Albums of the Year
Dec. 30th, 2005 11:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
reldnahkramSpoon - Gimme Fiction
The latest entry to the list. Rocks hard all the way through and consistantly well. Occasionally guilty of the indie "this is noise we're going to pass off as music" with what I can only assume are guitar squiggles, but they're generally tasteful and not overpowering.
Mike Doughty - Haughty Melodic
Varied and very creative. Interesting songwriting, to say the least (Nyack and Piscataway aren't the typical things you shout during a bridge, but it works). Musically very solid. Even an appearance by Dave Matthews can't drag this out of the top five.
Erin McKeown - We Will Become Like Birds
A very powerful album. Completes the transformation from jazz-tinged folk (Distillation) to singer-songwriter pop-rock, but in a good way. Manages to sustain a consistant feel much more so than either of her two previous albums, and the album is much stronger for it.
Kathleen Edwards - Back to Me
What, did you expect this to be all rock albums? Really good alt-country rock across the board. Strong when it's slow and fast. Full of emotion, be it anger, desire, regret, or melancholy.
Richard Thompson - Front Parlour Ballads
Let it Blow might be the song of the year, as far as I'm concerned. Richard armed just with a guitar is a force to be reckoned with; the few tracks with more substantial instrumentation stand out as such, and everything is really, really good.
Honorable Mention
Jess Klein - Strawberry Lover
Doesn't end as strongly as Draw them Near, weakness at the end keeps this off the list.
Abigail Washburn - Song of the Travelling Daughter
Very good banjo-driven old-timey folk. I want it to break out into full-fledged bluegrass in a few places, but that's not how the genre works. The tracks in Chinese are a nice touch. Really good, but not enough to grab a top slot.
Old 97's - Alive and Wired
Amazing double live set, but not enough new material to merit making the top five. But so good.
Non 2005 Album of the Year
Corelli Violin Sonatas Op. 12 (Andrew Manze, vln, Richard Egarr, cont) (2003)
Phenomenal performance of some really good music. A little different from everything above, but as deserving of a listen as anything else on the list.
The latest entry to the list. Rocks hard all the way through and consistantly well. Occasionally guilty of the indie "this is noise we're going to pass off as music" with what I can only assume are guitar squiggles, but they're generally tasteful and not overpowering.
Mike Doughty - Haughty Melodic
Varied and very creative. Interesting songwriting, to say the least (Nyack and Piscataway aren't the typical things you shout during a bridge, but it works). Musically very solid. Even an appearance by Dave Matthews can't drag this out of the top five.
Erin McKeown - We Will Become Like Birds
A very powerful album. Completes the transformation from jazz-tinged folk (Distillation) to singer-songwriter pop-rock, but in a good way. Manages to sustain a consistant feel much more so than either of her two previous albums, and the album is much stronger for it.
Kathleen Edwards - Back to Me
What, did you expect this to be all rock albums? Really good alt-country rock across the board. Strong when it's slow and fast. Full of emotion, be it anger, desire, regret, or melancholy.
Richard Thompson - Front Parlour Ballads
Let it Blow might be the song of the year, as far as I'm concerned. Richard armed just with a guitar is a force to be reckoned with; the few tracks with more substantial instrumentation stand out as such, and everything is really, really good.
Honorable Mention
Jess Klein - Strawberry Lover
Doesn't end as strongly as Draw them Near, weakness at the end keeps this off the list.
Abigail Washburn - Song of the Travelling Daughter
Very good banjo-driven old-timey folk. I want it to break out into full-fledged bluegrass in a few places, but that's not how the genre works. The tracks in Chinese are a nice touch. Really good, but not enough to grab a top slot.
Old 97's - Alive and Wired
Amazing double live set, but not enough new material to merit making the top five. But so good.
Non 2005 Album of the Year
Corelli Violin Sonatas Op. 12 (Andrew Manze, vln, Richard Egarr, cont) (2003)
Phenomenal performance of some really good music. A little different from everything above, but as deserving of a listen as anything else on the list.
