The '05 Music Hierarchy

Or: The Year I (Mostly) Stopped Listening to Normal Music.

Ranked by Preference:

10

LIGHTNING BOLT - Hypermagic Mountain [Oh. My. God. Now, I liked "Ride the Skies" and "Wonderful Rainbow," but this... damn. The last time I had this strong an epiphanic emotional reaction to an album was the first time I heard The Boredoms' "Pop Tatari." This album makes everything else sound like shit.]
SAGE FRANCIS - A Healthy Distrust [Sage is a dextrous wordsmith, for sure. What makes this album stand out is his sincerity -- his rhymes are heartfelt without tipping over into emo-ville. Plus, it's catchy as hell.]
PELICAN - The Fire in Our Throats Will Beckon the Thaw [Gorgeous, brawny instrumental metal (god, the genre gets more interesting every year). The advance in quality from "Australasia" to this is immense -- the former was good, but this is the sound of a band truly gelling.]

9

CAGE - Hell's Winter [Cage's last album, "Movies for the Blind," was an uneven but entertaining and really nasty trip through the darkest corners of his warped mind. I knew he was a talented wordsmith, but I never would have guessed he had this level of maturity and craft in him. Dark and unshakeable stuff (no matter how many times I hear them, 'Stripes' and 'Lord Have Mercy' still give me goosebumps), but not without Cage's black sense of humor; at the very least, this album contains the year's funniest couplet ("There's a real thin line between love and a fuck / And how drunk she's gotta be to put it in her butt").]
THE PERCEPTIONISTS - Black Dialogue
SINCE BY MAN - Pictures from the Hotel Apocalypse
AESOP ROCK - Fast Cars, Danger, Fire and Knives
STRAYLIGHT RUN - Prepare to Be Wrong
BRIGHT EYES - I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning

8

DALEK - Absence
THE NATIONAL - Alligator [This stuff is so catchy that it's criminal. Music this moody should not be this catchy. "Mr. November": AMAZING.]
XBXRX - Sixth in Sixes
ATMOSPHERE - You Can't Imagine How Much Fun We're Having
MINDLESS SELF INDULGENCE - You'll Rebel to Anything
SONS AND DAUGHTERS - The Repulsion Box
C-RAYZ WALZ - Year of the Beast
BEARVSSHARK - Terrorhawk

7

DANGER DOOM - The Mouse and the Mask
THE LETTERS ORGANIZE - Dead Rhythm Machine
MINUS THE BEAR - Menos El Oso
THE MARS VOLTA - Frances the Mute
THE PERNICE BROTHERS - Discover a Lovelier You
NEON BLONDE - Chandeliers in the Savannah [The decadent vibe that was tentatively introduced in the Blood Brothers' "Crimes" reaches its full expression with Jordan Blilie's side project. Strange stuff, but also pretty cool, in a sleazy, messy sort of way; Blilie's strangled yelp, which ruined much of "Crimes" for me, works better in this more melodic context.]
HEAD WOUND CITY - Head Wound City [Fierce, spastic grindcore from a crew that includes the half of the Blood Brothers that didn't form Neon Blonde. Of course I like it.]
DARKEST HOUR - Undoing Ruin
HIGH ON FIRE - Blessed Black Wings
THE TONY DANZA TAPDANCE EXTRAVAGANZA - The Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza
ONE BE LO - S.O.N.O.G.R.A.M.
LIVING LEGENDS - Classic
THE IKE REILLY ASSASSINATION - Junkie Faithful
THE BOREDOMS - Seadrum/House of Sun [Two tracks long: The former track is a stunning percussive marvel and among the most exciting works of the latter-period Boredoms, while the second droning track is... not so much.]
THE FALL OF TROY - Doppleganger [Pretty damn good for latter-day screamo; for the most part, it avoids the whininess that plagues many bands in favor of melodic aggression. Besides, any band that titles a track 'Whacko Jacko Steals the Elephant Man's Bones' has to be worth a listen, right?]

6

GIANT DRAG - Hearts and Unicorns [Yeah, these guys aren't bad, but for some reason I just can't fully get into this. Blind spot, I guess.]
NINE INCH NAILS - With Teeth
FANTOMAS - Suspended Animation
NORMA JEAN - O God, the Aftermath
BULLET TRAIN TO VEGAS - We Put Scissors Where Our Mouths Are
THE PLOT TO BLOW UP THE EIFFEL TOWER - Love in the Fascist Brothel

5

VARIOUS - We Reach: The Music of the Melvins
ORTHRELM - OV
EELS - Blinking Lights and Other Revelations

PENDING

BLOC PARTY - Silent Alarm
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN - Devils and Dust
COCOROSIE - Noah's Ark
FELT - Felt 2: A Tribute to Lisa Bonet
LITTLE BROTHER - The Minstrel Show
PANIC! AT THE DISCO - A Fever You Can't Sweat Out
SAM PREKOP - Who's Your New Professor
TEST ICICLES - For Screening Purposes Only