Okay, let’s get this over with. More than any year in recent memory, 2011 was tough to distill down to a top ten – not because there was a dearth of notable releases, but because there was a glut of them. Plenty of records this year were good to great – from those you’d expect as much from, those who surprised by upping their game and/or those who you’d simply never heard of before – but head-and-shoulders standouts? More of a chore than I expected.

But here are ten records which, as of this midway point of the final month of 2011, do a pretty good job of representing what I listened to and enjoyed the most in the past twelve. I like the mix of geography, genres, and genders and also of veterans and up-and-comers – I think most who’d know would agree this is a pretty, “me” list and consistent with past years. And if you can be bothered to read the past prefaces, you’ll see that those, too, are pretty consistent. Which is to say repetitive. So no more talking, yeah?

Yeah. And you like the philatelic angle for this year’s art? I do.

Beirut / The Rip Tide (Pompeii)

Always a casual fan of the Beirut but not what you’d call a believer, The Rip Tide won me over by concentrating less on sounding of a time and place and more on just writing great songs and melodies and letting the rest take care of itself. Because if you do that and bring them to a band like Zach Condon has assembled, there’s simply no way it’s not going to sound sun-kissed, sweeping, and beautiful. Putting this record on is like taking a 33-minute vacation.

Stream: Beirut – “Santa Fe”
Stream: Beirut – “East Harlem”
Video: Beirut – “Santa Fe”

Anna Calvi / Anna Calvi (Domino)

Anna Calvi’s debut reminds me not a little of Jeff Buckley’s first record, all of seventeen years ago, in hitting that sweet spot that pulls together pop and drama, virtuosity and songcraft, potential and accomplishment and makes it dark, seductive, sensual, and goddamn sexy. All that and jaw-dropping guitar playing – what’s not to like? A thing of mystery and beauty and hopefully just the beginning.

MP3: Anna Calvi – “Blackout”
Video: Anna Calvi – “Blackout”
Video: Anna Calvi – “Desire”
Video: Anna Calvi – “Suzanne & I”
Stream: Anna Calvi / Anna Calvi

Crooked Fingers / Breaks In The Armor (Merge)

I think this one slipped under the radars of most thanks to the hubbub around the return of Archers Of Loaf, but it deserves some attention. It doesn’t redefine Crooked Fingers, as Eric Bachmann has done numerous times in the past, but instead represents a summation of everything that he’s done in that guise, from the spare to the lush, the ruminant to the rocking. Sometimes the very best thing is one of your favourite artists reminding you of why that is.

MP3: Crooked Fingers – “Typhoon”
Stream: Crooked Fingers / Breaks In The Armor

Destroyer / Kaputt (Merge)

And other times, some wholesale reinvention is exactly what’s needed. Dan Bejar, having mastered the guitar-led free-form poetics of his last few records, decided to go all smooth jazz, lounge-rock and ambient-electro on his latest. That it would be polarizing was obvious; that it would be brilliant wasn’t, but it is and it’s a record that’s so unique and odd and compelling that the addition of an extra side of largely ambient compositions entitled “The Laziest River” on the vinyl edition somehow makes the record even better.

MP3: Destroyer – “Chinatown”
Video: Destroyer – “Savage Night At The Opera”
Video: Destroyer – “Kaputt”

Elbow / build a rocket boys! (Downtown)

Some will get on Elbow for being a bit dad-rock and sentimental, and yeah – it’s true that they’re not the edgiest band on the block. But with age and experience comes the ability to write about love – not just the romantic but all its myriad forms – with honesty, sensitivity, and beauty. No cynicism here, and some days you need that. Most days, really.

MP3: Elbow – “Open Arms”
Video: Elbow – “Open Arms”
Video: Elbow – “Neat Little Rows”

Emmy The Great / Virtue (Close Harbour)

It’s a shame for Emma-Lee Moss that the huge creative leap between her first and second albums had to come at the cost of such personal turmoil, but from great ordeal comes great art. Virtue has all the wit and wordplay of her debut, but adds rich and creative production as she tries to navigate deep emotional waters with story and allegory.

MP3: Emmy The Great – “A Woman, A Woman, A Century Of Sleep”
Video: Emmy The Great – “Paper Forest (In The Afterglow Of Rapture)”
Video: Emmy The Great – “Iris”
Stream: Emmy The Great / Virtue

Fucked Up / David Comes To Life (Matador)

Exhausting but also exhilarating, the main point of appeal for this audacious hardcore rock opera isn’t the ambitious narrative or Damian Abraham’s throat-shredding roar; it’s the incredible, stadium-sized guitar riffing of Mike Haliechuk and company. Utterly incendiary stuff, and oh yeah the rest of it’s pretty good too. It only took a couple of years to get me from “I don’t like these guys” to “one of my top albums of the year”; well done.

MP3: Fucked Up – “The Other Shoe”
MP3: Fucked Up – “Ship Of Fools”
MP3: Fucked Up – “A Little Death”
MP3: Fucked Up – “Queen Of Hearts”
Video: Fucked Up – “Turn The Season”
Video: Fucked Up – “The Other Shoe”
Video: Fucked Up – “Queen Of Hearts”

I Break Horses / Hearts (Bella Union)

I don’t rank albums – I let the alphabet do that for me – but I usually have a clear, single favourite album in a given year and for this year, it’s Hearts. So warm and immersive with its blankets of synths and Maria Linden’s gorgeous vocals, it’s a record that I was actually afraid to play over and over again lest its magic fade with familiarity. I eventually got over that and the magic hasn’t faded a bit. Inarticulatable beauty.

MP3: I Break Horses – “Winter Beats”
MP3: I Break Horses – “Hearts”
Video: I Break Horses – “Winter Beats”
Video: I Break Horses – “Hearts”
Stream: I Break Horses / Hearts

Loney Dear / Hall Music (Polyvinyl)

Every Loney Dear album has been a stylistic iteration of similar meditations on melancholy, but with Hall Music Emil Svanängen has made both his most intimate and expansive-sounding record and in doing so, struck a new chord that resonated perfectly with the cathedral-created reverberations he had to work with. And he closed it out with one of the very finest pop songs of the year in “What Have I Become”.

MP3: Loney Dear – “What Have I Become”
MP3: Loney Dear – “Calm Down”
MP3: Loney Dear – “My Heart”
Video: Loney Dear – “Young Hearts”

Sloan / The Double Cross (Outside)

If you told me at any point in the past decade or so that Sloan would make one of my year-end lists, I’d have asked you what you were on. After all, they’d long settled into a groove of releasing okay records but certainly nothing that would stop me in my tracks. But to mark their twentieth year as a band, they seemed to have decided that the best anniversary gift was an album that reaffirmed them as one of the country’s best power-pop bands and that would stand up amongst their very best.

MP3: Sloan – “Follow The Leader”
MP3: Sloan – “The Answer Was You”
MP3: Sloan – “Unkind”
Video: Sloan – “Unkind”

Well this was certainly a better year than last year, on pretty much every level. Of course, it would have required something on the scale of low-yield nuclear detonation in my bathtub – while I was in it – for it to have been worse, but I’ll take it. Musically, it was actually something of a banner year with what seemed like every active artist that I liked not only putting out new records, but good to great records. More hiatuses ended than started and despite intending to slow down the show-going, I ended up going to even more life-affirming, if not -changing, concerts than in any calendar year I can recall. In short, 2010 brought it.

So you’d think that with such a wealth of great records to choose from, assembling a short list of ten faves should have been easier than a year without as many worthy candidates but if anything, it’s tougher. Acts that release records that meet expectations, however high, are held to extra scrutiny; it’s like, “yeah this record was good but so was the last one – where’s that next level?” which of course is completely unreasonable. And conversely, acts heretofore unknown to me had the element of surprise on their side when it came to triggering the ineffable “wow” reflex. All of which is to say that, like past years, there’s nothing scientific nor quantitative about these selections – they’re alphabetical by artist and represent what I could get behind as of the first weekend of December, 2010, and strongly motivated by a desire to get this list over and done with.

So here they are, after the jump, or if you want to peer closely at my little photoshop project above (click for a bigger version) you can try and guess who made the cut before seeing the answers. Because I know the suspense is delicious.

Land Of Talk / Cloak And Cipher (Secret City/Saddle Creek)

The record I’ve been waiting Land Of Talk to make for the past four years is not the one I was expecting. Instead of being Canada’s next great rock band, they – or she, since Land Of Talk is now essentially Liz Powell – is proving to be so much more than that, offering rich melodicism, emotion and, yes, plenty of rock. Maybe just Canada’s next great band.

MP3: Land Of Talk – “Quarry Hymns”
MP3: Land Of Talk – “Swift Coin”
Video: Land Of Talk – “Quarry Hymns”

LCD Soundsystem / This Is Happening (DFA)

I’m not normally late to the party – I tend to be annoyingly punctual – but I only caught the tail end of the LCD experience, finally “getting it” this year and making up for lost time before the lights came on and they kicked everyone out. So while I probably listened to Sound Of Silver more in 2010 than Happening – which I also listened to a lot – their current record gets to come up to the podium to accept the prize on behalf of their entire catalog.

Video: LCD Soundsystem – “Pow Pow”
Video: LCD Soundsystem – “Drunk Girls”

Lucky Soul / A Coming Of Age (Ruffa Lane)

A little bit of cheering for the underdog here – these staunchly independent Brits remain criminally overlooked both at home and abroad – but I also maintain they’re also one of the most perfect pop bands operating today, expanding their ’50s influence of their debut to seamless incorporate all eras of song on their second outing. If it’s catchy, they do it and do it well.

MP3: Lucky Soul – “A Coming Of Age”
MP3: Lucky Soul – “Whoa Billy!”
Video: Lucky Soul – “Whoa Billy!”
Video: Lucky Soul – “White Russian Doll”

The National / High Violet (4AD)

There’s an unspoken agreement between The National and I – they keep putting out records and I keep ranking their efforts amongst the very best of the year. High Violet keeps this compact intact, not reaching the same heights as Boxer but aspiring to different ones, just as lofty. A band so at the top of their game, I feel lucky to be around to witness it.

MP3: The National – “Afraid Of Everyone”
MP3: The National – “Bloodbuzz Ohio”
Video: The National – “Terrible Love”
Video: The National – “Bloodbuzz Ohio”

Joanna Newsom / Have One On Me (Drag City)

Three hours of anything is usually enough to test my patience, but somehow this epic-length collection of harp and piano songs not only doesn’t feel that long, it makes me want to go right back to the start of side A when it’s over. Magical and immersive in a way that you can’t quite articulate, but can’t deny either. It can be hard to find the time to listen to it all in one go, but when I do I’m in my happy place.

Video: Joanna Newsom – “’81″ (live on Jools Holland)

Olenka & The Autumn Lovers / And Now We Sing (Open House Arts Collective)

The one selection that I haven’t actually written up or even talked about before. Even though I’ve only been listening to it for about a week and a half, it demands constant listening and becomes more rewarding each time through, a trend I don’t expect to stop. It’s ostensibly a folk record but Olenka Krakus and company draw influences from everywhere and everywhen to make something new, yet so familiar.

MP3: Olenka & The Autumn Lovers – “Odessa”

The Radio Dept / Clinging To A Scheme (Labrador)

A record that after countless delays, most didn’t think would ever actually come out – it probably would have gotten consideration for the year-end list by sheer virtue of its existence. Clinging earns its accolades fairly, though, by being another inimitably Radio Dept collection of gleaming melodies and downer sentiment, recorded with an ’80s-vintage drum machine and wrapped in a warm cardigan sweater.

MP3: The Radio Dept – “Never Follow Suit”
MP3: The Radio Dept – “Heaven’s On Fire”
MP3: The Radio Dept – “David”

Stornoway / Beachcomber’s Windowsill (4AD)

Usually records that catch your ear immediately don’t find ways to keep surprising you, but the debut from this Oxford outfit is like fractal folk-pop, where the more you listen the more you discover. This record was on the bubble until I saw them live and discovered that as good as it is – and it’s great – it doesn’t capture nearly all the talent in this band.

MP3: Stornoway – “Fuel Up”
MP3: Stornoway – “On The Rocks”
MP3: Stornoway – “Zorbing”
Video: Stornoway – “Zorbing”
Video: Stornoway – “I Saw You Blink”

Titus Andronicus / The Monitor (XL Recordings)

I didn’t expect this year’s list to tilt so heavily towards the gentler side of things, but this gloriously loud Civil War tirade/allegory should more than balance things out. Unfeasibly ambitious, unrelentingly angry and catchy-as-hell, The Monitor makes me want to jump around and go out and smash stuff. In the very best way.

MP3: Titus Andronicus – “A More Perfect Union”
MP3: Titus Andronicus – “A More Perfect Union” (radio edit)
MP3: Titus Andronicus – “Four Score And Seven” (Part One)
MP3: Titus Andronicus – “Four Score And Seven” (Part Two)

Sharon Van Etten / Epic (Ba Da Bing)

Sharon Van Etten’s voice has always had an express lane into the most bruised parts of the heart, but the move from solo artist to bandleader has given her songs even more force such that their power will not be denied. Slight in terms of length but so gorgeous and heavy that if it were any longer, the world might well have cracked in half. Beauty made sound.

MP3: Sharon Van Etten – “Love More”
MP3: Sharon Van Etten – “Don’t Do It”

No two ways about it, 2009 sucked. Hard. It started badly with the demise of a relationship and despite my determination to pull myself up by the proverbial bootstraps, only went downhill from there. The past twelve months have been marked by people moving on, moving away and passing away – not just my loved ones but those of people close to me. If there’s any silver lining to the huge, black cumulonimbus thunderhead that was this year, it’s that it’s over and I can only hope it’s not tempting fate to believe that things can only get better from here.

Ironically, though, it was a pretty good year for music. A lot of records I expected great things from met those expectations, some exceeded them by a wide margin and only a few disappointed. Picking ten to stand up and represent is always tough since what sounds like the best thing ever at any given time is wholly contingent on one’s mood. That said, as I’ve chewed on this list mentally over the past few months, a few records continue to bubble up to the surface as either played ad nauseum or hardly at all, for fear that the feeling of wonder around it might begin to dissipate.

Long-time readers may note an absence of some of the usual suspects who, despite putting out great records that if there existed some sort of absolute scale of measurement, might well be better than ones that made the cut, but never underestimate how much sway the element of surprise and discovery can have on one’s opinion. I can’t say that I’ll still endorse all of these records so strongly in a few years, or maybe even a few months from now but as of this moment, this is what it is. Alphabetized and unranked, as always.

And unlike past years where I spent an inordinate amount of time creating or commissioning artwork to accompany the year-end list, I’ve not gone to any particular trouble this year. Partly because though I’ve had some good/great ideas for visual treatments, I haven’t had the time to organize or execute them and partly because, well, 2009 doesn’t fucking deserve it. Maybe 2010 will get some sweet year-end loving but 2009? Begone.

Emmy The Great / First Love (Close Harbour)

First up is a record that would have been an odds-on favourite to make this list before the year began and yet was the final addition to the list. Realistically, there was no way that Emma-Lee Moss’ debut album could garner more affection from me than the random collection of MP3s I’d hoarded from hither and yon over the previous year. And it didn’t, but was still an excellent debut that got even better in its “+4″ edition, which added four re-recorded versions of her earlier and most beloved tunes and subtracted some pressing glitches that marred the first copy of the CD that I’d bought.

MP3: Emmy The Great – “We Almost Had A Baby” (Simon Raymonde mix)
Video: Emmy The Great – “First Love”
Video: Emmy The Great – “We Almost Had A Baby”
Video: Emmy The Great – “Easter Parade”
Video: Emmy The Great – “MIA”
MySpace: Emmy The Great

Evening Hymns / Spirit Guides (Out Of This Spark)

Initially I worried that my warm feelings towards this record came from its familiarity, as it draws together most all of the best aspects of the current Toronto “Bellwoods” scene into a single distinct statement, rich with atmosphere, emotion and melody. And then I realized that complaining about that was like complaining that someone gave you a mix tape that contained all your favourite songs that somehow sounded entirely new. Which is to say, ridiculous.

MP3: Evening Hymns – “Dead Deer”
MP3: Evening Hymns – “Broken Rifle”
MP3: Evening Hymns – “Cedars”
MySpace: Evening Hymns

Fanfarlo / Reservoir (Atlantic)

A musical pick-me-up if ever there was one, Reservoir sets the bar for happiness made orchestral. A troupe of Brits fronted by a Swede, they’ve certainly got the national propensity for crafting immaculate pop music that leans toward the twee end of things, and indeed Reservoir is full of that. Led by Simon Batlhazar’s looping, lilting voice, Fanfarlo are like a little parade that come bursting out of the speakers, leaving a trail of aural confetti in their wake.

MP3: Fanfarlo – “Harold T Wilkins”
MP3: Fanfarlo – “I’m A Pilot”
MP3: Fanfarlo – “Luna”
MP3: Fanfarlo – “Finish Line”
Video: Fanfarlo – “The Walls Are Coming Down”
Video: Fanfarlo – “Harold T Wilkins”
Video: Fanfarlo – “Fire Escape”
MySpace: Fanfarlo

Dan Mangan / Nice, Nice, Very Nice (File Under: Music)

In pondering exactly why I feel so compelled to include Mangan’s record on this list, the best I can come up with is a single word – empathy. Mangan’s songs are rich with it, with characters and vignettes of their lives rendered with such detail and affection that you can’t help but bask in the warmth of it all. Dress those words up with wistful melodies and arrangements that provide the perfect amount of air and embellishment and, by jove, you’ve got a pretty superb little record.

MP3: Dan Mangan – “Road Regrets”
MP3: Dan Mangan – “Robots”
Video: Dan Mangan – “Robots”
Stream: Dan Mangan / Nice, Nice, Very Nice
MySpace: Dan Mangan

Manic Street Preachers / Journal For Plague Lovers (Columbia)

Over a decade on from their last great record – Truth or Everything, take your pick – I didn’t think the Manics had another one left in them, just the occasional worthy single and glimpses of what had been. And then they go off and undertake a project that could have been the final nail – a calculated yet honest attempt to recreate the spirit of their best album, The Holy Bible – and instead craft an utter masterpiece, full of blood, tears, fire and rock.

Video: Manic Street Preachers – “Jackie Collins Existential Question Time”
MySpace: Manic Street Preachers

Montt Mardie / Introducing… The Best Of and Skaizerkite (Ruffa Lane and Hybris)

A bit of a cheat, citing two records, but half of Introducing was re-recorded and since neither it or David Pagmar’s 2009 album of all-new material got much attention outside of Sweden anyways, I feel justified in including both. Pagmar is a musical packrat and pop culture obsessive with ADD and no filing system, his songs pinballing from lush Bacharachian orchestrations through heart-on-sleeve, shirt-button-undone balladry to giddy New Wave synth-pop, all delivered with breathless and infectious enthusiasm.

MP3: Montt Mardié – “Dancing Shoes”
MP3: Montt Mardié – “1969″
Video: Montt Mardié – “Dancing Shoes”
Myspace: Montt Mardié

The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart / The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart (Slumberland)

If I were more suspicious or narcissistic, I’d say that this record was created in a lab with the musical genome of my CD collection as a roadmap, genetically engineered to tickle my ears and mine alone. Or anyone else with a big, soft spot for the place where the twee-est of indie pop and fuzziest of shoegazing rock intersect and roll around in a warm snuggie. Nothing new, but oh so delicious.

MP3: The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart – “Young Adult Friction”
MP3: The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart – “Come Saturday”
MP3: The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart – “Everything With You”
Video: The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart – “Young Adult Friction”
Video: The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart – “Everything With You”
MySpace: The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart

Patrick Wolf / The Bachelor (Bloody Chamber)

Wolf has never been one for restraint, but on the first part of his Battle diptych, he takes things so over the top – mashing together electo-industrial textures with orchestral-folk and glam-rock – that it can’t help but be his most polarizing record yet. Guess which side of the “love it/hate it” equation I fall on. If he had actually put out this and next year’s The Conqueror as a single work, and the second part is anything like the first, my head may well have exploded.

MP3: Patrick Wolf – “Vulture”
Video: Patrick Wolf – “Damaris”
Video: Patrick Wolf – “Hard Times”
Video: Patrick Wolf – “Vulture”
MySpace: Patrick Wolf

The xx / XX (Young Turks)

This was one of those records that on first listen, made me think “this can’t possibly be as good as I think it is”, and yet dozens of plays later, the spell still hasn’t been broken. Spare, sensual and existing completely within its own musical world, listening to XX is like eavesdropping on something intensely personal and irresistible.

MP3: The xx – “Basic Space”
Video: The xx – “Basic Space”
Video: The xx – “Crystalised”
MySpace: The xx

Yeah Yeah Yeahs / It’s Blitz! (Interscope)

If this record was comprised only of “Zero” and “Hysteric”, it’d still be a strong contender for one of the best albums of the year. That it had eight more sleek and sexy tunes almost of that same quality is almost enough to drop the “one of” from the preceding statement. By making the least Yeah Yeah Yeahs-like record of their career, they’ve damn well made the best. And the acoustic, and in some cases string-laden bonus tracks of the deluxe edition are sublime.

Video: Yeah Yeah Yeahs – “Heads Will Roll”
Video: Yeah Yeah Yeahs – “Zero”
MySpace: Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Erin Nicholson

2008 has been a curious year. In assembling this obligatory list of my favourite records of the year, I found it a much more difficult task than past years. This was partly because the list of “no-brainer” records that were gimmes for year-end accolades seemed much slimmer than usual, and as such I had to do a lot more thinking about what would make the cut. Not to take anything away from those records who are listed below – all are excellent records that have soundtracked the past twelve months quite nicely – I just usually don’t have to think about things this much.

The other interesting thing is how the records that seem to be topping most everyone else’s lists are conspicuously absent from mine. Your Fleet Foxes, your Bon Ivers, your Vampire Weekends. I spent a goodly amount of time with most of these albums and mostly agree they’re fine albums (Vampire Weekend excepted, that one just bugs me), but they just didn’t move me the way they obviously have others. Curious.

Instead, what I find is a heavy representation from the UK, which doesn’t really surprise me considering this was the year I fully indulged my innate Anglophilia and actually visited London for the first time. I’m surprised there’s only three artists represented that I’d have called myself a fan of prior to this year – hell, six of them I’d never even heard of when 2008 began. The Canadian content is made up of records that were released wholly independently. There’s also a strong folk/roots representation which I should be used to by now, seeing as how it crops up most every year. Maybe my musical tastes aren’t quite as broad as I’d like to think. It really is a bit of a strange list, all things considered, but even though it was assembled a bit hesitantly, I’m very comfortable with how the chips have fallen. So let’s have a look.

And great thanks to Vancouver-based artist and web designer Erin Nicholson, who took my half-assed idea for an artwork meme and turned it into something completely awesome – please do click on all the images to see larger versions. Though I really have no idea how I’m going to top this next year.

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds / Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! (Anti) By the time I’d gotten into Nick Cave a few years back, I had assumed that he’d lost the fire and was settled into a career twilight of piano balladry. This record was a loud, angry and righteous kick in the face that not only showed me how wrong I was, but also how unbelievably great Cave is and remains. He may have stopped to take a breath, but he’s still got the fire and the fury. Hell yes. MP3: Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – “Dig, Lazarus Dig!!!” Video: Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – “Dig, Lazarus Dig!!!” Video: Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – “Night Of The Lotus Eaters” Video: Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – “More News From Nowhere” Video: Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – “Midnight Man” MySpace: Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

Frightened Rabbit / The Midnight Organ Fight (Fat Cat) I’m a total sucker for plaintive folk rock, particularly when it’s delivered in a thick Scottish brogue, so there was really no way that I wasn’t going to love Frightened Rabbit. As grandly anthemic as it is introvertedly downcast and gloomy, Organ Fight managed to make being miserable sound absolutely invigorating. An early addition to this list that none were able to supplant. MP3: Frightened Rabbit – “The Modern Leper” MP3: Frightened Rabbit – “Head Rolls Off” MP3: Frightened Rabbit – “Old Old Fashioned” (live) Video: Frightened Rabbit – “Heads Roll Off”

Lightspeed Champion / Falling Off The Lavender Bridge (Domino) This was a year I was swept up almost wholly in the London “anti-folk” scene, and Lightspeed Champion was the gateway drug. Former Test Icicle Dev Hynes crafted an album that could have easily been dismissed as a potty-mouthed joke, but which was actually one of the most heartfelt and melodic records of the year. And it also gets immeasurable thanks for introducing me to Emmy The Great, who contributed many backing vocals on the album. MP3: Lightspeed Champion – “Everyone I Know Is Listening To Crunk” Video: Lightspeed Champion – “Galaxy Of The Lost” Video: Lightspeed Champion – “Tell Me What It’s Worth” Video: Lightspeed Champion – “Midnight Surprise” MySpace: Lightspeed Champion

Laura Marling / Alas, I Cannot Swim (Astralwerks) Many of the accolades that have been lain at Marling’s feet sound cliche – that she’s an old soul, that her lyrics/voice/whatever belie her tender age, etc etc – but they’re also true. Alas would be a remarkable debut from anyone, but that it comes from someone still in her teens is astonishing. Credit also goes to producer Charlie Fink, himself but a young’n, for dressing Marling’s ruminations on love and loss in just the right amount of sonic finery. A slow grower at first but a fast favourite before long. MP3: Laura Marling – “Ghosts” Video: Laura Marling – “Night Terror” Video: Laura Marling – “New Romantic” Video: Laura Marling – “Ghosts” Video: Laura Marling – “My Manic & I” Video: Laura Marling – “Cross Your Fingers” MySpace: Laura Marling

Okkervil River / The Stand-Ins (Jagjaguwar) There will eventually be a year wherein Okkervil River releases an album that doesn’t automatically make my best-of list. This is not that year. While not as cohesive or triumphant as The Stage Names, this companion record was looser, more rocking and far more than a set of cast-offs. And it gave the band an excuse to tour ever more. It’s just as well that this volume was released separately from the first because if they’d come out together, my head may have exploded. MP3: Okkervil River – “Lost Coastlines” Video: Okkervil River – “Lost Coastlines” MySpace: Okkervil River

The Rural Alberta Advantage / Hometowns (independent) One of Toronto’s best bands and best-kept secrets finally release a full-length that’s not only as good as anyone could have dared hoped, but a good deal better. A fine example of how less really is more, this three-piece take the simplest musical ingredients and make them into some of the most stirring folk-rock you’ll hear anywhere. To hear them is to love them and finally, it seems, people are listening. MP3: The Rural Alberta Advantage – “Don’t Haunt This Place” MP3: The Rural Alberta Advantage – “Frank, AB” MySpace: The Rural Alberta Advantage

School Of Seven Bells / Alpinisms (Ghostly) A late addition to the list but one that I’m glad I made. I’ve said that this record, a mesmerizing bit of dreampop that simultaneously pays homage to and reinvents its forebears, is 1/3 brilliant and 2/3 solid. But I’ve also realized that even the tracks that don’t quite work are still more ambitious and interesting than many bands’ best efforts. And the ones that do work are absolutely sublime, and more than compensate. MP3: School Of Seven Bells – “Connjur” MP3: School Of Seven Bells – “Half Asleep” MP3: School Of Seven Bells – “Chain” MySpace: School Of Seven Bells

Shearwater / Rook (Matador) I didn’t think that they could top Palo Santo, but Rook manages to be denser, more mysterious and ultimately more rewarding than its predecessor. It has a dynamicism, drama and confidence that even I, a long-time fan, hadn’t expected. It was sad to see the Okkervil-Shearwater relations finally be officially severed, but is this is the sort of work we get in return, it’s a small price to pay. A stunning piece of prog-folk which also takes the prize for best cover art of the year. MP3: Shearwater – “Rooks” MP3: Shearwater – “Leviathan, Bound” MP3: Shearwater – “The Snow Leopard” MySpace: Shearwater

Sigur Ros / Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust (XL) Having already mastered the ability to create the sound of space whales simultaneously mating and giving praise to the cosmos, the Icelanders added another devastating trick to their arsenal – the pop hook. Med Sud somehow managed to compact and make accessible their unique sound without compromising that which makes them unlike any other band on the planet (or in space). A record I initially took for granted as “another Sigur Ros album” but soon realized was much more than that. MP3: Sigur Ros – “Gobbledigook” Video: Sigur Ros – “Gobbledigook” Video: Sigur Ros – “Inni Mer Syngur Vitleysingur” MySpace: Sigur Ros

Woodpigeon / Treasury Library Canada (independent) Treasury is a left-field gem, equally ornate and exquisite while at the same time homespun and intimate. It delivers simple, heartfelt sentiments in perfectly-formed, folk-pop trappings that you can’t help but fall in love with. Originally intended as just a limited-edition release, it’s being given a much-deserved proper wide release next February so you can put it on your “best of 2009″ list. MP3: Woodpigeon – “Knock Knock” MP3: Woodpigeon – “I Live A Lot Of Places” MySpace: Woodpigeon

So I was going to be all clever and iconoclastic this year and not do a year-end list. Year-end post, yes, but itemized list – perhaps taking advantage of HTML’s <ul> and <li> tags for quick and easy formatting? No. I was just going to write and write and be done with it.

But then I realized that as long as I talked about any specific albums – be it one or ten or a million – then that’s what I’d be doing. Making a list. Just less easy to scan. And so I relented and now we have a list. A list of ten albums that I would put down as my favourites of the year. I found 2007 to be a very good year for music, both in terms of solid to excellent releases from old favourites and new discoveries. Few out and out disappointments. After my top three picks – no, once again I’ve elected not to rank them but that doesn’t mean I haven’t done so in my head – it was a pretty wide open field with cases to be made for a lot of records but in the end, I whittled it down to those that spoke to me the most, that kept me coming back for more and acted as musical anchors in the barrage of new music that has become my existence. Ten records that soundtracked, reflected and defined my 2007 and will hopefully remain staples of my musical diet well into the future.

Observations – sometimes people worry that records released early in the year will be forgotten by list season, but in my case it seems the opposite. The older records are the ones I’ve had the most time to listen to and fall for and have also proven their shelf life whereas I regard my affection for more recent releases with a bit of distrust. More than half the releases are from acts that I’d essentially never heard before this year, which I find comforting in affirming that I’m still doing alright in seeking out new music. Sure, stylistically they all dwell fairly closely to my established musical tastes but that’s why they’re my tastes, right? I also find the comparison with last year’s list interesting. Whereas 2006 was dominated with American acts, mostly of the rootsier and/or downbeat variety, this year’s list is much more Commonwealth-friendly with most of the releases being either Canadian or British. I know I’ve made a conscious effort to explore more homegrown music this year as well as reconnect with my Anglophile roots so I guess we can call that a success. And, I suppose it means I’ve stopped moping quite so much.

Anyways, if you’ve been a regular visitor over the past year then there’s probably not too much in the way of surprises here, so we may as well get to it.

Most Likely To Make Me Want To Move To New Jersey Nicole Atkins / Neptune City (Columbia) Some have complained that the production on this record is too thick, too glossy, and I can see where they’re coming from but it suits Atkins’ voice and songwriting so well that I can’t help but love it. Even the odd sequencing has grown on me. Plus listening to this record reminds me of the five times I’ve seen her live this year, each time improbably better than the last. MP3: Nicole Atkins & The Sea – “Party’s Over” Video: Nicole Atkins & The Sea – “The Way It Is” Video: Nicole Atkins – “Neptune City” MySpace: Nicole Atkins

Most Likely To Make Me Feel Defensive About Including Them In This List Bloc Party / A Weekend In The City (Vice) Another one that I don’t necessarily disagree with the detractors on. Yes, the lyrics can be overdramatic and ponderous, but there’s a warmth and earnestness to Kele Okerke that make me look past that and just focus on the grandiosity and splendor of it all. And come on – the guitars fucking ROCK. These excuses can also be applied to Editors’ An End Has A Start. MP3: Bloc Party – “I Still Remember” (acoustic) MP3: Bloc Party – “Sunday” (acoustic) Video: Bloc Party – “Hunting For Witches” Video: Bloc Party – “The Prayer” Video: Bloc Party – “I Still Remember” MySpace: Bloc Party

Most Likely To Have Made The List By Virtue Of Most Live Appearances This Year Basia Bulat / Oh My Darling (Hardwood) It’s been a real treat seeing Basia have a year as terrific as 2007 has been for her. From being inexplicably label-less in her home country while being signed to a legendary label in the UK at the start of the year to achieving the sort of rising star status that she deserves by the end of it, all the while never losing sight of the simple joy of making music with her friends. MP3: Basia Bulat – “Snakes & Ladders” MySpace: Basia Bulat

Most Likely To Be The Record On This List I’ve Listened To The Least This Year Feist / The Reminder (Arts & Crafts) …And what I mean is that the complete and utter omnipresence of Ms Leslie Feist on the television, clogging the tubes of the internets and piping out of every coffee shop in the nation did dissuade me from listening to The Reminder as much as I would have otherwise. But that doesn’t take away from the fact that it’s a tremendous album from a tremendous talent who can’t be pigeonholed and has earned every accolade she’s gotten. And iPod, shmiPod – I can watch that “1 2 3 4″ video over and over again. Video: Feist – “My Moon My Man” Video: Feist – “1 2 3 4″ MySpace: Feist

Most Likely To Make Me Buy A Gretsch Even Though I Have Too Many Guitars Already Richard Hawley / Lady’s Bridge (Mute) I was also going to label this one, “Most Likely To Have Been Earned On The Merits Of Its Three Predecessors As Much As Its Own”. I was late to the Richard Hawley party and have since been immersed in his timeless, reverberated twang and he’s managed to sell me on the fiction that Sheffield, England is the most romantic place on Earth. And it’s entirely possible that Hawley siphoned off all the goodwill I had earlier in the year for Jarvis Cocker’s Jarvis, which he also produced. Perhaps the edge went to Hawley because he could be bothered to tour through Toronto – where were you, Jarv? Video: Richard Hawley – “Tonight The Streets Are Ours” (YouTube) Video: Richard Hawley – “Serious” (YouTube) MySpace: Richard Hawley

Most Likely To Make Me Shake, Shake, Shimmy Lucky Soul / The Great Unwanted (Ruffa Lane) Every time I listen to this record, the most out-of-nowhere entry in this list, I keep expecting the spell to be broken. Surely something this addictively sugary has an inevitable burnout, some comedown around the corner? And yet more than eight months since their deliciously retro and timeless girl group/Motown sound hit my ears, I still can’t get enough. One of my top three records of the year and some days – namely the days when I play it – my very favourite. The Great Unwanted is my happy place. MP3: Lucky Soul – “The Great Unwanted” Video: Lucky Soul – “Lips Are Unhappy” (YouTube) Video: Lucky Soul – “My Brittle Heart” (YouTube) Video: Lucky Soul – “Add Your Light To Mine, Baby” (YouTube) MySpace: Lucky Soul

Most Likely To Leave Me Without Words To Convey How Good This Record Is Miracle Fortress / Five Roses (Secret City) Though that’s not to say that this album leaves me speechless – I’m just drawing a blank in trying to articulate how much I like it. It’s dreampop that sounds rather unlike everything that has been labeled as dreampop before, a peek inside Graham Van Pelt’s wonderful, technicolour imagination where it’s a perpetual endless summer populated by robots. MP3: Miracle Fortress – “Have You Seen In Your Dreams”

Most Likely To Make Me See Things In Shades Of Sepia The National / Boxer (Beggars Banquet) In 2005, my top two albums were The National’s Alligator and Okkervil River’s Black Sheep Boy and while I consciously do not rank albums in my year-end lists, if asked I’d have said truthfully that the River had the edge. Two years later, we’ve got a rematch and this time the relocated Ohioans take the title. So lyrically and sonically rich and textured, taking the beautiful late-night bleakness of Alligator and injecting a dose of dusky sunlight and guarded optimism. The National’s latest took their game to a new level that I didn’t realize they had in them. I have no idea how they can top this one, yet fully believe they can. MP3: The National – “Fake Empire” Video: The National – “Mistaken For Strangers” (YouTube) Video: The National – “Apartment Story” (YouTube) MySpace: The National

Most Likely To Be The Best Album That’s Not As Good As The Last One Okkervil River / The Stage Names (Jagjaguwar) The consensus appears to be that The Stage Names doesn’t match the grandeur and majesty of Black Sheep Boy and for that, the inclination is to regard it as not as good as its predecessor. This is unfortunate because in truth, it doesn’t try to match Black Sheep Boy – instead, it steps out of the library and goes to the movies and, in the process, turns in Okkervil’s tightest, most rocking effort to date. Still a triumph. MP3: Okkervil River – “Our Life Is Not A Movie Or Maybe” Video: Okkervil River – “Our Life Is Not A Movie Or Maybe” (YouTube) Video: Okkervil River – “Girl In Port” (YouTube) MySpace: Okkervil River

Most Likely To Make Me Wish I Had A Scottish Accent The Twilight Sad / Fourteen Autumns & Fifteen Winters (Fat Cat) Perhaps the most compelling debut of the year, all thundering walls of guitars, endless crescendos and bellowed anthems yet for all the volume – and there’s lots – there’s something delicate, even frail, underneath. These four young Scots are tapped into something special and powerful and if this is just them getting started, expect to see them on more year-end lists in the future. MP3: The Twilight Sad – “Cold Days from the Birdhouse” MP3: The Twilight Sad – “That Summer, At Home I Had Become The Invisible Boy” MP3: The Twilight Sad – “And She Would Darken The Memory”

And so we have it, another year come and gone. Was it a good year? A bad year? It was a year. That’s all. And with years come lists and so here’s mine.

General procedure is usually that the year-end list is supposed to tally up the “best” records of the year – well if anyone can tell me what the hell that means, I’d appreciate it. Rankings like that are inherently meaningless (as the uproar whenever someone publishes any sort of list that makes claims of definitiveness will attest) so instead, I’ve chosen to list off the ten records that meant the most to me in 2006 – the ones that soundtracked my life, so to speak. The ones that engaged, empathized, moved, mesmerized or just connected with me and that I listened to the most. And most importantly (or perhaps disappointingly), unassailable. I don’t doubt for a minute that there’s great stuff that isn’t on this list or that I’ve not even heard, but from what I did hear, these are the standouts.

Thankfully, all are also excellent records and would stand up quite well to any proposed criteria for what defines “best”, though I know for a fact that there’s many far-better reviewed and critically acclaimed records out there that are not represented here. That’s not what this list is about. You want science, go here. You want to know my favourite records of the year? Read on.

Points you may notice that I’m already aware of – 9 of 10 artists on this list are American, none are from outside North America and most could broadly be categorized as roots or Americana. I have no real explanation for that, though it also makes perfect sense. Take that as you will. This was a year in which I became more conscious of my personal tastes, what I do and do not like in music, and this year? I liked the rootsy, lyric-y stuff. Maybe 2007 will be about the Euro-rock. We’ll see. And they’re listed alphabetically so don’t read anything into the order (like some did last year even though I stated quite clearly that there was no ranking. Though it does raise the question – who put the alphabet in the order it’s in? Someone with a prejudice against x, y and z no doubt.

I hadn’t intended to run this list for another week while I fussed and fretted over what to include, but after opting to keep things ultra-focused this year, I was done before I knew it. I thought about doing some honourable mentions or special categories, but you know what? That just opens up the floodgates and eventually I’d want every record I liked this year – and there’s many – in here and that’s just too much to deal with. So here’s ten and ten only. After the jump, of course.

And I’m particularly pleased with myself for the visual treatment of the selections – most certainly the most fun I had with assembling this post. Probably doesn’t mean anything to most of you, but the 1986-87 Topps/O-Pee-Chee NHL set will always be very special to me. You’ve no idea how long I spent looking for number 251 – Brent Peterson, then of the Vancouver Canucks – to complete the set. And I still have it.

	Eric Bachmann / To The Races (Saddle Creek) While Dignity & Shame was near the top of my list for 2005, this was the year I really began to immerse myself in Eric Bachmann’s post-Archers Of Loaf works and it’s been a wonderful trip. I can’t decide which was better – the fact that he released a new record that stood so well alongside those records, that he put on the best showcase I saw at SxSW in March or that he equaled if not bettered that performance at the Horseshoe in September. Photos: Eric Bachmann @ SxSW – March 17, 2006 Photos: Eric Bachmann @ The Horseshoe – September 16, 2006 MP3: Eric Bachmann – “Lonesome Warrior” MP3: Eric Bachmann – “Carrboro Woman” MySpace: Eric Bachmann Metacritic: Eric Bachmann / To The Races
	Neko Case / Fox Confessor Brings The Flood (Mint) My first show of 2006 was seeing Neko pack the tiny Rivoli on Queen St and preview songs from her new record months before release. And she was in terrific form, setting the tone for what would be a great year of live music. And with Fox Confessor, she continued the trend of getting better and better with each record – there may well be no limit to how good she can be. Photos: Neko Case @ The Rivoli – January 4, 2006 MP3: Neko Case – “Hold On Hold On” MP3: Neko Case – “Star Witness” Video: Neko Case – “Maybe Sparrow” (Real) MySpace: Neko Case Metacritic: Neko Case / Fox Confessor Brings The Flood
	Cat Power / The Greatest (Matador) If I were to give out an “artist of the year” nod, it would go to Chan Marshall. The year she’s had, from releasing arguably (and there is much arguing on this point) her best album yet, through her well-documented breakdown, battle with and victory over alcoholism and her eventual comeback was truly a tale for the ages. And against all odds she put on not one but two of the most memorable live shows I saw in 2006. And in a good way. Photos: Cat Power @ Lee’s Palace – September 4, 2006 Photos: Cat Power & The Memphis Rhythm Band @ The Phoenix – November 22, 2006 MP3: Cat Power – “The Greatest” Video: Cat Power – “Living Proof” (YouTube) Video: Cat Power – “Lived In Bars” (YouTube) MySpace: Cat Power Metacritic: Cat Power / The Greatest
	The Decemberists / The Crane Wife (Capitol) It’s funny, I never think I’m an especially big Decemberists fan until they release a new record, and I’m reminded of how singular, engaging and idiosyncratic – and with their latest record, moving – their music can be. And then I see them live and I’m also reminded of how much fun they can be as well. Anyone who feared (or hoped) that their signing to a major would prove a fatal move turned out to have nothing to worry about. Photos: The Decemberists @ The Kool Haus – November 6, 2006 Stream: The Decemberists Crane Wife jukebox MySpace: The Decemberists Metacritic: The Decemberists / The Crane Wife
	Early Day Miners / Offshore (Secretly Canadian) This would probably count as the dark horse on the list – there’s not even a Metacritic score for the record – but for reasons I can’t fully articulate, Offshore just mesmerizes me. Epic, monolithic and hypnotic, utterly stark and raw at the core and fearsomely beautiful all around, this record just gives me something that I need and while I don’t really know what that is, I’m thankful for it. Photos: Early Day Miners @ Tranzac – September 13, 2006 MP3: Early Day Miners – “Return Of The Native” MySpace: Early Day Miners
	The Hold Steady / Boys And Girls In America (Vagrant) Even though this was year that I was fairly immersed in introspective (or naval-gazing, depending on your POV) music, there was one record that without fail, made me want to jump around, play air guitar, find a party pit or just walk around and drink some more. And thank God for that. Seeing them three times in under three months didn’t hurt either. Photos: The Hold Steady @ Lee’s Palace – July 31, 2006 Photos: The Hold Steady @ Lollapalooza – August 6, 2006 Photos: The Hold Steady @ The Horseshoe – October 28, 2006 MP3: The Hold Steady – “Chips Ahoy!” Video: The Hold Steady – “Chips Ahoy!” (YouTube) MySpace: The Hold Steady Metacritic: The Hold Steady / Boys And Girls In America
	Land Of Talk / Applause Cheer Boo Hiss (Dependent) The only Canadian entry on the list, but there’s no tokensim here. Though Applause Cheer Boo Hiss is technically just an EP and I had to think long and hard about including it, the bottom line is that this record was just too good and exciting for me not to recognize it. At a time when most Canuck acts seem intent in cramming in as many members and instruments as possible, along comes an old-fashioned power trio to destroy them all. All hail. Photos: Land Of Talk @ The Boat – June 8, 2006 Photos: Land Of Talk @ Lee’s Palace – November 16, 2006 MP3: Land Of Talk – “Speak To Me Bones” MP3: Land Of Talk – “Breaxxbaxx” MySpace: Land Of Talk
	Margot & The Nuclear So And So’s / The Dust Of Retreat (Artemis/V2) Yes the name is terrible and yes, they can sound more than a little precious at times but damn – when it hits, it hits good. Veering from cacophony to understated beauty and back again, often in the same song, I’ll only accept the “chamber pop” tag that gets foisted on them if said chamber has a fully stocked bar and puke stains on the floor. I’m tempted to put a little “rookie of the year” note on the front of their card – I expect great things. Photos: Margot & The Nuclear So And So’s @ SxSW – March 16, 2006 MP3: Margot & The Nuclear So And So’s – “Skeleton Key” MP3: Margot & The Nuclear So And So’s – “Barfight Revolution, Power Violence” Video: Margot & The Nuclear So And So’s – “Quiet As A Mouse” (YouTube) MySpace: Margot & The Nuclear So And So’s
	The Mountain Goats / Get Lonely (4AD) John Darnielle seems to have this uncanny knack of soundtracking very pivotal moments in my life with his music. And everything I wanted to say about this, I said back in August. All I’ll say now is the chills? I still get them, but I’m getting better. Photos: The Mountain Goats @ Lee’s Palace – September 19, 2006 MP3: The Mountain Goats – “Woke Up New” MP3: The Mountain Goats – “Wild Sage” Video: The Mountain Goats – “Woke Up New” (MOV) Metacritic: The Mountain Goats / Get Lonely
	Shearwater / Palo Santo (Misra) Dense, harrowing, mysterious and beautiful, I’ve spent the better part of the last seven months absorbing this album and I’m certain it still hasn’t fully revealed itself to me. Rest assured I’ll happily spend another seven months immersing myself in it and another seven after that. The emergence of Shearwater as a focused and distinct creative force, stepping out of the black sheep shadow, is one of the most welcome happenings of the year. Photos: Shearwater @ SxSW – March 15, 2006 Photos: Shearwater @ SxSW – March 18, 2006 Photos: Shearwater @ Lee’s Palace – September 12, 2006 MP3: Shearwater – “Seventy-Four Seventy-Five” MP3: Shearwater – “White Waves” MySpace: Shearwater

So here we are, another year-end list in the cacaphony of December retrospectives. Still, if there’s one thing lists do, it allows writers to be lazy and rehash what they’ve already no doubt covered in the past although this has turned out to be one of the most time-consuming posts of the year for me, maybe ever. You’d think that writing short blurbs on the records that one enjoyed the most in the past year would be easy, but really, not so much. I can’t say that 2005 was a watershed year for music, but there was certainly enough great stuff to keep me happy as a pig in a blanket for the past twelve months.

I made a decision at the start of the year to actively seek out more new music outside of my usual comfort zone, and while I must confess I wasn’t as dilligent about that as I’d intended, the fact that four of my top ten albums came from acts I’d never heard (or in many cases even heard of) before this year ain’t too bad. I’ll be endeavouring to carry this trend forward into ’06, mainly by actually listening to more of the CDs, compilations and mp3s that I’m sent. While this will no doubt increase my exposure to bad music, no pain no gain, n’est pas? Though I have to say that looking at the release schedule for 2006, stacked as it is with many new albums from long-time favourites, I wonder if any dark horses will manage to eke their way onto next year’s edition? To do so, some very reliable veteran acts would have to drop the ball… Oh well, time will tell.

Curiously, the Top 5 of The First Half Of 2005 list I posted back in July just preceded my exposure to most of the albums that made the final cut, but a few managed to carry over and the others just barely got bumped down to honourable mention status. The final ten are listed alphabetically – I had considered actually ranking them this year, but after the clear-cut top three positions, things kind of just fell into a constantly-shifting mass that changed from moment to moment. I found it interesting that eight of the ten albums came from American acts, and two from Canadians. No British or European artists at all, though if I expanded the list out to twenty or so, the Old World would be quite well represented. What can I say? The colonies rocked the mic in ’05, yo.

And many thanks to Toronto illustrator Renée Nault for the beautiful frontispiece in this year-end retrospective. For a full-size version of the art (500K), click here – it looks even better biggie-sized. Do check her portfolio out.

So without further ado, my top 10 albums of 2005 (and ancillary lists and commentary)… after the jump.

Albums

Broken Social Scene
Broken Social Scene
Arts & Crafts

Three years after releasing You Forgot It In People, the album that arguably kicked of the rise of Canada as a force in indpendent music, the band comprised of pretty much everyone in the 416 followed it up with an album so sprawling, shambolic and self-indulgent, you couldn’t help but cheer them on. Unless you were one of the many people who regard those traits as negative, then this record is probably on your “biggest disappointments” list. Me? I’m still picking my way through the many many many layers of sounds, but I think I like it. A lot.

“7/4 (Shorelines)” is one of the oldest tracks on the record, having been circulating in a markedly different live form for some time before the official release. It’s certainly one of the most conventional tracks on the album, but is also one of the best.

MP3: Broken Social Scene – “7/4 (Shoreline)”

There’s nothing groundbreaking about the latest record from Eric Bachmann and company, but when you manage to assemble a record of such top-to-bottom gorgeousness, you don’t need to break no new ground. Bachmann’s heartworn rasp and unabashedly romantic lyrics alone would have guaranteed a good record, but the inclusion of Lara Meyerratken’s vocals puts this one into the stratosphere. The numbers featuring her and Bachmann in call-and-response feel like more than just songs, they’re small, perfect, private dramas that we’re lucky to be privvy to.

I had a hell of a time deciding which song to post, I love almost every song on the record, but Lara’s vocals on “Call To Love” sealed it. However, be sure to listen to “You Must Build A Fire”, streaming off their website – it’s heartbreakingly beautiful.

MP3: Crooked Fingers – “Call To Love”

One of two albums that managed to make it from my mid-year list to the final call. Instead of trying to come up with new ways to talk about an album I’ve already reviewed a few times, I’m just going to crib from a review I did for Torontoist:

Portland’s Decemberists continue on with their singular brand of highly literate, nautically-obsessed hybrid folk-rock. With their highbrow lyrics, unconventional arrangements and Colin Meloy’s distinctive nasal vocals, the sound of a Decemberists record is unmistakable, but Picaresque differs from the first two full-lengths in that it carries itself with a greater confidence than its predecessors. This is a record that struts home in costume after drama club, jocks in the hallway be damned.

I always liked that last line. The track I’ve chosen to offer up, “The Sporting Life”, is certainly one of the jauntier on the album, and also the funniest. There’s also a video for “16 Military Wives”, which could very have been the drama club production to which I was referring to.

MP3: The Decemberists – “The Sporting Life”
Video: The Decemberists – “16 Military Wives” (MOV)

To write an entire album about one’s childhood with an abusive stepfather could be a recipe for disaster, but John Darnielle’s pen is just too sharp to allow it to slip into melodrama. Instead, he draws on those experiences for emotional fuel in crafting another masterpiece. Somehow he makes even his most direct and personal lyrics sound like cryptic metaphors that can resonate universally. Come, come to the Sunset Tree.

“Love Love Love” is the penultimate track on the album and after the oft times frantic nature of the album to that point, it’s so gentle and calming… even the line about Kurt Cobain feels peaceful. And the video for “This Year” is just fun.

MP3: The Mountain Goats – “Love Love Love”
Video: The Mountain Goats – “This Year” (WMV)

Probably the most polarizing record on this list – some love it, some hate it. I went from the latter to the former over the course of a few months, helped along by their still-incredible live show. Z is a step back from the all-out rock styles of It Still Moves and way further out into left field than anyone would have expected. This record reminds of the classic pop albums of the 60s where every song would be almost completely different from the next, yet somehow they all fit together. Haters, move on – Z is great.

Though they definitely reduced the amount of trademark reverbed vocals on this record, “Gideon” still catches some of that old grain silo magic. And here’s the video for the first single, “Off The Record”, which probably set a record for most double takes by My Morning Jacket fans when they got a taste of the band’s new direction.

MP3: My Morning Jacket – “Gideon”
Video: My Morning Jacket – “Off The Record” (MOV)

If I WERE one for ranking albums, this would be number one with a bullet. I took an almost blind flier on it back in July and have been wearing it out ever since. Romantic and sinister, rocking and serene, Alligator is a dark corner in a smoke-filled bar int the late New York night, long after the hipsters have gone home. Words are insufficient to describe how much I love this record. Maybe emoticons… <3? No, not emoticons either.

“Mr November” is the final track on the album, and when Matt Berninger screams, “I won’t fuck us over, I’m Mr. November”, you absolutely believe he used to be carried on the arms of cheerleaders. The video for “Daughters Of The Soho Riots” somehow manages to perfectly capture the gorgeousness of the song – no mean feat.

And yes, I know you can’t smoke in New York bars anymore.

MP3: The National – “Mr November”
Video: The National – “Daughters Of The Soho Riots” (MOV)

2005 was the year that The New Pornographers put out an album that I could really love – and they did it by putting out the least pure pop record yet. I really enjoyed their first two records but the non-stop sugar buzz could get wearying over the course of a whole album. By reining in a little bit on Twin Cinema, Carl Newman and his posse showed they had depth, too, and that’s what it took to close the deal.

This newfound sophistication is best evidenced in “The Bleeding Hearts Show”. which manages to make “Hey Na Hey Na” sound like a deeply profound lyric. But if you want old school power pop, check out the video for “Use It”, directed by and featuring Arrested Development‘s David Cross.

MP3: The New Pornographers – “The Bleeding Heart Show”
Video: The New Pornographers – “Use It” (ASX)

While The National was my top album of the year, it had serious competition from Okkervil River. Also bought almost completely unheard, once I was drawn into Will Sheff’s world it was hard to extract myself, not that I really tried. A concept album centred on the titular song by Tim Hardin, Black Sheep Boy is a majestic slab of folk rock, intense, literate and utterly compelling. One for the ages. The companion Black Sheep Boy Appendix is also worthy of note – while it doesn’t have the same start-to-finish thematic weight that the main album does, it still sits very respectively alongside it.

One of the poppier numbers on the album, “Black” has far and away the best sounding electric piano sounds on any album I heard in 2005. And the animated video for the explosive “For Real” is just creepy.

MP3: Okkervil River – “Black”
Video: Okkervil River – “For Real” (MOV)

Sufjan was far and away the most (over-)blogged artist of 2005 and as prime a candidate for backlash if ever there was one… and yet, here he is. Why? How? Easy – Illinois was almost as good as the hype. Yes, it was grandiose and over the top, but I hope never to see the day where artistic ambition becomes something to be vilified for rather than celebrated – at least not when it succeeds. If there’s any downside, it’s that there’s forty-eight more states looking for their own grand concept albums… and I’m sure at least some of them are going to be let down. Really, how inspiring is North Dakota? Please, no hate mail from North Dakotans.

It was really hard to pick one individual song from Illinois since it is such an album. But here you go – predatory wasps are scary, but this song is great.

MP3: Sufjan Stevens – “The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades Is Out To Get Us!”

Matt Ward’s paean to the bygone days of radio is so stubbornly anachronistic and lovely that while it only just snuck onto my list, I suspect that it’ll hold up better than most of its contemporaries. Though still a young man, Ward sounds weathered and wise beyond his years, hardwired into something timeless. And DAMN can that boy play some guitar.

“Radio Campaign” is one of the more upbeeat tracks on Transistor Radio and is one of two to feature guest vocals from Rilo Kiley’s Jenny Lewis. Ward returns the favour by appearing on her upcoming solo record.

MP3: M Ward – “Radio Campaign”

In the “welcome back” category, it was good to get new music from Rob Dickinson and Suede The Tears, both of whose records were actually a good deal better than I had expected. The House Of Love’s Days Run Away was merely okay and the reconstituted Son Volt proved they wouldn’t be overshadowed by the original lineup’s output with the release of the wholly respectable if not overly remarkable Okemah & The Melody Of Riot.

Singles

Iron & Wine contributed a few songs to the Topher Grace vehicle (never thought I’d type THOSE words), In Good Company, but the best track on that soundtrack, and maybe the best song Sam Beam has ever written, is “The Trapeze Swinger”. Not much can get me to just there and listen, eyes closed, for almost ten minutes, but this absurdly beautiful song does it almost every time. This live version was recorded at the 9:30 Club in Washington DC on November 30, 2005. The audio comes courtesy of NPR and the rip courtesy of So Much Silence.

MP3: Iron & Wine – “The Trapeze Swinger” (live)

The Cardigans are a sublime singles band who also manage to put together pretty strong albums – like a home run hitter who also keeps his average up (obligatory year end sports metaphor? Check!). While Long Gone Before Daylight pulled more to the cohesive album side of things, their latest Super Extra Gravity is more eclectic and boasts some absolutely killer tracks, foremost of which also gets the honour of best song title of the year. “I Need Some Fine Wine And You, You Need To Be Nicer” is sexy and supremely catchy. I can (and have) listen to it on repeat ad nauseum. And if you’ve got bandwidth to kill, also check out the 100MB high-res video wherein Nina Persson makes a compelling argument for being the hottest woman in indie rock.

MP3: The Cardigans – “I Need Some Fine Wine And You, You Need To Be Nicer”
Video: The Cardigans – “I Need Some Fine Wine And You, You Need To Be Nicer” (MOV)

New York’s On!Air!Library! quietly called it a day earlier this year when Alejandra Deheza struck out on her own, but twin sister Claudia and O!A!L! drummer Phillip Wann have continued on as Daylight’s For The Birds and if “Worlds Away” is any indication, they’ll be even greater than O!A!L! (whom had yet to fulfil the promise of their debut album). Whenever I play this track, which is often, I feel a little bit happier. Very much looking forward to hearing more from them.

MP3: Daylight’s For The Birds – “Worlds Away”

Concerts

I thought that I had maxed out my concert intake last year with 52 shows in 2004. Apparently not, as the final tally for 2005 looks like it’s going to be 59 shows, and that’s not counting the thirty-plus acts I saw at SxSW in March. Yes, I caught a lot of live music this year. Hey, it gets me out of the house. It’s a little hard to pick standout shows – most that I saw were good, but I’d be hard-pressed to call any of them all-timers or life-changing. Still, if I were to single some out… Hmm, funny how they seem to match up with my top albums of the year…

M Ward @ The El Mocambo – February 27, 2005
The Mountain Goats, Shearwater, Jeff Hanson @ Lee’s Palace – May 11, 2005
The Decemberists, Rebecca Gates @ The Phoenix – May 21, 2005
Sufjan Stevens, Laura Veirs @ Trinity-St Paul’s Centre – September 10, 2005
Okkervil River, Minus Story @ Lee’s Palace – November 7, 2005
The Hidden Cameras with the Toronto Dance Theatre @ The Premiere Dance Theatre – November 23, 2005
Iron & Wine, Calexico, Salvador Duran @ The Docks – December 9, 2005

And of course, SxSW day one, day two and day three.

….And that’s the year that was. Whew.

As always, I’ve included a sample mp3 of maybe my favourite tracks on each album, eschewing the singles or whatnot that you’ve probably already heard. If you like, go buy. None of these artists are rich, not by a long shot. Well, Wilco and Steve Earle are probably doing okay, but that’s not really the point. I’ll leave the tracks up probably till the end of the month or so. So without further ado…

American Music Club Love Songs For Patriots Merge “Another Morning” It may have been one of the most low-profile of the indie rock reunions to take place this year, but I’ll wager almost none of the others was more focused on being artistically vital in the present rather than just cashing in on the past. Even after a decade-long break, Mark Eitzel and his compatriots managed to craft an album that stands shoulder-to-shoulder with their best work, and that’s saying something.

The Arcade Fire Funeral Merge “Rebellion (Lies)” In just a few short months, this Montreal collective went from well-kept local secret to kings (and queens) of the indie scene. Yes, the hype can be overwhelming but if you get past all that and just focus on the music, you’ll find that Funeral is a stunning record, bristling with energy and emotion. And it’s also true that as good as the recorded product is, the live show puts it to shame.

Drive By Truckers The Dirty South New West “Carl Perkins’ Cadillac” Another slice of Southern gothic mythology served up by Alabama’s finest. With three top-notch songwriters and guitarists leading the assault, the Drive By Truckers manage to turn all stereotypes about Southern rock on their heads while being just as ass-kicking as you’d expect and want Southern rock to be.

Steve Earle The Revolution Starts… Now E2/Artemis “The Seeker” Written largely off the cuff and in the studio to meet an election day deadline, this record could have turned out to be a half-baked rhetoric pastiche – instead, it’s as passionate and incisive a piece of social commentary as you were going to find in 2005. It also rocks, hard. The world has provided Earle with lots of reasons to be pissed and he tackles them all head-on with humour, hope and his razor-sharp pen. Defiance never sounded so good.

Feist Let It Die Arts & Crafts “Let It Die” Americans reeling from the ongoing invasion of excellent Canadian music be warned – the best may still be to come. Leslie Feist radiates star power and this record, with its lush, European feel and jazzy, sexy vocals only begins to scratch the surface of what this girl could do. Expect big things from this Calgarian ex-pat. Hell, even The OC has caught on.

Ted Leo & The Pharmacists Shake The Sheets Lookout! “Walking To Do” If I had decided to rank albums this year, this one would have been damn near the top. Impassioned, literate, stripped-down, urgent, fun and balls-out rocking, Ted Leo is rock personified.

Luna Rendezvous Jetset “Malibu Love Nest” Bidding the indie rock merry-go-round a farewell, Luna’s swansong is their finest in years. Recorded very much live off the floor, Rendezvous is warmer, more cohesive and more intimate-sounding than their last few records, and it suits them well. Plus there’s more guitar solos! Ah, Luna. We will miss you.

Rilo Kiley More Adventurous Beaute/Brute “Does He Love You?” A textbook definition of a breakout record, Rilo Kiley’s third album and sorta-major label debut brims with sass and confidence while jumping from style to style, anchored by Jenny Lewis’ marvelous voice. Addictive from the first listen and it only gets better from there.

Saturday Looks Good To Me Every Night Polyvinyl “Lift Me Up” This probably qualifies as the dark horse of the list, but what can I say – this record just makes me happy. For whatever reason, it took seeing the live show to really make it click for me, but when it did I couldn’t get it out of my CD player. These Spector/Motown-worshipping pop tunes make me wanna dance, and that’s no mean feat.

Wilco A Ghost Is Born Nonesuch “Muzzle Of Bees” Possibly the very definition of “a grower”, it’s hard to separate the record from everything that made up the year in Wilco. It may be a bit of a cop-out to say that it makes more sense if you’ve read the press about Jeff Tweedy’s rehab, seen the live show or read The Wilco Book, and I’ve obviously done all of the above, but it’s true. It may take a while, but when A Ghost Is Born finally reveals itself, it’s worth the effort.

You know, this list was a hell of a lot harder to write than I’d expected. Now I remember why I didn’t bother with writeups last year. I also forgot what a pain in the ass HTML in Nucleus is… but I’m done today’s post before 8AM, and that’s a good thing (and rare thing). Aaah.

	The Postal Service Give Up (SubPop) MP3 – “Nothing Better” Metacritic reviews		The Shins Chutes Too Narrow (Subpop) MP3 – “Fighting In A Sack” Metacritic reviews
	The Wrens Meadlowlands (Absolutely Kosher) MP3 – “Hopeless” Metacritic reviews		Ted Leo & The Pharmacists Hearts Of Oak (Lookout!) MP3 – “Tell Balgeary, Balgaury Is Dead” Metacritic reviews
	Beulah Yoko (Velocette) MP3 – “Landslide Baby” Metacritic reviews		Death Cab For Cutie Transatlanticism (Barsuk) MP3 – “The Sound Of Settling” Metacritic reviews
	Pernice Brothers Yours, Mine & Ours (Ashmont) MP3 – “One Foot In The Grave” Metacritic reviews		Belle & Sebastian Dear Catastrophe Waitress (Rough Trade/EMI) MP3 – “I’m A Cuckoo” Metacritic reviews
	The New Pornographers Electric Version (Mint) MP3 – “The Laws Have Changed” Metacritic reviews		Fountains Of Wayne Welcome Interstate Managers (S-Curve/Virgin) MP3 – “Hackensack” Metacritic reviews
	Broken Social Scene You Forgot It In People (Arts & Crafts/Paper Bag) MP3 – “Almost Crimes (Radio Kills Remix)” Metacritic reviews		Calexico Feast Of Wire (Quarterstick) MP3 – “Sunken Waltz” Metacritic reviews
	The Weakerthans Reconstruction Site (Epitaph) MP3 – “Plea From A Cat Named Virtue” Metacritic reviews
Honorable Mentions: My Morning Jacket / It Still Moves Fruit Bats / Mouthfuls The American Analog Set / Promise Of Love Metric / Old World Underground, Where Are You Now Nada Surf / Let Go The Sleepy Jackson / Lovers The Cardigans / Long Gone Before Daylight Wheat / Per Second Per Second Per Second Every Second Young & Sexy / Life Through One Speaker

There were a lot of great shows this year, but a handful stood out as outright celebrations of music and the effect it can have on people. “Transcendent” is a pretty loaded word, but sometimes it’s appropriate. I should also mention my top two shows that I am beyond sorry I missed – Ted Leo & The Pharmacists at the Rivoli in April and Steve Earle at the Kool Haus in May.

	Belle & Sebastian, Rasputina Massey Hall, Toronto November 8, 2003 Photos and review
	Broken Social Scene, Stars, Apostle Of Hustle, Jason Collett, Amy Milan Lee’s Palace, Toronto June 13, 2003 Photos and review
	Billy Bragg The El Mocambo, Toronto July 11, 2003 Photos and review
	Beulah, John Vanderslice Lee’s Palace, Toronto November 8, 2003 Photos and review
	The American Analog Set, The Cansecos The Horseshoe, Toronto June 25, 2003 Photos and review