Unlike some of my more ambitious friends–Hello, Kansas!–pondering only twenty albums for a Best Of list is more than enough, partly because I discover new music on a daily basis that was not released in the same year and that listening not only consumes my time but also colors my preferences. So the challenge before me is to whittle this list down to a top five with the criteria being those albums that impacted me most in the past year. Time to start chewing on my pencil and re-listening to all these albums.
- Ananda Project - Relight
- Balkan Beat Box - Self-Titled
- Bebel Gilberto - Remixed
- Blackalicious - The Craft
- Celso Fonesca - Rive Gauche Rio
- DJ Rap - Bulletproof
- DJ Cheb I Sabbah - La Kahena
- Doves - Some Cities
- Grupo Fantasma - Movimiento Popular
- Khoiba - Nice Traps
- LCD Soundsystem - Self-Titled
- Lemon Jelly - ‘64-’95
- M.I.A. - Arular
- Minus The Bear - Menos El Oso
- Nortec Collective - Tijuana Sessions Vol. 3
- Ohmega Watts - The Find
- Sleater-Kinney - Woods
- Sufjan Stevens - Illinoise
- Yerba Buena - Island Life
- Zuco 103 - Whaa!
By the way, what are your top five albums of this year?
Most frequently played albums this year according to J River Media Center:
Sage Francis - A Healthy Distrust (2004), Road Tested (2005)
MC Paul Barman - It’s Very Stimulating (2000)
Tub Ring - Zoo Hypothesis (2004)
Mindless Self Indulgence - You’ll Rebel to Anything
Mastodon - Leviathan
Standards: DJ Shadow, Z-Trip, Fantomas, Buckethead, Clutch, Dillinger Escape Plan
What?! No Iron Maiden!!
Healthy Distrust is a most excellent album, took a little bit for it to grow on me but I have enjoyed it immensely. Agreed on the Shadow and I’m going to have to check out those other artists and albums.