Best Albums of 2005

I'm very proud of my collection of friends. Unlike most people, whose prerequisite for a friend is that the person be as similar to them as possible, I have an extremely diverse group of friends. Each one of my friends is an expert in one or more areas that interest me. They're like the A-Team or the Mission: Impossible team. I need to (and will) spend more posts referencing their expertise and sharing it with my loyal readers.

What spurs me to do so is one of Chris Smith's latest posts. Among several other things, Chris is an expert when it comes to music. The dude knows every single band, singer, songwriter, etc. I mean it - he really does know everything that's out there, usually long before the rest of us ever do. This is no real revelation to those of you who know him. Anyway, every year, Chris lists the "Best of" in music for that year. It's usually stuff I've never heard of. Luckily, I'm on the short list for a mix CD of said music.

With no permission, here is Chris Smith's "BEST ALBUMS OF 2005"

________________________________________________

separation sunday -the hold steadys
devils and dust -bruce springsteen
black sheep boy -the okkervil river
i'm wide awake, it's morning -bright eyes
apologies to the queen mary -wolf parade
andrew bird & the mysterious production of eggs -andrew bird
illinois -sufjan stevens
the great destroyer -low
transistor radio -m. ward
x&y -coldplay
spelled in bones -the fruit bats
songs for silverman -ben folds
plans -death cab for cutie
z -my morning jacket
gimme fiction -spoon
twin cinema -new pornographers
clap your hands and say yeah -clap your hands and say yeah
where you live -tracy chapman
the magic numbers -the magic numbers
picaresque -the decemberists

neil diamond's 12 songs was also great. there was a lot of great stuff this year. guero by beck. prarie wind by neil young. lesser knowns like songs of green pheasant and jeff hanson. this was a good year.
_______________________________________________