I am compelled by tiny voices in my head that must be obeyed lest they force me to eat anchovies and watch non-celebrity poker tournaments on cable tv. Must. Make. List...
1. Liars Drum's Not Dead You may not want Guernica hanging over your dining room table, but it's accomplishment and significance are undeniable. Long Live Liars!
2. Neko Case Fox the Confessor Nearly the very best of the year and an easy favorite. Its' the sort of album that gains momentum internally, making itself unforgetable and indespensable.
3. Band of Horses Everything All the Time I remember hearing Built to Spill for the first time and thinking that if indie rock was a church then this would be my choir... seats now shared by The Shins and Band of Horses.
4.The Hold Steady Boys & Girls in America "We had some massive highs; We had some crushing lows..." this delivers the full spectrum in a way you can feel - the buzz and the hangover all at once.
5. Califone Roots & Crowns Like The Books playing alt-country. Sophisticated urban provincialism. Red dirt glitch-pop.
6. Danielson Ships Wide eyed mayhem that might have landed them a children's television show circa 1972.
7. Man Man Six Demon Bag Think Liars interpreting Oliver Twist topless at the Moulin Rouge.
8. Mew ...and the Glass-Handed Kites Secret Machines + Queen = Secret Queens? Queen Machines? Mew! All hail the return of the prog-opera!
9. TV on the Radio Return to Cookie Mountain It's rare to find a band with a truly original sound but Cookie Mountain delivers. New, interesting and just challenging enough.
10. Destroyer Destroyer's Rubies Dan Bejar (New Pornographers) turns in an empassioned, verbose collection of song-stories whose creativity and execution make me forget how annoying I find his voice.
11. Sunset Rubdown Shut Up I Am Dreaming More Montreal noisepop, Spencer Krug (Wolf Parade) offers a consistent Bowie homage.
12. Tapes 'n Tapes The Loon Another strong offering in the aforementioned Montreal noisepop subgenre - and they're not even Canadian!
13. Rhymefest Blue Collar Spot-on realist manages to rhyme about the working man's life and hanging out with Kanye on the same album without sounding like a hypocrit.
14. Herbert Scale Tight techno and soulful performances lend human bounce to a genre saturated with overdriven / underdriven electronics as performers.
15. Ray LaMontagne Till the Sun Turns Black Indeed.
16. Glenn Kotchke Mobile Both subtle and spectacular, the versatile percusionist shows that Jim O'Rourke wasn't the only Wilco player adding atmosphere, texture and depth to the mix.
17. Arctic Monkeys Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not Remember The Strokes? Punk, dance and rock all rolled into a British accent.
18. Jenny Lewis & the Watson Twins Rabbit Fur Coat Rilo Kiley frontwoman transforms herself into an authentic country chanteuse. A lovely turn.
19. Wolfmother s/t More evidence for my theory that seventies stoner rock and prog are the most influencial forces in music today. Rrrrrrock!!!
20. Justin Timberlake FutureSex/LoveSounds First and probably last time a Teen Beat pin-up will find himself on this list. JT pulls out all the stops to steal your girl, your sister, your mom, her sister and all their friends. He didn't bring sexy back as much as he proved that his sexy grew up. In fairness, the guy should change his name to Justin Timberland.
21. Bonnie "Prince" Billy The Letting Go In a weird way this plays like a downbeat alt-country (and possibly monogamous) FutureSex/LoveSounds. Oldham at his most hairy and romantic - and at times his most accessible.
22. Secret Machines Ten Silver Drops Oddly titled for an album with only 8 tracks - this is a precipitous drop from Now Here Is Nowhere's #2 finish in '04. I blame the darker, more claustrophobic tone of its downbeat tracks.
23. M. Ward Post War Ward stretches out with a bigger band and a stellar supporting cast (Jim James of My Morning Jacket, Neko Case) without losing his reverb soaked intimacy. Somehow an added degree of focus limits his loveable quirks.
24. Flaming Lips At War With The Mystics Having championed the sci-fi concept album with Yoshimi the Flips retreat to familiar psych territory. Noisy and more varied but still sweetly odd and engaging.
25. Beck The Information Retreading last year's Guero with a more consistent if shallow groove.
26. Gnarls Barkley St. Elsewhere If Moby hadn't already cashed in Play he'd probably be looking for royalties. Still, Play sounds pretty good today and so does this.
27. The Long Winters Putting the Days to Bed Canadian trad rockers hold the bar high for smart, accessible music.
28. Centro-Matic Fort Recovery Mostly mid-tempo alt-country feedback rock with real backbone. Uncle Tupelo + Tragically Hip.
29. Bonnie "Prince" Billy & Tortoise The Brave & The Bold Strange bedfellows labor lovingly under an unusual array of covers.
30. Rye Coalition Curses Dave Grohl production makes guitar math sound big, sexy and fun.
31. Islands Return to the Sea Fey indie reincarnation of The Unicorns, a fey indie flash on the scene, balances icy atmospherics and left field pop.
WORTHY OF NOTE
Built To Spill You In Reverse Elder statesmen of the indie scene return to tighter melodies, rhythms and tone down the atmospherics / guitar solos - these are a few of my favorite things.
Charlemagne Detour Allure Full band beefs up the things Carl Johns does well. Role playing conceit beefs up the way Carl Johns is weird.
Crooked Jades World's on Fire Traditional bluegrass folkies collect / compose musings on the San Francisco quake and fire of 1906.
CSS Cansei de ser Sexy Grrly dance rock with an accent. Too many potentially sexy things cancel each other out.
The Dears Gang of Losers Oh so indie and anglophilic.
DJ BC & The Beastles Let It Beast Clever... to a point.
Drive By Truckers A Blessing and a Curse Beat up, bitter and relentless, this is American Gothic - deep fried twang rock. Best live band you're likely to see anytime soon.
Film School s/t See The Dears.
Golden Smog Another Fine Day Alt-country allstar jamboree still sounds like friends playing drunk on the weekend - Gary Louris (Jayhawks) carries most of the vocals.
Head Like a Kite Random Portraits of the Home Movie Schizophrenic collage of beats, samples, vocal manipulation and pop is actually a pleasant surprise.
Loose Fur Born Again In The USA Wilco / O'Rourke sidebar grows louder, looser, weirder.
Rhett Miller The Believer Polished and romantic Miller lays his emo on the line (across the line, in your lap), but it's been growing on me.
People Under the Stairs Stepfather Hip hop for your BBQ.
Raconteurs Broken Boy Soldiers Jack White project featuring Brendan Benson that should have been a Brendan Benson project featuring Jack White.
Sonic Youth Rather Ripped I can't believe their still making records so consistently consistent.
The Thermals The Body, The Blood, The Machine Punk politrock lands a few of its jabs at the well connected church men who will never ever know who The Thermals are.
Walkmen A Hundred Miles Off What if Bob Dylan sang in a Louisiana tinged rock band. (See The Band The Basement Tapes)
We Are Scientists With Love and Squalor "C" student Interpol / Kills / Franz Ferdinand sound-alikes fail to make it to the front of a a crowded class.
What Made Milwaukee Famous Trying To Never Catch Up IDM flavored indie pop from TX is still trying to catch up to the Death Cab.
Thom Yorke The Eraser Exactly what you'd expect from a Radiohead solo debut, and nothing more.
MOST OVERRATED
Mastadon Blood Mountain Hardly the artistic prog crossover some indie critics possibly seeking cred/redemption through metal tried to make it. Faster, louder, zzzzzz.
Scott Walker The Drift Like the Phantom of the Opera singing shoegaze postrock, and not in a good Nick Cave way either.
Ghostface Killah Fishscale Wu Tang + Jay-Z = Wu Z. Dense as a fist without the punch.
2. Neko Case Fox the Confessor Nearly the very best of the year and an easy favorite. Its' the sort of album that gains momentum internally, making itself unforgetable and indespensable.
3. Band of Horses Everything All the Time I remember hearing Built to Spill for the first time and thinking that if indie rock was a church then this would be my choir... seats now shared by The Shins and Band of Horses.
4.The Hold Steady Boys & Girls in America "We had some massive highs; We had some crushing lows..." this delivers the full spectrum in a way you can feel - the buzz and the hangover all at once.
5. Califone Roots & Crowns Like The Books playing alt-country. Sophisticated urban provincialism. Red dirt glitch-pop.
6. Danielson Ships Wide eyed mayhem that might have landed them a children's television show circa 1972.
7. Man Man Six Demon Bag Think Liars interpreting Oliver Twist topless at the Moulin Rouge.
8. Mew ...and the Glass-Handed Kites Secret Machines + Queen = Secret Queens? Queen Machines? Mew! All hail the return of the prog-opera!
9. TV on the Radio Return to Cookie Mountain It's rare to find a band with a truly original sound but Cookie Mountain delivers. New, interesting and just challenging enough.
10. Destroyer Destroyer's Rubies Dan Bejar (New Pornographers) turns in an empassioned, verbose collection of song-stories whose creativity and execution make me forget how annoying I find his voice.
11. Sunset Rubdown Shut Up I Am Dreaming More Montreal noisepop, Spencer Krug (Wolf Parade) offers a consistent Bowie homage.
12. Tapes 'n Tapes The Loon Another strong offering in the aforementioned Montreal noisepop subgenre - and they're not even Canadian!
13. Rhymefest Blue Collar Spot-on realist manages to rhyme about the working man's life and hanging out with Kanye on the same album without sounding like a hypocrit.
14. Herbert Scale Tight techno and soulful performances lend human bounce to a genre saturated with overdriven / underdriven electronics as performers.
15. Ray LaMontagne Till the Sun Turns Black Indeed.
16. Glenn Kotchke Mobile Both subtle and spectacular, the versatile percusionist shows that Jim O'Rourke wasn't the only Wilco player adding atmosphere, texture and depth to the mix.
17. Arctic Monkeys Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not Remember The Strokes? Punk, dance and rock all rolled into a British accent.
18. Jenny Lewis & the Watson Twins Rabbit Fur Coat Rilo Kiley frontwoman transforms herself into an authentic country chanteuse. A lovely turn.
19. Wolfmother s/t More evidence for my theory that seventies stoner rock and prog are the most influencial forces in music today. Rrrrrrock!!!
20. Justin Timberlake FutureSex/LoveSounds First and probably last time a Teen Beat pin-up will find himself on this list. JT pulls out all the stops to steal your girl, your sister, your mom, her sister and all their friends. He didn't bring sexy back as much as he proved that his sexy grew up. In fairness, the guy should change his name to Justin Timberland.
21. Bonnie "Prince" Billy The Letting Go In a weird way this plays like a downbeat alt-country (and possibly monogamous) FutureSex/LoveSounds. Oldham at his most hairy and romantic - and at times his most accessible.
22. Secret Machines Ten Silver Drops Oddly titled for an album with only 8 tracks - this is a precipitous drop from Now Here Is Nowhere's #2 finish in '04. I blame the darker, more claustrophobic tone of its downbeat tracks.
23. M. Ward Post War Ward stretches out with a bigger band and a stellar supporting cast (Jim James of My Morning Jacket, Neko Case) without losing his reverb soaked intimacy. Somehow an added degree of focus limits his loveable quirks.
24. Flaming Lips At War With The Mystics Having championed the sci-fi concept album with Yoshimi the Flips retreat to familiar psych territory. Noisy and more varied but still sweetly odd and engaging.
25. Beck The Information Retreading last year's Guero with a more consistent if shallow groove.
26. Gnarls Barkley St. Elsewhere If Moby hadn't already cashed in Play he'd probably be looking for royalties. Still, Play sounds pretty good today and so does this.
27. The Long Winters Putting the Days to Bed Canadian trad rockers hold the bar high for smart, accessible music.
28. Centro-Matic Fort Recovery Mostly mid-tempo alt-country feedback rock with real backbone. Uncle Tupelo + Tragically Hip.
29. Bonnie "Prince" Billy & Tortoise The Brave & The Bold Strange bedfellows labor lovingly under an unusual array of covers.
30. Rye Coalition Curses Dave Grohl production makes guitar math sound big, sexy and fun.
31. Islands Return to the Sea Fey indie reincarnation of The Unicorns, a fey indie flash on the scene, balances icy atmospherics and left field pop.
WORTHY OF NOTE
Built To Spill You In Reverse Elder statesmen of the indie scene return to tighter melodies, rhythms and tone down the atmospherics / guitar solos - these are a few of my favorite things.
Charlemagne Detour Allure Full band beefs up the things Carl Johns does well. Role playing conceit beefs up the way Carl Johns is weird.
Crooked Jades World's on Fire Traditional bluegrass folkies collect / compose musings on the San Francisco quake and fire of 1906.
CSS Cansei de ser Sexy Grrly dance rock with an accent. Too many potentially sexy things cancel each other out.
The Dears Gang of Losers Oh so indie and anglophilic.
DJ BC & The Beastles Let It Beast Clever... to a point.
Drive By Truckers A Blessing and a Curse Beat up, bitter and relentless, this is American Gothic - deep fried twang rock. Best live band you're likely to see anytime soon.
Film School s/t See The Dears.
Golden Smog Another Fine Day Alt-country allstar jamboree still sounds like friends playing drunk on the weekend - Gary Louris (Jayhawks) carries most of the vocals.
Head Like a Kite Random Portraits of the Home Movie Schizophrenic collage of beats, samples, vocal manipulation and pop is actually a pleasant surprise.
Loose Fur Born Again In The USA Wilco / O'Rourke sidebar grows louder, looser, weirder.
Rhett Miller The Believer Polished and romantic Miller lays his emo on the line (across the line, in your lap), but it's been growing on me.
People Under the Stairs Stepfather Hip hop for your BBQ.
Raconteurs Broken Boy Soldiers Jack White project featuring Brendan Benson that should have been a Brendan Benson project featuring Jack White.
Sonic Youth Rather Ripped I can't believe their still making records so consistently consistent.
The Thermals The Body, The Blood, The Machine Punk politrock lands a few of its jabs at the well connected church men who will never ever know who The Thermals are.
Walkmen A Hundred Miles Off What if Bob Dylan sang in a Louisiana tinged rock band. (See The Band The Basement Tapes)
We Are Scientists With Love and Squalor "C" student Interpol / Kills / Franz Ferdinand sound-alikes fail to make it to the front of a a crowded class.
What Made Milwaukee Famous Trying To Never Catch Up IDM flavored indie pop from TX is still trying to catch up to the Death Cab.
Thom Yorke The Eraser Exactly what you'd expect from a Radiohead solo debut, and nothing more.
MOST OVERRATED
Mastadon Blood Mountain Hardly the artistic prog crossover some indie critics possibly seeking cred/redemption through metal tried to make it. Faster, louder, zzzzzz.
Scott Walker The Drift Like the Phantom of the Opera singing shoegaze postrock, and not in a good Nick Cave way either.
Ghostface Killah Fishscale Wu Tang + Jay-Z = Wu Z. Dense as a fist without the punch.
