My 20 favorite albums of 5764 (parts IX and X)

at long last...

#4 The Libertines - The Libertines


I would by no means call myself the biggest Libertines fan in the world. I wasn't even that huge a fan of Up The Bracket to be perfectly honest. This album, however, is a completely different story. I've listened to constantly over the last few months, and I love it more and more with every play. The most impressive part for me is the range and emotion that they show through the 14 songs, despite the fact that all the songs basically have the same sound. You just don't expect these sort of lyrics and melodical complexities to come out of such drunken ramblings. "Last Post on the Bugle" and "Music When The Lights Go Out", are two of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard, though they sound like they are figuratively being vomited onto a bathroom floor. These guys will always be tagged with words like "Potential" and phrases like "What could have been"...But this is it. This is rock music at it's finest...the purest of emotion combined with rawest of talent. We should stop waiting for The Libertines to get their shit together and just appreciate what we got right now...cause I swear, we'll miss it when it's gone.

#3 Muse - Absolution


This band should be ruling the world right now. They should be playing the biggest stadiums in the biggest cities and fighting for causes like world hunger and AIDS. They should be U2. The most triumphant, bombastic, and spectacular band on the planet right now is somehow still playing side stages and night clubs across America. It's amazing. No other album has taken my breath away this year quite like Absolution has. The most impeccable musical timing combined with the greatest guitar and piano licks are what drive this record. Many have compared them to Radiohead, but in mind they have already surpassed them. Every song is simply stunning. From The apocalyptic "Sing for Absolution" to the haunting "Butterflies and Hurricanes", these guys already sound like they are the biggest band in the world. Now with this album as a jump-off, it's really only a matter of time.

#2 Blonde Redhead - Misery is a Butterfly

Blonde Redhead's newest album is a true masterpiece. It may not instantly grab you like many of the albums on this list will. It didn't for me. It's the classic case of the more you listen, the more you hear. It's gotten to the point for me where every time one of these songs come on, my heart just drops and I get sucked in. So much emotion and energy, all contained in such quiet and haunting tunes. It is almost hypnotizing the way the songs slowly roll out and then keep growing, with layer after layer piling on. But then, unlike the oft compared Sonic Youth, there is never that loud and restless release. It all is kept bottled up into what becomes the most frustratingly satisfying music.

#1 Rilo Kiley - More Adventurous


The best album of 5764. Hands down, no debate. If you listen to this record and don't develop a gigantic crush on Jenny Lewis, then I don't know what to say...She's Adorable. Every song just makes me smile. I listened to this every day (literally) for the first three weeks after I got this, and never even came close to getting sick of it. From the first track to the last, from the lyrics to the music to just the general mood, it's just perfect. One could not ask for anything more from a record.

Thats it! It's late and I'm going to bed. I hope you enjoyed the list.

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