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summervillain’s extremely biased running list of contenders for best music released in 2005

update
My top ten list (with capsule reviews) is online at Avoid Peril.

(months are when i first heard it, not necessarily when it was released.)

eM = is (possibly was) available at eMusic

open division:

• Architecture in Helsinki - In Case We Die (Bar/None; eM)(may)
• Audible - Sky Signal (Polyvinyl) (eM)(feb)
• **Steve Barton - Charm Offensive (Sleepless/Redeye) (eM)(feb)
• **Andrew Bird - The Mysterious Production of Eggs (Righteous Babe)(mar)
• Black Lipstick - Sincerely, Black Lipstick (Peekaboo)(eM)(mar)
• The Deathray Davies - The Kick and the Snare (aug)
• Ad Frank - Is the World’s Best Ex-Boyfriend (eM)(apr)
• Gem - Tell Me What’s New (eM)(apr)
  Note: not the Doug Gillard Gem. From Utrecht.
• The Gena Rowlands Band - La Merde et Les Etoiles (Lujo)(apr)
• Headphones - Headphones (Suicide Squeeze)(eM) (aug)
• *Ida - Heart Like a River (Polyvinyl) (eM)(feb)
• **Low - The Great Destroyer (SubPop)(feb)
• New Pornographers - Twin Cinema (Matador) (eM)(aug)
• Pernice Brothers - Discover a Lovelier You (Ashmont)(eM) (jul)
• Portastatic - Bright Ideas (Merge)(eM) (aug)
• Maria McKee - Peddlin’ Dreams (eM)(apr)
• The Mountain Goats - Sunset Tree (4AD; eM)(may)
• *Transistor Transistor - Erase All Name and Likeness (Level Plane)(eM)(apr)

local/hopelessly indie division:

• Gatsby - Floods + Fires (gatsbymusic)(feb)
• Hoover’s G-string - Elephant Parts (Red Tide)(jun)
• The Information - Mistakes We Knew We Were Making (feb)

not (quite) contendahs

Here are some records that I don’t think are consistent enough to warrant contendah status, but have some really good individual tracks on them.

• Foetus, Love (Birdman)
  “Pareidolia,” “Time Marches On,” “Don’t Want Me Anymore”
• Okkervil River, Black Sheep Boy (Jagjaguwar)
  Too florid and overblown for me to like unreservedly, but sometimes catchy enough to compentsate
• Snitches Get Stiches - I Liked You Better When You Were a Corpse(eM)(apr)

still evaluamatin’

Records I want to spend more time with before coming to a final opinion. Either too complex to assess immediately, or are problematic in ways I might ultimately decide they compensate for. Or both.

• Gloria Deluxe Accidental Nostalgia (jun)
• Veda Hille Return of the Kildeer (jun)

the summervillain really wants to hear:

• new ep from The Beatings
• new Deathray Davies (glurp)
• The Futureheads (2004)
• new Harris
• new Veda Hille (?label)(Thanks!)
• Lucksmiths Warmer Corners
• Okkervil River Black Sheep Boy (jun)

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