Perfect Fit for the Machine:
The Best in Music 2005
by Flak Staff

Tracks 16-21

 Streaming Audio

16. "Eva Braun" · A Frames · Black Forest · Sub Pop · 3:26

A Frames frontman Erin Sullivan is not best known for being a troubadour, and Eva Braun is not the most popular subject of love songs. But when the two meet for this track among other dubiously named cuts ("Death Train," "U-boat," etc.) from Black Forest, the results are unexpectedly beautiful and melancholy. The first chugging chords emote languor and regret; the tired vocals sound lovesick and wistful as Sullivan drawls,

I wish I could turn back the time/ and show you things you could not find/ We'd take a walk beneath the stars/ We'd laugh and talk and heal the scars.

Sullivan's delivery — the complete lack of feeling — is precisely what charges the song with its sadness. The words sound forced, as if their dejected singer could only bear to sing them after much persuasion (or alcohol) — and even then with reluctance. The plodding melody further punctuates each tortured syllable that Sullivan utters until it jangles halfway through the song, a brief 20 seconds of a tender if atypical siren call, and then inevitably droops again as Sullivan returns to his mystified subject. (— Lavina Lee)

17. "Old School Rules" · MF Doom + DJ Danger Mouse · Danger Doom · Epitaph · 2:40

It's difficult to imagine a more agile trio of hip-hop talents than the mix that created "Old School Rules." Talib Kweli kicks off the track, buffetting the listener with the lyrical dexterity and biting diction that have made him an alt-rap superstar. MF Doom follows Kweli's tribute to Saturday morning cartoon blocs with a transition that is absolutely clutch:

And we'll be right back after these messages / fellas grab your nutsacks, chicks squeeze your breastesses / we ain't all that grown, it's still funny like / goin' to the store on your own with rainbow money / Since then had an insane flow sonny / Walkin to the corner rhymin in the rain, nose runny

DJ Danger Mouse provides muscular support to the MCs, blasting trumpet loops and snaredrum beats in salute to an era when hip-hop was party music, and cartoons didn't get any more sophisticated than Hong Kong Fooey. In an era where having a felony conviction is considered by many to be a hip-hop pre-req, the goofy intelligence of "Old School Rules" is more than just ear candy; it's subversive. (— James Norton)

18. "You Are a Runner and I Am My Father's Son" · Wolf Parade · Wolf Parade EP · Sub Pop · 2:35

"You are a Runner and I am My Father's Son" isn't the easiest song to parse. But something about the song's moody theatricality indicates something's decidedly ungood about singer Spencer King taking after dad.

"I'll draw three figures on your heart/ One of them will be me as a boy/ One of them will be me/ And one of them will be me/ Watching you run" is a far cry from the whimsicality of "Grounds for Divorce," an early version of which ended up on Lavina's mix last year.

Modest Mouse frontman Isaac Brock's production work on this song led to no shortage of lazy comparisons between bands, but rock history began long before the early '90s. The drum-and-piano-driven rhythm, heavy on the cymbals, packs all the ominousness (but none of the ponderous overtones) of a 12" slab of industrial dance music. Meanwhile, King sounds like he could carry home the trophy at a David Bowie karaoke contest. It all ends gloriously in a cloud of fuzz. (— Eric Wittmershaus)

19. "Tribulations" · LCD Soundsystem · LCD Soundsystem · Capitol · 4:59

It's no accident that the cover of LCD Soundsystem's debut full-length bears only the band's name and a disco ball. James Murphy (who's pretty much LCD Soundsystem all by himself) can manufacture booty-shufflin' beats with the best of 'em.

"Tribulations" takes its cues not from Studio 54 and Diana Ross but from the disco ball's second life as a fixture in 1980s roller rinks. The bouncy, electronic beats sound like they've been downloaded straight off of Daft Punk's laptop, but Murphy's reverbed, slightly disaffected monotone and the song's jaunty New Order-inspired guitar solo belong to an era when MTV reigned supreme, seemingly everybody loved Reagan and the Nintendo Entertainment System ruled the living room.

Chances are you'd be hard-pressed to find a roller rink anymore in your neck of the woods. But some musical licensing wizard ensured this song showed up in the Xbox 360 launch title "Project Gotham Racing 3." Those of us who've had our wallets lightened to the tune of $400 for the system and $50 for the game can still fly around in circles at dangerously high speeds, throwing cares to the wind as we relish the year's most flat-out fun single. (— Eric Wittmershaus)

20. "16 Military Wives" · The Decemberists · Picaresque · Kill Rock Stars · 4:54

Songs about war tend to fall into one of two distinct and equally irritating camps. There are the simple-minded, self-congratulatory paens to absolute peace, and the sickening, jingoistic tributes to the glory of fighting a good fight.

"16 Military Wives" is a little more sophisticated, hearkening back to the often sarcastic folk-rock enthusiasm that made R.E.M. and XTC's earliest efforts so tangy and successful. In the proud tradition of "Generals and Majors" and "Orange Crush," "16 Military Wives" tackles war with both seriousness and a refreshingly ironic sense of perspective.

A blistering attack on a nation's lazily ill-informed embrace of war, the track spends equal time deflating the leftist celebrities who style themselves as the country's conscience:

15 celebrity minds / leading their 15 sordid wretched checkered lives / will they find the solution in time / using their 15 pristine moderate liberal minds / 18 academy chairs / out of which only 7 really even care / doling out the garland to five / celebrity minds, they're humbly taken by surprise

The "16 military wives" — victims of a lazy media, cynical politicians, and a war-hungry public — are about the only people to make it through the Decemberists' gauntlet with their dignity intact. The contrast is searingly effective, and as a result, the track is one of those rare and gorgeous beasts: a protest song that doesn't suck. (— James Norton)

21. "Casimir Pulaski Day" · Sufjan Stevens · Illinois (Flak review · Asthmatic Kitty/ Sounds Familyre · 5:54

There are few songs out there that can literally bring tears to your eyes. How do you convey sadness without being mawkish or manipulative? How can you tell a tragic story without the revealing even a hint of the cynical storyteller standing behind the art, yanking on strings?

But unlike the fey pathos or sadness-wrapped-in-wry-cynicism offered up by many of his contemporaries, Sufjan Stevens seems almost shockingly sincere, a trait that would be highly irritating and a legitimate target of mockery were he not such a goddamned skillful songwriter and storyteller.

"Casimir Pulaski Day" is the story of a young woman dying of cancer before getting the chance to consummate a first love, framed by a sometimes stark backdrop of naive but sincere religious belief. In less careful hands, this would quickly become an unlistenable pile of syrupy crap.

But when Sufjan Stevens sings it, he connects. If Illinois (and Stevens' earlier release, Greetings from Michigan...) is a harbringer of things to come, the world's in for 48 really terrific new CDs in the years to come. (— James Norton)