Top 20 Albums of 2005
After scouring through my music collection of the past 12 months and organising them into a coherent structure after much re-arranging, I present to you the top 20 albums of 2005.
#1 - Sufjan Stevens - Illinois

#2 - The Decemberists - Picaresque

#3 - Prefuse 73 - Surrounded by Silence

#4 - M83 - Before The Dawn Heals Us

Some will label this album pompous and overbearing and it is, but it's also capable of creating a glowing shroud of sound amidst a milky way of emotion. I can understand why the City scape on the cover because with Before the Dawn Can Heal Us Gonzalez has created gaudy neon lit wondrous edifice of his own. And that s stunningly beautiful too.
#5 - Death Cab For Cutie - Plans

#6 - Jaga Jazzist - What We Must

Those of you who like your instrumental music to be fractured and shrouded might prefer the aforementioned Shining and write off Jaga as boring; the rest should find ample rewards in What We Must's effortless sonority and memorable arrangements. And if you're like me, you're dreaming of a gigantic antenna powerful enough to pick up radio signals from Norway.
#7 - British Sea Power - Open Season

#8 - Lou Barlow - Emoh

#9 - Laurs Veirs - Year of Meteors

Produced by Tortured Soul band member, Tucker Martine, Year of Meteors' lyrics include dream-like images of sky and sea, punctuated by guitar bursts, handclaps and melodic keyboards and strings. She has a relaxed and freeflowing style completely all of her own. Sometimes verging on the melancholy, sometimes on the quirky, sometimes on the inspirational but always simple, fresh and straight forward songwriting.
#10 - Broken Social Scene - Broken Social Scene Ltd

#11 - Jack Johnson - In Between Dreams

#12 - Wilderness - Wilderness

#13 - Bell Orchestre - Recording A Tape the Colour of the Light

#14 - Foo Fighters - In Your Honor

#15 - Hood - Outside Closer

#16 - Patrick Wolf - Wind in the Wires

#17 - Bonnie Prince and Matt Sweeney - Superwolf

#18 - MF Doom & Dangermouse - Dangerdoom

#19 - Minotaur Shock - Maritime

#20 - Caribou - The Milk of Human Kindness

Well folks, I hope that you'll heed some of these reviews and make some of these fine records part of your collection. See you next year for another Top 20.
Coming Soon: Top 20 Movies of 2005!
Labels: Top 20 Albums 2005