Best Performance Easily

Ow damn, RIP Chris Penn. This was quite the unpleasant surprise. I actually really liked his performances, much more than that other Penn kid. But forget about all the Tarantino movies though, Abel Ferrara's The Funeral is where it's really at!

Would love to provide you all with that song he performed "Tonight will be the night" but I cannot find it anywhere. So if anyone has a link or whatever, let me know.

And watch The Funeral.
It's so appropriate in alot of ways.
Here's to Chris.


edit: chris penn interview here

"I've certainly made a lot of hokey movies, but I always had my reasons and very rarely have I regretted any of them. I mean, I'm proud of 'Beethoven's 2nd.' My nieces and nephews saw that and liked it. That makes me proud."

"I just look for good characters, number one, then director, the overall movie, and of course money ... This was all the right reasons. Except money."

White Lake

The Lake
by Edgar Allan Poe

In spring of youth it was my lot
To haunt of the wide world a spot
The which I could not love the less-
So lovely was the loneliness
Of a wild lake, with black rock bound,
And the tall pines that towered around.

But when the Night had thrown her pall
Upon that spot, as upon all,
And the mystic wind went by
Murmuring in melody-
Then–ah then I would awake
To the terror of the lone lake.

Yet that terror was not fright,
But a tremulous delight-
A feeling not the jewelled mine
Could teach or bribe me to define-
Nor Love–although the Love were thine.

Death was in that poisonous wave,
And in its gulf a fitting grave
For him who thence could solace bring
To his lone imagining-
Whose solitary soul could make
An Eden of that dim lake.

The Deaf Center song White Lake is extremely addictive. Mindblowing composition. The rest of the album is great but White Lake is miles ahead.

Submission #5: Jonas Lindgren's In Retrospect

I should be Sacher-Masoch slapped for not checking the Glitch Punk Youth aka the Jonas Lindgren blog so often. I even missed out on his great end of the year list. And I mean everyone who has Why? in their list needs to get credit on this blog. So with all the full apologies to Jonas, let me copy his post after all.

And also as the lovely missus folly just reported, there's a new Jonas Lindgren mp3 ep out, go check it out as I am about to do after finishing this post.

(and pssst igor, this is not jonas sonores odhner, they make alot of jonas babies up north)

(c) the original post:

Growing - His Return
You can keep your Sunn0)))’s and Khanate’s, when I’m in the mood for Post/Drone Metal only Growing will do. Even though this is a rather short album by their standards it is by far their best, and also the best new album I’ve heard this year.

Why? - Elephant Eyelash
In 2005 even alternative rock can be hip-hop.

Porn Sword Tobacco - Explains Freedom
In 2005 even Vangelis can be electronica.

Greg Davis & Sebastien Roux - Paquet Surprise
This was one of the typical albums for 2005, you knew it would be great before you heard it and it didn’t disapoint you. In a way it’s been a boring year in that way since there hasn’t been any surprises, but on the other hand tracks like “I Never Met Here” makes up for that.

Odd Nosdam - Burner
In 2005 even shoegazing can be hip-hop.

The Roaring - The Famous Solo
I think this is the album I’ve been most excited over in the whole year. This has been the soundtrack of my autumn 2005.

Sawako - Hum
One of the few surprises this year is this debut on 12k by this japanese New Yorker. Subtle fieldrecordings and gentle drones. Maybe nothing new, but very wellcrafted and soothing.

Deaf Center - Pale Ravine
In 2005 Brain Eno and Harold Budd moved to Norway and recorded their best album since The Pearl.

The Boats - We Made It For You
Dreamy, drifting and warm - of course “We Made It For You” made it into my list for 2005.

Tape - Rideau
I had my doubts, but of course Tape delivered in the end. I couldn’t decide if I should put this or their Mort Aux Vaches release on the list, but it seems I’m listening more to “Rideau” and I guess that means something.

Birchville Cat Motel - Chi Vampires
He managed to make one of the best albums and played one of the best shows I’ve seen in the whole year, and if that wasn’t enough Birchville Cat Motel inspired me to listen to Iron Maiden again.

Other:
Dead Letters Spell Out Dead Words - Fall, Fall, Falling
The best album of 2007.

Jonas Lindgren - Saltholmen
It deserves to be on a best-this-year list, even if I have to do it myself.

Viktor Sjöberg - Youthful Follies
This is a collection of tracks, old releases etc, but really, it is one of the best albums this year. Viktor is also on the list of best persons 2005.

In Retrospect pt. II
Things I should have put on my the-best-albums-released-2005-list but forgot:

Marsen Jules - Herbstlaub
Orchestrated ambiance.

William Basinski - The Garden of Brokenness
Ambient orchestrations

AND YOUR 2005 PEE ON MY FOOT LOVED TV and OLD MOVIES BEST.

This was a difficult list to make, not because 2005 was full of good films but because 2005 was just one hell of a shitty year at the movie theatres. I actually can't list ten good 2005 films. As always, the reason could be my ignorance. I have yet to see some titles but still I don't believe it would have made that big of a difference. My guess is just that the talent has moved on. And namely to the HBO TV Drama department.

That's right. Television came completely out of the noctos closet this year and credit goes almost entirely to the wonderful aforementioned cable company. I know alot of the TV shows I caught up with this year are far from 2005 material, so it would be a bit wrong to regard 2005 as the great TV year but on a personal level it definitely was though. As of now, I caught up with almost every HBO show and it's just blowing my mind how amazing the quantity is. Not one single show (except for the horrible Sex in The City maybe) has let me down.

Next to that, I can't really say it was a sad movie year though. I do have seen amazing movies. And by amazing, I really mean life-changing films. The only thing is most of these movies are already quite old, and either I'm becoming a real nostalgic or else they just don't make this kind of quality anymore. I'm leaning towards the latter off course but hey, you fine readers make up your own minds.

Ironically, the two genres that stood out this year are the sort of movies they hardly make in recent days. But boy how they brought me joy. Here's to Screwball Comedies and Westerns, may your renaissance be upon thee soon!

So here come the lists. Again notice how I had to trim the 2005 list from ten to seven (I can hardly believe I had to do this). Also some might argue I even had to include 2004 films but please remember the European and American release dates might differ, so that's why those movies are still eligible for this 2005 list (except maybe Der Untergang but yeah was a bit late with that one). So hope you all enjoy the lists and if you haven't caught up with one of the older movies or the TV-shows, let us hope you will soon!

[note: I might write up some descriptions in the near future, but for now I'll just present the lists. and to all who are making their own lists, the same goes here as with the music lists, send 'em to me and it will get posted, thx]

BEST FILMS SEEN IN 2005

1. The Road Warrior




2. It Happened One Night




3. The Manchurian Candidate (1962 original!)




4. Winchester '73




5. The Lady Eve




6. High Plains Drifter




7. The Awful Truth




8. McCabe & Mrs. Miller



9. My Man Godfrey



10. Two-Lane Blacktop

BEST TELEVISION SEEN IN 2005

1. The Sopranos - Season 5



2. Lost - Season 1




3. Deadwood - Season 1




4. The Wire - Season 2



5. Six Feet Under - Season 5



6. Carnivale - Season 2




7. Rome




8. Unscripted



9. Extras



10. 24 - Season 4

BEST 2005 FILMS:

1. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou



2. The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada



3. Sideways




4. Mr. & Mrs. Smith




5. Broken Flowers



6. Serenity



7. Der Untergang (Downfall)

WORST 2005 FILMS:

1. Sin City
2. I Heart Huckabees
3. War Of The Worlds
4. The Brothers Grimm
5. Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith
6. What The Bleep Do We Know?
7. Catwoman

Submission #4: Dhex' Best of Mechanics

akron/family - s/t
akron/family and the angels of light - sings other people
sigur ros - takk
devendra banhart - cripple crow
the orb - okey dokey...
silver mt. zion - horses in the sky
antony and the johnsons - i am a bird now
richie hawtin - transitions
boards of canada - the campfire headphase

best of is a tie between akron family's s/t and silver mt. zion.

"god bless our dead marines" is song of the year. (best song i heard this year, though, was "blood and thunder" by mastodon, but that came out 2004.)

Submission #3: Dolores Carvalho Daily's no list is complete and so is this one

twenty old/new songs that saved my ass in 2005.
in no particular order, but randomly ranked from 1 to 20.
(written w/o explanations cuz the ppl involved will know
what it's about, even if only myself)

01. bell orchestre - les lumieres pt.1 & pt.2 (recording a tape the colour of the light)
02. manyfingers - our worn shadow / a remark (our worn shadow)
03. josé gonzaléz - heartbeats (veneer)
04. dntl - (this is) the dream of evan and chan (life is full of posibilities)
05. four tet - smile around the face (everything ecstatic)
06. hymie's basement - 21st century pop song (hymie's basement)
07. jay alanski - bud life (the sound of the forth season)
08. the phoenix foundation - hitchcock (pegasus)
09. why? - rubber traits (elephant eyelash)
10. iron & wine - such great heights (postal service cover)
11. white town - your woman (women in technology)
12. shameboy - rechoque (pukkelpop)
13. beatles - for no one (revolver)
14. buck 65 - centaur (this right here is buck 65 version)
15. israel kamakawiwo - what a wonderful rainbow medley (louis armstrong/judy garland cover)
16. allegri - meserere mei, deus
17. max richter (blue notebooks, from beginning to end and back again)
18. menomena - cough couching (i am the fun blame monster!)
19. jim yoshii pile-up (homemade drugs, again whole album, again like every year)
20. mùm (finally we are no one, full album)

okay so i cheated and listed some albums there,
more to come, i noticed a top 20 was too short.
seemed like i needed a lot of saving this year.
love,

dolores, daily.

Submission #2: Hemd's heavy music for heavy biking!

The ten records of 2005 by Hemd....

1. Hyatari - The light carriers
2. Om - Variations on a theme
3. Beecher - This elegy,his autopsy
4. SunnO)))- Black one (Thank God that i didn't knew this one when i was lost in France with my mtb (ALONE) at 1 pm in the middle of nowhere)
5. Meshuggah - Catch ThirtyThree
6. Fantomas - Suspended Animation
7. Cephalic Carnage - Halls of amenti
8. Shora - Malval
9. 65 days of Static - One time for all time
10. Brian Mc Bride - When the detail lost its freedom

Lets pray for some nice electronic music in 2006 !!! Missed that in 2005 !!!

Submission #1: Igor's Best Music List

So this is where it's at...

I would like to start of with those amazing records that didn't make last years list (bought & discovered in 2005 or not quite sunken in yet by the end of last year). These records would have definitely graced my 2004 list. I'm sorry...

Here goes:

1. Deathprod - Morals & Dogma
2. Cult of Luna - Salvation
3. Amute - A Hundred Dry Trees
4. Mokira - Album
5. Mastodon - Leviathan

And now... the moment us in navy blue hoodies and khakis have all been waiting, longing, crying for...

The Best Records of 2005 by Igor:

1. Why? - Elephant Eyelash


Best record. And that's final.

2. Pelican - The Fire in Our Throats Will Beckon the Thaw

Probably my most played record this year. Pure after work joy. File under: best instrumetal.

3. Birchville Cat Motel - Beautiful Speck Triumph & Chi Vampires


I took some liberties here: two beautifull 2005 releases by this New Zealand drone artist. Amazing stuff.

4. Animal Collective - Feels

And to think I wasn't a fan before. Best popinfluencedpsychfolk.

5. ES - Sateenkaarisudeelma/ Greg Malcolm - Swimming In It


Here some liberties as well. I don't actually own these records but when listening to them on the kraak radioplayer they really sunk there hooks in me, and I can't seem to get them out. Both are similar in a lot of ways, hence the double bill.

6. Deaf Center - Pale Ravine

Someone mentioned Boomkat and this is what I've found. Similar to William Bassinski. Thanks.


7. Bohren & Der Club Of Gore - Geisterfaust

Best horrorjazz. I wish Stanley and Arvo were around to hear it.


8. Sunn O))) - Black One


Scariest record.


9. Wolf Parade - Apologies to the Queen Mary


Best rock.


10. Eluvium - Talk Amongst the Trees


And offcourse, best post-rock (there's some drone/ambient in there too).

Enjoy!

Sorry for the name juggling. I was pretending to be one of the pitchfork writers.

Igor.

AND YOUR 2005 BAG OF FAT LOVED BEST:

So here it is, our best of the best according to our insignificant self. You also might want to check out the following lists: Boomkat, Dusted (props btw for being the only one I've seen with Why? on!), PopMatters, Pitchfork and Tiny Mix Tapes.

Regrets go to Bohren & Der Club of Gore, Vashti Bunyan, Deaf Center, Six Organs of Admittance and Stephan Mathieu.

Oh and everyone out there who's also making a list, submit it through us and it will be posted. That said, here goes the noctos ten:

0. Viktor Sjöberg - Belgian Promo Only



We reach Point 0 when personal involvement intertwines with pure listening pleasure. This album gets the most special mention because it pervaded another full year on so much different levels. It's not exactly a real album in the true meaning of the word but a showcase of true talent. Talent that marked his youtful folly on other albums this year as well but I'm picking this one because of November. I was so glad and proud to witness those shows, even if the results and feelings were mixed afterwards. But we did it. And we will do it again and better and more.

So dear interested reader, I'm afraid this album is not for sale nor available anywhere. But remember the name, go check and buy other available albums, wait for new releases and receive warm, sincere and authentic cheers from the noctos headquarters.

And to that special dogperson: may you be protected from all evil but above all, keep going down that magic road of yours buddy, 2005 was hard with them huge u-turns, but you are truly doing it. Until that next sommarljus intersection.

(and i hope i can finally add that other great record to my list when it gets a release in 2006!)

1. Why? - Elephant Eyelash



Last year we already had senor Why? on our list under his Hymie's Basement monk (together with the great Andrew Broder), but this year there was no stopping to Yoni himself. A well well deserved number one spot! This was by far the most interesting, the most layered record of the year. Is it safe to say we have a little Yoni Wolf fixation? Yes.

We have been singing along in bars (and your eyes are...), on the streets (us in black hoodies), trying to seduce female ears (oh yes it worked for some) but above all, this record gave tremendous joy. It made us 'live it happy'. It made us smile.

So thank you -- thank you family Wolf. Don't make this your last cardtrick and see you on next year's list!

2. ES - Kaikkeuden kauneus ja käsittämättömyys



The first of the finnish and if we were really good police, I guess this album is not eligible for a 2005 list. It was released on the sweet (K-RAA-K)³ label in 2004, and released on Fonal even earlier I think.

But fuck the rules for once. I only caught up a few months ago and it left such a definitive impression that I couldn't leave this one out! So forgive us and baby jesus and pay attention: get this album if you haven't already. It is true beauty looped and looped.

And here's what you should do: put on my favorite track 'Aavehuminaa' (track 09), go out in the middle of night and walk down the empty railroad. Bless You Sami.

3. Manyfingers - Our Worn Shadow



I'm still left in the dark if this album has gotten a real release or not. It's still not widely available and I'm so glad I picked it up at one of the manyfingers gigs. Chris Cole stayed on the number one spot most of year but then around october we fell for why? and Es.

Still this album is of the most essential. I really like the first self-titled Manyfingers album (which you can still buy over at boomkat) but Our Worn Shadow exceeds its predecessor easily. The compositions are of such extraordinary beauty and to think the man can really play all those instruments himself.

Amazing find this year. Amazing performance. Amazing record.

4. Islaja - Palaa aurinkoon



The second finnish artist on this list and maybe the strangest record to talk about. I was reading alot on the internet about the whole Finnish music scene but 2005 was the year I finally checked it out. The results are fascinating: lau nau, es, Kemialliset Ystävät, Islaja and so much more. Not everything is the same quality but once again it's the girls and boys up north bringing most of the interesting things.

Islaja's record is in some way the new 'When'. Yeah sure, the music is very different but it has a similar effect: the sort of same whisper, lullaby-like which will you warm and comfort you on a cold melancholic night. Hail Before Sunrise.

5. Mount Eerie - No Flashlight/Singers



I still can't make up my mind whether I liked Singers more than No Flashlight or the other way around, so I'm adding them both. But the gist of the argument is really easy: the microphones are not dead, phil elverum is still doing absolutely great music and his best moments are not behind him as some media might have suggested (yess pitchfork we're pointing at you).

So please step in the Mt Eerie world and discover what's behind the big black cloud.


6. Det Gamla Landet - Det Gamla Landet



Picked this album out of the sales section for 7€. What a lucky day that was. The record is yet again made by swedes who like their beautiful language alot (det gamla landet means the old country if i'm not mistaken). Most reviewers seem to label this music as folk, although i do think it has quite some other influences and it goes beyond straight folk.

Anyway, another exceptional instrumental record (almost half of the albums on this list are instrumental btw, does that say something?) and Tolv Under for one of the best 2005 singles.

7.Red Sparowes - At the Soundless Dawn



Much like last year, this Isis spinoff made us rock it. We are known to be quite picky about the harder, noisier, more metallike stuff but this record really did it for us. The mixture between the lovely, more post-rock tunes and the scarier doom tunes was as perfect as them snakes on planes. We preferred this much more above other igor pimped records such as Pelican and SunnO))). Plus the Red Sparowes boys scored very high in the ephemeral categories: best concert visuals and best song titles (The Soundless Dawn Came Alive As Cities Began To Mark The Horizon!). I'm going to see them live again in March, you should too.

8. Thee Silver Mt Zion Memorial Orchestra - Horses in the Sky



The biggest surprise on this list maybe because it has gotten so much bad reviews but I must tell you this album just kept growing and growing on me. I wasn't really into it at first when they released it somewhere at the beginning of 2005. But around July, it kept me cold during some warm nights and now in december it's the other way around. The album with the biggest impact.

I'm aware Efrim's voice is probably the biggest barrier for people but I'm really loving his voice. It's so bleak and strong, that it cuts right through these ears.

I acknowledge that it's not the great Godspeed anymore, but these canadians keep me listening and I'm still competely mesmerized. So this is an endorsement to everyone out there: spin this record again.

9. Mitchell Akiyama - Small Explosions That Are Yours To Keep



Or what a trip to a lovely recordstore can accomplish. I heard this music play in the store and just knew right there how good this was going to be. This record was released on the amazing Sub Rosa label and Mitchell Akiyama is the guy behind the intr version label (who released the wonderful aMute album A Hundred Dry Trees).

Now although I'm aware this album may not be for everyone, I find it to be one of the most essential point of views of this past year about how to (de)construct music. Boomkat describes it so much better than I could, so I'm just going to past their words:

Since his debut release on Alien8 Recordings, Akiyama's music has been a study in fiction and texture. He records compositions and improvisations for piano, strings, and other instruments, and restructures them in his studio in a post-facto montage. Playing on the distortions in causality that recording technology can effect, Akiyama creates music that lays claim to a moment of creation that never happened. Located somewhere in the interstices of classical, electronic composition and post-rock, his works vacillate between delicate melodies and confrontational bursts of noise.

10. Antony & The Johnsons - I Am A Bird Now



The album that's on every music journalist's end of the year list but when it's well deserved, we happily endorse the praise. Ever since 'Golden Apples of the Sun' Antony's star has been rising and it finally broke through completely this year. Bless you David late Tibet for being the first one to put out this music.