Music gets its own entry in looking back at the year, because it's one of the single most important things in my life. In the most general sense, it helps me feel.
Overall, it was a much better year for music, and thank God for that, because I was wondering if anything was going to not suck. The start of the year's new music started with Gwen Stefani's solo album, and I loved it. Good pop music lives. Black Eyed Peas also did a great job showing that pop music doesn't have to suck. Good to see someone follow up a good album with a better one.
I also picked up Green Day's American Idiot, which I think actually came out in 2004, but it took me awhile to buy it. I know they tend to be labeled as punk, but it really reminded me of classic album-oriented rock. It was listenable start to finish. Nickelback did rock music good too, only their album brought back the feel of good song writing in a way that reminds me of the old Bon Jovi days. Sure it's "popular," but that doesn't mean it has to suck.
The highlight of the year came with the release of Garbage's Bleed Like Me, an album that may be one of my favorites ever. The title track is my favorite Garbage song of all time. The show was amazing.
Beck and Gorillaz put out great quirky albums, both better than their last efforts. Fiona Apple showed record companies they have no idea what good music is.
I finally got a good soundtrack. Veronica Mars has a great mix of stuff, including the really hot "No Sleep Tonight" by The Faders and "We Used to Be Friends" from the Dandy Warhols. Best soundtrack since the first Tomb Raider movie. The TV show is also kickass.
Armin Van Buuren put out Shivers, and it was good. The whole trance/house/dance thing is sketchy and hard to find good stuff, but this was a very solid effort. The only thing that seemed odd is that the bonus track that came with the iTunes version was, well, a bonus track.
There were two albums that really stand out for me though. The first is Liz Phair's Somebody's Miracle. It's a great collection of songs about relationships and feeling out your place in them, and it's got a nice edge to it.
The other great album is Imogen Heap's Speak for Yourself. It actually covers a lot of the same ground as Liz Phair's album, but it's far more electronic and dark. It's weird because the two albums are very similar in content, only one has a slightly upbeat feel and the other is brutal honesty about the despair involved with failing relationships. It's interesting to contrast the two. They're both great.
The music aside, the technology took another step forward as well. iTunes continues to sell millions of songs and the iPod is more popular than ever. I bought my second iPod, and only bought one actual CD this year. Some bands broke out with their own releases on the Internet through Creative Commons licensing, which is exciting.
Here's hoping the good tunes continue to roll out in 2006.
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