Sound Bites

SoundBites Best of 2005 | Gigs

I saw a lot of shows in 2005, half of which I'm forgetting about. It used to be I had a jar where I kept all my ticket stubs, but between Ticketweb and buying tickets at the door, it's hard to keep track. But one thing's for sure...

Live Band of the Year: The Dears
The Dears were the best live band touring in 2005. Period. They were pretty much ignored by the American press (and blogs especially) which is partly their own fault. Their album No Cities Left (released November 2004) just didn't do any of the songs justice. People heard the album, and Murray Lightburn's Damon-Albarn-meets-Morrissey vocal delivery, the keyboard-heavy production and decided they didn't need to see these poseurs live.

This is how I felt when I heard it too. But then I went to see them with the Brian Jonestown Massacre at Mercury Lounge in October 2004 and I was blown away. The dynamics. The musicianship. The love. And their unbelievable stage presence, especially frontman Murray Lightburn. The vocal affectations melt away when he belts it out onstage, selling every note. And what seems fey on the album, absolutely rocks live. The Dears are an absolute powerhouse live. And it made me love the album, too.

I saw them again at Mercury Lounge on my birthday (January 15, if you're wondering) with Radiohead-wannabes Benzos. This was a minor disappointment, suffering mainly to an oddly-arranged setlist and being a bit too loud for the room (maybe the only time ever at the Merc).

Still, I dragged everyone I could to see subsequent shows. I paid for tickets! And I made believers out of every one of them (except my friend Jenn, who doesn't like Belle & Sebastian either, so there you go). They make believers out of everyone who sees them.

SoundBites Best of 2005 | Reissues, Comps, DVDs

More great music-related stuff that came out in 2005, but not necessarily new. Or not necessarily CDs. But all worth owning. If I'd gotten this up earlier, I'd say any of these would make great Christmas or Hanukkah gifts. But if you're looking for something to spend those Amazon.com gift certificates, any of these will do just fine: 

One Kiss Can Lead to Another: Girl Group Sounds Lost and Found (Rhino) | Immerse yourself in an undiscovered world of bad boys, crushes, heartbreak and giddy elation. Avoiding any of the big names and singles associated with girl groups, Rhino brings a Nuggets approach to the '60s pop genre, making for one of the most enjoyable releases of 2005 -- new, old or otherwise. (Read my more lengthy review, complete with a few mp3s.)

The Fall - The Complete Peel Sessions | There is no band more associated with the Peel Session than The Fall and this is perhaps the band's ultimate career-spanning compilation. You can follow Mark E. Smith and his one zillion lineup changes though radio sessions for his most famous fan, John Peel. In some cases, the Peel Session versions of songs are better than the ones that would end up on albums. If you are a Fall fan, The Complete Peel Sessions is nothing less than essential.

 

DIG! (Palm Pictures) | Ondi Timoner's wildly entertaining documentary tells a familiar rock n' roll tale, one filled with crazy nights, substance abuse, out-of-control parties, temper tantrums, art-versus-commerce debates, "musical differences," onstage fights, and smashed sitars. But to see it unfold in all it's horrifying glory before your eyes is what makes this DIG! so amazing. If you loved the movie, the two-disc DVD is a must-have. Almost all of the deleted scenes (of which there are loads) and commentary tracks (the Dandies, the BJM [minus Anton, natch], and Timoner each get their own) are as illuminating as the movie itself.

 

Jens Lekman - Oh You're So Silent Jens (Secretly Canadian) | This almost made my list of 20 Best Albums of 2005 but as it's a compilation of EPs and singles, I stuck it here. Somewhere between Jonathan Richman and Stephin Merrit lies Sweden's Jens Lekman. For pure listening pleasure this tops last year's proper debut, When I Said I Wanted to Be Your Dog. His lyrics are funny, romantic and sincere; his songs are catchy; and the production is clever if hastily recorded. He'd better think about crediting all those samples though, or someone (members of The Left Banke in particular) might get mad if this ever sells enough of this CD to give him a pocketful of money. You should also go see him live -- it's a very entertaining show. Free MP3s from Secretly Canadian: "You Are the Light" and the Left Banke-sampling "Black Cab."

 

New Order - Item (Rhino) | Finally, a DVD compilation of New Order's arty, weird and influential music videos. While most groups were shooting straightforward performance clips, New Order made short films, in which the band would often make mere cameos. Jonathan Demme, Katherine Bigelow and other then-cutting-edge filmmakers worked on their clips, most of which don't seem dated at all. Even their '90s-era videos are pretty amazing, even when the songs are less so. (Though we have the "Crystal" video to blame for The Killers name.) This two-DVD set also includes a gushing documentary made in conjunction with their 1992 album, Republic, that has some rare television appearances that rounds out the package nicely.

 

Circulus - The Lick on the Tip of an Envelope Yet to Be Sent (Candlelight) | Found in the basement of former Island Records president Chris Blackwell comes this lost nugget of psychedelic Medieval folk from 1971. OK, not really. Circulus are to the hippie freak-folk scene what the Darkness are to glam and hard rock. But they believe it, man! When they perform "Power to the Pixies," they aren't singing about Frank Black. (According to this feature in The Guardian, they kicked out a member when he admitted he didn't believe in fairies.) If you can listen past the lutes, transverse flutes, lizards, and songs about wizards, this is a pretty great album. It still won't make you like mead, though. Here's an mp3: "We Are Long Lost"

Various Artists - Children Of Nuggets: Original Artyfacts From The Second Psychedelic Era 1976-1995 (Rhino) | The Rhino folks score again with this sequel to their seminal garage rock compilation, Nuggets, this time featuring bands influenced by the original. Unless you worked in college radio in the mid-'80s, you probably haven't heard the bulk of these bands. Which is good, as you're about to have your mind blown by these unearthed sounds. Many of these songs from UK and European bands (including a nice handful of early Creation Records releases) are seeing their first-ever Stateside release. Highly recommended.

 

Talking Heads - DualDisc Brick (Rhino) | You're probably unaware of this, but some of today's "cool" and "indie" bands (like Clapping Hands Are Saying Yeah and Frank Ferdinand) have been influenced by these New York nerds who got their start way back in 1975. Here's your chance to catch up with them in this 30th Anniversary big box set that features remastered editions of all their studio albums, all of which are in the new and expensive DualDisc format. There are loads of previously-unheard outtakes, and the DVD side of each disc has the band's music videos and lots more. If you don't want to plunk down the $140 for this baby, individual DualDisc editions of each album (the Remain in Light outtakes are fantastic) will be available in early 2006.

 

Orange Juice – The Glasgow School (Domino) | Four young lads from Glasgow, Scotland, send scenesters into a tizzy with their arty m�lange of scrappy guitars, disco beats, witty wordplay, and tailored fashion sense. Does that sound familiar? It's not who you think. Twenty-five years before Franz Ferdinand took us out, Orange Juice were "The Sound of Young Scotland" with aspirations of becoming the punk rock version of Chic. The Glasgow School compiles the entire output of their early years on influential Scottish indie Postcard -- tunes that served as a blueprint for such followers as the Pastels, Belle & Sebastian, and, yes, Franz Ferdinand. Now if someone would just reissue their Polydor compilation, The Esteemed Orange Juice, we'd be in business.

 

R. Kelly - Trapped in the Closet Chapters 1-12 DVD (JIVE) | Maybe "Best" isn't the right word for Trapped in the Closet, but I recommend it to everyone just because you have to see it to believe it. The narrative is so literal, the music videos are almost redundant, but it only adds to the weirdness. And if I hadn't watched this, I would've never realized that "midget" rhymed with "kitchen." The DVD menu plays the basic kerplop backing track as a loop, so it's fun just to leave that on and make up your own lyrics to whatever you happen to be doing around the house. "The tea kettle is whistling but I'm out of Darjeeling/So I'll have to drink this gross Celestial Seasons crap my mother left here last time she visited/Now I'll check my email..." Also be sure and check out the "Commentary Remix" where you get to watch Kells watch his videos and say things like "See there when I just looked at the camera. I did that 'cause, like, I couldn't believe what I was seeing." Neither could we, Kells. Neither could we.

SoundBites Best of 2005 | Albums

Don't let anyone say 2005 was a crummy year for music. I coulda done a Top 50. But that takes too much time. Here's my Top 20 Albums of 2005, which probably changed more than NME's lineup right down to posting.

Elbow – Leaders of the Free World (V2) | Elbow's third album is not only the best thing they've ever done, it was the best thing I heard anyone do in 2005. Gorgeous melodies, inventive arrangements and musicianship, and some of the most heartfelt (without treacle) lyrics around. And Guy Garvey's amazing voice on top of it all. Album of the Year by a mile. Best songs: "Station Approach," "The Stops," "Mexican Standoff," "The Everthere."

Art Brut - Bang Bang Rock and Roll (Fierce Panda) | The year's most flat-out enjoyable record. The humor in singer Eddie Argos' lyrics hits you first ("I've seen her naked...TWICE!") but these are songs that are funny, not novelty rock. (Some may disagree.) And, as Argos sings on their manifesto "Formed a Band," this is not irony. "We're just talking to the kids!" The hits keep coming through all 12 tracks, from "My Little Brother" through "18,000 Lira."

 

New Pornographers - Twin Cinema (Matador) | Not as immediate and crammed with hooks as either The Electric Version or Mass Romantic, album number three for this mostly-Canadian supergroup seemed like a bit of a dud on arrival. Weeks of play, however, and songs constantly coming up on shuffle on the iPod, have proven Twin Cinema to be another batch of winning songs with perhaps the most staying power of them all. Dig new New breed: "Sing Me Spanish Techno," "These Are the Fables," "The Jessica Numbers."

Of Montreal - The Sunlandic Twins (Polyvinyl) I remember seeing Of Montreal back in 1999, playing with Ladybug Transistor. There were props and slide-flutes and other twee type things. I didn't like them. But somewhere down the line they transformed from utter whimsy into a band capable of filtering poppy, '60s-inspired melodies through Eno-esque new wave. I was hooked. One of 2005's earlier releases (well, April), The Sunlandic Twins has stayed with me for most of the year. Get some Sun:"Requiem for O.M.M.2," "Wraith Pinned to the Mist (And Other Games)," "Forecast Fascist Future."

The Rakes - Capture/Release (V2) | These guys have, so far, been met mostly with shrugs in America (the record's not out yet here), dismissed as the latest post-punk whatever. There may be a little disco hi-hat in the drumming, but The Rakes are miles better than any of the others and actually remind me of Pink Flag-era Wire with a working-class attitude and an articulate grasp of late-20s ennui. "Might as well go out for a fifth night in a row" indeed. Capture/Release is genius from start-to-finish and has some of the year's best singles, too, including "Work Work Work (Pub, Club, Sleep)," "22 Grand Job," and "Strasbourg."

Field Music - Field Music (Memphis Industries) | Despite having ties to both the Futureheads (singer Andrew Moore used to be in them) and Maximo Park (they share a drummer), Sunderland, England's Field Music sound nothing like them. It's all delicate, sparse arrangements (not unlike Spoon), nods to '60s baroque pop, and a cut-the-fat approach to album making. Debut album of the year, rock division. Choice cuts: "If Only the Moon Were Up," "Shorter Shorter," "Got to Write a Letter"

LCD Soundsystem - LCD Soundsystem (DFA/Capitol) | When LCD Soundsystem's debut got two Grammy noms, I began to question my own taste for including this on my best-of list but no, dammit, this is a great album. It still sounds great after having it for nearly a year, and being played at every party, before every show, and on The O.C. It will be interesting to see what James Murphy does next. Killer jams: "Daft Punk is Playing in My House," "Tribulations," "Beat Connection"

My Morning Jacket - Z (ATO) | Like The Clientele, My Morning Jacket dare to drop one of their calling cards (the gallons of reverb), then drop a key band member and pull a 180 musically. The result being the best album they've ever done and the first one I've truly liked start-to-finish. And yet they still sound like My Morning Jacket, thanks in no small part to Jim James voice-of-heaven vocals. Prime cuts: "Wordless Chorus," "Into the Woods," "Anytime"

Richard Hawley - Coles Corner (Mute) | Third album's the charm for this former axeman for Longpigs and Pulp, who once again leaves indie stylings behind in favor of full-on crooner mode, a la Roy Orbison, Burt Bacharach, Marty Robbins, or even Morrissey. Even though it was written about Sheffield, England, Coles Corner makes a gorgeous soundtrack for NYC too, and sounds even better after midnight. Swoon: "The Ocean," "Hotel Room," "Born Under a Bad Sign," "Coles Corner"

Malcolm Middleton - Into the Woods (Chemikal Underground) | If you read the lyrics sheet, you may wonder about the state of mind of Arab Strap's Malcolm Middleton on his second solo album. For example, on "A Happy Medium" he sings, "Woke up again today/Realized I hate myself/My Brain is a disease." But Into the Woods is not a dreary exercise in woe-is-me-isms. Like so many before him, Middleton turns his pain, fear and doubts into something beautiful. Even those who have never had any time for Arab Strap should give this one a chance. Get into: "My Loneliness Shines," "You're Gonna Break My Heart," "A Happy Medium"

The other 10 after the jump...

SoundBites Best of 2005 | Singles, Songs, EPs

Some may argue that 2005 was a ho-hum music year, but I found it very hard to narrow down my choices -- so much so I went from having a Top Ten to a Top 20 and then to a Top 25. I think only "The Two Sides Of Monsieur Valentine" and "Sing Me Spanish Techno weren't officially singles (though I think it will be early next year) and while The Futureheads' cover of "Hounds of Love" was on the US edition of thier 2004 debut, it was released as a single this year. Also, you may never want to hear "Feel Good Inc." again after that iPod commercial but, admit it, the first time you heard it you probably thought it was awesome. Without further ado, in descending order...

1. Clor – "Love + Pain"
2. The Futureheads - "Hounds of Love"
3. Tom Vek – “If You Want”
4. New Pornographers – “Sing Me Spanish Techno”
5. Rihanna – “Pon de Replay”
6. Gorillaz – “Feel Good Inc.”
7. Rakes – “Work, Work, Work (Pub, Club, Sleep)”
8. Long Blondes – “Giddy Stratospheres”
9. The Cribs – “Martell”
10. Art Brut – “Good Weekend”
11. Babyshambles – “Fuck Forever”
12. The White Stripes – “My Doorbell”
13. Radio Dept. – This Past Week EP
14. Jens Lekman – "The Opposite of Hallelujah"
15. Bloc Party – “Two More Years”
16. Battle - "Demons"
17. Guillemots – “Trains to Brazil”
18. Arctic Monkeys – “Fake Tales of San Francisco”
19. Lady Sovereign – “9 to 5”
20. Mystery Jets – “You Can’t Fool Me, Dennis”
21. Spoon – “The Two Sides Of Monsieur Valentine”
22. The Shortwave Set – "Is it Any Wonder?"
23. Charlotte Hatherley – “Bastardo”
24. Amerie – “1 Thing”
25. The Fall – “Clasp Hands”

Best of 2005 | MOJO

I don't think MOJO is quite at the level of excellence it was maybe four years ago when they could make stories on old bands I never cared about interesting, but it's probably still the best music magazine in publication. (Actually, WORD is better, but it is more contemporary and though it covers movies and some TV as well.) Despite having at least one of the Beatles on the cover every four issues, they still seem to have their finger on the pulse... even if some of their choices for Best of 2005 seem a bit safe. They didn't do a singles/tracks list, but they did do Top Tens for different genres.

MOJO's Top 50 Albums of 2005
1. Antony and the Johnsons - I Am A Bird Now
2. Arcade Fire - Funeral
3. Kate Bush - Aerial
4. Bruce Springsteen - Devils & Dust
5. My Morning Jacket - Z
6. Ry Cooder - Chavez Ravine
7. The Magic Numbers - The Magic Numbers
8. Malcolm Middleton - Into the Woods
9. Amadou & Mairam - Dimanche A Bamako
10. Richard Hawley - Coles Corner
11. Franz Ferdinand - You Could Have It So Much Better
12. Sleater-Kinney - The Woods
13. Bright Eyes - I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning
14. The White Stripes - Get Behind Me, Satan
15. The Go Betweens - Oceans Apart
16. Black Mountain - Black Mountain
17. U2 - How to Dismantle An Atomic Bomb
18. Gorillaz - Demon Days
19. Robert Plant And the Strange Sensation - Mighty Rearranger
20. Four Tet - Everything Ecstatic
21. Teenage Fanclub - Man-Made
22. Konono No.1 - Congotronics
23. Circulus - The Lick On A Tip Of An Envelope Yet To Be Sent
24. Sufjan Stevens - Illinois
25. Oasis - Don't Believe The Truth
26. Rufus Wainwright - Want Two
27. Sigur Ros - Takk
28. Devendra Banhart - Cripple Crow
29. M.I.A. - Arular
30. Ali Farka Toure & Toumani Diabate - In The Heart Of The Moon
31. Neil Young - Prairie Wind
32. Paul Weller - As Is Now
33. Vashti Bunyan - Lookaftering
34. Bloc Party - Silent Alarm
35. Goldfrapp - Supernature
36. The Reverend Al Green - Everything's OK
37. Coldplay - X&Y
38. Nada Surf - The Weight Is A Gift
39. The Mars Volta - Frances The Mute
40. Supergrass - Road To Rouen
41. Stevie Wonder - A Time To Love
42. Phantom Buffalo - Shishimumu
43. John Legend - Get Lifted
44. Joy Zipper - The Heartlight Set
45. Smog - A River Ain't Too Much To Love
46. Roots Manuva - Awfully Deep
47. Death From Above 1979 - You're A Woman, I'm A Machine
48. Six Organs of Admittance - School Of The Flower
49. Nickel Creek - Why Should the Fire Die
50. Kaiser Chiefs - Employment

Best of 2005 | WORD Magazine

British mag The WORD is probably as good as it gets -- arts and entertainment-wise -- featuring most of the writers who used to work at Q back when it was great. It's probably 70% music, but there are also features on movies and TV, with a nice section at the back of the magazine on digital culture as well. The only problem is it can be hard to find. Virgin Megastore carries it, but store in Union Square is currently displaying the November issue (the January issue, seen here is the latest). But do search it out. You won't be disappointed. Here's there Top Ten Albums of 2005. Remember, this is a UK mag and some records that were out in the US in 2004 didn't hit over there till this year.

The WORD's Top Ten Albums of 2005

1. The Arcade Fire - Funeral
2. Rilo Kiley - More Adventurous
3. Sylvie Lewis - Tangos and Tantrums
4. Gorillaz - Demon Days
5. Richard Hawley - Coles Corner
6. Goldfrapp - Supernature
7. Martha Wainwright – Martha Wainwright
8. Eels - Blinking Lights and Other Revelations
9. The Magic Numbers - The Magic Numbers
10. Hard Fi - Stars Of CCTV

Best of 2005 | Blender Magazine

Blender's "Buh-Bye 2005" issue just hit the stands. Woman of the Year is Kelly Clarkson. There is no Man of the Year or Band of the Year. Just Kelly. I think it was having her name yelled out during the chest-waxing scene in The 40-Year-Old Virgin that put her over the edge. The readers poll picked Coldplay's X&Y as Album of the Year (barely edging out Mariah Carey's The Emancipation of Mimi) and Kelly Clarkson's "Since U Been Gone" as Song of the Year.

Blender's Top Ten Albums of 2005

1. M.I.A. - Arular
2. Fiona Apple - Extraordinary Machine
3. Kanye West - Late Registration
4. Bright Eyes - Wide Awake, It's Morning
5. White Stripes - Get Behind Me Satan
6. Franz Ferdinand - You Could Have it So Much Better...
7. Art Brut - Bang Bang Rock & Roll
8. Coldplay - X&Y
9. The Mars Volta - Francis the Mute
10. Young Jeezy - Let's Get It: Thug Motivation 101

Blender's Top Ten Songs of 2005

1. Kelly Clarkson - "Since U Been Gone"
2. R. Kelly - "Trapped in the Closet"
3. Kanye West feat. Jamie Foxx - "Gold Digger"
4. Fall Out Boy - "Sugar, We're Going Down"
5. Mike Jones feat. Slim Thug and Paul Wall - "Still Tippin'"
6. The Killers - "Mr. Brightside"
7. Amerie - "I Thing"
8. The Game feat. 50 Cent - "Hate it or Love It"
9. Weezer - "We Are All on Drugs"
10. Franz Ferdinand - "Do You Want To"

Best of 2005 | The A.V. Club

Everybody loves The Onion but I wonder how many people make it past the staples over to their Arts & Entertainment half, The A.V. Club. (Or, in the internet world, click on the little A.V. Club link on the Onion's main page.) I have long thought -- since I discovered it online when they interviewed Mystery Science Theater 3000's Mike Nelson way back in 1997 -- that they have some of the smartest, most on-the-ball writers in Entertainment Journalism. Some might call that faint praise in a world of charticles, trend pieces and blurbs, but The A.V. Club is able to convey serious ideas about movies, music and books (and TV) in a way most everyone can appreciate without ever dumbing things down.

They also reassure my own tastes as well. Keith Phipps was about the only other person to understand the genius that is the Josie & the Pussycats movie -- besides myself. (It really is good, though it was so in tune with the pop culture zeitgeist of the time it's bound to be dated now.)

Above almost all other year-end lists, I look forward to The A.V. Club's the most. There's no general consensus Top 50 Albums -- each writer gets his own space. Editor Keith Phipps picks The Go! Team's Thunder Lightning Strike as tops; Head writer Nathan Rabin picks Edan's Beauty and the Beat; and Josh Modell likes The National's Alligator the most.

Check out the rest of The A.V. Club staff's choices for best of 2005.

They have yet to publish their annual Least-Essential Albums of the Year list (I couldn't find last year's online, but here's the 2003 list) but the joy that is the annual Cheap Toy Roundup (which features Barbie Posh Pets, seen at right) can now be perused at your leisure.

Also, The A.V. Club Blog is awesome too.

Best of 2005: NME's Singles of the Year

While you can argue about NME's obvious, safe choices (though controversial, for other reasons) for Albums of the year, it's harder to dispute their Top 50 Tracks of 2005. (It's not singles anymore, I guess, but that's what this is obviously -- Songs Officially Released in the UK in 2005 -- otherwise it might include all sorts of other stuff and probably not The Arcade Fire.) Many of these will appear on my list, whenever I get around to it, though Clor's "Love + Pain" will be much higher on the chart. And I certainly wouldn't have THREE songs by the Rakes, but maybe one. And yes I know #50 is missing. Will fill that in when someone tells me what it is.

 

1. "Hounds Of Love" - The Futureheads
2. "Rebellion (Lies)" - The Arcade Fire
3. "I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor" - The Arctic Monkeys
4. "Gold Digger" - Kanye West
5. "My Doorbell" - The White Stripes
6. "Fuck Forever" - Babyshambles
7. "Hope There's Someone" - Antony & The Johnsons
8. "Somewhere" - Else Razorlight
9. "Do You Want To" - Franz Ferdinand
10. "Juicebox" - The Strokes
11. "Fake Tales Of San Francisco" - The Arctic Monkeys
12. "Hard To Beat" - Hard-Fi
13. "Banquet" - Bloc Party
14. "Neighbourhood #2 (Lakia)" - The Arcade Fire
15. "La Ritournelle" - Sebastien Teller
16. "DARE" - Gorillaz
17. "Daft Punk Is Playing My House" - LCD Soundsystem
18. "I Predict A Riot" - The Kaiser Chiefs
19. "Please Stand Up" - British Sea Power
20. "1 Thing" - Amerie
21. "Blue Orchid" - The White Stripes
22. "Oxygen" - Willy Mason
23. "First Day Of My Life" - Bright Eyes
24. "Work, Work, Work (Pub, Club, Sleep)" - The Rakes
25. "Bored and Somewhat Detatched" - Snow White
26. "Apply Some Pressure" - Maximo Park
27. "22 Grand Job" - The Rakes
28. "Munich" - Editors
29. "Off The Record" - My Morning Jacket
30. "Forever Lost" - The Magic Numbers
31. "Lyla" - Oasis
32. "Hey Scenesters!" - The Cribs
33. "My Dead Wife" - Absentee
34. "California" - Low
35. "Pull Out" - Death From Above 1979
36. "Hey Man (Now We're Really Living)" - The Eels
37. "Strasbourg" - The Rakes
38. "Love and Pain" - Clor
39. "Hung Up" - Madonna
40. "My Friend Dario" - Vitallic
41. "Zoo Time" - Mystery Jets
42. "Feel Good Inc." - Gorillaz
43. "It's Not The Only Way To Feel Happy" - Field Music
44. "Love In A Trashcan" - The Raevonettes
45. "Lose Control" - Missy Elliot
46. "Freakin' Out" - Graham Coxon
47. "Oh My God!" - Kasier Chiefs
48. "The Great Escape" - We Are Scientists
49. "Lucky 6" - Lupen Crook

NME Best of 2005 Controversy!

NME's Best of 2005 issue just hit newsagents (I love talking British) and is already causing controversy. Londonist claims claims that the published list of Best Albums has been doctored by NME higher-ups (EIC Conor McNicholas is implied but not named), and that it differs wildly from "real" list they had gotten their hands on previously. Specifically, they say real winners The Arcade Fire have been replaced by Bloc Party. Whether or not this is true, this kind of fiddling with lists happens all the time -- right up to print deadline -- at magazines, be it People's "50 Most Beautiful People" or EW's "It List." "What's that? Your label wants to buy a two-page ad for The Blandy Blokes? Oh you're right, they ARE on our Best Of list."

That said, NME has gone steadily downhill since Conor McNicholas took over as Editor in Chief in the early '00s and turned it into a much more generic rock mag. Someone claiming to be McNicholas in the Londist post's comments responds to the article. There are a few of them, but here's my fave:

I'm afraid this blog is not held in such high esteem. Clearly, in this situation the on us is on you to prove you are not manufacturing this list, working for your own anti-NME agenda, and cowardly hiding behind an established code of journalistic conduct -- which, as highly subjective bloggers, you have no real claim to in the first place.

Oh boy. Whether or not this is the real list, NME's picks for Albums of the Year are pretty obvious, especially the Top Ten. While I haven't seen the list of singles, Single of the Year is given to Futureheads' cover of Kate Bush's "Hounds of Love" which will be in my Top Ten when I get around to publishing it.

Here's NME's Top 50 Albums of 2005 as published in the mag:

1. Bloc Party - Silent Alarm
2. Arcade Fire - Funeral
3. Franz Ferdinand - You Could Have it So Much Better
4. Antony & The Johnsons - I Am a Bird Now
5. Kaiser Chiefs - S/T
6. The White Stripes - Get Behind Me Satan 
7. Sufjan Stevens - Illinoise
8. Kanye West - Late Registration
9. Babyshambles - Down in Albion
10. Gorrilaz - Demon Days
11. The Cribs - The New Fellas
12. Devandra Banhart - Cripple Crow
13. The Rakes - Capture/Release
14. Dungen - Ta Det Lungt
15. Maximo Park - A Certain Trigger
16. British Sea Power - Open Season
17. The Magic Numbers - S/T
18. Art Brut - Bang Bang Rock and Roll
19. Coldplay - XY
20. Editors - The Back Room
21. LCD Soundsystem - S/T
22. Raevonettes - Pretty in Black
23. Hard-Fi - Stars of CCTV
24. Oasis - Don't Believe the Truth
25. MIA - Arular
26. Super Furry Animals - Love Kraft
27. Kate Bush - Aerial
28. Absentee - Donkey Stock
29. Madonna - Confessions on a Dancefloor
30. Doves - Some Cities
31. Bright Eyes - I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning
32. Queens of the Stone Age - Lullabyes to Paralyze
33. We Are Scientists - With Love and Squalor
34. Rufus Wainright - Want Two
35. Elbow - Leaders of the Free World
36. The Bravery - S/T
37. Circulus - Lick on the Tip of an Envelope
38. Autolux - Future Perfect
39. Vitalic - OK Cowboy
40. Brakes - Give Blood
41. Nine Black Alps - Everything Is
42. Sigur Ros - Takk
43. Engineers - S/T
44. Field Music - S/T
45. Shout Out Louds - Howl Howl Gaff Gaff
46. The Duke Spirit - Cuts Across the Land
47. Sleater-Kinney - The Woods
48. Ladytron - Witching Hour
49. Dead Meadow - Feathers
50. Test Icicles - For Screening Purposes Only

EDIT: I just realized that this issue is about a month earlier than it used to come out. I remember racing to Rebel Rebel on Bleeker the week between Christmas and New Years to pick up one of the copies of this before it sold out. Obviously the need to be first has superceeded all else these days. Times have changed.