Am I the only one who loves Love Kraft? I'd probably throw it in at #4 now.

Good topic. Here was my 2005 Best Of List:

1. The New Pornographers – “Twin Cinema”
2. Richard Hawley – “Coles Corner”
3. M.I.A. – "Arular"
4. Low – “The Great Destroyer”
5. My Morning Jacket – “Z”
6. The Hold Steady – “Separation Sunday”
7. Soundtrack – “Searching for the Wrong-Eyed Jesus”
8. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah – Self Titled
9. Amadou & Mariam – “Dimanche A Bamako”
10. Iron & Wine – “Woman King”
11. Iron & Wine + Calexico – “In The Reins”
12. Spoon – “Gimmie Fiction”
13. Sufjan Stevens – “Illinois”
14. Wolf Parade – “Apologies to the Queen Mary”
15. Bloc Party – “Silent Alarm”
16. The Decemberists – “Picaresque”
17. Antony & The Johnsons – “I Am A Bird Now”
18. Ry Cooder – “Chavez Ravine”
19. The Mountain Goats – “The Sunset Tree”
20. Okkervil River – “Black Sheep Boy”
21. LCD Soundsystem – Self Titled
22. The Clientele – “Strange Geometry”
23. The Rosebuds – “Birds Make Good Neighbors”
24. The Go-Betweens – “Oceans Apart”
25. Wilderness – Self Titled

I didn't wince when I saw it. I'd make some changes, e.g., move Nos. 12, 15, 16 and 22 up, move No. 7 and perhaps others down. My No. 1 would stay the same. As I said at the time, it was a hard list to generate, since 2005 was such a good year for new music.

I think the interesting question will be evaluating 05 versus 06 after this year's Best Of Lists are submitted. Lots of people in these forums say that this has been a down year for new music. I wonder if they'll feel the same way after they've compiled their lists and given the issue further reflection. We'll see.

This went to two pages really fast.

Stop padding your own threads.

Boo on you!

quote:

Originally posted by Yay!:
Wolf Parade and Clap Your Hands pretty much embody what I dislike about indie rock today.

However, bands like Spoon and The National embody what I like about it (i.e.: they actually, y'know, ROCK).

This is exactly how I feel. Exactly. I really love both of those albums from last year, and I'm looking forward to albums from both next year.

quote:

Originally posted by Daniel, Esq.:
Good topic. Here was my 2005 Best Of List:

I think the interesting question will be evaluating 05 versus 06 after this year's Best Of Lists are submitted. Lots of people in these forums say that this has been a down year for new music. I wonder if they'll feel the same way after they've compiled their lists and given the issue further reflection. We'll see.

I've heard alot of "2006 isn't as good as 2005" talk this year, but looking back though my list, I don't think '05 was that fantastic. I think there were about a half dozen real standouts, and a bunch of stuff that didn't age all that well. Right now, I can say I like '06 better than '05, but of course we'll have to wait to see how well my 2006 picks have aged at the end of '07.

It's interesting that Spoon's Gimme Fiction seems to be aging very well for most people. It's been on most of our lists and several of us said we would even rank it higher. I have yet to hear any regrets on this one.

Yeah, why Pitchfork is crazy-go-nuts over Kill the Moonlight and then fail to put Gimme Fiction in their top 40 of 2005 is beyond me. I think they ranked it somewhere in the 40's. Just ridiculous.

quote:

Originally posted by RavingLunatic:
Yeah, why Pitchfork is crazy-go-nuts over Kill the Moonlight and then fail to put Gimme Fiction in their top 40 of 2005 is beyond me. I think they ranked it somewhere in the 40's. Just ridiculous.

Well, I like Kill The Moonlight too. Both are great albums, and really, I have yet to meet a Spoon album I didn't like. They're one of the few bands that have enjoyed a fairly long career (10 years now) and have yet to let me down. Gimme Fiction and Kill the Moonlight are both very high on my list for albums of the decade. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Spoon is the best band making music right now.

I think Kill the Moonlight is pretty good, though not near as good as Gimme Fiction. Even if you think it is as good as Gimme Fiction, though, there's no justifying putting Kill the Moonlight in the top 10 of a 5-year period and them not putting Gimme Fiction in the top 40 of a single-year list. I think Pitchfork is really into trends, and tend to minimize a lot of great stuff that just doesn't fit into one of their new pet genres.

(Just my suspicions here. No conspiracy theory or anything.)

Also, is it true that the Spoon guys are a bunch of assholes? I rarely hear this about artists, but I've heard this several times about Spoon. Anyone know?

quote:

Originally posted by RavingLunatic:
I think Pitchfork is really into trends, and tend to minimize a lot of great stuff that just doesn't fit into one of their new pet genres.

Maybe. I dunno. They've got a huge staff now, and the way they compile their year end list... you're bound to end up with some eclectic stuff on it. I honestly don't think they try to push anything collectively anymore. I don't think Schrieber has as much control over the way those year-end lists play out as he used to. But, I hate to turn this into another Pitchfork thread. Those guys are getting better at hijacking threads then Radiohead.

quote:

Originally posted by RavingLunatic:
Oh, man, that's exactly what we don't need. I thought Elliott Smith's last record was bad and just got good reviews because he died. Critics should judge an album by the music, and the music only.

I feel like From a Basement on the Hill is a solid, strong album. Maybe not his best by any means but still really good. That album was number 8 or 9 on my "Best of 2004" list.

Here was my posted "best of 2005" list from last year:
1. My Morning Jacket- Z
2. Sufjan Stevens- Illinois
3. Common- Be
4. Antony and the Johnsons- I am a Bird Now
5. Kanye West- Late Registration
6. The White Stripes- Get Behind Me Satan
7. M.I.A.- Arular
8. LCD Soundsystem- LCD Soundsystem
9. Andrew Bird- Andrew Bird & the Mysterious Production of Eggs
10. Gorillaz- Demon Days
11. Beck- Guero
12. Paul McCartney- Chaos and Creation in the BackYard
13. Spoon- Gimme Fiction
14. Bright Eyes- I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning
15. System of a Down- Mezmerize/Hypnotize
16. Bloc Party- Silent Alarm
17. The Go! Team- Thunder, Lighting, Strike
18. Kings Of Leon- Aha Shake Heartbreak
19. The New Pornographers- Twin Cinema
20. DangerDoom- The Mouse and the Mask

Looking back, I made mistakes and here is my new list:
1. My Morning Jacket- Z
2. Sufjan Stevens- Illinois
3. Common- Be
4. The New Pornographers- Twin Cinema
5. Kanye West- Late Registration
6. Bright Eyes- I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning
7. Franz Ferdinand- You Could Have it So Much Better
8. Andrew Bird- Andrew Bird & the Mysterious Production of Eggs
9. The Mars Volta- Frances the Mute
10. Gorillaz- Demon Days
11. Beck- Guero
12. Antony and the Johnsons- I am a Bird Now
13. System of a Down- Mezmerize
14. Spoon- Gimme Fiction
15. Okkervil River- Black Sheep Boy
16. Danger Doom- The Mouse and the Mask
17. The White Stripes- Get Behind Me Satan
18. Broken Social Scene-s/t
19. The Go! Team – Thunder, Lightning, Strike
20. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah- s/t

I feel that my top two are solid. I think My Morning Jacket made the best album of 2005 and Sufjan Stevens was a close second. I am a huge Sufjan fan, I think his music is innovative, different, intelligent and simply very good. My most unfair injustice was having Antony and the Johnsons so high and The New Pornographers so low. I just love Twin Cinema and I feel that it was so low because like I have said countless times it is the “best grower of 2005” but it is such a strong album. Common and Kanye West delivered two immense albums, West’s second album is so much better than his first and Common returned to form, easily the top two rap albums of the year. Bright Eyes made his best album and I think that Franz Ferdinand’s second effort is just as good as their first, so looking back it has to be in the top ten. I found The Mars Volta this year and their album is deservingly top ten material. Antony, M.I.A. LCD and Bloc Party don’t age well at all, while the rest age very nicely.

quote:

1. Amadou & Mariam - Dimanche
2. Antony - I am a bird now
3. Hold Steady - Separation Sunday
4. Richard Hawley - Cole's Corner
5. Mountain Goats - Sunset Tree
6. Micah Hinson - Gospel of Progress
7. Sigur Ros - Takk
8. Son Volt - Okemah...
9. Clem Snide - End of Love
10. Lonna Kelley and Reluctant Messiahs - ep
11. Devin Davis - Lonely People
12. Wilco - Kicking Television
13. Martha Wainwright - S/T
14. Fruit Bats - Spelled in Bones
15. I&W/Calexico - In the Reins
16. Hacienda Brothers - S/T
17. Ryan Adams - Jacksonville City Nights
18. Smog - A River Ain't too much to love
19. Bloc Party - Silent Alarm
20. Feist - Let it Die

I still like my list for the most part. I think I'd move Hold Steady to 1 and Richard Hawley to 2, and I'd probably drop Martha Wainwright for Hayes Carll's album Little Rock, but other than that, it seems pretty close to how I would rate them today. I'd probabl y also want to find a spot for Lucero and Marah's albums from 2005, which would probably take the spots of Devin Davis and Feist. I'm sort of surprised at how much love Gimme Fiction gets. I thought it was a serious letdown after three really solid albums.

I think my list has changed a lot:

original:
1. Broken Social Scene - Broken Social Scene
2. Okkervil River - Black Sheep Boy
3. Sufjan Stevens - Illinois
4. Sleater-Kinney - The Woods
5. White Stripes - Get Behind Me Satan
6. Wolf Parade - Apologies to the Queen Mary
7. My Morning Jacket - Z
8. The New Pornographers - Twin Cinema
9. Architecture In Helsinki - In Case We Die
10. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - S/T
11. Deerhoof - The Runners Four
12. The Mars Volta - Frances the Mute
13. Decemberists - Picaresque
14. Bloc Party - Silent Alarm
15. Andrew Bird - Mysterious Production of Eggs
16. The Go! Team - Thunder, Lightning, Strike
17. Spoon - Gimme Fiction
18. M.I.A. - Arular
19. Wilco - Kicking Television
20. Animal Collective - Feels

new:
1. Thee More Shallows - More Deep Cuts
2. Okkervil River - Black Sheep Boy
3. Mount Eerie - No Flashlight
4. Sufjan Stevens - Illinois
5. Animal Collective - Feels
6. Sleater-Kinney - The Woods
7. The New Pornographers - Twin Cinema
8. Deerhoof - The Runners Four
9. Sigur Ros - Takk...
10. Wolf Parade - Apologies to the Queen Mary
11. Decemberists - Picaresque
12. The Mountain Goats - The Sunset Tree
13. Broken Social Scene - Broken Social Scene
14. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
15. My Morning Jacket - Z
16. Why? - Elephant Eyelash
17. Matt Sweeny/Bonnie "Prince" Billy - Superwolf
18. Andrew Bird - Mysterious Production of Eggs
19. Architecture in Helsinki - In Case We Die
20. The National - Alligator
21. Antony and the Johnsons - I am a Bird Now
22. Mirah - Come On Miracle
23. Wilco - Kicking Television
24. White Stripes - Get Behind Me Satan
25. Spoon - Gimme Fiction
26. Dangerdoom - Mouse and the Mask
27. The Go! Team - Thunder Lightning Strike
28. Caribou - Milk of Human Kindness
29. The Hold Steady - Separation Sunday
30. Bloc Party - Silent Alarm

A whole bunch of albums I heard this year pushed back my favorite albums back on the list.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: joji,

Last year's list.

1. Franz Ferdinand - You Could Have It So Much Better
2. Wolf Parade - Aplogies To The Queen Mary
3. Stars - Set Yourself On Fire
4. Bloc Party - Silent Alarm
5. Antony & The Johnsons - I Am A Bird Now
6. The National - Alligator
7. Matisyahu - Live At Stubbs
8. DangerDoom - The Mouse and the Mask
9. New Pornographers - Twin Cinema
10. Belle & Sebastian - Push Barman To Open Old Wounds
11. Andrew Bird - The Mysterious Production of Eggs
12. Bright Eyes - I'm Wide Awake It's Morning
13. The Go! Team - Thunder, Lightning, Strike
14. Art Brut - Bang Bang Rock & Roll
15. Rosebuds - Birds Make Good Neighbors
16. Pernice Brothers - Discover A Lovelier You
17. Hood - Outside Closer
18. British Sea Power - Open Season
19. Sufjan Stevens - Illinois
20. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - S/T

I'm not sure I would really change anything, but then again I don't really feel like thinking about it too much. I would probably drop Bloc Party lower and move British Sea Power higher. The Go! Team would also probably be lower and I would elevate The Pernice Brothers. I would maybe raise Andrew Bird a bit too.

I posted this list to metacritic forums 5 Dec 2005:

quote:

1) The Hold Steady - Separation Sunday
2) Keith Fullerton Whitman & Greg Davis - 3 Shows
3) The Mountain Goats - The Sunset Tree
4) Antony and the Johnsons - I Am A Bird Now
5) Animal Collective - Feels
6) Cyne - Evolution Fight
7) Thunderbirds Are Now! - Justamustache
8) My Morning Jacket - Z
9) Sigur Ros - Takk
10) Steve Reich - You Are (Variations)
11) Decemberists - Picaresque
12) CocoRosie - Noah's Ark
13) Susumu Yokota and Rothko - Distant Sounds of Summer
14) The National - Alligator
15) Spoon - Gimme Fiction
16) Xiu Xiu - La Foret
17) Shining - In the Kingdom of Kitsch You Will Be A Monster
18) Bright Eyes - I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning
19) A Silver Mt Zion - Horses in the Sky
20) Zeljko McMullen - Disorder

But I did so prematurely, and by January my list looked like this (with new comments & parenthetical numbers for where I'd place them now):

quote:

1) The Hold Steady - Separation Sunday - Clearly I'm a musicological visionary, since multiple people in this thread said they would have put this at 1 if they did it again. Score 1 for the Vykster! (1)
2) Arvo Part - Lamentate - This is still awesome. (3)
3) Keith Fullerton Whitman & Greg Davis - 3 Shows - Also still awesome, maybe better than Lamentate. (2)
4) Mountain Goats - The Sunset Tree - Aged well, stays where it is. (4)
5) Antony and the Johnstons - I Am A Bird Now - ^ (5)
6) Animal Collective - Feels - ^ (6)
7) My Morning Jacket - Z - Still very good, but I haven't listened to it quite as much recently. Not a terribly complicated album, but very enjoyable. (11)
8) Cyne - Evolution Fight - Still great. (10)
9) Thelonious Monk and John Coltrane - Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane at Carnegie Hall - ^ (8)
10) David Thomas Broughton - The Complete Guide to Insufficiency - Maybe even higher. (7)
11) Thunderbirds Are Now! - Justamustache - Just as much of a jolt of caffeine to the arm as when I first listened to it, stays. (12)
12) Paavoharju - Yha Hamaarha - Still good. (13)
13) Sigur Ros - Takk - Still good. (15)
14) Steve Reich - You Are (Variations) - Still good. (16)
15) Decemberists - Picaresque - Little more ambivalent than I was about this, but it's still very good. (20)
16) CocoRosie - Noah's Ark - Still works quite well as a mood piece, but I'm not quite as up on it as I was. I really like what they're doing here but it still has room for improvement. (21+)
17) Susumu Yokota and Rothko - Distant Sounds of Summer - An even better mood piece, but there's really only one perfect song on here, which was skewing my impression of the whole. (21+)
18) Spoon - Gimme Fiction - Agree that this has aged excellently. (9)
19) Marsen Jules - Herbstlaub (17)
20) The National - Alligator (18)

I would slot Shining (19) and Keith Fullerton Whitman's Multiples (13) in for the two drops.

EDIT: Intrigued by the thread premise, for fun I decided to look at 2004 too. I reordered the top 25 out of the 200 in my list to what I would do now, so the parenthetical numbers are the old values and the hierarchy is the new value:

quote:

(01) 1. Madvillain - Madvillainy
(08) 2. Jóhann Jóhannsson - Virðulegu forsetar - Obviously very good album revealed as masterpiece in retrospect.
(14) 3. Birchville Cat Motel - Beautiful Speck Triumph - Ditto w/ above
(02) 4. The Go! Team - Thunder, Lightning, Strike
(03) 5. Xiu Xiu - Fabulous Muscles
(11) 6. Comets on Fire - Blue Cathedral
(06) 7. The Hold Steady - Almost Killed Me
(05) 8. Fennesz - Venice
(13) 9. The Walkmen - Bows and Arrows - Aged well.
(10) 10. Loretta Lynn - Van Lear Rose
(16) 11. Wilco - A Ghost Is Born - Better than i thought
(07) 12. Franz Ferdinand - Franz Ferdinand - Was always fairly obviously a flavor-of-the-month but is surprisingly still very fun. You Could Have It So Much Better sucks, though.
(12) 13. Brian Wilson - Smile
(17) 14. Joanna Newsom - The Milk-Eyed Mender - Sounds even cooler with Ys serving as perspective.
(20) 15. Dälek / Faust - Derbe Respect, Alder
(22) 16. Isis - Panopticon - Aged pretty well.
(36) 17. Shugo Tokumaru - Night Piece - Such a great little album.
(19) 18. Tom Waits - Real Gone
(15) 19. Blood Brothers - Crimes
(21) 20. Max Richter - The Blue Notebooks
(04) 21. Junior Boys - Last Exit - Not quite as interesting in retrospect as it seemed to be at the time, but still high value.
(25) 22. Björk - Medulla
(39) 23. Prurient - Shipwrecker's Diary - Excellent cd.
(27) 24. Fly Pan Am - N'écoutez Pas
(40) 25. Swod - Gehen - Very very fun.

Drops:
(18) 26. Subtle - A New White - Sounds worse now that For Hero: For Fool thoroughly eclipsed it. I hope I don't have to do that again if the follow-up to For Hero: For Fool does the same.
(24) 27. Death From Above 1979 - You're A Woman, I'm A Machine - Still good, just not quite good enough for top 25.
(09) 70-something. Modest Mouse - Good News For People Who Love Bad News - Aged poorly. The lesser-quality songs now grate more, although the better songs are still excellent. Maybe Modest Mouse will make a great album someday without filler (Good News, Lonesome Crowded West) or ten-minute-long snoozefests in the middle (Moon and Antarctica).
(23) Probably somewhere in the lower 100s. Dungen - Ta Det Lungt - Aged really badly. Better in theory than in practice.

Three cheers for historical revisionism!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Vykromond,

Oh and maybe Kate Bush's Aerial would go somewhere in there. I just discovered Kate Bush the other day (not being either a: British or b: alive when "Running Up That Hill" was on the top of the charts) and have been listening to The Dreaming, Hounds of Love, and Aerial semiobsessively.

quote:

Am I the only one who loves Love Kraft?

I certainly hope so.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Vykromond,

In hindsight, I'm not sure why I left Antony and the Johnsons off of my list entirely. While I haven't listened to it in, I'd say, over a year, I remember the first half being VERY good and the last half being just good. I also remember thinking that no song Antony will ever do ever again will be as good as "Hope There's Someone." "What Can I Do?" kind of annoyed me, too. I should revisit the record ASAP.

Anyway, I might have considered the record stronger in hindsight. Also the following, which I've revisited this weekend:

Nile - Annihilation of the Wicked
High on Fire - Blessed Black Wings (two ad nauseum Relapse metal records that were great, and could've made my list, were it bigger)

Stars - Set Yourself on Fire (technically an '04 Canadian release, so I think that's why I didn't include it-- plus I burned myself out on that record over the summer and there is at least one or two tracks on it I always skip)

White Stripes - Get Behind Me, Satan (an excellent rock album, but for the Stripes its just "good")

Against Me! - Searching for a Former Clarity (I was so conflicting on including this, because I GREW UP around this band's music from '99/'00 on, and if any record is their "sell out" record, this is it. However, its a very good one. It sounds like they're maturing into the Clash/Springsteen/U2 band they want to be. It just seems like they've lost a lot of their past energy due to production tricks, tour wear and tear, age and the fact that they will always be best experienced live.)

Andrew Bird - Andrew Bird and the Mysterious Production of Eggs (A really good record, but the guy's obviously got a lot of room to grow, which is why he left Righteous Babe-- plus, I don't feel that he communicated his own unique style quite as completely as he can. To me this was just a very well-done, appreciated record.)