Sculpture Magazine

     In a year when Kanye West had everyone shouting "prenup" and seminal acts of the '80s and early '90s put out some of their best work in years (Depeche Mode, Echo & The Bunnymen and NIN to name a few), 2005 was all about diversity.  
     Some of this year's best albums included M.I.A, the progeny of a Sri Lankan militant leader, a Morrissey-loving "Banquet" by the Bloc Party, and a shy, six-foot-four black-haired poet in Antony and the Johnsons.  
     We at Subculture Magazine share our picks for the best albums of 2005 (in no particular order) where it is apparent that strength of songwriting has (finally) returned.

• 1 - Apoptygma Berzerk You And Me Against The World
  BMG

  APOPTYGMA BERZERK is the brainchild of a very talented music fanatic from Norway. Earlier APB material leans towards EBM and industrial, while later albums showed more trance and techno influences while still remaining popular with the dark underground crowd. This album sees Mr. Stephen Groth and the boys incorporating more Placebo-style alt.rock elements into the mix while still retaining Apop's catchy hooks and vocals.

  • Apoptygma Berzerk Web site
• 2 - Art Brut Bang Bang Rock & Roll
  Fierce Panda

  Drowning in a sea of new British guitar bands, ART BRUT weren't tipped to make many waves at the start of the year, so it was a pleasant surprise to discover their debut album is one of the wittiest and most charming rock records in quite some time. The South-London group combined an innocent wide-eyed look at the music industry with sharp pop melodies to create an appealing record. Whether they can repeat the trick remains to be seen but for now, chalk one up for the little guy.

  • Art Brut Web site
• 3 - The Birthday Massacre Violet
  Metropolis

  THE BIRTHDAY MASSACRE officially formed in 2000, known as Imagica. In 2001, they relocated to Toronto and renamed themselves The Birthday Massacre. Nothing and Nowhere, their first album, was released independently in July of 2002. In July 2004, they self released the EP, "Violet". Metropolis Records took notice of the band and is now releasing Violet as an album with four extra tracks. The Birthday Massacre's sound blends different genres of music, but maintains a retro cinematic flavor. Mixing themes of horror and tragedy with fun and satire, the band creates a unique and versatile sound by combining new wave and hard rock elements. With the fusion of keyboards and guitars, the lyrics tell a story which creates an emotional tone full of darkness and tragedy. Violet is a deeply moving album sure to make you want to hear more from this up and coming act.

  • The Birthday Massacre Website
• 4 - Black Rebel Motorcycle Club Howl
  Red Int/Red Ink

  For their third album BLACK REBEL MOTORCYCLE CLUB returned with a new label and a new direction by trading in their electric guitars for acoustic ones. The result is better written songs, sharper production and more mature vocal performances from Peter Hayes and Robert Levon Been. Influenced in equal parts by greats such as Led Zeppelin, Johnny Cash and Boby Dylan, BRMC's new lease of life gives them a chance to be ranked alongside them. The Dylan-esqe "Restless Sinner" is a completely acoustic highlight, but the group also drew inspiration for bands like Radiohead for the organ driven title track.

  • Black Rebel Motorcycle Club Web site
• 5 - Bloc Party Silent Alarm
  Wichita/V2

  Make no mistake, BLOC PARTY are the band you've been waiting for. A group as witty and intelligent as The Smiths and as dark as The Cure but somehow managing to sound truly original, they were the years biggest revelation. Frontman Kele Okereke is the true star of the group, whose vocals capture the mood of suburban life perfectly. The early Franz Ferdinand comparisons were unfair. They may show some of the same jaunty post-punk qualities of the Scots, but Bloc Party are certainly a group doing things their own way.

  • Bloc Party web site
• 6 - CombiChrist Everybody Hates You
  Metropolis

  After releasing two albums with his band Icon Of Coil last year and one with his side project Panzer AG, singer Andy LaPlegua isn't a man who likes to sit idle. Amongst the three albums and an Icon Of Coil North American tour, he found the time to work on his second side project COMBICHRIST. The fruits of his labour were revealed with the release of CombiChrist's Everybody Hates You. If you were expecting it to sound like an incarnation of Icon Of Coil, you were sorely mistaken. The same tedious programming, sequencing, and attention to detail are still present but Andy has taken a different musical approach. Aggressive EBM is grafted to power noise electronics with floor shattering beats, crunchy synths, catchy melodies, and plenty of well-placed samples.

  • CombiChrist Web site
• 7 - Billy Corgan The Future Embrace
  Reprise/Wea

  The first solo album ever released by BILLY CORGAN - the revered singer/songwriter/guitarist whose groundbreaking work with The Smashing Pumpkins defined modern rock-is shockingly affirmative, even romantic. Corgan's most intimate set of songs yet; the hauntingly beautiful The Future Embrace brings together Corgan's astonishing past and promising present.

  • Billy Corgan Web site
• 8 - Daft Punk Human After All
  Virgin

  There are only a few bands in the world someone could listen to, and immediately know the song belonged to them. DAFT PUNK is one of them. The band continues with their signature robot inspired vocals and ultramodern computer programming, but what is strikingly different here is that the tracks on here are more repetitive as compared to ones on Homework and Discovery, and it is exactly this quality that makes this album strangely so much more profound than the earlier two releases. All 10 tracks on Human After All portray a multitude of different emotions, which the French duo obviously want us to experience through repetition of sounds for 4 minutes or so that each track lasts for. Not as mainstream or accessible as the previous two releases, but a stunner nevertheless.

  • Daft Punk Web site
• 9 - The Departure Dirty Words
  EMI

  The debut album from the Northampton, England band that carries on a fine English tradition of drawing their inspiration from their musical heroes and fashioning their own fresh sound out of it. The members freely acknowledge their touchstones of U2, The Smiths, The Cure, Depeche Mode and Echo and the Bunnymen etc. all The Greats of Postpunk. So what excited the record labels? A potent combination of youth, enthusiasm, energy and attitude. A singer as clumsily appealing, as unmistakably English and as angry as a young Jarvis Cocker. Declares Sam Harvey, "we don't just want to write songs that sound good now, we want songs that will still sound good in ten years time".

  • The Departure Web site
• 10 - Depeche Mode Playing The Angel
  Mute

  Twenty-five years down the road and ten studio albums later, DEPECHE MODE are back with aptly titled Playing The Angel. The Angel begins off in the right note with "A Pain That I'm Used To" which is a fantastic result of a cross between "Personal Jesus" and "The Dead Of Night". Some other stand-out tracks in here are "John The Revelator", "Precious", "I Want It All" and "Lillian" - but don't get wrong, every single piece on this album is better than seven out of ten. For a band that calls itself Fast Fashion, there is nothing fast nor fashionable about them. Depeche Mode aren't a fashion fad that go in and out with the season. Depeche Mode are here to stay - and with The Angel, they certainly prove their intentions very clearly once more.

  • Depeche Mode Web site
  • Mute Web site