2005 in review: music

i had sort of decided to give doing a year-end music review a pass, but i was inspired by mike’s (of franklin avenue) mix of his favorite tracks of the year to do the same. as with his mix, it’s not just music released in 2005, but music new to me in 2005.

1. “hip hopera” from the broken record by twink: every mix needs something interesting to kick it off, and this little song is mixed together from some old children’s records
2. “aqui” from mtv unplugged: la ley by la ley: i suppose i should look up a translation of the lyrics some day, but this song even works without knowing that.
3. “things the grandchildren should know” from blinking lights and other revelations by eels: i’ve been an eels fan for a long time, and i really liked the lyrics to this song.
4. “put it back together” from palookaville by fatboy slim: again, i’ve been a fatboy slim fan for a long time. this is my favorite from his latest album.
5. “in the wee small hours” from astrud gilberto’s finest hour by astrud gilberto: obviously not a new release, but one of my favorite from this greatest hits album.
6. “a change at christmas (say it isn’t so)” from ego tripping at the gates of hell by the flaming lips: not really the flaming lips song i wanted to include (that would be “fight test” from yoshimi battles the hip-hop robots), but this is also an excellent song that actually stands alone.
7. “sleepwalking through the mekong” from dengue fever - ep by dengue fever: “a cambodian pop rock psychedelic dance party” with lyrics in khmer — you have to love it.
8. “tired of being alone” from al green: greatest hits by al green: uh, yeah.
9. “in my life” from kawaipunahele by keali'i reichel: also mike’s fault, and one of those beatles covers i am way too fond of.
10. “the vicodin song” from terra naomi ep by terra naomi: my favorite song by my favorite local musician.
11. “close to my girl” from from detroit to j.a. by the kleptones: i love all of the kleptones mashups, and this is one of my favorite tracks from the latest.
12. “goodnight and go” from speak for yourself by imogen heap: yes, it’s an overlap with mike’s mix. but this really is the best song from a fantastic album.
13. “hotel california (spanish mix)” from ¡volare! - the very best of the gypsy kings by the gypsy kings: a muy bueno version of a classic california song.
14. “groovallegiance” from one nation under a groove by funkadelic: george clinton and his bands is something that has always been over the horizon of my awareness, and i was just blown away by this album (and this song) when i finally picked it up.
15. “dark as a dungeon” from will the circle be unbroken by the nitty gritty dirt band: i wanted some country music, and liked the idea of this meeting of a bunch of dirty hippies from california and some classic nashville musicians — and was not disappointed at all.
16. “everybody loves a loser” from the antidote by morcheeba: i haven’t been a morcheeba fan for that long, but i really like this new album, and this song in particular.
17. “let it be” from beatles regrooved by eros: like i said, i am way too fond of beatles covers. i know i shouldn’t like this one as much as i do, but i do.
18. “humboldt” from grapevine by i see hawks in l.a.: my favorite song by my favorite local band.
19. “revolverlution” from from detroit to j.a. by the kleptones: yes, another mashup from the kleptones makes them the only repeat artist. this mashes together a spoken word piece with some perfectly-matched music, and i think makes a great closer to a mix.

total running time: 1:19:40

if you want a copy of the mix, let me know. no fancy cover for me, and i guess i may only be able to burn seven copies due to the couple of tracks that are fairplay-protected. (unless i deal with stripping that.)