1. Sufjan Stevens - Illinoise

Sufjan Stevens, via his Christian-tinged music, gives the 2005 music scene some much-needed heart. Even his speculative pieces about John Wayne Gacy, Jr. and predatory wasps are sincere, bold, and painfully empathic. His symphonic oeuvre to Illinois evokes a meticulous approach to music, which nicely counterbalances the less tight albums on this list. I'll leave it up the citizens of the "Land of Lincoln" to determine Stevens' research prowess, but even disgruntled fact junkies cannot justify hating on such a delicate balance between morose tracks like "Casimir Pulaski Day," the marching band meets swing jazz title track, the build up and break down of "The Tallest Man…," the languid crooning about zombies, and the life-affirmative sprawling "Chicago."
Quote of quotes: "Tuesday night, at the bible study, we lift our hands and pray over your body, but nothing ever happens."

2. Wolf Parade - Apologies to the Queen Mary
Much has been said (even here) about Wolf Parade's drunken show appearances. While it must affect the band's quality, the members' penchant for the drink is not surprising considering how apt "Apologies" is for the 3 am milieu. "You Are A Runner And I Am My Father's Son," is a woozy, foxtrot of a song, drums keeping pace, guitars checking in and out to catch drink breaks, and an almost subliminal distortion in the foreground (or is it background?). "Modern World" is more synth than rock, tired warble railing against the trappings of our mundo moderno, leading into a quick dance freak out, back to the leisurely crooning. But nothing tops "Dear Sons and Daughters of Hungry Ghosts," a boot-marching anthem replete with "La la la la" cadence. At a local bar priding itself on the best dance rock, I requested said song. The DJ said he didn't have it, but, as an afterthought, commented on how he liked the song. It's a case of the song not being obviously danceable; hopefully it will be there next time I'm back. That sums up the album. It's not completely obvious why it works so well, but it's so obvious that it does.
"You say it's in God's hands, but God doesn't always have the best god damn plans."

3. Sleater-Kinney - The Woods
Leave your half-baked ideas of SK approaching cock rock as being counterintuitive to its goals. First off, how do you know what its goals are? Secondly, doesn't this concern you more? Onto the music, "The Woods" is not S-K's most urgent, angry, or melodic album. But it's the album to best combine all three. Die-hard "Dig Me Out" fans would be deaf to not hear the unified guitar build-up, then divergence made popular on "DMO"'s title track running rampant on the joyous "Rollercoaster." Even the panned "Let's Call it Love" starts out brilliant, crushing guitars, stop-start thrashing, and proto-sneering. What Sleater-Kinney discovered and what "The Woods" wrought is that 2 ½ minute songs that are about to reach their conclusion can be extended through a well-placed bridge, if and only if, that bridge is not wankering or mindless noodling. If it snaps people out of the rhythm. Using different techniques, such as running down scales with lockstep drumming ("Wilderness"), a faint breeze, followed by a return to the opening chords ("Rollercoaster"), or a sudden, urgent build-up ("Jumpers"), a song begins anew by reintroduction.
"Sit down honey, let's kill some time. Rest your head on this heart of mine."

4. Kanye West - Late Registration

It's important to note that Kanye West is not the answer to cliché-driven rap. West is even a proponent and a guilty-party in those regards. Where West succeeds - and a litany of rappers (even ones I like) fail - is you can hear West's determination to be great in his work. You hear West's self-discovery on par with Nas' street description in "Illmatic." West frets, contemplates, queries; he is rap's Woody Allen. The fact that he's so off point so often is not to be dwelled on. The reasons why you might hate rap is why cats should care about 'Ye. "Roses" is poignant and one of the most thoughtful raps I've ever heard. "Gone" is the year's most buoyant pop track, pulsing piano plink and a great guest from Killer Cam. Dig this: rap is rarely a genre that find success in complexity. That is, except when Jon Brion is involved; his hand evident in the musical champagne that is "We Major." "Heard 'Em Say" delicately dances on. Find me another album where you have that, followed by "Gold Digger"'s bombast. Each track provides a great snippet of West's influence. He's tightened up his rhymes considerably, introduced us to some previously-unknown talent (Lupe Fiasco and Consequence). Side note: Nas, you're killing us. Shape up.

"You know the best medicine goes to people that's paid. If Magic Johnson got the cure for AIDS, and all the broke motherfuckers passed away. You tell me if my mother was in the NBA, right now, she'd be okay?"

5. Fiery Furnaces - EP
The FF's are probably only the second band that I give the Radiohead tag (defined as the desire to split into a group into two: one adventurous, one pop-sensible) to a band that does two things well (Radiohead, being the other). While this EP makes a strong case for the Friedbergers to remain on the straight and narrow hook-friendly path (combined, of course, with the guaranteed disastrous "Rehearsing My Choir"), I cannot live without the band pursuing more songs in the vein of "Chris Michaels" and "Inspector Blancheflower." Anyways, songs like "Here Comes the Summer" and "Tropical Ice-Land" (single version), with their breezy, uncomplicated nature resounded with nearly any environment. "Single Again" is wildly infectious. Eleanor Friedberger's voice commands attention; yes, I will listen rapt to you reading your shopping list.
"I been waiting since I don't know when and now it finally seems like it will start. I swear, I swear, that I will do my part."

6. New Pornographers - Twin Cinema

Someone, somewhere on the internets pointed out how it was difficult to get excited about a third New Pornographers album. But then he or she did. And, so did I. From the exalting "Use It," using NPG the trademark of piano, guitar, voices marching uphill to different tempos, only to have all collide and reach their harmony in the gulley, to "The Bleeding Heart Show," which sounds as if the NPG walked through Little Italy and picked up a violinist. As with pretty much every NPG song, you know it's only time before the pace picks up, and it does with a rapid build-up and, damn, if some teen movie doesn't pick this end part up for some graduation ceremony montage. And, when the band isolates Neko Case's voice like on "These are the Fables" and "The Bones of An Idol," you realize what a unique talent she is. Rivers Cuomo's passion to write the perfect pop song is oft quoted, so it seems, the torture will continue for our Weezer frontman, as A.C. Newman throw-aways have more pop sensibilities than anything the band has made in a long time.
"The cat calls, through the night, and the two chicks in the parking lot, crack wise about the price of fame, they stood to gain."

7. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (s/t)

It is not as masterfully realized a first proper album as Arcade Fire's debut, but the unabashed emoting is quite on par with "Funeral." It is unimportant that while Alec Ounsworth's voice sometimes boarders on annoying and sometimes on abrasive, the striving to convey meaning shines ubiquitously. With lyrics like, "All those things we had salvaged from the fire, what a waste of time," over a song structure quite like Kitchens' of Distortion's "Drive That Fast," one would hope that the "emo" fetish trumped through the mainstream music glossies referred to CYHSY, not Ohio town-sounding groups that have all of the restraint of crank-fond dudes with emotional problems lugging sledgehammers. Songs like the metric-ticking "Over and Over Again" (with the famous Bowie line), the fuzzed out, Modest Mouse-linked "Skin of My Yellow Country Teeth," and the hastened anthem "Heavy Metal" show a group with promise.
"Now that I'm so sad and not quite right, I could dance all night. I could dance all night."

8. Danger Doom - The Mouse and the Mask

Had I not had the fortune of reviewing an mp3 player for my day job while my iPod took its extended nap, this work of art might not have made it. The most recent on the list, Danger Mouse continues to assert his knack for straddling the pop/old soul delineation and MF Doom continues to burnish the odd rhyme crown, vacated by Kool Keith. "Old School" is the neglected single of the year, where the habitually-overrated Talib Kwali and Doom shut down pretty much every talentless rapper that equates glocks and hoes with rapping cred. It's tiresome, boys. We all know that those cars, ladies, and Gs in the video are rented! Danger Doom's inclusion of "Adult Swim" characters might initially caution critics to assign the album novelty status, but it works incredibly well considering Doom often approaches rhymes as if a celluloid character. This is a musical graphic novel.
"Like in order to spit it dope, you got to have a criminal past similar to the cast of Different Strokes."

9. Low - Great Destroyer

The boys and girls plug in and, surprise, it works. Monkey leads off with the same dour (plus a drum beat above a coma patient) outlook Low has been bringing since 1994, but, (pay attention Strokes), it works. Without sacrificing the environment they've cultivated, Low's members have picked up the pace, even dropping some pop songs into the mix. Because otherwise, even the most devout fan could just live with "Things We Lost In the Fire." California that stab at the pop song: upbeat, but filled with beautiful real-life caveats unlike so much of the unquestioning pap out there. Optimism mixed with sarcasm, sprinkled with doubt and, ultimately, completely honest sentiments. "Broadway (so many people)" and "Silver Rider" provides the requisite Valium-ic slowcore that puts listeners on contemplative autopilot.
"Take me with you, you Silver Rider, sometimes your voice is not enough."

10. Dalek - Absence

(disclaimer: the producer's girlfriend was a former roommate)
If we want to be facile, think My Bloody Valentine meets the Def Jux crew. But make no mistake, this is not a novelty. No hip-hop out there sounds this urgent, raw, or confrontational. Those sing-song glock couplets out there mean fuck all. Dalek means what it says. The distortion mixes in with altering droning bass, soaring synthesizer, and thudding drums. Combined with a DJ who guards against overkill, the production gives off such a vivid impression. MC Dalek fits his voice snug between the towering soundscape. It's so rare today that a MC and his producer (and DJ) approach music as a team effort. Subtract one of the three parts and your left with something that wouldn't stand on its own. "Ever Somber" drones through as Dalek cuts in and out, quick tongue, excoriating lyrics. Each additional listen exposes another layer, another soundscape.
"Did missionaries wield swords or break bread? Your holy books only increase bloodshed"

Honorable mentions(alphabetical):

Antony and the Johnsons - I Am A Bird Now

While "Old School" is the single of the year, "Hope There's Someone" is my song of the year. A torch song to torch all torch songs, it's evident that Antony takes pains to ensure every element of the song is symbolic, adding a backup vocal right when he says "There's a ghost," as if he himself is the ghost.

Fiona Apple - Extraordinary Machine

Forget the supposed politics of the delay or her mainstream pop appeal, no one, not even Cat Power, touches Fiona on using a piano, voice, and intonation to convey such a range of emotions so successfully. Apple oscillates between excitement, dour, and coy without missing a beat. This line kills me so much, I have to repeat it: "I don't understand about diamonds and why men buy them. What's so impressive about a diamond, except the mining?"

Black Mountain - Black Mountain (s/t)

I have no problem liking psych-jams. But a song as bombastic as "Don't Run Our Hearts Around" makes it hard for those who do to justify their myopia.

Bloc Party - Silent Alarm

The album might have made the top ten if the year ended in June. Banquet will be played at indie-enthusiast banquets for decades (hopefully, overtaking Song 2, as the most popular of the "fuck yeah" genre. It's kind of funny that this Vice Records em, record, is the closest thing to an unofficial "OC" album. "So Here We Are," sailing on your boat Seth. "The Answer," is not punching people in the face, Ryan.

LCD Soundsystem - LCD Soundsystem (s/t)

I've heard and loved the best singles (Tribulations, Daft Punk, et. al.) for years. "Too Much Love" shows promise for the next act.

M.I.A. - Arular

This isn't about some Sri Lankan protest, Hombre is a party anthem that pleases. M.I.A. detached humming and sing-songs are party punctuation, not testaments for revolution.

Serena Maneesh - Serena Maneesh (s/t)

From the VU/Smashing Pumpkins opener "Drain Cosmetics" to the Goldfrappish "Her Name is Suicide," this good (if uneven) debut shows promise.

Sons and Daughters - Repulsion Box

So what if "Taste the Last Girl" sounds like a New Pornographers' b-side? Songs like that and "Dance Me In" make a car ride go much faster and with much more aplomb.

Stars - Set Yourself on Fire

Not as powerful and cohesive as the S/T debut, but songs like "Soft Revolution" and "Ageless Beauty" are classic pop gems.

White Stripes- Get Behind Me Satan

"My Doorbell…" Wildly infectious, preternaturally able to unify mainstream and indie spheres.

Tags: Best Albums 2005, Sufjan Stevens, Wolf Parade, Sleater-Kinney, Kanye West, Fiery Furnaces, New Pornographers, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Danger Doom, Low, dalek

Posted by Merry Swankster at 08:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Your lovable host, the Merry Swankster presents part two in our Best Albums of 2005 series. Check back tomorrow for the final installment of our take on the year's best albums, culminating with a feast of MP3s of our picks for your New Years Eve enjoyment.

1. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah – Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (s/t)

Indie phenomenon of the year has the talent and music to back the blogosphere hype. Still technically unsigned, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah’s self-titled, self- released, and self-produced debut enchants listeners with bright pop hooks, clever arrangements and the incoherent wail of Alec Ounsworth’s vocals aping David Byrne while singing about his quarter life crisis. CYHSY not only have the best rock album of 2005, but a great story to boot. Naysayers point out that their sound is unpolished, and the production is clearly DIY therefore it’s blemished. I don’t hear it. I even like the twisted carnie oompah-pah opening throw away! By the time “The Skin of My Yellow Country Teeth” bends its notes and skips frets I’m not only sold but telling everyone I know to go out and get this. So it goes, so it went, so it is.

//CYHSY – MP3s reviewed
//Clap Your Hands Say Yeah – Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - buy

2. Kanye West – Late Registration

Production alone, this is the album of the year and it will be a travesty if Kanye does not win every award the mainstream industry awards itself. The heavy hitting supporting cast (feat. Common, Jay Z, Nas, and The Game), are not included for name dropping alone. Kanye utilizes guests for arrangements when his vision calls for it, shortcomings perhaps, but adding to and injecting to the “Kanye West” dynamic. This ethos is demonstrated on two of the biggest singles, “Gold Digger” including Jamie Fox and “Heard ‘Em Say” with Adam Levine. Neither have the Hip Hop credentials of aforementioned sidekicks, but both accentuate Kanye’s music in ways that are unimaginable without them.

The shameless boasts and much maligned jabs at President Bush need not be considered when critiquing the art. Neither would register even a blip without the brilliant body before it. He can “talk his shit” again and again if he keeps releasing such amazing music – you don’t spite talent like this.

//Kanye West – Late Registration – buy

3. Wolf Parade – Apologies to the Queen Mary

Something about Montreal. Wolf Parade follows Arcade Fire in becoming the latest Canadian export with enthrallingly crafted songs. The band has a big messy sound, one with holes in it, drums dragged through the mud for a few bars and suddenly upright and clean sounding. At times it sounds like a band playing while being pushed around a filthy hallway, only barely fighting the shoves to sing and perform. While other times they sound like outright prog-rock (“Fancy Claps”). The “Wake Up” of …Queen Mary is found on the thick chords and choral harmonies feeding the growing energy ball that is “Shine a Light.” Its getting better all the time.

//Wolf Parade – Apologies to the Queen Mary - buy

4. Sufjan Stevens – Illinoise

Following 2003’s kickoff of the 50 state project (Greetings From Michigan) Sufjan Stevens returns with his second record into the ambitious goal. The cleverly titled second volume includes the Peanuts theme revisited, sympathetic titles concerning serial killers, superman, zombies, striking workers, all delivering us to the marvelous places of Sufjan Stevens’ extensive research. The wild musical opus is a rich orchestral production with recurring musical themes (re: Peanuts) and Sufjan’s unique vocal inflections peppering a plethora of history and trivia. Illinoise may end up required listening for Midwest social studies classes. Fittingly, the Second City receives one of the strongest cuts on the album. Oh the places you’ll go.

//Sufjan Stevens – Illinoise - buy

5. LCD Soundsystem – LCD Soundsystem (s/t)

James Murphy – aka LCD Soundsystem:
Interests: Remixing, running DFA Records, pointing out the awesomeness that is my record collection, parties, lightning bolts, love to dance!
Music: Rock, Punk, Postpunk, Dance/punk, Electroclash, Pop - Pretty much anything (except country, yuck!).
About Me: I enjoy brooding when singing, some say I sound nasally but I don’t hear it. Wearing many hats (DJ, MC, Producer, Front-man, Sweet Dude). Giving descriptions and instructions to house parties set to song because evite is for unoriginal chumps. Not a morning person.
Perfect Date: Daft Punk playing at my house.

//LCD Soundsystem – LCD Soundsystem – buy

6. Franz Ferdinand – You Could Have It So Much Better

Title cut’s inspiration came from a UK infomercial. “Grinning goon on [the] TV screen” pitching better living through purchase of his hawked product. Stylish and affable frontman, Alex Kapranos, dismisses the empty pitch and redefines the phrase for his band’s sophomore album title track while distilling everything that makes Franz so great:

”Refuse to be a cynical goon
Passing the masses an easy answer…
Unless you get up…get up
Come on and get up…get up!”

This type of concept driven storytelling is the least discussed aspect of Franz Ferdinand – a Bonoesque tactic of layering crafty lyrics over already fantastic disco drenched rock music - bringing you deeper into their world of fun and self-awareness veiled in dance party exuberance and classic Scottish charm. Explicit postmodernism, art aware of it’s being art.

Leveraging the seemingly carefree dance rock is a litter of this just below-the-radar depth. The scatter of Biblical references on a track about a corrupt modern day messiah (“The Fallen”), three act suicide stories (“You’re the Reason I’m Leaving”), and private messages to lovers present (“Eleanor Put Your Boots On”) showcase this angle.

Coldplay may sit comfortably as the self-announced heirs to U2’s throne of “World’s Biggest Band”, but their blue blood is thinning and flowing healthily in Franz Ferdinand. Recall the public knighting by Bono himself at the Grammy’s.

//Franz Ferdinand – You Could Have It So Much Better - buy

7. Spoon – Gimme Fiction

Gimme Fiction is the type of album you play when you are with an unsuspecting friend, the skeptical rock snob type, in order to fish for a response. Clearly digging the tunes, they’ll inevitably ask, “Who is this?” You smile coyly while telling them, and defeated they respond with, “huh, pretty good.” This is a win for you.

From the jazzy swing of the opening track “The Beast and the Dragon, Adored” to the piano dominated syncopation of closer “Merchants of Soul”, Spoon’s latest is not only one of 2005’s strongest pop albums, but a top 10 album. Affirmation in the band’s commitment:

”It took its time working into my soul
I got to believe it come from Rock and Roll”

The music that will change your life indeed.

//Spoon – Gimme Fiction - buy

8. Gorillaz – Demon Days

The first era of rock and rap hookups bequeathed frightening and entirely forgettable bands with “extreme” misspellings related to what viagra would later fix (ironic) and biscuits (?). The entire thing was a sham with limited shelf life that has mercifully gone away. Gorillaz, as a project, is the genre melting pot that typifies the iPod (shuffle) era we live in today. Therefore it is not surprising that the man who merged The Beatles & Jay Z is at the helm of the Hip Hop knobs on Demon Days. Bigger than the sum of its influences, Demon Days pays homage to gospel, Britpop, Brian Wilson, video games, electrolounge, and indie pop in its 15 tracks. Josh Tyrangiel of Time calls it, “[A] unified theory of modern music.” He’s right.

//Gorillaz – Demon Days - buy

9. Animal Collective - Feels

This album scares the shit out of me, and not only because on more than one occasion the vocals somehow mimic crashing cymbals. Something that I thought impossible before Feels. Reminiscing of being 10 years old and hiding under the covers because the noises of howling wind and the house settling had my imagination running wild with events so violent and ridiculous only an overactive, pre-psychedelic experimented mind could dream up. Feels' midway, “Bees,” is like a druggy run through the fields of Oz. It begins with harmless strumming; relaxing and slowing you down until you pretty much shut down. A dissonant echo haunts in anticipation of all out terror leaving you paralyzed and synched with the retarding of “the bees, the beeees, the beeees, reh reeeh reeeh reeeaaaahh.”

//Animal Collective - Feels – buy

10. M.I.A. – Arular

The torrent of hype surrounding M.I.A. before Arular was even released indicated not only high expectations, but high chance for disappointment. Fortunately, for the chewing at the bit early adopters she delivered the goods and provided endless fodder for writers to weave her worldly background into glowing record reviews. A truly genre bending release covering dance, electronica, and even reggae, M.I.A. sits most comfortably in her tricked out ride of British grime and Hip Hop. The Sri Lankan born, London raised offspring of a Tamil Tiger rebel, M.I.A. could easily be characterized (i.e. dismissed) as the world music torch bearer of political music. But this lady is not the female Manu Chau. She’s throwing a party with trademark yelps, Diplo beats, and amazing energy.

//M.I.A – Arular - buy

Honorable Mention (in no particular order):

Broken Social Scene – Broken Social Scene (s/t)

Lush, multi-layered soundscapes are the archetypical aesthetic of Canadian collective Broken Social Scene, and this self titled 2005 flavor is no exception. The instrumental and vocal busyness of this release bounces from trippy post-rock, in form and title, on “Finish Your Collapse and Stay for Breakfast,” to dreamy indie pop of “Bandwitch,” and ending on unhinged rock with the killer “It’s All Gonna Break.”

//Broken Social Scene – Broken Social Scene - buy

The White Stripes – Get Behind Me Satan

The most evident (or alarming) aspect of Satan is clearly the missing guitars that have up until now defined the White Stripes. Jacky boy replaces them with keys and marimba with successful results. One listen to the excellent “My Doorbell” alleviates any qualms, and may lead to spontaneous table stomping sing-alongs.

//Truth Doesn’t Make a Noise – Merry Swankster review
//The White Stripes – Get Behind Me Satan - buy

My Morning Jacket – Z

Miles Raymond might say: A little Pete Townsend. Maybe a vocal strain of Wayne Coyne. Mmm. Inspired authenticity of southern rock, and, oh, there’s just like the equal leans of indie rock flutters, but not overwhelming, allowing Z’s own unique sound to develop into an instant My Morning Jacket vintage. It wins over the hippie hating hipsters as well as that same alliteration in reverse. Its not a “fucking Merlot.”

//My Morning Jacket – Z – buy*
*CD version contains SONY DRM which contains harmful spyware if you rip to your computer. Read more here.

New Pornographers – Twin Cinema

The best pop band in North America led by the best pop songwriter in Carl (A.C.) Newman continues to make their case for why this is not an outrageous statement. There I said it.

//New Pornographers – Twin Cinema - buy

Bloc Party – Silent Alarm

Singer Kele Okereke shifts his vocal attack from punk hollering (“She’s Hearing Voices”), Bush bashing, (political breakout “Helicopter”), muffled and reverb’d (“So Here We Are”), to the visceral bombing raid of album opener (“Like Eating Glass”). His unmasked British accent, the relentless offensive attack of guitar and drums make Bloc Party one of the more promising acts of the year. If it is true that a band permanently etches history by having a particularly defining sound, then Bloc Party has achieved this after just one full length release.

//Bloc Party – Silent Alarm – buy

Of Montreal – Sunlandic Twins

Actually not from Montreal, but the name directs intrepid kids googling ‘indie music of Montreal’ to a band skilled in reprocessing sounds of ‘60s pop. Kevin Barnes’ (of Of Montreal) claims the Sunlandic sound is “21st century ADD electro-cinematic avant disco.” He also sounds like a female Motown singer, the chick from Jefferson Airplane and a Beach Boy on the same record. If that alone doesn’t make you click below and follow through until purchase I don’t know what will.

// Of Montreal – Sunlandic Twins - buy

Tags: Best Albums 2005, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah,Kanye West,
Wolf Parade, Sufjan Stevens, LCD Soundsystem, Franz Ferdinand, Spoon, Gorillaz, Animal Collective, M.I.A.

Posted by Merry Swankster at 08:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Jeff Klingman kicks off our week long Best Albums of 2005 series. Check back each day this week for two more takes on the year's albums, culminating with an MP3 buffet of our picks for your New Years Eve CD mixes.

1. Wolf Parade – Apologies to the Queen Mary
Can a band be too good for its own good? Drinking problems aside, I fear for the future of Wolf Parade. It seems almost inevitable that the center will one day not hold, that Montreal will be too small for the songwriting talents of Spencer Krug and Dan Boeckner, that two bands will form in its stead. Maybe Spencer will wig out some more and inch more fully into obtuse keyboard art, Dan will get more earnest and maybe hire a lap steel player. The two will be compared to each other endlessly, and maybe they’ll be alright, but everybody will wish for the cloudy days of 2005 and throw Apologies to the Queen Mary on one more time. I’m cutting out the middleman.

2. The Fiery Furnaces – E.P.
In which, Matt Friedberger takes his Ritalin. The best set of songs the band has ever put to tape, without a grandmother in sight. Made up of singles and unreleased material, and branded an EP in spite of its full-length, it actually flows together more coherently than some of their overlong, switch ‘em up album suites. The first five song cycle is flawless, with the aching “Evergreen” as its centerpiece. Later multi-part songs have a more consistent lyrical focus than some of the lesser Blueberry Boat tracks. If the wheels start to come off a bit at the very end its forgivable, if only because Matt sat still for so long (although it turns out we shouldn’t have encouraged him).

3. Sufjan Stevens – Illinois
The album that makes it clear that the biggest obstacle to Sufjan Stevens finishing his fifty states project is the cruel march of time, not any deficiencies as a songwriter. At this point SS could write a good song about anything. Just yell a word out. Zombies! Serial Killers! Superman! Cancer! Abe Lincoln! Carl Sandburg! Wasps! All are turned into affecting personal narratives built with a diverse instrumental palate and a sharp knack for melody. All are fully realized with a bigger, more expansive sound than the quieter Michigan. All states got words, man.

4. Sleater-Kinney – The Woods
Wait an established band that’s actually better now than they were when they started out over a decade ago? Was that supposed to be happening for everybody? So many good moments, but here’s a few. The awesome switch from nervous art rock verse to classic rock bombast chorus of “Jumpers.” Janet Weiss bringing the group back from the wandering noise brink in “What’s Mine is Yours” with an enormous John Bonham drum fill. The Killers/ Louis XIV baiting in “Entertain.” The ten minute blues workout was one toke over the line (Sweet Jesus), but this one cements the ladies as a rock band for the ages.

5. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah – Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (s/t)
Big voice, big sound, big hype. Guess which two will end up mattering? Surreal lyrics and vocal tics earned a lot of David Byrne talk, but in the end CYHSY is less cerebral and warmer than that. Without any record company cash funding the recording process, they manage to delight with small touches. The bent note played against the pounding beat in “The Skin of My Yellow Country Teeth.” The soaring interplay between overlapping voices in the breakdown of “Is This Love?” The way “In This Home on Ice” amps up the intensity just shy of two minutes in and then tops itself a minute later. Home crafted with love beats knocked out in a expensive studio with a team of experts. It makes the internet hullabulloo sort of heartwarming instead of grating. Good feelings all around.

6. Animal Collective – Feels
Listening to Feels, one word that never comes to mind is “folk” Freak yes, folk no. Boy is this record dense. Voices, drumbeats, strings, keys, harmony, cacophony exploding out of any track at any given time. But its not meek and pastoral by any means. The lyrical content is pretty firmly suburban, tales of swimming pools and fledgling relationships. In contrast, the sound is huge and confusing, a forest of ideas, not trees. When a clearing is found and a burst of melody shines through it’s gratifying for the effort spent sifting through branches (idea branches!) in the first place. For the first time Animal Collective spend equal time on the mysterious and the direct, and the results are worth getting lost in.

7. Xiu Xiu – La Foret
The quintessential room divider keeps soldiering on. Still histrionic and insane at turns, Xiu Xiu demands a reaction and it’s certainly not guaranteed to be positive. He’s growing as a songwriter, though. While last year’s Fabulous Muscles opened some ears as to Jamie Stewart’s ability to write art damaged songs with a pop heart, La Foret did so more consistently. More subdued, maybe, but more listenable on a track to track basis. Incorporating a rollicking auto harp solo as easily as he breaks out a squeal of white noise or a chorus of la-la’s, Xiu Xiu stands as a singular presence in a musical landscape that’s often easy to pin down.

8. LCD Soundsystem – LCD Soundsystem (s/t)
To say that LCD Soundsystem, and its frontman/ songwriter James Murphy are derivative is a bit beside the point. His devotion to cherry picking the best parts of rock history and trotting them out for the dance floor is no secret. I mean this is a guy who announced his presence to the world by name dropping basically every underground band at once, over a kicking beat. It’s that spirit that informs this eclectic set. Why can’t a band do smart funk like the Talking Heads, thrash like the Fall, swoon like the Beatles, start a New Order dance party, and then end it all up with a hazy Brian Eno ballad in the course of one album? No reason, apparently.

9. The Clientele – Strange Geometry
Clientele come back from their boring first album to fulfill the promise of the Suburban Light singles. Comforting like listening to an oldies radio station on the way to school with your mom. A mythical station, whose DJs will only play the Zombies, girl groups, and an occasional Beatles guitar freak out. Very pretty, very poetic, very good.

10. Deerhoof – The Runners Four
Listening to Deerhoof albums has always been more academic than fun. Yes that’s an interesting guitar part, yes its weird that such a violent racket is paired up with such a innocent sounding female vocal, yes it’s always this much work to get into. Sometimes it all came together (like the title track from Milk Man), mostly it didn’t. This album is twelve times more listenable than that. It’s like somebody told these guys, “Hey you were supposed to throw in a few pop songs on every album.” They were like, “Oh shit, really? Here’s twenty we had saved up.” But still gloriously weird, don’t get me wrong.

Honorable Mention: (11-20)
M.I.A.- Arular
All the zeitgeist political discussion of this album does a disservice to its high fun level.
Black Mountain – Black Mountain (s/t)
Heavy (with good singing).
Ladytron – The Witching Hour
Last electroclash band standing escape extinction by writing better songs and (somehow) getting even darker and sexier.
Serena Maneesh – Serena Maneesh (s/t)
Noisier AND sweeter than My Bloody Valentine, though not usually at the same time.
Silver Jews – Tanglewood Numbers
David Berman is good lyricist. The sun is big.
Oneida – The Wedding
Brooklyn’s most underrated band embraces the Left Banke, records their best album, remains underrated.
M83 – Before the Dawn Heals Us
Picking up the “band of French robots” torch from fallen Daft Punk, but sadder and more concerned with rock music and car crashes than dancing about.
Franz Ferdinand – You Could Have it So Much Better
Not the gut punch thrill of the debut, but a grower, and slagging these guys off for continuing to write fun and clever rock songs is jerky.
The Joggers – With a Cape and a Cane
Complicated guitar and impassioned yelping, always a winning formula.
Giant Drag – Hearts and Unicorns
Sort of a guilty pleasure and I’m skeptical of the shelf life, but I definitely underestimated my desire for a Breeders/ Hole/ Veruca Salt alterna-chick revival before hearing this album.

Let the arguements begin! If you would like to disagree directly with Jeff, email him here.

Tags: Best Albums 2005,
Wolf Parade, Fiery Furnaces, Sufjan Stevens, Sleater-Kinney, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Animal Collective, Xiu Xiu, LCD Soundsystem, Clientele, Deerhoof

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