Thursday, December 29, 2005

My Fave CDs of 2005

Last year was a bit of a disaster, but 2005 redeemed itself musically with a bunch of decent releases. And I bought lots of them!

A quick disclaimer: Inclusion in this list has more to do with how many times I listened to a particular CD, and therefore how much I enjoyed it, in the past year, than it does anything else. It also must be a CD I purchased (or was given) for my own collection -- I frown upon copying studio releases for any purpose except promotional reasons (i.e., burn a CD for a buddy who might like a band enough to buy it eventually if only he had a chance to hear it, and who would never have purchased the CD to begin with under any other circumstances anyway) and personal backups. I make some adjustments for titles released late, but all this really is, is my own personal popularity contest.

So, without further ado, the winners:

My Favorite CDs of 2005

1. Sufjan Stevens - Illinois
Upon hearing "John Wayne Gacy" for the first time, Beth asked me "how can someone make such a beautiful song about a serial killer?" The answer, of course, is that it's not about a serial killer so much as it's about ourselves, human beings -- and the potential for ugliness that lurks within. Stevens is an extremely talented songwriter, and it shows everywhere on this CD. "Casimir Pulaski Day," in which Stevens reminisces about a friend who died of cancer, is so crushingly beautiful my eyes well up every time I hear it. But lest you get the idea Illinois is all doom and despair, just give the disc a whirl and enjoy the uplifting hope of "Concerning the UFO Sighting Near Highland, Illinois," the propelling Vince Guaraldi-meets-Broadway "Come On! Feel the Illinoise!," the banjo-pickin' "Jacksonville," and (my favorite) the sing-along road trip saga "Chicago." And just try to suppress a smile when Stevens rhymes: "Stephen A. Douglas was the great debater, but Abraham Lincoln was the great emancipator." It may be a tad overlong and perhaps a bit overambitious, but it's the most easily satisfying start-to-finish CD of the year, and (by a wide margin) it's the one I've listened to most.

2. Beck - Guero
I think Guero is better than Odelay: it's richer, more nuanced, and more listenable. It's also more grown up, and hard as I try to deny it, so am I.

3. Sleater Kinney - The Woods
People who doubt the value of a good record producer need only to listen to what Dave Fridmann did here with what was already a damned good rock group. Only in his capable hands would S-K have allowed the sprawling, largely improvised "Let's Call It Love" to wind up on the final track listing, a fitting penultimate track that nearly exhausts the listener but is really just a setup for the closer. And once you've heard that, you just want to start over again from the beginning.

4. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
The self-titled debut from the entreprenurual Brooklynites is much better than it has any right to be, especially with all the hype it garnered in 2005 (capped by placement as background music on NBC's The Office, of all places!). But the record itself (with the exception of the throwaway opening track) is as good as anything else that was released this year. For once, the hypesters got it right! Huzzah!

5. LCD Soundsystem - LCD Soundsystem
"Daft Punk Is Playing At My House" had sure as hell better make you laugh (that is, if you're even the least bit hip to Daft Punk), and "Tribulations" had sure as hell better make you dance. Throw in a bonus CD with collected dance singles (including the all-time funny as hell classic hipster anthem, "Losing My Edge") and you have the coolest major label release of 2005.

6. Bloc Party - Silent Alarm Remixed
I preferred this (and still do) to the original Silent Alarm, which sounds less varied (and therefore less interesting) to me. Either way, though, you can't go wrong: Bloc Party channel Gang of Four better than Gof4 did on their own (uneven, but not as horrible as the critics said) remix record in 2005. Nothing wrong with that, when it's done well.

7. Sigur Rós - Takk
Takk is the most engaging of all the Sigur Rós records, and it's also the most immediate and embracable. That's not to say they've lost their edge -- quite the contrary. They've merely refined their sound and packaged it in a way that extracts the most emotional punch from a casual listener. It helped, too, that the live show we saw over the summer was absolutely spellbinding.

8. Black Mountain - Black Mountain
Big, dumb fun that practically begs to be spun again and again, especially while driving. No two tracks sound alike, yet they all stick together beautifully, improbably, as an album. I wish I had seen BM during their stint last summer opening for Coldplay, playing to empty shed arenas on hot, sticky summer days to a perplexed, disinterested, and probably mildly insulted group of Coldplay fans. And I wish I was there, singing along to "Druganaut" at the top of my lungs. As it was, Rilo Kiley opened for Coldplay here in Raleigh and we got there too late to see them anyway. So I guess that's OK.

9. Fiona Apple - Extraordinary Machine
This one snuck up on me, because to be completely honest after I listened to it the first time I'd have probably told you I wasn't planning on listening to it again. But I did, and it slowly revealed itself to be complex, rich, and beautiful -- the one thing on this list I could play for my mother without making her eye twitch.

10. Spoon - Gimme Fiction
Like Bloc Party, which got off to a poor start with me by performing (what I thought was) a sub-standard set at Coachella (but unlike Bloc Party in that I already owned, and liked, their previous CDs), Spoon nonetheless gained momentum throughout the year to wind up placing "Gimme Fiction" on this list. It's little grittier than previous efforts, but not so much as to be off-putting. In fact, I bet you won't notice after the third or fourth time you listen to it. It'll just sound to you like yet another good Spoon CD.

Also worth listing to, but not writing so much about (meaning, I am tired of writing and want to go home):

posted by Bill Purdy, 3:21 PM

2 Buffaloes were bitter enough to post comments:


Blogger Pat Angello, said:
EXCELLENT!

I need to hear Sufjan Stevens - seriously.

I loved S-K, but they were a bit of a disappointment in concert.

I also want to hear Fiona - loved everything else she's done.

Great post - thanks for mentioning Matson Jones, yo!
...on December 29, 2005 3:43 PM  

Blogger d-lee, said:
I gave up on S-K with "The Hot Rock". I used to be all about them, but I was really unimpressed the last time I saw them live. I still think that Janet Weiss is a phenomenal drummer, but I don't much care for S-K anymore.

I couldn't agree with you more about Illinois. That was my favorite record of 2005 by a very wide margin. I also thoroughly enjoy Takk. I haven't done a list this year, and I haven't in several years, but I'd have to include the new Death Cab and the "Wintersongs" EP by Matt Pond PA, just to name two that you didn't mention.

On my list, I would also give honorable mention to the new Bettie Serveert.

By the way, did you go to that Mountain Goats show at the Cradle back in April? (or was it May?) I know he lives in Durham now, and it isn't a big deal, but I thought that was a great show. Prior to that, all I knew was All Hail West Texas and Sweden, but a girl I was dating at the time got me wicked into him.
...on January 02, 2006 2:24 AM  

Add a comment