Other Music Staff Picks for 2005

GEOFF ALBORES
Keith Hudson "The Hudson Affair" (Trojan)
Damian Marley "Welcome to Jamrock" (Universal)
Skygreen Leopards "Jehovah Surrender" (Jagaguwar)
Arsenio Rodriguez "Quindembo Afro Magic" (Epic Japan)
Animal Collective "Feels" & "Prospect Hummer" (FatCat)
Gonzalez "Solo Piano" (No Format)
TOK "Unknown Language" (VP)
Moondog "Moondog" (Honest Jons)
Jamie Lidell "Multiply" (Warp)
John Coltrane "One Up, One Down" (Impulse!)
Dangerdoom The Mouse and the Mask" (Epitaph)
Mahmoud Ahmed-Alemye "Ethiopiques 19" (Buda Musique)


ADRIAN BURKHOLDER (Update Contributor)
NEW:
1. Animal Collective “Feels” (FatCat)
2. Mountains “s/t” (Apestaartje)
3. Peter Garland “Love Songs” (Tzadik)
4. Tetuzi Akiyama “Route 13” (Headz)
5. Dominik Eulberg “Flora & Fauna” (Traum)

OLD:
1. Link Wray “Wray’s 3 Track Shack” (Acadia)
2. Jack Nitzsche “Hearing is Believing” (Ace Import)
3. Lula Cortes y Ze Ramalho “Paebiru” (Shadoks)
4. Ennio Morricone “Crime & Dissonance” (Ipecac)
5. Judee Sill “Dreams Come True” (Water)


BRANDON BURKE (Update Contributor)
New:
01. Smog "A River Ain't Too Much to Love" (Drag City)
02. The Clientele "Strange Geometry" (Merge)
03. Animal Collective "Feels" (Fat Cat)
04. Prince Paul "'Itstrumental" (Female Fun)
05. Ghostface Killah & Trife "Put it on the Line" (Starks)

Reissue:
01. Peter Brotzmann & Han Bennink "Schwarzwaldfahrt" (Atavistic/UMS)
02. Guided By Voices "Briefcase 2: The Return of Milko Waif" (Fading Captain)
03. Andrew Hill "Andrew!!!" (Blue Note)
04. Archie Shepp "Black Gipsy" (Verve)
05. [V.A.] "American Primitive, Vol. II" (Revenant)

Other stuff that shaped 2005: the first Bee Gees record, the second Violent Femmes record, the third De La Soul record, Racer 5 IPA, the Cassavetes box set, 'Moneyball', KU hoops, and learning to negotiate negative stencil space.


AMANDA COLBENSON
Las Malas Amistades "Jardin Interior" (Psych-O-Path)
Yura Yura Teikoku "Sweet Spot" & "Na.Ma.Shi.Bi.Re.Na.Ma.Me.Ma" (Mesh Key)
[V.A.] "Choubi Choubi" & "Pop Sounds from Iraq" (Sublime Frequencies)
Colleen "The Golden Morning Breaks" (Leaf)
The Fall "Fall Heads Roll" (Narnack)
Growing "His Return" (Troubleman)
Paavoharju "Yhä Hämärää" (FONAL RECORDS)
T.K. Webb "K.C.K. (Social Registry)
Mountains Tour Recordings on Mini-CD (Apestaartje)

REISSUES:
Judy Henske & Jerry Yester "Farewell Aldebaran" (Radioactive)
Jean Claude Vannier "L'Enfant Assassin Des Mouches" (Finders Keepers)
Manduka & Los Jaivas "Los Suenos De America Alerce" (Import)
Jack Nitzsche “Hearing is Believing” (Ace Import)
Chantal Goya "Les Annes 60" (Magic)
Congregacion "Vienne" (Sampler)

MOMENTS TO REMEMBER:
Yura Yura Teikokou at Tonic
Jandek, second set, at Issue Project Room in the cylo
Deerhunter and their fog machine live and well in New York City, Brooklyn, Atlanta and Montreal
Tomorrow's Friend at the South Street Seaport and everywhere else
Boredoms at the Bowery Ballroom
Chouette CMJ Showcase at the Cakeshop with Jah Division, Mouthus,
Tomorrow's Friend, Rusty Santos, Samara Lubelski & Brendon Anderegg


MATT CONNORS (Update Contributor)
Animal Collective All 2005 releases (FatCat)
Antony & the Johnsons "I Am a Bird Now" + singles (Secretly Canadian)
Broadcast "Tender Buttons" (Warp)
Cass McCombs "PREfection" (Monitor)
Bill Fay Reissues
Six Organs of Admittance "School of the Flower" (Drag City)
M.Ward "Transistor Radio" (Merge)
Matias Aguayo "Are You Really Lost" (Kompakt)
Vladislav Delay "The Four Quarters" (Huume)
Mike Wexler "s/t" (I and Ear)
Judee Sill "Dreams Come True" (Water)
Bruce Langhorne "The Hired Hand" (Blast First)
José González "Veneer” (Hidden Agenda)
Satwa "Satwa" (Time Lag)
Cluster /Eno Reissues
Shirley Collins with Davy Graham "Folk Roots, New Routes" (Fleg Ling)
The Strokes "First Impressions of Earth" (RCA/BMG)
[V.A.] "One Kiss Can Lead to Another: Girl Group Sounds Lost and Found" (Rhino)


KEVIN COULTAS (Update Contributor)
NEW:
Animal Collective "Feels" (FatCat)
Fionna Apple “Extraordinary Machine” (Sony)
Andrew Bird “The Mysterious Production of Eggs” (Righteous Babe)
Books “Lost and Safe” (Tomlab)
Deerhoof "The Runners Four" (5RC/Kill Rock Stars)
Electric Masada “At the Mountain of Madness” (Tzadik)
José González "Veneer” (Hidden Agenda)
Mountains "Mountains" (Apestaartje)
Meshuggah “Catch 33” (Nuclear Blast)
Kanye West “Late Registration” (Def Jam)

OLD:
[V.A.] "American Primitive Volume 2" (Revenant)
Bembeya Jazz National "The Syliphone Years" (Sterns)
Congregacion "Viene" (Sampler)
Bil Fay "Bill Fay" (Eclectic)
Thelonius Monk Quartet w/ John Coltrane "At Carnegie Hall 1957” (Bluenote)
Ennio Morricone "Crime & Dissonance" (Ipecac)
Naked City “Box Set” (Tzadik)
Washington Phillips “The Key to the Kingdom” (Yazoo)


DANIEL DEROGATIS (Update Contributor)
2005: THE SOUNDTRACK
1. Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti "8-Worn Copy" (Paw Tracks)
After last year's amazing "Doldrums" I thought it couldn't possibly get any better, but one listen to "Trepanated Earth"...WOW. Song of the Year, absolutely without question. I was and still am completely blown away by his music. I am often convinced that APHG is the greatest thing that I've ever heard. An incredibly gifted individual.
2. José González "Veneer” (Hidden Agenda)
The first time i put this on, I knew by the second song that it would be one of my favorite records EVER if it continued to go the way it was going...it did, and so it is.
3. Ennio Morricone "Happening" (Él Records) & Crime and Dissonance" (Ipecac)
This past year I really dove in and explored his music intensely and it has enriched and inspired me in immeasurable amounts. I've actually shouted out loud in glee from certain melodies. To listen to 'Il Maestro' is to be in the presence of an Absolute Genius.
4.The Finnish Underground So many special, magical albums came from this lovely land this past year
--Kemialliset Ystävät "Kellari Juneversumi" reissue (Fonal)
--Islaja "Palaa Aurinkoon" (Fonal)
--TV Resistori "Intiaanidisko" (Fonal)
--Paavoharju "Yhä Hämärää" (Fonal)
--Avarus "Ruskeatimantti" (Tumult)
--Lau Nau "Kuutarha" (Locust)
--Es "Sateenkaarisuudelma/Maailmankaari/Pianokaari" ((K-RAA-K3)
--[V.A.] "Maan Matoset" (POK)
5.Gang Gang Dance "God's Money" (The Social Registry)
Easily one of the most unique sounding bands to emerge in recent years. Their music seems boundless. A fantastic, mesmerizing album from start to finish.
6. M.I.A."Arular" (XL)
My summer jam for sure. I played it loud and often.
7. Dead Meadow "Feathers" (Matador)
My Driving Record of the Year. I recently listened to this driving through the Mojave desert and let me tell you it was a blissful time.
8.Vashti Bunyan "Lookaftering" (Fat Cat)
A breathtakingly tender and gorgeous record that brings forth tears, both happy and sad. In a word, stunning.
9. Broadcast "Tender Buttons" (Warp)
I just keep falling more and more IN LOVE with this record.
10. A Three Way Blackened Tie Affair:
a.) WOLD "L.O.T.M.P." (Profound Lore)
I can barely even begin to explain exactly what this is, but i suppose it is something like a musical child of Philip Jeck, MBV and Lovesliescrushing that heard nothing but Black Metal and woozy drones in the pram. I know that's a scary scenario, but if you listen to this you'll know what i mean, and you should listen to it.
b.) Lurker of Chalice "s/t" (Total Holocaust)
In my eyes and ears, the KING of cult Black Metal. One-man-band Leviathan aka Wrest, has made something like 20 albums since 2000. I can tell you, the ones i have heard are totally brilliant. As the LOC, Wrest adds new dimensions and takes things a few steps further. I'd say it's the most intensely sad and beautifully bleak record on this list.
c.) Urfaust "Geist ist Teufel" (Goatawarex)
An album of amazing droning, plodding, buzzing viking metal with a singer who sounds like "a drunken opera singer equal parts Ethel Merman, Devil Doll's Mr. Doctor, and Tom Jones". Amazingly, the last song is a swirling, epic ambient piece that is as emotionally moving and majestic as anything by GAS.
11. Another Tie:
a.) Matias Aguayo "Are You Really Lost" (Kompakt)
Hot, melancholy, slow, banging, and blushing. I LOVE it.
b.) Vladislav Delay "The Four Quarters" (Huume)
Possibly his best work to date and that's saying a lot. I also revisited and realized how damn good last year's "Demo(n) Tracks" really is.
12. Orthrelm "OV" (Ipecac)
I can barely fathom the fact that two human beings created this masterpiece. A staggering achievement.
13. High On Fire "Blessed Black Wings" (Relapse)
As menacing, punishing, and brutal as a horde of blood-thirsty, steed-riding, foaming-at-the-mouth warrior hellions on the lam, HOF unleashed this pummeling juggernaut of an album that does not let up for a moment once you hit play.
14. Gonzales "Solo Piano (No Format)
Yes, this came out in 2004, but i didn't hear it until this year and couldn't possibly leave it off this list, because I am completely in love with it. In my top five albums OF ALL TIME. A special, timeless recording that stirs my innermost.
15.Another tie!
a.) Rvng Presents Mx4: Crazy Rhythms "Mike Simonetti & Dan Seltzer" (Rvng)
Many days went by where this was all I could listen to. A delish mélange of off-kilter disco, electro, synth-pop, and even The Feelies. Amazingly, I purchased it at Amoeba Records for 5 bucks. Best $5.00 i spent all year.
b.) [V.A.] "Vertigo Mixed...by Andy Votel" (Family Rercordings)
I cannot put into words how amazing and addictive this is. An ESSENTIAL smorgasbord of '70s prog/psych/blues/jazz/funk ROCK!

MISCELLANY: Exceptional Reissues & Compilations
[V.A.] "American Primitive Volume 2" (Revenant)
[V.A.] "Indiavision: Hindi Film Songs & Instrumentals 1968-84" (Buda Musique)
Orange Juice "The Glasgow School" (Domino)
Traffic Sound "Yellow Sea Years: Peruvian Psych Rock Soul 1968-71" (Vampisoul)
La Düsseldorf "s/t" & "Viva" (Warners Germany)
Hasil Adkins "Peanut Butter Rock N' Roll" & "Moon Over Madison" (Norton)
Tibetan Buddhist Rites from the Monasteries of Bhutan "Volume 1" (Sub Rosa)
Double Leopards "Halve Maen" (Eclipse)
Bruce Langhorne "The Hired Hand Soundtrack" (Blast First Petite)
[V.A.] "Dark Holler: Old Love Songs & Ballads" (Smithsonian Folkways)
Jean-Claude Vannier "L'Enfant Assassin Des Mouches" (Finders Keepers)
Rogério Duprat "A Banda Tropicalista Do Duprat" (Él Records)
Les Baxter "The Fruit of Dreams" (Él Records)
Lula Cortes e Zé Ramalho "Paebirú" (Shadoks Music)
Pep Laguarda & Tapineria "Brossa D'Ahir" (Discmedi Blau)

These artists/labels all made/put out great records in 2005 as well, and deserve to be mentioned:
Earth, Jandek, Tetuzi Akiyama, Silentist, Pierre Bastien, Markus Guentner, Antony & The Johnsons, Birchville Cat Motel/Black Boned Angel, Excepter, Goldmund, Animal Collective, Marsen Jules, Grey Daturas, Dangerdoom, Superpitcher, Jane, Fursaxa, Boris, Akron/Family, Corrupted, Richard Youngs, Starving Weirdos, Mountains, Marissa Nadler, Bjorn Olsson, Isoleé, Sunn0))), Jewelled Antlers, Sublime Frequencies. I'm sure I forgot a few others...

LIVE: Boris@ Slim's in lovely San Francisco on Halloween Night was the best damn rock and roll show I have been to in years.
R.I.P. Denis "Piggy" D'Amour (Voivod) & Hasil "The Wild Man" Adkins: True Musical Legends

"Don't Forget to Boogie!"


LISA GARRETT (Update Contributor)
Animal Collective " Feels" (Fat Cat)
Just keeps getting better with each album. You go, mis compadres
Oneida "The Wedding" (Jagjaguwar)
They've always been on my radar, more for live shows than albums as of late, but this one is back on track.
Terry Reid "Superlungs" (Astralwerks)
The disasterous show at BB Kings made me want to have this reissue even more to remember when this singer/songwriter prodigy was so sought after. Rediscovering the title track on Atomic Cafe's Beatschuppen compilation helped a lot, too.
[V.A.] "Studio One Women" (Soul Jazz)
There's always at least one Soul Jazz comp that ends up on my top ten. This one wins for its rarity. Most of these songs I've never heard of - and of course the liner notes told me all I needed to know.
Konono N°1 "Congotronics" (Crammed Disc)
I remember checking out the video of these cats online the year before. Amazing to watch them play these instruments made and amplified from scratch. They posses an energy that is hard to capture from live musicians. So sad I missed the shows when they were here.
Kanye West "Late Registration" (Roc A Fella)
The very rare commercial hip hop album on my top ten. But this guy knows his samples and arrangements. Put that together with raps that are not all about bitches and bling, and I'm sold.
Death Vessel "Stay Close" (North East Indie)
A treasure found. All the songs on this "indie grass" record really stayed with me. I find myself humming along and trying to replicate Joel's feminine high lonesome sound (unsuccessfully). Don't worry, I'll just keep singing them to myself.
Jackson and His Computer Band "Smash" (Warp)
The first electronic album that's caught my fancy in awhile. Nice mix of rock and electronics that hasn't happened in an original way since Boards of Canada.
Fireball "Blessed Be" (High Roller Society)
Yes, it's my own album. I had trouble picking ten since a lot of time was taken with this one, honestly. Andrew Duetch did a really did a good job of recording it in an original way.
Psychic Paramount "Gamelan into the Mink Supernatural" (No Quarter)
Another album close to me. Really helps to have seen a good live show (w/ Acid Mother's Temple at Ottobar in Balitmore) from this Brooklyn instrumental psych trio.


DANIEL GIVENS 
OUT:
Julius Eastman "Unjust Malaise" (New World)
To quote Al Green, “Simply beautiful." Gay African-American composer, pianist, vocalist, and conductor Eastman’s story is sadly traditional among jazz musicians and other brilliant black minds. Maybe until the classical work of another tragic life, that of Arthur Russell, whose work with Eastman is hopefully included, is released. This is my favorite classical record.
Pierre Henry "Voyage Initatigue" (Phillips France)
I’ve never heard modern classical compositions sound as organic, earthy, or as rich as this reissue by Henry. World music is looped and deconstructed to the ninth degree becoming something all together wonderful in the process.

POST:
Celebration "Celebration" (4AD)
Nudge "Cached" (Kranky)
Broadcast "Tender Buttons" (Warp)
A three way tie for my post-post-punk pick. All three female voiced bands released truly haunting albums of minimalism. Celebration turned the soul of TV on the Radio and PJ Harvey into a possessed groove monster, with strong voice and strong songs. Nudge waltzed in from Portland with dubby rhythms and a bass that chilled summer nights. Broadcast morphed into future Stereolab (with a nod to Nico-era Velvet Underground) with a strong set of dirty rumbles and fuzzy synth lines.

GROOVE ROOTS:
Moondog "Viking of 6th Avenue" (Honest Jon’s)
David Axelrod "The Edge" (Capitol)
No doubt the white Sun Ra and Isaac Hayes. Moondog gets an excellent retrospective of subtle percussion funk from Honest Jon’s while the guys at Stones Throw re-master classic Axelrod to beef up the beats and bring his influence on alt-hip hop to the forefront.

REGGAE:
Keith Hudson & Friends "Keith Hudson Affair" (Trojan)
Next to Lee Perry, Hudson is the darkest producer in Reggae, a true producers’ producer. Mind blowing two-CD collection from the vocalist, producer, and friend to many a talented musician.
Damian Marley "Welcome to Jamrock" (Tuff Gong)
Two sons of the equally genius Bob Marley, Damian & Stephen, named a new genre for the island and brought forth a great mix of things new, old, borrowed, modern, and classic with a warm welcome.

AFRICA & INDIA:
Konono N°1 "Congrotronics" (Crammed Disc)
From the heart of the motherland, Konono No.1 combined traditional African rhythms and altered indigenous instruments, with homemade electronics to create a poly-rhythmic jam session.
[V.A.] "Indiavision: Hindi Film Songs & Instrumentals 1968-84" (Buda Musique)
Indiavision is an excellent Bollywood soundtrack collection of funk, jazz, and completely original styles with a few selections sampled by Madlib and MF Doom.

SOUL:
Jamie Lidell "Multiply" (Warp)
Breaking out of the IDM tag, Lidell reinvented himself as a modern day soul singer and gained much respect.
Sharon Jones "Naturally" (Soul Fire)
The new Mrs. Jones let us all know that real soul music is still alive, kicking, and feeling great.
Funkadelic reissues (Westbound)
George Clinton regained his proper rights to his catalogue, and he reopens the funk box and lets it all hang out.

GRIME:
Vex’D "Degenerate" (Planet Mu)
The youth of England just won’t settle down. Vex’D rocked the warehouses and sound systems with a tight, frantic and deep attack on the senses. Blender beats, bubbly bass-lines, and enough low end to have your speakers shaking for days.

HIP-HOP & BEYOND:
Quasimoto "The Further Adventures of Lord Quas (Stones Throw)
Gorillaz "Demon Dayz" (Virgin)
The year of conceptual albums and cartoons. A true, new school masterpiece from Madlib and the beginnings of something big for Dangermouse. Each had hands in two of the most anticipated hip-hop releases this year, Quas and DangerDoom, and both were well worth the wait. Madlib’s epic saga of dodging “the man” was brilliantly cinematic. Damon Alborn and Dangermouse teamed up for the second installment of the Gorillaz adventure and brought a host of real life characters along for the ride.

SINGLES:
Panda Bear "I’m Not Comfy in Nautica (UUAR)
If you thought Animal Collective may at some point run dry of quality mind-bending material, here's more proof that their well, my doe eyed lad, obviously runs deep. While Avery Tare reinvented the spirit of Kurt Cobain on their latest band release, "Feels," Panda Bear branched out for a moment to send a little love letter from Lisbon. Two tracks, too short, but there’s always the repeat button.
The White Stripes "My Doorbell" (V2)
Never a big fan or follower of the W. Stripes, but this song really worked its way into my subconscious after a chance listen. True soulful rock with a great backbeat, it's the kinda stuff Prince should still be making.
Mariah Carey "Shake It Off" (Island)
All right, a guilty pleasure for sure, but you can’t deny that Mariah Carey came back in a big way this past year. I couldn’t escape this song all summer, and by the season’s change, I didn’t want to. Pop can be self-empowering!

READ & WATCH:
Sun Ra "The Immeasurable Equation" Book
The man who would be King of the Omni verse, Sun Ra, was also a wonderful poet. This weighty collection of poetry andwritings showed the inner motivation behind the gifted musicial, fatherly bandleader, thoughtful composer, and truly brother from another planet.
Bob Dylan "No Direction Home" DVD
Scorsese compiled and directed this four-plus-hour document of Dylan’s rise and slight fall, as he made his way though the '60s Village scene, onto a record deal, and relationship with Joan Baez, as well as his acclaimed, slained, and famed move from acoustic to electric. Tons of great footage and loads of dry wit from one of the greats of out time.

SCREEN:
"Mysterious Skin" - Greg Araki
"Last Days" - Gus Van Sant
Two modern gay directors released powerful and beautiful films in ’05. Araki’s tale of two boys from middle-America in the '80s, and how being abused as children shaped their lives was funny and intimate, yet sad journey--a modern "Midnight Cowboy." Van Sant imagines the last days of Kurt Cobain as an also intimate, yet ultra quiet, melancholy, and still vision. Rewatching these made me forget the repression that was "Brokeback Mountain."


GERALD HAMMILL
Paavoharju "Yhä Hämärää" (Fonal)
A lovely psychedelic album from Finland that's seems all at once old and new. By the end of the first listen I knew that Paavoharju would be in the upper-reaches of my year-end top ten list.
Mountains “s/t” (Apestaartje)
Koen and Brendon effortlessly blur all the boundaries between nature, traditional instruments, and processed electronics. It's so rare that music can feel this alive.
Matias Aguayo "Are You Really Lost" (Kompakt)
Dark, sexy Kompakt-styled night-time funk that always seemed to be in my CD player during sunny afternoons.
Konono N°1 "Congotronics" (Crammed Disc)
Amazing record, and even more amazing live at Joe's Pub. (Thanks for the ticket Mikey, and for getting us that front row table!)
José González "Veneer” (Hidden Agenda)
My favorite new songwriter/guitarist. Beautiful record!
Jan Jelinek "Kosmischer Pitch" (~scape)
This year, I spent a lot of hours revisiting those Cluster/Eno reissues, not to mention Ash Ra/Göttsching and even the new Kawabata Makoto and Delia Gonzalez & Gavin Russom records. But Jelinek breathed new life into something familiar, and headed towards new, unexplored cosmos.
Alan Braxe & Friends "The Upper Cuts" (Vulture/Pias)
I already owned a bunch of these cuts but jeesuz, this comp kick-started my own private late-'90s French house revival!
Doves "Some Cities" (Heavenly/Capitol)
They get better with each album, and "Some Cities" is, hands down, their best. Track two, "Black and White Town," is one of my favorite songs of 2005 with a wondefully sloppy guitar solo that makes the hair on my arms stand on end every time.
Green Milk from the Planet Orange "City Calls Revolution" (Beta-Lactam)
Never a big fan of prog-metal, but this Japanese trio is the exception. Super dynamic, they can move from heavy Sabbath-rocking to hypnotic Can rhythm-scapes in an instant. Their Halloween weekend show in the small back room of Kingsland Tavern rocked even harder than their record!
The Juan Maclean "Less Than Human" (DFA/Astralwerks)
Tracks like "Give Me Every Little Thing" and "Tito's Way" are worth the price of this record, but the sexy robot-pulse and Nancy Whang's icy coos in the 14-minute "Dance with Me" ensured "Less Than Human" a spot on my top ten list.

REISSUES:
Lula Cortes e Zé Ramalho "Paebirú" (Shadoks Music)
Pep Laguarda & Tapineria "Brossa D'Ahir" (Discmedi Blau)
Jean-Claude Vannier "L'Enfant Assassin Des Mouches" (Finders Keepers)
Congregacion "Vienne" (Sampler)
La Dusseldorf reissues (Warners Germany)


DUANE HARRIOTT
[V.A.] "Brothers On the Slide"
Jean-Claude Vannier "L'Enfant Assassin Des Mouches" (Finders Keepers)
Common "Be" (Geffen)
This Kanye West produced record was the epitome of Comfort Soul. It made this list simply because whenever one of the songs from this record came up on shuffle on my iPod, I was always in the mood to hear it.
Babyshambles "Down in Albion" (Rough Trade)
I never expected this! Pete Doherty's former band the Libertines was the butt of many of my indie-rock jokes in 2004, so I can't believe that this drug-addled rock-n-roll cliche made the best rock
record of the year. It reminds me of all the things I loved about Pavement, Big Star, Smiths, early-Pogues and the Clash. Always honest, and created from a place not trying to be anything than what it is... pathos-tinged nihilism put to a catchy sing-along chorus!
Animal Collective "Feels" (Fatcat)
33hz "s/t" (Outlook)
They cover "Ride Like the Wind" live! 'Nuff said...
Kerri Chandler "Bar-a-rhythm" 12-inch (Jersey Street)
Attention all Disko Punk would-be-producers!! If you wanna know the proper way to work a cowbell in a house tune, study this record! This old skool Jersey house producer put out this urban
tech-house floor burner, that deseves to be a classic!! Carl Craig included it on his awesome "Fabriclive" DJ mix, that's out now.
Green Velvet "Walk In Love" (Cajual)
Nasty Prince-styled Chicago house. Creepy sexual, Christian fundamentalist lyrics included. Let's jack for Jesus y'all!!
Steve Spacek "Dollar" 12-inch (Sound in Color)
The Jay Dilla produced solo effort from Steve Spacek kiiiiled!!I hear Dilla doesn't like it. Dunno why. Sounds like Marving Gaye singin' over a Pete Rock beat tape dropped in the water. I wanna hear this on Hot 97!
Koushik "Be With" (Stones Throw)

Honorable Mentions:
Kenny Dope vs. P & P Records (Traffic Entertainment)
La Dusseldorf reissues (Warners Germany)
[V.A.] From Burbank to the Bay Area (Warner bros)


ROB HATCH-MILLER
Antony & The Johnsons "I Am a Bird Now" (Secretly Canadian)
[V.A.] Yellow Pills: Prefill (Numero Group)
Broadcast "Tender Buttons" (Warp)
Link Wray "Wray's Three Track Shack" (Acadia)
Animal Collective "Feels" & "Prospect Hummer EP" (FatCat)
John Simon "John Simon's Album" (Water)
Mountains "s/t" (Apestaartje)
Evie Sands "Any Way That You Want Me" (Rev-Ola)
Nils Okland "Bris" (Rune Grammofon)
Pep Laguarda & Tapineria "Brossa d'Ahir" (Discmedi)


KOEN HOLTKAMP
Es "Sateenkaarisuudelma" (K-Raa-K 3)
Vashti Bunyan "Lookaftering" (Dicristina)
Antony & the Johnsons "I Am a Bird Now" (Secretly Canadian)
Tape "Rideau" (Hapna)
Satwa "s/t" (Time-lag)
Alasdair Roberts "No Earthly Man" (Drag City)
Colleen "The Golden Morning Breaks" (leaf)
Anthony Burr & Charles Curtis "Alvin Lucier" (Antiopic/Sigma Editions)
Jan Jelinek "Kosmicher Pitch" (~scape)
Peter Garland "Love Songs" (Tzadik)


DAN HOUGLAND - Not Quite 10
Babyshambles "Down in Albion" (Rough Trade)
He delivered, all budding and addled rock genii take notes.
Animal Collective "Feels" (FatCat)
Quite great, but very strange and large shift towards them for only their third best record.
Gang Gang Dance "God's Money" (Social Registry)
I saw them in Paris, and then Belgium, and then NYC, in the space of a couple weeks, and by the time they got "home" they were one of the most storming and absurdly good bands out there right now or ever.
Jane "Berserker" (Paw Tracks) & "Coconuts" (Psych-O-Path)
You guys know I introduced them? And what do you know, it's good! Prefer coconuts slightly.
Black Dice "Broken Ear Record" (Astralwerks/DFA)
Track two and last one are my jams.
Zalatnay Sarolta "Desperately Seeking"
Edan "Beauty and the Beat" (Lewis)
Still, don't sleep on primitive plus or the mix thingies.
Clipse "We Got It 4 Cheap, Vol. 2" (Self-Released)
Skygreen Leopards "Jehovah Surrender" (Jagjaguwar)
Serge Gainsbourg "D'autres Nouvelles des Etoiles" DVD
Especially amazing in one *4 hour plus* shot, go for it.


MICHAEL KLAUSMAN
In No Particular Order:
Congreso, Congregacion, Satwa, Pep Laguarda, Flaviola, Lula Cortes e Ze Ramhalo, Los Jaivas
[V.A.] Never the Same (Honest Johns)
Leave taking from the British Folk Revival.
Link Wray "Wray's Three Track Shack" (Acadia)
Animal Collective "Feels" (FatCat)
Mountains “s/t” (Apestaartje)
Evie Sands "Any Way That You Want Me" (Rev-Ola)
Nils Okland "Bris" (Rune Grammofon)
[V.A.] "Dark Holler: Old Love Songs & Ballads" (Smithsonian Folkways)
Especially the bonus DVD
Peter Tosh "Talking Revolution" (Pressure Sounds)
Jack Nitzsche “Hearing is Believing” (Ace Import)

Plus, Things I discovered and fell in love with in 2005 that I hope to share in 2006:
Early music performed by Thomas Binkley and the Studio Der Fruhen Musik, Senegalese Mbalax, Incredible stuff on Syliphone records beyond just Bembeya, very raw and emotional vintage flamenco by the likes of Pepe de la Matrona and Manolo Caracol, and the totally out of time and timeless work of Brazilian Marinho Castelar (someone needs to reissue this pronto).


ANDREAS KNUTSEN
Dead Meadow "Feathers" (Matador)
Psychic Ills Live, all 18 times
Sonic Boom at Deitch
Jan Jelinek "Kosmicher Pitch" (~scape)
Konono N°1 "Congotronics" (Crammed Disc)
Animal Collective "Feels" (FatCat)
Clientele "Strange Geometry" (Merge)
Fushitsusha at The Stone
White Stripes "Get Behind Me Satan" (V2) and at Coney Island
Cass McCombs "PREfection" (Monitor)
Howling Hex "All Night Fox" (Drag City)
The Occasion opening for Art Brut at Northsix
Mountains “s/t” (Apestaartje)
Babyshambles "Down in Albion" (Rough Trade)
Steven R. Smith "Crown of Marches" (Catsup Plate)
Skygreen Leopards "Jehovah Surrender"
Cause Co-Motion 7'' and live every time

The Wayback Machine:
Link Wray "Three Track Shack" (Acadia)
Can "Unlimited Edition" (Mute/Spoon)
Durutti Column "Amigos en Portugal" (Roir)
Satwa "s/t" (Time Lag)
Orange Juice "The Glasgow School" (Domino)
Plus discovering the Etoile de Dakar reissues

2006:
Psychic Ills "Dins"
A new RTX record?
Mets win the World Series


JOSH MADELL
Antony & the Johnsons "I Am A Bird Now" (Secretly Canadian)
Spoon "Gimme Fiction" (Merge)
Broadcast "Tender Buttons" (Warp)
Animal Collective "Feels" (FatCat)
The Magic Numbers "The Magic Numbers" (Capitol)
My Morning Jacket "Z" (RCA)
M. Ward "Transistor Radio" (Merge)
New Pornographers "Twin Cinema" (Matador)
Kanye West "Late Registration" (Roc A Fella)
White Stripes "Get Behind Me Satan" (V2)
Konono N°1 "Congotronics" (Crammed Disc)

REISSUES:
Roky Erickson "I Have Always Been Here Before" (Shout Factory)
Link Wray "Wrays Three Track Shack" (Acadia)
Bembeya Jazz National "The Syliphone Years (Sterns)
[V.A.] "One Kiss Can Lead to Another: Girl Group Sounds Lost and Found" (Rhino)
[V.A.] "Yellow Pills: Prefill" (Numero)
[V.A.] "Baile Funk 2" (Brazilian Beat Brooklyn)


SCOTT MOU
1. Jandek live w/ Chris Corsano @ Anthology Film Archives
I took a short nap during song three but woke up in time to hear about Jandek's mom telling him to go outside to play.
2. Fushitsusha live @ Stone
On a 'date' with Andreas. A completely generous show that covered so much ground: heavy abandon and soaring bliss. 1.5 hrs. that seemed like 45 minutes.
3. Death in June live @ Pyramid Club
The second show where he asked the crowd for requests!. It was bizarre to see 'apocalyptic folk' played by someone so giddy to be adored.
4. La Dusseldorf "s/t" & "Viva" (Warners Germany)
Epic Kraut-glam. My favorite part of "Viva": When the "Eight Is Enough" theme comes through like "Chariots of Fire."
5. Mountains Tour 3'' CD-R
Two tracks of massive beauty
6. Boris releases
Gotta give it up to the range/scope of all of the Boris albums.
7. D.R.I. "Dirty Rotten" LP
I've played this more than anything this year. Sorry. It's true.
8. Pom Pom "21"
Fat, deep, dark acid jam.
9. Carl Craig Fabriclive (Fabric)
Dope.
10. Matias Aguayo "Are You Really Lost" (Kompakt)
I like this record a lot.
11. Scritti Politti "Early" (Rough Trade)
More fresh pop ideas in one song off this record than most albums out now. The fact that Green Gartside apologizes in the liner notes as if the music is JUST precocious, pretensious, ramshackle and amateur is just confusing to me.


BERT QUEIROZ
TOP RELEASES
Animal Collective "Feels" (FatCat)
One of the more refreshing releases of the year, it's odd enough with just enough melody to keep the most jaded listener dancing in the fields.
Art Brut "Bang Bang Rock & Roll" (Banana/Fierce Panda)
The Fall meets Splodge? Return of the art punks!
Alan Braxe and Friends "The Upper Cuts" (Vulture/PIAS)
The French really do know how to keep the house party deep and sexy.
Caribou "Milk of Human Kindness" (Domino)
Mr. Manitoba bounces back with his trademark psychedelic pop toy orchestra.
Gorillaz "Demon Days" (Virgin/EMI)
Konono N°1 "Congotronics" (Crammed Disc)
Best dance party I've experienced in years.
Lady Sovereign "Vertically Challenged EP" (Chocolate Industries)
While only an EP, the SOV is easily the best and most consistent of the "Run the Road" bunch.
Damian Marley "Welcome to Jamrock" (Tuff Gong/Universal)
Mountains "s/t" (Apestaartje)
Like a warm breeze whispering through the Catskills.
New Pornographers "Twin Cinema" (Matador)
Absolutely stellar pop songwriting and the siren-like white witch Neko Case make this one of the best pop/rock records since, well, "Electric Version."
Ranking Dread "In Dub" (Silver Kamel)
Wikkid, spaced out dub trip. Check out the last track which the Bad Brains lifted for "Leaving Babylon"
[V.A.] " Run the Road" (Vice)
"OK dude - I've been listening to far too many shouty East London kids thanks to you so I'm off to hang around street corners wearing a hoody and looking mean." Bo!!

REISSUES
Boyce & Hart "I Wonder What She's Doing Tonight" (Rev-Ola)
Sweet, delectable treats from the duo behind most of the Monkees pop gems.
Michigan & Smiley "Rub-A-Dub-Style" (Heartbeat)
Ruts DC vs Mad Professor "Rhythm Collision, Vol. 1" (Echo Beach)
Classic deep '70s punk dub trio. Push yourself, make it work.


JEREMY SPONDER'S TOP 18!
Wolf Parade "Apologies to the Queen Mary" (Sub Pop)
Antony & the Johnsons "I Am a Bird Now" (Secretly Canadian)
Babyshambles "Down in Albion" (Rough Trade)
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah "s/t" (Self-Released)
Animal Collective "Feels" (FatCat)
Franz Ferdinand "You Could Have It So Much Better" (Epic)
Spoon "Gimme Fiction" (Merge)
Broken Social Scene "s/t" (Arts & Crafts)
Mike Jones "Who Is Mike Jones" (Swishahouse/Asylum/Warner)
José González "Veneer” (Hidden Agenda)
Kanye West "Late Registration" (Roc A Fella)
Crooked Fingers "Dignity & Shame" (Merge)
Paavoharju "Yhä Hämärää" (Fonal)
M.I.A. "Arular" (XL / Interscope)
Deerhoof "The Runners Four" "(5RC)
Decemberists "Picaresque" (Kill Rock Stars)
Cass McCombs "PREfection" (Monitor)
Broadcast "Tender Buttons" (Warp)


ROY STYLES
Paavoharju "Yhä Hämärää" (Fonal)
Men's Recovery Project "The Very Best of..." (5RC)
Orange Juice "The Glasgow School" (Domino)
A-Frames "Black Forest (Sub Pop)
Panda Bear "I'm Not"/"Comfy in Nautica" (UUAR)
Art Brut "Bang Bang Rock and Roll (Fierce Panda)
The Long Blondes "s/t" 12-inch (What's Yr Rupture?)
Wilderness "s/t" (Jagjaguwar)
Skygreen Leopards "Jehovah Surrender" (Jagjaguwar)
[V.A.] Yellow Pills: Prefill (Numero Group)
Boris "Pink" (Diwphalanx)


MAHSSA TAGHINIA
2005 was 'more than music' filled with fascinating new friends and awe-some adventures, though of course I've a few top jams -- vintage or virgin yet both VITAL!
Matt Sweeney & Bonnie 'Prince' Billy "Superwolf" (Drag City)
Perhaps the album of my year and one of Will Oldham's best -- with its silvery-sweet six-string ingenuity donned by Sweeney himself.
Broadcast "Tender Buttons" (Warp)
And one of the best live shows of the year.
EDAN "Beauty and the Beat" (Lewis Recordings)
Nerdy soundclash finally channeled in a relevent direction.... Edan, Madlib and J Dilla -- the holy-unholy emcee-producer trinity... spark this, people!
Antony & the Johnsons "I Am a Bird Now" (Secretly Canadian)
Bittersweet and lilting--no other album really quite 'defined' my day-to-day since this came out.
The 12-hour Throwdown at Rubulad
December 10th with Cherrystones, Koushik, Dante Carfagna, Ursula 1000 and ANDY VOTEL -- whom has shimmey-ed and shimmered my year with the brilllll new Delay 68 and Finders Keepers labels (JEAN-CLAUDE VANNIER... what!) and his stellar hairy-party DJ jam 'VERTIGO MIXED' amongst others.

ALSO ON DECK:
[V.A.] "Brothers on the Slide : Story of UK Funk" (Sanctuary)
Boredoms live at Bowery Ballroom
PLUSH: Live @ Tonic NYC "It was like...drinking breast milk"--Duane
More provacative poetics from Lungfish with 'Feral Hymns' (Dischord)
Dungen -- live and in person, always. roooooooooooaaaaaast beeeeeeeeef!
Negroclash mix and Duane in general, all day every day
Melvin Van Peebles @ Stones Throw show, Irving Plaza (June)
Alec D's open letter to Zalatnay Sarolta
BORIS (band of the year, really! and 'Pink' is gonna OBLITERATE!)
Arrested Development TV series
SLINT REUNION in Chicago
Jodorowsky tarot reading
Last Days (dir Gus Van Sant)
B-Music zine launch
POUND screening at AFA (dir Robert Downey 1970)
Early Man -- team shred, i'm f'n proud
ENDLESS BOOGIE -- live, on plastic, in person, and the illusion of rock n roll!
Persian carboot sales
HERPES NITES
Chooglin' with Soldiers of Fortune
Gira checkin my Swans set-ups
Meeting Roky Erickson at SXSW
Babyshambles!
Steve Spacek and J DILLA : Dollar 12
And that Morgen LP come-back review written by Dave Martin....

CHRIS VANDERLOO
Akron/Family "s/t" (Young God)
Vashti Bunyan "Lookaftering" (DiCristina)
Animal Collective "Feels" (FatCat)
Skygreen Leopards "Life & Love in Sparrow's Meadow" (Jagjaguwar)
Bob Dylan "No Direction Home" CD & DVD (Columbia / Legacy)
The Clientele "Strange Geometry" (Merge)
Everly Brothers Collectors Choice Reissues of the Warner Catalog
[V.A.] Children of Nuggets Box Set (Rhino)
Panda Bear "I'm Not" / "Comfy in Nautica" (Paw Tracks)
The Rudds "Get the Femuline Hang On" (Self-Released)
Stephen Malkmus "Face the Truth" (Matador)