well, without further ado, here's my favorites of 2005. as usual, i will start off with records...
Notable releases:
Wilderness- wilderness- This one would probably have cracked the top 10 if i had gotten it earlier in the year. I only picked it up on Thursday so I can't say I've listened to it enough. But it is pretty amazing. Take some post-rock delay drenched guitar and mix it with a super solid rhythym section, especially the drums. Then throw in some PIL or les savvy fav vocal stylings with some leftist leaning lyrics… you get the point!
Bruce Springsteen- devils and ghosts
bright eyes- i'm wide awake, it's morning- never liked this fella, but you
cannot deny that this is a quality record!
mary timony- ex-hex- She finally stopped the D and D thing!
Vashti Bunyan- lookaftering
Bell orchestre- recording a tape the colour of light
Smog- a river ain’t too much to love
The books- lost and safe
The decemberists- picaresque
Caribou- the milk of human kindness
Franz Ferdinand- you could have it so much better
Fiery furnaces- ep
Low- the great destroyer
New Order- waiting for the siren’s call- okay, these guys are living legends!
White stripes- get behind me satan
Metric- live it out
Cass mccombs- preperfection
Magnolia electric company- what comes after the blues
The evens- the evens- ian mackaye is back
The top 20 records of 2005
20. bonney billy and matt Sweeney- superwolf
19. ryan adams- cold roses/Jacksonville city nights
18. m. ward- transisitor radio
17. sigur ros- takk
16. boards of Canada- campfire headphase
15. stars- set yourself on fire
14. sun kil moon- tiny cities- take our generation’s best songwriter and wrap his songs up in soft acoustic arrangements and this is what you get. The fact remains that Brock is one of our most gifted- this record just proves it more so!
13. m83- before the dawn heals us- some think this one went over the top but you can’t deny the passion in the electronics!
12. broken social scene- true, this one is a big mess, but once you get through the mess you hear the melodies… then it all makes sense.
11. sleater-kinney- the woods- Yes, these ladies rock harder than any other band you heard this year. And yes, janet weiss channels Bonham and Moon… this record is that loud, noisy, and good!
10. rogue wave- descended like vultures- pure pop bliss!
09. broadcast- tender buttons- jim’s always been up on these guys- me, this is the first record I actually own and it rules- think of a cooler, less francophiled stereolab!
08. pelican- the fire in our throats will beckon the thaw- so you need an instrumental band and you want them to be heavy like mogwai used to be? Seek no more! Just fear the double bass drum! Goes from beautiful to ugly in seconds!
07. new pornographers- twin cinema- pure pop brilliance! The vocal harmonies are perfect as is the power pop guitar but the secret weapon here is the drums! Check out the bleeding heart show if you don’t believe me!
06. spoon- gimme fiction- never liked spoon, but this record transforms the genre!
05. portastatic- bright ideas- mac takes his band to new levels! Great album, great themes, great songwriting!
04. crooked fingers- dignity and shame
03. silver jews- tanglewood numbers – the sound of one hitting their emotional nadir and then trying to get back up and get he pieces back together. That being said, you can’t deny just how funny berman is. Still our finest lyricist. Also features the fine fretwork of none other than Stephen malkmus. His lead guitar is his best work of the year. Yeah, face the truth was pretty awful!
02. clap your hands say yeah- Brooklyn band sells 50,000 without a label because they are awesome!
01. wolf parade- apologies to the queen mary- We’ve all heard about these guys and their lonesome crowded sounds. The fact is the band rules. It is quirky guitar/keyboard pop that veers off in unexpected directions. Filled with passion and exuberance!
Reissues, live albums, eps, etc…
Bob Dylan- bootleg series volume 7
Bob Dylan- live at the gaslight 1962
Iron and wine- woman king ep
Iron and Wine/Calexico- in the reins ep
M83- American release of debut lp
Explosions in the Sky- how strange, innocence reissue
Explosions in the Sky- the rescue (travels in constant limited ep)
Galaxy 500- peel sessions
Wilco- kicking a television (live in Chicago)
Morrissey- live at earl’s court
Mogwai- Government transmissions (bbc sessions)- be careful, Like Herod is a speaker destroyer!
Destroyer- notorious lightning and other works
Live Shows
Superchunk- cat’s cradle- july 29th 2005- with superchunk on indefinite hiatus, it seems like I’ll have to drive down to chapel hill every summer. This was a great show and a great time. Olsen was nice enough to take the ride with me and greta was nice enough to let us stay at her place! Lots of the people from last summer made the trek again as well. um, if you’ve ever seen superchunk just once, you know why they are so fun to see live. And hey, I’ve seen them over 30 times now and each time is the best time I’ve had ever!
Sonic Youth- maxwell’s- One of the most important bands ever at one of the most revered rock clubs. This was an amazing show!
Built to Spill- irving plaza- amazing set and lots of fun. Me, cousin chris, and danny boy c drank lots of beer and sang at the top of our lungs. Great time!
Clap your Hands say yeah- south street seaport- beautiful summer night. Once again, me, cousin chris, and danny boy c rocked and drank beer. We were joined this time around by Binghamton alumni and all around nice person, sarah c. (no relation to danny boy c) the four of us drank beer from giant styrefoam cups and listened to the sounds of the latest it band float through the beautiful summer night.
Ted Leo/ pharmacists- southstreet seaport- TL is the man! Always a great show!
Explosions in the sky- bowery ballroom- saw them earlier in the year at mercury lounge but they were just on at the bowery! Hearing memorial live was worth the price of admission- kinda like how they stick to their no encore rule.
Bob Dylan- the beacon theatre- need I even say anything?
Dinosaur jr/ broken social scene- summerstage- j, lou and murph! Saw em at irving too.
Olivia tremor control- bowery ballroom- got back together to play a few shows- nothing short of brilliance! And yes, I was at the night when jeff mangum came out to sing I have been floated
Portastatic- southpaw- mac’s rocking porta like it is the chunk these days! Me and sarah c saw this show on her home turf of park slope! Fun time and sarah got to witness me meet some of my superchunk message board friends and hear me called by my “screen name” which of course was pretty hilarious! “hey, what’s up b55? Uhhh… what was your real name again?”
Iron and wine- saw beam twice- both at Webster hall- both were great- the Calexico show was really interesting.
Arcade fire- summerstage
Sleater-kinney- saw them at mercury lounge and roseland- both times rocked ridiculously
Slint- irving plaza- goodnight captain was worth the whole thing alone!
Song of the Year- I’ll believe in anything- wolf parade
Single of the year- sister jack- spoon
Movies I liked- Me and you and everyone we know, Capote, No Direction Home, Syriana,
Reasons to be excited in the 06
Morrissey- ringleader of the tormenters
New records by:
The strokes, mogwai, built to spill, flaming lips, cat power, belle and Sebastian, etc…
SILVER JEWS LIVE!!!! YES SILVER JEWS LIVE!!! Shows by lou reed, mogwai, cat power, etc… And hey, gotta give a shout out to both the heston rifle and the aeroplane pageant. Both put out records, both are playing shows all around, and both are fantastic!