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I haven't kept up with new music this year as well as I did last year. But I know some of you did, and I found some really good stuff through your recommendations in the 2004 thread, so I thought I'd open this up again.
First off, I'll start again with some picks from industry pros, with everything good and bad that comes from that.
Not as comprehensive a list, but from one of my favorite sources, here's the list of '05s most underrated or overlooked albums from NPR's All Songs Considered.
And finally, although I haven't kept as current this year, here are a couple of my favorites from '05.
2005: Year of the Sophomore Album
Some of my favorite new artists from the last year or two came out with eagerly awaited (by me at least) sophomore albums this year. To wit:
Kanye West: Late Registration
Franz Ferdinand: You Could Have It So Much Better
Gorillaz: Demon Days
Coincidentally, I feel very similar about all these albums. None of them are quite as good as the artists' first offerings, but none of them really disappointed me, either. All these albums were worth getting, but it would be wise to get College Dropout and Franz Ferdinand & Gorillaz self-titled albums first. Still, all my favorite artists adequately avoided the sophomore slump, so I'm satisfied.
New Albums from Old Favorites
Ben Folds: Songs For Silverman
Pat Metheny Group: The Way Up
The Chemical Brothers: Push the Button
Again, I can review these albums, more or less, as one. All these albums stayed conspicuously absent from anyone elses' best-of-year lists, but I have no problem saying that I loved each of these discs more or less without reservation.
The Chemical Brothers are noticably past their prime. They didn't remake Dig Your Own Hole or Exit Planet Dust, nor are they as relevant anymore even if they had. But they're still putting out fun, high-energy techno that's as good as anything else in the genre you're likely to find. If you're a fan, you won't be disappointed.
Ben Folds and Pat Metheny, on the other hand, are making music just as good as they ever have. Both of these albums are as deep, rich and rewarding as any of the stuff that got me into them in the first place. Neither of these albums are the artists' masterpieces, but there's no sign of either artist being over the hill or phoning it in either, which is really saying something after all the music they've made.
Other Good Ones
*Coldplay: X&Y These guys are a little too whiny for me to consider myself as big a fan as most of the rest of the planet. But they do certain things well, and they did those things just as well on this album as they ever have. They didn't re-invent themselves here, but I wasn't nearly as bored with it as I expected to be, and I can't say I was disappointed.
*Thievery Corporation: The Cosmic Game I like down-tempo techno when it's done right, and these guys make some of the best stuff I've heard in a while. This was a solidly good album, and the guest spots from The Flaming Lips and David Byrne didn't hurt either. I didn't like it quite as much as The Mirror Conspiracy, but it's smooth and hypnotic enough that I have a hard time turning it off once I start listening to it.
Like I said, I've missed a lot of stuff this year. I wouln't mind hearing Brian Eno's new one, or the new Common or Death Cab for Cutie. So this is where you come in. What are your favorites? Why? I'm looking forward to hearing good things for hipper people than I. Posts: 2804 | Registered: May 2003
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First off LOVE Thievery Corporation and Ben Folds. But the rest? Eh. Franz F.'s new album isn't 1/2 as good as their first. Don't have a taste of Kanye West, or anything else the kids are listening to these days that are in his section on the Itunes music store.
As for my faves of the year. Death Cab's is at the top of my list as well as the newest White Stripes.
But #1? BY FAR Sufjan Stevens: Come on feel the Illinoise. This album is one of the best I've heard in a long time and his songs are beautifully written.
#2 would be The Foo Fighters newest. 2 disks of rock bliss.
The rest I'll have to think of later. :-)
Posts: 64 | Registered: Jul 2005
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If you listen to one album this year... Check out "Speak For Yourself".
It is the first solo record released in the US by Frou Frou vocalist Imogen Heap. Specifically the songs "Hide & Seek" "Have You Got It in You?" and "Headlock"... On Amazon
She also did a track on the Chronicles of Narnia movie.
Posts: 80 | Registered: Nov 2005
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All of the recent albums I liked that I can think of (and I'm going through the 2005 Billboard charts as I speak, in case something jogs my memory) were released in 2004.
Snow Patrol - "Final Straw" The Killers - "Hot Fuss"
The new Hot Hot Heat is a 2005 release, but I haven't listened to it yet. If it's anything like the first, it's awesome. Same for the new OK Go. I also heard System of a Down's "Mezmerize," which was good, but the only part that stuck in my head was the single, "B. Y. O. B."
Basically, no album released in 2005 has completely sucked me into the band as of right now, which to me is what it takes for an album to be truly amazing.
I mean...MARIAH CAREY and RICKY MARTIN released albums.
quote:Originally posted by RynoW1: Franz F.'s new album isn't 1/2 as good as their first. Don't have a taste of Kanye West, or anything else the kids are listening to these days that are in his section on the Itunes music store.
You know, if I were to rank the discs in that first section, they'd go like this: Kanye West> Gorillaz> Franz Ferdinand.
I stand by my approval of FF's second album, but of those three it is the one that demands re-listening the least, which is a shame considering how quickly I wore out their first album.
Kanye, on the other hand... if you don't like that kind of music, I guess I couldn't recommend that you get it. But it really is a great album. It doesn't hang together as a whole quite as well as his first one, but it's packed wall-to-wall with some killer, creative and memorable jams that hold up really well with repeated listens.
quote:Originally posted by RynoW1: First off LOVE Thievery Corporation and Ben Folds.
Yeah, you've got to love Ben Folds. One of my favorite things about him is that his music is so well-written, catchy and fun that I never notice the lyrics. Then, after I've been singing along with his songs for months or years, suddenly, song by song, I'll listen to the words and be knocked flat by how brilliant they are. Sometimes he's funny, sometimes he's subtly satyrical, and sometimes he's poignant and profound, but he's never boring. Honestly, he's one of the best lyricists in the business right now, but he's such a good musician that I often forget that. And Songs For Silverman is just as good in both respects as I've come to expect from him.
posted
Again, Kanye...I can't get past the single. I LOVE "Gold Digger." Love it to death. But the rest of his songs don't really catch my attention.
On the new MSI, I only like two songs really. "2 Hookers and an 8 Ball" and "Straight to Video." They're catchy. I like "Straight to Video" best, and it's quite possibly the most single-friendly song on the album.
There were also, in my opinion, an unusually large number of "Best of" albums released in 2005.
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Thats odd pH, I dont really like Gold Digger, but a few of the other tracks are great. Diamonds are from.... is the obvious one, but Roses and Gone are both growers
Posts: 122 | Registered: Feb 2003
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Takk... (Sigur Rós). Aim Right for the Holes in their Lives (Novillero).
The first one in particular is nothing short of incredible. I don't think I've heard a better album in this year's crop of releases. The second one is astonishingly infectious.
Posts: 10886 | Registered: Feb 2000
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I was going to say Reise, Reise by Rammstein. But that came out in 2004. They released a CD this year, but it isn't in the United States yet, I don't think. Its probably awesome too.
Posts: 6026 | Registered: Dec 2004
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I didn't really listen to many new artists this year. But my favorite new albums from artists I've liked for a few years were:
Harvey Danger--Little by Little Against Me!--Searching for a Former Clarity Tegan and Sara--So Jealous
Posts: 3801 | Registered: Jan 2000
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Everytime I listen to the Hand That Feeds track, after the track is over I feel like I just listened to the same song played about 14 times in a row. Not a good thing, no matter what track it is.
Other than that, I'll second Thievery Corporation and Gorillaz for their albums this year. My Morning Jacket would by my third pick, and Coldplay fourth.
Posts: 1368 | Registered: Sep 2002
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I've got Mesmerize and Hypnotize now. Both are positively incendiary, and very good, but I wouldn't go so far as to put them on the same level as Takk...Posts: 10886 | Registered: Feb 2000
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My favorites of the year in no particular order after the first one:
The Arcade Fire - Funeral (I think this actually came out in 2004 but it is on the Grammy list for alternative album of 2005)
Wolf Parade - Apologies to the Queen Mary
I Am Ghost - We Are Always Searching EP
Trivium - Ascendancy
Broken Social Scene - Broken Social Scene
Bloc Party - Silent Alarm
Boards Of Canada - Campfire Headphase
Sufjan Stevens - Illinois
Gorillaz - Demon Days
Albums I missed and need to hear or only listened to once and need to hear again:
Pelican - The Fire in Our Throats Will Beckon the Thaw
Thievery Corporation - The Cosmic Game
Sigur Ros - Takk
What I have actually been listening to more than anything in the recent months is the CBC Radio 3 podcast. They play great Canadian alternative music (Broken Social Scene, The Weakerthans, Stars, Metric, The Arcade Fire, Wolf Parade, Buck 65). It is definitely worth checking out. (link)Posts: 1336 | Registered: Mar 2002
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