with 2005 in the books i figure i'll report my top albums of the year.
1. portastatic - bright ideas
sometimes its hard for me to put my finger on what exactly makes an album standout. it just feels like a classic. i won't necessarily be able to explain what makes "bright ideas" better than anything else i heard this year but i know years from now it will make the short list for my desert island discs. it just feels like a classic, like one of those albums i've always known from back to front for years. it used to be i'd be longing for a new superchunk album, now i'm counting down for the next portastatic release. lyrically "bright ideas" has a fantastic mix of optcynicismnd cyncism. there's no album of recent memory that i love to turn up and sing along to more than this one, particularly "through with people" and "i wanna know girls." musically there's a mix of indie rock, pop, tropicalia and regular old all american rock with a capital r. this is definitely an album that deserves to be heard.
2. low - the great destroyer
i thought this was definitely going to be the album of the year and it held that title from it's late january until the august release of "bright ideas." i know some longtime low fans didn't appreciate this change in sound but i guess since i only discovered low about midway through their recording career i wasn't turned off by the faster pace and more rock sound that their subpop debut brought on. while my top 5 lists of the past few years are much more indie rock that heavy metal i'll always be a metalhead at heart. with that, "everybody's song" is one of the heaviest tunes of the year which helped to put this towards the top of my list. my only complaint about this album is that mimi parker doesn't take the lead vocal duties as much as on past albums. still one of their best.
3. spoon - gimme fiction
the second merge release to make my top five. spoon just makes great catchy rock music. i challenge you to find a catchier, more radio-ready tune than "sister jack." and requiem is certainly a killer name for a metal band. the jittery guitars and ambiguous lyrics prove that all the oc and "kill the moonlight" hype didn't keep britt daniels and company from making an album that compliments the rest of their distinctive discography. i'm still kicking myself for not getting tickets in advance for their show in cleveland months ago. thanks to them i'll be turning into veronica mars for the first time to catch a karaoke scene starring britt.
4. …and you will know us by the trail of dead – world’s apart
i fell in love with this album from the first moments of “will you smile again?” in fact, if the rest of the album was crap, i think this album could still have made the top ten just on the strength of that track alone. every review I’ve read throws out the term “prog rock” but i feel that does this band a disservice since it’s brings to mind geeks in ill-fitting rush t-shirts and concerts on ice skates.
so far, no album captures the post-9/11 mood better than “world’s apart” particularly the title track. not that i need a post-9/11 album but i can’t remove this album from that context. and I rather here what conrad keely has to say than this doofus or this one. also, easily the best artwork of the year. i really wish i would have bought it on vinyl for the larger format rather than the cd version with the dvd that i haven’t even watched yet.
5. sufjan stevens – come on feel the illinoise
even though i was a fan of sufjan’s earlier albums i was a little hesitant about a 22 track album about a state i’m really not familiar with. of course that didn’t stop me from digging the “michigan” album. all of the critics lauding this album are correct. it’s worth all the hype and hopefully for his next release people will focus less on the novelty of his project to record an album for each state and focus on the brilliant songwriting. i saw sufjan on the “seven swans” tour and it was simply amazing. he made me realize that one guy with a banjo can make for a show as moving as a bunch of dudes with guitars. i really regret not being able to see him on this tour. i was happy to track down a version with the banned superman artwork. once a comic book geek always a comic book geek.
and some honorable mentions…these didn’t quite make the top 5 but they were still some favorites from the year.
neil diamond – 12 songs
just got this for christmas and if i had it longer there’s a chance it could have broken the top 5. honestly. hopefully rick rubin will turn neil into his new johnny cash. i look forward to more volumes like this.
bob mould – body of song
i have to say this didn’t quite match up to my anticipation for this album. bob, cher called and she’d like her vocoder back. i wanted more sugar or “workbook” sounding stuff and less of the “modulate” sound. still a solid release but overshadowed by bob’s stellar catalogue.
the rosebuds – birds make good neighbors
again, probably could have been higher if i had more time to have it grow on me. would also be top 5 if i saw them on the tour since they are one of my favorite live bands. and it’s not just because kelly rosebud is so damn cute.
josh rouse – nashville
i’ll confess my music snobbery almost kept me from being a fan of rouse’s. then i found out he recorded with kurt wagner of lambchop and i realized that my cred would be intact. not that i have any cred listing neil diamond’s new album as a favorite of the year. just great pop tunes with sweet lyrics and a quirky voice.
tenement halls – knitting needles & bicycles bells
i never heard the rock*a*teens, chris lopez’s first band, but if they are anything like tenement halls i have to hear them. bonus points for an excellent set opening for portastatic.
