2005 In Music, Part 1: A Bloc Party, Anka Swings And Kaisers Rocks

Skipping by the artists I was reasonable sure I wasn't going to like (read: most of the top 50) I had only friends' words of praise or a "sounds like Xxxx mixed with Yxxx" sticker on the CD to go by. The new buys, combined with a couple of discs I had picked up earlier in the year, make up 8 cd's towards a year's top ten. Of course I am sure I'll fine at least 20 "top ten" CDs by the end of the year and it's possible that some of these will be knocked down to the "second division."

However, I am rarely organized enough to even have a top 10 list, much less a top 20, getting bumped from the top 10 is essentially getting removed from the face of my personal audio planet at least as far as publication goes. Also, how much I like the albums on my list in relation to the other discs on my list changes from day to day, so you're getting an alphabetized list. Deal.

NB: Upon reading this piece, some of you might feel compelled to say: "This band is a rip off of: Joy Division/Blur/The Jam/Damned (all bands I love, BTW), etc. Well, I would like to invite you all to come on over and have a big, fat helping of SHUT THE FUCK UP. Music (and all art, for that matter) is, by and large, derivative of, and my that I mean "influenced by," other artists . Yes, there are Louis XIV songs that scream T-Rex and there are Bloc Party cuts that one might say channel Joy Division. Do you think Psychedelic Furs or The Cure would exists without Bowie? Hell, The Clash cited Sinatra as a major influence. And if you're still snotty about them, then piss off back to you incomprehensible pablum of Coldplay, why don't you?

Paul Anka, Rock Swings (For my UK Readers: Rock Swings)

No, I am not kidding. Anka, the Ottawa, Canada-native who wrote and sung "Diana," about a boy's love of an older woman, when he was 16 and who penned "My Way" for Sinatra and "The Tonight Show Theme" for Johnny Carson (among many many other classics) now brings us this collection of relatively modern rock and roll songs set to swing time with a 17-piece backing band. His versions of The Cure's "Love Cats," Spandau Ballet's "True" and "Wonderwall" by Oasis are well done and good enough on their own, but the real knock down, drag-out winners in this collection are his Big Swingin' take on Bon Jovi's "It's My Life" ("It's...my...life, my heart's an open highway, Frank said it, I did it My Way...") and Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit." And lest you cry "Pat Boone," you must understand: Rock Swings is no novelty record and Anka is a serious musician, not a washed-up, right-wing, poseur hack.

Antony and the Johnsons, I Am a Bird Now (For my UK readers: I Am a Bird Now)

Discussing Antony, Laurie Anderson once said “When Antony sings, it is the most exquisite thing you will hear in your life." While seemingly a classic bit of hyperbole, it's not as far out of the park as you might think. Antony has the kind of warbling soprano with the built in tremelo that stimulates tear ducts sonically. You're not sure why you feel like crying, but the feeling is not unlike finding a perfectly prepared tapestry in a hidden corner of a rarely-visited 15th century Abruzzi church or, to put it in less artsy fartsy terms, watching your lover sleep. Unless you're one of these people who needs heavy bass lines and crunching guitars in your music to feel like a "man," give A & the J's a shot. Guests on this CD include Boy George and Rufus Wainwright. Yes. It's very very gay. You can handle it, I am sure.

Bloc Party, Silent Alarm (For my UK readers: Silent Alarm)

Yet another of the bands who have been simultaneously praised and derided as being spawned by the Strokes' retro success, Bloc Party might just prove to be the best of this year's "discoveries." A multi-ethnic foursome, Bloc Party physically resembles the band that might have come out of the unparalleled diversity of my high school (NYC's United Nations International School) with a black lead singer, Asian drummer and Caucasian ax-men. They almost resemble Damon Albarn's Gorillaz come to life. BP wear their influences proudly, with lead singer Kele Okereke alternately invoking the spirit of Ian Curtis (but MUCH less obviously than Interpol), Robert Smith, Paul Weller and Albarn. What separates BP (and Kaiser Chiefs) from some of their contemporaries from the past few years is their song writing. Lyrical, complex, rocking, danceable...they make for a classic collection that is even more extraordinary as a live band. "Like Eating Glass" is one of the best cd openers of recent years with Okereke's plaintive wailing and Matt Tong's staccato drumming serving as a high-energy into to their world. Song of the CD: "This Modern Love." If you've ever been Duckie, "Modern Love" will break your heart:

"What are you holding out for?
What's always in the way?
Why so damn absent-minded?
Why so scared of romance?

This modern love breaks me
This modern love wastes me"

Oh hell, why not listen to it here:

Then go buy the CD!

Kaiser Chiefs, Employment, (For my UK readers: Employment)

Probably my second favorite CD of the year, Employment is a big ball of Leeds fun and Leeds energy. Guess where they're from? First single "I Predict a Riot" is a catchy and dead-serious warning about the state of Britain. Not exactly what you'd expect a band to release as their first US single, but did I mention it's catchy? Kaiser Chiefs (so named after a famed South African football team) mix 70's, 80's and "now" sounds to create one of the albums that is keeping the Blur/Pulp/Oasis Britpop movement alive and screaming. Their first UK (and second US) single "Oh My God" is a deft mix of an XTC-style melody and an angry young man chorus. Even a little Nick Cave ("Time Honoured Tradition") sneaks in. Yeah, sure there are Clash bits and Elvis Costello bits and Blur bits, but that's ok. Maybe the Clash's influences weren't as obvious, but they were helping to create and entirely new form of rock and roll. If you expect your new bands to create entirely new movements every few years you're going to go a long time before you can be happy with a new cd.

Next time - Part II including: Louis XIV, The Ravonettes and Mary Gauthier.