2005: The Best/Worst in Music

[Recoil]

Top 10 Albums (in no particular order)

The Decemberists - Picaresque
Bloc Party - Silent Alarm
Fingers Cut, Megamachine - S/T
Comeback Kid - Wake the Dead
Nightmare Of You - S/T
Motion City Soundtrack - Commit This To Memmory
Horse The Band- The Mechanical Hand
Against Me! - Searching For a Former Clarity
Clutch - Robot Hive/Exodus
Lucero - Nobody's Darlings

Best songs of 2005

Say Anything - Wow, I Can Get Sexual Too
Clutch - The Incomparable Mr. Flannery
The Arts & Sciences - Gravel Queen
Nightmare of You - Heaven Runs on Oil
Latterman - Fear and Loathing on Long Island
Against Me! - Unprotected Sex With Multiple Partners
Defiance, Ohio - Hey Kathleen, Are You Hungry?
Cassino - The Gin War

Dissapointments of 2005

Coheed and Cambria - Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV, Volume One: From Fear Through The Eyes of Madness
Fingers Cut, Megamachine - Pipe Dreams EP
Thrice - Vheissu

Unwarranted hype of 2005

Kanye West - Late Registration
Wolf Parade - Apologies to the Queen Mary
Franz Ferdinand - You Could Have It So Much Better
Clap Your Hands and Say Yeah - S/T
M.I.A. - Arular
New Pornographers - Twin Cinema

[Honolulu_Blue]

Top 10 Albums (in no particular order)

The Decemberists - Picaresque
Bloc Party - Silent Alarm
Fingers Cut, Megamachine - S/T
Comeback Kid - Wake the Dead
Nightmare Of You - S/T
Motion City Soundtrack - Commit This To Memmory
Horse The Band- The Mechanical Hand
Against Me! - Searching For a Former Clarity
Clutch - Robot Hive/Exodus
Lucero - Nobody's Darlings

Best songs of 2005

Say Anything - Wow, I Can Get Sexual Too
Clutch - The Incomparable Mr. Flannery
The Arts & Sciences - Gravel Queen
Nightmare of You - Heaven Runs on Oil
Latterman - Fear and Loathing on Long Island
Against Me! - Unprotected Sex With Multiple Partners
Defiance, Ohio - Hey Kathleen, Are You Hungry?
Cassino - The Gin War

Dissapointments of 2005

Coheed and Cambria - Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV, Volume One: From Fear Through The Eyes of Madness
Fingers Cut, Megamachine - Pipe Dreams EP
Thrice - Vheissu

Unwarranted hype of 2005

Kanye West - Late Registration
Wolf Parade - Apologies to the Queen Mary
Franz Ferdinand - You Could Have It So Much Better
Clap Your Hands and Say Yeah - S/T
M.I.A. - Arular
New Pornographers - Twin Cinema
Of all the bands/musicians listed above I have only ever heard of Clutch, Kanye West (only because of what he said after Katrina), and Franz Ferdinand. I have never heard of any of the others.

I am completely out of touch with the music scene.

[GreenMonster]

Kanye West may be a complete fool, but he makes good music. Who put this list togather?

[oliegirl]

Of all the bands/musicians listed above I have only ever heard of Clutch, Kanye West (only because of what he said after Katrina), and Franz Ferdinand. I have never heard of any of the others.

I am completely out of touch with the music scene.


Thank God I am not the only one who is completely out of touch! I was thinking "who are all these bands?"

Oh - and I have never heard of Clutch...

[Ksyrup]

Who put this list togather?
Probably, uh, Recoil?

[timmae]

surprisingly I like most of the bands listed under best of... however, I wonder who/what this list is from... I'd add Art Brut to the best of list... along with the Soviettes.

[Ksyrup]

I'm listening to Blast Tyrant by Clutch in the car today. Here's the video for Mob Goes Wild from that album, which came out in 2004. I think I like Robot Hive/Exodus better, but RH/E is more southern groove style than BT. They're like a combination of Kyuss, Monster Magnet, and Rage Against the Machine. Best lyricist in the game. It helps to have an encyclopedia nearby.

WARNING - potential NSFW: loud music, shaking asses and other gratuitous T&A shots, all around good time

hxxp://www.ifilm.com/ifilmdetail/2634284?htv=12

[Recoil]

I'm listening to Blast Tyrant by Clutch in the car today.

"Please allow me to adjust my pants, so that I may dance the good time dance and put the on-lookers and innocent bystanders into a trance."

\m/

[st.cronin]

pimpin' all over the world

[TLK]

Unwarranted hype of 2005

New Pornographers - Twin Cinema
I couldn't disagree more.

[gottimd]

I couldn't disagree more.
What if I told you the world was flat?

[DeToxRox]

I'm listening to Blast Tyrant by Clutch in the car today. Here's the video for Mob Goes Wild from that album, which came out in 2004. I think I like Robot Hive/Exodus better, but RH/E is more southern groove style than BT. They're like a combination of Kyuss, Monster Magnet, and Rage Against the Machine. Best lyricist in the game. It helps to have an encyclopedia nearby.

WARNING - potential NSFW: loud music, shaking asses and other gratuitous T&A shots, all around good time

hxxp://www.ifilm.com/ifilmdetail/2634284?htv=12

Condaleeza Rice is nice but I prefer a roni.

[Draft Dodger]

Unwarranted hype of 2005

M.I.A. - Arular


not sure I'd quite put this as the #1 album of the year like Blender did, but I dig it enough to warrant the hype in my book.

[AlexB]

Franz Ferdinand album is excellent - one of my favourites.

Other notable excellents off the top of my head: The Editors, Nine Black Alps, Turin Brakes, AYWKUBYTOD, My Chemical Romance, Maximo Park

Biggest disappointments: Idlewild, The Futureheads album

Unwarranted Hype: Arcarde Fire

Potentially warranted hype: Arctic Monkeys

[Groundhog]

I'm only 23, and I feel like I'm already out of touch with modern music. Whenever I buy a CD these days it's usually something from the past 30 years rather than anything fresh on the shelf... I just don't feel any overwhelming urge to actively seek out interesting new music.

Any older FOFC'ers remember when they reached this stage? I always thought I would have been in my 30s or so before this happened to me.

[cthomer5000]

not sure I'd quite put this as the #1 album of the year like Blender did, but I dig it enough to warrant the hype in my book.
Blech... hated the album with a super-passion and would certain pile on the "completely overhyped" listing there.

I love debating this sort of stuff and plan on having a list up by the end of the night.

[Joe]

I'm only 23, and I feel like I'm already out of touch with modern music. Whenever I buy a CD these days it's usually something from the past 30 years rather than anything fresh on the shelf... I just don't feel any overwhelming urge to actively seek out interesting new music.

Any older FOFC'ers remember when they reached this stage? I always thought I would have been in my 30s or so before this happened to me.

I'm 24 and I feel the same way. But I make an exception for Coldplay, X & Y was awesome.

[Easy Mac]

Top 10, according to Metacritic:
Sufjan Stevens - Illinois
My Morning Jacket - Z
Isolee - Wearemonster
Lightning Bolt - Hypermagic Mountain
Antony and the Johnsons - I am a Bird Now
Sleater-Kinney - The Woods
M.I.A. - Arular
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
Kraftwerk - Minimum-Maximum [Live]
The Go! Team - Thunder, Lightning, Strike

[Groundhog]

Yeah I bought Coldplay's latest album, mainly because I'm going to see them next year with some friends so I wanted to know the new songs. I've only given it the one listen and was under-whelmed, but I'll give it a few more tries. I liked Parachutes and Rush of Blood to the Head.

Only "new" bands I look forward to seeing new releases from are Tool (though even this is faltering a little, as I don't listen to their old stuff nearly as much as I used to), Radiohead and, most of all, the Flaming Lips.

[Karlifornia]

My Morning Jacket - Z



I really want this one.

[tanglewood]

Five Star Greatness
The Go! Team - Thunder Lightning Strike
Orange Juice - Glasgow School
Tom Vek - Tom Vek
The White Stripes - Get Behind Me Satan

Four Star Excellence
Gorillaz - Demon Days
Bloc Party - Silent Alarm
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
Art Brut - Bang Bang Rock And Roll
Arctic Monkeys - Bootleg (Okay, technically it's not out until 2006.... ;))
LCD Soundsystem - LCD Soundsystem
Editors - Back Room
Roots Manuva - Awfully Deep
Oasis - Don't Believe The Truth

Three Star Solidity
Franz Ferdinand - You Could Have It So Much Better
Coldplay - X&Y
Doves - Some Cities
Bob Dylan - No Direction Home Soundtrack
Kaiser Chiefs - Employment
The Bravery - The Bravery
Nine Black Alps - Everything Is
Maximo Park - A Certain Trigger
The Magic Numbers - The Magic Numbers
British Sea Power - Open Season
Beck - Guero

Two Star Mediocrity
Kanye West - Late Registration
Hard Fi - Stars of CCTV
The Rakes - Capture/Release

One Star Atrocity
Mercury Rev - The Secret Migration
The Subways - Young For Eternity

Special Section Reserved For Incredibly Amazing Compilations Everyone Should Rush Out And Buy Right Now
The Fall - The Complete Peel Sessions

[Groundhog]

Hrm, I forgot about the Gorillaz. I'd give that a 4/5.

[Ksyrup]

I'm only 23, and I feel like I'm already out of touch with modern music. Whenever I buy a CD these days it's usually something from the past 30 years rather than anything fresh on the shelf... I just don't feel any overwhelming urge to actively seek out interesting new music.

Any older FOFC'ers remember when they reached this stage? I always thought I would have been in my 30s or so before this happened to me.
Looking back on it, I was the same way during my 20s. I think what happens is that if you catch it just right, the stuff you liked in high school and/or college falls out of favor and you end up missing out on the "next big thing" because, well, you've got a life now. I graduated high school in 1989, right at the end of the metal/hard rock era, and during college and a couple of years after, I grabbed onto the grunge/industrial/alt-rock scene, but lost interest in it by the mid-to-late 90s. And I haven't listened to 90% of that stuff in a decade. Only looking back now do I realize how aimless I was and how I had lost interest in music, because I didn't know what I liked, I just knew I didn't like what was "in" at the time. Right about the time I hit 30, I discovered power pop and European metal, and now I have a good idea of what I like and what I don't. Ikeep up with what is current in the types of music I like, but stil find time for the older stuff of my youth. The stuff from my 20s I rarely touch.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Franz Ferdinand album is excellent - one of my favourites.

Other notable excellents off the top of my head: The Editors, Nine Black Alps, Turin Brakes, AYWKUBYTOD, My Chemical Romance, Maximo Park

Biggest disappointments: Idlewild, The Futureheads album

Unwarranted Hype: Arcarde Fire

Potentially warranted hype: Arctic Monkeys
I would say I was around 27 or so when this happened...

[Draft Dodger]

I would say I was around 27 or so when this happened...

when you started quoting the wrong posts?

[Critch]

Five Star Greatness
Orange Juice - Glasgow School


You got me excited there, thought there was a new Orange Juice cd after all these years. Even though it's a collection of old recordings, it's still zoomed to the top of my must by list.

Not sure how a collection of recordings from 25 years ago can get into best of 2005 though :)

[Honolulu_Blue]

when you started quoting the wrong posts?
Tarnation! This is what I get trying to post while watching a two-on-one short handed breakaway!

[Easy Mac]

Tarnation! This is what I get trying to post while watching a two-on-one short handed breakaway!
If I didn't know this was about hockey, I would be worried.

[Bearcat729]

The top 10 from the top 97 list from WOXY.com (http://www.woxy.com)

1 Bloc Party Silent Alarm
2 Franz Ferdinand You Could Have It So Much Better
3 Sufjan Stevens Illinois
4 Clap Your Hands Say Yeah Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
5 LCD Soundsystem LCD Soundsystem
6 Beck Guero
7 Wolf Parade Apologies To The Queen Mary
8 The National Alligator
9 Gorillaz Demon Days
10 Broken Social Scene Broken Social Scene

[tanglewood]

You got me excited there, thought there was a new Orange Juice cd after all these years. Even though it's a collection of old recordings, it's still zoomed to the top of my must by list.

Not sure how a collection of recordings from 25 years ago can get into best of 2005 though :)

Well, a lot of it is unreleased etc. so I'd say it qualifies. :)

And yes, it is fantastic.

[McSweeny]

my top ten in no particular order

Against Me - Searching For A Former Clarity
Darkbuster - A Weakness For Spirits
Dropkick Murphys - Warrior's Code
Filthy Thieving Bastards - My Pappy Was A Pistol
Kings of Nuthin' - Punk Rock Rhythm And Blues
NOFX - songs from their 7" Of The Month releases
Street Dogs - Back to the World
The Tossers - The Valley of the Shadow of Death

ok so only 8

[korme]

Unwarranted hype of 2005

Kanye West - Late Registration

And with that, your entire post is rendered useless

[korme]

Franz Ferdinand album is excellent - one of my favourites.

Other notable excellents off the top of my head: The Editors, Nine Black Alps, Turin Brakes, AYWKUBYTOD, My Chemical Romance, Maximo Park

Biggest disappointments: Idlewild, The Futureheads album

Unwarranted Hype: Arcarde Fire

Potentially warranted hype: Arctic Monkeys
FWIW MCR's Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge was released in '04..

[Recoil]

And with that, your entire post is rendered useless

Normally I'd cut some slack for someone with a Thursday sig, but the guy is a douche. A complete publicity whore. He's basically been begging for a Grammy. It's kind of sad. The dude also said "my album will enter the history books". You gotta be kidding me. I wouldn't even put it in the top 10 rap albums of 2005. He may have produced the best rap album of the year with Common's "Be", but that's about it. I like the fact that he seems to really care and is passionate about his music, but Late Registration does not even come close to warrant the amount of hype it's received.

[tanglewood]

FWIW MCR's Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge was released in '04..

As was Futureheads & Arcade Fire. :p

[tanglewood]

Normally I'd cut some slack for someone with a Thursday sig, but the guy is a douche. A complete publicity whore. He's basically been begging for a Grammy. It's kind of sad. The dude also said "my album will enter the history books". You gotta be kidding me. I wouldn't even put it in the top 10 rap albums of 2005. He may have produced the best rap album of the year with Common's "Be", but that's about it. I like the fact that he seems to really care and is passionate about his music, but Late Registration does not even come close to warrant the amount of hype it's received.

I agree with everything here. (Except thet Thursday aren't my cup of tea, but hey...)

Kanye has an ego the size of Venus. He is a top producer, one of the best around, but his MC'ing is so unbelivelably rigid and terse I find it difficult to see past his rapping when listening to one of his tracks. He should stay behind the spotlight and shut up, like he did before.

[thesloppy]

Where's the love for The Hold Steady's 'Seperation Sunday'? I'd rather listen to that record 8000 times over than hear another 10 seconds of Art Brut.

"Sold your CD! I sold your CD.......lookit me! I sold your CD!"

I also heart Bonnie 'Prince' Billy and Matt Sweeney's 'Superwolf' as well as Spoon's 'Gimme Fiction'.

[Recoil]

Street Dogs - Back to the World


I heard like one or two songs from that album and was really impressed. I'm gonna have to check it out.

[korme]

I agree with everything here. (Except thet Thursday aren't my cup of tea, but hey...)

Kanye has an ego the size of Venus. He is a top producer, one of the best around, but his MC'ing is so unbelivelably rigid and terse I find it difficult to see past his rapping when listening to one of his tracks. He should stay behind the spotlight and shut up, like he did before.
If you really listen to what he's saying he's so passionate, and plus his word-play is fascinating. "Maybe you could be my intern, and in turn I could hook you up with a job in winter" "damn K it'd be stupid to diss you, even your superficial raps are super official"

[AlexB]

FWIW MCR's Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge was released in '04..

Fair enough - scratch that then! (Only bought it a month or so ago, so it's new to me ;) )

Would have included Kaiser Chiefs as well but was 99% certain that was last year...

Can't make my mind up about Hard-Fi: half of the album is fantastic anthemic stuff, half of it just strikes me as pap.

[AlexB]

As was Futureheads & Arcade Fire. :p

Doh!

[cthomer5000]

I'm also a huge fan of that Go! Team record, but it was definitely a 2004 release.

[TheOhioStateUniversity]

Top Rap Albums:
Kanye West "Late Registration"
Common "Be"
The Game "The Documentary"
Little Brother "The Minstrel show"

Top R&B Albums:
Trey Songz "I Gotta Make It"
Mary J Blige "The Breakthrough"
Anthony Hamilton "Aint Nobody Worryin"
Mariah Carey "The Emancipation of Mimi"
Faith Evans "First Lady"

Pretty big year for R&B but the same connot be said for rap. Anyone who docks points from Kanye West for his public persona, and that is indeed what it is a persona is ignoring the music. I guess two people can listen to the same thing and basically hear two different things but as far as rap albums go Late Registration was a breath of fresh air and an excellent album.

[Ksyrup]

I'm terrible with top 10 lists by year, since I hear so much stuff, new and old, and I can't keep it all straight. Of the albums I know came out this year and I can remember sitting here at work, these are my favorites:

Opeth - Ghost Reveries
King's X - Ogre Tones
Roger Joseph Manning, Jr. - Solid State Warrior
Clutch - Robot Hive/Exodus
Jackdaw4 - Gramophone Logic
Sufjan Stevens - Come On Feel the Illinoise!
System of a Down - Mezmerize & Hypnotize
Nickel Creek - Why Should the Fire Die?
Look What I Did! - Minuteman For the Moment
Nevermore - This Godless Endeavor


I'm sure I missed a couple, but these are the ones I listened to the most.

[cthomer5000]

I'm also a huge fan of that Go! Team record, but it was definitely a 2004 release. For clarification, it came out in the UK in 2004. The US release (2005) included 2 b-sides now thrown into the album, re-mixing, and completely new vocals on "Bottle Rocket" which was the best song on the album. It's much, much worse on the US release, IMHO.

[cthomer5000]

Song Of The Year: Sufjan Stevens - Casimir Pulaski day

Honorable Mentions
Coheed & Cambria- The Suffering
Broken Social Scene - 7/4 (Shoreline)
Death Cab For Cutie - Summer Skin
Decemberists - On The Bus Mall
Junior Senior - We R The Handclaps
Kanye West - Touch The Sky
Ladytron - Destory Everything You Touch
M83 - Don't Save Us From The Flames
New Pornographers - Use It
New Pornographers - Jackie ,Dressed in Cobras
Sleater-Kinney - Entertain
Stars - Ageless Beauty
They Might Be Giants - Flying V


worst song of the year

12-way tie. Every song off "Make Believe" by Weezer

[Easy Mac]

Looking back on it, I was the same way during my 20s. I think what happens is that if you catch it just right, the stuff you liked in high school and/or college falls out of favor and you end up missing out on the "next big thing" because, well, you've got a life now. I graduated high school in 1989, right at the end of the metal/hard rock era, and during college and a couple of years after, I grabbed onto the grunge/industrial/alt-rock scene, but lost interest in it by the mid-to-late 90s. And I haven't listened to 90% of that stuff in a decade. Only looking back now do I realize how aimless I was and how I had lost interest in music, because I didn't know what I liked, I just knew I didn't like what was "in" at the time. Right about the time I hit 30, I discovered power pop and European metal, and now I have a good idea of what I like and what I don't. Ikeep up with what is current in the types of music I like, but stil find time for the older stuff of my youth. The stuff from my 20s I rarely touch.
odd reply bump time, but I'd say my experience has been the opposite. When I was in college, the whole post-punk/new wave revival hadn't hit yet. The Strokes and White Stripes were around for about half of my college life, but for the most part it hadn't really spread as well. Punk was at the end of its revival stage, and rap was at the end of its latest cycle, so for a while I was forced to listen to endless Lil' Jon retreads.

Well, about the time I graduated Franz Ferdinand came out, and then bands of similar persuasion started coming out. Still, I hadn't caught on, mainly because I wasn't in an area that played that kind of music (they had a mandatory Metallica every evening, if that tells you something). Then I moved to Charleston, found the rock station, and they were playing all this music I liked. SInce then I've had a bit of a music rebirth. Found the type of music I really enjoy, was even able to find music from the first go-round of the whole post-punk brit-pop thing (which first started around the time I was born).

I think with music, it's really just about the type of music you can get exposed to. If I stayed in Greenville, I'd still be inundated with Limp Bizkit and Nickelback every hour. Now I get My Morning Jacket and The Killers. Couldn't be happier, I'm 24 and I'm more or less set in knowing the type of music I really enjoy.

Oh, and to whoever said the Go! Team cd was one of the best of the year. I'd have to agree now. I listened to it the first time, and I thought it was solid... not great. I didn't really think it would hold up over repeat listening. Then I decided to give it another go, and for some reason it just blew me away the second time, I love 90% of it. Something cheesy yet loveable about it. Maybe the Strokes new album will be the same way (though I doubt it, God that was a horrible 45 minutes.).

[Schmidty]

Best Album of 2005 (to me): Face the Truth - Stephen Malkmus.

Easily.

Honorable mention: Blinking Lights and Other Revelations - The Eels.

[The Afoci]

Dungen is pretty good. I am pretty sure it was released in 2005. Panda is a crazy song to trip to as well as most of the album. If only I could understand one damn word the bastards say.

[DeToxRox]

Hip hop album of the year starts and ends with either "A Healthy Distrust" by Sage Francis or "You Can't Imagine How Much Fun We're Having" by Atmosphere.

And neither called out the President on live TV to get people interested in them!

[ice4277]

And neither called out the President on live TV to get people interested in them!
Aw snap!

[aran]

Opeth - Ghost Reveries


\m/

ghosts of... perdition *indecipherable growling*

Porcupine Tree's Deadwing is my Album of the Year.

[Desmond]

is sage francis that white boy? i dig that cat.

[Pyser]

im surprised the 2 new system of a down albums arent getting more recognition.

i had 2 big disappointments this year: the dandy warhols and ben folds new one. some nice songs on each, but a step down for both from previous works.

[Desmond]

I loved marahs new album.

[DeToxRox]

is sage francis that white boy? i dig that cat.

Indeed.

[DeToxRox]

im surprised the 2 new system of a down albums arent getting more recognition.

My guess is probably because they feature lyrics such as .. "Old school Hollywood, baseball, Jack Gilardi is ten feet tall, Old school Hollywood, baseball, me and Frankie Avalon" or "Everybody, everybody, everybody livin now, everybody, everybody, everybody fucks. Everybody, everybody, everybody livin' now, everybody, everybody, everybody sucks".

Worst. lyrics. ever.

[The Afoci]

My guess is probably because they feature lyrics such as .. "Old school Hollywood, baseball, Jack Gilardi is ten feet tall, Old school Hollywood, baseball, me and Frankie Avalon" or "Everybody, everybody, everybody livin now, everybody, everybody, everybody fucks. Everybody, everybody, everybody livin' now, everybody, everybody, everybody sucks".

Worst. lyrics. ever.

Plus the fact that they took one album, made it two. Bastards.

[Ksyrup]

Both of those albums are great. The stupid lyrics are the only thing holding them back. It's hard to understand going from a serious, intense song like Holy Mountains, which is about the slaughter of Armenians, to Vicinity of Obscenity, with "Banana banana banana terra cotta pie," as the main lyric. Aside from that, though, they have great music, interesting and unique vocal deliveries, and are great for the metal scene in general. Daron appears to be an egomaniac of Lars Ulrich proportions, but otherwise, that band rocks.

[Julio Riddols]

The new Cunninlynguists album (A Piece of Strange) will be one of the top hip hop releases of 2006. Maybe not in sales, but in overall quality..

[path12]

I loved marahs new album.

Me too. They're coming to Seattle end of the month. I hear they're great live so I can't wait.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Any older FOFC'ers remember when they reached this stage?

Mid to late 20's IIRC.

[Pyser]

Both of those albums are great. The stupid lyrics are the only thing holding them back. It's hard to understand going from a serious, intense song like Holy Mountains, which is about the slaughter of Armenians, to Vicinity of Obscenity, with "Banana banana banana terra cotta pie," as the main lyric. Aside from that, though, they have great music, interesting and unique vocal deliveries, and are great for the metal scene in general. Daron appears to be an egomaniac of Lars Ulrich proportions, but otherwise, that band rocks.

thats what he's saying? banana? yikes.

i hate metal. hate it. but system has been on nonstop for me for over a month now. their melodies are amazing for any band, let alone a heavy band like themselves.

for me, its their music and voices, not what they are saying (which is too bad, because they do have some interesting political views on some songs).