More Best of 2005

Brett Grossman - Reckless Records (vaguely ordered but sort-of not) 1. Clientele "strange geometry" merge 2. Canyon Country "there's a forest in the fire" attack 9 3. Sufjan Stevens "come on feel the illinoise" asthmatic kitty 4. Destroyer "notorious lightning and other works" merge 5. Great Lakes Swimmers "great lake swimmer" misra 6. Fiona Apple "extraordinary machine" epic 7. Andrew Bird "mysterious production of eggs" righteous babe 8. Remote viewer "let your heart draw the line" city centre 9. New Pornographers "twin cinema" matador 10. The Occasional Keepers "beauty of the empty vessel" ltm 11. Love as Laughter "laughter's fifth" subpop 12. Kallikak Family "May 23rd, 2007" tell-all 13. Various Artists "childish music" staubgold 14. Akron/ Family "Akron/ Family" young god 15. White Stripes "get behind me satan" v2 16. Colleen "golden morning breaks" leaf 17. Lucksmiths "warmer corners" matinee 18. Keren Ann "nolita" blue note 19. Edan "beauty & beat" lewis 20. A Sides "hello hello" prison jazz 21. Animal Collective "feels" fat cat 22. Nils Okland "bris" rune grammofon 23. Yann Tiersen and Shannon Wright "yann tiersen and shannon wright" ici d'ailleurs 24. Liam Singer "the empty heart of the chameleon" tell-all 25. Peggy Honeywell "faint humms" galaxia7 26. Parker and Lily "lows lows" warm electronic 27. M.I.A. "arular" xl 28. Fruit Bats "spelled in bones" subpop 29. catsinsinks.com MAGAS TOP 10 of 2005 NEW: QUINTRON & MISS PUSSYCAT: Swamp Tech/Electric Swamp (Tigerbeat6) KAP BAMBINO: Neutral EP (Wwilko) GENDERS: There's Something In the Treats (Tigerbeat6) BLACK DICE: Broken Ear Record (DFA/Astralwerks) ADULT.: Gimmie Trouble (Ersatz Audio) GD LUXXE: Make (Tigerbeat6) ELECTRONICAT: Voodoo Man (Disko B) CANDEE HANK: Brandy Cramps (Wwilko) SOUNDS OF THE INDIAN SNAKE CHARMER (Hanson) EASY ACTION: Friends of Rock And Roll (Reptilian) OLD: VA: NO NEW YORK (Lilith) CELTIC FROST: Morbid Tales (Earmark) CELTIC FROST: To Mega Therion (Earmark) ENNIO MORRICONE: Crime & Dissonance (Ipecac) GEORGE BRIGMAN: Jungle Rot (Bona Fide) GEORGE BRIGMAN: I Can Hear the Ants Dancin' (Bona Fide) STOOGES: Funhouse (Rhino) STOOGES: Stooges (Rhino) ENNIO MORRICONE: Crime & Dissonance (Ipecac) VA: Big Gundown: Reggae Inspired by Spaghetti Westerns (Earmark) Pat Van Hulle - Grow Fins Booking (top 10 records of the year, in alphabetical order) 1. Akron/Family “S/T”- After I saw them play with Angels of Light and after quite a few drinks, I went up to one of the guitarists and slurred, “I envision you guys playing in a grassy field.” There is something about their music that makes me want to see them perform in a grassy plain. Listen to “Sorrow Boy” or “Before and Again” and let me know what you think. 2. Angels of Light “Sing Other People”- Michael Gira continues releasing his excellent post Swans albums as Angels of Light. This time he has the Akron/Family as his backing band, who add some excellent banjo and slide guitar to the mix. 3. Animal Collective “Feels”- Even though it came out in late fall, Feels is likely the album that I’ve listened to the most this year. Part of this has to do with the fact that it was leaked way early (don’t worry Fat Cat Records, I am getting a legal copy for x-mas) and the other part has to do with that fact that I was not floored by that many other records this year. Feels should be enough to floor anyone though. “Did You See The Words”, “Grass“, “Purple Bottle”, “Banshee Beat”, and “Turn Into Something” are all songs of the year. 4. Jesu- Justin Broadrick is back with a new project and, go figure, it is filled with punishing, droney, crunchy guitars, and long songs. Even though they are often repetitive, there is something so compelling about the songs. 5. Oneida “Wedding”- Adding a bunch of strings to their sometimes psychedelic, sometimes classic rock, always organ driven sound, Oneida again come out with a great album. If you read anything about this album, it likely said something about the band building the largest music box on the east coast. Well, don’t go listening for it on the album. It was just a lie they created for the press. Why? They thought it would be fun. 6. Nine Inch Nails “With Teeth”- It took Trent Reznor 5+ years to get the follow up to “The Fragile” together. He really built up a bunch of anticipation that I figured he could never live up to. I was even more scared when I found out he was now clean and sober. Would he still be able to write good songs with the time gap and without all of his heroin and alcohol? Well, he can. Sure, there are some silly points (see the oft-repeated titular line of the title track) but overall, With Teeth is a solid album with about five standout tracks. He even found something new to be pissed off about…dubya. NIN put on one of the best shows I saw all year. 7. The Residents “Animal Lover”- Newer Residents releases are always a bit sappy and nowhere near as good as their 70’s output, but Animal Lover’s second half is what gets it on this list. It is very dark and really unlike anything they have done before. For example, the last track is very droney, Middle Eastern influenced, and hypnotic; which are all things I’ve never really run across in their huge discography. It almost seems as if touring with Black Dice, Growing, SunnO))), and Gang Gang Dance on a touring festival of Australia really rubbed off on them. Pretty amazing for a band who is celebrating their 30th year together. 8. Sleater-Kinney “The Woods” - I think this is one of the best rock records of the year. I really don’t want to talk about the gender issue and how these women rock harder than lots of male rock bands, but seriously, the beginning of the opening cut of the album sounds like it has far more testosterone than the complete dude-rock of Comets on Fire. 9. Sufjan Stevens “Illinois”- This is probably the most hyped album of the year, so obviously I did not want to like it. Well, I did. Who doesn’t want to hear some beautiful orchestral pop at times? 10. Ween “Shinola”- Deaner and Geaner show that even an outtakes album of Ween material is far stronger than most albums by many other bands. From the Thin Lizzy inspired “Gabrielle” to the Prince-isms of “Monique the Freak” this rarities collection is nearly just as good as any Ween album.