2005: Larry's Lists

Top 5 Albums of 2005

5. Chatham County Line - Route 23
I love that Stacy and I both included this on our list, as it was a bit of a surprise remembrance for me too. (I did, however, remember it before seeing Stacy's list.) This is definitely the most under-rated album of 2005, and I think -- the only album I came across that really had the right to bear the torch of the name, "Bluegrass."

4. Beck - Guero
What can I say? Beck's back from his Americana sojourn on Sea Changes and he's back to rock. This album kept me groovin' all year long. (By the way, this has the funniest album title of 2005 too. "Guero" is Mexican slang for "white boy.")

3. Caitlin Cary & Thad Cockrell - Begonias
Without a doubt the best country album of the year. These folks rock! And I was there for the CD release party! Man, what a show! I can't wait to see Thad and Caitlin at Merlefest 2006.

2. The Avett Bros. - Live, Vol. 2
Good lord, these boys were all over NC this year! They came in and filled the gap that Old Crow Medicine Show left open from 2004, but with more gusto and good-time rockin'-ness. If you've never seen these guys live, you might wonder a little at this album. If you've seen them live... then you know. You know!

1. Ryan Adams - Cold Roses
Without a doubt, my favorite album of the year, with the largest number of favorite songs from this year too. I know it's been dinged for being too long, too "Dead-y", and too "whatever-else-people-wanted-to-complain-about-at-the-time," but this album showed me that Ryan's still a genius. It's rocked my iPod all year long.

Top 10 Songs of 2005

10. The Greencards - Weather And Water from Weather And Water
The Greencards epitomize what I think of when I hear the words "Americana Music." They're a mixture of nationalities, musical heritages, and vocal and instrumental styles. This song, a fisherman's lament, features great mandolin and fiddle fills and leads, a great female lead vocal, and strong backing male vocals. These guys are a grown-up Nickel Creek. "Well, I'd rather be a poor boy with a beautiful wife, than out here in the weather and the water tonight..."

9. Avett Brothers - I Killed Sally's Lover from Live, Vol. 2
A fast and furious, old-school bloody "don't do what I did, son" sorta song, very reminiscent of many traditional songs, but with the Avett's signature brash attitude. This song is fun as hell to play. (It's just G-C-D, folks!)

8. Robbie Fulks - Georgia Hard from Georgia Hard
"There's no Carolina moon over Chicago..." The chorus to this song gets me every time. I love it!

7. Ryan Adams - A Kiss Before I Go from Jacksonville City Nights
Pure, unadulterated country. Just breathe it in. Deep, deeper, ahhhh, let it out. Yes. Want some more? Listen to My Heart Is Broken from the same album. Oh yeah.

6. Ryan Adams - Cold Roses from Cold Roses
A bit like the Dead, but still all Ryan's own, this song creeps along, dragging you sideways behind it -- until the chorus. This is probably the only example of where I can hear Ryan's falsetto and really get into it. (I don't dig your falsetto, Ryan. Give it up.) But this song... wow.

5. Beck - Girl from Guero
Starting with the tinny, beepy tones from what sounds like a circa-1980s children's synthesizer, this song breaks into a groove that'll get your feet tapping and your head wagging. The hook is impenetrable -- "My summer girl?" "My sunner girl?" "My Southern girl?" What the hell are you talking about, Beck? Shit, I don't care... this song rocks! This song also had the best remix of the year... see below. An honorable mention also goes out to E-Pro from the same album. That had to be one of the best songs I heard on the radio all year.

4. Caitlin Cary & Thad Cockrell - Whatever You Want from Begonias
This album runs the full range of country songs, from rockin' honky tonk to tear in your beer weepers. This one is a low, sad, dance tune... full of heartbreak and insecurity. It's a fragile story, of fragile people, ready to break. This song, probably more than any other, captures the old "Whiskeytown" feel that permeates this album. But damn if Thad isn't a great songwriter... amazing.

3. Ryan Adams - Magnolia Mountain from Cold Roses
Spooky, haunting, happy, sad, vaguely Christian, very Grateful Dead-ish... this song is one of the best Ryan's ever done. (But there's still one better... look below!)

2. Avett Brothers - November Blue from Live, Vol. 2
A slow, somber, and highly harmonic song, it starts from a single guitar and voice, adds brother harmony vocals, and then builds to include the entire band, and then releases, slow again. Great theatrics, great harmonies, great words. And it was live! "My heart is dancin'... to a November tune... how I hope that you hear it... singin' songs about you..."

1. Ryan Adams - Let It Ride from Cold Roses
God bless Let It Ride! This song will live forever. As soon as I heard it, I knew there was no chance that another song would take its place as the number one song of the year. I knew it. I hoped that maybe Ryan's other albums this year might put out something to topple it, but I feared it impossible. This song resonates with me so much. It's got that dual Tennessee/Carolina thing, talks about a man the same age as me, and just has that great low-key guitar twang that tingles my spine. Damn. "I'm not ready to go... I'm never ready to go..."

Best Fiddle Song
The Duhks - Magnolia Set from The Duhks
The Duhks are the best instrumental Americana band around, in my humble opinion. Too damn bad they've got an awful Ani DiFranco-wannabe lead singer that ruins half their songs. (I like Ani a lot, but there's already an Ani out there... and she's not messing up great instrumental songs!) Oh well, all my favorite Duhks songs from their two albums are the instrumental ones, especially the Celtic-flavored ones like this. Their fiddler, the tiny cute little Tania Elizabeth, is amazing to watch live. This song is a fun fiddle romp, with a few other instruments in there too. I think... not really sure. All I hear is the fiddle!

Best Song Remix
Beck - Bit Rate Variations in B-Flat (Girl) from GameBoy Variations (Hell Yes Remix) -EP
I'd go buy this song right away if you like the original Girl, especially if you've ever played an old-school 8-bit Nintendo game. I swear I can hear individual games in this remix, Super Mario Bros and Crystalis, among others. I think it's an amazing blend of Beck's music with existing game music. You have to hear it to believe it.

Some Regrets
I would've liked to listen to Nickel Creek's Why Should the Fire Die? more before I wrote this list, but I just got it for Christmas. I'd also like to have listened to Black Rebel Motorcycle Club's Howl album, as I've heard so much good stuff about it. I also wish Ryan's 29 had come out earlier, or just waited till 2006, but oh well. From what I hear, I don't think I will like it much anyway.