30. Animal Collective – Feels (Fat Cat)
In 2005, Animal Collective were featured in Entertainment Weekly. Although this may not be the most perfect of Animal Collective’s target audiences, it shows how admired this oddball group is. Feels finally falls into the groove that fans of the band have always known existed: that of sculptors of songs alongside their already established makers of thrilling sounds. It still remains challenging, but only in the best way because, in the end, it pays off.
This is a band equally as influenced by stalwarts such as Captain Beefheart and Faust as it would be by found sounds (garbage trucks in the early morning, the staccato of beeping horns over myriad blocks in NYC, the internal noise of a person chattering their teeth). In a year that showed no shortage of experimental music, Animal Collective rose to their already set challenge and, much like a punked-out Steve Reich or Philip Glass, searched for the melodies within the mathematical equation that is music. The results really must be heard. – Jill LaBrack
29. Devendra Banhart – Cripple Crow (XL)
Flooded with love and inspiringly idiosyncratic, Cripple Crow engulfs in tone and timbre. Unabashedly optimistic and unapologetically earthy, this ample abundance of songs simultaneously seethes with psychedelic splendor and immediate intimacy. Giddy giggles abound, cabaret camp struts around, and sensuality smolders with a warm, gauzy glow.
With the record resonating to a trilling thrill distilled down from the essence of youth itself, Banhart proves enchanting, engaging, and absorbing all at once. Transcending freak folk, he boldly steps forth from pervasive dismay and disenchantment to insist upon palpable joy. A refreshingly post-irony burst of sincerity, Cripple Crow is an affirmation of hope and idealism in an otherwise abysmal era for progressive thought. – Josh Berquist
28. Editors – The Back Room (Kitchenware)
For Editors, there are probably worse things than having every review of your record mention Interpol. Then again, Yanks have been looting the cross-Atlantic 1980s English alternative trove for decades now, so maybe such admiration is slightly nettlesome. Why not draw the comparison directly back to the roots like Joy Division, Echo & the Bunnymen, and Bauhaus instead of lumping these Birmingham lads in with a cluster of American knockoffs like the Killers and the Bravery?
Everyone knows the Brits always do it better anyway, and on their debut The Back Room, Editors turn up the bright lights higher than any of the recent class of throwback Wavers in the Colonies with fiery tunes like “Bullets” and “Munich”, songs with as much hopefulness as despondency. For Editors, this anthology of universal themes has the aching underpinnings to persist, even after all the others have faded away. – Shandy Casteel
27. Babyshambles – Down in Albion (Rough Trade)
Rambling, shambling, gambling Pete Doherty has secured his freedom from the Libertines but cannot escape the shackles of his own self-destructive nature on this determinedly dishevelled yet naively charming debut set by Babyshambles, in name the band’s first release but in every other sense their leader’s premiere solo outing. Down in Albion gathers 16 songs, all characterised by hollow-eyed arrangements, deathly pale harmonies, and lyrics that wallow in a sickly self-pity.
Yet there is something naggingly compelling about these highly personal cameos, mixing literary references as diverse as Susan Collidge and Dickens, Wilde and Jean Cocteau, with musical hooks that recall the Smiths (“Kilimangiro”) and lyrical themes that bring to mind Ray Davies on the magnificent “Albion”. Strands of frayed folk here, a dollop of darkly comic calypso there, and production values suggest no-fi rather than lo-fi, this collection mirrors the super muddle of Doherty’s maudlin and picaresque life. Death or glory, he muses on “Fuck Forever”. It’s going to be a close-run thing. – Simon Warner
26. Opeth – Ghost Reveries (Roadrunner)
After a decade honing its highly distinctive and progressive death metal sound, Opeth released its eighth album, the nonpareil in its esteemed discography. An exhilarating marriage of the haunted and the haunting, stately yet aggressive riffs commingle with gorgeous melodies so seamlessly, the countless stylistic shifts sound natural, not arbitrary; with several songs in the ten-plus minute range, Ghost Reveries meanders languorously, but for all the tempo changes and acoustic interludes, the meticulousness of the arrangements and the intense, confident performance of the band holds our interest throughout.
The addition of keyboardist Per Wiberg adds even more depth to the band’s rich sound, but singer/guitarist Mikael Åkerfeldt remains Opeth’s focal point. He is in fine form, both vocally, displaying tremendous range from beastly growls to emotional crooning, and lyrically, as his imagery and themes of loss and regret evince a Poe-like elegance. The year’s single most essential metal release, it’s a dark, ghostly masterpiece that’s more beautiful than skeptics of the genre can ever fathom. – Adrien Begrand
25. Fiona Apple – Extraordinary Machine (Epic/Clean Slate)
Apple’s third collection of great songs has teeth, but there’s also enough sugar in its intimacy and immediacy to leave a few cavities after each listen. The title, a poke at the bloated, overwrought major label record-making biz that kept this gem off the shelves for so long, serves as a synopsis of Apple’s ability to manufacture smart, style-laden pop music. Producer Mike Elizondo serves up the increasingly effective songwriting with low-fat clarity, though the first and last tracks feature healthy scoops from the seemingly bottomless bin of producer Jon Brion’s three-ring circus of acid trip sophisti-pop.
Apple’s pungent, bendy alto mostly rides over guitar-tough harmonies that balance pop song, storytelling, and rock classicism. Of the million-and-one female singer-songwriters to emerge since Joni and Ricki Lee made the profession cool, how many have made a bid for similar greatness? Extraordinary Machine confirms that Fiona Apple is a very sharp needle in that haystack. – Will Layman
24. Lucinda Williams – Live at the Fillmore (Lost Highway)
The first official live album from the First Lady of American Song has been coming for a long time. After all, Lucinda Williams recorded her first album in 1978. But it’s been worth the wait. As presented here, Williams’s show starts slowly, quietly. Remarkably, the first eight songs are subdued but beautiful expressions of doubt, hurt, and vulnerability. Then, with the last pained howl of “Blue” still crying on the wind, she drops the bomb.
The thudding drummed introduction to “Changed the Locks” leads into a series of Williams’s raw, pounding electronic blues that culminate with the fabulous “Pinoela”. The remainder of the set flits from style to style, and then draws to a close in an eloquent reflection of its opening with “Bus to Baton Rouge” and the minimal mournful blues of “Words Fell”.
The only downside here is the song selection. Of the 22 songs on Live at the Fillmore, 11 have been taken from Williams’ most recent studio album, World Without Tears. You have to wonder what the two absentees, “Minneapolis” and “People Talking”, had done to offend her. A further seven come from its predecessor. But then this isn’t a record of Lucinda Williams’s entire career, it’s a record of her 2004 tour, so why carp about the songs she doesn’t play when you can just wallow in almost two hours of her precious essence? – Roger Holland
23. Gorillaz – Demon Days (Virgin)
Demon Days can be summed up in two words: Dennis and Hopper. The fact that Dennis Hopper does an entire track of spoken word on Gorillaz’ masterpiece-thus-far and it doesn’t sound even remotely close to out-of-place says volumes for the varied nature of the album. Of course, this wouldn’t be close to possible if it weren’t preceded on the album by a rap from MF Doom, an Ike Turner piano solo, and the presence of Shaun Ryder rambling about something or other.
It’s all held together by the expert hand of the hot production whiz of the moment, Danger Mouse, with Damon Albarn serving as primary chorus writer, artistic director, and tea maker. The best part is that the cartoons, those wonderful living drawings from Jamie Hewlett, make Gorillaz palatable to the masses. There would be no hope for Demon Days if it were simply a Mouse/Albarn collaboration. Instead, the cartoons allow us to open up to the absurd, in turn enabling Demon Days to be the most willfully off-the-wall album to go platinum this year. – Mike Schiller
22. The Mountain Goats – The Sunset Tree (4AD)
The Mountain Goats’ frontman John Darnielle is a Booker Prize nominee trapped in a singer-songwriter’s body. His efforts have always been aural novellas masquerading as concept albums, with an uncommon literary quality and compelling stories tying everything together. Following this bibliophilic train of thought, Darnielle’s latest album, The Sunset Tree, is his magnum opus, the highest point where ambition and maturity meet and cohabitate.
The Sunset Tree is a confessional autobiography of Darnielle’s tumultuous relationship with his abusive stepdad. Darnielle brings you down a heart-wrenching path of pain, playfulness, and passion. The 13 tracks colour an absorbing narrative arc, from the teenage angst of “This Year”, the conflict of “Lion’s Teeth”, the epiphany of “Love Love Love”, and the resolution of “Pale Green Things”. By being so blatantly honest and lyrically candid, coupled with the stellar production values of John Vanderslice, Darnielle has created one of the most gripping Bildungsromans in any format ever. – Kenneth Yu
21. Elbow – Leaders of the Free World (V2)
Finally, Elbow have ditched the softer, deft pop domain for a series of well-placed guitar riffs and airtight arrangements, resulting in grand, epic tunes. Guy Garvey has found his footing, especially on the stunning opener “Station Approach” that plods along, slowly building before majestically blossoming with a “Yellow”-ish guitar riff. “You little sod I love your eyes / Be everything to me tonight” Garvey sings during the homestretch.
Just as stellar are other singles, especially the bolero-fuelled “Mexican Standoff” and “Forget Myself”, the latter’s conclusion sounding eerily similar to the closing of Don Henley’s “Dirty Laundry”. Don’t let the politically oriented title track fool you. It’s a rock record. A great one at that! – Jason MacNeil