Top 20 of 2005 -- Rave Recs

[Davey]

A couple more that I don't think have got a mention yet an that will be very high on my list are Silver Jews Tanglewood Numbers and the Editors The Back Room. The new Silver Jews CD has really grown into an outstanding album over the last few weeks for me. I didn't think it quite rose to the heights that I've elevated American Water to over the last few years, but I may be wrong. In any case, I love it and it will likely be in my top 5. Similarly, I initially remarked how the Editors debut sounded too much like a band trying to sound like Interpol trying to sound like Joy Division. But after a few more listens, I probably love this Editors disc more than any of the Interpol albums. They get closer to the essence of Joy Division at times than Interpol, and actually have the occasional lyric that isn't too embarrassing to say out loud (unlike Interpol, who reads more like Coldplay when you strip away the music ).

EDIT: to be honest about it, the Editors CD can get a little irritating after awhile so it probably won't be high on my list, but I do like it a lot in smaller doses. Interpol and most of the others are the same way. They just don't capture that less aggressive rapture of JD and Echo. And the in-your-face sound doesn't endear them to me either. In fact, that contributes a lot to my irritation when I'm exposed for a prolonged period of time to that "modern sound". My true favorites each year are generally those that I can put on repeat and listen over and over and ....

Turned out to be a pretty good year for that core sound that I live with the most, Andrew Bird, Micah Hinson, Silver Jews, British Sea Power, Spoon, Editors, Bloc Party, the National, etc. Nice, just not too much that really excites me when I get past that stellar top 10. Man, I wish the childish imagery from the Jews "Animal Shapes" was true for me right now ...

From a corner window, I watch the falling snow flakes / God must be carving the clouds into animal shapes.