Top 25 of 2005

Well... It's finally here... the long-awaited, hardly anticipated top 25 of 2005, which will probably resemble most other lists. Good albums are just good albums. However, I'm not going to post mp3s with them, since that would take forever. Sorry.So here we go...
And the writeups aren’t going to be terribly insightful either. I’m lazy. (And the album covers will be up eventually…)

#25:Common - BeKanye West - Late RegistrationYes. I know. I'm grouping them together since they're both rap albums. And both produced by Kanye. I don't really love either album as a whole, but if you took the good parts of both, and put them together, you'd have a great album. That's the thinking here.





Recommended Tracks:Common - The FoodKanye – Diamonds from Sierra Leone (Remix)







#24: Boards of Canada – The Campfire Headphase

Not too much to say about this one… Just a very enjoyable album.

Recommended Track:
Dayvan Cowboy

#23: A Northern Chorus – Bitter Hands Resign

Like I’ve said before, I loves me some dream pop. And these Canadians do a good job of it.

Recommended Track:
Prisoners of Circumstance


#22: Great Lake Swimmers – Bodies and Minds

Not only a good album, one of the best shows I saw this year.

Recommended Track:
Various Stages


#21: Andrew Bird – Andrew Bird and the Mysterious Production of Eggs

Singer-Songwriter stuff… Good production, good orchestration. Reminds me of Sondre Lerche, but not near as repetitive.

Recommended Track:
A Nervous Tic Motion of the Head to the Left


#20: Bloc Party – Silent Alarm

I dunno… Maybe you’ve heard of these guys.

Recommended Track:
This Modern Love







#19: Caribou – The Milk of Human Kindness

Sorely disappointed that I missed this show. Good lap-pop… excellent samples, just downright catchy.
Recommended Track:
Yeti


#18: Jose Gonzalez – Veneer

Nick Drake? Is that you?

Recommended Track:
Crosses






#17: Bright Eyes – I’m Wide Awake It’s Morning

Surprised that this one dropped so low… just testament to how good this year actually was for albums. Best listened to in the morning. Actually.

Recommended Track:
Landlocked Blues


#16: The Boy Least Likely To: The Best Party Ever

This one took awhile for me to catch on to… but once it caught, it stuck. Just wishing it did that in the summer.

Recommended Track:
Be Gentle With Me


#15: Rogue Wave – Descended Like Vultures

More good songwriting. Reminds me of Starflyer 59, but poppier. Especially ‘Publish my Love’.

Recommended Track:
Publish My Love


#14: Iron and Wine – Woman King EP/In The Reins EP

Although I wish Sam Beam would go back to simpler arrangements, these are still good EPs. And EP + EP = Album, so it makes the list.

Recommended Tracks:
Woman King – My Lady’s House
In The Reins – Sixteen, Maybe Less



#13: The National – Alligator
Nobody ever did tell me how to gracefully disappear from a room. Or, apparently, write anything interesting about music.


Recommended Track:
Secret Meeting

#12: Deerhoof – The Runners Four

It’s pretty.

Recommended Track:
O'Malley, Former Underdog


#11: Wilderness – Wilderness
This album is so good, I once saw a stranger walking with it on the street, and I almost congratulated him on his purchase. Almost.

Recommended Track:
Marginal Over

#10: M83 – Before the Dawn Heals Us
This album would be even better if it was called ‘Before the Dawn Heals the Day.’ Just cuz.

Recommended Track:
Don’t Save Us From the Flames

#9: Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy and Matt Sweeney – Superwolf

Amazingly, this is only the second best album containing ‘Wolf’ of the year. I bet those companies that make the T-Shirts with shadowy wolves and sell them in Banff are going raking it in due to the increased popularity.

Recommended Track:
My Home Is the Sea

#8: Okkervil River – Black Sheep Boy

I’m dangerously close to declaring ‘For Real’ the best song since ‘Paranoid Android’



Recommended Track:
For Real

#7: Broken Social Scene – Broken Social Scene

‘Ibi Dreams of Pavement’ and ‘It’s All Gonna Break’ could very well be the best bookends on album this side of Coconut Banger’s Ball. Goulet.

Recommended Track:Ibi Dreams of Pavement

#6: Sigur Ros – Takk…

Takk YOU, Sigur Ros… Takk YOU





Recommended Tracks:
Glossoli
Saeglopur

#5: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! – Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

This album is so good, it is at #5 for the year even though I still have nightmares about the Carnies in the opening track.

Recommended Track:
The Skin of My Yellow Country Teeth

#4: Wolf Parade – Apologies to the Queen Mary

The only thing they have to apologize for is leaving ‘Disco Sheets’ off of here.

Recommended Track:
I’ll Believe in Anything



#3: Animal Collective – Feels

If you combine this and the Prospect Hummer EP, you surpass Sung Tongs. Yeah. I said it.

Recommended Track:
The Purple Bottle


#2: Antony and the Johnsons – I am a Bird Now

I once unironically described this album as hauntingly beautiful. And didn’t think twice about sounding like an absolute tool. Which means its good.


Recommended Track:Hope There’s Someone

#1: Sufjan Stevens – Illinois

There’s nothing left to say about this album. Except that it’s officially cracked my top 5 of all-time. And that I managed to snare the vinyl that still has Superman on it. That was pretty cool.

Recommended Track:
The Predatory Wasp Of The Palisades Is Out To Get Us!