Joe Lynch, arts editor-elect
Antony and the Johnsons
I Am A Bird Now
I Am a Bird Now, the second album from Antony and the Johnsons, certainly falls into the category of musical revivalism but differs from any of their contemporaries in two key respects: they're challenging sounds popularized upwards of sixty years ago, and they make no pretensions about having zero masculinity.
Antony is the androgynous lead singer of this group whose wardrobe and eyelashes make Boy George look like He-Man. Even more unusual is his delicate croon, a combination of George's pop sensibility, Al Jolson's expressive sob-singing and some forgotten torch-singer from the thirties.
The music is a similarly blessed amalgam of styles, combining chamber pop, sixties soul, cabaret and the Velvet Underground circa Loaded. In fact, Lou Reed even guests on the album's highlight 'Fistful of Love,' which may be the catchiest song dealing with an abusive relationship ever.
But what makes this eclectic album so stunning is the fact that Antony sings phrases that most rock stars would most likely go cold turkey before speaking. 'For today I am a boy / One day I'll grow up and be a beautiful woman / but for today I am a child ... One day I'll grow up and feel the power in me.' Antony knocks masculinity as childish and regards feminine resolve as the true ideal to look up to, and in the process sounds more assured than any rock star who merely postures as to what they think the masses want them to be. A fantastic record from a unique voice, I Am a Bird Now makes sounds decades old sound new, and has something actually unique to say.
Dan Wohl, arts editor-elect
Madonna
Confessions on a Dance Floor
Few albums in 2005 were as purely fun as Madonna's Confessions on a Dance Floor. After the cinematic trainwreck \Swept Away"" and 2003's disappointing American Life (in which she boldly, but apparently unsuccessfully, recast herself as the egalitarian anti-Material Girl), ""Esther"" was not having a good run. Instead of pushing her enigmatic persona even further into the bizarre, she did something it seemed she was not capable of: taking a break from her cycle of drastic reinventions. Looking into her celebrated back catalogue for inspiration, Veronica Electronica returned to deliver some of the most absurdly good pop fans have heard in a long while.
Originally begun as a soundtrack for a musical film to be written by Luc Besson, the album maintained its sense of continuity, eschewing clear distinctions between the end of one track and the beginning of another. From the scandalously enjoyable first track ""Hung Up"" to the vocoder-tinged ""How High"" to the pulsing finale ""Like It Or Not,"" Confessions on a Dance Floor is a mindless good time from start to finish. Darting from Maddy's grooving past to a surreal future and back again, it is a fusion of dance music history spanning from disco to trance. Confessions on a Dance Floor again solidified the Queen of Pop's presence on the club-music circuit where she got her start, and it reaffirmed her place in the pantheon of pop icons as well.
Matt Hunziker, music columnist
Maximo Park
A Certain Trigger
Sporting a lead singer who reads song lyrics from a red book on stage
and championing the slogan ""Pop music that isn't popular yet,"" Maximo
Park might seem like a slightly pretentious gimmick if the band's music
wasn't so accessible. The songs on ""A Certain Trigger"" bounce along on
drums that eschew the disco beats that back up most of today's post-punk acts, and the guitars mostly pass on Gang of Four-style dissonance in favor of more melodic, catchy riffs.
Maximo Park occupies a kind of middle-ground in the post-punk scene, taking the pounding drums and biting guitars of their contemporaries but tempering them with elements of British trad-rock and jangly '80s guitar acts. The first single, ""Apply Some Pressure,"" jerks around like a Futureheads track but the album at large takes more cues from '80s acts like Inspiral Carpets, with an organ picking up many of the most memorable lines and complimenting the arpeggiated guitars, which bare more than a slight resemblance to earlier of the Smiths' albums, if Johnny Marr had traded in reverb for blistering distortion.
In a year marked by a number of excellent debut albums, 'A Certain
Trigger' weighs in near the top of the pack, and as widespread critical
praise has followed in its wake it's likely that fans will be hearing
more from Maximo Park in the future.
Beth Wick, former music columnist
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
For a debut album, it is difficult to be recognized among the ranks of
the best albums of the year. It seems bands need a bit more time to
mature and discover who they are before their 'breakthrough' album can be named at the top. While this year's list saw Bloc Party's debut, it
failed to credit Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. CYHSY, a band that
surfaced this year, is one of those rare exceptions to the rule that
should be considered on of the best albums this year.
CYHSY's debut Clap Your Hands Say Yeah is one of the best albums of the year not because it is a debut album, but because it produces immense energy throughout and incorporates amazing instrumentation, making it incredibly solid. Although the mumbled lyrics by vocalist Alec Ounsworth are a bit hard to understand at times, it is what distinguishes and produces an original, fresh sound.
Additionally, they incorporate their own, unique spin to their sound, as
they are able to blend raw rock 'n' roll with other experimental musical
elements, which is indie rock at its finest.
Every track on the record is incredibly catchy and well-produced with
each song seeming better than the previous. Even with a debut
album, CYHSY never misses a beat, and gives a full effort with a
successful finished product. They deserve recognition for their
accomplishments because their album is exceptionally strong and easily distinguished. It will be exciting to see where they go in the future and how they will compete.
Gideon Kaslicher, music critic
The National
Alligator
There are hundreds of albums released every year that sound like The National's Alligator, but few albums execute mid-tempo indie rock this well. The first listen of the album won't knock you over; ringing guitars, loud drums, a few strings, a baritone lead singer'all of this has never been done before.
Repeated listening reveal that The National is far greater than the sum of its parts. The National focus their energies on thoughtful production rather than trying to sound hip; the drum mix is dead on, the bridge breaks seems to break in at just right moment and the strings hit as the vocals heat up. This meticulous production along with Matt Berniger's cold voice keep the album emotionally distant- it isn't a sentimental break up record or a mindless party album. It lies somewhere in the middle where gloom and glee are indistinguishable.
The album only breaks the cold front with two full-fledged rockers, 'Mr. November' and 'Abel.' These tracks wake the vocals from a coma to screaming choruses and prove that the National could be that fun retro band if they wanted to do. Alligator's charm is its humility. It could be carried in the arms of cheerleaders (this is a lyric, if you want to make that clear you can), but it chooses to take the bus.
Christopher Guess, photographer
The Mountain Goats
The Sunset Tree
John Darnielle, also known as The Mountain Goats, has recorded over 400 songs to date, with his latest album, 'The Sunset Tree,' being quite possibly his greatest achievement yet. His brand of acoustic rock is something that has been heard little of before, with possibly a Dylan reference here being appropriate (and some would say blasphemous). While most people have not heard of this man, it is not a matter of if they ever will, but simply when.
'The Sunset Tree' was recorded after an abusive stepfather's death as a way of finally excising the emotions that he felt over his past. While one might consider this to be a depressing album, it is hardly so. With songs such as 'This Year,' the album is given an uplifting beat and message 'I am gonna make it through this year / if it kills me', if not quite an uplifting premise. This does also sink to that of a mournful (though always tasteful) tone, with an example being 'Song For Dennis Brown', in which he laments a friend dying of cocaine, and predicts his own death from the same 'bad habits'
Darnielle began his career while still a psychiatric nurse at an institution'this is his third studio album after countless LPs, EPs, and singles usually recorded on nothing much more than a stereo boom box and cassette tape. While it sounds like a stereotype, from these humble beginnings and with more recordings such as this one sure to come, he'll definitely make it through this year.
Ben Schultz, former arts editor
Neil Young
Prairie Wind
Overcoming the preaching self-righteousness of Greendale, the sentimentality of Silver and Gold and the general futility of Are You Passionate?, Neil Young's recent release, Prairie Wind, showcases the old master returning to his familiar form. The album is long on pastoral imagery and short on missteps, combining acoustic comfort with lyrical luster.
Young immerses the album in idyllic imagery. He sings of the Red River around the old bridge pilings, summer days tumblin' down and moments the prairie wind creates. There's a sense that this album has been in Young's mind for years, waiting until the singer can see it all from the distance of age. This makes Young's voice seem more weathered than fresh, but he's never been clearer in delivery. If anything, Prairie Wind legitimizes everything about the later half of Young's musical career.
Its finest track, 'Far From Home,' is part dirge, part song of joy and seemingly at odds, but utterly addictive. The rest of the album follows the pattern as both a lament of a full life and the way it's hitting its final act. Yet Prairie Wind attests to Young's constant renewal rather than his obsolescence.
