Albums of 2005

Below are my choices for the best offerings of 2005, in no particular order:

Kate Bush - Aerial
Idlewild - Warnings Promises
Robert Plant - The Mighty Rearranger
Sheryl Crow - Wildflower
Wilco - Kicking Television
Low - The Great Destroyer
Son Volt - Okemah and the Melody of Riot
Teenage Fanclub - Man Made
Echo & The Bunnymen - Siberia
River Detectives - King of the Ghost Train Ride
Aimee Mann - The Forgotten Arm
eels - Blinking Lights and Other Revelations
Lucinda Williams - Live at the Fillmore

There are a few records from the year which could have featured if I had time to listen to them more intently. These were:

Neil Young - Prairie Wind
The Rolling Stones - A Bigger Bang
Vic Chesnutt - Ghetto Bells
Be Good Tanyas - Chinatown
Kathleen Edwards - Back to Me

Fake Gods Diary - 20 December 2005

Another successful jamalong was had where we worked through lyrical changes and arrangements to our songs. 'My Last Bottle', 'Shattered' and 'The Bitter End' (which has undergone a host of title changes) are nearing the finished articles and we're extremely pleased about that. We have started work on a new song entitled 'The Pinnacle' which looks promising lyrically.

After we fathomed out ideas for our songs, we indulged in a pre-Xmas singalong through numbers such as 'All Her Saturdays', 'Pray The Dawn', 'Windfall' and 'Train Song', purely for our own entertainment!

I also started to pen a bittersweet ditty called 'Scarlet', although whether it sees the light of day remains to be seen.

Fake Gods Diary - December 4th, 2005

We had our first (very productive) recording session on 2/3 December where we laid down the basic tracks to two of our favourite covers, 'Train Song' (River Detectives) and 'Scared' (The Tragically Hip). Hopefully these will be finalised and on our website in time for Christmas.

We have decided to delay the recording of our own material for the time being, partly due to time constraints and partly because we feel we need to work more on the arrangements.

Vulgar Boatmen

Next on my short list of recommended musicians is Vulgar Boatmen. A duo hailing from Gainesville and Indianapolis, they built up a considerable cult following from 1989 to 1995 whereafter they disbanded. Neither hide nor hair has been seen of them since, although a greatest hits record 'Wide Awake' was released in 2003. Essentially they are/were a roots-poprock garage band, with the same mystical qualties as Murmur-era R.E.M. If this is your bag, they are well worth a listen. A potted history of the band is available here.