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Oh-five alive The very best—and absolute worst—of music this past year, on stage or on disc |
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by MIRROR MUSIC STAFF
Top 10 albums Supersystem Always Never Again (Touch & Go) Bottom 3 albums Transplants Haunted Cities (Chopped and Screwed by DJ Paul Wall) (Atlantic) Best song: Supersystem, “Everybody Sings” “The best show of ’05 was not in fact a concert. There were a couple of dance performances at Caroline Tabah’s Bollywood party at la Sala Rossa on Sept. 2, sure, but the main course was the procession of outstanding song-and-dance numbers from Indian pop cinema, projected on a large screen. The enraptured crowd was a kick, dancing along in uniform face-forward formation, and the dose of good cheer lingered for days. Another one and soon, Caroline, s’il vous plait.”
Top 10 albums Platinum Pied Pipers Triple P (Ubiquity) Bottom 3 albums Airborn Audio Good Fortune (Ninja Tune) Best song: Platinum Pied Pipers, “50 Ways to Leave Your Lover” (Ubiquity) “This is the first year in a while that I can’t complain about shows that didn’t make it to Montreal. Lots of great releases from MTL artists too, including Artist of the Year, P-Love, Atach Tatuq, Bless, ICM, Euphrates, Moonstarr, Skratch Bastid, FP Crew, Gundie, Monk-e and Accrophone. The BBC’s Steve Lamaq did a documentary on the Montreal music scene, we got written up in the New York Times, and we’re not even close to finished blowing up yet!”
Top 10 albums The New Pornographers Twin Cinema (Mint) Bottom 3 albums Adam Green Gemstones (Rough Trade) Best song: The High Dials, “The Holy Ground” Worst song: The Killers, “Somebody Told Me” Best show: Arcade Fire, Théâtre Corona, April 24 Worst show: Billy Childish, la Sala Rossa, Sept. 29 “Broken Social Scene’s album isn’t really one of this year’s worst, but who wants to wade around the real bottom of the barrel? You Forgot It In People was a hard act to follow, and the TO collective turned in a pale, often incoherent imitation of it. There’s some solid work here, but songs like ‘Ibi Dreams of Pavement (A Better Day)’ support Kevin Drew’s recent statement about the album: ‘It’s a big fucking mess.’”
Top 10 albums Spoon Gimme Fiction (Merge) Bottom 3 albums Various Christmas Remixed (Six Degrees) Best song: Spoon, “The Beast and Dragon, Adored” “A great year for new psychedelic and noise bands, thanks to the hoopla bands like Black Mountain and Wolf Eyes have helped stir up. Subarchanoid Space and Montreal’s Shalabi Effect continue to challenge the listener while constantly pushing boundaries of free expression. The success of prog/psych bands like the Mars Volta are only further proof that the thinking man’s rock has yet to plateau. Could bands clad in kimonos striking flaming gongs be far behind?”
Top 10 albums John Legend Get Lifted (Sony) Bottom 3 albums Jaguar Wright Divorcing Neo 2 Marry Soul (Artemis) Best song: Earth, Wind & Fire, “Pure Gold” “Jill Scott lived up to her potential, bringing her powerful, comical, expansive presence to bear on an eager Montreal crowd. Equally impressive was John Legend in November, a consummate performer. Still, the most moving concert moment was, without a doubt, Patti Labelle at Place des Arts during Jazz Fest, working out some serious grief through a performance of ‘Way Up There’ backed by the People’s Gospel Choir, just days after Luther Vandross passed.”
Top 10 albums Caribou Milk of Human Kindness (Leaf/Domino) Bottom 3 albums Daft Punk Human After All (Virgin) Best song: Mylo, “Drop the Pressure” “Perfect evenings out are rare. But when the sound is good, the space is right and the crowd is charged with positive energy, there’s a chance you might experience a sensory bliss and feeling of total abandon some people call “disco heaven.” For me, the LCD Soundsystem gig at la Tulipe was the closest I’ve been to disco heaven in a long time. Of course, being totally wasted on Jägermeister probably helped.”
Top 10 albums Junior Kelly Tough Life (VP) Bottom 3 albums Rihanna Music of the Sun (Def Jam) Best song: Gyptian “Serious Times” “Capleton was seriously one of the best shows ever—the fire alarm ringing was the icing on the cake. I love Wolf Parade as much as the next Mile-Ender, but the lack of flamethrowers at their shows is unfortunate. For next year, I’d like to see more outdoor reggae events (hello, Piknic Electronik!), more corn soup sold outside clubs (ital food after Beenie Man was nice), and less shows ending at 9:45 (why, la Tulipe, why?).”
Top 10 albums Slum Village Detroit Deli (Barak) Bottom 3 albums Depeche Mode Playing the Angel (Mute/Reprise) Best song: System of a Down “B.Y.O.B. (Bring Your Own Bombs)” “Nine Inch Nails tore a new hole. Any doubts about them rotted away in the onslaught of their relentless, no-encore set, anti-war/greed/Bush montage, nasty insects and violent monkeys. Jill Scott melted souls. The Mars Volta paralyzed clueless teens for System of a Down to slaughter, Jamiroquai turned Metropolis into a rave. Rasputina rocked out on cellos at la Sala Rossa and, for those of you who missed the insanity of Quake Aid, shame on you!” |
Rupert Bottenberg
Scott C
Lorraine Carpenter
Johnson Cummins
Gerard Dee
Raf Katigbak
Erin MacLeod
Lateef Martin |
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