Top 10 Lists...

I am horrible at these things.

Here is my top 10 list for albums that I actually got to listen to in 2k5. They also were all released in 2k5.

• Cold Roses - Ryan Adams (and the Cardinals)
  
• Songs for Silverman - Ben Folds
  
• In Formal Introduction - The City on Film
  
• Picaresque - The Decemberists
  
• Born to Run (30th Anniversary Edition) - Bruce Springsteen
  
• Come on Feel the Illinoise - Sufjan Stevens
  
• Broken Social Scene - Broken Social Scene
  
• Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
  
• The Weight is a Gift - Nada Surf
  
• In the Red - Kind of Like Spitting
  
  Honorable Mention: Amestory - Amestory

Here is a list of CDs I overplayed in my car for one of two reasons: A, I have very few good cds these days, and have failed miserably at "keeping up with the Joneses" as they say; and 2, they were the only discs in my car.

• More Adventurous - Rilo Kiley
  
• Dear Catastrophe Waitress - Belle & Sebastian
  
• Yankee Hotel Foxtrot - Wilco
  
• A Ghost is Born - Wilco
  
• A Love Supreme - John Coltrane
  
• Nillson Sings Newman - Henry Nillson
  
• Funeral - Arcade Fire
  
• Sea Change - Beck
  
• Learn to Sing the Songs of Phil Ochs - Kind of Like Spitting
  
• $100 Room - Kind of Like Spitting
  
• Emergency & I - Dismemberment Plan
  
• Things We Lost in the Fire - Low
  
• Tapestry - Carole King
  
• Commitment - The Felix Culpa
  
• Want One - Rufus Wainwright
  
• Worship and Tribute - Glassjaw
  
• Used Songs (1973-1980) - Tom Waits
  

And here's a list of music that Matt Stowe or Mike Dutkewych played for me once and I wanted to hear a lot, but couldn't due to my horrible memory for such things:

• Velvet Underground
  
• Cat Power
  
• Feist
  
• Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
  
• The Boy Least Likely To
  
• Lemuria
  
• Clem Snide
  
• The Mountain Goats
  
• Victims of Telephone!
  
• The Muse
  
• Bonnie "Prince" Billy
  
• Andrew Bird
  
• Belle & Sebastian
  
• anything from the Sad Man Club mix. You'd know if you were sad like us.
  

Music I thought about a lot, but didn't actually get to hear:

• Minus the Bear
  
• So Many Dynamos
  
• The Faint
  
• M Ward
  
• Ambulance LTD
  
• Lil John and the East Side Boyz
  
• Kanye West
  
• Cody Chesnutt
  
• Common
  

Best Concerts of 2k5

• These Arms are Snakes, Minus the Bear, Thunderbirds are Now!, The City on Film - Sept. 12 @ The Granada in Lawrence, KS.
  
• Nada Surf - Oct. 14 @ The Metro in Chicago, IL.
  

And finally, a list of a few things I could have done without in 2k5:

• X & Y - Coldplay
  
• The Shins
  
• That new Nickelback Song
  
• Dub/Reggae/Rastafarian/Club music. Quit singing the same note repeatedly, for Bob Marley's Sake!
  
• Hawthorne Heights
  
• That Sugar, We're Going Down with a Bullet, etc. song by Fall Out Boy. That band makes me have small anxiety attacks.
  
• Must Love Dogs
  
• The OC
  
• The cancellation of Arrested Development
  
• College
  
• $325 Heating Bills
  
• Girl Trouble
  
• Gas Prices
  

Overall, I give 2k5 a B+. It had some great moments, but out of sheer expectation for what 2k6 has in store, I cannot award 2k5 a grade any higher. Stand back, errbody. 2k6 will be the year of Nathaniel. New album. New split cd. East Coast Spring Tour. Full US (and Canada?) summer tour. Plenty of love for everyone. Granted, it could all go very horribly, and the only reason I say things of this nature is out of pure ambition and anticipation. I am not trying to drown you all in pretense.

In moments like these, only my lil' sister says it best: "I'm SOOOOOO Excited!"

xoxo,
nathaniel