[+]

my '67 epiphone bass. plink session in nyc.

music 2005.

Time for the annual music wrapup. (Annual? I wrote my 2004 list but never posted it. MaybeI'll put it up later; it's a shame to let all that RSI go to waste.)

It was nice to see Plink turn up on someone's 2005 list. We were also on a few 2004 lists; all I can find now is this one.

Anyway. I bought a lot of CDs and mp3's in 2005. Here's some of the good and bad. This list isn't limited to 2005 releases; it's music that was new to me.

The Great

• Autolux, Future Perfect. my album of the year. songs, production, tone, it's all there.
• High On Fire, Blessed Black Wings. best metal record in years. sounds amazing too.
• Park Avenue Music, For Your Home Or Office. 2001 release that i just discovered. beautiful super-processed electronica.

The Good

• Lightning Bolt, Hypermagic Mountain. more of the same but it's a good same.
• Lamb of God, Ashes of the Wake. it's brad's fault.
• Unsane, Blood Run. yes.
• Techno Animal, Brotherhood of the Bomb. been listening to this constantly for 2 years. hip-hop as it was meant to be. angry, lo-fi.
• Shallow North Dakota, Mob Wheel. slow, sludgy, satisfying.
• Food For Animals, Scavengers. more revolutionary hip-hop, no blingy bullshit in sight.
• Fantomas, Suspended Animation. this is the good freakout.
• 2 Foot Yard, s/t. live, these guys are breathtaking. the cd is pretty good, given that as competition.
• Odd Nosdam, Burner. glitchy hip-hop kinda. spotty but real nice in places.
• Sleater-Kinney, The Woods. rocks.
• Trail Of Dead, Worlds Apart. how do these guys do it?
• Clutch, Robot Hive/Exodus. it's no "blast tyrant" but still. also, the "burning beard" video = yes.
• Jucifer, The Lambs EP. heavy, slopppy. they're the anti-white stripes.
• 1 Mile North, Minor Shadows. nice stuff.
• M83, Before The Dawn Hears Us. how do these guys do it?
• Converge, You Fail Me. probably their best yet, for me.

The... Eh

• Orthrelm, ov. i don't care what the clueless hipsters say, these guys aren't all that.
• JR Ewing, Maelstrom. yawn. damn.
• The Locust, Safety Second Body Last. album title of the year but this is the boring freakout.
• Pelican, The Fire In Our Throats Will Beckon the Thaw. instrumental metal is dumb.
• Mudvayne, Lost and Found. holy crap the downhill slide is steep.
• Kinski, Alpine Static. bland. disappointing.
• Jaga Jazzist, What We Must. ugh, sounds like tribal tech or something.
• COC, In The Arms Of God. totally useless. "blind", now that's some shit.
• The Chariot, Everything is Alive, blah blah. i want to love this but i can't really get there.
• NIN, With Teeth. maybe it's the tanning machine. hire a lyricist.
• Red Sparowes, At The Soundless Dawn. see "pelican".
• Low, The Great Destroyer. man i love low, but fridmann's production messed this one up for me.