The Countdown To Our Absolute Favorites of 2005
by Tim and Joe Anderl

Tim Anderl's Picks:

Top Ten Albums of 2005 (In no particular order):
Bob Dylan -- No Direction Home
Sufjan Stevens -- Come On Feel the Illinois
Shout Out Louds – Howl Howl Gaff Gaff
Stars -- Set Yourself On Fire
Black Mountain – Black Mountain
Thunderbirds Are Now! – Justamustache
Southeast Engine – Coming To Terms With Gravity
Bloc Party – Silent Alarm
Dalek – Absence
Death Cab For Cutie – Plans

(Writer’s Note: Not sure all these came out in 2005 proper. That doesn’t change the fact that these were my favorites this year.)

Honorable Mentions of 2005 (In no particular order):
Wolf Parade – Apologies To The Queen Mary
Calla – Collisions
Neon Blonde – Chandeliers in the Savannah
Rogue Wave – Descended Like Vultures
Motion City Soundtrack – Commit This To Memory
Art Brut – Bang Bang Rock & Roll
Depeche Mode – Playing The Angel
Back From Iraq – Takes A Nation of Civilians
Genghis Tron – Cloak of Love EP
Pelican – The Fire In Our Throats Will Beckon The Thaw
Sigur Ros -- Takk
Broken Social Scene -- Broken Social Scene

My Best Moments in Live Rock 2005:
Joe Anderl and The Universal Walkers, The Arch Villians, Southeast Engine, Owen, Troubled Hubble and The Wrens at Lobsterfest (sponsored by ACRN in Athens)
Joe Anderl and the Universal Walkers, Southeast Engine, and Head of Femur at The Union
Green Day, Number One Fan at E.J. Nutter Center
Thrice, My Chemical Romance, Valient Thorr, Motion City Soundtrack, and Paramore at The Warped Tour at Riverbend Music Center
Tom Petty, The Black Crowes at Riverbend Music Center
Twelve Tribes and Murder Your Darlings at Elbo’s The Bar
Death From Above 1979 at Little Brother’s
Kill Me Tomorrow and Pretty Girls Make Graves at Little Brother’s
John Chinn, Tom Foolery and The Mistakes, Joe Anderl and The Universal Walkers, and Southeast Engine at Little Brother’s
The Dayton Music Fest (featuring Enon, Swearing At Motorists, Shrug, The American Static, The 8-Bit Revival, etc.)
The Walkmen, Thunderbirds Are Now! and Mouth of the Architect on the OSU lawn
The Villains and Kenoma at Elbo’s
The Apes and Modey Lemon at Elbo’s
Human Reunion at Elbo’s
Freedom, Drones and Torche at High Five
Lop Sang, The Sherpa at Dayton house show

Most Intense Performance of 2005:
Valient Thorr at The Warped Tour and Torche at High Five (tie)

Favorite Dayton Venue of 2005:
Elbo’s The Bar, The Trolley Stop

Favorite Non-Dayton Venue of 2005:
The Union (Athens, Ohio)

Best Labels of 2005:
Bettawreckonize Media, Skin Graft, Merge, Jagjaguar

Biggest Comebacks of 2005:
Bauhaus, Echo And The Bunnymen, Depeche Mode, Nine Inch Nails, Cyndi Lauper

Comebacks I’d Like To See in 2006:
The Jesus And Mary Chain, The Smiths, Chameleons UK

Favorite Webzine (after this one) of 2005:
Red Is All The Rage, Tiny Mix Tapes, Delusions of Adequacy, Splendid Magazine

Biggest Train Wrecks of 2005:
Sharon Osbourne
Brandon Flowers
Pete Doherty
Scott Stapp
Bettawreckonize.com

My Biggest Disappointments of 2005:
Deaths: Kari Rosenberg (artist), John Peel, Robert Moog, Mana "China" Nishiura, Richard Pryor

Top 4 Most Disappointing Albums:
Anberlin – Never Take Friendship Personal
Pitty Sing – Pity Sing
Sun Kill Moon – Tiny Cities (Counts For Two)
Gratitude – Self-Titled

Who I predict will be blowing up in 2006:
Copeland, Underoath, Paramore, Thunderbirds Are Now!, Shout Out Louds, Calla, Motion City Soundtrack, Black Mountain, Yellow Swans, Primes, Neon Blonde, Stars, Human Reunion, Devendra Banhart, Drones, Brainbow, Unicorn Magic, and White Light White Dudes, Jenny Lewis, Mastodon, Let Go, The Story Changes, Romance of Young Tigers, Broken Social Scene, Feist, Jesu

Looking Forward To New Albums By in 2006:
Built To Spill, The Buzzcocks, Islands, The Lemonheads, Morrissey, Sonic Youth, The Afghan Whigs Anthology, Twilight Singers, The Arcade Fire, Joe Anderl and the Universal Walkers, Taking Back Sunday, Jenny Lewis, Amy Millan, AFI, Radiohead, The Pixies, The Blood Brothers, Planes Mistaken For Stars, Mastodon, The Wrens, Brand New, The Bronx, Thursday, The Kyle Sowashes, Lop Sang The Sherpa

Top Five Hottest Female Musicians of 2005:
Jenny Lewis (Rilo Kiley, Jenny Lewis)
Becky Rhodes (Bipolar Bear)
Andrea Zollo (PGMG)
Amy Millan (Stars)
Bebban Stenborg (Shout Out Louds)

Top Ten Sexiest Male Musicians of 2005:
Dan Rizer (Back From Iraq)
Jayro Stikeleather (Romance Of Young Tigers)
Joe Anderl (Joe Anderl and The Universal Walkers)
Leo Deluca (Southeast Engine)
Chris Worth (Brainbow)
Kevin Schindel (Twelve Tribes)
Jason Watkins (Mouth Of The Architect)
Joe Somar (The Fugue)
Tim Krug (Human Reunion)
Kyle Sowash (The Kyle Sowashes)

Most Anticipated Tour of 2006:
Mogwai with Growing and Torche
Sigur Ros

Joe Anderl's Picks:

Absolute Favorites of 2005:
Sufjan Stevens - Come On Feel the Illinois
Stars - Set Yourself On Fire
Death Cab For Cutie – Plans
Richard Buckner – Dents and Shells
Shrug – Whole Hog for The Macho Jesus
Southeast Engine – Coming To Terms With Gravity
Magnolia Electric Company – What Comes After The Blues?
Lucero – Nobody’s Darlings
The Decemberists – Picaresque
Andrew Bird – The Mysterious Production of Eggs
Crooked Fingers – Dignity and Shame
M Ward – Transistor Radio
Bonnie Prince Billy and Matt Sweeney – Superwolf

(Writer’s Note: Not sure all these came out in 2005 proper. That doesn’t change the fact that these were my favorites this year.)

Honorable Mentions of 2005 (In no particular order):
Iron and Wine – Woman King and the split with Calexico, Ryan Adams – Cold Roses and Jacksonville City Nights, Shearwater, The Pinetop Seven, Rosie Thomas, Tiara, and The Story Changes

My Best Moments in Live Rock 2005:
Owen and The Wrens at Lobsterfest (sponsored by ACRN in Athens)
Southeast Engine CD Release Party at The Union
Green Day, Number One Fan at E.J. Nutter Center
Jason Anderson with 8 Bit Revival at Elbo’s The Bar
Tom Petty, The Black Crowes at Riverbend Music Center
Elvis Costello and Emmylou Harris at Fraze Pavillion
John Chinn, Tom Foolery and The Mistakes, and Southeast Engine at Little Brother’s
The Dayton Music Fest (featuring Enon, Swearing At Motorists, Shrug, The American Static, The 8-Bit Revival, etc.)
Dave Doughman at Gem City Records
Chris McCoy at The Century Bar
M Ward at Little Brother’s
Flyaway Minion covering Tom Petty at Canal Street
Tod Weidner at a private corporate party
The Walkmen / Thunderbirds Are Now! at Ohio State University
Denison Whitmer at Gem City Records

Most Intense Performance of 2005:
Jason Anderson on the front porch of Elbo’s

Favorite Dayton Venue of 2005:
Elbo’s The Bar, The Trolley Stop
Favorite Non-Dayton Venue of 2005:
The Union (Athens, Ohio), Andyman’s Tree House (Columbus, Ohio), Friendship Village (Columbus, Ohio)

Best Labels of 2005:
Merge Records, Secretly Canadian

Biggest Comebacks of 2004:
Depeche Mode

Best Break-ups of 2005:
GBV (Executed with extreme class – burned out rather than faded away)

Favorite Webzine (after this one) of 2005:
Red Is All The Rage, Pitchfork Media, Splendid Magazine, Athens Musician Network, Sponic (RIP), Donewaiting

Biggest Train Wrecks of 2005:
Half of Dayton

My Biggest Disappointments of 2005:
Break ups:
GBV

Deaths:
Kari Rosenberg

Who I predict will be blowing up in 2006:
Every year I answer this question honestly and none of them blow up so I will leave it alone

Looking Forward To New Albums By in 2006:
The Lemonheads, Twilight Singers, The Arcade Fire, Joe Anderl and the Universal Walkers, The Kyle Sowashes, Sufjan Stevens, Denison Whitmer, Anything from Spiritualized

Most Anticipated Tour of 2006:
Hopefully a Spiritualized Tour and Richard Buckner coming back through town.