Those that did not survive, we salute you anyway!
These are songs from the longlist that did not make the final cut of the official 2005 in Music CD. The final list will be posted soonish. As always, these are songs that I first heard this year, they don't have to be released in 2005 to make into my 2005 compliation.
Arcade Fire - Neighbourhood #3 (Power Out)
Apparently the video for this is awesome, with animals escaping from a zoo, but I haven’t seen it. My musical vocabulary is far too limited to describe all of the great bits about this song. Possibly the multi layered sound, the way that the strings build up in a screeching crescendo at 3:03, or the driving bass underneath it. You can dance to it.
Belle and Sebastian - She’s Losing it
Belle and Sebastian, eh? Scotland’s greatest band according to “The List” in a poll of complete nonsense. This is as typically breezy and carefree a song as anything B&S have written - I’d love to live in their world for a bit, where even a breakdown of sorts can sound so dreamy and relaxed.
The Bravery - Public Service Announcement
The Bravery were really interesting when I first heard them, but they’ve become irrelevant very quickly, much like a lot of modern music. An Honest Mistake was a decent single, and a good attention grabber, but this, with it’s chorus of “stop, drop and roll” is the best song on their album. The drum beat and silly backing vocals are the most appealing thing about this song, if the main vocals do grate.
Foo Fighters - Best of you
This is a very, very good song. It was the last song to be cut from the final list, only on space. It’s just a rip roaring song that seems to be the release of a lot of pent up emo, probably a sequel of sorts to Mr Brightside. It descends into a well organised drumming shambles that fits the mood of the song really well. I reckon it’s about moving on from a long term relationship, but it’s curious to see how “the best of me/you” can be tackled by The Foos, The Darkness and Sophie Ellis Bextor
Hell is for Heroes - Models for the Programme
This is vintage HifH, and makes a good bridge from the first album to the second. The video has a Chinese dragon dancing around in it, but I’ll save more discussion for HifH for the final cut review, to be released soon.
John Williams - Grevious Speaks to Lord Sidious
This is a really strong operatic and orchestral piece, which is totally bizarre to find it in a part of the film where… the General wheezes out of his ship and speaks to his master. The music is far more dramatic than the event it soundtracks, but it’s a good, sweeping showcase of the John Williams sound. The frenetic opening is great, as is the choir that comes in just before the minute mark.
Johnny Cash - Hurt
Johnny Cash has an amazing voice. When I first heard him last year it blew my metaphorical socks off. This song is so musically simple, but so beautiful. The hammering of the piano at the end is just so emotive. Much will be made of this being his last song, and the song of a dying man, but it gains so much when you’re aware of it in this way. As a reflection on a life lived and about to end, it’s unparalleled, and so unbelievably saddening
Kelly Clarkson - Since You’ve Been Gone
Aka the Bette Midler Song. I will never sing anything but the lyrics that Forces of Midler adapted. This is one of my few happy memories of a horrible summer in Camp Kinder Ring. As a song it’s not that great, but it means something to me. Namely endless rehearsals in hot and stuffy theatres before the kids bottled it on the big night and lost us the Maccabean games…But it’s a funny song.
LCD Soundsystem - Tribulations
Picked up from Flarewearer on the sinner it’s a decent song that got a lot of airtime, nothing more really…
Mark Leneker - Doctor Who 2005 Orchestral Mix
The new doctor’s theme was a fantastic piece, with a great sense of urgency in the strings; when you saw the TARDIS flying through space to that backing, you could feel the tension, the sense of war in it. There’s a lot of Doctor Who remixes, this is one of the best ones as it a) still sounds like the theme b) isn’t that bad and c) keeps all of the good elements while introducing some other nifty ones.
Muse - Plug in Baby (acoustic)
When you hear this song you wonder why on earth they haven’t made a full on rock out version of it. But they have. This is a fantastic reinterpretation of the song that loses very little in the transition to acoustic; it’s definitely still as vibrant and energetic as the original, with the acoustic restraints perhaps adding even more to the song that the freedom to rock out…
The New Pornographers - Use It
“You have to send a wrecking crew after me, I can’t walk right”. Lyrically a triumph, musically a riot. I can’t actually verbalise why this song is so great, apart from the chorus and the feeling I get from it. And music that makes me feel something will always be worth something. “Two sips from the cup of human kindness and I’m shitfaced”? indeed.
The New Pornographers - Jackie Dressed in Cobras
A very strange song, but since when has strange been a bad thing?
The New Pornographers - The Jessica Numbers
The quality and consistency of the New Pornographers is just fantastic. I was seriously stuck for a song of theirs to put on the main cut as there were too many to pick. This is one of the obvious choices to make the cut as it’s always picked up as a stand out track in reviews. Don’t ask what the Jessica Numbers are.
The New Pornographers - Broken Breads
“Yes there is a war, boys versus girls” Just the New Pornographers luck to be competing against themselves.
Party Ben - Boulevard of Broken Songs
This was played at the Bop and went down like a fart in a spacesuit, but… it is the new industry standard for splicing songs together. I can’t listen to Boulevard of Broken Dreams without lapsing into Wonderwall in the appropriate parts. It’s a very, very good mix of a set of very good songs.
R.E.M. - Academy Fight Song
Much better than the Mission of Burma original, this is the first R.E.M. song that I’ve heard in a long time that has made me really appreciate the band. This has such an energy that saddens me that I never heard it when I was in my phase of only listening to R.E.M.
Servant - The Cells
Aka ‘The song from the Sin City trailer’. The guitar riffing in it is superb, shame that the lyrics are awful. Nice idea for a song though “The cells I am at the moment will soon die. But I will be here.”
Sons & Daughters - Dance Me In
A sister song to Take Me Out, this is alright. A good song, and the best song that Sons and Daughters have, but nothing worth troubling the charts for.
Stereophonics - Dakota
It’s the Stereophonics since their first good song since “Bartender and the Thief”. It’s completely unlike anything I’ve heard from the ‘Phonics, with a lead in that just grabs you. Soon to be found on every compilation for next Father’s Day
Taking Back Sunday - There’s No ‘I’ in team
I bought this album because… the band name sounded good, the album was a feeder song, I was in NYC and I was minted. Some of my musical experiments were astounding successes, others only gave me this gem. Any song that has the couplet ‘Best friends means I pulled the trigger
Best friends means you get what you deserve ‘ gets bonus marks, even if it is factory grade college emo.
Tom McRae - The Girl who falls downstairs
Tom McRae is, by a country mile, the most underappreciated man recording today. This new album is a lot more stripped down than Just Like Blood, but more clearly and sharply produced than the superlative (as in, I do not own a single album better than) debut album. This song is Tom at his fragile best, and shows him setting on a new, more optimistic, songwriting direction.
U. Penn Off the Beat - Landslide
Yes, it’s a cover of Fleetwood Mac. I first heard them do the Goo Goo Dolls’ Iris, which was a very haunting version of the original. This song just seemed more complete and more defined, and is unlike anything I’ve heard before. Also, very sad, in a beautiful way. the a capella really brings on a new dimension of the song. I owe my academic daughter thanks for sending me these.
Arcade Fire - Neighbourhood #3 (Power Out)
Apparently the video for this is awesome, with animals escaping from a zoo, but I haven’t seen it. My musical vocabulary is far too limited to describe all of the great bits about this song. Possibly the multi layered sound, the way that the strings build up in a screeching crescendo at 3:03, or the driving bass underneath it. You can dance to it.
Belle and Sebastian - She’s Losing it
Belle and Sebastian, eh? Scotland’s greatest band according to “The List” in a poll of complete nonsense. This is as typically breezy and carefree a song as anything B&S have written - I’d love to live in their world for a bit, where even a breakdown of sorts can sound so dreamy and relaxed.
The Bravery - Public Service Announcement
The Bravery were really interesting when I first heard them, but they’ve become irrelevant very quickly, much like a lot of modern music. An Honest Mistake was a decent single, and a good attention grabber, but this, with it’s chorus of “stop, drop and roll” is the best song on their album. The drum beat and silly backing vocals are the most appealing thing about this song, if the main vocals do grate.
Foo Fighters - Best of you
This is a very, very good song. It was the last song to be cut from the final list, only on space. It’s just a rip roaring song that seems to be the release of a lot of pent up emo, probably a sequel of sorts to Mr Brightside. It descends into a well organised drumming shambles that fits the mood of the song really well. I reckon it’s about moving on from a long term relationship, but it’s curious to see how “the best of me/you” can be tackled by The Foos, The Darkness and Sophie Ellis Bextor
Hell is for Heroes - Models for the Programme
This is vintage HifH, and makes a good bridge from the first album to the second. The video has a Chinese dragon dancing around in it, but I’ll save more discussion for HifH for the final cut review, to be released soon.
John Williams - Grevious Speaks to Lord Sidious
This is a really strong operatic and orchestral piece, which is totally bizarre to find it in a part of the film where… the General wheezes out of his ship and speaks to his master. The music is far more dramatic than the event it soundtracks, but it’s a good, sweeping showcase of the John Williams sound. The frenetic opening is great, as is the choir that comes in just before the minute mark.
Johnny Cash - Hurt
Johnny Cash has an amazing voice. When I first heard him last year it blew my metaphorical socks off. This song is so musically simple, but so beautiful. The hammering of the piano at the end is just so emotive. Much will be made of this being his last song, and the song of a dying man, but it gains so much when you’re aware of it in this way. As a reflection on a life lived and about to end, it’s unparalleled, and so unbelievably saddening
Kelly Clarkson - Since You’ve Been Gone
Aka the Bette Midler Song. I will never sing anything but the lyrics that Forces of Midler adapted. This is one of my few happy memories of a horrible summer in Camp Kinder Ring. As a song it’s not that great, but it means something to me. Namely endless rehearsals in hot and stuffy theatres before the kids bottled it on the big night and lost us the Maccabean games…But it’s a funny song.
LCD Soundsystem - Tribulations
Picked up from Flarewearer on the sinner it’s a decent song that got a lot of airtime, nothing more really…
Mark Leneker - Doctor Who 2005 Orchestral Mix
The new doctor’s theme was a fantastic piece, with a great sense of urgency in the strings; when you saw the TARDIS flying through space to that backing, you could feel the tension, the sense of war in it. There’s a lot of Doctor Who remixes, this is one of the best ones as it a) still sounds like the theme b) isn’t that bad and c) keeps all of the good elements while introducing some other nifty ones.
Muse - Plug in Baby (acoustic)
When you hear this song you wonder why on earth they haven’t made a full on rock out version of it. But they have. This is a fantastic reinterpretation of the song that loses very little in the transition to acoustic; it’s definitely still as vibrant and energetic as the original, with the acoustic restraints perhaps adding even more to the song that the freedom to rock out…
The New Pornographers - Use It
“You have to send a wrecking crew after me, I can’t walk right”. Lyrically a triumph, musically a riot. I can’t actually verbalise why this song is so great, apart from the chorus and the feeling I get from it. And music that makes me feel something will always be worth something. “Two sips from the cup of human kindness and I’m shitfaced”? indeed.
The New Pornographers - Jackie Dressed in Cobras
A very strange song, but since when has strange been a bad thing?
The New Pornographers - The Jessica Numbers
The quality and consistency of the New Pornographers is just fantastic. I was seriously stuck for a song of theirs to put on the main cut as there were too many to pick. This is one of the obvious choices to make the cut as it’s always picked up as a stand out track in reviews. Don’t ask what the Jessica Numbers are.
The New Pornographers - Broken Breads
“Yes there is a war, boys versus girls” Just the New Pornographers luck to be competing against themselves.
Party Ben - Boulevard of Broken Songs
This was played at the Bop and went down like a fart in a spacesuit, but… it is the new industry standard for splicing songs together. I can’t listen to Boulevard of Broken Dreams without lapsing into Wonderwall in the appropriate parts. It’s a very, very good mix of a set of very good songs.
R.E.M. - Academy Fight Song
Much better than the Mission of Burma original, this is the first R.E.M. song that I’ve heard in a long time that has made me really appreciate the band. This has such an energy that saddens me that I never heard it when I was in my phase of only listening to R.E.M.
Servant - The Cells
Aka ‘The song from the Sin City trailer’. The guitar riffing in it is superb, shame that the lyrics are awful. Nice idea for a song though “The cells I am at the moment will soon die. But I will be here.”
Sons & Daughters - Dance Me In
A sister song to Take Me Out, this is alright. A good song, and the best song that Sons and Daughters have, but nothing worth troubling the charts for.
Stereophonics - Dakota
It’s the Stereophonics since their first good song since “Bartender and the Thief”. It’s completely unlike anything I’ve heard from the ‘Phonics, with a lead in that just grabs you. Soon to be found on every compilation for next Father’s Day
Taking Back Sunday - There’s No ‘I’ in team
I bought this album because… the band name sounded good, the album was a feeder song, I was in NYC and I was minted. Some of my musical experiments were astounding successes, others only gave me this gem. Any song that has the couplet ‘Best friends means I pulled the trigger
Best friends means you get what you deserve ‘ gets bonus marks, even if it is factory grade college emo.
Tom McRae - The Girl who falls downstairs
Tom McRae is, by a country mile, the most underappreciated man recording today. This new album is a lot more stripped down than Just Like Blood, but more clearly and sharply produced than the superlative (as in, I do not own a single album better than) debut album. This song is Tom at his fragile best, and shows him setting on a new, more optimistic, songwriting direction.
U. Penn Off the Beat - Landslide
Yes, it’s a cover of Fleetwood Mac. I first heard them do the Goo Goo Dolls’ Iris, which was a very haunting version of the original. This song just seemed more complete and more defined, and is unlike anything I’ve heard before. Also, very sad, in a beautiful way. the a capella really brings on a new dimension of the song. I owe my academic daughter thanks for sending me these.