Is 2005 turning out to be a good year for music?

I can't recall a recent year in which so many solid albums have been released (or will be soon) at this point in the year.

Mountain Goats
The Decemberists
British Sea Power
The Evens
Queens of the Stone Age
Soundtrack of Our Lives
Dead Meadow
Bloc Party
Stars
Josh Rouse
The Frames
Iron & Wine
LCD Soundsystem
M83
Kaiser Chiefs


Still to come:
Spoon
Sleater-Kinney
Eels
Caesars
Raveonettes
The Coral
White Stripes

What about 1978?

No high hopes for New Order? Their last one was great.

The new Nine Inch Nails????????

Originally posted by Bags:
No high hopes for New Order? Their last one was great.

hasnt it been out for a while?

Originally posted by pollardteam2:

Originally posted by Bags:
No high hopes for New Order? Their last one was great.

hasnt it been out for a while?

Maybe illegal bootlegs were floating, but the album was released today.

http://neworderonline.com/

PS, you can preview the whole album at that site.

Originally posted by Bags:
No high hopes for New Order? Their last one was great.

I just picked it up & am very happy.

Only a couple songs in but I like the continuation of the heavier guitars they used throughout Get Ready. Track 2 - Hey Now - belongs on a New Order best of.

They are gonna be a Coachella highlight.

Overall - the year isn't jumping out at me as being overly brilliant. That said - if you work hard enough I think you can find treasure throughout most years.

For me, these are miles above anything else I've heard:
Dead Meadow ~ Feathers
Bloc Party ~ Silent Alarm

I agree with Grotty. There have been some albums with some great songs (QOTSA, Soundtrack of our Lives, Kaiser Chiefs), but I found each of those to have some pretty weak points as well. Enough to make them not great albums for me.

I love the Decemberists album and am really enjoying Bloc Party. I haven't heard British Sea Power (I liked but didn't love their last album), The Frames or The Evens – all of which I could really like.

I have high hopes for Foo Fighters, Spoon and Sleater-Kinney.

Don't forget Low's new CD, The Great Destroyer.

I've heard good things about the new Caesars CD, and the new S-K is sounding pretty good.

the new British Sea Power is good, but not as good as their last one

I am finding a lot more albums to enjoy this year than last, and that is while buying a lot fewer albums in general.

My list of top albums this year would include:

Dead Meadow
Clem Snide - End of Love
Of Montreal - The Sunlandic Twins
National - Alligator
Decemberists
Antony and the Johnsons
Josh Rouse
Mountain Goats
maybe Wedding Present
and if ever arrives, probably Okkervil River

Originally posted by brennser:
the new British Sea Power is good, but not as good as their last one

Hi brennser - I agree. I've listened heavily and it's just not taking.

pt2 - The new National is another one that is sure to be on my year-end best of. I just need a little more time with it. They are at the top of my Must See list this year

Ok…so I'm much deeper into the new New Order. It's declining fast. Lots of cheeze in the middle. Looks like I'll just need to pull the few good songs to put on my super nitro new order mix tape.

Originally posted by The Artist Formerly Known As grotty:
Overall - the year isn't jumping out at me as being overly brilliant. That said - if you work hard enough I think you can find treasure throughout most years.

I wasn't claiming all those albums to be "great." I just think there have been many more above average albums released in the early part of 2005 than previously.

At this time last year there was the Mountain Goats, Franz Ferdinand, Wilco, Air and maybe one or two others I am overlooking.

Steve Malkmus, Beck, Of Montreal, and Brendan Benson are all making solid contributions this year, too…

I would have to say that 2005 is the best since the legendary year of 2002…

Originally posted by ggwâ?¢:

Originally posted by The Artist Formerly Known As grotty:
Overall - the year isn't jumping out at me as being overly brilliant. That said - if you work hard enough I think you can find treasure throughout most years.

I wasn't claiming all those albums to be "great." I just think there have many more above average albums in the early part of 2005 than previously.

At this time last year there was the Mountain Goats, Franz Ferdinand, Wilco, Air and maybe one or two others I am overlooking.

That wasn't a criticism of your list.

More of a statement that I think I'm usually happy most years.

If 2005 gives me list of records like this - my favs from last year - then I'll be satisifed (not sure of release dates - but I'm thinking I had most of these by end of summer):
1 Mark Lanegan ~ Bubblegum
2 TV on the Radio ~ Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes
3 Drive By Truckers ~ The Dirty South
4 Interpol ~ Antics
5 Twilight Singers ~ She Loves You
6 The National ~ Cherry Tree EP
7 Secret Machines ~ Now Here Is Nowhere
8 Will Johnson ~ Vultures Await
9 Jesse Sykes ~ Oh, My Girl
10 Arcade Fire ~ Funeral
11 Icarus Line ~ Penance Soiree

my top 5 of the year….

Chemical Brothers
M83 (was that this year?)
Mike Doughty
Ben Folds
Mercury Rev

Originally posted by JohnnyBaconbitz:
Brendan Benson

Definitely!

And Tegan & Sara is my favorite so far (very tight race with Decemberists, but that T&S album is so catchy I listen to it nearly constantly…)

a leak of the new sufjan stevens Illinois disc is making its way around some of the bit torrent communities, and….its pretty damn good (so, I think its another potential highlight for the list)

One from Broken Social Scene later this year, and then two more next year

Originally posted by buddha:
One from Broken Social Scene later this year, and then two more next year

Doesn't that seem odd to already know and have announced?