Re: Best Albums of 2005 - Recommendations
 

Albums from the list that I find underrated:

-LCD Soundsystem, s/t - a great album, including the great 2nd disc of older 7"s and etc. Might not be everyone's aural cup of tea, but a fantastic CD . . . danceable, just ambient enough to be the best top-down nighttime driving album in history, and just lyrical enough to matter.

-Edan, "Beauty and the Beat" - Edan's always been underrated among the boho nerd rap set, and this album combines his intelligent, almost scientific lyrics with production featuring great 60s/70s psychadelia. If you dig tube amps and reverb, plus underground hip hop, this might be your favorite album of all time.

-Bright Eyes, "Wide Awake..." - OK, this one's not underrated at all, but this is probably the best bet for the people asking "where do I start?" from this list. Think of this album as a strange combination of golden age country, modern alt/indie rock, and folk - Oberst's lyrics aren't really for everyone, as they tend toward the vague/obtuse/visceral more than some like. If you're not into the country vibe so much, the older albums (especially "Fevers and Mirrors" and "Lifted..." are a little lighter on the country influence, but are still strongly folk (along with being just, well . . . weird). Nothing that will make you feel manly, and really not uplifting (to be nice), but amazing music.

Albums I didn't really dig:

-Buck 65, "This right here is Buck 65" - I get why this was highly reviewed - it's a novel concept, sort of a weird hybrid of hip hop and dylan/waits stories, with some maudlin sensibility in there. However, it just doesn't deliver - once you get over the novelty, I didn't find a lot of replay value.

(BTW - the obligatory "random CD for cred" would be The Boy Least Likely To - "The best party ever", probably my favorite CD this year)

Re: Best Albums of 2005 - Recommendations
 

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(BTW - the obligatory "random CD for cred" would be The Boy Least Likely To - "The best party ever", probably my favorite CD this year)

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awesome cd

Re: Best Albums of 2005 - Recommendations
 

[ QUOTE ]
8. Arular by M.I.A.
11. Black Sheep Boy by Okkervil River
12. The Mysterious Production Of Eggs by Andrew Bird
13. Mezmerize by System Of A Down
15. LCD Soundsystem by LCD Soundsystem
16. I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning by Bright Eyes
21. Twin Cinema by The New Pornographers
24. Late Registration by Kanye West
26. Takk... by Sigur Rós
30. Gimme Fiction by Spoon

[/ QUOTE ]

All very good, although not in that order.

The list should also include:

The Mouse and the Mask by DangerDoom
You Can't Imagine How Much Fun We're Having by Atmosphere
You Could Have It So Much Better by Franz Ferdinand
The Weight is a Gift by Nada Surf
Broken Social Scene by Broken Social Scene

Albums that are decent, although not best of the year material:

Weapons of Mass Destruction by Xzibit
In Between Dreams by Jack Johnson
The B.Coming by Beanie Siegel
Black Mountain by Black Mountain
Silent Alarm by Bloc Party
Guero by Beck
Get Behind Me Satan by The White Stripes
The Documentary by The Game

Still lots of other albums I should grab to catch up. [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

Re: Best Albums of 2005 - Recommendations
 

Just random thoughts that go thru my head as I read thru this list:

Arular is AWESOME. I'm glad MIA's starting to do well in the club scene.
Deerhoof is a little too high for me.
The Go! Team album was from 2004.
Twin Cinema is nowhere near high enough for me.
WTF is System of a Down doing here???
Wasn't Gimme Fiction 2004 too? Seems like I've had that album for over a year...
Where's The National?
Where's Architecture in Helenski?
Where's Broken Social?
Where's Common?
I wish Grime/Garage would start getting more hype. [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img] There's been some awesome albums out of that genre this year.

GoT

Re: Best Albums of 2005 - Recommendations
 

I like Buck 65 a lot. Also: "Trouble" by Ray Lamontagne..but now that i think about it, im' not 100% sure it came out this year.

it's good though.

Cancuk

Re: Best Albums of 2005 - Recommendations
 

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Wasn't Gimme Fiction 2004 too? Seems like I've had that album for over a year...

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It leaked early, although not THAT early. Released late May I believe.

Re: Best Albums of 2005 - Recommendations
 

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I don't enjoy Surfjan Stevens as much as I think I'm supposed to. Am I the only one?

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He sucks.

Re: Best Albums of 2005 - Recommendations
 

Most of that list is hipster trash. Get Dark Tranquillity - Character and bang your head!

However, just so I don't get accused of being closed-minded, Sufjan Stevens is OK, that SOAD record is a guilty pleasure of mine, and Kanye West is OK as well. The rest, not so much.

Re: Best Albums of 2005 - Recommendations
 

Matthew Good - 1995-2005 In A Coma - I would highly recommend the deluxe edition. If you're not in Canada, the best place that I know of to get it is amazon.ca. You might also want to check out maplemusic.ca. I highly recommend his whole catalog, especially "Avalanche".

From the list...
I didn't like The Hold Steady at all.
I loved the new System Of A Down.

Re: Best Albums of 2005 - Recommendations
 

How do you not mention the album in your own avatar? Although I personally like SYOF, it wouldn't crack my top 5 for the year, but I mean you have it as your avatar.