The Song Fight Bulletin Board

Pretty much what the label says. What were your top five?

For myself, in no particular order...

The Decemberists - Picaresque
Gorillaz - Demon Days
Boards of Canada - The Campfire Headphase
Sigur Ros - Takk...
Beck - Guerro

People have been mumbling about how it's been a bad year for music, but I think they say that every year.

in order:
1 The Decemberists, Picaresque
2 Fiona Apple, Extraordinary Machine
3 The Go! Team, Thunder, Lightning, Strike
4 OK Go, Oh No
5 The Clientele, Strange Geometry

honorable mentions in no order:
Sufjan Stevens, Illinois
The Marbles, Expo
Rogue Wave, Descended Like Vultures
Petra Haden and Bill Frisell, S/T
Tegan and Sara, So Jealous

reissues/etc.:
DJ Shadow, Endtroducing...
The Cure, Seventeen Seconds (Deluxe Edition)
Thelonious Monk Quartet With John Coltrane, Live at Carnegie Hall

good albums from 2005
decemberists - picaresque
eels - blinking lights and other revelations
sufjan stevens - illinoise
eric alexander - some kind of sex
ramona cordova - the boy who floated freely

the year's biggest disappointment
beck - guero

Pretty much the only 5 albums from 2005 I bought this year:

1. Desert City Soundtrack - Perfect Addiction
2. Mike Doughty - Haughty Melodic
3. Reggie and the Full Effect - Songs Not to Get Married To
4. Goblin Cock - Bagged and Boarded
5. Swords - Metropolis

bonus album I forgot I bought:
1. Petra Hayden & Bill Frisell. (thanks MK, I forgot about this one)
2. Ivy - In the Cellar

I wouldn't have pegged you for a Reggie fan, Ken.

This thread should really be moved to "Currently Digging."

Also, I'm going to go start one for movies.

edit: scratch that, I should wait until after King Kong, Narnia, etc. are released and digested.

mkilly wrote:I wouldn't have pegged you for a Reggie fan, Ken.

Really? I thought you knew me better. One guy, a bunch of bands, pop songs, harmonies, and analog synths? That's exactly what I like.

Ken

mkilly wrote:This thread should really be moved to "Currently Digging."

Well... Yeah, I guess so. My brain did not interpret "during the past year" as Current enough, but whatev

I'm not particularly fond of albums. I would love if bands released singles and then compiled all the good ones later into albums. But two albums I did enjoy were Dean Gray's "American Edit" and Future Boy & Johnny Cashpoint's "A Maze of Death".

My Favorite (almost) 5 of (almost) 2005

8. M.I.A. - Arular (Picaresque is a close 7th)
7. Autolux - Future Perfect (Oct 2004)
6. System of a Down - Mesmerize
[EDIT] 5. Mindless Self Indulgence - You'll Rebel to Anything
[EDIT] 4. The Spinto Band - Nice and Nicely Done
[EDIT] 3. Nine Inch Nails - A-With-ah A-Teeth-ahhhh!!!
2. Iron and Wine - Woman King
1. Death From Above - Death From Above (Oct 2004)

And the "Why-The-Hell-Do-The-Critics-Love-This?" award goes to:
LCD Soundsystem - Really Crappy Double Album

i honestly don't think i bought a single commercial CD this year.

too much free music to listen to

I'm not big on LCD Soundsystem either. The songs with lyrics disgust me and I really dug "Yeah (Pretentious Version)" until I saw the title and then I said fuck you, LCD Soundsystem, fuck you to hell.

Also, dude, you misspelled "Guero." Also, I heard "Guerolito" and it's good. Got it in at the station, mm-hmm.

Also, everybody, it's "Illinois." The name of the album is "Illinois."

Doves - Some Cities
Royksopp - The Understanding
Feist - Let it Die
Jorge Drexler - Eco
Spinto Band - Nice and Nicely Done

Honorable Mention

Jouse Rouse - Nashville
Sufjan Stevens - Come on Feel the Illinoise
Gorillaz - Demon Days
LCD Soundsystem
Jamie Lidell - Multiply
Beck - Guero
Paul Anka - Rock Swings

Lightning Bolt - Hypermagic Mountain
Animal Collective - Feels
John Prine - Fair and Square
LCD Soundsystem
Devendra Banhart - Cripple Crow

Off the top of my head anyway.

ok, i just finished cataloguing all of my cds, so i can select "2005" and see what i liked best. not in order. i didn't buy that much that came out this year, evidently.

a. brad sucks - i don't know what i'm doing (the pressed version came out in 2005)
b. out hud - let us never speak of it again (wild and cool)
c. kraftwerk - minimum-maximum (they still have it)

er, after that i don't know. probably 2 of these four:

d. noise unit - voyeur
e. over the rhine - a drunkard's prayer
f. sigur ros - takk
g. depeche mode - playing the angel

i guess i need to buy more cds
-bill

Let It Die is a 2004 release, though it didn't get an American distributor until 2005.

1. The Rakes - 'Capture/Release'
2. The Fall - Fall Heads Roll
3. Nancy Rubias- Nancy Rubias
4. Future Boy 'A Maze of Death'
5. Mylo - 'Destroy Rock 'n' Roll'

oh, i think i should add depeche mode's album. but it's not as good as some of their old albums.
-bill

This is too hard, so I will instead share 2005 albums that have to do with France.

Monsters in Love - Dionysos
sexe contre nourriture - momotte
Fragile - Les Tetes Raides
Noah's Ark - CocoRosie
Life if... - The Berg Sans Nipple This is actually an EP .. and I cant remember if it's Form of or Life if... but ya, cool.

mkilly wrote:Let It Die is a 2004 release, though it didn't get an American distributor until 2005.

You are correct. I liked Ariels by Bent, also a 2004 release, that didn't get here until this year as well.

Speak for Yourself by Imogen Heap is great too.

Actually, I think it was a great year for music, since I obviously can't limit the list to five.

Woman King - Iron and Wine
The Campfire Headphase - Boards of Canada
In the Reins - Calexico/Iron and Wine
In Case We Die - Architecture in Helsinki
13 and God - 13 and God

plus the re-release of Jose Gonzalez's Veneer.

Two Iron and Wine CDs... I guess it was just that kind of year. Anyway, that list neatly covers the spectrum.

EDIT: I don't know how I managed to forget Illinois. Great album.

i can only name 5 albums this year, so i guess they are my top 5:

1) ADD - Divider
2) jamie lidell - multiply
3) beck -guero
4) iron & wine - woman king
5) nine inch nails - with teeth

yeah i guess i like all those. The only one I can passionately claim as a favorite is ADD.

Oh I can also name "autechre- untilted", but that is not in the top of my anything list.

I'm sure BoC's new one would be on my list, but I have not heard it.

-craig

Best releases of the year:

5. Why? – Sandollars EP
4. Edan - Beauty and the Beat
3. Dr. Dog – Easy Beat
2. Asleep in the Sea – Their new EP
1. The Teeth – Carry the Wood

Honorable Mentions:

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah – Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
Half-handed Cloud – Thy is a Word and Feet Need Lamps
Architecture in Helsinki – In Case we Die
R.Kelly - "Trapped in the Closet" series

Best Reissue:

The first two Biff Rose albums on one CD!