Top 10 Albums of 2005
by john wenzel
1. Spoon – Gimme Fiction (Merge)
Listen up, kids: if you haven't heard Spoon yet it's
not too late to get into the habit. And for the fans
of this Austin, Texas-based trio, it's truly a habit.
Spoon's already airtight catalog was bolstered by
2005's best straight-up rock album, Gimme Fiction,
which boiled down all the melodic melancholy, roiling
rhythms, and sexual vigor of Prince, The Pixies,
Guided by Voices, and Elvis Costello into one superbly
paced platter.
2. The Rosebuds – Birds Make Good Neighbors (Merge)
The Rosebuds are Ivan Howard and Kelly Crisp and
whatever drummer happens to be handy (in this case,
Lee Waters). Their first album for Merge was upbeat,
melodic, and pretty boring. Their second album, Birds
Make Good Neighbors, introduced delicacy and grief in
equal doses, and hit an affecting note somewhere
between the girl groups of the '60s and the
pseudo-orchestral indie rock of the Arcade Fire. Sound
weird? It is. And really fucking good. Repeated
listens are richly rewarded.
3. Wolf Parade – Apologies to the Queen Mary (Sub Pop)
A cursory listen to this Montreal quartet's debut
full-length sounds like indie rock by-the-numbers.
Modest Mouse? Check. Arcade Fire? Check. Destroyer?
Check. But by the third listen the improbably
structured and ultimately victorious songs shine
through, all warbling vocals, duct-taped keyboards,
and overdriven basement guitars. You've done it again,
Sub Pop. Where did you get your discerning ears?
4. LCD Soundsystem – LCD Soundsystem (DFA/EMI)
I tried to resist this band but it was impossible:
James Murphy makes insanely ingratiating,
disco-friendly dance hits for cynical college radio
DJs, music critics, and ass-shakers everywhere. I
don't dance and I never have, but this year I danced
my ass off to "Tribulations." Listen to it a few times
and defy me not to do the same, especially if you've
had a couple drinks.
5. The Caribbean – Plastic Explosives (Home Tapes)
What a weird, wonderful cast of experimental pop
musicians the Caribbean are. The harder you listen to
this D.C.-based group's songs the more they reveal to
you, with lead singer Michael Kentoff's nasal vocals
cutting through the stitched-together clatter of
acoustic guitars, shifting polyrhythms, and twinkling
bells. If Yo La Tengo and The Books got a little too
drunk one night and slept together, The Caribbean
would appear nine months later, kicking and screaming
in that sideways, geometrically-arranged way of
theirs.
6. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah – Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
(self-released)
Whether or not you like this band's chiming, Talking
Heads-influenced indie rock, you've got to admit it's
heartening to see an unsigned act sell almost 35,000
copies of its home-recorded album out of their
Brooklyn apartment. That, and the song "In This Home
on Ice" is one of the catchiest three minutes and 58
seconds of music I've ever heard.
7. Lou Barlow - Emoh (Merge)
It's pretty amusing that Lou Barlow considers Emoh
his first solo album, considering he's second only to
Bob Pollard in the realm of prolific indie rocker,
home recorder-songwriters. But it's also good to hear
how this former Sebadoh leader struck the perfect
balance of labored-over production and inspired songs
on Emoh, reminding everyone why he was such an
underground rock darling to begin with. Plus, he's the
original bassist of Dinosaur Jr. You can't argue with
that.
8. Guided by Voices – Propeller (vinyl reissue, Scat)
Guided by Voices fans are a special breed, and their
voracious intake of Bob Pollard's equally gluttonous
output extends to both vinyl and CD. That's why,
despite the fact that this 1992 album has been
available on CD for a while, it was a treat to get it
re-pressed on wax. "Over the Neptune/Mesh Gear Fox"
sounds positively electric on vinyl, making you wonder
why it would take the rest of the world two more years
to finally catch up with these indie rock godfathers.
9. My Morning Jacket – Z (ATO)
Jim James and his Louisville, Kentucky-based cohorts
follow a strange and shifting muse, morphing their
sound over the years from spooky lo-fi rock to
Southern-fried jams to undisputed masters of all
popular genres. James' heavenly voice (think a less
annoying Kermit the Frog pumped through a
four-mile-long cardboard tube) perfectly complements
the nimble drumming and spot-on guitar work on "Z," an
album as enigmatic as its title.
10. The Mouse and the Mask – Danger Doom (Epitaph)
MF Doom and DJ Danger Mouse aren't exactly the most
revelatory combo in hip hop history, but they're
certainly one of the more organic ones. Forget about
all the Aqua Teen Hunger Force guest appearances
(which get a bit annoying after a few listens) and
concentrate on Doom's hilarious, intuitive flows and
Danger Mouse's samples and beats, which sound like the
glorious second coming of Dr. Octagon.
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