Z on Year End Lists

[LaurieBlue]

http://www.dailyevergreen.com/disp_story.php?storyId=15702

Stripes top this list
Just A Word Before I Go
CHRIS SENN(Bio)
CONTRIBUTING WRITER  
 
Just A Word Before I Go
Chris Senn

Well, this is it. I'm graduating on Saturday. After two semesters of writing music reviews for The Daily Evergreen, it's time for me to say goodbye. However, it is nearing the end of the year. So before I go, here are my top 10 albums of 2005.


1. The White Stripes - "Get Behind Me Satan"

How can Jack White go wrong? This is the fourth masterpiece in a row released by the White Stripes, and with each one they become more and more intriguing. Some of their most experimental songs such as the marimba driven "The Nurse," coexist with some of their catchiest songs to date. Try to survive the one two three punch served up by Jack and Meg on the unrelenting drive of "My Doorbell," "The Denial Twist" and "Take Take Take." This year, the White Stripes blow away the competition.


2. Beck – "Guero"

Beck continues to amaze me. There is nobody like him in the music industry right now, and I don't think there will ever be. Beck is as unique as a musician comes and his album, "Guero," proves it. Beck goes from rock to rap to latin music and back again. "Guero" is definitely the most eclectic album of the year and still near the top of my list despite being released back in April. "Earthquake Weather" is the under-appreciated gem on this one.


3. Magic Numbers – "Magic Numbers"

The Magic Numbers win my Best New Artist award and my award for best single this year. Reminiscent of the Mamas and the Papas, the Magic Numbers consists of two brother and sister pairs. Try listening to "Forever Lost," without getting it stuck in your head for days. The rest of the album is quite good also, especially the upbeat, fast-paced "Long Legs."


4. Living Things – "Ahead of the Lions"

As I said in a review earlier this semester, this is what great rock and roll should be. "Ahead of the Lions" is rough around the edges but most importantly challenges the status quo. It is a very political album. The lead single, "Bom Bom Bom," accuses the government of shipping young soldiers off to die. Pick up this album if you like bands such as T-Rex and MC5.


5. Coldplay – "X&Y"

Coldplay's third album picks up right where "A Rush of Blood to the Head" left off. They have somehow managed to keep their brand of melancholic love songs intriguing for the third time around. Spaced out, atmospheric sounds run through the entire album. Songs like the first single, "Speed of Sound," "Fix You" and "White Shadows," are the standouts on another awesome effort by Mr. Gwyneth Paltrow and company.


6. New Pornographers – "Twin Cinema"

Don't let the name fool you; the New Pornographers are harmless and quite safe to listen to. Hailing from Vancouver, B.C., this indie-rock band fills their third album with the near perfect power-pop that made their first two albums great. On "Twin Cinema," the New Pornographers adds two new vocalists to join Neko Case and A.C. Newman. The key track is "These are the Fables."


7. Audioslave – "Out of Exile"

When they released their first album, many music fans and critics alike wrote Audioslave off as a gimmick. They thought of them as a super-group without legitimate staying power. After Audioslave released "Out of Exile," their sophomore album, many realized that Audioslave is now its own entity, a bona fide rock band. "Doesn't Remind Me," and "Your Time Has Come," are instant classics.


8. Ben Folds – "Songs for Silverman"

Ben Folds' new album is also one of the sleepers this year. Folds has always produced exceptional material. Many times his albums are overlooked because of the warped sense of humor he integrates into many of his songs. For this effort, he decided to drop some of the humor and inject a small amount of seriousness, releasing his most solid album in years. Check out "Late," written after the loss of his friend, Elliott Smith.


9. Mike Doughty – "Haughty Melodic"

This was one of the surprise albums of the year. Haughty Melodic is a very consistent effort from Mike Doughty, the former leader of Soul Coughing. In recent years he has matured into a top rate singer-songwriter. He has always been a great lyricist and the songs on this release prove it. Some of the best tracks are "Looking at the World from the Bottom of a Well," "Busting up a Starbucks" and "Tremendous Brunettes," featuring Dave Matthews.


10. My Morning Jacket – "Z"

On their new album, My Morning Jacket left much of their southern rock sound behind in exchange for a psychedelic one. On this album they expand their musical range and demonstrate their willingness to try new things. My Morning Jacket at times sounds very close to The Flaming Lips. The standout track is "Off the Record." This is a very solid album from a band that continues to evolve.

[LaurieBlue]

http://www.filter-mag.com/news/interior.2809.html

Filter's Top 10 of 2005 Day Four: Nick Harmer of Death Cab For Cutie
by Staff & Nick Harmer | 12.06.2005

 2005 may have very well been the year of Death Cab For Cutie. I mean, they are Seth Cohen's favorite band. The follow-up album to 2003's Transatlanticism, Plans has made Death Cab emerge from the indie-elite to the mainstream cool. To see what fueled the band's creative buzz this year, we asked bassist Nick Harmer what his picks were for 2005.

Nick Harmer of Death Cab For Cutie

1. Eluvium – Talk Amongst the Trees (Temporary Residence)
2. Spoon – Gimme Fiction (Merge)
3. Stars – Set Yourself On Fire (Arts & Crafts)
4. Feist – Let it Die (Universal)
5. The Decemberists – Picaresque (Kill Rock Stars)
6. The Constantines – Tournament of Hearts (Sub Pop)
7. John Vanderslice – Pixel Revolt (Barsuk)
8. Okkervil River – Black Sheep Boy (Jagjaguar)
9. Sun Kil Moon – Tiny Cities (Caldo Verde)
10. My Morning Jacket – Z (ATO)

The band will also be one of the acts at this year's Giant New year's Eve party in Downtown, Los Angeles. For more info on tickets, click here.

[LaurieBlue]

//

The top 10 (kind of)albums of the year  
 
By Michael Petitti
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Wednesday, December 7, 2005
Print this

Good music is like good food - you have to develop your palette. As my colleague Nate Buchik recently pointed out, the majority of people are content indulging in the likes of Ashlee Simpson (grilled cheese on moldy white bread), Korn (pasta with ketchup) and Nickelback (day-old glazed donuts). Clearly, anyone with more than an elementary school appetite wouldn't eat that shit, so why listen to it?

If you're still wondering how to find this delicious music - aside from the Arizona Daily Wildcat - I still recommend a trip to www.pitchforkmedia.com. For the meantime, here are 10(ish) albums that ruled this year and make for a well-balanced musical diet. Bon appetit.



5. My Morning Jacket: Z

These Kentucky rockers are the superfluous wine metaphor and Z finds them tasting riper than ever. MMJ serves up country-rock "Lay Low" with a side of Lynyrd Skynyrd guitar-rock "Off the Record" and a generous smattering of experimental-rock "Into the Woods." Despite adding two new ingredients (guitarist/keyboardist) for this album, Z makes for one of the most satisfying and repeatable meals of the year. It doesn't hurt that Jim James' honey vocals smother even the most oblique and scary lyrics and turn them into your favorite snack.

[LaurieBlue]

http://www.houstonpress.com/Issues/2005-12-08/music/music.html

MUSIC
A Pack of Mutts
The lone wolves of 2005
By John Nova Lomax

Published: Thursday, December 8, 2005


As far as music goes, I am not a tribal person. I am not prodded by Pitchfork, nor narcotized by Relix, nor are my spirits lifted by No Depression. Not to say that those media sources are entirely flawed -- indeed, each has its virtues. But each of these influential outlets has an overweening aesthetic: Each approaches a CD from a sort of preconceived ideal, and should a work stray from that imagined purity, it often suffers in their estimation. And those mongrels and strays are the very albums I love -- the ones that are too artsy and meandering for No Dep, too rootsy and plainspoken for Pitchfork, and too concise for the hippies at Relix. Here's a list of ten of those records for all you other lone wolves out there.
1. My Morning Jacket, Z (ATO): Sure, the lyrics are stupid (burning kittens and babies in blenders, anyone?), and the pub-rock/Hawaii 5-0/carnival-in-hell middle stretch of the record sags a bit, but the seven majestic masterpieces that bookend Z more than make up for those shortcomings. It'll remind you of everything from the Celtic righteous-rock of bands like U2 and the Waterboys ("Wordless Chorus" and "Gideon") to the fretboards afire/full-tilt keyboards attack of the Allmans ("Lay Low") to the narcodelic wooze of mid-period Floyd and early Radiohead. All that and occasional tinges of classical piano, and soca and West African highlife guitars. Z is grandiose in the best possible way -- an album that'll turn the inside of your head into an ornate, vaulting cathedral.

[LaurieBlue]

http://www.filter-mag.com/news/interior.2819.html

  
Filter's Top 10 of 2005, Day Five: Adam Olenius of Shout Out Louds
by Staff & Adam Olenius | 12.07.2005

 It would be putting it lightly to say that Swedish rock sensation the Shout Out Louds have had quite a year! Between releasing their breakout record Howl Howl Gaff Gaff and touring the globe in the company of such bands as the Futureheads and Secret Machines, the four boys and a girl quintet even made time to play an amazingly memorable set for Filter during SXSW. They're taking their time out for us again, this time in the form of a year-end top ten.


Adam Olenius of Shout Out Louds

1. Architecture in Helsinki – In Case We Die (Bar None)
2. Antony and the Johnsons – I am a Bird Now (Secretly Canadian)
3. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah – Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (self-released)
4. M.I.A. – Arular (XL/Beggars)
5. The Magic Numbers – The Magic Numbers (Capitol)
6. The Decemberists – Picaresque (Kill Rock Stars)
7. Feist – Let It Die (Universal)
8. Teenage Fanclub – Man-Made (Merge)
9. My Morning Jacket – Z (ATO)

[LaurieBlue]

http://www.filter-mag.com/news/interior.2820.html

Filter's Top 10 of 2005, Day Five: Swearing At Motorists
by Staff & Dave Doughman | 12.07.2005

 It was 1995 when Swearing At Motorists issued their first release on a DIY cassette. Nowadays, the Secretly Canadian signees have a much more extensive (and impressive) tour history and discography under their belt, so it was only fitting that we here at Filter inquired singer and aggressive pedestrian Dave Doughman to found out what he has lauded as the ten best records of this year, the ten year mark of their musical career. Yes, much props are given to old tourmates, Spoon.

Dave Doughman of Swearing At Motorists

1. Spoon – Gimme Fiction (Merge)
2. Julia Hummer and Too Many Boys – Downtown Cocoluccia (Strange Ways)
3. My Morning Jacket – Z (ATO)
4. Okkervil River – Black Sheep (Jagjaguar)
5. South San Gabriel – The Carlton Chronichles: Not Until the Operation's Through (Misra)
6. Scout Niblett – Kidnapped By Neptune (Too Pure/Beggars)
7. Oranges Band – The World and Everything in It (Lookout)
8. Herman Düne – Not On Top (Heat33)
9. Broken Social Scene – Broken Social Scene (Arts & Crafts)
10. Mazarin – We're Already There (I and Ear)

[LaurieBlue]

http://www.sfbg.com/40/10/noise/toptens.html

San Fran Bay Guardian

Adam Metz's top 10
Kanye West, Late Registration (Roc-A-Fella)

Run Return, Metro North (n5MD)

My Morning Jacket, Z (Badman)

Various artists, Mojo Mod Club Party compilation (Mojo magazine)

Various artists, Children of Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the Second Psychedelic Era – 1976-1996 (Rhino)

Bloc Party, Silent Alarm Remixed (Vice)

Let Go, Let Go (Militia)

John Parish, Once upon a Little Time (Thrill Jockey)

New Pornographers, Twin Cinema (Matador)

The Eames Era, The Second EP (C Student)

Bonus beats: Josh Ritter, Thin Blue Flame CD-5 (self-released)

[LaurieBlue]

http://homegrownmusic.net/

Staff Picks:

Brian: The Bridge - Cross Street Market
Bryan: Dave Matthews Band - Weekend On The Rocks
Lee: Umphrey's McGee - Wrapped Around Chicago
Robie: My Morning Jacket - Z

[LaurieBlue]

The Mojo top 10 albums of 2005 are:

1. I AM A BIRD NOW - ANTONY + THE JOHNSONS

2. FUNERAL - ARCADE FIRE

3. AERIAL - KATE BUSH

4. DEVILS AND DUST - BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN

5. Z - MY MORNING JACKET

6. CHAVEZ RAVINE - RY COODER

7. THE MAGIC NUMBERS - THE MAGIC NUMBERS

8. INTO THE WOODS - MALCOLM MIDDLETON

9. DIMANCHE A BAMAKO - AMADOU AND MIRIAM

10. COLES CORNER - RICHARD HAWLEY.


------------------------------

[LaurieBlue]

KEKP DJs

All of the lists are in order unless there are no numbers, in which case they are in no particular order.
 
 
Cheryl Waters - Variety Mix

Hopewell - Hopewell and the Birds of Appetite (Tee Pee)
Sufjan Stevens - Illinois (Asthmatic Kitty)
Cloud Cult - Advice From the Happy Hippopatamus (Earthology)
My Morning Jacket - Z (ATO)
Elbow - Leaders of the Free World (V2)
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Self-Released
Okkervil River - Black Sheep Boy (Jagjaguwar)
Stephen Malkmus - Face the Truth (Matador)
The Mountain Goats - The Sunset Tree (4AD)
The Black Angels - The Black Angels EP (Light In The Attic)
 
 
 DJ Mr. Smith - Variety Mix

Hold Steady - Separation Sunday (French Kiss)
LCD Sound System - self titled (DFA)
My Morning Jacket - Z (ATO)
M.I.A. - Arular (XL)
Cloud Cult - Advice from the Happy Hippopotamus (Baria)
Lyrics Born - Same ! @#$ Different Day (Quannum Projects)
The Constantines - Tournament of Hearts (Sub Pop)
The Purrs - The Dreams our Stuff Is Made Of (self released)
Wedding Present - Take Fountain (Manifesto)
Spoon - Gimme Fiction (Merge)
  
 DJ Shannon - Variety Mix

1. Doves - Some Cities (Capitol)
2. My Morning Jacket - Z (Ato Records)
3. Bloc Party - Silent Alarm (Vice Records)
4. Engineers - Home (ECHO)
5. Kasabian - Kasabian (RCA)
6. The Coral - The Invisible Invasion (Sony/BMG)
7. The Magic Numbers - The Magic Numbers (Capitol)
8. Aqualung - Strange and Beautiful (Red Int / Red Ink)
9. Editors - The Back Room (Kitchenware)
10. LCD Soundsystem - LCD Soundsystem (DFA)
 
 
Don Slack - Swingin' Doors

Kanye West - Late Registration (Roc-a-Fella)
Robbie Fulks - Georgia Hard (Yep Roc)
My Morning Jacket - Z (ATO/RCA)
Gary Allan - Tough All Over (MCA)
The White Stripes - Get Behind Me Satan (V2)
The Wrights - Down This Road (ACR/RCA)
Merle Haggard - Chicago Wind (Capitol)
The Earaches - Get the Revolution Out of Your Head (Steel Cage)
Gretchen Wilson - All Jacked Up (Epic)
Okkervil River - Black Sheep Boy (Jagjaguwar)
  
 
John Richards - Variety Mix

1. Sufjan Stevens - Illinois (Asthmatic Kitty)
2. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (Self-Released)
3. Bloc Party - Silent Alarm (Vice)
4. Elbow - Leaders of the Free World (V2)
5. Death Cab for Cutie - Plans (Atlantic)
6. Various Artists - LIVE at KEXP Vol 1 (KEXP)
7. My Morning Jacket - Z (ATO/RCA)
8. Tom Brosseau - What I Mean To Say Is Goodbye (Loveless)
9. The National - Alligator (Beggars)
10. Cloud Cult - Advice from the Happy Hippopotamus (Earthology)
 
Kevin Cole - Variety Mix

Sufjan Stevens - Illinois (Asthmatic Kitty)
My Morning Jacket - Z (ATO)
Sigur Ros - Takk (Geffen)
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (Self-Released)
Antony & the Johnsons - I Am A Bird Now (Secretly Canadian)
Bright Eyes - I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning (Saddle Creek)
Wedding Present - Take Fountain (Manifesto Records)
Bloc Party - Silent Alarm (Vice)
The Magic Numbers - The Magic Numbers (Capitol)
MIA - Aruler (XL/Beggars)
Cloud Cult - Advice from a Happy Hippopotamus (Earthology)

 
http://kexp.org/programming/djtop10.asp

[dragonboy]

Number 35 in UK's Q magazine.
Number 1 is Coldplay  :-/
Hmm...I might have to stop buying Q magazine.

No mention of Z in NME's top50  >:(

[cmccubbin25]

Number 35 in UK's Q magazine.
Number 1 is Coldplay  :-/
Hmm...I might have to stop buying Q magazine.

No mention of Z in NME's top50  >:(

what do the Brits know anyway...ha ha...just joking!

[dragonboy]

I'm a Brit but I've been out of the country for about 6years so I'll let that one slip. Someone else will have have to stand up for HRH Queen Liz & The Blair (I'm GW's) Bitch Project  ;)

[LaurieBlue]

http://www.filter-mag.com/news/interior.2829.ht

Filter's Top 10 of 2005, Day Seven: Producer Christopher Fudurich
by Staff & Christopher Fudurich | 12.09.2005

 Christopher Fudurich is probably on your year end top ten without even knowing it. Los Angeles-based producer extraordinaire has helped produce and engineer albums for artists like Nada Surf, Ozma, and Fishbone, and it's his keen ear for sonics that has made us wonder what is in his top ten. Take a look!

Christopher Fudurich (producer: Nada Surf, Facing New York, Fielding)

1. Sigur Rós – Takk (Geffen)
2. Boards of Canada – The Campfire Headphase (Warp)
3. Nada Surf – The Weight is a Gift (Barsuk)
4. Gorillaz – Demon Days (Virgin)
5. Six Organs of Admittance – School of the Flower (Drag City)
6. My Morning Jacket – Z (ATO)
7. LCD Soundsystem – LCD Soundsystem (Warp)
8. Broken Social Scene – Broken Social Scene (Arts & Crafts)
9. Fair to Midland – Inter. Funda. Stifle. (FTF)
10. Fielding – Fielding (Militia)

[LaurieBlue]

http://www.dailyevergreen.com/disp_story.php?storyId=15702

Stripes top this list
Just A Word Before I Go
CHRIS SENN(Bio)
CONTRIBUTING WRITER  
Email this author!
View this in the paper!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 
Just A Word Before I Go
Chris Senn


Well, this is it. I'm graduating on Saturday. After two semesters of writing music reviews for The Daily Evergreen, it's time for me to say goodbye. However, it is nearing the end of the year. So before I go, here are my top 10 albums of 2005.


1. The White Stripes - "Get Behind Me Satan"

How can Jack White go wrong? This is the fourth masterpiece in a row released by the White Stripes, and with each one they become more and more intriguing. Some of their most experimental songs such as the marimba driven "The Nurse," coexist with some of their catchiest songs to date. Try to survive the one two three punch served up by Jack and Meg on the unrelenting drive of "My Doorbell," "The Denial Twist" and "Take Take Take." This year, the White Stripes blow away the competition.


2. Beck – "Guero"

Beck continues to amaze me. There is nobody like him in the music industry right now, and I don't think there will ever be. Beck is as unique as a musician comes and his album, "Guero," proves it. Beck goes from rock to rap to latin music and back again. "Guero" is definitely the most eclectic album of the year and still near the top of my list despite being released back in April. "Earthquake Weather" is the under-appreciated gem on this one.


3. Magic Numbers – "Magic Numbers"

The Magic Numbers win my Best New Artist award and my award for best single this year. Reminiscent of the Mamas and the Papas, the Magic Numbers consists of two brother and sister pairs. Try listening to "Forever Lost," without getting it stuck in your head for days. The rest of the album is quite good also, especially the upbeat, fast-paced "Long Legs."


4. Living Things – "Ahead of the Lions"

As I said in a review earlier this semester, this is what great rock and roll should be. "Ahead of the Lions" is rough around the edges but most importantly challenges the status quo. It is a very political album. The lead single, "Bom Bom Bom," accuses the government of shipping young soldiers off to die. Pick up this album if you like bands such as T-Rex and MC5.


5. Coldplay – "X&Y"

Coldplay's third album picks up right where "A Rush of Blood to the Head" left off. They have somehow managed to keep their brand of melancholic love songs intriguing for the third time around. Spaced out, atmospheric sounds run through the entire album. Songs like the first single, "Speed of Sound," "Fix You" and "White Shadows," are the standouts on another awesome effort by Mr. Gwyneth Paltrow and company.


6. New Pornographers – "Twin Cinema"

Don't let the name fool you; the New Pornographers are harmless and quite safe to listen to. Hailing from Vancouver, B.C., this indie-rock band fills their third album with the near perfect power-pop that made their first two albums great. On "Twin Cinema," the New Pornographers adds two new vocalists to join Neko Case and A.C. Newman. The key track is "These are the Fables."


7. Audioslave – "Out of Exile"

When they released their first album, many music fans and critics alike wrote Audioslave off as a gimmick. They thought of them as a super-group without legitimate staying power. After Audioslave released "Out of Exile," their sophomore album, many realized that Audioslave is now its own entity, a bona fide rock band. "Doesn't Remind Me," and "Your Time Has Come," are instant classics.


8. Ben Folds – "Songs for Silverman"

Ben Folds' new album is also one of the sleepers this year. Folds has always produced exceptional material. Many times his albums are overlooked because of the warped sense of humor he integrates into many of his songs. For this effort, he decided to drop some of the humor and inject a small amount of seriousness, releasing his most solid album in years. Check out "Late," written after the loss of his friend, Elliott Smith.


9. Mike Doughty – "Haughty Melodic"

This was one of the surprise albums of the year. Haughty Melodic is a very consistent effort from Mike Doughty, the former leader of Soul Coughing. In recent years he has matured into a top rate singer-songwriter. He has always been a great lyricist and the songs on this release prove it. Some of the best tracks are "Looking at the World from the Bottom of a Well," "Busting up a Starbucks" and "Tremendous Brunettes," featuring Dave Matthews.


10. My Morning Jacket – "Z"

On their new album, My Morning Jacket left much of their southern rock sound behind in exchange for a psychedelic one. On this album they expand their musical range and demonstrate their willingness to try new things. My Morning Jacket at times sounds very close to The Flaming Lips. The standout track is "Off the Record." This is a very solid album from a band that continues to evolve.
 

[LaurieBlue]

http://www.thestrand.ca/media/paper404/news/2005/12/01/FilmMusic/Best-Albums.Of.2005-1116796.shtml?norewrite&sourcedomain=www.thestrand.ca

Best albums of 2005
The Strand's fiercest music critics, Ryan Hardy and Nav Purewal, stare down and select the top albums of 2005. So your favourite album didn't make the cut? Questioning why they choose said album? No need to be hatin'. Maybe your music just simply sucks.
By: Ryan Hardy and Nav Purewal
Issue date: 12/1/05 Section: Film & Music
Article Tools: Page 1 of 1

Ryan Hardy's Picks:

Following the excitement and change of 2003 and 2004, 2005 has seemed, on the whole, like a disappointment. But the overall crappiness only makes the moments of excellence seem even better. Here's ten of them:


10. My Morning Jacket - Z

It's tempting to say that My Morning Jacket are the right band at the wrong time. But that begs the question: what time would have been right for a band like this? For all the "Southern rock" comparisons, it's difficult to imagine any actual fans of Skynyrd and the Allmans (aside from, er, me) loving MMJ. The era that is congenial for a band of sensitive Southerners helmed by a songwriter as subtle and ambitious as Jim James has yet to happen. Either way, Z charts the course between Eat A Peach, Tumbleweed Connection and Lifted or The Story Is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground, and should please open-minded fans of all three.


9. Kelly Osbourne - Sleeping in the Nothing

If historians remember Kelly Osbourne at all, it will be for this album. The historical significance of Sleeping in the Nothing is twofold. Most obviously, it serves as an indication of just how mainstream the eighties synth revival and, more generally, electronic music altogether had become by 2005. It will also probably stand as the absolute peak of the woefully misnamed phenomenon known as "electroclash." But it's not just for geeks in the future. This is a great pop album that allows two rather problematic talents-Osbourne herself and producer/Non-Blonde Linda Perry-to show how good they can be. Bonus points for the anti-date rape anthem "Don't Touch Me While I'm Sleeping."


8. Ellen Allien - Thrills

Sooner or later, Ellen Allien is going to be kicked out of Germany. Oh, sure, she seems like the latest in a proud tradition of inscrutable, ice-cold Teutonic musicians working with electronic technology (Kraftwerk, Manuel Göttsching, Basic Channel, Ekkehard Ehlers) but she's got a secret: beneath her shiny, metallic veneer lies a warm, beating heart. Synths and glitches aside, Ellen Allien is fundamentally a sentimentalist who just wants people to put the guns away and fall in love. That kind of thing has no place in the music of a country that produced both National Socialism and KMFDM.


7. Bloc Party - Silent Alarm

Sorry, do they suck now? Are they overexposed? Played out? Have we moved on? The hype machine comes and the hype machine goes, but actually talented bands, such as Bloc Party, can ignore the haters and stick to making good music. Ultimately it doesn't matter who the NME thinks will save rock and roll this week. A band that can write good songs and play very, very well, and that moreover does so with some passion and chutzpah, will always be in demand.


6. LCD Soundsystem - LCD Soundsystem

There are good albums, there are great albums, and then there are those albums that may not exactly be the best in show but which manage to utterly nail down a moment in time. This is such an album.


5. David Banner - Certified

At a record industry showcase a few months ago, David Banner looked out at a sea of critics and label executives and informed them: "If my record don't sell and my father die [his father has cancer], I'm a kill all y'all." He then proceeded to make his DJ play "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana. In other words, David Banner is a mad genius who is willing to spit lines like "beat it like Mike when he fucked Billie Jean" over some of the nastiest Deep South beats you will ever hear. Buy this album and help save the life of everyone in the audience at that showcase.


4. The Game - The Documentary

Dismissed as the product of an out-of-control Shady/Aftermath/G-Unit hype machine, and then subsequently cast aside by the same machine pretty much for talking too much shit, The Game appeared to have a rough year. Except that his album went platinum, produced three huge singles, and firmly established him as a major force in rap music (that is, if he can get off Interscope). Beneath all the media drama and commercial success, however, there was also the years finest rap album. Some of rap's great albums are great because they occupy a unique place in history (such as 3 Feet High and Rising or Raising Hell) whereas others possess an almost mystical je-ne-sais-quoi (like Illmatic or Madvillainy). Then some are just shit-hot beats matched to a talented MC rapping for his life. Like The Documentary.


3. Doves - Some Cities

Every generation of British teenagers needs a quintessentially English guitar band to write songs that express their emotions more cogently than they themselves are capable of doing. For the chav generation, that band is the Doves: ordinary dudes who do unspectacular things like have a minor rave hit in the early nineties or knock up a girl who works at Red Lobster. Although they may be average Britons, Doves are not an average band. The songs on Some Cities range from gloomy and atmospheric to vibrant and charming, with nary a throwaway in the bunch. But the heart of the album is "Black and White Town," a tense anthem for Tony Blair's Britain that firmly cements Some Cities in the noble tradition of earnest, humane, irrepressible British proletarian rock.


2. M83 - Before The Dawn Heals Us

Ellen Allien may be sentimental, but M83 are emo. On Before The Dawn Heals Us M83 frontman Anthony Gonzalez seems hell-bent on pushing as many buttons in as many people as he can. How else to explain the genuinely distressing "Car Chase Terror!" or song titles like "Don't Save Us From The Flames" and the probably-not-ironic "Teen Angst." Being French, M83 have clearly decided that the world is headed to hell in a handbasket and that the only possible response is to release album after album of ornate, tear-jerking shoegazetronica. As with The Game, this album works because M83 believe passionately in what they do.


1. Sleater-Kinney -The Woods

Back in the nineties, when Sleater-Kinney were still confined to the artistic ghetto known as Kill Rock Stars, Greil Marcus dubbed them the world's greatest rock band. He was right then. He's righter now (to the extent that it affects my grammar). Of course Sleater-Kinney play very well, especially Carrie Brownstein. Of course the vocal combo of Brownstein and Tucker consistently mixes full-bore aggression with emotive nuance and unconscious sex appeal. Of course the songs are uniformly well-written and diverse. But what really puts them at the top of the pyramid is their guts. Most bands spend their whole career playing the same kind of music, whereas Sleater-Kinney have changed with each album, and travelled an astonishing distance from their Riot Grrl origins (Their only mediocre album is their first). Even if plenty bands have released a variety of unique albums, almost no bands can say that, in their mid-thirties, at the height of their career, they changed labels, spent some time in group therapy so they wouldn't split up and chose a producer (Dave Fridmann) whose own band (Mercury Rev) sounds nothing like S-K and who, in fact, wasn't even a fan of their material all in order to release the hardest-rocking, most-challenging album of their career. On The Woods Sleater-Kinney held nothing back, ignored all the consequences, and put to shame almost every other band in existence.

[LaurieBlue]

http://www.glidemagazine.com/articles216.html

My Morning Jacket - Z

It's been two years and a pair of band members since 2003's thunderous It Still Moves, but Z unveils a totally reinvented My Morning Jacket. Jim James trades his reverb drenched rockers in favor of shorter psychedelic keyboard numbers that are more art-rock than southern ragers. With Z's exotic rhythms and textures, My Morning Jacket scrapes the Kentucky dust off their sleeves, in favor of a big city sheen. With each step forward, they continue to be the band you love more than before.

[LaurieBlue]

http://www.exclaim.ca/

Pop/Rock:
1. Sufjan Stevens
2. New Pornographers
3. Wolf Parade
4. Bloc Party
5. Spoon
6. Sleater-Kinney
7. MMJ
8. Antony and the Johnsons
9. ...Trail of Dead
10. Death Cab for Cutie
11. The Go! Team
12. Teenage Fanclub
13. Black Mountain
14. Bright Eyes (I'm Wide Awake...)
15. QOTSA
16. Raveonettes
17. Deadly Snakes
18. Animal Collective
19. Broadcast
20. Final Fantasy

[LaurieBlue]

http://www.advancetitan.com/story.asp?issue=11214&story=4538

Inside the Album: The A-T's Staff Picks
he Best Albums of 2005 Issue: Wednesday, December 14, 2005
Added: 12/14/2005 1:44:50 AM
 
Nick Gumm,A&E editor

1. "Jacksonville City Nights"— Ryan Adams

This is probably one of Ryan Adams' best albums to date. "Jacksonville City Nights" embraces Adams' alt-county background, drawing further on influences like Hank Williams Sr., which is clearly evident on "Peaceful Valley." Although there are deviations from this sound in songs like his duet with Norah Jones, "John," Adams has almost perfected the alt-county sound. With the Cardinals as his backing band, Adam's sound has reached a new level. The instrumentation like that on "Cold Roses" is steeped in layers—peddle steel, piano, lead and rhythm guitar are just as lyrical as Adam's meandering and piercing voice. No words or justifications for brilliance can encapsulate the album. It speaks for itself.

2. "Get Behind Me Satan"— The White Stripes

In the world of over-driven guitar rock from Detroit, the White Stripes reign supreme. On their latest release, however, the Stripes have taken their progressive version of distorted blues-rock in a new direction. "Get Behind Me Satan" incorporates a wide range of instruments, including marimba, bells, piano and mandolin. Formatted around similar riffs normally played on guitar, White utilizes the timbre of the piano to achieve a completely new sound. Songs like "Door Bell" and "Denial Twist" are perfect examples of this. White even draws upon bluegrass and folk traditions of story telling to add a new dimension to the songs. Even though there is a new instrumentation on this release, the Stripes are able to rock just as hard.

3. "Howl"— The Black Rebel Motorcycle Club

With their August release of "Howl," the Black Rebel Motorcycle Club completely changed their sound. Instead of continuing their blander version of Jesus Mary Chain's sound, they opted to turn to a more traditional blues-rock, folk-gospel sound. The dual acoustic guitars, harmonica and simplistic drums highlight the intensity of the vocals. In songs like "There Ain't No Easy Way" and "Shuffle Your Feet" the band employs chants to not only create natural hooks but to highlight the spiritual shift in band. With an overwhelming aura of pain, loss and a time forgotten, "Howl" is a line drawn in the sand by the band—accept our sound and our message or force us to fade out into obscurity. The song "Sympathetic Noose" is probably one of the best songs written in this year. Wholly embracing this sound, the band has created the sound of an instant classic.

4. "Extraordinary Machine"— Fiona Apple

Released in October, the album refines the imperfections of her previous sound while still exposing the imperfections in this female. With self-effacing tracks like "Tymps" and "Please Please Please," Apple doesn't detract from her normal content. What is striking about the album is the sound quality of it. The instrumentation on all her mini jazz-infused symphonies feel complete, unlike previous releases. Apple's voice, which wavers with hesitation and meekness, cuts through all the songs with an overwhelming confidence. Her sultry jazzy delivery accentuates the off beats that punctuate her songs. "Extraordinary Machine" has everything from simplistic stripped down jazzy tunes to lavish orchestrated songs.

5. "Z"— My Morning Jacket

"Z" proves that this is the year for change in music. Bands that were traditionally thought to embody a sound have turned to music stylings that have redefined their space in the music industry. My Morning Jacket, led by Jim James, has created a new sound that incorporates their past while stretching the boundaries or their new beginnings. The album paints a picture with lavish layers rooted in funk, guitar-rock and spacey-acid jams. The departure from their previous sound is so striking that the band even includes a calliope (the organ used in circuses) in its instrumentation. The album unfortunately has really no standout tracks, but as a whole, the album proves itself. Incorporating pop hooks into crazy jams, their sound, which is somewhat out there, can still draw in the most closed-minded listeners.

6. "The Woods"- Sleater Kinney

7. "Cold Roses"- Ryan Adams and the Cardinals

8."The Mysterious Production of Eggs"- Andrew Bird

9."The Mouse and the Mask"- Danger Doom

10. "The Delivery Man"- Elvis Costello

Honorable Mentions:

"Guero"- Beck

"12 Songs" – Neil Diamond


Jason Buettner, A&E Reporter

1. My Morning Jacket – "Z." On their recent release, gone are the days of massive reverb and epic jam-outs. Jim James has now learned to harness his voice and turn My Morning Jacket into and indie band with ridiculous amounts of pop principles. Combining country, funk, soul and rock, My Morning Jacket has now made their sound accessible to anyone who has the chance to pop "Z" into their stereo. Not bad for a group whose future was unknown two years ago with the departure of their guitarist and keyboard player. "Z"'s versatility is its greatest strength: it's danceable, you can get high to it. Lyrically James tackles subject like religion, life and guitar solos. It's James's vocals that really intrigue the true listeners and once you are hooked you don't want to stop listening. Hands down the best record this year; it has everything you want in a record but leaves enough mystery to anticipate the group's next move.

[peanut butter puddin surprise]

from the Onion's AV Club.....#1 on Noel Murray's list!

http://avclub.com/content/node/43475/5

My Morning Jacket has always made pretty good records, even though they tend to be rambling and padded out with aimless jams. But Z represents something like a conversion, with 10 unassailable songs packed into 47 minutes, cycling through styles from R&B to reggae to surf to prog to sadcore to southern rock. The eclecticism is unified by the high-lonesome moan of singer-songwriter Jim James, who gives My Morning Jacket its grandeur and pounding heart.