Top 5’s of 2005
2005 was more ‘the year for music’ than it was for film, at least for me. A year of incredible highs and lows personal wise and definitely the most life changing.
Anyway, I did the lists last year, so here they are again:
Top 5 Albums
1.Bloc Party - Silent Alarm. The most exciting indie rock band of 2005 both in terms of a debut album and live performances. Political, emotional and rockin, this has been the most played album of 2005 in the HooveriTunes.
2.Iron and Wine/Calexico - In the Reins. A perfect collaboration between the laid back vocals of Samuel Beam and Calexico’s musical diversity, In the Reins is the crown of new folk sweeping the world. Brilliant.
3.Bright Eyes - I’m Wide Awake It’s Morning. Comparisons to Bob Dylan are inevitable but you won’t find a rawer compilation of emotions in 2005 than on this record. Probably the 2005 musical equivalent to Elliot Smith’s 2004 A Basement on the Hill. And yeah, speaking of that new folk sound.
4.Beck - Guero (Deluxe Edition). The track ‘Hell Yes’ is now my mobile ring tone because I just love the beats. I nearly broke out in dance on the street while hearing this with my headphones on. The Deluxe edition has some great remixes too (well before they remixed that entire album that is).
5.Sigur Ros - Takk. Sigur Ros are truly one of a kind. While one person hears nothing more than perfect music for their cat, another hears the most inspiring and original music of the year. And if you don’t think Glosoli is the most wonderful and beautiful music videos of 2005, then something is missing inside your soul.
Other Notables: My Morning Jacket - Z, Sufjan Stevens - Illinois, Kaiser Chiefs - Employment, Eels - Blinking Lights and Other Revelations, Ryan Adams - Cold Roses, Gorillaz - Demon Days, Franz Ferdinand - You Could Have It So Much Better, Coldplay - X&Y, Kate Bush - Aerial, Wolfmother - Wolfmother, Anthony and Johnstons - I Am A Bird Now. (Note - I heard The Arcade Fire’s Funeral last year so it doesn’t apply this time around)
Biggest Disappointment: David Gray - Life in Slow Motion. What happened to the genius behind White Ladder?
Most Overrated: Coldplay - X&Y - Yeah I’m a fan of theirs but this album isn’t nearly as good as Parachutes or A Rush of Blood to the Head. This sounds redundant but they should go back to their roots if they want to progress their sound.
Top 5 Movies
1. Grizzly Man - Touching, fascinating and will stay with you long after the credits role. Shame no-one actually saw it.
2. House of Flying Daggers - Despite a few too many false endings, this is still the most visually arresting film of 2005 and IMHO slightly better than Yimou Zhang’s Hero. Story wise it’s not on par with Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon but it’s still amazing viewing. Best seen on the big screen.
3. Shopgirl - A film fall of fallible characters yet so damn interesting to see the choices they make. This one should gain cult status pretty quickly.
4. Dig! - The documentary on the inner workings of two indie bands, the Brian Jonestown Massacre and The Dandy Warhols. What’s most fascinating is how a band can be on the grasp of greatness and then fuck themselves up.
5. Mysterious Skin - The most disturbing film of 2005 in so many ways but also one of the best. A little uneven here and there but definitely not one of those films you’ll forget about anytime soon.
Other Notables: Closer, Million Dollar Baby, Sin City, 40 Year Old Virgin, Sideways (after seeing it again on DVD, I refrain from my 4/4 rating to 3 1/2/4)
Biggest Disappointment: King Kong - We come to expect more from Jacko and co now. Far too long and not nearly as entertaining as I had hoped.
Most Overrated: Me and You and Everyone We Know. Totally self-indulgent Indie wannabe that tries entirely too hard to be quirky.
Top 5 Gigs
1. Bloc Party (20th July, Hifi Bar) - A sold out gig and hundreds of eager fans shocked these british indie rockers so they put on one hellva show. They’re definitely coming back to tour with album number 2. Get excited!
2. Ryan Adams (The Palace, 27th July) - Adams is one crazy monkey but his two hour plus gig was well worth the cash. I’m just not sure he’s all there but that does make for some exciting music.
3. Sigur Ros (Hammer Hall, 3rd August) - Magical is one word I use a lot but it applies.
4. Micah P Hinson (Northcote Social Club, 7th July) - This gig kinda crept under the radar but I was there to witness a raw talent in the making. Incredible.
5. Airbourne (The Evelyn/Beat Xmas Party, 4th December) - If you’re going to see a band like these guys, the Evelyn is the venue to see them. They also rocked at Meredith apparently and the Beat crowd loved them.
Top 5 Watched TV Shows
1. Lost - One of the most original and most interesting shows since perhaps Twin Peaks, at least season 1 was. Season 2 is proving to be a slight letdown but I’m only half way through.
2. Entourage - This show starts on New Years Day in Australia on Arena but I’ve already seen the first two seasons and it’s well worth a look. The writing is razor sharp. All my male friends love it. Not sure what the girls think. Any takers?
3. Scrubs - God bless DVD because there’s no other format to watch a TV series. A perfect blend of comedy and drama, all wrapped up within 23 minutes. Why this didn’t take off in Australia is beyond me.
4. Curb Your Enthusiasm - Larry David’s hilarious series is kinda like Seinfeld except a little cruder and I love it. David wrote most of the best Seinfeld episodes so you know what to expect here.
5. Beauty and the Geek - Another show just about to air on Australian TV from the creative genius that is Ashton Kutcher (consider that the only sentence ever where you’ll see Kutcher and the word ‘genius’ in one). It’s pure reality trash but more “it’s so bad it’s good”. My female friends love this show.
Top 5 Personal Flickr Photo Favourites
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Top 5 Moments
1. Scoring a graduate job & leaving shiftwork. Leaving shiftwork was one of the best feelings of the year but scoring the new job came a close second. And yes I’m still employed!
2. Graduating University. All those hours and hours spent in lecture halls, tutorials, screening rooms and the uni bar finally paid off.
3. Seldom Seen American Seventies Cinema festival. We drank, we watched, we discussed, we drank some more. I think this will be the first of many festivals held at the Hooverpad since it was great to force myself to watch films I never would have seen otherwise.
4. Purchasing my Canon 350D, three lenses and an external flash kit. Now if only I can take a decent picture!
5. Meeting the Melbourne Purple Sneakers crowd. A friendly bunch of people, giving me the opportunity to photograph people having fun. Not such a bad thing.
So there you have it. Another exhaustive ‘best of’ list. As complete as I can do. NYE in Melbourne looking like a very, very hot one (42 degrees Celsius!) so I shall be running the streets naked looking for as many watering holes as possible. Have fun, play safe and here’s to a busy and exciting 2006!
Broken Flowers
Yes I admit, I really wanted this film to make my top 5 for 2005 but unfortunately it doesn’t come close. It’s far too slow, pondering on moments which don’t necessarily need further consideration and even though the ending is designed to be ambiguous, I felt a little let down. By far the most successful aspect of the film is its indefinite nature but it’s also the pictures downfall. I mean, here we have Bill Murray (again channelling his Lost in Translation vibe) going on a road trip visiting various women from past relationships, trying to find out who the mother of his son might be. We never come to understand the nature of these relationships but its fascinating trying to figure that out either by way of body language or what is said (or unsaid in several instances). So essentially, we’re kinda set up on this mystery of sorts even though that’s probably not director Jim Jarmusch’s intentions. It’s not about will he find out or not, it’s about past regrets and coming to terms with them. Even so, when the ending unfolds to an unresolved climax, you feel like you’ve been cheated to some extent.
Xmas Day Recap
Man. Did I eat a lot! I swear the levels of tryptophan in that turkey was near lethal. I nearly passed out for the obligatory xmas nap at the table! I never land the turkey legs either but this year it was my turn and something caveman inside me devoured that leg so fast, everyone else hadn’t even finished their first mouthful.
Xmas viewing included the annual screening of It’s a Wonderful Life as well as the Blackadder’s Christmas Carol, Seinfeld (from the season 5 DVD) and I started some Richard Pryor: Live in Concert but it got canned pretty quick due to the objectable nature of the content (okay well I guess it’s not the most appropriate family viewing but I did start it at around 10pm!). I didn’t engage in my usual xmas eve screenings due to going out with close friends for drinks at the pub but there’s plenty of material to get through over the break. On DVD there’s Scrubs seasons 2 and 3, Serenity (I missed it at cinemas) and Seinfeld seasons 5 and 6. In cinemas today the only film I really want to see is Broken Flowers and I’ve held off my top 5’s for the year just because of this one. Good Night and Good Luck will require more brain cells than I currently have to offer today so I’ll be leaving that for another day (but hopefully squeezing it in before the years out). The Chronicles of Narnia doesn’t really appeal to me despite loving the book as a kid. There’s something about the look of the film, the way everything looks too clean and pristine that’s turning me off. That and the fact that it looks like ‘Lord of the Rings lite’.
Anyway, hope you’ve all had a great xmas and got your plans locked in for NYE celebrations. I have NO idea what I’m doing yet but I did the whole house party thing last year so this year I’m looking for something different. Look out for my top 5’s within the next few days too :)
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Hooverdust is a pop culture blog designed and developed by James Sann. I cover a range of topics such as Film, Music, TV, Photography, Design and teh internets.
Based in Melbourne and Bendigo, Australia, in my professional life, I am a freelance multimedia designer, photographer and a part-time University lecturer & tutor.
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