Best of 2005

Jesse's picks (2005)

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Jesse Raub is a staff reviewer here at Punknews.org -ed

Introduction

Let's call this "The Year that Jesse Forgot About New Music." These past few weeks and months have been a mad scramble for me to try to gobble up tons of albums from different bands of 2005, and let's just say that I dropped the ball a bit. Too much in too short of a time, leaving me with many great albums of 2005 wholly unlistened to. I know, it's a shame. My focuses were elsewhere this year; I spent most of my time going through the history of modern music and picking up essential albums like John Coltrane's
A Love Supreme and Slayer's Reign In Blood, not to mention a pique in my interest in dub and reggae as well as an attempt to familiarize myself with a bit more country (I'm still stuck on Johnny Cash and Hank Williams – somebody get me some Merle Haggard, on the double!). Regardless, 2005 was the year that saw stalwarts of the indie scene Death Cab For Cutie sign to a major label after years of denying that they ever would. Unlike 2004, there were no new Tom Waits, Nick Cave, or Jack White produced Loretta Lynn albums for people to hype over. Bruce Springsteen released another new album to a lukewarm response, garnering support from his die-hard fans and no one else.

There have been many amazing albums put out, but for me, most of them won't be digested fully until the end of 2006. And speaking of 2006, I couldn't be more excited. January sees the release of a new Akimbo record as well as the new DragonForce. February has the debut full-length from The Sword. And that's enough to hold me over for now. In the meantime, let's get to the list!

Top 10

#10 Holy Mountain - Entrails
No Idea
Perhaps the only No Idea band I've ever really been able to get into. Super fast hardcore with a heavy thrash metal influence and growling vocals. Pick it up as a late Christmas present for your favorite Slayer or D-beat fan. They'll appreciate it.

#9 Black Mountain – Black Mountain
Jagjaguwar
Everything you wanted to know about rock and roll (but were afraid to ask). Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Velvet Underground, Rolling Stones. Black Mountain covers all angles. Solid release. Great tunes. Made by a collective of social workers who live in Canada. Hunh.

#8. Big Business – Head for the Shallow
Hydra Head
The bass player from Karp, the drummer from Muder City Devils, some ripping guitar solos in the background, gigantic echoey 80s stadium rock vocals. Intense rhythms, heavy distortion, and no goofy drawings of dudes with elephant trunks for noses. What more can you ask for from a drum and bass duo?

#7. M.I.A. - Arular
XL
A massive conglomeration of dancehall, hip-hop, politics, electronica, tinted with eastern melodies, with just a hint of grime. M.I.A. came out of left field with this release, blowing minds and taking captives. Wildly original, sing-a-longable (galang-galang!), and extremely political, this is the type of album to throw on at a revolutionary dance party. Jagged, disjointed beats come at you from all angles. Truly some top notch music.

#6. Damian Marley – Welcome to Jamrock
Tuff Gong
I never expected to like this album as much as I do. The youngest son of Bob Marley, Damian was only two when his father died, but that doesn't stop him from channeling Bob's spirit throughout the album. Ranging from dub, hip-hop, reggae, dancehall, to R&B, this album has it all. It has to be one of the best examples of modern Jamaican music that I've ever heard. Highly original, extremely personal, dark, political, romantic – and with a few good club hits too.

#5. Constantines – Tournament of Hearts
Sub Pop
This release blindsided me. I always really liked Shine A Light, but I never ended up listening to it much. They've always been hailed sort of as a punk/indie Bruce Springsteen, and on this release the influence couldn't be more flushed out. But at the same time, Constantines managed to strip this album down to only the bare essentials each song needed, a huge jump away from Shine A Light where both guitars, keys, and bass were used to their full potential for layered harmonies and melodies. But while having a huge Springsteen influence, Tournament of Hearts couldn't sound more different than anything I've ever heard.

#4. Bruce Springsteen – Devils and Dust
Columbia
Fuck, man. It's the Boss. I actually would have put Constantines new album in fourth, but hey – it's the Boss. You can't fuck with the Boss. This album sees Bruce going back to the Nebraska/The Ghost of Tom Joad style of songwriting while denying that urge to go Adult Contemporary that most people did. Well, I guess he already hit that phase with Tunnel of Love, Lucky Town, and that other one no one talks about. But those albums don't exist, and the Boss by far is my favorite artist of all time. Deal with it.

#3. Nada Surf – The Weight is a Gift
Barsuk
I was hanging around at the beginning of the fall semester when my friend, Megan, asked if I wanted to see Nada Surf. Why not? I wasn't paying for it. I remembered seeing them a few years back and they played like an hour and a half and I was bored to tears by them. Not so. For the first time in a long time, I actually was enraptured at a show by a band whose songs I didn't know. As soon as the concert was over I got the CD from Megan and recognized every single hook from every song they played. This is by far the best pop album I've ever heard. Each song could be a hit, each melody memorable, each hook sharp and pointy. I don't listen to pop albums, really, but this one gets stuck in my head – in a good way.

#2. High On Fire – Blessed Black Wings
Relapse
By far this is the best metal album to be released in the last five or six years. And I mean metal album. Not power metal. Not black metal. Not grind or gore. Not thrash. Not stoner or sludge. Just metal. Matt Pike is a monster. And those other guys are pretty rad too. Steve Albini couldn't have done a better job making this album sound amazing. Hopefully 2006 will see another High On Fire album, as well.

#1. Lords - Swords
Jade Tree
This album blows me away. Hands down best release of 2005. Thirteen songs in under twenty minutes. Each one with it's own flavor of thrash/sludge/punk/metal. These dudes also put on the best shows and are super nice. What more can you ask for? Last night my friend and I were sitting around playing some networked Neverwinter Nights (yeah, what of it?) and we listened to this album on repeat a good five times.

Honorable Mentions

There have been tons upon tons of albums that I wasn't able to get through in 2005. And there were some that just didn't make it to the Top 10. Indian's The Unquiet Sky and Raise the Red Lantern's Breathe Fire were both amazing releases for doom metal and post-hardcore, the only problem being that I'm not a big fan of either doom metal or post-hardcore. Also, Somerset's Pandora didn't quite make the cut, but solely because I have been to probably thirty or so Somerset shows, and had copies of most of the songs on the album for about a year now. Great album, I've just listened to it too much. As far as albums I didn't get a chance to listen to enough, I'd have to say that I love the first three songs on the new Animal Collective album, Feels. I just haven't heard anything else on it. The new self-titled Broken Social Scene is meritable, as well as Dead Meadow's Feathers and the Decemberists Picaresque. I haven't actually heard an entire song off of the Decemberists' album, but the twenty second clips I have heard have been pretty good, I thought. Other great albums of the year: Purple Blaze - Ris Paul Ric, Stowaway - Pattern Is Movement, Love in the Facist Brothel - The Plot to Blow Up the Eiffel Tower, LCD Soundsystem – LCD Soundsystem, and finally, the demos album by Melvins has some amazing material on it.

Mix Tape

By the way, check out my other list at sayRAH.net!

Eat it chumps.