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BEST OF 2005: THIS SHIT IS BANANAS
Well, what a year, huh. At this point I just have no idea what the hell is going on. Certain "zones" of music seem more exciting than ever: Bay Area bands, nutball hip-hop singles, New York-y dance-rock, large Canadian supergroups. But overall, looking back, there seems to be little of earth-shattering importance happening these days, especially compared with the stunning brilliance of, say, the top 7 in my 1997 Best Albums list (see below right). My #1 album this year, Arular, was by no means a shoe-in, and my whole top 10 shifted around at the last minute after some marathon listening sessions during long drives to see family at Christmas. Only on the singles list do things seem more clear: "Feel Good Inc" was the left-field song of the year, combining baffling looniness with omnipresent popularity; some brilliant hip-hop rounds out my top 10, but as usual, none of these artists seemed able to last for a whole album. Maybe I'm just getting old, but America in 2005 seems aimless and shell-shocked, and music seems scattered and random. Granted, it took 12 years of Reagan/Bush for music to finally rise up and respond, and that in the form of a once-in-a-hundred-years troubled genius whose equal we aren't likely to see any time soon. (I'm speaking about Kurt Cobain here). So maybe I'm expecting too much. But, jeez, Coldplay? The Killers? Is that all there is? Is this our future? Is that what I'm supposed to listen to while waiting for the bird flu to kill us all? Well, then, hand me some KFC so I can get it over with. Until then, I will remember this music for providing some relief.

ALBUMS:

1. M.I.A. Arular (XL)
So, in this year of seemingly ever-expanding horror, only a sexy young British lady seems up to the challenge. The more you try to analyze MIA, the more she slips out from under you -- is it party music? Political activism? Neo-Madonna producer-centric cheese-pop? Revolutionary multi-culti world music? Grime? Freestyle? Hell if I know. More than any other album this year, Arular proves that writing about music is like dancing about architecture: it's only in the listening that it makes sense, only on the dancefloor where the contradictory invitation and condemnation of "10 Dollar" adds up, only on the iPod where whole cities can "quieten down" for an unassuming brown girl to make a sound. Beyond the brilliant production (Richard X getting all Miami, Diplo stealing more Favela), ultimately the reason Arular deserves a #1 spot is that voice, that jaw-dropping voice. Incapable of uttering an unartistic syllable, MIA's voice is the purest expression of all the competing feelings of being young and aware in 2005: troubled, sarcastic, funny, sexy, angry, and somehow, optimistic. And when she came into our radio station and did an ID for me, it was like dying and going to heaven.

2. THE NEW PORNOGRAPHERS Twin Cinema (Matador)
I have to confess being a bit late to the New Porn party, but this album came down like a "bolt of blue" to deliver the biggest uplifting power-pop jump-start bitch-slap that I didn't even know I needed. Each song seems to explode with life, charging off in a new direction just when you think it's about to peter out. I'd say it's Neko Case giving the album the extra dose of chiming vocal magic, but really, it's everybody; when they all join together for the "Hey la hey la"s it's enough to make you forget, almost, all the problems in the world.

3. BLOC PARTY Silent Alarm (V2)
Okay, it's skinny hipster Brits making Cure-referencing indie rock, but they do it so well I cannot resist. From the rolling intensity of "Banquet" to the almost wistful "This Modern Love," their short and fast pop songs reach heights of emotion rarely equalled this year. Watching their live shows get better and better as the year progressed was a treat as well; the late-year single "Two More Years" proved the band have a lot more to give. I look forward to this band's future more than almost any on this list. But as an album suffused with melancholy that manages to retain its urgency, Silent Alarm is a perfect record for right now.

4. BECK Guero (interscope)
What a burden it must be to carry Odelay around, even great albums like Mutations are eclipsed by its brilliance, and any time you go above 70 bpm, everybody's going to say you're doing a "new Odelay." Well, I'm giving Beck a break: Guero may not be shattering my very conceptions of what music can be, but I'm enjoying it more than almost any other music around. The simple but effective riff of "E-Pro" and the jaunty double-time of "Girl" were pop music at its most intelligent; "Earthquake Weather" proved the sensitive crooner of Mutations wasn't far away either. Guerolito's remixes were quirky and scattershot but respectable overall, and provide an enhancing counterpoint to Guero, proving the strength of the songs.

5. ENGINEERS S/T (Echo)
Here's a record I haven't seen on anybody else's top 10 lists this year but I just don't care. I'm a sucker for dream-pop; one glance over at my previous years' top 10s (Spiritualized! Low! Doves!) and my collegiate record collection (Ride! My Bloody Valentine! Cocteau Twins!) should give you the picture. What saves Engineers from being just another copycat shoegaze project is the strength of the songwriting; even songs with straightforward titles like "Forgiveness" manage to surprise with their lyrical turns ("Is there enough for both of us?") and musical codas (the song jumps to a previously unheard chord and a chiming, shiver-inducing guitar line right at the end). This album accompanied many a rainy night in my San Francisco pad.

6. KANYE WEST Late Registration (Rocafella)
God, Kanye. What can a self-respecting pseudo-critic do? The dude just veers between blinding genius and head-slapping annoyance, often within the same sentence; the album is bloated and too long but I just can't figure out what I would cut -- everything is just too good. Somewhere between vaudeville and gangsta, this album deserves its hype if only for its continual ability to confound. The whole "Diamonds from Sierra Leone" thing is a case in point: an urgent, electro bassline accompanies a self-centered lyrical concept that gets revised when Kanye thinks about the people who dig up those diamonds. Not to mention Shirley Bassey's disapproval -- that's, like, old-school sampling! Remember, you just did it, without telling anybody! I laugh at his audacity but ultimately I just have to say "Go Kanye."

7. TOM VEK We Have Sound (Tummy Touch)
I keep telling everybody who asks (or even who doesn't) that Tom Vek is like a love child of Jonathan Richman and DJ Shadow; a ballsy, half-talky-half-singy, quirky songwriter who isn't afraid of a sampler. The standout track, "C-C," is like some sort of 50's pop number from an alternate universe; "If You Want" is like the Thompson Twins all growed up and kind of bitter. Spectacular live shows add to the appeal, and hipster-conscious remixes (thanks, Digitalism) prove he's got his finger on the pulse; but the album itself is just pure strutting enjoyment.

8. VITALIC OK Cowboy (PIAS)
Maintaining the ecstatic high of the greatest techno over the length of a whole album is a near-impossible task; even some of the best electro and techno albums are more like collections of singles, reminding you of the great times you had in the clubs. This album, with its quartet of tracks released as a single in 2003 (!), has those moments, but what's most amazing is how the newer tracks equal, and enhance, their greatness. Distortion and fuzz is in full effect here, that and Mr. Vitalic's French nationality forces a highly unfavorable comparison with Daft Punk's basically awful 2005 release. This is the album they woulda/shoulda made if they hadn't lost the plot: intense and varied, rocking and chilling, it's great on the dancefloors of Paris or the iPods at the gym.

9. LCD SOUNDSYSTEM S/T (DFA)
Another surprisingly synergistic collection of songs that seemed initially like throwaway singles, the Soundsystem seem to have taken what they learned from their spectacular live shows and implemented it here. The album rises and falls like a great DJ set; the lyrics veer deadpan between cries of pain and sarcastic toss-offs, and more than anything James Murphy emerges as a wholly likeable studio geek, un-self-consciously exposing his imperfections (and age) while still rocking the house. Respect.

10. DANGER DOOM The Mouse and the Mask (Epitaph)
Okay, so um, get that mashup guy and that freaky MC, and then we'll call that late night cartoon thingy and get some of their random v/o people to say some stuff, and they can market it, and I guess it'll be a hipster crossover dream party, and you'll want to hate it for being too perfect, but it'll be so funky and funny that you can't help but like it, and you'll listen to it all the time, and everything will be OK.

11. DUNGEN Ta Det Lungt (Kemado) (*Technically '04 I guess but too great to ignore)
12. V/A Run the Road (679)
13. DJ SUJINHO I Love Baile Funk (Nossa Design)
14. CLAP YOUR HANDS SAY YEAH S/T (self-released)
15. LADYTRON Witching Hour (Rykodisc)
16. ALAN BRAXE & FRIENDS The Upper Cuts (PIAS)
17. GORILLAZ Demon Days (Virgin)
18. THE JUAN MACLEAN Less Than Human (DFA)
19. BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE S/T (Arts & Crafts)
20. BROADCAST Tender Buttons (Warp)
21. QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE Lullabies to Paralyze (interscope)
22. DEERHOOF The Runners Four (Kill Rock Stars
23. FRANZ FERDINAND You Could Have It So Much Better (Domino)
24. BIRDY NAM NAM S/T (Uwe)
25. SLEATER-KINNEY The Woods (Sub Pop)
26. AMADOU & MARIAM Dimanche a Bamako (Nonesuch)
27. MISSY ELLIOTT The Cookbook (Elektra)
28. BOARDS OF CANADA The Campfire Headphase (Warp)
29. YOUNG JEEZY Let's Get it: Thug Motivation 101 (Def Jam)
30. M83 Before the Dawn Heals Us (Mute)
31. BLACK MOUNTAIN S/T (Jagjaguwar)
32. WHY? Elephant Eyelash (Anticon)
33. THE WHITE STRIPES Get Behind Me, Satan (V2)
34. CLIPSE We Got It 4 Cheap Vol. 2 (mixunit.com)
35. ARCHITECTURE IN HELSINKI In Case We Die (Bar/None)
36. LOW The Great Destroyer (Sub Pop)

SINGLES:

1. GORILLAZ "Feel Good, Inc."
How many songs are there in this song? 3? 7? Let's count. First there's some giggle cackle from like a Ministry song, then there's a funky breakbeat backing track from 2002. There's a warbly telephone sing-song vocal from some Britpop number, then there's a rap, and there's some warping bass that comes sneaking in halfway through from some UK garage or grime, and in the middle it all goes away for a Beck chorus or something. Okay, I've lost count, but I get the feeling Danger Mouse might have had something to do with this mega-mashup of a track. Give credit to Gorillaz for learning the lesson of the Soulchild mix of "19-2000": they're much better remixed. So, they did what Bjork always did (or used to do): use the remixes as a stepping stone to the next album, incorporating their sound (and possibly even the remixers themselves). I've now heard this song about 1000 times and I'd be happy to hear it another 1000.

2. (TIE) KANYE WEST "Gold Digger" / THE LEGENDARY K.O. "George Bush Doesn't Care About Black People"
First, Kanye: Best example of rapping over a vocal sample, maybe, ever? I just want to slap Jamie Foxx, but when that zip-zip-zippy keyboard line comes shuffling in at the end, it's so great I can barely stand it. And then, to have it all turned upside down with the insta-rap genius of K.O.'s post-Katrina wrapup; it suddenly gave credence to Chuck D's claim that rap is the "black CNN." I guess that makes K.O. the black Anderson Cooper.

3. M.I.A. "Bucky Done Gun"
The track I least expected to like from the album, but then, somewhere I read that the Rocky sample was supposed to be annoying, and suddenly I got it -- it's like an alarm, buzzing you awake. Quieten down indeed.

4. AMERIE "1 Thing"
Perhaps it's just "Crazy In Love" Part Deux, but I don't care. This jazzy, syncopated number was the best example of Amerian R&B this year.

5. TOM VEK "C-C (You Set the Fire in Me)"
Sounding like it was recorded on an answering machine in your dad's garage on an accordian and a casio, this track magically balances Martian freakishness with pop genius. And just when you think it's going to end, it keeps going.

6. DAVID BANNER "Play"
So dirty, the clean version is basically a completely different song, this is this year's "My Neck, My Back," a minimalist masterpiece of empty space, filled out only with sizzling, dripping sex. Amazingly, it managed to be a massive dancefloor hit at my sister's wedding in the middle of Nebraska (and I wasn't even the DJ!), although watching my parents dance to it just about gave me a brain hemorrhage.

7. CIARA feat. LUDACRIS "Oh"
Maybe it's crunk-lite, but it's still about the most pure sound-for-sound's-sake you'll hear on the radio this year. Barely even fast enough to be a song, it's mostly just buzzing, throbbing bass, a test pattern of wave forms. Ciara and Ludacris are fine but they're kind of incidental to the song's towering, monolithic hum.

8. LADY SOVEREIGN "Random"
I said it a few times this year, and I wasn't sure I meant it, but I'll say it again and see how it feels: possibly the best female rapper ever? Effortlessly weaving together Mike Skinner-style self-depreciation and day-to-day observation with ballsy pastiche and jabs at current rap superstars, the fact that the Sov is like 19 years old blows my mind. But I guess that's why she has so much energy.

9. PAUL WALL FEAT. BIG POKEY "Sittin' Sideways"
Okay Houston, if this is what your zoning-free traffic-riddled Republican oil-driven hell can create, then I take back all the bad things I said about you. More sonically groundbreaking than 99% of UK grime, this squelchy number was so laid back it practically fell out the back of the, erm, pimped-up ride.

10. KELLY CLARKSON "Since U Been Gone"
Anyone who claims to like Interpol's "Slow Hands," Yeah Yeah Yeahs' "Y Control," and Kasabian's "Reason is Treason," but denies this song's greatness, is just a hypocrite. Thankfully, it looks like nearly unanimous critical acclaim has set the record straight.

11. M.I.A. "10 Dollar"
12. GORILLAZ "Dirty Harry"
13. LADY SOVEREIGN "Ch-Ching"
14. AUDIO BULLYS "Shot You Down (Bang Bang)"
15. BECK "Ghettochip Malfunction" ("Hell Yes" remix by 8-bit)
16. FRANZ FERDINAND "Do You Want To"
17. GORILLAZ "Dare"
18. THE WHITE STRIPES "My Doorbell"
19. THE NEW PORNOGRAPHERS "Twin Cinema"
20. MIKE JONES FEAT. SLIM THUG AND PAUL WALL "Still Tippin'"
21. COMMON "Go"
22. LCD SOUNDSYSTEM "Tribulations"
23. DANGER DOOM "Sofa King"
24. EDITORS "Munich"
25. ANNIE "Chewing Gum"
26. BOOKA SHADE "Mandarine Girl"
27. MISSY ELLIOTT FEAT. CIARA AND FATMAN SCOOP "Lose Control"
28. EVERY MOVE A PICTURE "Signs of Life"
29. SUPERSYSTEM "Born Into the World"
29. ROGUE WAVE "Publish My Love"
30. VITALIC "My Friend Dario"
31. LADY SOVEREIGN "9 to 5"
32. YIN YANG TWINS "Wait"
33. OUT HUD "It's For You"
34. GWEN STEFANI "Hollaback Girl"
35. THE LOVEMAKERS "Shake that Ass (Bootleg w/ 50 Cent)"
36. SUPERSYSTEM "Born Into the World "
37. LCD SOUNDSYSTEM "Daft Punk is Playing at My House"
38. QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE "Little Sister"
39. VON IVA "Not Hot to Trot"
40. PINBACK "Fortress"
41. LUDACRIS "Number One Spot"
42. BECK "E-Pro"
43. TEGAN & SARA "Walking with a Ghost"
44. DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE "Soul Meets Body"
45. THE JUAN MACLEAN "Dance With Me"
46. ASH "Clones"
47. MADONNA "Hung Up"

LIVE SHOWS:

1. ARCADE FIRE (Coachella, May '05)
2. DEATH FROM ABOVE 1979 (The Independent, March 05)
3. AUTOLUX (Opening for Secret Machines, The Independent, March 05)
4. M.I.A. (Coachella, May '05)
5. ARCADE FIRE (Great American Music Hall, Jan 05)
6. BLONDE REDHEAD (Opening for Interpol, Warfield, SF, Feb 05)
7. KASABIAN (Slim's, Mar 05)
8. QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE (Metreon, April 05)
9. LYRICS BORN (BFD, The Shoreline, June 05)
10. BLOC PARTY (Slim's, June 05)
11. RILO KILEY (The Grand, June '05)

BOOTLEGS:

1. TEAM9 "Greenday Massacre" (Eagles vs. Green Day vs. etc)
2. TIMG "Bloc of Nails" (Bloc Party vs. Nine Inch Nails)
3. THE BRAT "Big Shot Pimpin" (Jay-Z vs. Billy Joel)
4. JIMMYJAMMES "Sgt. Pepper's Paradise" (Guns 'n' Roses vs. Beatles)
5. TEAM9 "Eleanor's In My Head" (Queens of the Stone Age vs. Beatles)
6. TBP "Hot Rich Girls Dropped in a Grange" (ZZ Top vs. Gwen Stefani vs. Snoop)
7. A+D "An Honest M.I.A." (The Bravery vs. M.I.A.)
8. DJ ZEBRA "Voodoo Stripes" (The White Stripes vs. The Prodigy)
9. EARWORM "We Need a Filthy War " (Fischerspooner vs. Scissor Sisters vs. The Chemical Brothers vs. Pet Shop Boys vs. Culture Club vs. Edwin Starr)
10. TEAM9 "Lovetax" (The Cure vs. The Beatles)
11. GO HOME PRODUCTIONS "Uptight Killer" (Stevie Wonder vs. The Killers vs. The Rolling Stones vs. David Bowie)
12. DJ ZEBRA VS DJ GODZILLA "Superfreak is Playing at My House" (Rick James vs. LCD Soundsystem)
13. LIONEL VINYL "Somebody's Countdown" (Europe vs. The Killers)
14. MIXOMATOSIS VS. DJ PRINCE "Galvanize the Eye of the Tiger" (The Chemical Brothers vs. Survivor)
15. AGGRO1 Untitled (Eagles vs. Kelly Clarkson)
16. DJ JAY-R "My Other Car is a Beatle" ( L'Trimm vs. Gary Numan vs. The Beatles)
17. DUNPROOFIN "Casbah Wonder" (Stevie Wonder vs. The Clash)