Jez's Choice for Best Album of 2005

The year 2005 certainly had more ups than downs in the music world, and that reflects in the difficulty I encountered upon ranking a top album. Last year's Rubber Factory by the Black Keys seemed an obvious choice to me (though I certainly wouldn't have argued against a choice of several other deserving artists' works), but this year I found no such clearcut winner among an accumulation of 20-plus albums. In the end, I decided upon an album that certainly wasn't a widely acclaimed critics' darling and yet was the one that I found myself listening to time and time again as the year came to a close:

Best Album of 2005
The Craft by Blackalicious

The duo of Gift of Gab and Chief Xcel already have a sizeable discography to their name and a superb one at that, but they still remain under the radar to most of the world. Through no fault of their own, the Quannum boys seem to have been overshadowed (for lack of a better word) by their esteemed brother-in-arms DJ Shadow for most of their careers. Perhaps The Craft will help to change that once and for all. Their previous full-length album Blazing Arrow was a joyfully vigorous production strengthened by its sophisticated sonic breadth; Chief Xcel opens the expanse just a bit further on The Craft by the addition of an organic funk band aesthetic. Of all things, the album serves notice as a true heir to the G-funk era; that genre had grown so stale by the late 1990s that the genius of Dr. Dre's innovations had almost been forgotten. Here, Blackalicious redefine the West Coast sound into a lush, flowing, real musicality that bends and shapes accordingly to Gift of Gab's lyrical dexterity, which itself is now freed to experiment away from any gimmicky speed raps of years past. Combined with the duo's penchant, or adroitness rather, for uplifting social/spiritual messages and creative conceptualizations, of which The Craft is in abundant supply, Blackalicious continue to create music that ranks among the best of their generation in spite of an alarming lack of extant recognition of their gifts.

Nominees for Best Album
02. Demon Days by Gorillaz
03. Suit Yourself by Shelby Lynne
04. Arular by M.I.A.
05. Be by Common
06. The Mouse and the Mask by DangerDoom
07. Illinois by Sufjan Stevens
08. Drunkard's Prayer by Over the Rhine
09. Triple P by Platinum Pied Pipers
10. Late Registration by Kanye West

11. The Back Room by Editors
12. Transistor Radio by M. Ward
13. Twin Cinema by The New Pornographers
14. Guero by Beck
15. Z by My Morning Jacket
16. Thunder, Lightning, Strike by The Go! Team
17. S.O.N.O.G.R.A.M. by One Be Lo
18. Takk... by Sigur Rós
19. Beauty and the Beat by Edan
20. The Minstrel Show by Little Brother

21. Naturally by Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings
22. Ta Det Lugnt by Dungen
23. Lookaftering by Vashti Bunyan
24. Playing the Angel by Depeche Mode
25. Ozark Empire by Listener
26. Fisherman's Woman by Emiliana Torrini
27. Extraordinary Machine by Fiona Apple
28. The Forgotten Arm by Aimee Mann
29. Lullabies to Paralyze by Queens of the Stone Age
30. The Mysterious Production of Eggs by Andrew Bird