Heading for October now, list has shifted and grown...songs at moment that still strike me as strongest of year...

For Real, Black - Okkervil River
First 7 Tracks of THE WOODS - Sleater-Kinney
16 Military Wives, On the Bus Mall - Decemberists
Chicago, Casimir Pulaski Day - Sufjan Stevens
Bleeding Heart Show - New Pornographers
No Wow - The Kills
Losing My Edge, Daft Punk is Playing in My House - LCD Soundsystem
Things the Grandchildren Should Know - Eels
Fistful of Love - Antony and the Johnsons
Take, Take, Take, As Ugly as I Seem - White Stripes
Lua, Another Traveling Song - Bright Eyes
Broadway - Low
This - Brian Eno
Charlemagne in Sweatpants - The Hold Steady
Jenny Was a Friend of Mine - Killers (not a fan of the album, but love this song)

Should note...just picked up Mountain Goats, Sigur Ros, Bloc Party, Springsteen, CYHSY...and have yet to hear many others, including Wolf Parade, Richard Hawley, etc., etc.

quote:

First 7 Tracks of THE WOODS - Sleater-Kinney

Yeah, I just listened to that album yesterday, and it definitely falls off after about 7 songs. Probably the biggest problem I have with that album is that its longest song (by far at over 11 minutes) I really don't like at all. I had the same problem with Animal Collective's Sung Tongs last year. If you're going to make a really long songs, shouldn't you make sure that it's one of your best and not so boring? That's what I love about the Fiery Furnaces long songs: they're awesome and they never stagnate.

I think you misunderstood what Illiniq was saying. The Woods is his Number One album by a mile (he says), so he's especially lauding the first seven. As far as a big dropoff, I have to disagree, but that's what we're here for: to share ideas. Sung Tongs (the whole thing): UGH.

The Clap Your Hands Say Yeah album shifts in my esteem constantly (one day I'll love it, the next I won't), but the song "In This Home On Ice" is probably my favorite of the year.

Some close calls: most of Separation Sunday taken one song at a time, "Hope There's Someone" by Antony and the Johnsons, "Dinner Bells" by Wolf Parade, "Hollaback Girl," "Pale Green Things" by the Mountain Goats, etc. etc. etc.

Ooh, I could make this list so incredibly long, but I'll try to trim it down as much as I can.
First, let me just say that I won't mention any Andrew Bird or Eels songs because I couldn't possibly pick out single tracks from their albums. They are just that good.
Here goes (in random order):
Sigur Ròs - Gong
CocoRosie - Brazilian Sun
HAL - I Sat Down
Sleater-Kinney - Jumpers
The Decemberists - The Engine Driver
Sufjan Stevens - They Are Night Zombies!! They Are Neighbors!! They Have Come Back From The Dead (How could a song with a title like that not be awesome?)
Sufjan Stevens - Casimir Pulaski Day
Death Cab - Marching Bands Of Manhattan
Death Cab - What Sarah Said
Clem Snide - The Sound Of German Hip Hop
Josh Rouse - Winter In The Hamptons
Josh Rouse - Sad Eyes
Ryan Adams - September (I REALLY like the new Jacksonville-album of his)
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club - The Weight of The World

I have lots of favorites, I'll try to do a top 20 or so...

Sufjan Stevens "Chicago"
Wolf Parade "Dear Sons and Daughters of Hungry Ghosts"
Decemberists "16 Military Wives"
Okkervil River "For Real"
LCD Soundsystem "Tribulations"
Bloc Party "Price of Gas"
MIA "Amazon"
Spoon "The Two Sides of Monsieur Valentine"
New Pornographers "Bones of an Idol"
Blackalicious "Supreme People"
Andrew Bird "Skin is, My"
Death Cab for Cutie "Marching bands of Manhattan"
Ryan Adams and the Cardinals "Let it Ride"

but there are so many more...it's hard to narrow down.

I have a lot of favorites, but since it is the best individual track, I will choose one. Right now my favorite track is "your ex-lover is dead" by Stars. This just absolutely sucked me right in the first time I heard it. I love the waltzy feel, and in particular the lyric that goes, "I'm not sorry I met you. I'm not sorry it's over. I'm not sorry there's nothing to save." just seems so perfect to me.

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

I'm having trouble making ordered lists these days, but I'll do one track for all the usual suspects

The Mountain Goats - "This Year"
The Decemberists - "On the Bus Mall"
Okkervil River - "Black"
Animal Collective - "The Purple Bottle"
Broken Social Scene - "Ibi Dreams of Pavement"
Sufjan Stevens - "The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades is Out to Get Us"
Architechture in Helsinki - "It's 5!"
Antony and the Johnsons - "Hope There's Someone"
Devendra Banhart - "I Feel Just Like a Child"
Wolf Parade - "This Heart's on Fire"
Stephen Malkmus - "It Kills"
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - "Details of the War"

As of right now, the absolute favorite for me is "On the Bus Mall" by the Decemberists, but here are some other recently discovered favorites to add to the list:

"I'll Believe In Anything"-Wolf Parade
"In This Home On Ice"-Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (For some reason, I did not appreciate this song until today)
"Wordless Chorus" and "Gideon"-My Morning Jacket
(It's a tie for best song off the album "Z", which is one of the best of the year)

and what is undoubtedly the single best all-out ROCK song of 2005, and will be a radio single if there is any justice in this world:

"The Fallen"-Franz Ferdinand
(The new album is good, definitely catchy and fun to listen to, but not too much substance there. This song, however, is a three-and-a-half minute explosion of everything great about both Franz Ferdinand and rock music in general, complete with bizarre lyrics that could be about Jesus Christ. Exhilarating, but it's the opener and the rest of the album just can't match it.)

quote:

Originally posted by vlad:
As of right now, the absolute favorite for me is "On the Bus Mall" by the Decemberists

Good call! I had forgotten this. It's one of my favourites, too.

I'm revising my previous list. I'd now say the best tracks this year are:

1. Broken Social Scene - "Ibi Dreams of Pavement (A Better Half)
2. Wolf Parade - "Shine a Light"
3. Spoon - "I Turn My Camera On"
4. CYHSY! - "The Skin of My Yellow Country Teeth"
5. Bright Eyes - "Landlocked Blues"
6. The Game & 50 Cent - "Hate it or Love it"
7. The National - "Secret Meeting"
8. Bloc Party - "This Modern Love"
9. Kanye West - "Gold Digger"
10. Wilderness - "Marginal Over"

quote:

Originally posted by PRG:
I have a lot of favorites, but since it is the best individual track, I will choose one. Right now my favorite track is "your ex-lover is dead" by Stars. This just absolutely sucked me right in the first time I heard it. I love the waltzy feel, and in particular the lyric that goes, "I'm not sorry I met you. I'm not sorry it's over. I'm not sorry there's nothing to save." just seems so perfect to me.

New addition: "The Fallen" by Franz Ferdinand. It has about three hooks...and in the first 30 seconds! I'm a huge fan, so it's not the most objective of choices.

"John Wayne Gacy"-Sufjan Stevens
"Kidz with Guns"-Gorrilaz
"Glosoli"-Sigor Ros
"Sang Real"-Dredg
"Meletron Scratch"-Porcupine Tree
"Jezebel"-Iron and Wine
"Helicopter"-Bloc Party
"Do you remember"-Jack Johnson
"Gideon"-My Morning Jacket
"You are a runner I am my Father's son"-Wolf Parade

off the top of my head

quote:

Originally posted by Vykromond:
a bunch of non-"Banshee Beat" songs

I was wrong. It's "Banshee Beat."

Chicago - Sufjan Stevens
Down in the garden behind the church - eels
I'm lonely but I aint that lonely yet - White stripes
You are the runner and I am my fathers son - wolf parade
leaders of the free world - elbow
across yer ocean - mercury rev
mathematical mind - spoon
this boy - franz ferdinand
road to joy - bright eyes
one of these days - doves
positive tension - bloc party
wake up - arcade fire

damn, just writing these songs down gets me going - what a year!

Sufjan Stevens - The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades

"My friend is gone he ran away, I can tell you I love him each day. Though we have scarred, wrestled and raged I can tell you I love him each day."

Fiona Apple - Extraordinary Machine, Window

"I can't help it the road just rolls out behind me"

"I had to break the window it just had to be, better that I break the window than forget what I had to see"

I love the vulnerability in these lyrics.

A couple new additions:

"You are a Conductor" - The Constantines

"The Greatest" - Cat Power

quote:

Originally posted by ericg75:
"The Greatest" - Cat Power

yeah, yeahhhhhhhhh

also some stuff i haven't seen here:
the strokes - you only live once
sufjan stevens - the lord god bird
final fantasy - this is the dream of win and regine
the fiery furnaces - seven silver curses
clap your hands say yeah - graceful retreat
broken social scene - major label debut (fast)
bloc party - two more years
bell orchestre - les lumieres pt. 2

I'm excited to hear that Cat Power album, "The Greatest" is quite a song.

quote:

Originally posted by dano:
I'm excited to hear that Cat Power album, "The Greatest" is quite a song.

I haven't heard the entire album yet, just that track. There was a link to a free download of it on Matador's website. I'm a big Cat Power fan though. I thought "You are Free" was one of the best releases of its year. "The Greatest" is a little richer in terms of instrumentation, but it's still vintage Cat Power.