‘Tis the season for “Best of” album lists, something I generally look forward to. So far , both Popmatters and Pitchfork have come out with their lists of the top 50 albums of 2005. Popmatters’ pick for number one is Twin Cinema by the New Pornographers, while Pitchfork has gone with Sufjan Stevens’ Illinois. Meanwhile, KEXP will be starting their countdown of the top 90.3 albums of the year on December 30.
Honestly, I’ve been somewhat disappointed with the music that has come out over the last twelve months. The previous couple of years have been pretty exciting, but this year, we mostly got stuck with a whole slew of bad folk singer—for the life of me, I don’t get what anyone sees in Sufjan Stevens and his ilk, although it doesn’t surprise me a bit that Pitchfork stuck him at the top of their list.
That being said, there was still good music to be found this year. My picks, in no particular order:
- Pelican – The Fire in Our Throats Will Beckon the Thaw
- Animal Collective – Feels
- The Decemberists – Picaresque
- Gorillaz – Demon Days
- Clem Snide – The End of Love
- Franz Ferdinand – You Could Have It So Much Better
- The White Stripes – Get Behind Me Satan