No American idiots here

1. Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane, At Carnegie Hall (Blue Note/EMI)

2. Charles Lloyd, Jumping the Creek (ECM)

3. Bill Frisell, East/West (Nonesuch/Warner)

4. Satoko Fujii Four, Live in Japan 2004 (Natsat)

5. Free Music Ensemble, Cuts (Okka Disk)

6. Pat Metheney/Ornette Coleman, Song X: Twentieth Anniversary (Nonesuch/Warner)

7. Stan Tracey and Evan Parker, Crevulations (Psi)

8. Steve Amirault, [breath] (Effendi)

9. Follow Follow, Afro-groove (Ombu)

10. Les Projectionnistes, Vue (RIF)

Survey says

1. For better or worse, the song that defined life in '05: American Idiot by Green Day. A great song, and the perfect expression of a widely held sentiment. (I know the song came out in 2004, but it was late in the year and besides, it was all over the place. So there.)

2. If God could take back a musician/band/DJ, who should it be? R. Kelly. He should have spontaneously combusted during that embarrassment of a performance at the MTV Music Video Awards.

3. If you could have been any local musician/band/DJ for a day in 2005, who would you have been and when? Buck 65, any day of the year. I only wish I could be that cool.

4. Blinded by the lights, revved up like a deuce... (best overall concert): Impossible to choose just one, there were so many. A preliminary list would include Green Day (Parc Jean-Drapeau), Satoko Fujii Four (Guelph Jazz Festival), Anthony Braxton Sextet (Victoriaville), Charles Lloyd Quartet (Montreal Jazz Festival), Gary Burton Quartet (FIJM), DKV Trio (Sala Rossa), and the Free Music Ensemble (Casa del Popolo).

5. Best proof of Mtl. hype in '05: A showcase of Quebec musicians at the Guelph Jazz Festival and a slew of very strong releases by local musicians - Steve Amirault, Les Projectionnistes, Trio Derome/Guilbeault/Tanguay, Miles Perkin, Michel F. Côté, Follow Follow. The last part of the year demonstrated that in the world of jazz and improvised music, this city's musicians need not take a backseat to anyone.

6. Biggest, dickiest rock star move: Practically everything Bono does. Who died and named him Bob Geldof? Is it not enough that he's the frontman for the world's most overrated band?

7. The Cloak of Invisibility goes to... Charles Papasoff.

8. Why the music industry hates us, version 2005: Because in music, as in most of life, we prefer instant gratification to those pleasures that require us to challenge ourselves. And also, the wrong people are in charge. For proof, tune in to 94.7 FM.

9. Credibility killer: guiltiest listening pleasure of 2005: This is a short list, as I have virtually impeccable taste, but I do remember Ashlee Simpson making me want to ya-ya on several occasions.

10. Life's a bitch, and then you... find out that someone has stepped on your blue suede shoes.
 
 

		Write your comment on this article!

Bravo!     I agree with many of these (as Mike does, indeed, have impeccable taste both in music and headwear). That Monk and Coltrane gem walks away with release of the year - it is a landmark discovery for the music, and an incredible pleasure to listen to. Other releases that impressed me this year were the aforementioned Frisell disc, Vijay Iyer's "Reimagining," Kurt Rosenwinkel's "Deep Song," and Curumin's "Achados e Perdidos." Hands down, my favourite concert this year was Dave Douglas, Don Byron, Vijay Iyer, Mark Dresser and Dylan van der Schyff out at the Banff Centre in May. Strange bedfellows on paper, but incredibly selfless and musical improvisers, all of 'em. Runners-up include the sublime duo of Courvoisier and Feldman playing new Masada music at Lion D'Or for OFF, Frisell and his cohorts at Spectrum for FIJM, and Wierbos, Kaufmann, Moore, and van der Schyff at La Kemia in September - irreverence and exploration combined. The cloak of invisibility goes to all the francophone and francophile musicians in this city, so far as the foreign (and even domestic Anglo) press is concerned. Nary a mention of Plaster, Karkwa, or Joel Prenovault in English. We miss out on some wonderful discoveries by not crossing the linguistic divide. The music industry hates us by putting viruses on our computers and puerile immaturity in our headphones and speakers, and then wondering why we don't buy major label releases anymore.
David Ryshpan		December 16th, 2005

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