While 2005 may not be remembered for a new exciting trend or a handful of absolutely classic releases, it was still a good year to be a music fan. There was a glut of very solid albums, making the difference between No. 6 and No. 26 as slim as any year in recent memory. Any Top 15 list will have regrettable omissions. The fact that perennial favorites like The White Stripes and Paul McCartney and follow-up albums from Antony and the Johnsons and Franz Ferdinand fell by the wayside is a testament to how many releases were worth your time this year.
Nonetheless, only the 15 best albums can make the list. Here they are:
For additional awards, such as \Guiltiest Pleasure"" and ""Most Disappointing Album,"" as well as dissenting opinions from Cardinal arts staffers naming releases sorely absent from our Top 15, check out extended coverage at dailycardinal.com.
'reviews by Matt Anderson, Les Chappell, Adam Dylewski, Christopher Guess, Gideon Kalischer, Bridget Maniaci, Kevin Nelson, Ryan Raab, William Temby and Beth Wick
#1
The New Pornographers
Twin Cinema
When the New Pornographers released Mass Romantic in 2000, many believed the album to be a wonderful experiment'a one-time-only release from an All-Star crew of Canadian indie rock stars. But that album was such a success that A.C. Newman, Neko Case and Destroyer's Dan Bejar continue to reunite. Our original review declared that, with 2005's Twin Cinema, 'A.C. Newman and friends have risen to the top of the power pop ranks with nary an unflattering remark to be heard.'
At the close of the year, that sentiment holds as true as it did in August. The Canadian collective, helmed largely by Newman, avoids the derivative pitfalls posed by catchy power pop with ease. The group has grown to nine, and each contribute to an album larger than the sum of its parts. While Newman could be considered the director of Cinema, drummer Kurt Dahle fills the role of surprising standout. Dahle provides a punch of percussion that was missing on Romantic and 2003's Electric Version, giving tracks like 'The Jessica Numbers' and 'Use It' a powerful foundation.
Of course, what sets Twin Cinema apart from other pop efforts are the innumerable layers that Newman and company pile onto that foundation. Fantastic vocal work reigns throughout. The underused Case croons beautifully on ballads like 'These Are the Fables' and 'The Bones of an Idol,' and the ash-dry vocals of Bejar on 'Jackie, Dressed in Cobras' complements his bouncy guitar line.
At its core, Cinema still compels the listener to hum along. Even when the group slows the tempo and drifts into minor chords, the results are still insanely catchy. But there's always another level worth appreciating on Cinema, making each listen enjoyable. Whether it's twisting lyrics that double back on themselves, the funk-infused ""Three or Four"" or Dahle's percussive codas, Cinema delivers a rich, otherworldly sound without relying on imposing, over-polished pop hooks. One just hopes that this tight, cohesive album isn't the last masterwork from the New Pornographers.
#2
The Go! Team
Thunder, Lightning, Strike
Released over a year ago in Britain, The Go! Team's Thunder, Lightning, Strike finally hit stateside this year. After tweaking some of the samples to clear copyright laws, the album shipped for a long-delayed American release. The Go! Team rewarded patient fans with two bonus B-side tracks and a new remastering.
Most hip hop sampling uses lifted hooks or beats to drive the track. Collage artists like DJ Shadow or the Avalanches sample everything'the baseline, the guitar riff, the drumbeat'to create an entire song from bits of other songs. The Go! Team builds off this tradition by combining instrumentation and vocals with late '70s/early '80s disco and funk samples to produce a danceable pastiche that goes far beyond the camp factor. After multiple listens, the songs hold up as thoughtful constructions, not as a silly cut-and-paste project.
Thunder, Lightning, Strike is a visceral album. The schoolyard noises, upbeat horn and flute sample and retro turntable scratches affect the listener because they come from an idealized adolescence of skipping rope and hopscotch. 'Junior Kickstart' could be the theme song of a cheesy cop show, 'Bottle Rocket' could be pumped from a ghetto blaster in a schoolyard break battle, and 'Huddle Formation' could be played over the closing credits of a teen movie.
The Go! Team knows which sounds resonate with our childhood memories.
#3
Kanye West
Late Registration
In 2005, the hip-hop world belonged to Kanye West. He was the only game in town, producing, rich, soulful tracks for artists like John Legend, Common and The Game, in addition to releasing his own sophomore effort, Late Registration'and he did it with no shortage of hubris. As he says on Registration, 'Most you rappers don't even deserve a track from me.'
Registration pretty much confirms that statement. It is a record that points out just how stagnant the rest of the hip hop scene has become. West thinks big. He didn't start beefs with 50 Cent or The Game; instead, he started one with President Bush. He did not turn to Dr. Dre for production; he instead enlisted multi-instrumentalist and Fiona Apple producer Jon Brion. As a result, Registration pushes the envelope sonically, with lush orchestration that greatly enhances West's trademark soul samples. Album-closer 'Gone' doesn't have a beat, it has an 'arrangement' featuring a seven-piece orchestra.
West has become a star while compulsively keeping his subject matter smart, rapping about the diamond trade, the sad state of the health care system, and his mother. Even the final punchline to his biggest hit, 'Gold Digger,' is a sly bit of social commentary. Given the subject matter, Registration could easily have sounded like sermonizing; it triumphs because it addresses these subjects with humor and hooks aplenty to make something new: the thinking man's party record.
#4
Bloc Party
Silent Alarm
With the post-punk revival going strong, the number of bands with disco drums and angular guitars competing for attention is making it harder for individual acts to get recognition. On Silent Alarm, Bloc Party moves out ahead of the pack by stretching the formula further than most others and combining a little of At The Drive-In's experimentalism and percussive force with the Wire and Gang of Four influences carrying the post-punk banner.
Many fans came for the dance beats of 'Banquet' and call-and-response verses of 'This Modern Love' but stayed for the twisting guitar lines'Helicopter.' Even a song like 'She's Hearing Voices,' almost completely stripped of melody and backed by an impossibly dissonant guitar, can't escape the catchiness hiding in every track on the album.
On 'Like Eating Glass' and 'Banquet,' Matt Tong makes himself a strong candidate for drummer of the year, and where the synthesizer splits a guitar solo in half on 'Positive Tension' could qualify as the best tension-building 1.5 seconds of music in years.
#5
Sufjan Stevens
Illinois
Here's the premise: a collection of songs written with Illinois as a central theme. Sounds like a gimmick, right? Song titles like 'Come On! Feel the Illinoise!' seem to back this up. But, titles aside, Sufjan Stevens and his backing band are impervious to irony. Over the course of Illinois' 22 tracks, they craft what stands as a real and achingly sincere American tribute.
Sufjan's songs skip through history, using Illinois' historical figures and places as settings for his richly detailed folk. The epic, seven-minute 'Come On! Feel the Illinoise!' employs a choir and multiple movements. It avoids coming off as cheesy or disingenuous, though, because Sufjan's aching and intimate vocals ground the arrangements. The standout is the haunting 'Casimir Pulaski Day,' about a teenage girl dying from bone cancer. 'At the Bible study / we lift our hands and pray over your body / but nothing ever happens,' Sufjan sings. He gives these heartbreaking details alongside such grand pronouncements as 'Oh Great White City, I've got the adequate Committee,' and weaves it all together into an extremely rewarding musical tapestry.
#6
Spoon
Gimme Fiction
Spoon's consistency rides on meticulous experimentation. Gimme Fiction is more than just raw, workmanlike rock, although it's hard not to arrive at that conclusion at first. But underneath the veneer of Gimme Fiction, there lies a wide-ranging variety of influences that repeatedly lift tracks above mere indie-rock-by-rote.
Opener 'The Beast and Dragon, Adored' is almost Beatles-esque, filled with classic piano hooks. 'The Two Sides of Monsieur Valentine' pumps out delicious blues-rock and bass, and the sparse, emotionally distant Prince-funk track 'I Turn My Camera On' is one of the most fun experiments of 2005. 'My Mathematical Mind' is a slow-burning, hypnotic trip that comes to a fuzzy, crashing conclusion. These four tracks open the album, but the rest are also far from filler.
It never fails to amaze how Spoon can play with their sound from album to album without abandoning the essential and defining characteristics. Fiction frequently sounds worlds apart from Kill the Moonlight and Girls Can Tell, and yet it's still standard Spoon. And that's a great thing.
#7
Bright Eyes
Digital Ash in a Digital Urn / I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning
If either of Bright Eyes' 2005 LPs, Digital Ash in a Digital Urn or I'm Wide Awake It's Morning, had not made the album of the year list, Conor Oberst would have written a song about how insanely depressed this made him feel.
Luckily, both made the list with justifiable cause'they are both amazing in their own right. When combined, they create a super LP nearly equivalent to his last masterpiece, Lifted. Each album presents its own unique style and sound. The more traditional Wide Awake features a folk backing which is indicative of the 'New Dylan' label commonly association with Oberst. Standout tracks include 'Lua,' 'Road to Joy' and 'First Day of My Life.'
The experimental Digital Ash represents new territory for Bright Eyes, and Oberst handles it amazingly. The techno sound combined with Oberst's strong lyrics create an album that is an aural delight. Closing out the album is 'Easy/Lucky/Free' which is possibly one of Oberst's most anthemic songs as he wails 'Don't you weep, don't you weep / there is nothing, so lucky, so easy, or free.'
Don't you weep either, Conor, you have locked down some of the best albums of 2005.
#8
Sigur R??s
Takk...
With this year's highly anticipated release of Takk..., it was hard to gauge how Sigur R??s would change or push the limits with its music on a fourth album. Already, Sigur R??s is one of the most experimental bands on the scene in its lyrics and instrumentation, which make it deservedly successful. Takk... embodies Sigur R??s at its absolute finest and most powerful, as it has matured artistically and embraced who it as a band.
Sigur R??s' ability to captivate audiences of all backgrounds and different languages, but still make its music speak to everyone and engage audiences highlight why the band is successful. Takk... emphasizes Sigur R??s' artistry as they evoke such an incredible passion with their lyrics and the way they build on instrumentation, creating explosive melodies. The album is entirely cohesive and solid from beginning to end, because each track blends into and complements the other, making the record a complete, stunning thought.
#9
Death Cab For Cutie
Plans
While some people screamed 'sell-outs' from the tallest rooftop, Death Cab For Cutie, with their first major label album, proved unequivocally that they were not. While still staying true to their indie roots, Death Cab took Plans in a direction that, while unexpected, works quite cohesively.
The band explores much new ground in this album. With 'I Will Follow You Into The Dark,' Ben Gibbard shows that he does not need a backing band or electronic beat to make beautiful songs. Death Cab's essence is exemplified by 'Sarah's Song,' a piece about watching a lover die. The metaphors and descriptions offered within it are memorable and mesmerizing.
These 11 songs, ranging from simply hopeful to introspective in the most eclectic way, offer hope to all fans of independent musicians out there. Just because the band makes some money does not mean that the quality has to suffer.
#10
Ryan Adams and the Cardinals
Cold Roses
With the release of 29 next week, Ryan Adams will have dropped three albums in 2005. Although Jacksonville City Nights and 29 are decent endeavors, they are not up to Adams' normal greatness. Luckily, Cold Roses meets and surpasses much of his catalog.
Cold Roses actually almost acts as a Ryan Adams greatest hits album. Included in its sprawling 18 tracks are ones which could have been taken from the country-esque Heartbreaker, or the poppy Gold. That is not to diminish what appears on Cold Roses, the album still stands out as one of Adams' best.
Jumping between out and out rockers like 'Beautiful Sorta' and 'Let it Ride' to more mellow fare like the haunting 'Friends' or 'How Do You Keep Love Alive'? Adams created a very diverse, amazing album which falls into several genres.
Of the 2005 Ryan Adams releases, Cold Roses, offers the most'it created a cadre of songs that will give his live shows an amazing amount of source material.
#11
Broken Social Scene
Broken Social Scene
As soon as the hurricane of feedback-drenched guitars kicks in on the second track of Broken Social Scene's self-titled LP, what once was a band becomes an indie-rock armada. On Broken Social Scene, the critically acclaimed Canadians finally made the sprawling album that their swelling ranks deserved.
In their newest record, producer David Newfeld weaves a dense aural tapestry, sometimes with all 15 members of the band playing at once. The results can be chaotic, often messy and even disorienting'but always magnificently so. Ranging from the sexy, trip-hopping 'Hotel' to the propulsive squall of '7/4 Shoreline,' to the bleary-eyed shimmer of 'Swimmers' to the ecstatic, horn-laden epic 'It's All Gonna Break,' the songs are as diverse as they are memorable.
With its last album, Broken Social Scene was catapulted into the indie stratosphere. On Broken Social Scene, they have earned the right to stay.
#12
Sleater-Kinney
The Woods
The cover art's parting curtains suggest that The Woods is an unveiling of something new for Sleater-Kinney. New producer Dave Fridmann brings a heavier sound than 2002's One Beat, calling to mind hard-rock influences like Zeppelin; add extended song lengths (one over 11 minutes) and experimentation, and it is clear that Sleater-Kinney is working outside the bounds of their usual punk-oriented aesthetic.
The band stays in attack-mode for much of the album: on 'Jumpers,' singer/guitarist Carrie Brownstein's vocals harmonize well with guitarist/lead-singer Corrin Tucker's, leading to an eruption in the drum-fueled chorus; 'What's Mine is Yours' features clever interplay between call-and-response guitar lines and sludge-filled exploration. It is a pleasant surprise that, at its center, The Woods harbors its only 'pretty' song; 'Modern Girl' features Tucker ditching her usual feral bellow for a schoolgirl-esque vocal performance that is nothing short of charming.
Doubters may have worried that Sleater-Kinney would sacrifice its original appeal for the sake of change, but the band has successfully melded old and new into perhaps its best effort to date.
#13
Common
Be
Common released the one of the greatest hip-hop albums of the year with Be, second only to his producer Kanye West's Late Registration. Featuring some of the most tightly constructed rhymes of the year played over a generous helping of Kanye's most soulful beats, Be is a shining superstar collaboration. Both emphasizing love for high-end production and individual style, when paired together, Kanye and Common almost dare each other to be better.
A laid back album compared to his previous, more conceptual album, Common successfully hit a rich street sound. Be's overall appeal and success is best summed up in the last line from its title track :'Never lookin back or too far in front of me / the present is a gift / and I just wanna be.'
Common's socially conscious and thought-provoking rhyme laid over the top of Kayne's catchy, hook-laden beats makes the most of this glorious moment.
#14
Beck
Guero
It's been three years since alternative folk rock musician Beck released an album, and in his latest offering, Guero, it seems he spent the time getting back to the surrealism that made him famous. A departure from his somber acoustic sets of 2002's Sea Change, Beck has built an album at home in the back alleys of Los Angeles or on the dance floor.
Using a bizarre blend of drums, guitars, string quartets, harmonicas and synthesizers, Beck recaptures the rambling feel of Odelay and the manic energy of Midnite Vultures, putting together songs that feel steady and professional'and even ethnic, in the case of 'Missing' or 'Qu?? Onda Guero.'
Guero is Beck back at the top of his game'not as groundbreaking as his earlier efforts, but drawing from all of them to make one hell of an album.
#15
Animal Collective
Feels
Animal Collective's Feels is a more focused album than last year's sprawling Sung Tongs. Animal Collective makes an effort to write actual songs rather than expansive psychedelic soundscapes. Although this move could turn off fans of its more experimental side, it produced the band's greatest work.
On the first half of the album, Animal Collective forces its strange atmospheres into a recognizable structure. The whole album is carefully sequenced so the melodies from different songs play off each other. Even within the songs, there are subtle patterns. The hyperactive 'Grass' weaves small crescendos in the verses with the larger cymbal crashes and screaming in the chorus to create a breathtaking three-minute burst.
The second half of the album dissolves back into familiar abstract, avant pop. Animal Collective eases the transition by offering a hybrid song-type that saves the album's cohesion. 'Bees' and 'Banshee Beat' link their slow atmosphere with the standard songwriting by making the hooks more pronounced. This new hybrid song type could be a sign of Animal Collective's new accessible direction. But Animal Collective's future is unpredictable'it follows whatever crazy whim it feels like.
