Ok so I havent bought too many 2005 releases (if any, Im not sure). So in the spirit of the fast food nation, ADHD, and 8-minute dating, Im asking for a synopsis of 2005 in terms of albums I should at least listen to because they are genre-bending/breaking (ie. groundbreaking), better than most, or just your favorites. Feel free to break up the recommendations with witty banter.. depending on the amount of time you have free. ... thanks.

Crooked Fingers :: Dignity And Shame
It's about a bullfighter, which worked for Hemingway, and it's got some Spanish-style horns in it. You like horns don't you? "Call to Love" is probably my favorite song of the year.

South San Gabriel :: The Carlton Chronicles
It's about a dying cat, which should work for anyone, and it's got some harps in it. Amazingly, I was able to see past the whole cat thing and really enjoy Will Johnson actually finishing an entire album. That also may explain why it only runs about 40 mins. Beautiful instrumentation and arrangements, which is saying something because I usually won't listen if the performers don't sound drunk. "I Am Six Pounds of Dynamite" is a good 'un on here.

Ry Cooder :: Chavez Ravine
It's got UFOs, a Latino neighborhood destroyed by greedy developers, the Red Scare, and local gals ragging on the Chinese laundryman. Abitious as it creates an interesting representation of time and place, i.e. Los Angeles in the 1950s, both politically and in an attempt to capture everyday life. Cooder also recruits a nice mix of performers to throw into the mix. It's almost like listening to a movie.

Lucero :: Nobody's Darlings
Gonna do a little fightin', little fuckin' and a lot of drinking. Bring it, pussies.

Stephen Stills :: Man Alive
This is so bad I almost burned--with fire, not a computer--my Manassas disc. Cocaine will ruin your brain, kids. Don't do drugs like Stephen Stills. Unless you never had any talent.

Big Star :: In Space
Almost as bad as the Stills record.

yes I like horns.. horns are good...

I appreciate the time you took to type this in.. obviously you have too much time on your hands.. for that, I will make an attempt to listen to all of the morsels you have chosen.. that is all

can you YSI a Lucero song?
i wanna buy something new, sounds good that might be it.

and i'll second the crooked fingers, it's awesome.

This is the opening track on Nobody's Darlings, Watch It Burn

get That Much Further West before you get the new one.

brendan benson "alternative to love: to sorta paraphrase jack white, "brendan's the best songwriter out there." jack and brendan are recording together under the raconteurs. the raconteurs want to release the new "nevermind" for the times. could be a real motherfucker. oh yeah almost forgetting, alternative to love, despite the lackluster performance in madison, remains untouched as my #1 for '05.

super furry animals "love kraft": fully, their first collaborative album, which is hard to believe. about a month ago, i started a thread about gruf rhys, imo, becoming the donald fagen of our times. it's slow, i'll give it that, but it's a good, long-playing smoove groove.


supergrass "road to rouen": i bought this album last week, and it's become a top-5er. "i should coco" is on my list of favorite albums, it also was recorded over 10 yrs ago. perhaps, their irreverance is giving way to serious craftsmanship -- the title track is an all-out monster!

s'about it

btw, how are things in the rock city going for you?

My Morning Jacket - Z: Much less classic rock-y overall than It Still Moves. Dips its toes into all sorts of genres.

Wolf Parade - Apologies to the Queen Mary: This year's Wrens/Arcade Fire, which makes it worth at least one listen.

Sleater-Kinney - The Woods: The ladies have always rocked, but the first track here brings it up to 11.

Andrew Bird - The Mysterious Production of Eggs: Light and soft. Subtle, tastefull arrangements. Melodies that stick in your head for days.

New Pornographers - Twin Cinema: I'm not a power pop fan, and I eat this stuff for breakfast (mmm... Neko).

Ry Cooder - Chaves Ravine: What Elvis Fu said

Buck 65 - This Right Here is Buck 65: Apparently its hip-hop, but it reminds me a lot more of Tom Waits spoken word.

Richard Hawley - Coles Corner: Old-school crooner sound and vibe with new school production and sound quality. Great stuff.

Dangerdoom - The Mouse and the Mask: Indie hip-hop + Adult Swim characters (Aqua Teen Hunger Force gets the most airplay... as well they should). Not necessarily the best hip-hop record of the year (Edan, Blueprint, Perceptionists, Quasimoto if I can ever get used to the voice...), but it will probably get the most spins going forward.

I'll give you two word abstract summaries:

Venetian Snares - Classical jackhammer
Goldfrapp - Fembot electro
Dalek - Urban apocolypse
Art Brut - British smartass
Ladytron - Electroclash haze
QOTSA - Desert night
Vitalic - Danceable eurotrash
Eluvium - Swirling warmth
Greg Dulli - Smoky sleaze
Lightning Bolt - Manic noize
BOC - Faded polaroid
Edan - Psychedelicious Hiphop
The Clientele - Wistful reverb

If you were going to take a year off, this isn't a bad one to do it. I can't really say I've heard anything I'd consider essential or groundbreaking.

I haven't heard them but in case you aren't aware, new albums from Espers and Green Pajamas just came out yesterday. You should pick them up and let me know how they are.

My favorite so far is

Maximilian Hecker * Lady Sleep

German singer/songwriter with a lush sound and lots of piano. I'd like it more if it weren't for a poor attempt at a rocker mixed in near the end.

Other ones I like in no particular order:

Ry Cooder * Chavez Ravine

As noted & described by Elvis

Richard Thompson

His first solo acoustic album.

Marianne Faithfull

Came out in UK last year, released in US this winter. Nick Cave, PJ Harvey, & Jon Brion co-wrote/wrote songs for her and participate to varying degrees. A nice surprise

Brian Eno * Another Day....

Far from his best album but still pretty good. At times it reminds me of Wrong Way Up which was in my listmania top 15

Max De Castro

Brazilian dude you can probably ignore but I think he's great

Greg Dulli * Amber Headlights

Far better than any Twilight Singers and a proper followup to the last Afghan Whigs, "1965"


Bettye Lavette

Strong comeback album from underappreciated soul singer with production by Joe Henry

South San Gabriel * the Carlton Chronicles

see fu remarks

Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings

A fun soul/funk album. One of the better albums of this year but I question whether I'll really grab for it over some classic 60's/70's soul artist that often

Sam Prekop * Who's Your New Professor

Archer Prewitt * Wilderness

Antony & the Johnsons

Know you hate this and I can only listen to in those infrequent right moods but I generally think its a pretty good album in an off year

More than any of these though, I'd recomend both of those Bill Fay reissues. its been a strong year for reissues

And I'll warn you that lots are going to recommend you Andrew Bird...I like all his prior work but think the new one mostly sucks

BLACK 'FUCKING' MOUNTAIN

From the first 60 seconds of the self-titled Black Mountain CD, you know that you are hearing something unique. An indie rock vocalist, deep, booming sax , and a joyful chorus is sung by a 70's sounding choir. Two tracks in, "Don't Run Our Hearts Around" is conversely dark and foreboding, with the guttural, Zeppelin-esque guitar. Black Mountain moves fluidly between very hard-to-near-psychedelic rock (with great, languid vocals courtesy of frontman/songwriter Stephen McBean and occasional lead/vocal doubling by Amber Webber, who shines especially brilliantly in the darkly emotive "Heart of Snow").

Most of the Vancouver band have been together for years under the moniker Jerk With A Bomb and later Pink Mountaintops. Though JWAB has been adored for years on Canada's West Coast it is Black Mountain's impressive debut has allowed them to truly break out, gaining substantial U.K. and U.S. press in the process. The disc is truly beautiful on the ears, filled with gorgeous dynamics, crisp, discordant playing and impressive production to boot. The music copies no one, but hearkens flashes of Pavement, Neil Young, Songs: Ohia, Nico, Jethro Tull--point being great players, fierce songwriting and unique timeless music makes this a mood-evoking lo-fi masterpiece. --Denise Sheppard


from ALLMUSIC.com
Review by Johnny Loftus
Black Mountain rises from within the Vancouver-based fiefdom of Stephen McBean, the hazy-toned singer and meandering songwriter who also heads up Pink Mountaintops. Both groups languish in a fog of psychedelia and sexual release. But while the latter opts for arty avant folk, Black Mountain lives up to its name with a heavier foundation. The self-titled debut on Jagjaguwar (its eight-song count and subdued cover art are a dark mirror to Pink Mountaintops) busts open half-lidded Velvet Underground fetishisms with squalls of Blue Cheer guitar, and further channels the heady sounds of the late '60s with a moodily dwelling organ. McBean shares vocal duties with Amber Webber throughout, but she becomes an especially important factor on the twosome that closes Black Mountain, since her stoned and elegiac vocals make them something more than simply idling jams. "Heart of Snow," for example, flutters like a warped and ancient recording of "Space Oddity" as Webber draws out the syllables in lines like "Heart of snow/Let go let go/But your sad wings/Won't fly you home"; feedback and pounding drums periodically join in. It's a damaged blues sound comparable to that of Jennifer Herrema's Royal Trux outgrowth RTX, but McBean's vaguely mystic lyrics also dovetail Black Mountain back into Pink Mountaintops territory. "Modern Music" and "No Satisfaction" rock a White Light/White Heat tumble that's nevertheless well done, particularly on the former, which features some spectacular sax assistance from Vancouver area player Masa Anzai. The remainder of Black Mountain positions stoner rock chording over swirling vintage keys and the ever-impressive vocals of McBean and Webber. It's a referential sound, to be sure. But there's enough weight to Black Mountain's mojo to make it more than worthwhile.

Haaaa. Fuck you, Billy G, fuck you.

Hey, could you (or someone else), recommend or YSI me some earlier Andrew Bird? Because I really do like that album but I have not heard anything else.....

I couldn't disagree more. The latest Andrew Bird is his most intimate album to date. Very nice. And subtle.

This will be the next album to be Konstantiranked (probably at the weekend since I don't have much time these days).

I'd disagree with your premise that this would be a good idea to take off from music. I've probably bought more new releases this year than in any other and while that was a conscious decision on my part it's confirmed my belief in a rather simple statement. "The more new music you listen to the more great new music you find". If you're not actively seeking out new artists (as opposed to new releases!) you're not going to find any.

I'd never even heard of Two Gallants, Edgar 'Jones' Jones, Sebastian Tellier, Viarosa, Antony & the Johnsons, Mek Obaam or King Creosote this time last year but all of those albums would rank highly in my list of albums of this decade. We've also seen some good release from 'known' artists like Mogwai, Laura Cantrell, Broken Family Band and Smog.

The Swimming Hour is probably his strongest and most varied work. I really like Weather Systems also...albums prior to Swimming Hour are closer to the sound/vibe of Squirrel Nut Zippers. I like 'em fine but they probably aren't for everyone (as if any album is)

My problem with the Mysterious Production of eggs is it sounds like he's often taking a generic guitar powerpop template minus verse chorus verse lyrics and layering in some slightly more interesting instrumentation/influences. I don't hate it like I hate Weezer but at its core its just another boring guitar pop/rock album to me, where I really found a lot of his work in the past to be interesting.

While I'd agree with the second statement, I'm really impressed with the depth of good-to-really-good releases this year. Probably not many on my year-end list would make a best-of-00s, but it's going to be really hard to make a Top 20 list because I'll want to include 35-40 on the list.

I wouldn't propose taking any year off in general from seeking out new to you vs new in release date. I've found stuff I like among new releases too, but I haven't found anything among New Releases that's earthshattering and most of my favorites are not the best work of the artist. I meant to include Laura Cantrell, but again I like her two prior albums better than this one.

Probably better to focus on seeking out lost classics as opposed to new releases this year. I'm always surprised how much people here focus on new releases though (not that I didn't use to do it myself). I don't know whether its wanting to be part of a collective experience of discovering a new album, being a victim of the marketing machine or playing psuedo critic, but it seems to me focusing to much on any one year's releases, you're going to spend a lot of time getting dirty plowing through the crapstack looking for the handful of needles with real merit and legs into future years.

this is exactly how i feel.

Are there really many albums from that 35-40 though that you think you'll still listen to much 3-4 years from now? For me there's very few, which I is why I say you could more safely take this year off than most.

i agree with elephantstone, and think that what he's saying is actually that in 3-4 years from now, these won't be the most-listened to albums (of the 00's), but for a 1 year reflection, is a lot of good stuff to pick thru for a top 20 of 2005.

Billy-
I didn't know they had a new record coming out, thanks.
They certainly did their homework in regards to 60's-70's acid-tinged folk.

np - marah

Personally, I can't figure out how you can possibly listen to all the shit you buy, anyways......

I do kind of get the gist of your point though: Sometimes I am simply just not feeling the general vibe of anything new that is coming out.

Nothing wrong with that.

And thanks for the Bird recommendations. Anyone who wants to save me a buck can certainly feel free to do so with regards to said recommendations.

that's so hard to say. i hope i will be listening to these albums in 3-4 years...but who knows? i just know that i definitely enjoy them now.

for my synopsis... what i've liked in 2005 hasn't been groundbreaking -- in fact, the opposite.

ryan adams picked up some cardinals to return to his alt-country roots and sounds his best since gold. authentic, sincere, almost "classic" sounding. (he has 1 more album coming out this year.)

bright eyes returned with a 2-fer of his own, going "digital" on one and a bit folk-country on the other. The former captures the negatives of his more unfocused past efforts. The latter, "wide awake" cd, takes the best of his wit and sincerity for probably his best album yet.

sufjan has returned with an album that sounds a lot like "michigan" to me, but a lot more fleshed out instrumentally & lyrically. he also seems to have advanced as a musician and it shows.

the new porn released "twin cinema", the 3rd in a line of perky pop that is possibly bests their debut. we all could wish for more neko, but outside of that, this is about as perfect of a new porn album as can be.

the decemberists walked another plank of seafaring tales, perfecting yarns of scallywags and infanta taking these songs as far as they can go. imo, it's their best yet, still my #1 of the year; but i will confess, i hope for them to broaden lyrically on their next album.

notable notables:

the best rap i've heard this year: kanye west, edan, the game, dangerdoom

the best elec i've heard this year: probably caribou, but nothing sticks out (the books disappointed)

the best brit-dance-punk i've heard this year: bloc party, with maximo park close behind

the best singer-songwriter type in the alt-folk-country vein not mentioned above: josh rouse "nashville"

the best metal-related album i've heard this year: mars volta (still need to hear opeth)

the best non-alt pop i've heard this year: tough, cuz i haven't heard much, but that one rachel stevens song is faaaaantastic

the best chick-fronted album: was "begonias" by caitlin cary & thad cockrell, but ladytron might take this over

the best album by old fogies: looks like it'll be "playing the angel" by depeche mode

Chronologically:

The Detroit Cobras: Baby This may technically be a 2004, so I don't know if it counts. Another strong dose of garage covers from the Cobras. If you like their stuff, you'll love this. The only weak link here is the re-hash of "Cha Cha Twist" which falls under the category of "It wasn't broke, why'd you fix it?"

The Wedding Present: Take Fountain Haven't had new output from the Weddoes in a while, and it's a return to form versus Cinerama. That said, it's "nice" meaning pleasant but bland.

The Saints: Nothing Is Straight In My House This was my early surprise of the year. It's solid and rockin'. Bailey teams up with Marty Wilson-Piper for an excellent bluesy-punky-rock and roll record.

The Go-Betweens: Oceans Apart Another "nice" but bordering on bland record. Comes with a nifty bonus disc, though. Some of the songs, however are striking--"Boundary Rider" escpecially. Doesn't come close, however to the warmth/goodness of Bright Yellow Bright Orange.

The D4: Out Of My Head Pretty decent follow-up to their excellent 6Twenty debut. "Sake Bomb" and "Trust Nobody" are stand-outs. I'm digging this NZ band a lot.

Spoon: Gimme Fiction Decent enough. I'm not a member of their cult, though.

German Art Students: Namedroppers Solid follow-up to Kissing By The Superconductor, although they seem to have taken some tongue out their cheeks.

The Fleshtones: Beach Head Standard Fleshtones fare, good rockin' fun, but only average for them. Doesn't achieve what Do You Swing? did.

Ike Reilly: Junkie Faithful Splendid, and best of the year. Intimate and honest. It's not pretty, it's not comfortable, it's not up-lifting--it's often stark and brutal. I love it. I also love the Sparkle B-Sides that came out in July.