Whether personally or globally, I think the word that best describes 2005 is tumultous. In retrospect, it was rocky in both arenas, but I think it’s important to reflect on the catastrophic or negative and to gain a lesson. Let’s understand how to change and work to be better. Be happy with today. And optimistic for tomorrow.

A brief list of negatives for the year could be startling: Tsunami. Katrina. Bombay Floods. Pakistani Earthquake. London Bombings. Alberto Gonzalez. Samuel Alito. Pat Robertson. Sudan Genocide. Fractured Kyoto Protocol. Iraq War. Tookie’s Execution. French Riots.

My folks went to a group meditation for New Years and the “gurus” predicted that 2006 would be a good one. The world might seem to be in dire shape, but our overall global consciousness is rising each year they said. Are things getting better in some ways? Brian McCartan’s recent article in the CS Monitor, “War and disasters aside, 2005 brought world progress,” says we have reason to keep our flame of optimism lit.

It was a year I now recall somewhat fondly, contemplate happily, & bask in the thought that the last couple months have been stunning. India was intense and rich. The summer was tragic unlike anything I’ve experienced. Autumn was neither mediocre nor excellent, but I felt the stable wheels of routine roll back into my life. And during this rainy, wintry December I feel excited each day and happy to see and interact with all people. I’m just letting things happen and not worrying about the future so much anymore.

“It was a very good year,” to quote a Sinatra song, in the realm of music. It was the year of many phone conversations with Oso regarding our latest faves and in the process of these weekly talks I realized something: Hearing my friends’ opinions, reading reviews (esp. by Pitchfork) was clouding my personal judgement before even experiencing a work firsthand. At times, before even listening to a new album, I had built a preconceived notion and established an opinion. This was bullshit. Yeah, I respect many of my friends and I know what they like and understand. Yeah, I dig reading reviews and I love how writers/critics can convey the intracacies and insides in their complex language. But damn, I just want to hear the record first before thinking I know what it’s going to be like.

It was a year in which people became myspace whores. Will that trend fade out this year or become the medium of online communication?

It was the year I realized how much I need an i-pod. I’m so sick of burning cds, scratching them, sorting through them, all of it. It’s time to organize them on an external hardrive and pick up that much needed mp3 player. We’ve accumulated so much music through downloading, ripping, burning, and buying. Anyone who is complaining that there aren’t any good bands out right now is just not looking hard enough. Because this was the year that Reuel and I laughed when we asked each other, “Have you heard of so and so?” And the other would reply with, “Yeah, I have it but haven’t listened to it yet.” Why? Because there’s too much music to listen to right now.

Or maybe I’m wasting my time. Maybe I wasted a lot of time this year listening to music. How many times did I stare up at ceiling fans with my headphones on and eat an hour? A couple hundred I’m sure. But I don’t regret a minute of those times that I was thinking, decompressing, writing, or trying to get amped up to start my day. I want to thank everyone I know who exchanges music and musical thoughts with me. I love it just too much. Without further blabber:

Best Music of 2005 - Artists and Albums and Tracks - My Favorites

12. The Album Leaf - In a Safe Place [2004]
(genre: post-rock/instrumental)
Jimmy LaValle left sunny SoCal for inspiration in Iceland. It’s more electronic than Sigur Ros, but with many similarities. It was my anthem as I ventured from one Indian state to another. Alot of mellow instrumentals all recorded at Sigur’s Icelandic studio.

11. Casiotone for the Painfully Alone [2003]
(genre: lo-fi electronic)
I ask Nate what he’s listening to and I get it.
Owen Ashworth plays 14 Casio keyboard tracks with lyrics that sound like they are very personal stories written for different women in his life. But he says this is not the case. I would say that CTFTPA sounds like a very raw sounding Postal Service.

10. Atmosphere - You Can’t imagine How Much Fun We’re Having [2005]
(genre: indie hip-hop)
10. Death Cab for Cutie - Plans [2005]
(genre: introspective indie rock)
[This was written after I saw Death Cab play a month ago]:

It’s so much cooler when you are of the few that know. “I’m showing you something fresh, increasing my originality.” Then two years later you say, “I had that album before anyone knew them and before they were mainstream and soldout.” I guess it’s one of the definitive features and qualities that the counter culture spirit must embrace. Whether it be a cult film, a hip clothing style, or the latest indie band - if it strides toward the “Zona Popular”, it’s a somber and dissapointing day.

I have felt my enthusiasm drop and dwindle after seeing a nieve high schooler bobbing their heads to “my melodies!” But shouldn’t I be happy that more people are listening to an artist I respect?

We’ve all been discouraged with musicians who change their sound purely for popular recognition, control by their record label, and/or capital gain. But we’ve all also decided to dislike an artist solely because a frat boy, our siblings’ friend, MTV, or a car commercial now dug and supported “our discovery!”

It’s important to recognize the difference.

When I look at bands like Death Cab for Cutie and Atmosphere, I see that I have rolled my eyes at their rise, increased promotional efforts, and new/younger fans. But now I understand that Death Cab & Atmopshere are both groups who have stayed true to their essence and have grown, transcended, and evolved beautifully over ten years and five albums. One indie rock, the other underground hip-hop, though both are pretty well-known after being in the spotlight for a while now.

Ben Gibbard (Death Cab) and Sean “Slug” Daley (Atmosphere) are two of the best lyricists I’ve ever heard. Their songs of heartbreak, incredible one liners, and beautiful metaphors allow them to speak directly to the listener who can completely relate their own memories with the music. Even if we haven’t experienced their precise & detailed personal story… we wish we had or we wished we had conceived such an intelligent idea. But we do relate to the emotion they are expressing, be it frustration, anger, lost love, or melancholy.

I wouldn’t be able to count how many brilliant stanzas Slug has rhymed and caused Oatey and I and other friends to recite line for line, back and forth to each other. The more I read about the guy, the more I respect him. In the 10 year anniversary of Alarm magazine, Slug talks about turning down major labels like Interscope and Sony:

The major labels were all met with a polite, “Thanks, but no thanks,” which turned quite a few label execs red in the face and set the indie media circuits ablaze with talk of how Atmosphere turned down the majors. The decision came down to Slug: “The reason I said no to majors was never because I didn’t want the money, it was becuase of all the extra baggage. I didn’t want to be that new posterboy.”

In the process, of staying independent he’s also turned down many other product endorsements like sneakers.

With the latest Atmosphere album, ole’ Sluggo still whips out clever rhymes like on “Say Hey There” and “Get Fly”:

“She still makes time to hate me
but basically I’m overbooked no emotional vacancy”

“Society becomes jealousy
intimacy becomes intensity
say it with a smile like it’s meant to be
and all of a sudden BOOM American family”

8. Doves - Some Cities [2005]
(genre: Britpop)
I picked this album up from a record store in Bangalore. It sounded like disc two to their 2002 release, “The Last Broadcast.” Did they use the same recipe or what because some songs sounded way too familar? Maybe so, but they do a pretty good job and are one of the better British rock bands out there.

7. Sufjan Stevens - Illinois [2005]
(genre: indie rock/progressive folk)
A superb orchestration of melodies, choruses, and Sufjan’s personal stories are really something. He says he will make an album dedicated to each state in the union. I say rock it. It is evident that his Christianity is one with him, but the irony is present and he does not proselytize.

6. Sigur Ros - Takk [2005]
(genre: post-rock)
Sigur Ros’ 4th album might be their best (right Reuel?) because of more complexity in sound and deeper crescendos. And I guess they are finally singing in Icelandic though how many can actually notice the difference from their gibberish called Hopelandic.

5. Boards of Canada - The Campfire Headphase [2005]
(genre: ambient electronic)
Just like Sigur, this is possibly their best album yet. These Scotsmen added guitars to their electronic sound without tainting their style. They are definitley my favorite band to write to and it’s a bummer I couldn’t make space for them on the latest Sedatives.

4. Broken Social Scene - self-titled [2005]
(genre: indie rock/experimental)
Well, they were the best live performance I saw this year. Timmy might disagree, as he caught them at the Henry Fonda in L.A. and said, “Bro, five guitarists on stage, it’s a little ridiculous.”
Well, he might be right, but they’re doing their thing and creating a sound unlike anything I’ve heard before.

3. The Decemberists - Picaresque [2005]
(genre: introspective indie rock)
Colin Meloy has to be one of the most brilliant and original songwriters in the game today. A degree in creative writing can’t be a bad thing for any singer and I’m damn curious to catch dude doing his current solo thing/tour next month.
I finally snagged The Decemberists’ first album (Castaways & Cutouts) as I departed West Hollywood, Timmy, and Alex in mid-September and drove home. The 8 minute ballad titled “California One” immediately caught my ear and I held on tight through all of the song and its swift transitions.
It isn’t that The Decemberists have three flawless albums that are smooth from start to finish. But there are 5-6 gems that I get addicted to for a month straight. The lovely acoustic tunes along with Colin’s fantastic storytelling and medieval vocabulary. I can’t believe I missed them at live The Fillmore this year.

2. Stars - Set Yourself on Fire [2005]
(genre: indie pop)

Torq Campbell & Amy Millan (& the rest of the band) create excellent melodies and harmonize on everything they do. Call it electropop if you must, but their lyrics are nostalgic & meaningful for anyone ages 17-37. “Your Ex-lover is dead” was my favorite song this year with good reason.

God that was strange to see you again. Introduced by the friend of a friend. Smiled and said ‘Yes, I think we’ve met before.’ In that instant it started to pour. Captured a taxi despite all the rain. We drove in silence across Pont Champlain. And all of that time you thought I was sad. I was trying to remember your name.

1. Ulrich Schnauss - A Strangely Isolated Place
(genre: ambient electronic)
In my darkest, most introspective, or epiphanous (haha, I know funny) moments this year, this German gentleman was both “cause and effect. Pause for respect.” One of the keys to music in general, but especially when it comes to ambient/electronic is progression. Without lyrics, it is purely up to the instrumental to capture a listener and keep them enchanted. When a musician like Ulrich can do that for 6-8 minute tracks, you know the guy understands his trade. For more info on his album, you can read this previous post. His first album, “Faraway Trains Passing By” was re-released this year and is also definitely worth checking out.

Older albums that I grew much greater appreciation for this year:
Pavement - Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain [1994]
The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots [2002]
DNTEL - Life is Full of Possibilities [2002]
The Decemberists - Castaways and Cutouts [2002]
Broken Social Scene - Feel Good Lost [2001]
Broken Social Scene - You Forgot it in People [2002]

And here is the mix I have compiled:
An Opiate for the Cathartic
(Sedatives for 2005)

1. Zion I - The Bay
2. Amadou & Mariam - Mbife (Balafon)
3. Nortec Collective - Olvidela Compa
4. Stars - One More Night
5. Doves - One of These Days
6. Broken Social Scene - Swimmers
7. Casiotone for the Painfully Alone - Half Ghost
8. Death Cab for Cutie - What Sarah Said
9. Stars - Your Ex-Lover is Dead
10. The Decemberists - On the Bus Mall
11. Sufjan Stevens - Casimir Pulaski Day
12. Pinback - Loro
13. Broken Social Scene - I Slept with the Bonhomme at the CBC
14. The Album Leaf - Another Day (Revisited)
15. Ulrich Schnauss - Gone Forever
16. Sigur Ros - Se Lest

Tracks that shoulda but didn’t make the cut due to lack of space:
Murs & Slug - Morris Day
Atmosphere - Say Hey There
Blackalicious - My Pen & Pad
My Morning Jacket - My Heart Beats 4 u
Boards of Canada - Peacock Trail
M.I.A. - Sunshowers
The National - All the Wine
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! - The Skin of My Yellow Country Teeth

Albums from 2005 that are sounding excellent but that I’m yet to really “disect, digest, diagnose” and have a solid opinion about :

-Okkervil River - The Black Sheep Boy
-The New Pornographers - Twin Cinema
-Sun Kil Moon - Ghosts of the Great Highway
-Vashti Bunyan - Lookaftering
-LCD Soundsystem - self-titled
-Amadou et Mariam - Dimanche a Bamako
-Blackalicious - The Craft
-Edan - Beauty and the Beat
- Wolf Parade - Apologies to the Queen Mary

The album that I didn’t know what to think of but that has grown on me more and more:

-My Morning Jacket - Z

The disappointments and/or albums I just wasn’t feeling as much as everyone else (I’m truly sorry):
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah!: self-titled
Bloc Party - Silent Alarm
Coldplay - X & Y

That’s it. I would love to hear what you’ve been digging. Cheers to 2005 and I look forward to more visine for our ears and sedatives for our minds with 2006.

Categories: Thoughts as of late..., Visine for the ears
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