The Top Fifty Favorite Songs Of 2005 - Pt.5

10. “Graffiti” by Maximo Park
Hailing from Newcastle, Maximo Park are another band playing the so-called UK Angular Pop Revival. “Graffitti” is a stellar romp packed to the seams (but never bursting) with some of the greatest guitar riffs heard in 2005. The best thing about the song are two: the way the entire band plays the tune in unison (when the guitar cascades up and down, the drums, bass, and keys are right there – when the guitar riffs, the bass riffs, the keys riff) and the charmingly edgy vocal performance of singer Paul Smith. The instrumental bridge has the bass churning out notes high on the neck and the lead guitar coos only to careen into that amazing guitar hook with a brittle intensity. I love how Smith’s Geordie accent creeps through as his sings. This song is another amazing track in a long line of anxious pop economy (see Wire, The Jam, Guided By Voices, etc.).

09. “Abel” by The National
This probably won’t mean a damn thing to anyone, but the introduction to “Abel” sounds so much like classic Minneapolis band, The Suburbs, it’s freaking scary (for those in the know, it’s like a lost track – that rocks a lot harder – from their self-titled swan song). The foreboding sense of annoyance, despair, aggravation, and rationality drench this track, reflecting the emotional and psychological complexity of life. Rarely, can a pop song say so much. Add to it, that “Abel” is an absolute rocker (got to love the Stones-via-Replacements lead guitar riffs and the Pixies-ish rhythm guitar overdrive). There is nothing like when singer, Matt Beringer, wails (his vocals are tremendous, a combination of Springsteen and Ferry), “My mind’s not right, my mind’s not right, my mind’s not right, my mind’s not right!”

08. “Saddest Quo” by Pernice Brothers
This is easily one of the five best songs Joe Pernice has penned. This song is a classic: the intro is the chorus warbled through some studio effect, the lead guitar is 80s brit, the drum fills are perfectly placed, the acoustic guitar is warm, the vocal performance is one of his best, the use of harmonica is serendipitous, and the melody is wonderful. Lyrically, Pernice is his usual (a cynic would call it predictable – he definitely has his own style: clever wordplay, juxtaposition of opposites, weary/aggravated/a bit depressing, sardonic, annoyed, etc.), but with gems like “Love my neighbor when I feel couldn’t even give a shit” and “It’s a sad status quotient waiting for the sky to fall” and “Hindsight’s 20 and my visibility is worsening” and “The acolytes are choking but my faith in life’s unbroken” and … you pick your favorite. It’s good to hear a solid bridge, as Pernice probably is the best at writing an amazing bridge.

07. “Sing Me Spanish Techno” by The New Pornographers
It’s probably no surprise that this tune made it on my countdown. It’s really what one would expect from The New Pornos. Yep. The thing that makes this tune utterly mind-blowing is the hook is so damn brilliant, and the chorus is absolutely, positively, unequivocally demanding. You are so completely compelled to sing along, dragging the notes out like the genius called Carl Newman: “Traveling at gahhhhhhhd-speed, over the hillllllllls and trails, I have re-fuuuuuuuused my call, pushing my laaaaaaaay-zy sails, into the bluuuuuuuue flame, I wanna crash innnnnnnn right now, the hourglass fillllllllls its sand, if only to punnnnnnnn-ish you [pause] For listening too long to one song!” It helps that I identify so dearly with the sentiment of the lyric, at times I found myself singing, “Sing me German Minimal” or “Sing me Scottish Pop” or “Sing me Richard Davis” … What a brilliant melody, what a genius lyric, what an amazing track.

06. “Modern Art” by Art Brut
While this was released in the UK in 2004, this version on Art Brut’s full-length has better production, and subsequently, more punk rock power. Lead vocalist and lyricist, Eddie Argos doesn’t really sing, but talks, sneers, wails, etc. and that is cool. The lyrics are hilarious, but ring more than true (to at least myself). Simply put, “Modern Art” is a great anthem. A simple and effective punk rock song that is unbridled as it is calculated, tells the tale of Argos’ near-spiritual experiences with the painted picture (one is about a painting with a heart-stopping “blue”, the other about a Matisse painting at a Paris art gallery), he is so moved by the power of the art, he can only proclaim, “Modern art/makes me want to/ROCK OUT!” Oh yes, I understand. If my James Frey-like memory serves me correctly, one day I listened to this song fifty times in a row.

05. “Bastardo” by Charlotte Hatherley
Ex-Ash guitarist, Charlotte Hatherley has made one of the most deliciously tasty pop singles of the year (the track was actually recorded when Ash was in L.A. recording Meltdown, she was still with the band). It’s an odd tale of our heroine falling in love (lust?) with a Spanish boy named Antonio, who turned out to be not so sweet, as he steals her guitar and goes back to Mexico! The best part is when Hatherley sings (slightly exasperated and fully annoyed): “And oh my beautiful guitar, that’s what really broke my heart/Had been stolen by the two-faced lothario”. Yeah, it’s got that silly-fun vibe, but don’t forget the tune itself! The melody is so addictive, and refuses to let up, barely a break from verse-to-chorus and back. The vocals and melody are buoyed by crunchy power pop (overall) and tricky guitar work (specifically), not unlike her former band’s oeuvre, except Hatherley isn’t afraid to keep the melody upfront, and the guitars don’t rumble.

04. “Here Comes A City” by The Go-Betweens
I haven’t been into The Go-Betweens this much since 16 Lovers Lane was released in the late-80s. This track is off their third post-reformation record Oceans Apart. The hard-chugging guitar, a sexy bass line, and the steadiest of steady backbeats, “Here Comes A City” dominates. The lyrics are delivered with a weird sense of urgency (the song seems to be about riding a train and the sociological observations by either a paranoid or obsessive-compulsive person), and the music does nothing to alleviate this heavy dysfunctional fever. There is an uncomfortable tension pervading every note, every strum, every word. Robert Forster’s vocals are as great as they’ve ever been. The song contains the best lyric of the last five years: “And why do people … who read Dostoevsky [pause] look like … Dostoevsky?” Hands down, great.

03. “Since U Been Gone” by Kelly Clarkson
The thing that attracts me the most to this song is the power behind the hook. Say what I will about American Idols and super-easy pop stardom and a terrible MTV VMA performance (obviously designed by some horny exec with pedophile tendencies), Clarkson is the best thing going in pop … well, at least on this track. Unlike her contemporaries (god knows no one wants to talk about Britney; Christina is getting long-in-the-tooth; don’t even go there with those Simpson Sisters), she sounds like she literally means what she sings. There is something liberating about an anointed pop princess *not* being heartbroken after her man leaves her. Dammit, she can breath! Dammit, she’s so moving on! Dammit, she gets what she wants!

02. “Orpheus” by Ash
It took me a good three months to forgive Tim Wheeler for the stupid whatever the fuck that howl-ariba-ariba thing is in the beginning of this tune. Honestly! Once I finally got over that, the greatness of this track revealed itself: four minutes of pure power-rock-pop domination. The melody is so insanely catchy, the hooks are some of the strongest Wheeler has composed, and the chorus is fist-pumping, chin-up large. Sure, the double lead guitars are such a cheesy move (like the cowbell), yet they have never, ever sounded this good (dare I say, Ash beats their heroes KISS at their own game). More about those guitars – the way they can go from balls-out-metal riffage (verses) to shimmering-reverb-soaked-jangle (chorus) and back and forth and back, it’s mind boggling. After the instrumental jam fest at around two-two-and-a-half minutes, you think they’ve run out of steam (unnecessary grunts and “YEAH!”s) … but you’d be so damn wrong. At 3:06, the song abruptly changes into a bridge that can only be called stunning. Charlotte Hatherley’s background vocals are finally audible, Wheeler’s vocals are inspiring, and the band is in perfect concert, playing off the melody and each other. The song closes with Wheeler and Hatherley spitting out “Yeah yeah yeah” in unison, as the metal riffs smash down on your cranium.

01. “Ageless Beauty” by Stars
There is the briefest of introduction to the song, as Amy Millan immediately and confidently takes the lead vocals and she sounds incredible – while her voice is akin to the prototypical heavenly-indie-pop-princess, she transcends the pretty by conveying a maturity and furrowed longing in her delivery and enunciation. She sings each syllable deliberately, each note rings out in perfection, and floats just-barely above the music – even on the chorus when guitars come in covered in distorted fuzz, when the drummer crashes the ride cymbal repeatedly, she sounds angelic as her vocals are layered in a call-and-response melding perfectly with the heavy music. The track manages to be noisy and slick (like the 90s shoegazers), but full of feeling. With some thirty-odd seconds left, Millan steps away from the mic and the band takes over playing their instruments with a head-strong intensity. There is an indescribable wow to the song, which I can only guess is pure emotion, maybe even pure love. I shouldn’t quote another writer in my take on my favorite song of the year, but I really like what Pitchfork’s Ryan Dombal said about the song, “Immortal love is the purported ideal, and adorned in such a crushing package, "Ageless Beauty" could temporarily wipe slates for the divorced, dumped, and disengaged alike. Indie rock, too often cloaked in a tight web of rarified self-consciousness, rarely allows itself this kind of unabashed optimism.”

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The Top Fifty Favorite Songs Of 2005 - Pt.4

20. “Tell Me I’m Wrong” by Longwave
Opening with a gurgle of electro-blippery and a slick guitar riff, “Tell Me I’m Wrong” seems to be a terribly contrived, bandwagon-jumpin’ track (Longwave may think they are the next Killers). The first verse does nothing to assuage this (“It’s time to sink or swim” – Longwave, you get a big fat, “Come on!”). It’s really awful to pass such judgment on a song after only a minute, but I do it anyway. Lucky for me, and you, discerning music listener, I let it roll: the song redeems itself when the band launches into the chorus, and they blast past the hit-making stratosphere, into bliss-drenched-pop-oblivion, playing the loud-soft dynamics with effortless control and palatability. Before, I go on to the next song; this song does not save the rest of Longwave’s long-player (There’s A Fire) from being a whipping-track for my snob-elitist tendencies. What a steaming peanut-strewn …

19. “I Predict A Riot” by Kaiser Chiefs
Continuing the insanity of my countdown, these post-post-punkers/former-Strokes-clones made the best Franz Ferdinand song this year. The thing that is so damn surprising about this track is the lack of that Gang Of Four-by-Franz disco beat. This thing is straight up nth-wave Mod revival. The entire length of the track is nothing short of an infectious assault on your cerebral cortex, a veritable rape of your auditory system. Precise and uptight; energetic and choppy; catchy and abrasive, this song is great and it’s rock n roll.

18. “So Begins Our Alabee” by Of Montreal
Another track with a stellar intro – this time it’s weird electronic wankery (beats and chords) and layered-n-looped vocals that segue easily to the meat of the song. The whole track ransacks pop tradition, stealing everything from “ba-bahs” to pop-reggae-beats to 80s synth pop. It’s with this synth pop where Kevin Barnes recites a mantra: “So begins, begins our odyssey” that abruptly rams into a post-pop-chorus brimming with idiosyncratic word play. When nuttiness is this accessible, it’s gotta hit the Top Twenty. Of course.

17. “Fallen Leaves” by Teenage Fanclub
The big-Byrds-fuzzed-guitar intro trips into a mellow-sweet verse, and the whole vibe is anticlimactic. Before disappointment sets in, the first verse ends and the chorus takes off with a killer series of understated guitar strums and Hammond-like keyboards. That chorus then ends with a series of snare-bang-tom pounds and a sick lead guitar riff. While this is cool and all (indeed!), it’s the Gerry Love crafted melody that is so spot on, and a hook that is utterly memorable. The minute-plus outro is one of the most transcendent jamz of 2005.

16. “Snarly Yow” by Black Dice
Don’t get me wrong, “Smiling Off” is a great track, just not my favorite. Black Dice songs can meander in ambience or they can assault your senses with noise or they can totally fuck with the dance music paradigm. “Snarly Yow” does it all. The best part of this song is when they interject a four-on-the-floor-house beat that is overtaken by an insane guitar riff that evaporates into the most hypnotizing synth repetition that is periodically interrupted by blasts of noise from sick robot birds, alien catatonic scales, and pure industrial junk. Wow.

15. “Chewing Gum” by Annie
Annie was anointed a Princess by Pitchfork last year (I’m late to the game, but I’m counting this because it’s the U.S. release *natch*), thus, immediately making me skeptical about this Norwegian pop phenom. My skepticism wasn’t enough to kill my curiosity. “Chewing Gum” is easily the best track off of Anniemal, for a variety of reasons, most of all, totally silly, entirely sexy. It’s this mix of silliness and sexiness combined with a great melody that makes this track so hot.

14. “Free Me” by Emma Bunton
I will not resist … Baby Spice is all grown up! Shoo-oot. This track (and half of her debut solo record, Emma) is so far from anything the Spice Girls even thought of doing. “Free Me” has Emma cooing and sighing on the verses about her longing; strings swell, horns ebb and flow, and the beat pulsates (it’s obvious her songwriters were going for some Bacharach here) perfectly reflecting the emotions of the lyrics. When the chorus comes, the song heaves forward, unbridled and aggressive as our Emma sings, “Let me loose to love you, how I long to seduce you” – on paper, it’s comical, but when hearing the song it’s pure passion.

13. “Gold Digger” by Kanye West
Not to be lazy, but I just like this track. No, I love this track. I, being one of the biggest Kanye poo-pooers in the world, I actually hated the track the first twenty times I heard it. The thing that hooked me? No, not Jamie Foxx’s retro, “I-I-I-wanna-testa-FY!!” bizzaro vocals. It was the freaking beat – that bum-bum-bum-bum-bum-bum-bum-bum. The lyrics are silly, goofy, sort of a 21st Century take on Eddie Murphy. Maybe it’s base, maybe it’s stupid, but the beat, West’s flow, and the overall production equal great.

12. “Paper Cuts” by The Boy Least Likely To
Usually a song like this is called “delightful”, “precious”, “cute”, “indie-pop”, “sunshine”, etc. and I'd have to admit, yeah, that would be correct. What makes “Paper Cuts” better than your standard Belle & Sebastian (or even Teenage Fanclub, Beat Happening) wannabe, is a super-strong melody with a great performance (the guitars, the keys, the drums, all are executed flawlessly). Check out the bridge! Awesome! When I hear a song this delightful and precious, I fall in love with cute sunshine-y indie pop all over again.

11. “Face B” by Isolee
Nearly six minutes of electronic perfection. It’s juxtaposition of incompatible sounds and soundscapes that render Isolee’s Rajko Müller productions nothing short of brilliant. The mix of a steady beat and oddly placed accents, the application of crescendo-decrescendo, the buried semi-melody, the barely-there vocals all create a track that is so bleak, yet so funky; relaxing as it is tense; cold as death, but full of life. Really, this has to be heard to truly be appreciated.
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The Top Fifty Favorite Songs Of 2005 - Pt.3

30. “Sukiyaki” by Oranger
Oranger storms back on the American Power Pop scene with an absolutely sick single. There are several interesting things going on: 1) the guitar is way down in the mix, at times you don’t even know it’s there, 2) the piano functions more as a rhythm maker, notes pounded out matching the extremely solid snare beats (nearly drowning out all the other instruments) and, most unexpected, 3) the absence of a huge hook. Nevertheless, this song sticks in yer head like glue due the superb energy and fervent moxie the song exudes. Trust me, this tracks sounds best played very, very loud.

29. “Helicopter” by Bloc Party
There’s something I loathe about rockers singing about politics … and my loathing increases tenfold when it’s some watery Brit whining about American politics (Listen Mr. Bloc Hipster Party, it doesn’t matter if it’s Democrap or Republitit in office, it’s the same old same old). I don’t need some pretty boy in a flogger and vintage-too-tight-t getting all up in my face about this country’s prez (I mean, that’s why I read The Atlantic magazine). But that’s my problem isn’t it? Ok. “Helicopter” is tremendous post-post-punk blather, replete with those noisy guitars, that near-shade-of-disco-backbeat, and a hook to die for. The quick instrumental breakdown that zips into the hook/chorus at the end of the track is killer.

28. “Wellen” by Dirk Leyers
Dirk Leyers was a member of the terrific Closer Musik, and this is his first release since that group’s demise. The thing that sets “Wellen” apart from much of minimal electronic music is the prevalence of the pretty melody while simultaneously featuring a steady beat/hi-hat combo and ambient drones, there are outright keyboard gymnastics meticulously placed throughout the track, thus, avoiding monotony. There is so much going on, that each and every listen brings a new surprise. I guess this doesn’t exactly make it minimal; maybe macro-minimal or something. This is an amazing debut 12”.

27. “Fake Palindromes” by Andrew Bird
Andrew Bird has quietly been making some great music over the years, but in 2005 he really hit his pop stride. A huge intro sets the tone for this track – this isn’t some flabby piece of indie pop. The repetition of this wacky, explosive intro throughout the track is such a great move; it adds another weird dimension, a chaotic-quirky take on the loud-soft dynamics. His vocals really turn my crank – almost like David Byrne mixed with Grant-Lee Phillips and/or Jeff Tweedy, which makes the delivery of the closing lyric, “I want to tie your wrists with leather, and drill a tiny hold into your head,” so unexpected and disturbing. I’m still taken aback when he sings it.

26. “This Year” by The Mountain Goats
It’s not often that pure pop music can move not only your feet or your mouth, but your heart. Usually, it’s those songs about love and youth that stir some nostalgic emotional response. John Darnielle’s (who is The Mountain Goats) songs have always felt like short stories to me, and this track is no different. On “This Year”, Darnielle evokes the struggle of youth in a wonderful narrative with his characters being so keenly real – definitely rebels (underage drinkers and staying out late), but flawed (he calls these characters “twin high maintenance machines” and one drinks-n-drives). And it takes me back, growing up in a town too small for my city dreams. Escape was the only goal, and how many times did I say, “I’m gonna make it through this year, if it kills me.” Funny thing, I’m still saying it.

25. “The Comeback” by Shout Out Louds
More Swedes! Oh, I love you Sweden, your place in the world, your weather, your quiet affluence! But most of all: your music! Dear lord, so many good bands with such ability to craft perfect pop. Last year, it was your sweet, sweet Legends, this year it’s Shout Out Louds. “The Comeback” kinda takes on the sound of the never-realized Strokes revolution and plays it how it should have been done: with a fine melody and a fat hook, and it rocks with odd anxiety. From the opening keyboard riff to the carefully placed tambourine baps to the rhythm guitars, the music is as contagious as the melody.

24. “Sometime” by Richard Davis
Richard Davis came out of nowhere into my life. Actually, a friend e-mailed me to tell me I’ve got to hear this guy. He provided me a secret link to a couple MP3s and they had me. “Sometime” wasn’t one of those songs. While I love several other tracks by Davis, this one remains my favorite – the beats are so muffled, yet so huge; there’s a slinky Richard D. James-like melody creeping below the surface, the hi-hat is just right. Davis’ vocals are as tired and annoyed and yearning, the voice of the world-weary. It’s the soundtrack to the work-a-day corporate life – thinking about the only thing that matters, but you’ve got no choice but to sit and stare at a LCD screen and peck away at a keyboard.

23. “Only With You” by Teenage Fanclub
This Raymond McGinley composition is the most beautiful and tender love song of the year. It’s a bit peculiar as the pace is too fast to be a ballad, but slow enough that it isn’t quite Triple A radio rock. No matter. It opens with the melody slowly plunked out on piano, but the band quickly comes in and the song takes off. The changes from verse-to-chorus and back are so fucking smooth. When McGinley intones, “So much I want to do, only with you”, my mouth turns into a smile – not only because I identify, but McGinley is known for his biting lyrics (the classic, “I always feel the need to profane/I always said fuck when I thought I could”), such a jarring departure into veritable cheesiness! When the piano comes back towards the end of the track, it’s full of emotion – alone, but confident; naked, but elegant; it’s “beauty and truth.”

22. “Feel Like Myself” by Brendan Benson
Ever since his major-label trials and tribulations, Benson has done a resurrection of sorts (I suppose it kind of helps to be friends with Jack White whose band was the hottest thing going for a couple of years, and now has some Radiohead-like creative license … it’s cool, it’s cool). “Feel Like Myself” finds Benson nailing another hit. A friend of mine tipped me to this track, imploring me to listen (he endured some intense whining from me about the record this song comes from). I couldn’t believe that I overlooked this sweet-n-sour tune, and listened to it multiple times a day for a few weeks. I’d wake up in the morning humming the synth line and singing the chorus in my head. The chorus is fantastic.

21. “Galang” by M.I.A.
I don’t give a flying crap about the back story when it comes M.I.A. So don’t even talk to me about it. This song, though, if you want to discuss, I’m here! The grime-y beats, the video-game-explosion bass blasts, the way her flow flows shows that M.I.A. has great collaboration and true skills. I still love the Sri Lankan (???) “yah-yah-yay” chanting; it is exhilarating as the beats and the percussion and the electronics buzz and bump and blast underneath. Oh yeah, I don’t care about the bloody Honda commercial, so go down to Urban Outfitters and find some purist smoking Parliaments and sporting a white belt to jaw with. Leave me out of it. I’m too busy loving this song.

The Top Fifty Favorite Songs Of 2005 - Pt.2

40. “What Are You Waiting For?” by Kathleen Edwards
I honestly believe that Kathleen Edwards made the best Ryan Adams record this year. But we are talking about songs, not records, which brings me to “What Are You Waiting For?” Fairly standard alt.country songwriting, no doubt, but it’s all in the vocal delivery: the interplay of held notes with twangy geetar and moans echoed by mournful lap steel, spits of disgust over cascading riffs, sigh-singing over a crescendo coming out of the bridge. Edwards isn’t gentile like Kelly Willis or guy-ish like Lucinda Williams, she’s just annoyed as hell and she’s calling it like it is. This balance between vitriol and poise is perfectly encapsulated in the line: “It’s been eight years and yer still mad, still you lock me in your memory, you’ve got to be fuck – ing kidding me.”

39. “The Engine Driver” by The Decemberists
I read on the message boreds and blogs that Picaresque was going to show Colin Meloy stepping out of his retro-1930s-40s-vaudeville-indie-rock schtick, thus, bringing his songs to a new level without compromising the quirkiness. This track is absolutely most representative of this critic-asserted new direction. Still there’s accordion, glockenspiel (oh I love you glockenspiel), a feeling of old times, but the vocals are smoother (retaining enough of his Jeff Magnum croon), and the guitars are very Smiths-like (not that surprising). Of course I love this tune, it constantly shifts, revolves in-and-around itself, gradually crescendos and falls back into a grand coda to a breathtaking end: a lovely sadness (“If you don’t love me, let me go”).

38. “Movement” by LCD Soundsystem
The first minute-eleven of this track finds James Murphy rapping MES over farty keys, a steady electronic drum beat, and occasionally slices of feedback, then at one-twelve the whole track explodes into pure rock domination. Murphy is “tapped-uh”, and he’s talking about “discipline” and “culture” and “pillaging” and “history”, and he is “tapped-uh”. Right when you think the song has run out of steam, in comes a huge punk rock chord progression slapping the shit out of you. “Movement” is not complicated, it’s not about melody, it’s just got a series of hooks that not only get in your head, but rail against anything and everything. I’m tapped-uh. And “Movement” is my solace. Best line: “It’s like a fat guy in a t-shirt, doing all the singing.”

37. “Pox” by Xiu Xiu
Jamie Stewart’s vocals are amazing (sure, he can get over-the-top but not recklessly so – see precious Conor Oberst), and are the first thing that jump out when hearing this track. Yes, the lyrics are equally tragic and disturbing in a kind of high school drama club sort of way (*shrug*). But there is much more to this: the goth-tinged rhythms and riffs, the squawking of vintage electronics, the odd guitar tunings, the breakdowns (the bam-bam-bam-squeals that litter the track and the one near the song’s end that out-creeps the creepiest Joy Division songs), all create an overbearing mood while … overbearing (!) … the melody is not suffocated and the stellar songwriting isn’t buried.

36. “Assume” by The Fall
The sheer power and nerve make this track rock. Classic Fall lead guitar – repetition repetition repetition – into punk rock explosion and back, MES’ band is definitely tapped in to the source. When MES whisper-sneers, “You are Kapitän, Kapitän!”, followed by “Tch tch tch tch tch”, followed by a filthy punk rock chord progression, it’s angry, and it’s creepy; actually, angrier than angry and creepier than creepy. It’s the swagger of disgusted indifference permeating every syllable and note. I’m assuming that the “Hume” MES sings of here is Scottish philosopher, David Hume. Brilliant.

35. “Hundred Million Lightyears” by Kait0
One the surface this is one of those pretty tracks – a light melody, muffled beats, and flourishes of ambient loveliness that slowly builds and then softly floats away. But I’m not about to be content with the surface when every time I heard this track, it made my ears stand tall. While listening on headphones, you hear a gentle rat-a-tat of snare drum, multiple layers of melodic tinkering, and tiny additions of layer upon layer of melody. Even when the beat drops out for a good forty-five seconds, the swelling of the song sucks you in. Definitely transcendent. For those wondering, Kait0 is the alias of Japanese producer and DJ, Hiroshi Watanabe.

34. “Keep Sending Me Black Fireworks” by Of Montreal
Riding high on a Beatles-esque jaunt, Of Montreal crafts a completely infectious piano-driven pop tune. With vocals courtesy of lead OM Kevin Barnes’ wife, Nina, the song takes on a different quality than if the male Barnes took the lead (he still contributes backing vocals). I love how it opens with a weird series of chords on a synth of sorts that quietly relent to the piano. Child-like music taking on adult love, the juxtaposition is irresistible. Best line: “You’re my favorite living human by far/’cause you make this frightening world less bizarre.” Obviously, 2005 had love on my mind, probably, because I identified with it more than I ever have before in my life.

33. “Don’t Save Us From The Flames” (album version) by M83
A friend described the drum rolls in this track as “totally retarded.” I agree, and I’ll add to it: absolutely sick. While this French electronic-rock band lost a member to the desire to own a solo career (now it’s only Anthony Gonzalez), making M83 a solo act (?), this track picks up marvelously where Dead Cities, Red Seas, & Lost Ghosts left off. The multi-layer approach that M83 is known is evident regardless of listening environment. “DSUFTF” is full of neo-shoegazer guitar heroics, insane theremin-like space synths, and breathy vocals. At the 3:27 mark, Gonazalez lets it all go and the song soars, soars, soars gloriously and forcefully to the top of the cityscape.

32. “You Can’t Steal My Love” by Mando Diao
On Mando Diao’s debut (Bring ‘Em In), these anglophile Swedes aped (with voracious authenticity!) Oasis, Tom Jones, and The Stones. Here we find a heavy Libertines’ influence. “You Can’t Steal My Love” definitely reflects this, but with an earnest tenderness that has been mixed with Stones-y riffage and Naughty Doherty vocals. The track is a rousing pub-drenched rocker, which jitters, jerks, and jams left-right-forwards-backwards, marked by an incredible vocal performance by Björn Dixgård. When he moans in his upper registers, “Honey I love you, like the summer falls And the winter crawls you’re above and beyond me,” shivers run down my spine and I smile because I know exactly what he is singing about.

31. “We Belong Together” by Mariah Carey
For the record: I have never, ever, never, ever, ever, never, ever been a Mariah Carey fan. I remembering giggling and shooting off a “No kidding”, when Michael Stipe said, “The only way I remember how to pronounce Mariah Carey’s name, is it rhymes with pariah.” Yep! I’m pretentious like that! I first heard this song in the car with my 12-year old daughter and Sharon. My mother had bought her (my daughter) the CD, and she wanted to kick the jams. She told me to skip to track 2, and then she sat back waiting for my reaction. Immediately, I was taken aback. The song starts off with Mariah perfectly delivering the melody, then about three-quarters of the way into the track, Mariah has a chance to get all over-the-top-look-at-me-hit-all-the-high-notes, but she exercises restraint (no, she doesn’t pull back, but it’s not until the fucking fadeout does she vamp to the nth octave). I call this maturity, the ability and knowledge to vamp when it’s time to vamp, and to be reasonable when it’s time to be reasonable. Everything about this song fits. There is space too – pauses in the piano and guitar riffs and sparse backbeat, which create a great backdrop to the soulful melody. Oh yeah, Mariah gets my vote for Comeback Of The Year.

The Top Fifty Favorite Songs Of 2005 - Pt.1

Yes, this is a difficult task. Yes, I loaded about 200 songs into a playlist on my iPod. Yes, I listened and ranked, re-listened and re-ranked, re-re-re-listended and re-re-re-ranked, etc. etc. Yip. And yes! These are my favorite songs of 2005. So if your favorite tracks don’t appear, don’t feel badly – either you have better taste than I, or, naturally, I’ve probably made plenty of mistakes – overlooking some, overrating others – but I can’t allow myself to feel guilty. Seriously, this year was *tough*, mainly because I feel it was a “singles year”, that is, not many records were solid top-to-bottom, but many records (even terrible ones) had a hot single (or two or three). Maybe it’s because of the MP3 – online music stores and file-sharing services are really about listeners (discerning or otherwise – snark, snark) finding the songs they love to hear, loading them into the iPod and hitting “Shuffle Songs”. I think that’s it.

Here are the facts that you the discerning music listener expect: these 50 songs are ranked with number 50 being the least favorite of my 50 favorite songs, and number 1 being my most favorite of my 50 favorite songs. As in previous years, I will be posting ten songs per day for the next five days. Read on!

50. “Good Sons” by Starflyer 59
Starflyer59 has become comfort food for me. This is not a bad thing (though, I understand the connotation!). I can always count on J.Martin to write a song that will impress me, move me, and get my foot tappin’ and head noddin’. The off-kilter opening riff, the 80s synth-claps, spacey-theremin-keys, electro drum rolls, and power chords drench an extremely solid melody in rock-pop domination. This is also one of the few SF59 tracks where Martin’s vocals absolutely perfectly fit.

49. “Pure Vernumgt Darf Niemals Siegen (Superpitcher/Wasserman Single Mix)” by Tocotronic
Someone told me that vocals in electronic music are out. One thing that makes this track by Tocotronic so great is the vocals (which are in German and alternate between talking to talk-sing to attempts at outright singing). The track has a wonderful ability to move back-and-forth like a mini-symphony – it starts off with a standard dance beat and synth-claps, but by the end it is layered in guitar, multiple beats, atmospheric keyboards, and those wonderful vocals.

48. “Blindness” by The Fall (Narnack Records sampler version)
This raunchy and haunting track opens with a sample of a man saying, “I’ve done it again.” This is something more than appropriate – it’s a declaration and a confession. “Blindness” is propelled by a gloriously filthy bass line, MES’ vocals are top-shelf, and the whole train hurls down the tracks with the tension created by the threat of eminent derailment. By the way, I chose this over the version on the full-length Fall Heads Roll, because of its sheer aural audacity – the Narnack sampler version rips and roars, while the album version seems too bored, too spacious, too emaciated. It lacks snarl.

47. “Cruel Sound” by Marbles
Robert Schneider is an indie pop Hall-of-Famer who has been crafting some of the all-time-heavenly-indie-pop hits for years with his Apples In Stereo. In lieu of that band’s hiatus/demise, Schneider returns to the Marbles moniker. The song absolute moves; not a second is wasted – I especially enjoy the noisy guitar breakdown. Lyrically, this is jagged, bitter, and paranoid; I don’t know how much this has to do with his semi-public divorce to Apples drummer Hilary Sidney or towards his control-freak-front-man tendencies, but put these words in either context and it’s quite interesting. “Cruel Sound” is 88 seconds of pop economy that is just so great and another triumph from an indie pop genius.

46. “Tell Me About It” by Superpitcher
A simple piano riff, looped female vocals (just the word “oh”, progressing up and down the scale), understated beats, and a variety of farty, glitchy, squelchy sounds all combine to create one of the grooviest minimal techno Kompakt-konkoktions. Great electronic music works both on headphones and in the club, and this happens here in spades. Superpitcher puts sounds, melodies, and countermelodies upfront (to be easily digested), as well as, deep in the mix (the reward for attentive listening) which is utterly primal and sublime.

45. “Hung Up” by Madonna
There is absolute no reason to listen to this song … really – I’m not just talking about the lyrics (we all know that Madonna is enthralled with religion, and it isn’t helping her lyrics) – didn’t Ladytron write this song three or four years ago? If originality and purity is your thing, go listen to the third album by that duo who records in the walk-in closet of their turn-of-the-century house in the cool part of town … But if you are searching for addictive pop confections, Madonna totally delivers. The melody ebbs and flows, the hook is undeniable, and all those electro moments are applied to near perfection inducing spontaneous dancing and singing.

44. “Best Thing” by Bob Mould
Mould rocks it circa-Sugar 1995. This song has everything that one would expect from him: driving reverb-laden guitars, steady rhythm, a solo that flirts with the melody complete with high-on-the-neck-up-an-octave noodling, and passionate vocals (Foo Fighters, this is how it’s done). I suppose most would consider this by-the-numbers, and they’d probably be right. Nevertheless, it’s refreshing to hear Mould still be able to pull it off this well.

43. “Since K Got Over Me” by The Clientele
There is something entirely beautiful about the way The Clientele plays their guitars. There is an absence of rhythm, but unlike the post-post-punk milieu, the notes are jangly, trebly, and precariously hang in the air and quickly tumble over one another. One could call this precious, but it’s more than that. While the melody of this terrific tune is precious, there is a slight edge too. Alasdair MacLean sings, “I don’t think I’ll be happy anyway” and “Everything’s so lucid and so creepy, since K got over me,” and anyone who has experienced the confusion, the tension, and the mixed emotions of heartbreak can relate to these truths.

42. “Tess Don’t Tell” by Ivy
As with Robert Schneider, Ivy comes back with their strongest record (since 1997’s Apartment Life). Any number of songs could have cracked my Top 50, but there is something about “Tess Don’t Tell” that kept me spinning it again and again. Actually, I know what that something is – a totally awesome hook and tremendously infectious melody. Additionally, this reverts back to that classic smooth as silk slink pop of Apartment Life and that is good. If there is one knock against the song (and this is probably what dropped it out of my top 20), it’s the repetition that goes on too long.

41. “Miracle” by Supersystem
Yes, “Defcon” has appeared on many 2005 lists, and even though that is a solid tune, “Miracle” kept me coming back – the juxtaposition of quirky lead guitar riffs, (fake?) strings, herky jerky rhythms, and a middle eastern guitar riff (that sounds eerily like something on The Cult’s Love album) are spine tingling. Group vocals chant about beats: estatic beats, beating hearts, mind-blowing beats – definitely, this warrants praises of the disco-hipster crowd, but it’s really more. Indeed, the infectiousness and dance-friendly vibes mean, Supersystem, you are right, it is unbelievable, undeniable, and unassailable.