SEPTEMBER 2005 RECOMMENDED ALBUMS
Anders Parker ~ The Wounded Astronaut (Baryon)
Bill Ricchini ~ Tonight I Burn Brightly (Transdreamer)
Bottom Of The Hudson ~ Holiday Machine (Absolutely Kosher)
Death Cab For Cutie ~ Plans (Atlantic)
Fruit Bats ~ Spelled In Bones (Sub Pop)
Gabin ~ Mr. Freedom (Astralwerks)
Idlewild ~ Warnings/promises (Capitol)
John Vanderslice ~ Pixel Revolt (Barsuk)
Knitters ~ The Modern Sounds Of The Knitters (Zoe)
Little Plastic Pilots ~ Little Plastic Pilots (Kanpai)
Magic Numbers ~ The Magic Numbers (EMI UK)
Michael Penn ~ Mr. Hollywood Jr., 1947 (Mimeograph/spinART)
New Pornographers ~ Twin Cinema (Matador)
Orenda Fink ~ Invisible Ones (Saddle Creek)
Teenage Fanclub ~ Man-Made (Merge)
click here to view September Recommendations on iTunes
AUGUST 2005 RECOMMENDED ALBUMS
Benjamin Diamond ~ Out Of Myself (K7)
Bob Mould ~ Body Of Song (Yep Roc)
Concretes ~ Layourbattleaxedown (EMI)
Hockey Night ~ Keep Guessin' (Lookout )
Jim Yoshii Pileup ~ Picks Us Apart (Absolutely Kosher)
Kingsley ~ Kingsley (Blood Orange)
Maria Taylor ~ 11:11 (Saddle Creek)
Marjorie Fair ~ Self Help Serenade (Capitol)
Meat Beat Manifesto ~ At The Center (Thirsty Ear)
Oxford Collapse ~ A Good Ground (Kanine)
Snow & Voices ~ Snow & Voices (Parasol)
Son Volt ~ Okemah And The Melody Of Riot (Sony)
Statistics ~ Often Lie (Jade Tree)
Sufjan Stevens ~ Illinois (Asthmatic Kitty)
Summer Lawns ~ First We Waited Then It Started
(Stunning Models On Display)
White Stripes ~ Get Behind Me Satan (V2)
click here to view August Recommendations on iTunes
JULY 2005 RECOMMENDED ALBUMS
Brian Eno ~ Another Day On Earth (Rykodisc)
Devin Davis ~ Lonely People Of The World Unite (Mousse)
Dixie Dirt ~ Pieces Of The World (www.dixiedirtmusic.com)
Dressy Bessy ~ Electrified (Transdreamer)
Gang Of Four ~ Entertainment (Rhino)
Goldspot ~ Tally Of The Yes Men (Union)
Gorillaz ~ Demon Days (Virgin)
Hold Steady ~ Separation Sunday (Frenchkiss)
Matson Jones ~ Matson Jones (Sympathy For The Record Industry)
Nobody ~ And Everything Else (Plug Research)
Shout Out Louds ~ Howl Howl Gaff Gaff (Capitol)
click here to view July Recommendations on iTunes
JUNE 2005 RECOMMENDED ALBUMS
Aimee Mann ~ The Forgotten Arm (Superego)
Athlete ~ Tourist (Astralwerks)
Bruce Springsteen ~ Devils And Dust (Columbia)
Deathray Davies ~ The Kick And The Snare (Glurp)
Go-Betweens ~ Oceans Apart (Yep Roc )
Mike Doughty ~ Haughty Melodic (ATO)
Richmond Fontaine ~ Post To Wire (Union)
Sleater-Kinney ~ The Woods (Sub Pop)
Smog ~ A River Ain't Too Much Love (Drag City)
Son Volt ~ A Retrospective: 1995-2000 (Rhino)
Spoon ~ Gimme Fiction (Merge)
Vacation ~ Band From World War Zero (Echo)
click here to view June Recommendations on iTunes
MAY 2005 RECOMMENDED ALBUMS
The 22-20s ~ 22-20's (Astralwerks)
Damien Jurado ~ On My Way To Absence (Sub Pop)
The Eels ~ Blinking Lights And Other Revelations (Vagrant)
Heavy Trash ~ Heavy Trash (Yep Roc)
Hot Hot Heat ~ Elevator (Sire)
Husky Rescue ~ Country Falls (Minty Fresh)
The Kills ~ No Wow (Rough Trade)
Magnolia Electric Co ~ What Comes After The Blues (Secretly Canadian)
Micah P. Hinson ~ And The Gospel Of Progress (Sketchbook)
Mountain Goats ~ The Sunset Tree (4ad)
The National ~ Alligator (Beggars Banquet)
The Perishers ~ Let There Be Morning (Nettwerk)
The Ponys ~ Celebration Castle (In The Red)
Ryan Adams ~ Cold Roses (Lost Highway)
Tim Burgess ~ I Believe (PIAS/Koch)
Us3 ~ Questions (Us3)
Various Artists ~ Friends And Lovers:songs Of Bread (Badman)
click here to view May Recommendations on iTunes
APRIL 2005 RECOMMENDED ALBUMS
John Doe ~ Forever Hasn't Happened Yet (Yep Roc )
Kathleen Edwards ~ Back To Me (Zoe)
Nic Armstrong ~ The Greatest White Liar (New West)
Various Artists ~ Verve Remixed 3 (Verve)
Moby ~ Hotel (V2)
Foxymorons ~ Hesitation Eyes (Heatstroke)
M.I.A. ~ Arular (XL)
Bloc Party ~ Silent Alarm (Vice)
Beck ~ Guero (Interscope)
South San Gabriel ~ The Carlton Chronicles: Not Until... (Misra)
Marbles ~ Expo (spinART)
If I would have had any INKLING that indie band Arcade Fire was going to win "Album Of The Year" at the Grammies, I definitely would have watched that silly show. It would have been worth sitting through the many mainstream pop acts just to feel that moment when maybe, just maybe, there was hope that a changing of the guard was not only possible, but imminent. Congratulations to Arcade Fire, manager Scott Rodgers, and most definitely congratulations to Mac McCaughan and Laura Ballance who founded indie label Merge Records in 1989 with a dream that bands could sell records, find an audience and enjoy artistic freedom instead of sacrificing their soul to a major label record contract. You did it.
Arcade Fire "The Suburbs": Amazon :: iTunes
