UPBEAT 2005

Alright, so after two months or so of hammering these things out piece by piece in my increasingly hard-to-come-by spare time, I am very happy to report that I have finished my annual Upbeat/Downbeat best-of-the-year mix CDs. I'll be passing them out soon.

If you want a copies, let me know and I'll send 'em your way.

I've posted the liner notes - - complete with links to more info - - below for your reading pleasure. I'll try to get some notes up for this year's BonusBeat sometime soon. Enjoy!



1. “Multiply” – Jamie Lidell (Multiply) After you’re finished marveling at the honey-sweet soul groove of this song, take note of its pop perfection. How this album flew under the radar while R. Kelly’s horrific 5-part R&B soap opera, “Trapped in a Closet,” sold millions is an enigma for the ages. Lidell is white and British, but sounds at turns like Sam Cooke and Prince. I’m impressed.

Lyric: “I’m so tired of repeating myself (beating myself up), gonna take a trip and multiply, at least go under with a smile.”

Lidell's site

2. “Banquet”*** – Bloc Party (Silent Alarm) This song makes me feel like I’m being chased. Or like I’m having a seizure. Or like I’m being chased while having a seizure. To me, this song encapsulates Upbeat.

Lyric: “Turning away from the light, becoming adult, turning into my soul.”

Bloc Party's Official site
Bloc Party fan site with several mp3 downloads

3. “Shine a Light” – Wolf Parade (Apologies to the Queen Mary) Inexplicably, a lot of “wolf” artists emerged in 2005 (this band, Sea Wolf, Wolf Eyes, Tiger Bear Wolf, Peanut Butter Wolf, the Will Oldham side project, Superwolf, and on and on . . . I’m not making this up). With the possible exception of the Will Oldham album, this is the only one you should concern yourself with. Debut album of the year.

Lyric: “You know our hearts beat time out very slowly/ You know our hearts beat time; they are waiting for something that will never arrive.”

Wolf Parade's Sub Pop Records site
Wolf Parade's Myspace page

4.“Black Tambourine” – Beck (Guero) I remember when I first heard Beck’s “Loser” on the radio in 1994, I sat in my car until it was over even though I was already home. I thought I was listening to the future of music. Twelve years and as many albums later, Beck’s music still manages to sound like something from space.

Lyric: “I know there’s something wrong/ Might take a fire to kill it/ Might take a hurricane/ Don’t know the life that I’m leavin.”

Beck's fantastically designed Official site
Beck's in-depth Wikipedia page

5. “Down in the Valley” – The Brokedown (Dutchman’s Gold EP) A band from LA that doesn’t sound like they wear leather jeans and/or have Slash as a member.

Lyric: “Sundown on the horizon, now it feels alright/ No one fears the darkness down in the valley tonight.”

The Brokedown's Official site
The Brokedown's Myspace site

6. “Rough Justice” – The Rolling Stones (A Bigger Bang) This song sounds like something off of Sticky Fingers, one of the best rock and roll albums ever. There is a weird double standard that applies to iconic rock bands that revisit past styles. They’re written off de facto as rehash. And yet, if an artist that is often compared to that band writes a song in the same style, they’re instant critical darlings. In other words, let’s say this was a Drive By Truckers song. People would flip out over it. The point is this - - Mick Jagger is 62 years old and he still writes songs this good. SIXTY-TWO.

Lyric: “The first time I saw you baby, you was springin like a young gazelle/ The next thing you know, way down the road, you’re flyin like a bat out of hell.”

The Stone's Official site
The Stone's Wikipedia page

7. “Since U Been Gone” – Kelly Clarkson (Breakaway) This song was written by the same dude who wrote “I Want it That Way” and “Oops I Did it Again.” Seriously. He’s a Swedish genius named Max Martin, and he must have access to some strange magic that works like cocaine for the ears. Those other songs he wrote are nice in their thick, cherry syrup sweetness, but this is different. This song kicks ass. To my thinking, one can only attribute that to Ms. Clarkson, who screams the pissed-off chorus with lung-collapsing fervor.

Lyric: “And all you’d ever hear me say, is how I picture me with you/ that’s all you’d ever hear me say, but since you been gone, I can breathe for the first time. I’m so moving on.”

Kelly Clarkson's Official site
See video of indie rock critic's darling, Ted Leo, covering Since U Been Gone

8. “Put it Out For Good” – Amy Ray (Prom) I am convinced that the geniuses, lunatics, losers, and laureates of America are created not in our colleges, but our high schools. These are the formative years. These are the years we battle in the trenches of the cruelest and most exhilarating sociological dynamic we’ll ever encounter. Ray, despite her penchant for cloying, semi-militant lesbian activism, here pegs that dynamic flawlessly. An anthem for anyone who’s ever been disenfranchised or misunderstood.

Lyric: “Alright I hear what you’re sayin to me/ Alright, I hear what I just can’t do/ But I got this spark, I got to feed it something/ Or put it out for good.”

Amy Ray's site

9. “What Do You See?” – Jon Hardy & The Public (Observances EP) My friend Jon Hardy’s band used to be called The North Country (you might remember them from Upbeat 2003). He changed the name because he didn’t want to be baggaged with the country music connotation. It is abundantly clear from this mighty and majestic little EP that he’s got much bigger things in mind. The songs on Observances are a leap forward for him in terms of production, song structure, and writing. This is music with gravity and it’s getting noticed. His previous LP, Make Me Like Gold, was the subject of a lengthy, glowing review in the national music magazine, No Depression. Go to jonhardy.com for more music and more info.

Lyric: “What do you see in the crooked hills? where the river spills? where you drank your fill?”

Jon Hardy's site
Jon Hardy & The Public's bio, written by yours truly
Jon Hardy's Myspace site

10. “Easy Plateau”- Ryan Adams & The Cardinals (Cold Roses) I’ve ranted in past years about Adams’ absurd propensity for releasing way too much music. Though this song comes from a double album that was one of THREE full-length records Adams released this year, I’ll not waste more space ranting, especially when the reality is I keep buying his records anyway. Why? Because he is somehow able to distill his influences (in this case the breezy sway of early Grateful Dead) into their hundred-proof essence. How can I resist?

Lyric: “I want an easy plateau, someplace to rest my head for a little while.”

Ryan Adams site
Listen to an interview with Adams regarding his vast catalog of unreleased material

11. “He Lays in the Reins” – Iron & Wine w/ Calexico (In the Reins EP) Though a scant 7 songs, this mini-album is my record of the year. Herein Calexico provides a lush, latino-flavored feast of layered instrumental backing for Iron & Wine’s whispered high poetry. The results are enthralling. From the opening cymbal crash all the way through to the unexpected Flamenco opera interlude, this gorgeously loping waltz is case in point. ANOTHER bonus disc to anyone who provides me with an accurate translation of the Spanish portion of this song.

Lyric: “One more drink tonight as your grey stallion rests, where he lays in the reins, for all the speed and the strength he gave.”

Iron & Wine's site
Calexico's site
Listen to concerts by both bands as well as one of the two bands combined

12. “I Want it All” – Dios Malos (s/t) Dios Malos (translation: “Bad Gods” in Spanish) used to be called, simply, Dios. The 80s hair metal band, Dio, apparently objected to this name because it was too similar to their own, thus forcing the name change. Dios Malos hail from the same California town as the Beach Boys (Hawthorne). They wear that influence on their sleeves, along with other touchstones from 60s and 70s feel-good rock. This is not deep music, but it’s got a good groove, and that’s the point.

Lyric: “I’m only finding out what it’s all about. I want it all.”

Dios Malos official site
The OTHER (incredibly bizarre) official Dios Malos site (be sure to check out the "virtual dios")
Watch the strange animated video for "I Want it All"


13. “Walt Whitman Bridge” – Marah (If You Didn’t Laugh, You’d Cry) Maybe you’ve never heard of Marah. Their 1998 debut, Let’s Cut the Crap and Hook Up Later On Tonight, and it’s follow-up, 2000’s Kids in Philly, were works of vigorous and breathtaking originality. After a couple of misstep albums, they’re back in fine form with If You Didn’t Laugh. One of the best live bands I’ve ever seen.


Lyric: “Far away from these winter streets, on a cloudless day, your memory blows away.”

Marah's site
Listen to Marah live on World Cafe

14. “History of Lovers” – Iron & Wine w/ Calexico (In the Reins EP)

The part at 1:30 where the horns kick in? Astounding.

Lyric: “Some say they saw in me innocent poetry, some say they’ll never be certain/ But still it’s been written in a history of lovers and given and taken in ink.”

Iron & Wine's site
Calexico's site
Listen to concerts by both bands as well as one of the two bands combined

15. “I Found Love” – Styrofoam featuring Sarah Shannon (The Now Sound Redesigned) This album is a collection of dramatic electronic retools of songs by the glossy, “free to be you and me”-style 70s pop band, The Free Design. Its sound, something like Radiohead meets Burt Bacharach, is gloriously compelling. Man, I don’t know where I find this stuff.

Lyric: “I found sunlight, flowers, soft, soft showers/ I can feel my heart touch my Adam’s apple”
Styrofoam's site
Sarah Shannon's site
The Free Design's site
Album website

16. “Ladyflash” – The Go! Team (Thunder, Lightening, Strike) I don’t know how to even begin describing this band. There are sonic references to Motown, indie rock, old school hip hop, and double-dutch chants. All this aside, the best and simplest way to describe their sound is fun. You might think it’s all a clever cut and paste job utilizing some interesting samples, but you’d be wrong - - it’s almost all played live with real instruments.

Lyric: “We came here to rock the microphone, our aim is to break you down to the bone.”

The Go! Team's site

17. “I Turn My Camera On” – Spoon (Gimme Fiction) This is an endlessly fascinating rock album, and it was difficult to pick just one track. I am new on the Spoon train, but I can tell that I'll be riding it for some time to come.

Lyric: “I turn my camera on, I cut my fingers on the way, I feel me slippin away”

Spoon's site

18. “Chris Mills is Living the Dream” – Chris Mills (The Wall to Wall Sessions) Mills’ special genius as a songwriter has been overlooked for years, and unfortunately this year is no different. A song about the inherent pain involved in the creative act, its startling opening lines reference an incident in which a tormented Richard Pryor doused himself in cognac and lit himself on fire while freebasing cocaine (read more here).

Lyric: “Oh I dreamed I was Richard Pryor, running on fire down the sunset strip/ And as the flames burned brighter, my head grew lighter and I watched the flesh fall from my fingertips/ Ashes to ashes, trust to dust, I don’t know what it means to be burned by something that you love so much. I think I must be living a dream.”

Chris Mills' site

19. “Fix You” – Coldplay (X&Y) Though not nearly as gripping as Coldplay’s previous albums, X&Y has its moments. For instance, the moment at 2:35 where the guitar and drums bust the whole thing open - - one of the most exhilarating things I heard all year.

Lyric: “Lights will guide you home, and ignite your bones, and I will try to fix you.”

Coldplay's site

20. “Thin Blue Flame” – Josh Ritter (joshritter.com) Ritter began performing this song on tour early in 2005. The clamor among his fans to make it available was so great that he offered it as a free download on his website, even though the album this song will eventually appear on won’t be released until well into 2006 (The Animal Years, due April 11th). A slow-building, but frenetic stream-of-consciousness diatribe that seems to be about a man wrestling with God. Reminiscent of Wilco’s “Misunderstood.”

Lyric: There are so many remarkably beautiful turns-of-phrase in this song, but this one may be favorite lyric of the year - - “A run of three sisters and a flush of the land, and the lake was a diamond in the valley’s hand.”

Josh Ritter's site
Josh Ritter's Myspace site