Favorite Albums of 2005

[Jyqm]

Originally Posted by dissention

At Jyqm's insistence, here is a thread for you to tell us all what your favorite albums of 2005 are so far.

Fire away, babes.

This is difficult, because there are a number of albums that may or may not make it to the top of my list. There are those I haven't bought yet (like the new Franz Ferdinand), and there are all those that I've bought in the past couple weeks but haven't had enough time to absorb enough to decide if they're truly great or merely good (Ryan Adams, Neil Young, Super Furry Animals among them). So I won't rank, since the year's not over yet, but among the more distinguished recordings I've heard this year:

~Iron & Wine, Woman King and Under The Reins. Two EPs (the latter a collaboration with Calexico) which really broaden Sam Beam's sonic palette in some very intriguing ways. The range and depth on instrumentation on both of these makes me very excited for his next full-length.

~Bright Eyes, I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning. A really solid, frequently catchy, even more frequently moving album from Mr. Oberst. But I can't help but think that it's somehow lesser than Lifted... Still, I never don't enjoy listening to this. (I must admit, after all these months, I still haven't gotten around to listening to Digital Ash...)

~Sufjan Stevens, Come On! Feel The Illinoise! This album ups the ante in a big way for Sufjan's 50 states project. It's like a Broadway musical of indie pop, in the best way possible. Lots of tinkling epic anthems alongside lots of beautiful hushed folk songs with a few wild cards thrown in as well. There's so much going on in this album, it's just bursting at the seams.

~Bruce Springsteen, Devils & Dust. A better-than-good solo offering from Bruce, though as always the songs truly come alive in concert. But there are some beautiful, haunting stories told here, about folks who have simply slipped through the cracks of life and/or love and are just trying to climb back up.

~Matt Sweeney & Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, Superwolf. Will Oldham is usually haunting enough on his own, but with Sweeney's understated guitar licks propping him up and slinking around his voice, this album leaves a very deep mark. Gives me shivers just thinking about it, even though a few of the songs are almost comical.

~Kanye West, Late Registration. Oh me oh my. Kanye takes every rule in hip-hop and turns them completely upside-down. You can put on some headphones and get completely lost in all the musical tricks and tropes going on all over this album, without even paying attention to Kanye and friends' words (though those are pretty top-notch most of the time, too).

~Common, Be. Woo! This is a truly beautiful hip-hop/soul album. As great as Kanye is on his own, he's just better when he's producing for someone else; he needs somebody else in the spotlight to keep him from going too off-the-wall and give hi some focus. If Late Registration is a sprawling, messy Tusk of a hip-hop record, then Be is this year's Rumours: concise and cohesive but wonderfully lush and full of sunny musical ideas that all come to fruition and totally pay off.

So there's my list, but I have to say, I'm kind of dissatisfied with it. Almost all of the music on it seems to fall into one of two general sonic palettes (folky guitar or hip-hop). 2005 so far just doesn't seem to have had the richness of diversity that 2004 did (at least as far as my favorite records go). But I fear that might be the case with a number of upcoming years. 2004 was a banner 12 months for music, in my mind, and it's going to be very difficult for subsequent years to live up to it. My top 10 of 2004, for the record, and in some semblance of order:

1. William Shatner, Has Been.
2. Arcade Fire, Funeral.
3. Ted Leo/Pharmacists, Shake The Sheets.
4. Tom Waits, Real Gone.
5. Loretta Lynn, Van Lear Rose.
6. Wilco, A Ghost Is Born.
7. Willie Nelson, It Always Will Be.
8. Iron & Wine, Our Endless Numbered Days.
9. Modest Mouse, Good News For People Who Love Bad News.
10. Franz Ferdinand, Franz Ferdinand.

And I had to leave off The Roots, The Black Keys, and Elvis Costello! Way to go, 2004. Way to go.