Perfect Fit for the Machine:
The Best in Music 2005
by Flak Staff
Tracks 6-10
Streaming Audio
6. "Apply Some Pressure" · Maxïmo Park · A Certain Trigger · Warp Records · 3:20
Maxïmo Park was shortlisted for the Mercury Prize (and subsequently beat out by the warbling Antony and the
Johnsons) with its debut, A Certain Trigger. It means little. But unlike many previous bands that have gained attention
for sounding like older bands (Maxïmo Park can claim XTC as its sound-alike), this Newcastle quintet
will, at the very least, be known for a consistently catchy album — even if we won't remember it forever.
Band leader Paul Smith wryly sings, "You know that I would love to see you next year/ I hope that I am still alive
next year." If Maxïmo Park produces more of the same clever and swaggering pop, then I hope to see them next
year, too. But long shelf lives aside, "Apply Some Pressure," with Smith sounding like he actually couldn't care
less if he saw anyone next year, is perfect for now. (— Lavina Lee)
7. "Crazy" · Gnarls Barkley · 3:01
A supremely tasty preview of the Cee-Lo/Danger Mouse disc to come, "Crazy" existed only as a well-traveled Internet
file and an infrequent playlist member on BBC's Radio 1. It could have been renamed "Pancakes" and run twice as long, when
it finally got its proper release, but no matter: in this incarnation it's a serpentine bit of funk production, courtesy of Danger
Mouse, who is on a hell of a hot streak, and a triumphalist bit of vocalizing by Cee-Lo, who in three minutes' time makes
up for the miscalculations that littered his first two solo albums. Could anyone have listened to this track and not live in
anticipation of the complete album? (— Christopher Hickman)
8. "Zero Point" · The Rogers Sisters · Purely Evil · Troubleman Unlimited · 2:53
If the punk rock song had a Platonic essense, "Zero Point" would probably be it. One single, fuzzy guitar chord, a base line and some
hand clapping punctuate sharp jabs of female vocals. The song's lyrics are angrily political and its music is agressive, just like the Rogers
Sisters' punk rock antecedents. And like earlier political punk bands such as MC5 or the Clash, the lyrical hyperbole of "It feels like spring
in the summer and summer in the spring / The Earth is gonna stop — is anybody listening?" seems at once poetic and kind of retarded. It isn't
something that a NDRC BioGems activist would put on a press release, but that isn't punk rock's place. The shameless, at times thoughtless,
and always guttural cries for political action are what make punk rock music great. That, made visceral by a spare and driving rock soundtrack,
make "Zero Point" a ready-made punk classic. (— Aemilia Scott)
9. "New Casablanca" · Shivaree · Who's Got Trouble? · Zoe Records/Rounder · 3:08
On Who's Got Trouble? Shivaree buoys the old sex-and-death fandango with a still dark but whip-smart sense of humor, stretching out
musically to create a little breathing room and deepen the impact of their unique cabaret/folk/torch song/electronic take on the world. Album
opening piano ballad "New Casablanca," a punchline to the album title's movie reference, finds frontwoman Ambrosia Parsley cooing her way
through seduction ("Wait until I get my hands all over you") and doom ("It won't be over easy/but it could be over soon"). Even with the title's
wink at actors playing roles, her lyrics and performance have a sultry, sad, lived-in feel to them. And, yeah, sometimes your dance partner
is your enemy is your "handsome buckaroo." As her narrator dangles somewhere between grief and lust, melodrama is cut with the right amount
of mellowness, and goddamn if you don't buy the whole thing. (— Wayne Lewis)
10. "I Turn My Camera On" · Spoon · Gimme Fiction · Matador · 3:32
Spoon made its name as a guitar band. Playing Britt Daniel's chewy pop melodies against his lacerating guitar style and Jim Eno's big
punk-goes-classic-rock beats was a well of inspiration they'd go back to again and again. Even when they hit with keyboard-driven tunes,
the songcraft remained within the boundaries of a recognizable British Invasion tradition.
So why do the band's stabs at disco often provide the biggest smiles? Maybe it's just Friday, and all we want to do is dance, dance, dance. "I
Turn My Camera On" sports uptight, funky bass and a simple, clubworthy beat — all the better for a multitracked Daniel to break out his best
Prince falsetto and tumble out a batch of inscrutable lyrics that seem to proffer some mysterious accusation. Forget that though, since it feels
like the key lyric here is the exhortation to "get up/ roll it out." The band's got bigger things in mind than making sense — they're
triangulating the intersection of the head nod and the booty shake without breaking a sweat. The sweat, after all, belongs to the dancers. (— Wayne Lewis)
