elements, bolstered by Doseone’s enigmatic lyrics and delivery. The choruses of Afterclap and Men Of Station are subtle but catchy. Perfect Speed builds a stoned electronic haze around an acoustic guitar, a repetitive synth motif and a sad vocal. Most impressive is the meter and flow of Doseone’s rap on Ghostwork, striding atop a suitably dubby bass. Every bleep and tic that underpins the whole album adds up to an engaging and impressive listen.

Blue-eyed in the Red Room by Boom Bip.
I didn’t expect to find this album in my list, but I really do enjoy it so much. Come to think of it, it’s possibly the first new album of 2005 that I got. Layering piano and guitar over synths and glitch beats, Boom Bip constructs rich and detailed pieces, full of memorable melodies and head-nodding rhythms. The Move sounds like it could soundtrack a zone from the original Sonic The Hedgehog games, particularly with it’s distinctly MIDI-tastic bass riff and simple melodic phrasing. Girl Toy allows infectious guitar noodling to weave over a network of insistent rhythmic synths, piano, electric bass and gentle beats. Dos And Don’ts, featuring SFA’s Gruff Rhys, is wonderful, with Rhys’ moody intonation of the lyrical mantra (“All the dos and the don’ts and the will and the won’t and the vulgar and clean and the gulf inbetween and the meek and the brash and the cautious and rash…” and on and on), and a coda that’s either nonsense or Welsh. The other vocal turn is from Nina Nastasia on a sublime closing number, The Matter (Of Our Discussion), which swims in reverberating and reversed guitars and synths. Nastasia’s delivery is plain and simple, but the song is excellent and a wee bit tearjerking.

The Campfire Headphase by Boards of Canada.
Following Geogaddi was never going to be easy, as Boards of Canada have built such a distinctive sound; rinse and repeat or change the formula? Either way could have been disasterous. The Campfire Headphase is something of a climbdown after Geogaddi¸ and Boards have done little more than shake up their sound a wee bit; the mood is more summery than before, with guitars and sweeping strings creating broader sounds. Having got used to this, I’ve found Headphase to be a really rewarding album. The bubbling analogue sounds on ’84 Pontiac Dream and Oscar See Through Red Eye are intriguing and fantastic, and the battered guitar loop that leads Chromakey Dreamcoat is so simple, but engaging. Dayvan Cowboy’s lush strings make me swoon. Not a perfect album, no, but if it were by anyone other than Boards, I feel it would have been received more warmly. As it is, I enjoy it a lot, and I feel it deserves a place on my list.

Elocution by Killa Kela.
Maybe the best hip-hop album of the year tumbles from the mouth of this white boy from Sussex. Rapping, singing and, most importantly, beatboxing, Killa Kela’s Elocution is brilliant. The most notable feature, other than the mouth-made beats, is the presence of a string quartet on many of the tracks. Add a Bollywood sample on Rave Of The Future and you’ve got some interesting sounds vying for your attention. Here Come The Submarines is wicked, with a roof-raising, red-alert "Woop! Woop!" chorus, and an appearance from Roots Manuva on fine form. There are smooth radio-friendly cuts about relationships; Secrets, I Want It and Standing In The Rain, all of which work surprisingly well. Killa Cello pits Kel’s beatboxing against a cellist with fantastic results. Jawbreaker is fuckin’ huge, running on a sampled loop from Prodigy’s Smack My Bitch Up (it’s not credited, but it’s there, I promise).

Feels by Animal Collective.
Absolutely fuckin’ mental, these lads, but a joy to listen to. Exuberant calls of melody on Did You See The Words, a gaggle of rhythmic chattering orbits the centre of The Purple Bottle, just plain yelling on Grass, and a bizarre humming as an approximation of droning honey gatherers on Bees; Animal Collective like to use their voices. Drums power songs with reckless abandon, shaking and rattling unstoppably through the heart of The Purple Bottle, and crashing loudly in Grass. Banshee Beat builds up layers of piano, deep, resonant drums, and captivating falsetto vocals. And yeah, more silly animal onomatopoeia. Loch Raven’s piano, hushed vocals and resonant electronics create a reverent atmosphere, which many people might have used to wind the album down, but Turn Into Something shakes loose and throws a crazy party, with jelly and ice cream! At the zoo! In my pants! This album makes me so unbelievably happy.

The Fire In Our Throats Will Beckon The Thaw by Pelican.
Sprawling and immense, Pelican’s instru-metal conjures whole landscapes with its dynamics and intensity. Last Day Of Winter rumbles it’s ten minutes through passages of terrific guitar noise and Herculean drumming before fizzling into gently picked acoustic guitar for the final minute. From here on in, the music frequently shifts from atmospheric filters and clean guitar into epic metal storms. Autumn Into Summer directly follows Last Day’s soft ending with measured calm, sounding not unlike a slightly beefier Mogwai song. The piece explodes into tremendous and celebratory noise, complete with a double-kick and metal riffing. March To The Sea and Red Ran Amber boast 22 minutes between them; both pieces menace, but the former becomes resigned, whereas the latter chills out on clean guitars for some minutes before blowing up into something that may even be described as anthemic. The closing Sirius is a ray of sunlight, challenging you not to nod your head to it. This is a huge album, and a slow one, but it rewards patience in each of its seven tracks.

The Golden Morning Breaks by Colleen.
This is the sort of album that creeps into your brain after repeated listens, wee spiders of tunes drumming their legs inside your ears. I believe that "pastoral electronica" is these days the hipster-approved wanky label for electronic/acoustic arrangements, so that's what this album is. It's better than "folktronica", anyway. Hard to describe, but I will use the words "beautiful" and "moving". Repetitions are at the core of the pieces here, but elaborations on themes and arrangements provide depth and interest. A sonorous acoustic guitar motif leads Summer Water in, a violin and a cello creating texture and atmosphere. I'll Read You A Story stutters on a music box, forwards and in reverse, with a picked acoustic guitar melody providing focus and pace; Bubbles Which On The Water Swim's discordant drones and octave shifts build tension; it's the attention to detail that make this such an absorbing listen. The closing piece, Everything Lay Still, is the most beautiful ten minutes commited to disc all year and is absolutely perfect.

Gonglot by Frog Pocket.
Frog Pocket's tunes are all so pretty and delicate, plaintive and sad, revolving around violins, acoustic guitars and prepared piano - and skull-shattering electronic drum tracks. The first two minutes (Follow Erol Raet) set the atmosphere with the former; the next eight (Carac Cyls) create tension with sweeping violins and frantic drill 'n' bass. This formula is simple but effective, and Hurrah Sapphire Moon! and Vaedre thrash and spasm, their gorgeous arrangements being bumraped by the beats. And the beats are quite something; Frog Pocket's like a kid who's been given an array of oscillators and resonators and filters to play with, and his drum tracks hiss and squelch and grind like no-one elses. Of course, this would all get pretty boring if there weren't tunes and melodies, and Oben, Plinty and particularly Eyewarm offer much to draw a listener in. The finest moment is Celebrimbor Tur-Anion, which turns on its stuttering beat and prepared piano motif and serves up a celebration of Celtic violins and enthusiastic but unintrusive drums. After two years signed to Planet μ, Frog Pocket finally releases an album; it’s well worth the wait.

Illinois by Sufjan Stevens.
Oh, you all know by now, don’t you? Okay. Sprawling adventure through the state of Illinois via cinematic indie pop with Sufjan as our guide. The songs are infectious and the arrangements brilliant, whether subtle and pretty like Concerning The UFO Sighting and John Wayne Gacy Jr, or punchy and jubilant, as Come On! Feel The Illinoise and Chicago. My personal favourites are The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades, which builds into a glorious chorus of voices, strings, flutes and trumpets, and They Are Night Zombies!!; the layering of the piano, the guitar and the bass, then the violins, the chanting of “I-L-L-I-N-O-I-S” and the call and response harmonies, all of which are fantastic. Illinois is a wonderful album that deserves all the praise heaped upon it.

In Case We Die by Architecture In Helsinki.
A small army of Australians, with enough instruments to stun a rhino, set about making wild pop music with little regard to common sense. Nevereverdid begins with choral vocals echoed by trumpets and trombones, and wavers and crashes that evoke the least scary of ghost trains, before tumbling into a shout-along bop, chaotic on the surface but held together with precision bass and drum work. AIH are absolutely “twee as fuck”, with naïve vocals and utterly simple melodies, and a childlike approach to music making; if it makes a noise, make a noise with it. However, In Case We Die betrays a sense of maturity, as the songs all burst with wonderful hooks, choruses, and structural ideas that most bands wouldn’t bother challenging themselves with. Do The Whirlwind, Maybe You Can Owe Me and The Cemetry are all particularly fabulous, but the final song, What’s In Store, makes me want to dance and yelp and squeak all over. Just lovely.

In The Library Of Horrific Events by Johnny Truant.
It’s hard to tell if Johnny Truant are taking the almighty piss or not. Song titles like I Love You Even Though You’re A Zombie Now, The Bloodening (a Simpsons reference, no less) and The Necropolis Junction (could almost be a lost Rob Zombie title), and lyrics, where discernible, about corpses and arming oneself for the disco suggest that they are. However, the music is so good it has to be taken seriously. The opening battery of …You’re A Zombie Now and The Bloodening is brutal, with much shredding of guitars and vocal chords. Throne Vertigo riffs on some deft melodic picking, and I The Exploder ratchets up the tension before thrashing out it’s call and response growl; “<something inaudible> - EXPLODER! <something equally inaudible> - EXPLODER!” Etc. But the real triumph is the closing Footprints In The Thunder; from the bottom of the lungs comes the most inarguable “I love you” as the band switch from fuckin’ pissed off to plaintive, and from there to hopeful, almost celebratory; “We’ll get there soon, wait for us there”. An absolutely perfect metal album.

Little Things by Hanne Hukkelberg.
Ms. Hukkelberg’s voice is particularly lovely, but it's her approach to arrangement and melody that sets this album apart. The lap steel evokes Hawaii on Cast Anchor, but a flavour of old country to Do Not As I Do, the chorus of which is a particularly wonderful moment, melodically and rhythmically, with scattershot rim taps in 6/8. Everything on that song gels so well. Balloon’s melody takes interesting twists, and as quickly as the rhythm switches up in the verse, it's pulled out by a gently gliding passage of strings and vocals. And the close of Ease, with the keyboards quietly underpinning the wineglass taps, is fantastic. Boble is a wonderful closer, with hard-panned alternating bass notes drawing the beheadphoned listener into head-nodding, as the instrumentation builds up to include accordian, piano and that cunning lap steel again, and a glorious vocal. This is one of those albums that deserves to be heard by everybody.

Love Kraft by Super Furry Animals.
One of the most gloriously imaginative bands in the world deliver a dazzling collection of deviant pop songs, bouncing on Latin rhythms, psychedelic synths and guitars, Stax string arrangements and a wealth of silliness. Zoom! is a slow burning opener, hinting at a darker and more mature sound for SFA, which in many ways it is, but still Psyclone! clatters and yelps with pots-and-pans percussion, and evolution boiled down to musings on dinosaurs and chickens. Lazer Beam promises “no more romantic comedies” and frazzled guitar lines. Atomik Lust conjures some uplifting vocal melodies to buoy its cautionary message. Cloud Berries may just be the single most gorgeous thing anyone has recorded all year, especially as the beat shuffles up a couple of notches and then collapses again amidst languid acoustic strumming, e-bow droning and a chorus of cooing voices.

The Magic Numbers by The Magic Numbers.
Can I love a whole album of bittersweet lovesongs and summery guitar-pop? Yeah, I can, actually. Romeo’s songwriting is ace, but he's all the better for being accompanied by the glorious harmonies of Angela and Michelle, and his guitar playing is so well complimented by his sisters bass, played as much as an aid to melody as it is to rhythm. Mornings Eleven sets the scene luxuriously, letting you know everything you need to know as far as the Magic Numbers’ formula is concerned. They up the ante with the bouncy summer hit Forever Lost, and its interminable E-major chord, melodica and handclaps. The Mule breaks out the bitterness and the bottle (“One more drink and I’ll be fine, one more girl to take you off my mind”), but Long Legs brings the mood right back up with a jaunty chorus and fancy fretwork. I See You, You See Me is a glorious slow-burner, with a sweet lead vocal from Angela. Early single Hymn For Her is included as a secret track, and it’s nearly the best thing here, moving from gentle acoustic beginnings to a climax that had festival goers with their fists in the air or their arms ‘round their mates shoulders, swaying and singing along.

Mezmerize by System Of A Down.
Where System’s previous albums have begun with a short sharp shock, Mezmerize (SOAD cannot spell) slopes in with moody clean guitars and a harmonized vocal. Within 90 seconds, there is tremendous noise and syncopation interrupting the frantic riffing. Serj Tankian growls, yelps and snarls, and BYOB thunders headlong into an R’n’B pop chorus, and then goes batshit again. Cigaro, This Cocaine Makes Me Feel Like I’m On This Song and Violent Pornography ratchet up the silliness with Serj gabbling and squealing, and Daron wailing about his cock. Radio/Video and Question! make great use of the old quiet/loud trick, playing the dynamics to extremes. The former features a tempo-abusing folk break, and the spectre of Iron Maiden haunts Question!'s galloping riff and hysterical wailing.

The Mouse and The Mask by DangerDoom.
I do find this album wonderfully insidious. On first listen, I kinda thought, "Oh. That's it?" However, more time spent with this album has revealed so much detail and so much to enjoy. Buzzing synth bass and a creeping chorus melody, an excellent display of DM's production skills, highlight Benzi Box. Talib Kwali's spit on Old School Rules is fantastic, an enthusiastic testament to the power of cartoons; "It might seem buggin', but it seems to me cartoons be more real than reality TV", and the track skips on an up-beat and a blaring horn sample. Doom's deadpan drawl varies little, so it's good that this album is pretty short, and the guests, including the cartoons, bring a lot to table; Meatwad and Frylock's intro to ATHF; "Where's the keyboards and the tamborine and the guitar, and y'know, I mean, the stuff that, like, white people like?" Also, Meatwad's rendition of Beef Rapp from Mm.. Food at the end of the album is fabulous. Mince Meat is particularly strong; menacing even. DM has borrowed a 'big beat' drum track and garnished it with a sparse cartoon Eastern melody and let Doom go to town over it. And yeah, Vats Of Urine is fun. "I am a rap god from beyond the moon."

Multiply by Jamie Lidell.
"Damn!" That’s what you have to say when listening to this. You also have to dance like an epileptic. I find I start nodding my head, maybe flicking my right arm outward in time. Then I’ll start stomping my foot. Then shaking my whole leg. And twisting, and wiggling my arse. Seriously. Multiply is funky and soulful and all manner of fantastic. When I Come Back Around is propelled by a powerful beat, Lidell yelping and growling, and there are wild, squealing synths. What’s The Use and the title track saunter on chilled keys and honeyed vocals, and A Little Bit More rolls on nothing more than a vocal loop and a drum track. Newme really stands out, though, blasting with horns and squelching synth bass, kicking off into a frantically percussive, cacophonous disco mutant. This is an essential album that more people should listen to. Go and do it now.

One Time For All Time by 65daysofstatic.
They Drove Through Ghosts To Get Here, on menacing pianos and stuttering beats that build and layer and clamour into a thrilling tumult; the piano spiders out from underneath, the guitars edge into the mix and the breaks coalesce; 65daysofstatic explode. Nine brilliant compositions, built on massive breakbeats, thundering guitars and a cunning mastery of dynamics. Melodies build on clean guitars and piano keys, underpinned by feedback and twitching drums, often tugging on the hearstrings before rending the muscle clean from the chest with a battery of noise. 65days are one of the most exciting new bands in the UK. Cheers Alan!

Picaresque by The Decemberists.
An intriguing adventure in narrative-driven pop music. Colin Meloy’s tales of barrow boys, mariners, soldiers and spies are garnished by fine arrangements and an exceptional ear for a tune. The Infanta advances on a galloping beat, carrying subtly fuzzed guitar, piano, violin, organ and melodica on its back. 16 Military Wives is a rich slice of indie pop, jubilant and tongue-in-cheek as Meloy cheerleads America’s foreign policy and gleefully pokes fun at oh-so-earnest celebrities. The Bagman’s Gambit switches between lonely acoustic guitar and vocals to multi-Decemberist anthem, and ducking into a violin led coda and cacophony. Eli The Barrow Boy’s plaintive chorus is affecting, The Engine Driver is plain but lovely, and The Mariner’s Revenge Song is a whimsical tale of loss, bile, whales and the intent to murder, led by an accordian and an oom-pah rhythm. It’s very silly, but obviously fantastic.

Rossz Csillag Allat Szuletett by Venetian Snares.
In which Aaron Funk fuses classical music and jazz to hardcore breaks, jungle and drum ‘n’ bass. Not by any means a new idea, but it’s executed with precision and finesse. Hajnal’s frantically bowed violins and brass saunter into brushed drums and a sloping lounge band of piano and clarinets before finally mutating into a roaring, angry beast of breakbeats and growling synthesizers keeping pace with the orchestra. Gloomy Sunday, the famed Hungarian suicide song, is warped into the track Öngyilkos Vasárnap, a crackling blaze of analogue bass and stuttering trip-hop beats. Elsewhere, Második Galamb is moody jazz menaced by glacial electronics, rubbery bass and a Funk’s familiar breaks. When the bass kicks in to Szamár Madár, it really kicks, perfectly arranged to reinforce the haunting choir and the already stammering snare and high-hat. This is possibly the best thing Venetian Snares has released to date.

Silent Alarm / Silent Alarm Remixed by Bloc Party.
I’d have absolutely loved this when I was 15, and in a way, that’s what’s drawn me to Bloc Party. Beyond that, I’ve found much more to enjoy. The rhythms are airtight, the riffs suitably charged and the vocals are so fraught (Like Eating Glass) or plaintive (Blue Light) or celebratory (This Modern Love), and it’s all so easy. I could find things to dislike about Silent Alarm (the lyrics, the fact that Kele is a prick, the NME-friendliness of the whole album) but I feel it would be missing the point. This is a brilliant indie guitar pop album that has drawn me in repeatedly for eight months. Additionally, Bloc Party's tunes lend themselves particularly well to being remixed, and Silent Alarm Remixed compliments it's parent so well that I’m sorta kinda including it here. The Phones remix of Banquet fizzes with disco silliness, Engineers do a beautiful job of Blue Light, and M83's funeral recasting of The Pioneers is fantastic. Good job all ‘round.

Takk... by Sigur Rós.
Here, Sigur Rós have constructed a captivating, celebratory album. From Glósóli’s hammering bass and crashing cymbals to Gong’s kinetic pattering, the atmosphere is inviting, enveloping, the songs hot-blooded where ( )’s were icy. Hoppípolla soars on a glorious arrangement of strings and horns, and the almighty crash of Sæglópur still knocks me over. Arguably not the finest Sigur Rós album, but still a pleasure to listen to, and an excellent work.

Wind In The Wires by Patrick Wolf.
Definitely my favourite album of the year, young Patrick is a frighteningly talented young man. Not only can he play piano, violin, ukelele and program beats and loops, but he’s a brilliant songwriter, lyricist and vocalist. The arrangements on Wind In The Wires are stirring and imaginative, seamlessly blending the live and the processed elements of his abilities. As the title track builds on repetition and plaintive intonation, the chorus soars with a density, a crackling electricity, that perfectly matches the call of “Pressure; thunder”. Teignmouth’s kinetic chorus, “When the birds fly south, I’ll reach up and hold their tails”, and the bridge of The Gypsy King, “I can live there alone with a horse and a ukelele”, paint Wolf as an aspiring troubadour, an image that’s easy to roll with given the man’s youth and talent. Eulogy sighs and swells on a gorgeous violin motif, and when This Weather halts for Wolf to fill his lungs, I feel compelled to stop and take that breath with him. Wind In The Wires is emotional without ever being overwrought; it’s beautiful, intriguing, exciting, unexpected, and, above all, brilliant.

Woman King by Iron & Wine.
Six songs about women; loved, revered, scorned, reviled, but always strong, Sam Beam’s hushed vocals could well be in awed admiration of his subject, if, y’know, it wasn’t how he always sings. Jezebel’s arrangement of electric and acoustic guitars and piano is, combined with Beam’s vocal melody, heartstopping. The clattering percussion, slide guitar and mean fuzz bass of the title track is strident and impressive, and the gentle pickings and whispers of My Lady’s House, a song so lovely that it can still bring a tear to my eye. This collection is absolutely perfect.

The Woods by Sleater-Kinney.
I absolutely love this album. It makes me want to run and jump and maybe try and do cartwheels. The guitars sound as though they’re run exclusively through Super Fuzz and Big Muff pedals, Corin and Carrie squeal, squawk and wail with steel lungs, but it’s Janet’s drumming as it powers Entertain or crashes into Jumpers that really makes this album what it is. Modern Girl is a sweet ditty, sandblasted with David Fridmann’s production (basically, he turns all the gain knobs right up on everything) and some John Bonham drumming. The afore-mentioned Jumpers is fraught and distressed, switching from a gentle coo to a forceful cry, from Janet’s tempered rattle and tap to a powerful rhythmic battery. Let’s Call It Love kicks and thrashes, but never seems as long as it is, which is impressive for an extended fuzz-out. The Woods just fuckin’ rocks.

Whoa! That's a great post, Pete.


I'm a little shocked that Pitchfork's list is the way it is.

You mean utterly fucking shite?

You mean utterly fucking shite?


Well, there's positive aspects to it. Which is kind of shocking. No CYHASY at #1 or #2. Of course Sufjan was predictable.

But they left out so many albums and replaced them with fucking esoteric shit I don't think they even reviewed, which is what they always do, and, as always, is utter shite.

Woah Petey that's a lot of new music, and most of it I've never heard :)

Thanks for giving descriptions. I just streamed a Boom Bip song.. sounds nice.

This thread has made me go and git me some new music.

Next to listen to- Patrick Wolf AND the Decemberists.

and neither have vagina(s)

PS_ Pete, you listen to an impressive amount of music. My little brother is the same way. I don't know how either of you keep up.

I like music that has a vagina.

Steve the Sweet Fat Man

I like vaginas that have music! Put your ear up close and have a listen to the song of the gash.

PS_ Pete, you listen to an impressive amount of music. My little brother is the same way. I don't know how either of you keep up.

I sacrifice silence. I just don't like the idea that there's great music that I'm missing out on.

No album cover collage Pete? :(

My two-parter will be coming within the next 48 hours.

No album cover collage Pete? :(

Couldn't be arsed. And I think that post takes up enough space as it is.

But what a nice, big, throbbing space it is.

*drunkenwhoredrunken!*

Fabulous list, Pete. And I still haven't heard Patrick Wolf. Must rectify that...glad you enjoy 65days!

Are you still lacking a decent connection Alan? 'cause I could take care of that, and some other things as well. [post54]

My top 40. Doing it all at once. Installments would have been nice but then I realized I'd be acting all Pitchfork and shit.

On to the list.

40. "Arular" by M.I.A.

Politically extremist, female-rapping genius makes Missy Elliot look like Ace of Base. Her voice also makes me want to touch myself inappropriately while sliding on a greased pole.

39. "LCD Soundsystem" (self-titled)

The above also holds with LCD Soundsystem. If the song "Tribulations" were any catchier, my temporal lobe would probably force itself through one of the solid cracks in my skull.

38. "We are Monster" by Isolee

So far I have every inclination to eventually own and operate a gay indie music club. Albums like this are exactly why I have such an inclination.

37. "Sunset Tree" by The Mountain Goats

Achingly wonderful. It's really hard to write a song about things like sexual abuse without it falling into the slit-your-wrists, faerie-wing heap. The only song that succeeded in doing so, before this album, was Over the Rhine's "She." But The Mountain Goats are able to do it for a full length, and do it very, very well.

36. "In Case We Die" by Architecture in Helsinki

If the world were without whip-its, great music like this would never exist, and that would be sad.

35. "Growing Green" by Drowsy

This guy and M. Ward should do a get together. Seriously.

34. "Into the Woods" by Malcolm Middleton

co-ringleader of Arab Strap creates happy-bouncing tune while reiterating "Woke up again today, realized I hate myself / my face is a disease." No other song has ever reached the levels of puppy-dog eyes, but this one surely has. That goes for the rest of the album as well.

33. "Little Songs About Raindrops" by Lullatone

This album is like this: Rick Moranis has shrunken you into the crevice of a Fisher-Price hanging chimer, and, as your body is bouncing around, you hear echoes and echoes of chimes and bleeps and blips.

32. "Kenotic" by Hammock

The only post-rock band other than Mogwai to give Sigur Ros a run for their money. In fact, I like this better than "Takk." "Stars in the Rearview Mirror" is certainly one of the best pieces arranged in the past couple of years.

31. "The Campfire Headphase" by Boards of Canada

I can understand why some listeners don't like this album. What really makes me take notice of "The Campfire Headphase" is just how straightforward it is. It's a much more crisp, poppy album. Take "Satellite Anthem Icarus"for example. While it may not live up to the standards of songs from previous albums, there's a real comforting sound here. And that's why this is a better album than most may give credit for; for me, this is the only album in which BoC sound almost 100% confident and sure.

30. Broken Social Scene (self-titled)

While nowhere near as awesome as "You Forgot It in People," BSS continue to make their own little path in the pop world. The new sounds on this album really make me salivate at the thought that BSS and Animal Collective should work together.

29. "The Mysterious Production of Eggs" by Andrew Bird

Extremely handsome violinist writes happy, graphic songs about death ('Fake Palindromes') and causes massive boners.

28. "Feels" by Animal Collective

Listening to this one makes me picture bunnies running through a flowery field and giving each other high-fives.

27. "Back to Me" by Kathleen Edwards

Though I did complain about this one a bit this year, I still think it's a good album. There is something about her that makes me wonder what exactly her life has been like. Has she really been screwed over by a criminal boyfriend? Could she be a Secret Service agent? I don't know, but she's a damn good musician.

26. "At Home and Unaffected" by Decomposure

Take two parts Venetian Snares.
Take one part Click 5, after vomiting, of course.
and take one part of proceeds towards Amnesty International.

You are left with a super-happy-fun-politically-aware album that's like Pop Rocks!

25. "The Last Romance" by Arab Strap

Yes, it's happier, and my sweet Jeebus, do they ever sound good when they rock.

24. "Tales from Turnpike House" by Saint Etienne

It went for quaint, it succeeded in quaint, and it felched with quaint. Quaint quaint fucking quaint.

23. "Let Us Never Speak of It Again" by Out Hud

Meaningless lyrics layered onto destructive house beats and rhythm samples that sound like the Tom Tom Club on heroin. Beautiful.

22. "A Place Between" by Rothko and Caroline Ross

If a schizophrenic patient in the Deep South had a harmonica and various kitchen utensils, they would have made this album.

21. "Illinois" by Sufjan Stevens

I'm sick of Sufjan Stevens. He's everywhere. He is number one on so many lists and people will not shut up about him. At least they have a good reason not to; let's also hope that, if Sufjan continues this 50 states project, he will not turn into a gimmick. So far he's finely balanced this difficultly with panache and ease, and with some of the most impressive songwriting this year ("John Wayne Gacy, Jr.") it's not looking like he's headed in such a direction. Good for him.

20. "Set Yourself on Fire" by Stars

"Elevator Love Song," off of Stars' previous album before this one, could have been a huge, huge radio hit. While there's nothing even approaching that on SYOF, it's still romantic without the sap. "Calender Girl" is just fucking awesome and beautiful.

19. "A River Ain't Too Much Love" by Smog

I would never have guessed Bill Callahan would have been perverted enough to title an album "Dongs of Sevotion," based on this new one. He's not mopey anymore, and while that's missed, "I Feel Like The Mother of the World," with all of its jangles and almost Magnetic-Fields-like tinpan reverb, Mr. Callahan has now let us into the world of stable dopamine receptors, and is all the hotter for it.

18. "Wilderness" by Archer Prewitt

Perhaps some of the best lyrics ofthe year live on this album. Moreover, sounding like Cat Stevens without the fey also seriously rocks.

17. "Lookaftering" by Vashti Bunyan

What a nice story: Vashti has probably broken the world record for time in-between first and second album released (Kate Bush: fuck off, you're nowhere near the record), works with Max Richter in arranging songs, and creates something achingly beautiful. It's also the best album to listen to in the car when it's snowstorming, EVER.

16. "Albatross" by The Standard

I don't think 'The Standard' actually exist. I think this album is really Spoon and Five For Fighting doing some off-kilter collaboration. And while I love Spoon and detest Five For Fighting, somehow an album that sounds like the progeny of both pulls it off ever so confidently and beautifully. "There's blood on the ground again/but I can see not a drop of red" is such a hot lyric that makes me touch myself inappropriately.

15. "The Woods" by Sleater-Kinney

I never expected an album like this from S-K. Which makes it all the more awesome.

14. "The Milk of Human Kindness" by Caribou (Manitoba)

Before the release of TMOHK:

Four Tet: 1. Caribou: 0.

After the relase of TMOHK:

Four Tet: 1 . Caribou: 1.

13. "Let it Die" by Feist

This album may be entirely responsible for me getting back into dating. And also knocked me down a tenth of a point on the Kinsey scale.

12. "Anniemal" by Annie

This album has given me so many cavities...so many...

11. "Woman King EP" by Iron and Wine

Dear Sam Beam:

Please, please use the piano more. I'm particularly thinking of "My Lady's House." Also, could you try moaning or singing in an opera house? I'd like to blast the speakers and put them on my bum. Thank you.

10. 13 and God (self titled)

I wonder if I would get shot if I proclaimed this was a better album than The Chronic.

9. "Drunkard's Prayer" by Over the Rhine

How a pair of musicians decide to save their marriage, by recording an autobiographical album and releasing it, continuing to demonstrate why they're one of the most important American bands in a long, long time. Though not as ambituous-sounding than "Ohio," it's more ambituous in terms of its content and how it is presented to the listener. Over the Rhine always leave the porch light on and the doors unlocked.

8. "Different Days" by L'altra

Yes, some of the songs remind me of the singer from Evanescence, and yes, they may very well be just another "mopey-electronic-folktronic" act, but they pull it off so fucking well. "So Surprise" is especially good.

7. "I Thought I Was Over That..." by Lali Puna

Few compilations succeed in the way this one does. The hentai-bunny on the cover suggests warm and cozy acquaintenceships with other musicians like Boom Bip and Alias, and the fact they've included remixes of others' and their own songs makes this album very heartfelt. The cover of Slowdive's "40 days" is excellent and the remix of Boom Bip's "Awaiting and Accident" is incredible. What really takes the cake is Boom Bip's remix of "Micronomic." All in all, probably my favorite "album" of theirs.

6. "Outside Closer" by Hood

These guys and gals are ferocious. Singing out of key while fucking shit up, layering gorgeous orchestral arrangements over the whole thing, is just absolutely amazing. If they continue on the path they're going, I'm scared for Thom Yorke and company.

5. "Unsolved Unremained" by Masha Qrella

Best drinking album ever. It's also just a great pop album, a great rock album, a great electronic album, a great sitting out in the summer sun and reading album, a great washing your car album, a great receiving enema album, a great fucking album, a great suspending your lower torso in a leather restraint album, a great everything album. Perfect for all occasions and suitable for all ages.

4. "Marriages" by Marc Hellner

Sibling of L'Altra ventures out into his own, creates an absolutely beautiful lappop album, and single-handedly trumps every single great guitar arrangement in the songs of U2 with the arrangement on "Nonsense and Happiness," the album's highlight.

3. "Wind in the Wires" by Patrick Wolf

Suspected ghey, house-robbing, wolf-obsessed, sexy muthafucka makes Nick Drake and Bright Eyes fans squirm in their seats. The fact that half of the songs were written when he was less than 15 years of age is alarming. He could possibly take over the world one day.

2. "Multiples" by Keith Fullerton Whitman

I did not expect two instrumental albums to be the top two of this year, but my god. The first thing I notice about "Multiples" is that, for all of the repetitive droning, the album is so fucking accessible. It's so listenable, but it shouldn't be. This album has seriously hypnotized me several times. With the hypnotic beauty of "Stereo Music for Acoustic Guitar," with all of its 329324987 layers of guitaring, and the hyponotic swelling of pipe organs while an electronic bongo beat that sounds like something from Kid A in "Stereo Music for Farfisa Compact Duo Deluxe, Drum Kit" drums away - the passage of time is suppressed. Those mentally stable enough to not claim alien abduction now have a suitable alternative.

1. "Talk Amongst the Trees" by Eluvium.

I'll probably never shut up about this album. I don't think I could ever do it justice when writing an opinion on it, but here's a small attempt. Eluvium is one of a few perfectly content musicians. He knows what he can and cannot do. He doesn't try to be assuming. He doesn't try to overachieve. He doesn't even try to balance during the 16-minute dirge of "Taken." What he does though is far more important than any of the above. If anyone can ever make a better album which, to me, sounds like a summary of one's entire life - from the birth of "New Animals..." to the passing of one's spirit in "Taken," to the formation of a star in space in "One" - they will have accomplished one of the biggest feats within "amient" music. I don't think anyone ever will in my lifetime. I think it is safe to say that Mr. Cooper has politely taken the throne from Brian Eno.

What I'm trying to say is this is one of the best "ambient" albums of all time. It's probably better than "Another Green World." I may be overexaggerating, but what of it? I cannot begin to express the comfort this record gives me. It is the guardian angel of modern music, and that's why this is my album of the year.

Re: Sufjan, totally great album, though I'm sick of hearing about him certainly. He also seems kind of smug in some interviews, too hipster-like for my liking at times. Perhaps he doesn't intend to come off this way, but there's a certain smart-ass quality to him at times. Good lists Pete & Thom, it made me want to pointificate more what I liked about certain albums that really grabbed me, instead of just throwing them on there like I did. :)

Thom Thom Thom. Fantastic. I read about the Keith Fullerton Whitman CD on the Pitchfork... "Best of 2005" (!!!) and thought it sounded like quite an interesting piece of work. Glad to see it on your list. I'll have to further investigate.
Your list has also given me reason to search out clips of Hood, and more clips of Over the Rhine. I made a small and beepless attempt with Over the Rhine a couple of weeks ago, but feel that perhaps I prematurely dismissed them.
Other than that, I totally love and high-five you (bunny style) on about 40% of your list. The rest I haven't heard.

Pete's and Thom's lists make me want to listen to some new things.

And their prose makes me want to masturbate.

:)!

Steve the Sweet Fat Man

Thom Thom Thom. Fantastic. I read about the Keith Fullerton Whitman CD on the Pitchfork... "Best of 2005" (!!!) and thought it sounded like quite an interesting piece of work. Glad to see it on your list. I'll have to further investigate.
Your list has also given me reason to search out clips of Hood, and more clips of Over the Rhine. I made a small and beepless attempt with Over the Rhine a couple of weeks ago, but feel that perhaps I prematurely dismissed them.
Other than that, I totally love and high-five you (bunny style) on about 40% of your list. The rest I haven't heard.


Awwwwh. <3 :)!

These lists are very useful! I listened to the Decemberists album during my HORRIBLE trudge to the city and back today (what a great album, saved my ass from jumping into the east river), and now Thom has made me want the new OtR disc. Well, the most recent anyway. I also enjoyed the Patrick Wolf album as well.

Wow. I'm gone for a few days and (almost) everyone posts their lists! Sorry to see that they're still vag-centric though, ah well. Yay for 13 and God, Pete!

I'm already sick of Sufjan and safe choices. I'll post my list when I get back.

I'm a gonna put Sufjan #1 just to piss all you fair weather fans off.

:D

Steve the Sweet Fat Man

1) TBK - Tori
2) Confessions On A Dancefloor - Madonna
3) Aerial - Kate Bush
4) Robyn - Robyn
5) Extraordinary Machine - Fiona Apple
6) Supernature - Goldfrapp
7) With Teeth - NIN
8) Playing The Angel - Depeche Mode
9) Human After All - Daft Punk
10) Drawing Restraint 9 - Bjork

:)

It's been a bit of a blah year for me in terms of new music; however, I think that may simply be because I haven't yet gotten the chance to listen to as many new releases as I usually do. Indeed, I've only heard a few handfuls of 2005 releases and a lot of them (as I'll later post in the Beecrapper thread) just didn't manage to work their way into my heart. Or my pants.

That said, there were some discs I whole-heartedly enjoyed. (I'm always crap at making ordinal lists of things, so here they are alphabetically.) The first disc of Aerial by Kate Bush has gone for many spins in my player, although it leaves me yearning for more Bushy goodness that disc two, sadly, doesn't provide for me. I recently discovered Noah's Ark by CocoRosie and it makes me want to go live in a music box with everyone who contributed to that record (even Antony, provided that no one allows him to sing while we're in there). Seeing the lovely Leslie Feist play an opening set for Bright Eyes several weeks ago compelled me to get ahold of Let It Die, an album which embodies the type of heavy-lidded, laid-back sensuality I dig right now. Iron & Wine's Woman King EP continues to send shivers up my spine and tears down my cheeks, months after its release. I picked up Ladytron's Witching Hour about a week and a half ago and find most of it quite tantalizing in a frosty, melancholy sort of way. Page France's Hello, Dear Wind puts pep in my step and an earnest little tune in my heart, but I fear I may eventually find it too cute and cloying to take in large doses. Takk by Sigur Rós, while no Ágætis Byrjun or ( ), is still staggering in its beauty and makes me want to go live in a music box with happy baby whales. And finally, Elephant Eyelashes by Why? (Yoni Wolf of cLOUDDEAD) is quite spotty, but the strong points ("Rubber Traits," "Act Five," "Yo Yo Bye Bye") are dazzling and will forever be linked with crunching fall leaves and crisp air for me.

I began the year feeling enthusiastic toward The Mysterious Production of Eggs by Andrew Bird, I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning by Bright Eyes, and Picaresque by The Decemberists. Unfortunately, I barely pull those out anymore to listen to as whole albums. While I still enjoy an assortment of tracks from each (Think "Nervous Tic Motion of the Head to the Left," "Road to Joy," and "Of Angels and Angles," respectively), others just sort of sputtered out for me (think "Sovay," "Landlocked Blues," and "The Bagman's Gambit") or I just never cared for them in the first place (think "Skin Is, My", "First Day of My Life," and "The Sporting Life").

As for releases I haven't heard yet, I suspect I would very much enjoy Talk Amongst the Trees by Eluvium and Hanne Hukkelberg's Little Things based on the couple of tracks I've been able to download (and my previous enjoyment of Eluvium's work), so I'll try to give those a whirl soon.

32. "Kenotic" by Hammock

Am surprised. You've knocked it as much as praised it... As have I. I love "Stars in the Rearview Mirror" and a few others, but so much potential is squandered. The ideas are there but the execution falters. I considered Stranded Under Endless Sky for my list, but no dice. I am, however, eagerly awaiting the next go.

I picked up Ladytron's Witching Hour about a week and a half ago and find most of it quite tantalizing in a frosty, melancholy sort of way.

I am so happy to see people picking up on the Ladytron love. I think most people have been put off by their first two records which are the kind of mindless electro that accompanies a fashion show. But Witching Hour is so different: mature, complex lyrics with textured sounds. I hear a lot of My Bloody Valentine-- the fuzzy guitars and echoey singing-- in this record. I hope more people give it a go!

I am so happy to see people picking up on the Ladytron love. I think most people have been put off by their first two records which are the kind of mindless electro that accompanies a fashion show. But Witching Hour is so different: mature, complex lyrics with textured sounds. I hear a lot of My Bloody Valentine-- the fuzzy guitars and echoey singing-- in this record. I hope more people give it a go!
I should like to pick this up as well. I liked both their previous albums, though I don't pull them out too much anymore. Onto my list it goes!

I'd like to express my joy to the people who listed Robyn's self titled album. Very underlooked, underrated pop album that stomps all over Gwen Stefani's LAMB album and artistically, is a a huge leap over Madonna's COAD. I really wish they'd try and push it outside of Sweden.

I like the new Ladytron very much. I was resistant to getting it because they really disappointed me live on their last tour. Not only did they sing out of key, but they were unappreciative and cold. But, I finally got over my resentment and I'm very glad I did.

The first disc of Aerial by Kate Bush has gone for many spins in my player, although it leaves me yearning for more Bushy goodness that disc two, sadly, doesn't provide for me.

Wow, I feel the exact opposite way. I rarely pop in disc one, cuz disc two is so yummy.

Sm**chies!

Jacob.

I'd like to express my joy to the people who listed Robyn's self titled album. Very underlooked, underrated pop album that stomps all over Gwen Stefani's LAMB album and artistically, is a a huge leap over Madonna's COAD. I really wish they'd try and push it outside of Sweden.
Robyn's album is indeed magnificent. It really deserved to do better.

Am surprised. You've knocked it as much as praised it... As have I. I love "Stars in the Rearview Mirror" and a few others, but so much potential is squandered. The ideas are there but the execution falters. I considered Stranded Under Endless Sky for my list, but no dice. I am, however, eagerly awaiting the next go.


Yeah. Solely on the basis of the better stuff on the album. The other stuff that they made in Acid 5.0 in 20 minutes is not really that great.

13. Ok Go - Oh No
12. Ladytron - The Witching Hour
11. (removed)
10. Beck - Guero
09. Feist - Let it Die
08. Antony and the Johnsons - I Am a Bird Now
07. Madonna - Confessions on a Dance Floor
06. Goldfrapp - Supernature
05. The White Stripes - Get Behind Me Satan
04. Kate Bush - Aerial
03. M.I.A. - Arular
02. Annie - Anniemal
01. Sufjan Stevens - (Come on Feel the) Illinoise

Major Dissapointments: Franz Ferdinand, Tori Amos, Fiona Apple (the released version at least), OLP, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Martha Wainwright

I always buy more older albums than recent releases, which is why my lists are short.

1. Garbage- Bleed Like Me
2. Sufjan Stevens- Come On Feel the Illinoise!
3. Madonna- Confessions On a Dance Floor
4. Fiona Apple- Extraordianry Machine
5. Beck- Guero
6. Sinead O'Connor- Throw Down Your Arms
7. M.I.A.- Arular

Biggest disappointments:

1. Antony and the Johnsons- I am a Bird Now (sorry, I just don't get him)
2. Goldfrapp- Supernature (I think novelty wore off after Black Cherry)

I just got Jens Lekman's "Oh You're So Silent Jens." How I wish I got it earlier to put it in the top 10. :(

IloveJensLekmansoverymuch.

^^^I downloaded two songs (F word and Sky Phenomenon) and they're wonderful. I'd like to get the rest of the album soon.

Download "Black Cab"!

^^^I like it! I got some other stuff too from other albums and he's really doing nice work.

Whee! Here we go!

I'll be doing this in three chunks, as I finish it. First will be my "Honorable Ten" - numbers #11-20, listed in alphabetical order. Then, my Top Ten will come in two chunks of five, in reverse numerical order.

The Honorable Ten!

Set Free by The American Analog Set. Fortunately, the rumors that they're breaking up are greatly exaggerated (they're just taking some time off, and they probably won't tour as extensively as they have in the past), but this would have been a good one to go out on. As with their best work, this one balances the mellowness of their sound with a sort of urgency that keeps the songs from being aural wallpaper. Genius track: “Born on the Cusp”.

The Beekeeper by Tori Amos. No, I'm not just listing this to piss everybody off. :D I definitely consider this one of her lesser albums (its main problem: it's just too damned long), but I just connect to Tori albums in a unique way, and this is no exception. There's some really lovely stuff here, and she used these songs as the basis for a tour that meant a lot to me during a difficult year. But, yeah, I'd like to see her shake it up a bit next time. Genius track: “The Beekeeper”.

Awesomer by Blood on the Wall. One of the more interesting new groups around, this Brooklyn-based trio kicks up a likeable maelstrom of noise, in the service of short, sharp songs. Nice tradeoff vocals by the brother-sister team of Courtney and Brad Shanks also distinguish this. In a time when a lot of hard rock is prefab crap, a band like this should be celebrated. Genius track: “Gone”.

I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning by Bright Eyes. Not Conor's best work; in retrospect, I don't think the two album thing was the best idea in the world. (He's saying that the next album will be more mixed up, and that sounds like a good thing to me.) Still, he's one of our best songwriters, and there's some lovely stuff here. Plus, him singing with Emmylou Harris was a great idea. Genius track: “Road to Joy”.

Aerial by Kate Bush. No, it's not on the level of The Dreaming or Hounds of Love, but it is nice to hear after almost twenty years of substandard work or no work at all. No huge surprises here, just good solid Weird Kate material, with lovely, fluttery stuff mixed in with things that have more oomph. Genius track: “Aerial”.

The Mouse and the Mask by DangerDoom. Some find this too jokey and silly, but I don't agree. I think that the real news here is the music, which features some swell rapping, beats, and melodies. And actually, I think the silliness adds a nice little edge to the whole thing. And certainly, the fact that the album is only about forty minutes long is a plus; it doesn't overstay its welcome. Genius track: “Sofa King”.

Stairs and Ladders by Heartless Bastards. Erika Wennerstrom is, from all accounts, a rather petite woman, but she has a big ol' voice and wields a booming guitar. However, what really distinguishes this band from all of the dull garage blues bands out there (take The Black Keys - please) is the solid songcraft. My guess is that you'll see this band evolve out of the more strictly bloozy stuff and open up their sound a bit. In the meantime, though, this is just fine. Genius track: “Onions”.

Ex Hex by Mary Timony. In which one of our most interesting undersung musicians takes the prog-rock experimentation she's been doing for the last decade or so and uses it to inform a stripped-down (just Mary and her drummer boyfriend, who kicks some serious ass), straight-ahead rock album. The result is simple yet sonically developed tracks that reflect a calm and satisfaction that she's never really expressed before. But boy, does it rock. Genius track: “Backwards/Forwards”.

Get Behind Me, Satan by The White Stripes. No, it's not as good as Elephant, but few albums are. If this indeed was Jack White's attempt to prove that he's more than a guitar strangler, it's a pretty solid success. He certainly doesn't need to play guitar to rock out, and he doesn't need to rock out to make really good music. This is a weird, often lovely album by one of the few true visionaries in popular music - oh, and his cute, underrated drummer, too. :D Genius track: “The Nurse”.

Wind in the Wires by Patrick Wolf. This is a last minute addition to my list (with apologies to The Go! Team, who he bumped). After consideration brought on by a discussion with one of his champions (the lovely Colette), I realized that my problems with this album - I'm not wild about his voice, and I find him to be affected and melodramatic at times - are not as important as what I really like about it. Namely, that this guy is truly unique and fascinating (he almost sounds like a musician from centuries ago given 21st century instruments to play with), and he writes some killer tunes. I look forward to seeing what he comes up with next. Genius track: “Tristan”.

More fun to come!

And I'll smack anyone who does a tl; dr on me. :D

Steve the Sweet Fat Man

Imogen Heap - Speak For Yourself
Charlotte Martin - Darkest Hour Ep and Veins Ep
Fiona Apple - Extraordinary Machine
Tori Amos - The Beekeeper and Bank Of America Bootleg
Fall Out Boy - From Under The Cork Tree
The Starting Line - Based On A True Story
Cartel - Chroma
Motion City Soundtrack - Commit This To Memory
The Academy Is... - Almost Here
Acceptance - Phantoms
Garbage - Bleed Like Me
Madonna - Confessions On A Dancefloor
Rachel Stevens- Come And Get It
Mae - The Everglow
The Receiving End Of Sirens - Between the Heart And The Synapse
Regina Spektor - Soviet Kitsch
Spitalfield - Stop Doing Bad Things
Alanis - JLP Acoustic
The Dilettantes - Hearts And Flower EP
Panic! At The Disco - A Fever You Can;t Sweat Out

Copied from my LJ! Got a little bit of everything in there!!

Alrighty... the list is complete. I will have blurbs for the Top 20 in the near future, but first, here are the slightly less fortunate 21-50 Albums of 2005!

21. Andrew Bird The Mysterious Production of Eggs
22. My Morning Jacket Z
23. Art Brut Bang Bang Rock & Roll
24. Grizzly Bear Horn of Plenty
25. Six Organs of Admittance School of the Flower
26. The Books Lost & Safe
27. Alog Miniatures
28. The Joggers With a Cape and a Cane
29. Hanne Hukkelberg Little Things
30. Deerhoof Green Cosmos EP

31. Eluvium Talk Amongst the Trees
32. Lightning Bolt Hypermagic Mountain
33. Madonna Confessions on a Dance Floor
34. Wilco Kicking Television (Live in Chicago)
35. Voxtrot Raised by Wolves EP
36. Missy Elliott The Cookbook
37. Patrick Wolf Wind in the Wires
38. Melodium La Tête Qui Flotte
39. Robyn Robyn
40. Kanye West Late Registration

41. XXL Ciautistico!
42. Spoon Gimme Fiction
43. Hood Outside Closer
44. Broken Social Scene Broken Social Scene
45. Wolf Parade Apologies to the Queen Mary
46. Ris Paul Ric Purple Blaze
47. Jason Forrest Shamelessly Exciting
48. Gravenhurst Fires in Distant Buildings
49. Mount Eerie No Flashlight
50. Tori Amos The Beekeeper (hehe i had to)

1. Boards of Canada - The Campfire Headphase
2. Venetian Snares - Rossz Csillag Allat Szuletett
3. Depeche Mode - Playing the Angel
4. LCD Soundsystem - s/t
5. Sofus Forsberg - Udefra
6. Beck - Guerolito
7. Madonna - Confessions on a Dancefloor
8. Prhizzm - EP
9. Orishas - El Kilo
10. Ladytron - Witching Hour

8. Prhizzm - EP


Well now, that's very interesting. I honestly didn't expect to see this appear, mostly 'cause I don't suspect many people here listen to much on Benbecula.

I really like the Phrizzm EP. It's lovely and does all the nice electronicky things that electronic records should do.

Well now, that's very interesting. I honestly didn't expect to see this appear, mostly 'cause I don't suspect many people here listen to much on Benbecula.
I really like the Phrizzm EP. It's lovely and does all the nice electronicky things that electronic records should do.
yes, I enjoyed it mucho! by the way, I loved your list. I happened upon it just when I was about to decry no mention of Boards of Canada and Venetian Snares on this thread. I highly recommend Danish Sofus Forsberg's Udefra, it's my "discovery of the year" and I think you would like. not as good (and not '05) but also notable is Forsberg's No/1 (it's got this French chick on guest vocals who sounds just like Bjork, but the production is more titillating than most of our Icelandic friend's work imo).

1. Chicks On Speed - Press the Spacebar
2. Madonna - Confessions On A Dancefloor
3. Marianne Faithfull - Before the Poison
4. Fischerspooner - Odyssey
5. Ladytron - Witching Hour
6. Fiona Apple - Extroardinary Machine
7. M.I.A. - Arular
8. Kate Bush - Aerial
9. Goldfrapp - Supernature
10. Antony & The Johnsons - I am a bird now

11. PJ Harvey - Uh Huh Her
12. Bjork - Drawing Restraint 9
13. FannyPack - See You Next Tuesday
14. Kelly Osbourne - Sleeping in the Nothing

yes, I enjoyed it mucho! by the way, I loved your list. I happened upon it just when I was about to decry no mention of Boards of Canada and Venetian Snares on this thread.

Just to butt in for a sec: though I've never been all that big on BoC, Venetian Snares is in my Top 10. Rossz is absolutely scrumptious :) I haven't heard Meathole, but I heard it wasn't very good...

13. Robyn-- Robyn (I jusy got this yesterday, but I love it so far!)
12. Madonna-- Confessions on a Dancefloor
11. Royksopp-- The Understanding
10. Sleater-Kinney-- The Woods
9. Broadcast-- Tender Buttons
8. Roisin Murphy-- Ruby Blue
7. Adult.-- Gimmie Trouble
6. Goldfrapp-- Supernature
5. M.I.A.-- Arular
4. CocoRosie-- Noah's Ark
3. Antony and the Johnsons-- I am a Bird Now
2. Kate Bush-- Aerial
1. Ladytron-- Witching Hour

Youre Weird- BOC and Venetian Snares are on my list :)

7. Adult.-- Gimmie Trouble

That barely missed making my list. Good album.

Steve the Sweet Fat Man

^ oops, sorry guys. you have exquisite taste in music. :)

1. Tori Amos-The Beekeeper
2. Kate Bush-Aerial
3. Sleater Kinney-The Woods
4. Sufjan Stevens-Illinoise
5. Fiona Apple-Extraordinary Machine
6. Fannypack-See You Next Tuesday
7. Ani Difranco-Knuckledown
8. Mary Timony-Ex Hex
9. Coheed and Cambria-Good Apollo I'm Burning Star IV
10. Esthero-Wikkid Lil'Grrls
11. RENT
12 Xiu Xiu-La Foret
13. Patrick Wolf-Wind in the Wires
After the first 5 they are pretty much interchangable
I also have to mention that I also just got the Robyn CD yesterday but am LOVING it!

I'm also wondering if anybody likes the new Rah Bras album? It's called WHOHM. I think that album's pretty cool. I keep thinking of more and more albums I loved this year. My number one album for the past 2 years is actually probably Belle and Sebastian's The Life Pursuit. I'm sure that will be my first for next year as it comes out officially in 2006.
Also, stuff I'm looking forward to in 2006 is the new Placebo, Peaches, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Neko Case......

OK, I know 26 is a silly number for a list but I got fed up of trying to decide who to kick off. Numbers 1 and 2 are pretty much fixed; after that it's just approximate order.

Veda Hille - Return of the Kildeer
Hanne Hukkelberg - Little Things
Sufjan Stevens - Illinois
Josephine Foster - Hazel Eyes, I Will Lead You
A Hawk and a Hacksaw – s/t
Róisín Murphy - Ruby Blue
Camille - Le Fil
Yann Tiersen - Les Retrouvailles
Iva Bittova and Bang on a Can – Elida
Christine Fellows - Paper Anniversary
Colleen - The Golden Morning Breaks
Nine Horses - Snow Borne Sorrow
Antony and the Johnsons - I Am a Bird Now
Frida Hyvonen - Until Death Comes
Paavoharju - Yhä hämärää
Patrick Wolf - Wind in the Wires
Vashti Bunyan – Lookaftering
Kate Bush – Aerial
Niyaz- s/t
Petra Jean Phillipson - Notes On: Love
Fiona Apple - Extraordinary Machine
Marissa Nadler - Saga of Mayflower May
Imogen Heap - Speak for Yourself
CocoRosie - Noah's Ark
Emiliana Torrini - Fisherman's Woman
Martha Wainwright – s/t

Paavoharju - Yhä hämärää
!!!
Fucking fabulous. I ordered this from Fonal and it was sent on the 21st. Before that I had waited for Forced Exposure to send it to me for about three weeks before I cancelled. I am so so so excited to hear it. The clips I've heard have been amazing and I'm so thrilled to see it mentioned here among many albums that I've loved this year.

I'll put my list up this weekend now that I'm back from Vancouver. [post28]

I am not going to reach 20 fav. albums in 2005, that is not a good sign, but here it is anyway.

1) Echo & The Bunnymen - Siberia
2) Arcade Fire - Funeral ( Actually 2004, but I did not hear it until june 2005)
3) Bloc Party - Silent Alarm
4) The Waterboys - Karma to Burn
5) Editors - The Back Room
6) Dropkick Murphys - The Warrior's Code
7) The Spazzys - Aloha go Bananas
8) Depeche Mode - Playing the Angel
9) Garbage - Bleed Like Me
10) Idlewild - Warnings/Promises

These are 2 fantastic albums and the rest is good, I really love "Karma to Burn - Waterboys" but it's a live Album with mainly old songs, I therefore did not want to rate it higer as 4th.

1) Echo & The Bunnymen - Siberia
I saw them a couple of weeks ago. Ian was so wasted. bastard cut Ocean Rain off the set.[post81]

Mmm... Toughie. I will say my top 8 for now.

1st. Veda Hille - Return of the Kildeer (who didn't see this one coming? Simply put, Veda rules)
2nd. Iva Bittová - Elida
3rd. Fiona Apple - Extraordinary Machine
4th. Josephine Foster - Hazel Eyes, I Will Lead You
5th. Yann Tiersen - Les Retrouvailles
6th. Marissa Nadler - Ballads Of Living & Dying / Adventures Of Mayflower May

7th. Christine Fellows - Paper Anniversary
8th. Hanne Hukkelberg - Little Things

I am saving two spots to Gaba's new album and Linda Perhacs' 2005 release.

Cloudtrapeze, your list is fantastic.

I forgot Low's The Great Destroyer. It's number 10. just shift everything else back by one.

I forgot Low's The Great Destroyer. It's number 10. just shift everything else back by one.

have you seen the mpeg file with their daughter signing copies of the album for fans?

yes :( so cute.

!!!
Fucking fabulous. I ordered this from Fonal and it was sent on the 21st. Before that I had waited for Forced Exposure to send it to me for about three weeks before I cancelled. I am so so so excited to hear it. The clips I've heard have been amazing and I'm so thrilled to see it mentioned here among many albums that I've loved this year.
Methinks you will not be disappointed, for 'tis a strange and delicious musical soup. [post91]
And the vocals...wow...otherworldly is the only way to describe them.

Cloudtrapeze, your list is fantastic.

Oh come on...there must be at least 5 or 6 things you hate in there. ;)

Cloudtrapeze - Ditto on what Emily said - nice choices! I still need to hear Josephine Foster. From what I've read and little clips I've heard of her past work, it seems like an album that may have ended up on my list (ditto for marissa nadler too, which i want to hear).

Sort of mixed on favorite albums from 2005. 3-11 could have been in any order. I certainly need to listen to a few others I haven't heard yet.


21 Doves-Some Cities
20 Echolyn-the End is Beautiful
19 Calla-Collisions
18 Benzos-Morning Stanzas
17 White Stripes-Get behind me Satan
16 Broken Social Scene-Broken Social Scene
15 Sleater Kinney-The Woods
14 Adrian Belew-Side One/Side two
13 LCD Soundsystem-LCD Soundsystem
12 Sigur Ros-Takk
11 Stellastarr*-Harmonies for the Haunted
10 Super Furry Animals-Love Kraft
9 The Decemberists-Picaresque
8 Kate Bush-Aerial
7 Elbow-Leaders of the Free world
6 Porcupine Tree-Deadwing
5 Feist-Let it Die
4 Sufjan Stevens-Illinoise
3 British Sea Power-Open Season
2 Present-Great Inhumane Adventure
1 Fiona Apple-Etraordinary Machine

White Stripes- Get Behind Me Satan...great album....why do I not see it more on peoples' lists?! Is it not an 05 album?


Tori Amos- The Beekeeper....it may be one of the weaker Tori albums...but for being in my car for weeks in 05...that says something. She will always release something new and not relase Choirgirl2. Deal with it.

Tori Amos- The Beekeeper....it may be one of the weaker Tori albums...but for being in my car for weeks in 05...that says something.

Yes, it says I shouldn't drive in a car with you.

She will always release something new and not relase Choirgirl2. Deal with it.

So long as you can deal with forcing youself to like a crap album.

-

Did Steve ever finish his?

No, but he will in the next day or two.

Steve the Sweet Fat Man

I'll post mine before the end of the week.

I forgot to mention the Jamie Lidell album Multiply. It's sexy :)

Cloudtrapeze - Ditto on what Emily said - nice choices! I still need to hear Josephine Foster. From what I've read and little clips I've heard of her past work, it seems like an album that may have ended up on my list (ditto for marissa nadler too, which i want to hear).
Ooh, you should check out Paavoharju too. The music is kind of hard to describe (and I'm crap at describing music, hehe) but the vocals ought to appeal to a Liz Fraser fan. ;)

I've already checked out a couple of things on your list that I hadn't yet heard when making it. The Broadcast album is great... I didn't really get on with the Jamie Lidell though.

There are many albums that I didn't get to hear or only heard once. I think if I had been able to hear the entire thing, CocoRosie's Noah's Ark would be in the top 5. But this is the best of what I got around to. Oh, and Nikka Costa's can'tneverdidnothin', I just realized, deserves mention. It's a fantastic album, yet I forget how much I adore it. Therefore it doesn't make the list because I don't ever forget liking the following 10 albums.
10. Bleed Like Me - Garbage
This album was tied with others, but the fact that I played it more than any of them carried it to number 10. I've never disliked a Garbage album, and this one's pretty damn fantastic. "Metal Heart" and "Bleed Like Me" are testicularly delightful.
9.The You and the Now - Jorane
I randomly picked up the album not knowing who she was. "Pour Ton Sourire" is beautiful. Some of the tracks go on for too long, but as a whole the album works. It's very subtle but catchy.
8. Takk - Sigur Ros
What's not to like? I don't think it's as perfect as ( ) but it's definitely a strong album. It reminds me of Von more than any of their other work for some strange reason, and I'm still trying to figure out why.
7. Guero - Beck
It's the first Beck album I've ever liked from start to finish! The extended version with the extra tracks makes it even better. One of the better packaged album sof the year, as well. It's not as annoying as Odelay or Midnite Vultures but a lot more interesting than Sea Change.
6. Super Extra Gravity - The Cardigans
More serious than their previous stuff, yes, but not dull. The music is less quirky but the lyrics are still very playful --which is what I think the band does best.
5. Cold Roses - Ryan Adams & The Cardinals
Like Garbage, I always like his releases. This one, with its country flavoring, was a bit surprising following Rock N Roll. Breaking it into two disks was a smart move, as well. "Let It Ride" is one of the better country songs to come out in the 2000's.
4. Extraordinary Machine (Brion version) - Fiona Apple
The leaked version, with all its poor quality mufflings on certain tracks, was too damn good. It was a mature Fiona being honest but in control.
3. Etherville - Robert Gomez
A newcomer and local guy, I was probably most surprised by this album than any other. The entire album is melancholy without being boring or whiny. If nothing else makes you want to hear the album, listen to "Happiness Today." It's got Norah Jones on backup vocals but it's so not a Norah-like song.
2. Supernature - Goldfrapp
Fun in a silver disk. "Satin Chic" and "Ooh La La" are unbeatably fantastic. It's easily the most fun album I've heard all year. Granted, many songs are Kylie-esque, but they're still undeniably Goldfrappian.
1. Wind in the Wires - Patrick Wolf
I want to give this album hugglez. Another random pick-up at the store, I was sucked in from "The Libertine." There's not a bad song on here and the sequencing is flawless. I'll never understand why he's not a massive critical hit here in the US. (Not that he's getting bad reviews, but I expected him to be lauded endlessly in the press.)

How come you've got '04 albums in there?

I only had couple 04' albums there because I hadn't started listening to them until 05'.. but you're right.. they don't need to be there.. so I just removed them :)

There were a couple that I wanted to put in their place, but I'm drawing a blank. 2005 was a great year for music.. I can't keep up.

I also took Extraordinary Machine off my list. I still think it's a good album, but I rarely listen to it. It might come in handy someday, but right now I'm not bitter, I'm not angry, I'm not dealing with break-up, and it really has no place in my life. I also have to agree with others who've said it doesn't seem like Fiona is moving forward lyrically/personally. Maybe that has more to do with amount of time it took to write, record, and release the album. I certainly hope so.

I also took Extraordinary Machine off my list. I still think it's a good album, but I rarely listen to it. It might come in handy someday, but right now I'm not bitter, I'm not angry, I'm not dealing with break-up, and it really has no place in my life.

Interesting reasoning. I mean, if you really like an album, can it not be one of your favourites if you don't relate to it? I mean, I'm not a cartoon character in a metal mask, but I still love the DangerDoom album; I don't live in a TV For Schools schedule in the early 1980s, but I love Boards Of Canada; I'm not a goth, but Sunn O))) have really been doing the doom thing for me this week.

You can love music for whatever reason! It doesn't all have to be deeply personal to you, y'know? Or maybe it does. I've been wrong before.

Aahfzhahahaa, no, I haven't.

Interesting reasoning. I mean, if you really like an album, can it not be one of your favourites if you don't relate to it? I mean, I'm not a cartoon character in a metal mask, but I still love the DangerDoom album; I don't live in a TV For Schools schedule in the early 1980s, but I love Boards Of Canada; I'm not a goth, but Sunn O))) have really been doing the doom thing for me this week.

You can love music for whatever reason! It doesn't all have to be deeply personal to you, y'know? Or maybe it does. I've been wrong before.

Aahfzhahahaa, no, I haven't.


I took it off my list because (as a whole album) I can't relate to it, and I rarely listen to it.

we've all different reasons for loving the music that we do..personal or not..

I think deeply personal music is usually loved for personal reasons. I consider Fiona's music to be of a deeply personal nature, but that's just me. I don't mean to imply that everyone who who likes Extraordinary Machine is bitter, angry, or dealing with a break-up...but maybe that's where I need to be.

we've all different reasons for loving the music that we do

Oh, absolutely. I just thought it was interesting, 'cause it was on your list but then you removed it 'cause you don't relate to it - or rather, you don't listen to it 'cause you don't relate to it. But you must have thought it was pretty good to put it on the list in the first place?

I'm not trying to invalidate your reasons or anything, I just founds it curious enough to want to discuss it.

Oh, absolutely. I just thought it was interesting, 'cause it was on your list but then you removed it 'cause you don't relate to it - or rather, you don't listen to it 'cause you don't relate to it. But you must have thought it was pretty good to put it on the list in the first place?

I'm not trying to invalidate your reasons or anything, I just founds it curious enough to want to discuss it.

I didn't listen to the leaked version...so when it first came out I caught the Fiona fever ;)

Again..I still think it's a good album, but --with the exception of a few songs-- it doesn't get played much. She just seems so upset about everything (still), and I'm in a place where I need to be moving forward. I can't handle stuff that weighs me down.

A great album I haven't seen included is
Heather Nova's Redbird
I forgot this on my list. This album is a return to form for an artist's whose two prior albums were not very great.

20. Boards of Canada - Campfire Headphase
19. Andrew Bird & the Mysterious Production of Eggs - Bowl Of Fire
18. Slowdive - Souvlaki (r)
17. Isolee - We Are Monster
16. M.I.A. - Arular
15. Animal Collective - Feels
14. Low - The Great Destroyer
13. Spoon - Gimme Fiction
12. Ladytron - The Witching Hour
11. Róisín Murphy - Ruby Blue
10. Patrick Wolf - Wind in the Wires
9. Broadcast - Tender Buttons
8. Iron and Wine - Woman King EP
7. Vashti Bunyan - Lookaftering
6. Hanne Hukkelberg - Little Things
5. Kate Bush - Aerial
4. Sleater-Kinney - The Woods
3. Feist - Let it Die
2a. Sufjan Stevens - Illinois
2b. Royksopp - The Understanding
1. Telenn Gwad - s/t (not really s/t but I can't write in Russian, and I have no idea how to pronounce the title or what it means! :e)

1. Telenn Gwad - s/t (not really s/t but I can't write in Russian, and I have no idea how to pronounce the title or what it means! :e) Yay for obscure number ones! :p
Russian? Telenn Gwad sounds more like Welsh or something similar. I think you're going to have to enlighten us more on this one!

All the Hanne Hukkelberg appreciatin' in this thread is giving me the warm fuzzies. ;h

I want to post it by tonight, but tomorrow's more reasonable. [post54]So, who chuckled when they read this?

So, who chuckled when they read this?

I did! But then I salivated a little bit, too. :D

Okay this is my official list of favorite albums from last year. I think the 2 Many DJs, Feist and Nouvelle Vague albums were released in 2004 outside the U.S., because I got copies of those back in 2004 from someone living abroad but amazon.com lists them as released in 2005 over here. I can't choose an order for these..don't make me! I'm also not making a list of 20 because I was poor this year LOL.

-M.I.A.-"Arular"
-The Decemberists-"Picaresque"
-Eels-"Blinking Lights and Other Revelations"
-Patrick Wolf-"Wind in the Wires" (I will say that this one is my favorite album of the year)
-Neil Diamond-"12 Songs" (Hell Yeah!)
-Beck-"Guero"
-Animal Collective-"Feels"
-The Magic Numbers-"The Magic Numbers"
-Nouvelle Vague-"Nouvelle Vague"
-2 Many DJs-"As Heard on Radio Soulwax, Pt. 2"
-Devendra Banhart-"Cripple Crow"
-Feist-"Let it Die" (had this for a year and didn't listen to it and then did and actually ended up loving it..hhaha I'm stupid!)
-Kate Bush-"Aerial"

Slowdive - Souvlaki (r)

I didn't know a remaster was released! Are the bonus tracks worth the extra cash?

Depends. The American issue (the reissues are import only thus far) of Souvlaki already had 4 of the 9 tracks from the bonus disc tacked on to the end of it. 2 of the remainder are remixes and "Moussaka Chaos" is essentially an instrumental version of "Souvlaki Space Station." If you've never tracked down any of their early ep's, though, the bonus disc for the Just for a Day reissue is damn near essential.

Good to know! Thanks!

1. Bright Eyes, "I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning"
2. Sufjan Stevens, "Illinoise"
3. Tori Amos, "The Beekeeper"
4. Common, "Be"
5. Imogen Heap, "Speak For Yourself"
6. death cab for cutie, "Plans"
7. Kanye West, "Late Registration"
8. Neil Young, "Prairie Wind"
9. Fiona Apple, "Extraordinary Machine"
10. Sarah Lee Guthrie & Johnny Irion, "Exploration"

I've only just heard it, but I wish I added Cobra Killer's "Das Mandolinenorchester" to my list. Their earlier music is filthy electro with thrashing disco beats - two girls and a sampler tearing it all down. However, in a turn of reinvention a mandolin group re-interpret their back catalogue as eastern folk tunes - a music context shift that is beguiling and beautiful. clips here: http://www.brainwashed.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4072&Itemid=64

Nine is a Nice Number

(In no particular order)

Fiona Apple Extraordinary Machine
I have heard only one of the Brion versions and I don't care if I hear any of the rest. This album is fantastic! It's my scream along album of the year. [post77]

Kate Bush Aerial
I miss the hooks. I do! I miss the campy keening and the quirky weirdness. When I first heard this disc I thought: "Well, perhaps I should put on some tea and read Flannery O'Connor, but, um, no thanks!" Once I accepted this album on its own terms (that it's meant not for celebration, but for rumination) my attitude reversed entirely. While I still despise Mrs. Barfsalotzzi, I think this album is tops.

Antony and the Johnsons I Am a Bird Now
This is the most captivatingly beautiful and elegaic album I've heard since Low's Things We Lost in the Fire.

Jens Lekman You're So Silent Jens

Eluvium Talk Amongst the Trees

Röyksopp The Understanding

Martha Wainwright Martha Wainwright

Devendra Banhart Cripple Crow

LadytronWitching Hour

Okay, so I got tired of writing about the music.[post60]

Nine is a Nice Number

Antony and the Johnsons I Am a Bird Now
This is the most captivatingly beautiful and elegaic album I've heard since Low's Things We Lost in the Fire.
Jens Lekman You're So Silent Jens
Eluvium Talk Amongst the Trees
[post60]

I never expected that comparison of Antony to Low. The fact you put Jens and Eluvium in your list makes me forget about the whole blackface fiasco though and makes me erect. :)!

;)

I always take forever to do this shit, second-guess myself to death and try to listen to everything all over again. And by the time I get around to posting, it's unsticky-ed and no one gives a crap anymore. *sigh* (Where's the rest of your list Steve?)

One should always count down. Here we go, part 1: #'s 30-21

http://img467.imageshack.us/img467/69/302zk.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
30) OCS - 3 & 4 (Narnack 4/5/05)
Can I say first, that I really dislike Coachwhips? And, for that matter, I didn't really like 2 either, John Dwyer's last full-length under the OCS name. And I really waffled about putting this one on the list. But there's something haunting and affecting in these home-recorded little anti-folk songs that can occasionally sound like shy diminuitive gnomes singing over decades old guitar tracks. Subtitled Songs About Death and Dying, these are murder ballads and odes to death, some, like "Second Date," not for the easily triggered.
two to try: "Harmony & Bells," "Here I Come"

http://img467.imageshack.us/img467/9081/292rb.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
29) Peggy Honeywell - Faint Humms (Galaxia 8/2/05)
This is nothing more than a simple, well-written and performed, bare-bones folk/country album. Peggy's unassuming voice usually backed by no more than a guitar or banjo, spinning tales about animals and sunsets. There are, for some reason though, cartoon drawings of naked men with jiggly genetalia on the inside of the cardboard gatefold. Or maybe that shouldn't be surprising. Peggy is actually painter Clare E. Rojas.
two to try: "Peach and Yellow," "Face Reader"

http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/6279/286ek.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
28) Richard Swift - The Richard Swift Collection Volume One: The Novelist/Walking Without Effort (Secretly Canadian 9/6/05)
Richard Swift lives in the past, and his first two efforts, re-released this year as a 2-disc set after very limited self-released pressings a few years ago, do sometimes sound like unearthed relics. The Novelist sounds at times like the sort of muffled baroque pop you'd hear scratching out of a gramophone in the background of a pre-war period film. Walking Without Effort moves ahead to the singer-songwriters of the 70s for inspiration. Regardless, the songwriting is impeccable and the production is impressive for a DIY job.
two to try: "Losing Sleep," "Looking Back, I Should Have Been Home More"

http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/2601/274ek.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
27) Tristeza - A Colores (Better Looking 11/22/05)
In the 5 years since their last full album, Tristeza has released 3 somewhat experimental ep's and a remix album and lost co-founder Jimmy LaValle to his Album Leaf. They haven't lost much ground though. More chiming, driving post-rock instrumentals moving easily between polite aggression and sheer beauty. And a fair amount of LaValleian synths as well. Go figure.
two to try: "Balabaristas," "Aereoaviones"

http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/1747/265of.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
26) Animal Collective - Feels (Fatcat 10/18/05)
I knew something sounded familiar about the new AC album, and it was bugging the hell out of me. It wasn't just that it sounded like some lost Elephant 6 opus that had to have Will Hart or Bill Doss somewhere behind the scenes. It wasn't that they didn't seem so annoying anymore. Then I figured it out. They sound almost exactly like late 80s/early 90s Daniel Amos. Yes, the Christian rock band. Seriously, Terry Taylor could probably sue over "Grass," it sounds so much like something off Motor Cycle. I still like Daniel Amos. But they haven't released a decent album in 13 years. This'll do. As a bonus, no proselytization.
two to try: "Banshee Beat," "The Purple Bottle"

http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/584/257gg.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
25) Esmerine - Aurora (Madrona 5/31/05)
Still predominantly cello and percussion, Esmerine somehow expand their sound and sound even more minimal in one go. There are drones for the stoners, swaying string ballads for the Rachel's and Dirty Three fans, and a case to be made ("Why She Swallows Bullets and Stones") for the piano to be a much more prominent feature on future efforts.
two to try: "Why She Swallows Bullets and Stones," "Histories Repeating as One Thousand Hearts Mend"

http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/4499/249zv.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
24) Saxon Shore - The Exquisite Death of Saxon Shore (Burnt Toast Vinyl 10/18/05)
After flirting with other styles on a couple ep's (first acoustic dreaminess, then ambient electronic), Saxon Shore re-emerges with a more direct and effective version of the expansive post-rock of their debut. With a title born of a difficult recording process (the band nearly broke up, and a revolving door was set up for a while), SS take a somewhat more laid back approach to the portentious post-apocalyptic styles of Godspeed or EITS.
two to try: "Silence Lends a Face to the Soul," Marked With the Knowledge"

http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/8756/232of.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
23) Dirty Three - Cinder (Touch and Go 10/11/05)
I still don't think I've gotten used to this album. It's hard to wrap my head around the concept of a Dirty Three album on which only a couple songs wander north of 6 minutes, of one with enough space for 19 tracks. Which isn't to say it doesn't work. No, reining in the sprawl and the jams has certainly encouraged more focus. The more upbeat numbers are the more exciting ones here, and they even find room for vocals from Sally Timms and Chan Marshall (on the best Cat Power track in years in "Great Waves"). The waves of Ellis's violin over White's off-kilter drumming and Turner's lazy guitar lines is still as distinctive and gorgeously thrilling as ever.
two to try: "The Zither Player," "Ever Since"

http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/3397/229iq1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
22) Engineers - Engineers (Echo 6/21/05)
This feels like my guilty pleasure of the year. These guys obviously have their fair share of Pink Floyd and Spiritualized records on their shelves. And the mood and lush production easily overpower the songwriting (I'll admit it's a letdown when the best song here thunders "come in out of the rain" to where? "A better place." Groan), but it's towering and gorgeous nonetheless.
two to try: "Come in Out of the Rain," "Home"

http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/7875/210jc.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
21) Windy and Carl - The Dream House/Dedications to Flea (Kranky 11/8/05)
Earlier this year, Windy & Carl inaugurated the Brainwashed Handmade series with a 2-song, 37-minute "ep" marking the passing of their dog Flea, complete with field recordings of them taking Flea on a walk in the background of the tracks. Kranky then reissued it along with a new 2-song, 44-minute "ep" marking the passing of Windy's mother. These sprawling, enveloping drones unsurprisingly surround one with yearning melancholy, gradually and subtly twisting over as long as 30 minutes (the shortest track is 12 minutes). For those with the appetite for this sort of thing, it's sheer bliss.
two to try: "Ode to a Dog," "I Have Been Waiting to Hear Your Voice"

to be continued....

TEASE. I want the whole thing.

It's coming... [post54] But I gots to go sleep for now...

Sleep? Some of us just got up!

I'm excited by Brian-shaped lists. They make me want to listen to new and exciting things.

Well, I'd like to stay up all night, but I have to get up even earlier than you!

And I can only guarantee new. How exciting things may be can depend on the listener as much as the music. [post54]

Part 2: #'s 20-11

http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/7580/208rn.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
20) Masha Qrella - Unsolved Remained (Morr 3/8/05)
I always have a hard time describing this album to people. Essentially, it's a really mellow pop album. It kind of falls on the quirky singer/songwriter end of things, and of course, being on Morr, there're significant electronic underpinnings. It's beautiful. It's a lovely chill out album.
two to try: "Unsolved Remained," "Destination Vertical"

http://img498.imageshack.us/img498/7947/199ot.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
19) Liz Durrett - Husk (Warm 2/22/05)
Extremely mellow backwoods country-ish electric folk. From Vic Chestnutt's niece. These songs have apparently been sitting around for 10 years or more (a new album is due later this month). Encouraged by her uncle to "write mean songs about her parents," he collaborated with her and produced these tracks during her late teenage years. Eerie and haunting, these lullabies rarely rise above a whisper, but still leave a mark.
two to try: "Husk," "Vine"

http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/5647/189mb.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
18) Boduf Songs - Boduf Songs (Kranky 10/4/05)
Simple acoustic guitar-based neo-folk. At times almost comically dark ("I want to puke a pitch black rainbow of bile and tongue up to the sun to put it out"), it's nonetheless affecting and surprisingly warm. A bedroom recording by one guy (Mat Sweet) that Kranky decided to release as is. It's all in a similar vein, but its brief runtime (not even half an hour) along with little cosmetic touches (a surprise cymbal here, some bowed guitar(?) there, is that a synth over there?) keep things interesting.
two to try: "Claimant Reclaimed," "Grains"

http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/3628/178ch.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
17) Sigur Rós - Takk... (Geffen 9/13/05)
Were the rest of the album as good as its three best tracks, this would be sitting securely in the top 5. As it is, it'll be known as the "accessible" Sigur Rós album, which is fine. But I still can't remember much about the last 3 tracks. They slide right by me every time.
two to try: "Gong," "Sæglópur"

http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/3059/169md.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
16) José González - Veneer (Hidden Agenda 9/6/05)
There have been tons of Nick Drake emulators the last few years, but few capture the sense of effortlessness his best work had. The deceptive simplicity of González's best tunes, his hushed voice, and lovely fingerpicked acoustic guitar add up to far more than their mere sum. Although the dark lyrics can seem a bit much occasionally, this is an auspicious international debut for the Argentinian-Swede.
two to try: "Slow Moves," "Heartbeats"

http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/2269/159fi.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
15) Meredith Bragg and the Terminals - Vol. I (The Kora 7/12/05)
Acoustic guitar, cello, piano, "vibraphonic devices" & "percussive instrumynts." These are the elements at play on Meredith Bragg's new band's debut. The ghost of Elliott Smith haunts some of these songs ("Work in Winter" in particular), but there's no harm in that, and the best songs stand alone. And there's comfort in Bragg's whispery voice, his self-deprecating lyrics and the alternating of simple instrumentation with lush layers of gorgeous backing.
two to try: "My Only Enemy," "I Won't Let You Down"

http://img358.imageshack.us/img358/599/141un.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
14) Paul Duncan - Be Careful What You Call Home (Hometapes 11/8/05)
Essentially an electonic folk album, Duncan's deep, but soft voice floating over waves of acoustic guitar and electronic rhythms & flourishes. There are too many instrumentals, but the songs that hit have staying power.
two to try: "Oil in the Fields," "This Old House"

http://img50.imageshack.us/img50/8855/130lr.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
13) Chad VanGaalen - Infiniheart (Sub Pop 8/23/05)
One could be forgiven, after listening to the first track of VanGaalen's debut, for writing him off as an Arcade Fire sound-alike. But the range of these 16 tracks is impressive. From that rock number to the more standard acoustic singer/songwriter vein that better suits his (artfully multi-tracked) falsetto. VanGaalen recorded these songs over 4 years in his bedroom, even using some homemade instruments. The lyrics may dwell a bit on blood and death, but they're intriguing enough to overcome this. The result is one of the best debuts of the year.
two to try: "Kill Me in My Sleep," "Somewhere I Know There Is Nothing"

http://img157.imageshack.us/img157/8527/123rp.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
12) Clue to Kalo - One Way, It's Every Way (Mush 9/20/05)
Mark Mitchell's debut album as Clue to Kalo made my list in 2003, a sublime bedroom laptronica album that drifted by on waves of melancholy. The follow-up is as different as one could have imagined. From the cover art, to the lush production, to the varied instrumentation (even accordian!), to the new-found confidence in his voice, to his downright celebratory revelling in making an unabashedly upbeat, if understated, pop album, it's easy to miss that this is a meditation on death and mortality.
two to try: "Nine Thousand Nautical Miles," "Come to Mean a Natural Law"

http://img468.imageshack.us/img468/5586/113ym.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
11) Drowsy - Growing Green (Fatcat 5/31/05)
Another alt-folk release, albeit one with a tongue-in-cheek sensibility (the opening lines of the album are "You are all whores, and I hate you all"), and a bit of variety. There are the acoustic guitar-based dirges, the transporting piano ballads and even a couple tracks that approach rocking.
two to try: "Harmless," "Bright Dawn"

to be concluded...

(Where's the rest of your list Steve?)

I have scores of pages to read this week, and I'm MOVING on top of that.

Is that OK with you?!?!?

:D

Look for it this weekend.

Steve the Sweet Fat Man

The idea that you have priorities outside of this forum is distressing. Most distressing.

The idea that you have priorities outside of this forum is distressing. Most distressing.

I'll make sure to tell my professors of your concern. I'm sure they'll take that into account when giving me future assignments.

:D

Steve the Sweet Fat Man

I still haven't gotten my blurbs for my Top Ten written yet, but here are my 21-11 (yeah, 21, there was a late addition :) ):
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0007YMUHK.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg 21. Emiliana Torrini Fisherman's Woman
The most comforting presence in accordance with a human voice is almost undeniably the acoustic guitar. Emiliana Torrini knows this. The marriage of her voice with the guitar (not always acoustic, but always full of personality) is nothing short of a hot cup of tea on a cold gray morning. The arrangements make great use of percussion and piano, only applying them where they are most effective.
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B000777J2S.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg 20. Antony & The Johnsons I Am A Bird Now
It took me a long time to appreciate the drama of this album -- not only in the narrative, but in Antony's out-of-this-world (usually in a good way) trembling vocals. Something about the recent snow made this one click. In the cold winter, this album acts like a cozy fireplace. A sad, beautiful, cozy fireplace. And "Bird Gurl" (one word: transcendent) makes me cry pretty much every time now.
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B000AADYRQ.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg 19. Death Cab for Cutie Plans
I have little defense for Death Cab against the haters. Accusations of triteness, oversentimentality, unevenness -- yep, all true. So, uh, yeah, no defense on those grounds. But let me go on the offense and say, probably contentiously, that few songwriters know how to pair a melody with lyrics like Ben Gibbard. Yup, I said it, what you gonna do about it? Deny that the melodies to, say, "Soul Meets Body" or "I Will Follow You Into the Dark" are almost intractably perfect? Yeah, I didn't think so.
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B000A2H880.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg 18. The New Pornographers Twin Cinema
So, uh, what's with the lyrics here? Anybody know? I'm not sure what to make of "So heads down, thumbs up/Four beats from soft and get set to exercise your right/Use it tonight" or "The perception, it is wrong, mile after mile/The phantom taste drinking wine from your heels." I'm not sure I want to, either. Frankly, I think the wham-bam yay-hooray power pop is much better suited to the one-line epiphanies of Mass Romantic or the ecstatic "hey la, hey la" jam at the end of "The Bleeding Heart Show." For this reason, I'm not putting Twin Cinema as high as other fans might; the lyrics seem too often arbitarily ambiguous to qualify it as truly great. I still like their debut better. But lyrics aside, the music really is power pop perfection. Catchy but harmonically unpredictable, rhythmic hiccups, sugar pop riffs, and the best drumming this side of Splenda make this album a pop affecionado's dream.
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B000AOJHZA.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg 17. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! Clap Your Hands Say Yeah!
"You will pay for your excessive charm." Indeed, CYHSY! You shall be damned for your accessible bubblegum riffs! Your ridiculously mature instrumental arrangements and pristine production are to be punished! Overhype backlash will cast you into the nether regions where only anti-anti-anti-anti-anti-hipsters reside! For only in these regions does everyone sing like your lead man sings, and it is only appropriate that you should be subjected to this funny, nihilistic, non-self-conscious voice that you (and Pitchfork, those bastards) have forced upon us all...
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0007UDCBC.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg 16. Okkervil River Black Sheep Boy
I've heard this described as "alt-country emo" on more than one year-end list, each of which basically goes on to apologize for the "emo" half. Not sure if that's necessary, because first of all, I hear little strictly emo influence on this album. Country-tinged rock that explores myths and longings of hope, frustration, infatuation, and alienation through choked and wonderfully cohesive lyrics, yes. Chris Carraba, no. Whatever. Screw the comparisons; the oh-so-RAWK ups and downs of this album are alone enough to sustain it, the fine-tuned fairy tales of failure and misfortune are what make Black Sheep Boy great.
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00070Q8HC.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg 15. M83 Before the Dawn Heals Us
Tongue-in-cheek bombast, check. Imperfect, check. Uncompromising, check. Turning days into nights and nights into stars, check. Wide-eyed splendor, check. WOW!, check. Sparkle candy, check. Sonic color washes, check. Bursts of light in midnight dark, check. Film soundtrack drama, check. Leather jacket and motorcycle, check. Fuzz killers, check. Spazz!, check. Synths, rock guitars, smashed drums, but mostly all human, check. The ability to engorge the atmosphere with juicy possibility, check.
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0007KIFLO.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg 14. M.I.A. Arular
Indelibly weird yet undeniably stylish, this album is probably hip-hop's biggest breath of fresh air in several years (and that includes Kanye and Dizzee). Arular grates at times -- the timbres of the synths and M.I.A.'s doubled synthy voice can be a lot much -- and hell, it's even occasionally bad (all I have to say is "Amazon"), but it's nonetheless worthy of the hype and praise, especially considering booty jams -- nay, booty STATEMENTS -- like "10$" and "Galang".
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B000A2H5M4.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg 13. Björk Drawing Restraint 9
Björk, Björk, Björk... will you ever cease to challenge your listeners? Will you ever spoonfeed us what we want to hear, how we want to hear it? Will you ever forget about dissonant cluster brass choruses and extraterrestrial pearl drops? No? Good, I was hoping not. Drawing Restraint 9 is the most difficult listen of any of Björk's releases (including Medúlla) by far, especially considering it's a soundtrack with mostly instrumental pieces, but it's also one of the most forcefully forward-thinking avant-pop/classical hybrids I've heard in a while.
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0007W221G.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg 12. Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra and the Tra-la-la Band Horses in the Sky
People seem to be getting weary of political albums these days, and this is perhaps the only explanation I can come up with for the widespread overlooking of this album as one of the best this year. Sounding something like a mix of Godspeed You Black Emperor, Leonard Cohen, and Neutral Milk Hotel, Horses in the Sky is a post-rock masterpiece loaded with melancholy, grit, anger, pessimism, and a little bit of blind faith about the more-or-less imminent apocalypse. Some may be turned off by the whole played-out "rock symphony" thing, but it can't be denied that Silver Mt. Zion pulls it off here with gripping resignation.
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B000CR79DM.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg 11. Vitalic OK Cowboy
Let me just put aside the fact that the centerpiece of this album, "La Rock 01," is probably one of the most fantastic dance floor highs of, well, EVER – a thumping neon injection of strobe-light adrenaline and sweat which will send you into utter Dionysian ecstacy.... Yeah, even aside from THAT, OK Cowboy is probably one of the most consistently impressive techno albums I've ever heard. Of course, it's at its best with the mechanical bull get-down grinds of "Poney" (both parts!) or "Newman," but the spacey Air-like interludes such as "The Past" and "Trahison" make even those cigarette-stained walks between the bull and the neon-lit bar worth paying attention to.

12. Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra and the Tra-la-la Band Horses in the Sky
People seem to be getting weary of political albums these days, and this is perhaps the only explanation I can come up with for the widespread overlooking of this album as one of the best this year.
Or it could be that they've never come close to matching the compositions of their first 2 albums, and that Efrim still hasn't learned how to sing on key. [post54]
(This is filed under year's-biggest-disappointments for me)

Or it could be that they've never come close to matching the compositions of their first 2 albums, and that Efrim still hasn't learned how to sing on key. [post54]
(This is filed under year's-biggest-disappointments for me)

I heartily concur. :)! They should get back to writing about pets dying and such.

Bah. The subjects don't matter much. Efrim just needs to go back to the whisper-singing ("Could've Moved Mountains..." is fairly political, but far more easily digestible than the epics on recent releases) or perfect that distorted thing that sorta worked on tracks like "There's a River in the Valley Made of Melted Snow." The fact that Horses in the Sky beats you over the head with its leftiness (hey, "God Bless Our Dead Marines" is a GREAT song title) is secondary to the fact they haven't shown much musical creativity for a while and that they don't seem to realize 10 minutes of plinking plodding music backing a wailing tone-deaf Canadian is pretty dull after a while.

Bah. The subjects don't matter much. Efrim just needs to go back to the whisper-singing ("Could've Moved Mountains..." is fairly political, but far more easily digestible than the epics on recent releases) or perfect that distorted thing that sorta worked on tracks like "There's a River in the Valley Made of Melted Snow." The fact that Horses in the Sky beats you over the head with its leftiness (hey, "God Bless Our Dead Marines" is a GREAT song title) is secondary to the fact they haven't shown much musical creativity for a while and that they don't seem to realize 10 minutes of plinking plodding music backing a wailing tone-deaf Canadian is pretty dull after a while.

The singing really ruins it for me. Their debut was a favourite of mine years back, the track "13 Angles Standing Guard 'Round the Side of Your Bed " is gorgeous. However, I'm a fan of off-kilter voices, but Efrim's singing is just plain off to me. I haven't had much interest in them since "This is our punk rock" (which imo is plain bad at points).

Or it could be that they've never come close to matching the compositions of their first 2 albums, and that Efrim still hasn't learned how to sing on key. [post54]
(This is filed under year's-biggest-disappointments for me)

Ah, very well. This is my first Silver Mt. Zion album, and I love it. Plus, off-pitch singing never really bothers me as long as it's in an interesting context (i.e. The Microphones).

Singing is often a make-or-break deal with me, I admit, but I'm just as frustrated with the repitition in the songwriting. I feel like their last 3 albums have just been minor variations on one or two ideas. Meh. I didn't mean to pick on your list though, sorry... [post54]

Part 3: #'s 10-1

http://img219.imageshack.us/img219/2047/100ht.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
10) Brian McBride - When the Detail Lost its Freedom (Kranky 11/8/05)
It's been nearly 5 years since the last Stars of the Lid album, 2001's double disc set The Tired Sounds of... Last year, one Star, Adam Wiltzie, released a solo effort under the name The Dead Texan. This year it's other Star McBride's turn. While Wiltzie used the opportunity to subtly tweak with the conventions at play in Stars' ambient drones, McBride has essentially crafted a third disc to The Tired Sounds... The only departure is the addition of vocals to two tracks. While effective as background or study music, I adore laying back and immersing myself in this through the headphones. Ah...
two to try: "The Guilt of Uncomplicated Thoughts," "Our Last Moment in Song"

http://img219.imageshack.us/img219/2244/095iy.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
9) Plat - Compulsion (Unschooled 1/11/05)
An Icelandic duo that crafts surprisingly organic sounding electronic music that can move even this most jaded BoC fan. Plat get together and jam on guitar and drums, recording everything they play, and chop it to fucking pieces later on the computer. The groove is infectious, if never really danceable, and the melodies are gorgeous. And this record is why The Campfire Headphase held no interest for me.
two to try: "Pæling (Muse)," "Blindfold"

http://img219.imageshack.us/img219/2913/081of.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
8) Hood - Outside Closer (Domino 2/8/05)
Indie pop with significant electronic touches, glorious, soaring and glitchy. Hood's soothing melancholy can begin to lull you, but a blast of a distorted sample or guitar will jolt you back to attention. Thom compares them to Radiohead, and that may be apt, but I don't find them at all derivative.
two to try: "Any Hopeful Thoughts Arrive," "Closure"

http://img219.imageshack.us/img219/9829/077sr.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
7) Shipping News - Flies the Fields (Quarterstick 3/22/05)
Thrilling, solid, dark indie-rock, in a vein I'm finding increasingly hard to discover these days (at least in high quality). Jason Noble occasionally appears to remember he was in Rodan (the yelling chorus of "(Morays or) Demon"), crafts post-rock instrumentals to rival anyone ("Louven"), and continues to excel at throbbing, growling, foreboding epics ("Untitled w/ Drums" and the new version of Three-Four's "Paper Lanterns").
two to try: "(Morays or) Demon," "Untitled w/ Drums"

http://img219.imageshack.us/img219/2504/066up.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
6) Iron & Wine - Woman King (Sub Pop 2/22/05)
Expands Sam's musical vocabulary, while addressing a new theme; the power of the mythical woman. That this was overshadowed somewhat by the thud of the Calexico ep is a shame.
two to try: "Jezebel," "Evening on the Ground (Lilith's Song)"

http://img219.imageshack.us/img219/2930/059zx.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
5) Sun Kil Moon - Tiny Cities (Caldo Verde 11/1/05)
I know, I know. I'm going to take the most heat for this one, I think. Mark Kozelek's always been well-known for his covers, exploding songs from the inside and piecing them back together into sometimes unrecognizable forms. The idea of him doing an entire album of Modest Mouse covers though, made even me chuckle. But he nails it. Mark's in acoustic ballad mode for the entirety here, but I've always preferred those to his classic rock raveups and extended jams. It certainly helps to go in more of a RHP fan than a Modest Mouse fan, but I find many of these preferable to the originals. And I maintain it's Koz's best work since Songs for a Blue Guitar.
two to try: "Ocean Breathes Salty," "Space Travel Is Boring"

http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/7708/046uc.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
4) Eluvium - Talk Amongst the Trees (Temporary Residence 3/1/05)
I'll pretty much let everything Thom's had to say about this one stand. Enveloping warmth and bliss. When I first heard the 11-minute "New Animals from the Air," I thought I wouldn't hear anything more subtly beautiful all year. Then, about half an hour later, I heard "One."
two to try: "One," "New Animals from the Air"

http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/2408/022vv.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
3) Songs of Green Pheasant - Songs of Green Pheasant (Fatcat 11/29/05)
Another album I have a hard time describing to people. It's lo-fi, home-recorded folk, reminiscent of Simon & Garfunkel at moments, but also informed by the same sort of traditional European folk that influences Alasdair Roberts or In Gowan Ring. With vocals that seem to unfold across vast distances or echo from a distant past. Lilting, gorgeous, and transporting.
two to try: "I Am Daylights," "From Here to Somewhere Else"

http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/4237/033hm.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
2) The Mountain Goats - The Sunset Tree (4AD 4/26/05)
Reading reviews, you'd think this album was made up of 13 songs about John Darnielle's step-father slapping his mother around and kicking the shit out of him. But while the realities of his family haunt the album (it's likely to have had something to do with the desperation of "This Year"), Darnielle's stepfather is only directly addressed on around a quarter of the tracks here. This is an account of a Southern California childhood in the 70s and 80s, albeit one in which abuse played a major role. It doesn't help that he's fond of addressing so many of his songs to a generic "you," which is sometimes his stepfather, sometimes a former girlfriend, sometimes maybe someone else. Darnielle's always been an excellent thematic songwriter, but his stories (like that of the decaying relationship of an alpha couple on Tallahassee) have usually been mostly fiction. The honesty on this album is stunning (no doubt brought about by his stepfather's death in 2004, addressed on closer "Pale Green Things," in which he's startled to discover he can remember good things and moments as well as the bad). But without a doubt, the accounts of abuse are the most affecting moments here: "So this is what the volume knob's for" he surmises on "Dance Music" as "my stepfather yells at my mother/launches a glass across the room/straight at her head." He recalls a beating in "Hast Thou Considered the Tetrapod": "I'm guarding my face/hoping you don't break my stereo/because it's the one thing that I couldn't live without/and so I think about that/and then I sort of black out." Adding to the visceralness of the tales is the continually expanding palette of the Goats' new studio incarnation, now three albums old (following years of lo-fi home recording): piano, mandolin, and oh, the strings ("Dilaudid," on which the musical backing is constructed entirely of doom-laden strings, is breathtaking). But impressively, escape is never out of reach ("I am gonna make it through this year if it kills me") and the liner notes bear a dedication to victims of abuse with the message: "You are going to make it out of there alive, you will live to tell your story, never lose hope."
two to try: "Lion's Teeth," "Dilaudid"

http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/4486/015ai.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
1) Low - The Great Destroyer (Sub Pop 1/25/05)
Another album I feel was critically misunderstood. Yes, Low turns up the volume (but it's not like it rawks, man, this is still Low), and yes, it's in-your-face and- on the surface anyway- more accessible, and yes, Mimi spends most of the time in the background, vocally. But this is the sound of a man falling apart. This is the cry of a man trying in vain to process obsessions with death and irrelevance through the filter of a religion in which he doesn't fit. Lyrically, Alan's never been more on point. Bitterness simmers below the surface of most of the sunny pop numbers. "I could turn on you so fast," Alan cheerily intones on "Just Stand Back." "Everybody's Song" blasts the man standing next to him (bassist Zak Sally) for quitting on the band, and returning when they got a prime opening gig for Radiohead in Europe. Musically, this is just the catchiest fucking indie rock record of the year. I love singing along in the car. And bones are still thrown to the old-school slowcore fans with the likes of "Silver Rider" & "Cue the Strings." Two ballads at the latter half of the album bring the themes into focus. "When I Go Deaf" ponders a time when "I'll stop writing songs/stop scratching out lines/I won't have to think/and it won't have to rhyme" while "Death of a Salesman" imagines the life that might have been had friends' advice been heeded: "They said music's for fools/you should go back to school/the future is prisons and math/so I did what they said/now my children are fed/'cause they pay me to do what I'm asked." This album is haunted by doubt, fear, insecurities and, given free reign for the first time though it's always been there beneath the surface, anger. Through it all, time, The Great Destroyer, shadows everything, "leaves every child a bastard" on "Walk into the Sea" and "passes through you like a knife" on "Silver Rider." Low cancelled their tour last summer after Alan's strange behavior and on-stage freakouts and breakdowns became too much. Zak would quit the band for the second time. Alan may have given the demons a workout, but they're still hanging around. I can't wait for what's next.
two to try: "Silver Rider," "When I Go Deaf"

Guess I got a little excited about those last two. [post54] Those are bigger blurbs than I intended.

And now the dubious distinction awards for 2005:

2005 Nocturama Award for biggest disappointment of the year (specifically honoring the largest falling-off in quality from an artist's last album to the current one).
There were a lot of contenders for this one. I can't remember a year in which so many albums by quality artists fell so far short of expectations. And yet there has never been a year in which the winner was so obvious: Fires in Distant Buildings by Gravenhurst. In which Nick Talbot all but forgets how to write a decent song, plugs in and amps up his band's sound for no apparent reason and to no appreciable effect and just miserably fails to live up to the potential of last year's Flashlight Seasons. In fact, this is the first time ever that an artist has gone from #1 on my list one year, to Nocturama Award winner the next. It almost makes me want to rename the award, but the Fires in Distant Buildings Award is just too unwieldy a name.

2005 Strange Geometry Award for Unfortunate Inertia
This one has a new name though. The award for that artist which shows the least differentiation between albums, but whose new effort doesn't exactly suck, just offers more of the same. The Clientele's Strange Geometry. A cursory listen to the first track ("Since K Got Over Me") and the first track from 2003's The Violet Hour (another former #1) reveals.... THAT THEY'RE THE EXACT SAME GODDAMN SONG! Except for the lyrics, of course, but I was stunned the first time I heard this. Sure, the production's a little slicker, but I'd never heard an artist self-cannibalize so early in a promising career. Sad, really.

Really love the Iron & Wine and Eluvium; on the other hand, for me, the Hood, Shipping News, and even Low never really stuck. But I know I need to give The Great Destroyer another go; last time I heard it "Death of a Salesman" stuck out and just stunned me with its chilling honesty.

I've also recently gotten the new Mountain Goats, which seems a bit more subtle than previous records in several ways, so I'm looking forward to letting it sink in :)

that is the best 10 to 1 list ever. lkzfhklsfhlksahlsdfhlhkafds. *masturbates*

*prints Brian's list for future reference*

*goes shopping*

Gosh Brian, what a mellow list - you could've at least put the new Disturbed on there. ;) I want to hear the Plat! Have you heard Haco at all? I got her "ash in the rainbow" cd and it's full of strings, saws, toy instruments, and gut-punchingly lovely japanese singer Haco, who seemingly can take her voice anywhere, but mostly beautifully rewarding places - I can gmail it up if you want.

Oh man. That list is sooooo Brian. I figured you were going to make Low your #1 after having told me that it would no longer be Songs of the Green Pheasant. I love it though. :)

Wow, Brian. Your lists were impressive as well as fun to read, and informative!

*makes notes*

I have some money to spend.

OK, OK.

I'll buy the goddamned Eluvium album.

:D

Steve the Sweet Fat Man

OK, OK.
I'll buy the goddamned Eluvium album.
:D
Steve the Sweet Fat Man

It's about damn time. ;)

Hmmm... That could be interesting. I don't really see it as a Steve record, but I guess you never know.

Ross, my e-mail is good: rain@k.st And hey, it's not quite as mellow as in some past years. [post54]

Ross, Thom & Morgan. I see Plat in your future...

I don't see it as a Steve record either, I think Steve needs lyrics and vocals. But I'm interested in what he's got to say about it!

I don't see it as a Steve record either, I think Steve needs lyrics and vocals.

Usually, I do.

However, wait for #3 on my list. :D

Steve the Sweet Fat Man

don't buy the eluvium, steve. i'll burn you a copy so you can see what you think first--i have a feeling you might end up hating it. but you could love it, too! so who knows? :)

Well, what do you know? I "found" "New Animals from the Air". :D

I don't love it, and I don't hate it. I like it. :)

But #3 on my list is a lot better. ;)

Steve the Sweet Fat Man

Listening to Eluvium makes me paranoid. I feel like they're doing weird subliminal things to my brainwaves.

No offense to any of you--this is going to sound so snooty, but I wonder how many of you will actually like things on Brian's list. There are a few of us that have such particular taste (mebrianthompeterossalanjess,etc.) and I can't really see everyone liking Eluvium, Low, Boduf Songs, Clue to Kalo, etc. So I'm eager to hear your reactions to all of the stuff on his list, because it would be really great if there were more of us to talk about this stuff with!

/end snooty-pants-morgan.

I have backwards musical tastes.

Steve the Sweet Fat Man

I didn't mean for it to sound that awful, I just didn't know how else to say it. :( I think most of the regular posters have fantastic taste-including you, Steve, but I'm just interested in what people think of the more obscure stuff we listen to.

I was just kidding. :)

I have fucking FANTASTIC taste. :D

Steve the Sweet Fat Man

So not goin' there... [post54]

No offense to any of you--this is going to sound so snooty, but I wonder how many of you will actually like things on Brian's list. There are a few of us that have such particular taste (mebrianthompeterossalanjess,etc.) and I can't really see everyone liking Eluvium, Low, Boduf Songs, Clue to Kalo, etc. So I'm eager to hear your reactions to all of the stuff on his list, because it would be really great if there were more of us to talk about this stuff with!

/end snooty-pants-morgan.

I love Eluvium and Low, but I've never even heard of any of the other artists on his list! I'd love to listen, but I don't think I have the time or the money, haha! You're right though, even the people on this board you didn't mention all have pretty specific musical tastes.

I'm not really familiar with Brian's choices and I'm not sure if they'd be my style but I do love Iron & Wine. Sam is fabulous and deserves the recognition.

You're right though, even the people on this board you didn't mention all have pretty specific musical tastes.

This is true. I love pop. I'm a pop girl. I do often venture out and explore differnet genres of music but it's always the pop records that I fall madly in love with.

Brian, you're dead-on about the Plat - very good stuff! I'm really initial in my listening, but "Trainers" and "Astand (dualism)" are just plain fantastic.

Am very pleased you like, sir. [post54]

Brian, have you listened to any of the Haco? :)

Haven't had a chance Ross. I'm gonna try to remember to bring a blank disc to work tomorrow to burn it so I can listen in the car...

I know, I'm late.



Paavoharju Yhä Hämärää
If you were to research, you would read that Paavoharju are a group of born-again Christians from Finland.
...
Not really a selling point.
A light wash of noise/distortion/static. Various organic instrumentation (mostly piano and guitar) and electronic blipsbeepsandclicks. Layers and layers of unidentifiable clunks and voices. An absolutely amazing female vocalist who could have been plucked from the saddest Bollywood film and asked to sing everything in a tunnel.
The most original and gorgeous album I've heard all year.

CocoRosie Noah's Ark
I love the combination of the two voices on this album. The two of them are so different but when played together, it's damn near perfect. I had expected this album to be a lot weirder (maybe it was the threesome of zebra unicorns vomiting rainbows on the cover) but it's really just a very tender little folk album with a few ringing telephones, mewing cats, and Antony.

Andrew Bird & The Mysterious Production of Eggs
And here I never thought I'd buy another album issued from Righteous Babe Records. Andrew Bird isn't doing anything terribly new or innovative, he's just a very talented songwriter and musician. A perfectly sculpted pop album and he makes it sound so easy. And happy.

Hanne Hukkelberg Little Things
I love reading the track credits to this album. Pots and pans, plastic bottle, eggs, wineglasses, bicycle spokes. I wish I'd had this album to sing to when I was little. It's so magic. Instead I had Debbie Gibson's Electric Youth, and it's to blame for a lot of my misfortune. I'm so pleased to see this on so many lists.

Animal Collective Feels
This was my favourite album right up until I heard the Paavoharju disc. It's much more poppy/accessible/shiny/animated than Sung Tongs, which is now my favourite 2004 album. A lot of it sounds like mischief and cartoons. I have the insatiable urge to dress up as a skunk and go around committing petty crimes to The Purple Bottle. Animal Collective may just be my favourite band.

Sufjan Stevens Come On, Feel the Illinoise!
Yeah, I'm sick of hearing about him too. I actually didn't hear any Sufjan Stevens until this year and I ended up buying four albums (fever!) and loving all of them. Illinoise makes me cry. The simple, stripped down tunes like John Wayne Gacy, Jr. and Concerning the UFO Sighting Near Highland, Illinois are like big kids' Bambi. However, I do love the little choir and orchestra he's put behind him on a lot of the album. Gorgeous.

Architecture in Helsinki In Case We Die
It's very cute. There are accordians and trombones and other instruments that make funny noises and the male singer sounds like he's singing through a small slit between his nose and his eyes which is a very strange place to sing from indeed. The whole thing sounds like it should be an elementary school musical production and it's all so very perfect and sweet.

Broadcast Tender Buttons
This album sort of crept up on me. When I first heard it, I wasn't hugely impressed, though I did enjoy it. It's very sparse and the drum tracks sound like they could have been played/programmed by Meg White. The whole album seems very distant and a little sad. Trish Keenan's voice keeps getting better and I'm maybe just a little bit in love with her.

Colleen The Golden Morning Breaks
Beautiful, small, plinky, delicate, but often with something a little scary and ominous lurking beneath. There is nothing new or challenging about the album, but she's created some gorgeous soundscapes and it's the best before bed record of the year.

Gang Gang Dance God's Money
A very pots & pans sounding album with lots of thuds and clunks and general heaviness. Add to that lots of synthy goodness and a lead singer who sounds like a ranting (yet melodic) Indian woman.

Vashti Bunyan Lookaftering
This album has inspired me to track down some Max Richter. The arrangements are so flawless and the production is so warm. Obviously, not enough can ever be said about Vashti's voice, and I don't care to try. I really loved the EP she did with Animal Collective this year as well, but EPs aren't allowed on my favourites list. They're like dessert.

Antony & The Johnsons I am a Bird Now
So controversial in this forum. The warbley Nina Simoneishness of his voice tugs at my taut little heart strings and I like that. The entire album feels so lonely and sad (despite Boy George even!) and I'm sure that Hope There's Someone has been a funeral staple this year.


Other albums I loved but don't quite deserve a write-up for various reasons are the following:
Patrick Wolf Wind in the Wires (I know, sorry.)
Bell Orchestre Recording a Tape the Colour of Light
Devendra Banhart Cripple Crow
Annie Anniemal (2004?)
Beck Guero
Kate Bush Aerial
Esmerine Aurora
Boards of Canada The Campfire Headphase
Sigur Rós Takk...


I am sorry to say that both Of Montreal's Sunlandic Twins and Jackson & His Computer Band's Smash shipped this morning and didn't make it on time. Perhaps they would have been considered for a write-up. Perhaps not. I'm still excited to hear the. Happy 2006ing!

10. Luther Burbank Performing Arts Center Blues by Lewis Black. Yeah, I know that this list is supposed to be for music CDs. Guess what? It's my fucking list. :D This deserves to be on it, because what we have here is the funniest, smartest comedian working today giving his thoughts on the cultural moment when “my beloved country lost its goddamned mind” - the Janet Jackson nipple thing. And honestly, they should just erase everything anyone else ever said about it and put this CD in the time capsule, because he gets it completely right. The rest of the CD is also swell, but it's the laser-like focus of Black's raging wit on that peculiar moment in our history that makes this a must-own. Genius tracks: anything about the nipple.

9. Soviet Kitsch by Regina Spektor. She drives a lot of folks crazy, and it's not hard to see why; her voice does go to a lot of places that, on first listen, seem wildly affected. But, at least to these ears, it soon becomes apparent that the oddness is entirely organic, and that she just hears music a bit differently than normal people. In other words, she's Joanna Newsom, only much shorter and with dark hair. :D And, like Joanna, she has the tunes to back up the weirdness: jaunty, witty little ditties that often conceal great depth and heartbreak underneath. Oh, and goddamn it, is she cute. Genius tracks: “Carbon Monoxide”, “The Flowers”, and “Us”.

8. Are You Thinking What I'm Thinking? by The Like. Don't hate them because they're beautiful. And rich, and connected. It's tempting to see a group made up of the late teen/early twenties daughters of industry people as a pack of dilettantes, but again, it comes down to the songs. And, thanks to Z Berg, The Like's got 'em: pop-punk gems that manage to be both wistful and crunchy. And they're paying their dues; in the year and a half between I saw them play club dates in front of a handful of people, they've improved by leaps and bounds. No dilettantes here; this is rock and roll. Genius tracks: “(So I'll Sit Here) Waiting”, “Under the Paving Stones”.

7. Hearts and Unicorns by Giant Drag. For all the world, Annie Hardy seems like the kind of girl everyone picked on in high school, and instead of going back to her room full of stuffed animals and pink stuff and writing heartbroken poems, went back to her room full of stuffed animals and pink stuff and wrote genius rock songs with titles like “You Fuck Like My Dad”. In other words, she's a brokenhearted smartass with an ear for a great melody. With her partner Micah Calabrese (who manages the neat trick of playing drums and keyboards at the same time) backing her expertly, she might just become the huge rock star she deserves to be. That'll show those shitheads who picked on her. Genius songs: hell, the first five on the album, but “This Isn't It” is very simply the best hard rock song of the year.

6. Late Registration by Kanye West. At a key moment in the exultant “We Major”, Kanye West asks, “Can I talk my shit again?” This moment sums the guy up. He's often slammed for being an arrogant prick, and sometimes he is, but what's beguiling about him is how he'll play with that image - play into it, play against it, etc. He may not be the most flowing rapper ever, but he makes an impact with the things he says; he's funny, angry, silly, deadly serious, and occasionally heartbreaking. And he's doing some things musically that I've never heard before in hip-hop. It may seem weird that he brought in Jon Brion to help with much of the album, but if you just listen to how much he wants to stretch boundaries, the choice makes perfect sense. Yes, Kanye, you can talk your shit again, because you back it up. Genius tracks: “Diamonds From Sierra Leone”, “We Major”, “Heard 'Em Say”, “Gone”.

5. Extraordinary Machine by Fiona Apple. Yeah, sure, it's an interesting story - the label intrigue, the Internet leaks, the campaign by fans and how it inspired Fiona to stop watching Columbo in her bathrobe and finish the damned thing with another producer (causing some of the aforementioned fans to bitch about betrayal), etc. But at the end of the day, what's quite amazing is that the album is more interesting than the story. This is very simply one of our best songwriters - both a restlessly creative melodic experimenter and a dazzling wordsmith - who's made three remarkably consistent albums and grown with each one. She's unfairly targeted as nothing but a whiner by some, but this album sounds more playful at the same time it sounds more heartbroken, and that's really kind of a neat trick. And honestly, who else could rhyme “contemptible snob” with “commendable job”? Genius tracks: “O Sailor”, “Get Him Back”, “Please Please Please”

4. Illinois by Sufjan Stevens. I'd like to do the Being John Malkovich thing and get inside Sufjan Stevens for fifteen minutes. And no, not so I could look at myself in the mirror. :D I'd just like to hear music the way he hears it, because it seems to me that no one hears it quite the same way. There are great songs on this album; indeed, to my mind, “Chicago” and “John Wayne Gacy, Jr.” are one-two for best songs of the entire year by anyone. However, what's really memorable here is just the way the guy puts the orchestrations together. From sweeping pop epics to breathtaking intimacy, he just puts everything in the right place. This album is a bit long, and a bit soft in the second half (if the second half were as good as the first, it'd be the album of the year). But it's the work of a truly singular talent, and I can't wait to see where he goes next. Genius tracks: see above.

3. Axes by Electrelane. Last year's The Power Out really knocked me on my ass, and I put it on my Top Ten. This album is better, and not just a little better. This band has a truly visionary air about them; no one that I've heard takes experimental music and make it rock so damned hard. There's real drama in the explosions, and the silences that precede them. And their use of Verity Susman's vocals as another sonic element rather than as a traditional delivery of meaning is the perfect crowning touch. I almost never say this, but music this powerful and transcendent really doesn't need a whole lot of meaning added by lyrics. To me, this is the sound of reinvention. Genius tracks: “Bells”, “Suitcase”.

2. Worlds Apart by …And You Will Know Them By The Trail Of Dead. For a few albums now, they've been seemingly working for a perfect synthesis of balls-out thrash and symphonic art rock. On this album, they achieve the goal. At once more accessible and weirder than anything they've ever done, they've achieved the thematic and sonic consistency that many “concept albums” never do, and this isn't really a concept album. It's more like, well, a symphony - the kind of symphony where people say “fuck” a lot while screaming with rage about what a mess we're all in. And then interrupt the whole thing for a gentle violin-based folk song (led by no less than) famed violinist Hilary Hahn. I hope this isn't the last we hear from these folks, but if it is, at least they can say that, in the end, they got it absolutely right. Genius tracks: “Would You Smile Again”, “Worlds Apart”, “A Classic Arts Showcase”, “Let It Dive”.

1. Blinking Lights (and Other Revelations) by Eels. Colette has it right: I'm a song snob. So, when one of our best songwriters creates his masterpiece, it's gonna be hard for me not to call that the album of the year. And this, to my mind - sorry, Brian ;) - is E's masterpiece. It sorta has the shape of an autobiography, but really, it's just a song cycle where E refines his ideas as he never has before and expresses himself just perfectly through words and music. This is an album that I feel like I don't so much listen to as live inside for awhile; it sweeps me away into E's snarky, heartfelt, wounded, but finally hopeful vision. Genius tracks: oh, damn, pretty much the whole thing.

Ahahahahah. I bet you bitches thought I'd never get this done.

:D

Steve the Sweet Fat Man

Hey, don't apologize... I know some day you'll get tired of being wrong all the time... [post54]

Hey, don't apologize... I know some day you'll get tired of being wrong all the time... [post54]

fdsajghjsakfdh!

If loving Regina Spektor, Giant Drag, and Electrelane is wrong, I don't wanna be right. :p

Steve the Sweet Fat Man

My Top 50... about two months too late. Ah, well. CLICKY (http://phallicvic.blogspot.com/2006/02/top-50-albums-of-2005.html)!

Okay, I needed some time to post this. For one thing, I didn't purchase a lot of these albums until 06. :) I would like to think that my listening habbits are varied and vast. However, there will be some VAGina on my list. I'm ready to be hung, sliced, diced and dried--So, Gods of OMA, bring it. ;)

Ps- While I have given some thought to the order, I must admit that I am unsure of it. At any rate, these are my personal faves of 05.

20. Imogen Heap- Speak For Yourself (Regina Spektor could just as well be in this spot...)
19. Fiona Apple- Extraordinary Machine
18. Ani Difranco- Knuckle Down (Her best in years, IMHO)
17. MIA- Arular
16. Pat Metheny- The Way Up
15. System Of A Down- Mezmerize
14. Spoon- Gimme Fiction
13. Adrian Belew- Side One
12. Lucinda Williams- Live @ The Fillmore
11. Iron & Wine- Woman King
10. Common- Be
09. Eeels- Blinking Lights And Other Revelations
08. Sleater Kinney- The Woods
07. Animal Collective- Feels
06. Sigur Ros- Takk
05. Andrew Bird- The Mysterious Production Of Eggs
04. Over The Rhine- Drunkard's Prayer
03. Prick- The Wreckard
02. Kate Bush- Aerial
01. Sufjan Stevens- Illinois

I can respect that a lot of people put Tori's Beekeeper on their lists because they like what they like, but there is no way that I could. I love her music, but she just fell (way) short this time.

Goddamn.

I thought I was late.

;)

Steve the Sweet Fat Man

^LOL. :) OH! And, I just noticed that I forgot an important one!

Dramarama- Everybody Dies

Oh well ;).

Okay, I needed some time to post this. For one thing, I didn't purchase a lot of these albums until 06. :) I would like to think that my listening habbits are varied and vast. However, there will be some VAGina on my list. I'm ready to be hung, sliced, diced and dried--So, Gods of OMA, bring it. ;)

17. MIA- Arular
15. System Of A Down- Mezmerize
11. Iron & Wine- Woman King
10. Common- Be
08. Sleater Kinney- The Woods
07. Animal Collective- Feels

All so superb that your list is beyond reproach.

13. Adrian Belew- Side One

glad to see I'm not the only one who put this in the top 20. :)

All so superb that your list is beyond reproach.

Well, thank you. ;k LOL. I'll take that as a complement.

Ps- Glad to know that you like Common! :)

glad to see I'm not the only one who put this in the top 20. :)

[attached] .

Imogen Heap's Speak for Yourself and Kate Bush' Aerial definitely are my 2 favourite records of last year!... Both unique in their own way :)

I can't come up with a list and ranking. I loved the following:

Sufjan Stevens--Illinois
Antony and the Johnsons--I Am a Bird Now
Fori--The Beekeeper
Decemberists--Picaresque
New Pornographers--Twin Cinema
New Order--Waiting for the Siren's Call
M.I.A.--Arular
Saint Etienne--Tales from the Turnpike House
Annie--Anniemal
The Clientele--Strange Geometry
The Go! Team--Thunder Lightning Strike
Devendra Banhart--Cripple Crow (who knew?)
Final Fantasy--Has Good Home
Ladytron--Witching Hour
Goldfrapp--Supernature
Madonna--Confessions on a Dance Floor
Kate Bush--Aerial
Fiona Apple--Extraordinary Machine
Patrick Wolf--Wind in the Wires
Jens Lekman--Oh You're So Silent, Jens
Stars--Set Yo'self on Fyah! (can't believe I forgot this one. I lurve it!)
Spoon--Gimme Fiction (can't believe I forgot this one too)

Reissues:
Eurythmics
Talking Heads
One Kiss Can Lead to Another: Girl Group Sounds Lost and Found

(if I forgot something, I'll feel guilty and edit this later).

ok, i'm finally getting around to this. nothing here is original, as far as this thread goes. but yah....


almost there:

decemberists - picaresque
the new pornographers - twin cinema
bright eyes - both albums
madge - confessions
death cab - plans




20. giant drag - heart and unicorns

19. ...trail of dead - worlds apart

18. super furry animals - love kraft

17. sigur ros - takk

16. annie - anniemal

15. animal collective - feels

14. cocorosie - noah's ark

13. my morning jacket - Z

12. gorillaz - demon days

11. sleater-kinney - the woods

10. the magic numbers - the magic numbers

9. m.i.a. - arular

8. patrick wolf - wind in the wires

7. fiona apple - extraordinary machine

6. wolf parade - apologies to the queen mary

5. andrew bird - the mysterious production of eggs

4. iron and wine - woman king

3. bloc party - silent alarm

2. spoon - gimme fiction




1. sufjan stevens - illinois








(i expect too much from the new pornographers and the decemberists, i think. they should probably be on the list, but i was a little disappointed with both releases.)

20. giant drag - heart and unicorns

EEEEEE! Someone else listed it, FINALLY!

;v

Steve the Sweet Fat Man

^ i've been listening to 'slayer' all the time these days. that's the saddest fucking song to me. [blue]

Nostalgia!

hehe...i was just reading this thread (along with the old beekeeper awards thread too!)