The Wheel's Still In Spin: Best Albums of 2005

The content of this list was originally posted on the online music and popular culture magazine I See Sound on 3 Jan 2006.

My Top Ten Favorite Albums of 2005 (in alphabetical order, because that’s how I store my CDs. When I looked through my CDs to pick which were the best of the year, I scroll through them all alphabetically. But picking THE best one is hard. It changes every few weeks.)

Bright Eyes – I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning | Amazon CD LP MP3 | Insound CD LP
Download “Lua” (mp3)
This album re-awoke me to folk music. I’ve always listened to folk music. Bob Dylan was the reason I picked up a guitar in the first place. I went from listening to old school folk in high school and college to adding a lot of indie and punk rock in my 20’s. But this album made me religiously listen to Gram Parsons again – and not just because Conor Oberst added Emmylou Harris’ vocals on a few tracks – on the few moments when I took “Wide Awake” out of my CD player. It made me write folk songs again. It blew me away and it kept me up listening to it all night. I’ll never forget the first night a friend brought it over for me to hear. It was a few weeks before it was released. We recorded some music and then we listened to this album while we drank. We listened again. And drank more. And listened again. And well, eventually, my friend had a little too much vodka. He spent the end of the evening, or early part of the morning, hunched over, puking into a trashcan and occasionally opening his eyes to say, “I am soooooo sorry.” The sun was coming up, I was wide awake, and my friend had passed out on my floor.

The Decemberists – Picaresque | Amazon CD LP MP3 | Insound CD LP MP3
Download “The Engine Driver” (mp3)
This album reiterated me why Colin Meloy is one of my favorite songwriters. He writes appealing songs that tell unique stories and blow my mind away. While I seem to be one of the few people who think their earlier work may be a little stronger (listen to “Castaways and Cutouts” and “Her Majesty The Decemberists”), I am amazed that Meloy can write such intelligent songs that stick in my head all day long. Even if I think their earlier albums are better, I still say this is one of the best albums of 2005 by far. They put on a great show at The Southgate House this year, with one member sick and bedridden in the hotel. The show started a little slow, but by the end was so powerful I wanted to hear it over and over again, just like this album.

Dressy Bessy – Electrified | Amazon CD | Insound CD LP
Download “Side 2” (mp3)
While I still think their self-titled album on the now defunct Kindercore label is their swansong, this album still has all the things that make this Denver-based band incredible. You can hear the pop magic that alludes to their Elephant 6 roots. Tammy Ealom’s beautiful, raspy voice is just as much of a hook as John Hill’s guitar work. I saw them play in Denver before I moved to the Cincinnati area. Their show at Alchemize this year was one of the best concerts I saw in 2005.

Fiery Furnaces – EP | Amazon CD LP MP3 | Insound CD LP MP3
It’s called an EP. It has 10 tracks and is 41 minutes long. And it’s completely astonishing. From “Single Again” though “Sullivan’s Social Club,” the Friedberger siblings picked up where they left off on “Blueberry Boat” keeping the songs catchy and challenging.

The Hold Steady – Separation Sunday | Amazon CD MP3 | Insound CD MP3
“Do you want to hear it like boy meets girl and the rest is history? Or do you want it like a murder mystery? I’m going to tell it like a comeback story.” Craig Finn croons these lyrics in the middle of the album, once I was already hooked. From the opening lines about Holly, this album goes through as a story of debauchery and lust, up and down all the time. And the music immediately makes me jerk my whole body. This five piece from Brooklyn packs the album full of classic rock riffs with indie rock production and an endless onslaught of amazing lyrics. From “You came into the ER drinking gin from a jam jar. And the nurses making jokes about the ER being like an after bar.” to “Silly Rabbit. Tripping is for teenagers. Murder is for murderers. And hard drugs are for bartenders.” He mentioned that before.

Iron & Wine – Woman King EP | Amazon CD LP MP3 | Insound CD LP MP3
Download “Woman King” (mp3)
Another album I couldn’t take out of my CD player for weeks (literally – I listen to only this album for one full week and off an on throughout the year). It sounds like a modern version of Simon & Garfunkel production with the subdued performance I’ve come to love from Sam Beam. This album has only six songs, but every one of them is absolutely amazing. While he was recording this album in Chicago, a musical acquaintance, Matt Dennewitz (of Blackbear and Coltrane Motion) was sitting on his stoop drinking wine and playing or writing some music. Beam rode by on his bike. He stopped and asked, “Are you drinking wine?” Matt responded to this acoustic guitar songster and Sam just said, “Cool,” and rode off. I like to think Matt helped make this album even greaterer (yes, that’s greaterer).

The New Pornographers – Twin Cinema | Amazon CD MP3 | Insound CD MP3
This Canadian super group turned in another mind-boggling album in 2005. A.C. Newman, Dan Bejar, and Neko Case (along with others) churned out some of the best pop music of the year. The layers of guitars and vocals intertwined to create one of my favorite albums of the year. One listen to the song “Sing Me Spanish Techno” was all I needed to be hooked.

Sleater-Kinney – The Woods | Amazon CD MP3 | Insound CD MP3
Download “Entertain” (mp3)
Download “Jumpers” (mp3)
I was first turned on to Sleater-Kinney with One Beat. This album, though, not only changed my view of the band, it changed the way I played guitar. I wanted to figure out how to make solos sound as huge as Carrie Brownstein’s. Somehow both guitars on this album sounded like biggest noises of the year, full of power and control, noise and prowess. And Janet Weiss’s drumming is like John Bonham and Keith Moon rolled into one. A good friend of mine called her the greatest drummer of our generation – and that was before this album came out! A three piece hasn’t sounded this gigantic since Mclusky, but Sleater-Kinney does it better, both on the disc and live (what an amazing show at The Southgate House this year).

Spoon – Gimme Fiction | Amazon CD LP MP3 | Insound CD LP MP3
Okay. You’ve read a hundred reviews of this album already. You’ve seen it on most people’s Top 10 of 2005 lists. Yeah, I love it too. Simply put – it moves me. And “Two Sides of Monsieur Valentine” is one of my favorite tracks of the year. And that makes me realize that this is one of the few albums of the year that every one of my close friends (who all named it on their top 10 of 2005 lists, too) claims a different favorite track.

Troubled Hubble – Making Beds In A Burning House | Amazon CD LP MP3
Download “Ear Nose & Throat” (mp3)
This four piece from Chicago released a captivating power pop album, then they broke up. Isn’t that always how it goes? They have a legitimate reason. Lead singer Chris Otepka has had Tinnitus for a while. After touring for 5 years, it got too painful during their last tour. That might explain why this album has songs like “Migraine,” “Ear Nose & Throat,” and “Even Marathon Runners Need To Nap.” Their music is incredible and their live shows were extremely energetic. Brothers Nate and Andrew Lanthrum laid down a solid beat while Josh Miller’s guitar craftsmanship is unparalleled. Otepka would even stand on his head during shows and play rhythm guitar. It’s a shame this band can no longer play loud rock shows because they were remarkable. Luckily, one of the bands I [was] in, The Minni-Thins, got to play 2 shows with these guys (1 of those shows was also with The Wrens). They will be missed.