2005 in Review

A year has gone by, and here’s where I make another attempt to try and remember enough of it to put together a recap. Here goes…

Live Shows

I made it out to 45 shows this year, a few less than last year. I must be getting old. My top ten, in no particular order, are as follows:

Devo, 8/23/05 at Coors Amphitheater
New Pornographers, 10/3/05 at the Gothic Theatre
The Soundtrack of Our Lives, 3/31/05 at the Bluebird Theatre
John Cale, 10/30/05 at the Bluebird Theatre
Von Bondies/The Moaners, 8/3/05 at the Larimer Lounge
Mission of Burma, 7/16/05 at the Ogden Theatre
Futureheads, 6/13/05 at the Bluebird Theatre
Gang of Four, 10/15/05 at the Gothic Theatre
Elvis Costello & the Imposters, 3/19/05 at the Fillmore
Secret Machines, 2/11/05 at Fox Theatre

New Music

Despite my continuing cash flow problems, I managed to pick up the occasional new release. Again, my top ten:

Brendan Benson The Alternative to Love - A terrific serving of Benson’s singsong pop tunes, if not the instant classic that his last release Lapalco was.

New Pornographers Twin Cinema – More pop bliss from this Canadian “supergroup.” They might need to give up their day jobs.

The Soundtrack of Our Lives Origin, Vol. 1 – Quite a few “anthems” this time around, another solid release from these Swedes.

The Briefs Steal Yer Heart – No real surprises, just more fun pogo-punk from these Seattle dorks.

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah s/t – Very Talking Heads-esque, very quirky, very good.

The Coral The Invisible Invasion – Another CD of brilliant pop/psych/garage/folk/whatever from these Liverpudlians.

Franz Ferdinand You Could Have It So Much Better – Enough of a change from their first CD to keep things interesting, but enough of the old sound to make things feel familiar.

White Stripes Get Behind Me Satan – I’ve got a disease, and the only cure is….more marimba!

Sleater-Kinney The Woods – They go for a harder sound this time around, the needles are definitely in the red, and it works brilliantly.

The Moaners Dark Snack – Cool primitive garage blues from this female duo, with a real Southern feel.

Reissues and Compilations

I got a few of those as well, these stand out:

VA Children of Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the Second Psychedelic Era 1976-1996 – Not as essential as the first two Nuggets boxes, but an enjoyable 4 CD set chock full of great 60’s influenced tunes.

Stooges s/t and Funhouse – I already have multiple copies of these classics, but I couldn’t resist. Great remastering, liners, and both include a disc of outtakes. If you’ve never picked up these albums before, you have officially run out of excuses – essential proto-punk.

Richard Hell Spurts: The Richard Hell Story – A solid collection featuring selections from all of the bands (Neon Boys, Television, Heartbreakers, Voidoids, Dim Stars) Hell has played with. It won’t replace his classic Blank Generation, but it’s a good place to start if you’re not familiar with Hell’s work.

VA Yellow Pills: Prefill – A Powerful Pop Prescription – Obscure power pop tunes compiled by Jordan Oakes of Yellow Pills fanzine fame.

Ramones Weird Tales of the Ramones – Another one I really didn’t need, but this is their best collection yet. The cool packaging and amazing comic book are a neat bonus.

Sloan A Sides Win: Singles 1992-2005 – A good introduction to this underrated Canadian pop group.

The 101’ers Elgin Avenue Breakdown Revisited – Enjoyable pub rock from Joe Strummer’s pre-Clash group.

Reasons I’m thankful for my DVD player

Kolchak: The Night Stalker – The li’l woman and I have had a blast making our way through episodes of this 1972 TV series. A bit cheesy at times, but that just adds to the fun.

SCTV Volume 3 & Volume 4 – It’s nice to see that this old Canadian cult series had aged pretty well. Funny stuff, hopefully they’ll release the Cinemax season now that they’ve put out the entire NBC run.

Mystery Science Theater 3000 Collection, Volume 7 & Volume 8 – I’m always excited to see more commercially released episodes of my all time favorite TV show. Hopefully Rhino will keep ‘em coming.

TV

The only reasons I haven’t cancelled my cable: The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, and the continued brilliance of South Park keep me shelling out to the crooks at Comcast.

Network TV isn’t well, but it hasn’t died yet: My Name is Earl, Everybody Hates Chris, American Dad, and The Office have made me reverse my long standing rule of “no new TV shows.” And I’m still faithful to old faves The Simpsons, Family Guy, and Malcolm in the Middle.

Movies

Thank goodness for the bargain theater: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Kung Fu Hustle, Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, Sin City, Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire, King Kong, and The 40 Year Old Virgin all went great with overpriced popcorn and a jumbo cola.

Have I rambled enough already? I’m sure I’ve forgotten something…oh well, on to 2006!