Top Albums of 2005

I've been meaning to list my top albums of 2005 for awhile now, but haven't been able to limit myself to the dozen I did last year. After some effort, I have selected my top twenty. Starting with Beck and ending with the White Stripes, 2005 was a good year for music.
denotes that the album is available for free download at eMusic.com.

1. Beck - Guero
   Girl and E-Pro are the well-known tracks off this solid album. How old is Beck now? And how come he still makes better music than all these young kids?
2. Belle and Sebastion - Push Barman to Open Old Wounds
   This two-disc follow-up to Dear Catastrophe Waitress features great melodies and better instrumentation on This is Just a Modern Rock Song, Take Your Carriage Clock and Shove It, and Marx and Engels. (Coincidentally, I've just cited Engels in the introductory chapter to my qualifying exam.)
3. The Black Eyed Peas - Monkey Business
   This album made the list because I figured I should add at least some hip-hop to my collection of mainly depressed twenty-somethings. The Black Eyed Peas really perplex me. Some of their songs are very socially-aware, with intelligent political lyrics, but Monkey Business seems to focus more on My Humps and My Style than My Substance. Despite its incredibly commercial orientation, it still kind of makes me bob my head (which is as close as I get to dancing -- this will be our little secret).
4. Bloc Party - Silent Alarm
   Who doesn't like Bloc Party? Only people who don't Like Eating Glass, the rousing opener on this far-from-silent alarm. Layered guitars combine with danceable rhythms and choral echoes, for an all-around solid product.
5. Bright Eyes - I'm Wide Awake It's Morning
   The prolific Bright Eyes' understated guitar compliments his overstated lyrics. Somewhere between a young Bob Dylan and Ryan Adams, Bright Eyes brings much beauty to some less-than-beautiful emotions. If you're just getting started with Bright Eyes, try Lua and Poison Oak from this album.
6. Coldplay - X&Y
   What is there to say about X&Y? This is simply a flawless album. Flawless. In classic Coldplay style, the lyrics are still rather ambiguous, but the production is flawless. Sure, you can tell that Chris Martin is a new father, so perhaps it's more restrained than their earlier work (some might say neutered), but this is still the album that every band wishes they could record. Flawless. Sure, it takes all of Radiohead and U2's pioneering work and exploits it for commercial success, but wow, I think Radiohead or U2 would be proud to take some credit for this beautiful music. Simply flawless.
7. Dave Matthews Band - Stand Up
   In contrast to Coldplay, the latest offering from Dave Matthews Band will never be lauded for its production quality. Consistent with other DMB albums, the emphasis is on the songs and the performance, rather than achieving studio perfection (I mean really, for such a percussive band, you could mix your cymbals a little better). That said, this album is classic DMB; you sing along with Dreamgirl and American Baby, but eagerly anticipate a ten-minute concert version of the too short (2:17) Smooth Rider.
8. Death Cab for Cutie - Plans
   On Death Cab's first Barsuk Records release, they bring their unique brand of restrained emo to the major label masses. Plans doesn't disappoint, though the first single, Soul Meets Body, is far from the best song on the album. Rather, Plans gets better as it progresses, reaching its peak as the album ends all too soon.
9. The Decemberists - Picaresque
   I don't know what to make of this album. It continues the mariner sea chanty theme of 2003's Castaways and Cutouts, so it's not definitely not Top 40 material, but it's still reasonably accessible within the indie rock genre. I really like this album, but in a rather sterile, academic way, as it doesn't really connect with me on an emotional level. That said, there's not a bad song on the album.
10. Denison Witmer - Are You a Dreamer?
    Denison Witmer is Coldplay's top competitor for most beautiful album of the year. That said, Denison is nothing like Coldplay. Denison is just a quiet guy from Lancaster, PA who writes some songs and plays his guitar (he plays classic 1960s-70s Guilds, if you're interested). With simple acoustic finger-picking , tasteful instrumentation, and well-formed melody lines, Denison is just like every other neo-folk singer-songwriter out there. Except, he's better. Way better. While Sufjan Stevens (who makes a guest appearance on Are You a Dreamer?) is getting all the press, the quiet beauty in Denison's songwriting exceed anything Sufjan's done thus far.
11. The Duhks - The Duhks
    These Canadians (whose name is pronounced like the fowl) have created a phenomenal album (with the help of producer Béla Fleck). Combining gospel vocals, Celtic fiddles, bluegrass banjos, and Caribbean percussion, they have crafted a sound all their own.
12. Echo and the Bunnymen - Siberia
    The band drawing their name from Burrell's classic postmodern text, "Eco and the Bunnymen," creates an album that really is not all that unique in its sound. Drawing on influences U2, The Verve, and Coldplay, Echo and the Bunnymen offer little new to the genre. Nothing new except for some really good new songs. You don't care whether it sounds just like The Verve resurrected, since the songs are so great.
13. Iron and Wine / Calexico - In the Reins
    Iron and Wine and Calexico collaborated to create this eclectic seven-song EP. This is THE chill album to have in the background for your next wine and cheese party.
14. The Mars Volta - Frances the Mute
    Somewhere in a secret studio, Pink Floyd, Metallica, and Linkin' Park apparently met to record this phenomenal concept album. Surely two guys calling themselves The Mars Volta couldn't have pulled off this amazing channeling of such diverse influences to create the prog-rock album of the new millennium! Listen to it a few times. You'll get it.
15. The Myriad - You Can't Trust a Ladder
    Seattle-based The Myriad are poised to leap to the top of the charts. However, this probably isn't the album that will take them there. Don't get me wrong, this is still a good album, but having seen them live, they have a much better sound than was captured in the studio. For now, listen to We Will Be Disappointed Together and Stretched Over as the best examples of the potential in their sound.
16. The New Pornographers - Twin Cinema
    Fun. Playful. Serious. Emotional. Danceable. Driving. Important.
17. Sigur Rós - Takk
    The much anticipated follow-up to () doesn't disappoint. This album is the hottest thing ever to come out of Iceland. Please don't ever repeat that awful tagline.
18. Spoon - Gimme Fiction
    I could listen to this album all day. From the peppy I Turn My Camera On to the questioning Was it You?, this upbeat album is just plain fun.
19. Super Furry Animals - Love Kraft
    Ready for power pop at its finest? Love Kraft delivers. Though not as good as 2003's Phantom Power (but really, what is?), Love Kraft will have you singing along in no time with its psychedelic melodies and distorted guitars that always push you just a bit, but never more than you can take.
20. The White Stripes - Get Behind Me Satan
    Saving the best for last? Quite possibly. Jack White says more in one guitar riff than most musicians will say in their entire lives. Meg White holds down the rhythm, but is joined by Jack on marimba. Yes, marimba. Who would have thought that what will surely be regarded as one of the top rock albums of my lifetime would feature marimba solos?